Today our passages are Leviticus 14:1-57; Mark 6:30-56; Psalm 40:1-10; and Proverbs 10:11-12. The readings are the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.
Leviticus 14:1-57 (Contemporary English Version)
Leviticus 14
The Ceremony for People Healed of Leprosy
1The LORD told Moses to say to the people: 2-3After you think you are healed of leprosy, a<="" value="[a]" >[] you must ask for a priest to come outside the camp and examine you. And if you are well, 4he will have someone bring out two live birds that are acceptable for sacrifice, together with a stick of cedar wood, a piece of red yarn, and a branch from a hyssop plant. 5The priest will have someone kill one of the birds over a clay pot of spring water. 6Then he will dip the other bird, the cedar, the red yarn, and the hyssop in the blood of the dead bird. 7Next, he will sprinkle you seven times with the blood and say, " You are now clean." Finally, he will release the bird and let it fly away. 8After this you must wash your clothes, shave your entire body, and take a bath before you are completely clean. You may move back into camp, but you must not enter your tent for seven days. 9Then you must once again shave your head, face, and eyebrows, as well as the hair on the rest of your body. Finally, wash your clothes and take a bath, and you will be completely clean.10On the eighth day you must bring to the priest two rams and a year-old female lamb that have nothing wrong with them; also bring a half pint of olive oil and six pounds of your finest flour mixed with oil. 11Then the priest will present you and your offerings to me at the entrance to my sacred tent. 12There he will offer one of the rams, together with the pint of oil, as a sacrifice to make things right. [b<="">] He will also lift them up [c<="">] to show that they are dedicated to me. 13This sacrifice is very holy. It belongs to the priest and must be killed in the same place where animals are killed as sacrifices for sins and as sacrifices to please me. [d<="">] 14The priest will smear some of the blood from this sacrifice on your right ear lobe, some on your right thumb, and some on the big toe of your right foot. 15He will then pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his left hand, 16dip a finger of his right hand into the oil, and sprinkle some of it seven times toward the sacred tent. 17Next, he will smear some of the oil on your right ear lobe, some on your right thumb, and some on the big toe of your right foot, 18-20and pour the rest of the oil from his palm on your head. Then he will offer the other two animals--one as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a sacrifice to please me, together with a grain sacrifice. After this you will be completely clean.
21If you are poor and cannot afford to offer this much, you may offer a ram as a sacrifice to make things right, together with a half pint of olive oil and two pounds of flour mixed with oil as a grain sacrifice. The priest will then lift these up [e<="">] to dedicate them to me. 22Depending on what you can afford, you must also offer either two doves or two pigeons, one as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a sacrifice to please me. 23The priest will offer these to me in front of the sacred tent on the eighth day.
24-25The priest will kill this ram for the sacrifice to make things right, and he will lift it up [f<="">] with the olive oil in dedication to me. Then he will smear some of the blood on your right ear lobe, some on your right thumb, and some on the big toe of your right foot.
26The priest will pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his left hand, 27then dip a finger of his right hand in the oil and sprinkle some of it seven times toward the sacred tent. 28He will smear some of the oil on your right ear lobe, some on your right thumb, and some on the big toe of your right foot, just as he did with the blood of the sacrifice to make things right. 29-31And he will pour the rest of the oil from his palm on your head.
Then, depending on what you can afford, he will offer either the doves or the pigeons together with the grain sacrifice. One of the birds is the sacrifice for sin, and the other is the sacrifice to please me. After this you will be completely clean.
32These are the things you must do if you have leprosy and cannot afford the usual sacrifices to make you clean.
When Mildew Is in a House
33The LORD told Moses and Aaron to say to the people: 34After I have given you the land of Canaan as your permanent possession, here is what you must do, if I ever put mildew [g<="">] on the walls of any of your homes. 35First, you must say to a priest, " I think mildew is on the wall of my house."36The priest will reply, " Empty the house before I inspect it, or else everything in it will be unclean."
37If the priest discovers greenish or reddish spots that go deeper than the surface of the walls, 38he will have the house closed for seven days. 39Then he will return and check to see if the mildew has spread. 40-41If so, he will have someone scrape the plaster from the walls, remove the filthy stones, then haul everything off and dump it in an unclean place outside the town. 42Afterwards the wall must be repaired with new stones and fresh plaster.
