Bible Readings for March 3, 2015

Today our passages are Leviticus 27:14–Numbers 1:54; Mark 11:1-25; Psalm 46:1-11; and Proverbs 10:23. The readings are the Contemporary English Version. 

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Leviticus 27:14 - Numbers 1:54 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁴If you promise a house to me, a priest will set the price, whatever the condition of the house. ¹⁵But if you decide to buy it back, you must pay an additional twenty percent.
    ¹⁶If you promise part of your family's land to me, its value must be determined by the bushels of seed needed to plant the land, and the rate will be ten pieces of silver for every bushel of seed. ¹⁷If this promise is made in the Year of Celebration, ^[a] the land will be valued at the full price. ¹⁸But any time after that, the price will be figured according to the number of years before the next Year of Celebration. ¹⁹If you decide to buy back the land, you must pay the price plus an additional twenty percent, ²⁰but you cannot buy it back once someone else has bought it. ²¹When the Year of Celebration comes, the land becomes holy because it belongs to me, and it will be given to the priests. ²²If you promise me a field that you have bought, ²³its value will be decided by a priest, according to the number of years before the next Year of Celebration, and the money you pay will be mine. ²⁴However, on the next Year of Celebration, the land will go back to the family of its original owner. ²⁵Every price will be set by the official standards.
   

Various Offerings

The LORD said:

 ²⁶All first-born animals of your flocks and herds are already mine, and so you cannot promise any of them to me. ²⁷If you promise me a donkey, ^[b] you may buy it back by adding an additional twenty percent to its value. If you don't buy it back, it can be sold to someone else for whatever a priest has said it is worth. ²⁸Anything that you completely dedicate to me must be completely destroyed. ^[c] It cannot be bought back or sold. Every person, animal, and piece of property that you dedicate completely is only for me. ²⁹In fact, any humans who have been promised to me in this way must be put to death. ³⁰Ten percent of everything you harvest is holy and belongs to me, whether it grows in your fields or on your fruit trees. ³¹If you want to buy back this part of your harvest, you may do so by paying what it is worth plus an additional twenty percent.     ³²When you count your flocks and herds, one out of ten of every newborn animal ^[d] is holy and belongs to me, ³³no matter how good or bad it is. If you substitute one animal for another, both of them become holy, and neither can be bought back. ³⁴Moses was on Mount Sinai when the LORD gave him these laws for the people of Israel.
   

Numbers 1

The People of Israel Are Counted

 ¹The people of Israel had left Egypt and were living in the Sinai Desert. Then on the first day of the second month ^[e] of the second year, Moses was in the sacred tent when the LORD said: ^2-3I want you and Aaron to find out how many people are in each of Israel's clans and families. And make a list of all the men twenty years and older who are able to fight in battle. ^4-15The following twelve family leaders, one from each tribe, will help you:    Elizur son of Shedeur
   from Reuben,
   Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai
   from Simeon,
   Nahshon son of Amminadab
   from Judah,
   Nethanel son of Zuar
   from Issachar,
   Eliab son of Helon
   from Zebulun,
   Elishama son of Ammihud
   from Ephraim,
   Gamaliel son of Pedahzur
   from Manasseh,
   Abidan son of Gideoni
   from Benjamin,
   Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai
   from Dan,
   Pagiel son of Ochran
   from Asher,
   Eliasaph son of Deuel
   from Gad,
   and Ahira son of Enan
   from Naphtali.
    ^16-17Moses and Aaron, together with these twelve tribal leaders, ¹⁸called together the people that same day. They were counted according to their clans and families. Then Moses and the others listed the names of the men twenty years and older, ¹⁹just as the LORD had commanded. ^20-46The number of men from each tribe who were at least twenty years old and strong enough to fight in Israel's army was as follows:
   46,500 from Reuben,
   the oldest son of Jacob, ^[f] 59,300 from Simeon,
   45,650 from Gad,
   74,600 from Judah,
   54,400 from Issachar,
   57,400 from Zebulun,
   40,500 from Ephraim,
   32,200 from Manasseh,
   35,400 from Benjamin,
   62,700 from Dan,
   41,500 from Asher,
   53,400 from Naphtali.
   The total number of men registered by Moses, Aaron, and the twelve leaders was 603,550.
    ⁴⁷But those from the Levi tribe were not included ⁴⁸because the LORD had said to Moses:
    ⁴⁹When you count the Israelites, do not include those from the Levi tribe. ^50-51Instead, give them the job of caring for the sacred tent, its furnishings, and the objects used for worship. They will camp around the tent, and whenever you move, they will take it down, carry it to the new camp, and set it up again. Anyone else who tries to go near it must be put to death.
    ⁵²The rest of the Israelites will camp in their own groups and under their own banners. ⁵³But the Levites will camp around the sacred tent to make sure that no one goes near it and makes me furious with the Israelites.
    ⁵⁴The people of Israel did everything the LORD had commanded.
   

Footnotes:

1. Leviticus 27:17 Year of Celebration: See 25.8-34.
2. Leviticus 27:27 donkey: See the note at verse 11.
3. Leviticus 27:28 completely dedicate. . . completely destroyed: In order to show that something belonged completely to the LORD and could not be used by anyone else, it was destroyed. This law most often applied to towns and people captured in war (see Joshua 6.16,17).
4. Leviticus 27:32 one out of ten of every newborn animal: Or " one out of every ten animals."
5. Numbers 1:1 second month: Ziv, the second month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-April to mid-May.
6. Numbers 1:20 Jacob: The Hebrew text has " Israel," Jacob's name after God renamed him.

