Bible Readings for February 25, 2013

Today our passages are Leviticus 16:29–18:30; Mark 7:24–8:10; Psalm 41:1-13; and Proverbs 10:15-16. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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Leviticus 16:29-18:30 (Contemporary English Version)

The LORD told Moses to say to the people:

 ²⁹On the tenth day of the seventh month ^[a] of each year, you must go without eating to show sorrow for your sins, and no one, including foreigners who live among you, is allowed to work. ³⁰This is the day on which the sacrifice for the forgiveness of your sins will be made in my presence, ³¹and from now on, it must be celebrated each year. Go without eating and make this a day of complete rest just like the Sabbath. ³²The high priest must offer the sacrifices for cleansing from sin, while wearing the sacred linen clothes. ³³He will offer these sacrifices for the most holy place, the sacred tent, the bronze altar, all the priests, and for the whole community. ³⁴You must celebrate this day each year--it is the Great Day of Forgiveness ^[b] for all the sins of the people of Israel. Moses did exactly as the LORD had commanded.    

Leviticus 17

Where To Offer Sacrifices

 ¹The LORD told Moses ²to tell Aaron, his sons, and everyone else in Israel:     ^3-4Whenever you kill any of your cattle, sheep, or goats as sacrifices to me, you must do it at the entrance to the sacred tent. If you don't, you will be guilty of pouring out blood, and you will no longer belong to the community of Israel. ⁵And so, when you sacrifice an animal to ask my blessing, ^[c] it must not be done out in a field, ⁶but in front of the sacred tent. Then a priest can splatter its blood against the bronze altar and send its fat up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. ⁷Don't ever turn from me again and offer sacrifices to goat-demons. This law will never change. ⁸Remember! No one in Israel, including foreigners, is to offer a sacrifice anywhere ⁹except at the entrance to the sacred tent. If you do, you will no longer belong to my people.
   

Do Not Eat Blood

The LORD said:

 ¹⁰I will turn against any of my people who eat blood. This also includes any foreigners living among you. ¹¹Life is in the blood, and I have given you the blood of animals to sacrifice in place of your own. ¹²That's also why I have forbidden you to eat blood. ¹³Even if you should hunt and kill a bird or an animal, you must drain out the blood and cover it with soil.     ¹⁴The life of every living creature is in its blood. That's why I have forbidden you to eat blood and why I have warned you that anyone who does will no longer belong to my people.
    ¹⁵If you happen to find a dead animal and eat it, you must take a bath and wash your clothes, but you are still unclean until evening. ¹⁶If you don't take a bath, you will suffer for what you did wrong.
   

Leviticus 18

Forbidden Sex

 ¹The LORD told Moses ²to tell the people of Israel:    I am the LORD your God! ³So don't follow the customs of Egypt where you used to live or those of Canaan where I am bringing you. ⁴I am the LORD your God, and you must obey my teachings. ⁵Obey them and you will live. I am the LORD.
    ⁶Don't have sex with any of your close relatives, ⁷especially your own mother. This would disgrace your father. ⁸And don't disgrace him by having sex with any of his other wives. ⁹Don't have sex with your sister or stepsister, whether you grew up together or not. ¹⁰Don't disgrace yourself by having sex with your granddaughter ¹¹or half sister ^12-13or a sister of your father or mother. ¹⁴Don't disgrace your uncle by having sex with his wife. ¹⁵Don't have sex with your daughter-in-law ¹⁶or sister-in-law. ¹⁷And don't have sex with the daughter or granddaughter of any woman that you have earlier had sex with. You may be having sex with a relative, and that would make you unclean. ¹⁸As long as your wife is alive, don't cause trouble for her by taking one of her sisters as a second wife.
    ¹⁹When a woman is having her monthly period, she is unclean, so don't have sex with her.
    ²⁰Don't have sex with another man's wife--that would make you unclean.
    ²¹Don't sacrifice your children on the altar fires to the god Molech. I am the LORD your God, and that would disgrace me.
    ²²It is disgusting for a man to have sex with another man.
    ²³Anyone who has sex with an animal is unclean.
    ²⁴Don't make yourselves unclean by any of these disgusting practices of those nations that I am forcing out of the land for you. They made themselves ²⁵and the land so unclean, that I punished the land because of their sins, and I made it vomit them up. ^26-27Now don't do these sickening things that make the land filthy. Instead, obey my laws and teachings. ²⁸Then the land won't become sick of you and vomit you up, just as it did them. ^29-30If any of you do these vulgar, disgusting things, you will be unclean and no longer belong to my people. I am the LORD your God, and I forbid you to follow their sickening way of life.
   

Footnotes:

1. Leviticus 16:29 seventh month: Tishri (also called Ethanim), the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-September to mid-October.
2. Leviticus 16:34 Great Day of Forgiveness: Traditionally known as the Day of Atonement.
3. Leviticus 17:5 sacrifice. . . to ask my blessing: See the note at 3.1.

