Day 59 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 37:26–34

²⁶They are ever generous and quick to lend, and their children are a blessing. ²⁷Turn away from evil and do good, so that you will abide forever. ²⁸For the LORD loves justice and will not forsake His saints. They are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked will be cut off. ²⁹The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. ³⁰The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. ³¹The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not falter. ³²Though the wicked lie in wait for the righteous, and seek to slay them, ³³the LORD will not leave them in their power or let them be condemned under judgment. ³⁴Wait for the LORD and keep His way, and He will raise you up to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

New Testament·Mark 6:1–24

¹Jesus went on from there and came to His hometown, accompanied by His disciples. ²When the Sabbath came, He began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these ideas?” they asked. “What is this wisdom He has been given? And how can He perform such miracles? ³Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t His sisters here with us as well?” And they took offense at Him. ⁴Then Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his own household is a prophet without honor.” ⁵So He could not perform any miracles there, except to lay His hands on a few of the sick and heal them. ⁶And He was amazed at their unbelief. And He went around from village to village, teaching the people. ⁷Then Jesus called the Twelve to Him and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits. ⁸He instructed them to take nothing but a staff for the journey—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— ⁹and to wear sandals, but not a second tunic. ¹⁰And He told them, “When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that area. ¹¹If anyone will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that place, as a testimony against them.” ¹²So they set out and preached that the people should repent. ¹³They also drove out many demons and healed many of the sick, anointing them with oil. ¹⁴Now King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known, and people were saying, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead! That is why miraculous powers are at work in him.” ¹⁵Others were saying, “He is Elijah,” and still others, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen from the dead!” ¹⁷For Herod himself had ordered that John be arrested and bound and imprisoned, on account of his brother Philip’s wife Herodias, whom Herod had married. ¹⁸For John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife!” ¹⁹So Herodias held a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she had been unable, ²⁰because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man. When he heard John’s words, he was greatly perplexed; yet he listened to him gladly. ²¹On Herod’s birthday, her opportunity arose. Herod held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²²When the daughter of Herodias came and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests, and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom!” ²⁴Then she went out and asked her mother, “What should I request?” And her mother answered, “The head of John the Baptist.”

Old Testament·Leviticus 14:30–15:33

³⁰Then he must sacrifice the turtledoves or young pigeons, whichever he can afford, ³¹one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the LORD for the one to be cleansed. ³²This is the law for someone who has a skin disease and cannot afford the cost of his cleansing.” ³³Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ³⁴“When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a contamination of mildew into a house in that land, ³⁵the owner of the house shall come and tell the priest, ‘Something like mildew has appeared in my house.’ ³⁶The priest must order that the house be cleared before he enters it to examine the mildew, so that nothing in the house will become unclean. After this, the priest shall go in to inspect the house. ³⁷He is to examine the house, and if the mildew on the walls consists of green or red depressions that appear to be beneath the surface of the wall, ³⁸the priest shall go outside the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days. ³⁹On the seventh day the priest is to return and inspect the house. If the mildew has spread on the walls, ⁴⁰he must order that the contaminated stones be pulled out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city. ⁴¹And he shall have the inside of the house scraped completely and the plaster that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the city. ⁴²So different stones must be obtained to replace the contaminated ones, as well as additional mortar to replaster the house. ⁴³If the mildew reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house has been scraped and replastered, ⁴⁴the priest must come and inspect it. If the mildew has spread in the house, it is a destructive mildew; the house is unclean. ⁴⁵It must be torn down with its stones, its timbers, and all its plaster, and taken outside the city to an unclean place. ⁴⁶Anyone who enters the house during any of the days that it is closed up will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁷And anyone who sleeps in the house or eats in it must wash his clothes. ⁴⁸If, however, the priest comes and inspects it, and the mildew has not spread after the house has been replastered, he shall pronounce the house clean, because the mildew is gone. ⁴⁹He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house; ⁵⁰and he shall slaughter one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot. ⁵¹Then he shall take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵²And he shall cleanse the house with the bird’s blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn. ⁵³Finally, he is to release the live bird into the open fields outside the city. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean. ⁵⁴This is the law for any infectious skin disease, for a scaly outbreak, ⁵⁵for mildew in clothing or in a house, ⁵⁶and for a swelling, rash, or spot, ⁵⁷to determine when something is clean or unclean. This is the law regarding skin diseases and mildew.”

15And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ²“Say to the Israelites, ‘When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean. ³This uncleanness is from his discharge, whether his body allows the discharge to flow or blocks it. So his discharge will bring about uncleanness. ⁴Any bed on which the man with the discharge lies will be unclean, and any furniture on which he sits will be unclean. ⁵Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ⁶Whoever sits on furniture on which the man with the discharge was sitting must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ⁷Whoever touches the body of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ⁸If the man with the discharge spits on one who is clean, that person must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ⁹Any saddle on which the man with the discharge rides will be unclean. ¹⁰Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening, and whoever carries such things must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ¹¹If the man with the discharge touches anyone without first rinsing his hands with water, the one who was touched must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ¹²Any clay pot that the man with the discharge touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil must be rinsed with water. ¹³When the man has been cleansed from his discharge, he must count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe himself in fresh water, and he shall be clean. ¹⁴On the eighth day he is to take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, come before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, and give them to the priest. ¹⁵The priest is to sacrifice them, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for the man before the LORD because of his discharge. ¹⁶When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ¹⁷Any clothing or leather on which there is an emission of semen must be washed with water, and it will remain unclean until evening. ¹⁸If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening. ¹⁹When a woman has a discharge consisting of blood from her body, she will be unclean due to her menstruation for seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. ²⁰Anything on which she lies or sits during her menstruation will be unclean, ²¹and anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ²²Whoever touches any furniture on which she was sitting must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ²³And whether it is a bed or furniture on which she was sitting, whoever touches it will be unclean until evening. ²⁴If a man lies with her and her menstrual flow touches him, he will be unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies will become unclean. ²⁵When a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days at a time other than her menstrual period, or if it continues beyond her period, she will be unclean all the days of her unclean discharge, just as she is during the days of her menstruation. ²⁶Any bed on which she lies or any furniture on which she sits during the days of her discharge will be unclean, like her bed during her menstrual period. ²⁷Anyone who touches these things will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ²⁸When a woman is cleansed of her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean. ²⁹On the eighth day she is to take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ³⁰The priest is to sacrifice one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her before the LORD for her unclean discharge. ³¹You must keep the children of Israel separate from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling My tabernacle, which is among them. ³²This is the law of him who has a discharge, of the man who has an emission of semen whereby he is unclean, ³³of a woman in her menstrual period, of any male or female who has a discharge, and of a man who lies with an unclean woman.’”