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Mark 11:1-25 (Contemporary English Version)

Mark 11

Jesus Enters Jerusalem

(Matthew 21.1-11; Luke 19.28-40; John 12.12-19)

 ¹Jesus and his disciples reached Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives. When they were getting close to Jerusalem, Jesus sent two of them on ahead. ²He told them, "Go into the next village. As soon as you enter it, you will find a young donkey that has never been ridden. Untie the donkey and bring it here. ³If anyone asks why you are doing that, say, `The Lord ^[a] needs it and will soon bring it back.' "     ⁴The disciples left and found the donkey tied near a door that faced the street. While they were untying it, ⁵some of the people standing there asked, "Why are you untying the donkey?" ⁶They told them what Jesus had said, and the people let them take it.
    ⁷The disciples led the donkey to Jesus. They put some of their clothes on its back, and Jesus got on. ⁸Many people spread clothes on the road, while others went to cut branches from the fields. ^{[b]
    9}In front of Jesus and behind him, people went along shouting,
   "Hooray! ^[c]
   God bless the one
   who comes
   in the name of the Lord!
    ¹⁰God bless the coming kingdom
   of our ancestor David.
   Hooray for God
   in heaven above!"
    ¹¹After Jesus had gone to Jerusalem, he went into the temple and looked around at everything. But since it was already late in the day, he went back to Bethany with the twelve disciples.
   

Jesus Puts a Curse on a Fig Tree

(Matthew 21.18,19)

 ¹²When Jesus and his disciples left Bethany the next morning, he was hungry. ¹³From a distance Jesus saw a fig tree covered with leaves, and he went to see if there were any figs on the tree. But there were not any, because it wasn't the season for figs. ¹⁴So Jesus said to the tree, "Never again will anyone eat fruit from this tree!" The disciples heard him say this.    

Jesus in the Temple

(Matthew 21.12-17; Luke 19.45-48; John 2.13-22)

 ¹⁵After Jesus and his disciples reached Jerusalem, he went into the temple and began chasing out everyone who was selling and buying. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and the benches of those who were selling doves. ¹⁶Jesus would not let anyone carry things through the temple. ¹⁷Then he taught the people and said, "The Scriptures say, `My house should be called a place of worship for all nations.' But you have made it a place where robbers hide!"     ¹⁸The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses heard what Jesus said, and they started looking for a way to kill him. They were afraid of him, because the crowds were completely amazed at his teaching.
    ¹⁹That evening, Jesus and the disciples went outside the city.
   

A Lesson from the Fig Tree

(Matthew 21.20-22)

 ²⁰As the disciples walked past the fig tree the next morning, they noticed that it was completely dried up, roots and all. ²¹Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree. Then Peter said, "Teacher, look! The tree you put a curse on has dried up."     ²²Jesus told his disciples:
   Have faith in God! ²³If you have faith in God and don't doubt, you can tell this mountain to get up and jump into the sea, and it will. ²⁴Everything you ask for in prayer will be yours, if you only have faith.
    ^25-26Whenever you stand up to pray, you must forgive what others have done to you. Then your Father in heaven will forgive your sins. ^[d]
   

Footnotes:

1. Mark 11:3 The Lord: Or "The master of the donkey."
2. Mark 11:8 spread. . . branches from the fields: This was one way that the Jewish people welcomed a famous person.
3. Mark 11:9 Hooray: This translates a word that can mean "please save us." But it is most often used as a shout of praise to God.
4. Mark 11:25 your sins: Some manuscripts add, "But if you do not forgive others, God will not forgive you."

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Psalm 46:1-11 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 46

(A special song for the people of Korah and for the music leader.)

God Is Our Mighty Fortress

 ¹God is our mighty fortress,    always ready to help
   in times of trouble.
    ²And so, we won't be afraid!
   Let the earth tremble
   and the mountains tumble
   into the deepest sea.
    ³Let the ocean roar and foam,
   and its raging waves
   shake the mountains.
    ⁴A river and its streams
   bring joy to the city,
   which is the sacred home
   of God Most High.
    ⁵God is in that city,
   and it won't be shaken.
   He will help it at dawn.
    ⁶Nations rage! Kingdoms fall!
   But at the voice of God
   the earth itself melts.
    ⁷The LORD All-Powerful
   is with us.
   The God of Jacob
   is our fortress.
    ⁸Come! See the fearsome things
   the LORD has done on earth.
    ⁹God brings wars to an end
   all over the world.
   He breaks the arrows,
   shatters the spears,
   and burns the shields. ^{[a] 10}Our God says, "Calm down,
   and learn that I am God!
   All nations on earth
   will honor me."
    ¹¹The LORD All-Powerful
   is with us.
   The God of Jacob
   is our fortress.
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 46:9 shields: Or " chariots."

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Proverbs 10:23 (Contemporary English Version)

²³Fools enjoy doing wrong,
   but anyone with good sense
   enjoys acting wisely.

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Verse of the Day

“The LORD says: "My thoughts and my ways are not like yours. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, my thoughts and my ways are higher than yours.” - Isaiah 55:8-9

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

 

French soldier, military theorist and the Allied Généralissime during the First World War, Ferdinand Foch wrote, “The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”