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Mark 7:24-8:10 (Contemporary English Version)

A Woman's Faith

(Matthew 15.21-28)

 ²⁴Jesus left and went to the region near the city of Tyre, where he stayed in someone's home. He did not want people to know he was there, but they found out anyway. ²⁵A woman whose daughter had an evil spirit in her heard where Jesus was. And right away she came and knelt down at his feet. ²⁶The woman was Greek and had been born in the part of Syria known as Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to force the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷But Jesus said, "The children must first be fed! It isn't right to take away their food and feed it to dogs." ^{[a]     28}The woman replied, "Lord, even dogs eat the crumbs that children drop from the table."
    ²⁹Jesus answered, "That's true! You may go now. The demon has left your daughter." ³⁰When the woman got back home, she found her child lying on the bed. The demon had gone.
   

Jesus Heals a Man Who Was Deaf and Could Hardly Talk

 ³¹Jesus left the region around Tyre and went by way of Sidon toward Lake Galilee. He went through the land near the ten cities known as Decapolis. ^{[b] 32}Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. They begged Jesus just to touch him.     ³³After Jesus had taken him aside from the crowd, he stuck his fingers in the man's ears. Then he spit and put it on the man's tongue. ³⁴Jesus looked up toward heaven, and with a groan he said, "Effatha!" ^[c] which means "Open up!" ³⁵At once the man could hear, and he had no more trouble talking clearly.
    ³⁶Jesus told the people not to say anything about what he had done. But the more he told them, the more they talked about it. ³⁷They were completely amazed and said, "Everything he does is good! He even heals people who cannot hear or talk."
   

Mark 8

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

(Matthew 15.32-39)

 ¹One day another large crowd gathered around Jesus. They had not brought along anything to eat. So Jesus called his disciples together and said, ²"I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me for three days, and they don't have anything to eat. ³Some of them live a long way from here. If I send them away hungry, they might faint on their way home."     ⁴The disciples said, "This place is like a desert. Where can we find enough food to feed such a crowd?"
    ⁵Jesus asked them how much food they had. They replied, "Seven small loaves of bread." ^{[d]
    6}After Jesus told the crowd to sit down, he took the seven loaves and blessed them. He then broke the loaves and handed them to his disciples, who passed them out to the crowd. ⁷They also had a few little fish, and after Jesus had blessed these, he told the disciples to pass them around.
    ^8-9The crowd of about four thousand people ate all they wanted, and the leftovers filled seven large baskets.
   As soon as Jesus had sent the people away, ¹⁰he got into the boat with the disciples and crossed to the territory near Dalmanutha. ^[e]
   

Footnotes:

1. Mark 7:27 feed it to dogs: The Jewish people often referred to Gentiles as dogs.
2. Mark 7:31 the ten cities known as Decapolis: See the note at 5.20.
3. Mark 7:34 Effatha: This word is in Aramaic, a language spoken in Palestine during the time of Jesus.
4. Mark 8:5 small loaves of bread: See the note at 6.38.
5. Mark 8:10 Dalmanutha: The place is unknown.

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Psalm 41:1-13 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 41

(A psalm by David for the music leader.)

A Prayer in Time of Sickness

 ¹You, LORD God, bless everyone    who cares for the poor,
   and you rescue those people
   in times of trouble.
    ²You protect them
   and keep them alive.
   You make them happy here
   in this land,
   and you don't hand them over
   to their enemies.
    ³You always heal them
   and restore their strength
   when they are sick.
    ⁴I prayed, "Have pity, LORD!
   Heal me,
   though I have sinned
   against you."
    ⁵My vicious enemies ask me,
   "When will you die
   and be forgotten?"
    ⁶When visitors come,
   all they ever bring
   are worthless words,
   and when they leave,
   they spread gossip.
    ⁷My enemies whisper about me.
   They think the worst,
    ⁸and they say,
   "You have some fatal disease!
   You'll never get well."
    ⁹My most trusted friend
   has turned against me,
   though he ate at my table.
    ¹⁰Have pity, LORD! Heal me,
   so I can pay them back.
    ¹¹Then my enemies
   won't defeat me,
   and I will know
   that you really care.
    ¹²You have helped me
   because I am innocent,
   and you will always
   be close to my side.
    ¹³You, the LORD God of Israel,
   will be praised forever!
   Amen and amen.

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Proverbs 10:15-16 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁵Great wealth can be a fortress,
   but poverty
   is no protection at all.
    ¹⁶If you live right,
   the reward is a good life;
   if you are evil,
   all you have is sin.

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Verse of the Day

“Jesus answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, "Love others as much as you love yourself.” - Matthew 22:37-39

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American entrepreneur and inventor Steve Jobs said, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking. Don’t settle.”