Bible Readings for February 6, 2015

Today our passages are Exodus 23:14–25:40; Matthew 24:29-51; Psalm 30:1-12; and Proverbs 7:24-27. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.  

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Exodus 23:14-25:40 (Contemporary English Version)

Three Annual Festivals

(Exodus 34.18-26; Deuteronomy 16.1-17)

¹⁴Celebrate three festivals each year in my honor. ¹⁵Celebrate the Festival of Thin Bread by eating bread made without yeast, just as I have commanded. ^[a] Do this at the proper time during the month of Abib, ^[b] because it is the month when you left Egypt. And make certain that everyone brings the proper offerings. ¹⁶Celebrate the Harvest Festival ^[c] each spring when you start harvesting your wheat, and celebrate the Festival of Shelters ^[d] each autumn when you pick your fruit. ¹⁷Your men must come to these three festivals each year to worship me.
¹⁸Do not offer bread made with yeast when you sacrifice an animal to me. And make sure that the fat of the animal is burned that same day.
¹⁹Each year bring the best part of your first harvest to the place of worship.
Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

A Promise and a Warning

The LORD said:

²⁰I am sending an angel to protect you and to lead you into the land I have ready for you. ²¹Carefully obey everything the angel says, because I am giving him complete authority, and he won't tolerate rebellion. ²²If you faithfully obey him, I will be a fierce enemy of your enemies. ²³My angel will lead you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. ²⁴Don't worship their gods or follow their customs. Instead, destroy their idols and shatter their stone images. ²⁵Worship only me, the LORD your God! I will bless you with plenty of food and water and keep you strong. ²⁶Your women will give birth to healthy children, and everyone will live a long life.
²⁷I will terrify those nations and make your enemies so confused that they will run from you. ²⁸I will make the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites panic as you approach. ²⁹But I won't do all this in the first year, because the land would become poor, and wild animals would be everywhere. ³⁰Instead, I will force out your enemies little by little and give your nation time to grow strong enough to take over the land.
³¹I will see that your borders reach from the Red Sea ^[e] to the Euphrates River and from the Mediterranean Sea to the desert. I will let you defeat the people who live there, and you will force them out of the land. ³²But you must not make any agreements with them or with their gods. ³³Don't let them stay in your land. They will trap you into sinning against me and worshiping their gods.

Exodus 24

The People Agree To Obey God

¹The LORD said to Moses, " Come up to me on this mountain. Bring along Aaron, as well as his two sons Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel's leaders. They must worship me at a distance, ²but you are to come near. Don't let anyone else come up." ³Moses gave the LORD's instructions to the people, and they promised, " We will do everything the LORD has commanded!" ⁴Then Moses wrote down what the LORD had said.
The next morning Moses got up early. He built an altar at the foot of the mountain and set up a large stone for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵He also sent some young men to burn offerings and to sacrifice bulls as special offerings ^[f] to the LORD. ⁶Moses put half of the blood from the animals into bowls and sprinkled the rest on the altar. ⁷Then he read aloud the LORD's commands and promises, and the people shouted, " We will obey the LORD and do everything he has commanded!" ⁸Moses took the blood from the bowls and sprinkled it on the people. Next, he told them, " With this blood the LORD makes his agreement with you."
⁹Moses and Aaron, together with Nadab and Abihu and the seventy leaders, went up the mountain ¹⁰and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something that looked like a pavement made out of sapphire, ^[g] and it was as bright as the sky. ¹¹Even though these leaders of Israel saw God, he did not punish them. So they ate and drank.

Moses on Mount Sinai

¹²The LORD said to Moses, " Come up on the mountain and stay here for a while. I will give you the two flat stones on which I have written the laws that my people must obey." ¹³Moses and Joshua his assistant got ready, then Moses started up the mountain to meet with God. ¹⁴Moses had told the leaders, " Wait here until we come back. Aaron and Hur will be with you, and they can settle any arguments while we are away."
¹⁵When Moses went up on Mount Sinai, a cloud covered it, ¹⁶and the bright glory of the LORD came down and stayed there. The cloud covered the mountain for six days, and on the seventh day the LORD told Moses to come into the cloud. ^17-18Moses did so and stayed there forty days and nights. To the people, the LORD's glory looked like a blazing fire on top of the mountain.

Exodus 25

The Sacred Tent

(Exodus 35.4-9)

¹The LORD said to Moses: ²Tell everyone in Israel who wants to give gifts that they must bring them to you. ³Here is a list of what you are to collect: Gold, silver, and bronze; ⁴blue, purple, and red wool; fine linen; goat hair; ⁵tanned ram skins; fine leather; acacia wood; ⁶olive oil for the lamp; sweet-smelling spices to mix with the oil for dedicating the tent and ordaining the priests; ⁷and onyx ^[h] stones for the sacred vest and the breastpiece. ⁸I also want them to build a special place where I can live among my people. ⁹Make it and its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. The LORD said to Moses:

The Sacred Chest

(Exodus 37.1-9)

¹⁰Tell the people to build a chest of acacia wood forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ¹¹Cover it inside and out with pure gold and put a gold edging around the lid. ¹²Make four gold rings and fasten one of them to each of the four legs of the chest. ¹³Make two poles of acacia wood. Cover them with gold ¹⁴and put them through the rings, so the chest can be carried by the poles. ¹⁵Don't ever remove the poles from the rings. ¹⁶When I give you the Ten Commandments written on two flat stones, put them inside the chest. ¹⁷Cover the lid of the chest with pure gold. ^18-19Then hammer out two winged creatures of pure gold and fasten them to the lid at the ends of the chest. ²⁰The creatures must face each other with their wings spread over the chest. ²¹Inside it place the two flat stones with the Ten Commandments and put the gold lid on top of the chest. ²²I will meet you there ^[i] between the two creatures and tell you what my people must do and what they must not do. The LORD said:

The Table for the Sacred Bread

(Exodus 37.10-16)

²³Make a table of acacia wood thirty-six inches long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ^24-25Cover it with pure gold and put a gold edging around it with a border three inches wide. ^[j]26Make four gold rings and attach one to each of the legs ^27-28near the edging. The poles for carrying the table are to be placed through these rings and are to be made of acacia wood covered with gold. ^29-30The table is to be kept in the holy place, and the sacred loaves of bread must always be put on it. All bowls, plates, jars, and cups for wine offerings are to be made of pure gold and set on this table. The LORD said:

The Lampstand

(Exodus 37.17-24)

³¹Make a lampstand of pure gold. The whole lampstand, including its decorative flowers, must be made from a single piece of hammered gold ³²with three branches on each of its two sides. ³³There are to be three decorative almond blossoms on each branch ³⁴and four on the stem. ³⁵There must also be a blossom where each pair of branches comes out from the stem. ³⁶The lampstand, including its branches and decorative flowers, must be made from a single piece of hammered pure gold. ³⁷The lamp on the top and those at the end of each of its six branches must be made so as to shine toward the front of the lampstand. ³⁸The tongs and trays for taking care of the lamps are to be made of pure gold. ³⁹The lampstand and its equipment will require seventy-five pounds of pure gold, ⁴⁰and they must be made according to the pattern I showed you on the mountain. The LORD said to Moses:

Footnotes:

1. Exodus 23:15as I have commanded: See 12.14-20.
2. Exodus 23:15Abib: See the note at 12.2.
3. Exodus 23:16Harvest Festival: Traditionally called the " Festival of Weeks" and known in New Testament times as " Pentecost."
4. Exodus 23:16Festival of Shelters: The Hebrew text has " Festival of Ingathering" (so also in 34.22), which was the final harvesting of crops and fruits before the autumn rains began. But the usual name was " Festival of Shelters."
5. Exodus 23:31Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Aqaba, since the term is extended to include the northeastern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at 13.18).
6. Exodus 24:5special offerings: Often translated " peace offerings," which were to make peace between God and his people, who ate certain parts of the sacrificed animal.
7. Exodus 24:10sapphire: A precious stone, blue in color.
8. Exodus 25:7onyx: A precious stone with bands of different colors.
9. Exodus 25:22I will meet you there: It was believed that God had his earthly throne on the lid of the sacred chest.
10. Exodus 25:24a gold edging. . . wide: Or " a gold edging around it three inches wide."

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Matthew 24:29-51 (Contemporary English Version)

When the Son of Man Appears

(Mark 13.24-27; Luke 21.25-28)

²⁹Right after those days of suffering, "The sun will become dark,
and the moon
will no longer shine.
The stars will fall,
and the powers in the sky ^[a] will be shaken."
³⁰Then a sign will appear in the sky. And there will be the Son of Man. ^[b] All nations on earth will weep when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹At the sound of a loud trumpet, he will send his angels to bring his chosen ones together from all over the earth.

A Lesson from a Fig Tree

(Mark 13.28-31; Luke 21.29-33)

³²Learn a lesson from a fig tree. When its branches sprout and start putting out leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³So when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time has almost come. ^[c]34I can promise you that some of the people of this generation will still be alive when all this happens. ³⁵The sky and the earth won't last forever, but my words will.

No One Knows the Day or Time

(Mark 13.32-37; Luke 17.26-30,34-36)

³⁶No one knows the day or hour. The angels in heaven don't know, and the Son himself doesn't know. ^[d] Only the Father knows. ³⁷When the Son of Man appears, things will be just as they were when Noah lived. ³⁸People were eating, drinking, and getting married right up to the day that the flood came and Noah went into the big boat. ³⁹They didn't know anything was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man appears. ⁴⁰Two men will be in the same field, but only one will be taken. The other will be left. ⁴¹Two women will be together grinding grain, but only one will be taken. The other will be left. ⁴²So be on your guard! You don't know when your Lord will come. ⁴³Homeowners never know when a thief is coming, and they are always on guard to keep one from breaking in. ⁴⁴Always be ready! You don't know when the Son of Man will come.

Faithful and Unfaithful Servants

(Luke 12.35-48)

⁴⁵Who are faithful and wise servants? Who are the ones the master will put in charge of giving the other servants their food supplies at the proper time? ⁴⁶Servants are fortunate if their master comes and finds them doing their job. ⁴⁷You may be sure that a servant who is always faithful will be put in charge of everything the master owns. ⁴⁸But suppose one of the servants thinks that the master won't return until late. ⁴⁹Suppose that evil servant starts beating the other servants and eats and drinks with people who are drunk. ⁵⁰If that happens, the master will surely come on a day and at a time when the servant least expects him. ⁵¹That servant will then be punished and thrown out with the ones who only pretended to serve their master. There they will cry and grit their teeth in pain.

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 24:29the powers in the sky: In ancient times people thought that the stars were spiritual powers.
2. Matthew 24:30And there will be the Son of Man: Or "And it will be the Son of Man."
3. Matthew 24:33the time has almost come: Or "he (that is, the Son of Man) will soon be here."
4. Matthew 24:36and the Son himself doesn't know: These words are not in some manuscripts.

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Psalm 30:1-12 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 30

(A psalm by David for the dedication of the temple.)

A Prayer of Thanks

¹I will praise you, LORD! You saved me from the grave
and kept my enemies
from celebrating my death.
²I prayed to you, LORD God,
and you healed me,
³saving me from death
and the grave.
⁴Your faithful people, LORD,
will praise you with songs
and honor your holy name.
⁵Your anger lasts a little while,
but your kindness lasts
for a lifetime.
At night we may cry,
but when morning comes
we will celebrate.
⁶I was carefree and thought,
"I'll never be shaken!"
⁷You, LORD, were my friend,
and you made me strong
as a mighty mountain.
But when you hid your face,
I was crushed.
⁸I prayed to you, LORD,
and in my prayer I said,
⁹"What good will it do you
if I am in the grave?
Once I have turned to dust,
how can I praise you
or tell how loyal you are?
¹⁰Have pity, LORD! Help!"
¹¹You have turned my sorrow
into joyful dancing.
No longer am I sad
and wearing sackcloth. ^[a]12I thank you from my heart,
and I will never stop
singing your praises,
my LORD and my God.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 30:11sackcloth: A rough, dark-colored cloth made from goat or camel hair and used to make grain sacks. It was worn in times of trouble or sorrow.

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Proverbs 7:24-27 (Contemporary English Version)

²⁴My son, pay close attention
to what I have said.
²⁵Don't even think about
that kind of woman
or let yourself be misled
by someone like her.
²⁶Such a woman has caused
the downfall
and destruction
of a lot of men.
²⁷Her house is a one-way street
leading straight down
to the world of the dead.

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Verse of the Day

“If you try to be kind and good, you will be blessed with life and goodness and honor.” - Proverbs 21:21

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, Henry Ward Beecher wrote, “Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.”