43If the mildew appears a second time, 44the priest will come and say, " This house is unclean. It's covered with mildew that can't be removed." 45Then he will have the house torn down and every bit of wood, stone, and plaster hauled off to an unclean place outside the town. 46Meanwhile, if any of you entered the house while it was closed, you will be unclean until evening. 47And if you either slept or ate in the house, you must wash your clothes.
48On the other hand, if the priest discovers that mildew hasn't reappeared after the house was newly plastered, he will say, " This house is clean--the mildew has gone." 49Then, to show that the house is now clean, he will get two birds, a stick of cedar wood, a piece of red yarn, and a branch from a hyssop plant and bring them to the house. 50He will kill one of the birds over a clay pot of spring water 51-52and let its blood drain into the pot. Then he will dip the cedar, the hyssop, the yarn, and the other bird into the mixture of blood and water. Next, he will sprinkle the house seven times with the mixture, then the house will be completely clean. 53Finally, he will release the bird and let it fly away, ending the ceremony for purifying the house.
54-57These are the things you must do if you discover that you are unclean because of an itch or a sore, or that your clothing or house is unclean because of mildew.
Footnotes:
- Leviticus 14:2 leprosy: See the note at 13.3.
- Leviticus 14:12 sacrifice to make things right: See 7.1-10.
- Leviticus 14:12 lift them up: See the note at 7.29,30.
- Leviticus 14:13 sacrifices to please me: See the note at 1.1-3.
- Leviticus 14:21 lift these up: See the note at 7.29,30.
- Leviticus 14:24 gchapter 13.
- Leviticus 14:34 mildew: The Hebrew word translated " mildew" is the same one translated "leprosy" and "spot" in
Mark 6:30-56 (Contemporary English Version)
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
(Matthew 14.13-21; Luke 9.10-17; John 6.1-14)
30After the apostles returned to Jesus, a<="" value="[a]" >[] they told him everything they had done and taught. 31But so many people were coming and going that Jesus and the apostles did not even have a chance to eat. Then Jesus said, "Let's go to a place [b<="">] where we can be alone and get some rest." 32They left in a boat for a place where they could be alone. 33But many people saw them leave and figured out where they were going. So people from every town ran on ahead and got there first. 34When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw the large crowd that was like sheep without a shepherd. He felt sorry for the people and started teaching them many things.35That evening the disciples came to Jesus and said, "This place is like a desert, and it is already late. 36Let the crowds leave, so they can go to the farms and villages near here and buy something to eat."
37Jesus replied, "You give them something to eat."
But they asked him, "Don't you know that it would take almost a year's wages [c<="">] to buy all of these people something to eat?"
38Then Jesus said, "How much bread do you have? Go and see!"
They found out and answered, "We have five small loaves of bread [d<="">] and two fish." 39Jesus told his disciples to have the people sit down on the green grass. 40They sat down in groups of a hundred and groups of fifty.
41Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up toward heaven and blessed the food. Then he broke the bread and handed it to his disciples to give to the people. He also divided the two fish, so that everyone could have some.
42After everyone had eaten all they wanted, 43Jesus' disciples picked up twelve large baskets of leftover bread and fish.
44There were five thousand men who ate the food.
Jesus Walks on the Water
(Matthew 14.22-33; John 6.15-21)
45Right away, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and start back across to Bethsaida. But he stayed until he had sent the crowds away. 46Then he told them good-by and went up on the side of a mountain to pray. 47Later that evening he was still there by himself, and the boat was somewhere in the middle of the lake. 48He could see that the disciples were struggling hard, because they were rowing against the wind. Not long before morning, Jesus came toward them. He was walking on the water and was about to pass the boat.49When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, they thought he was a ghost, and they started screaming. 50All of them saw him and were terrified. But at that same time he said, "Don't worry! I am Jesus. Don't be afraid." 51He then got into the boat with them, and the wind died down. The disciples were completely confused. 52Their minds were closed, and they could not understand the true meaning of the loaves of bread.
Jesus Heals Sick People in Gennesaret
(Matthew 14.34-36)
53Jesus and his disciples crossed the lake and brought the boat to shore near the town of Gennesaret. 54As soon as they got out of the boat, the people recognized Jesus. 55So they ran all over that part of the country to bring their sick people to him on mats. They brought them each time they heard where he was. 56In every village or farm or marketplace where Jesus went, the people brought their sick to him. They begged him to let them just touch his clothes, and everyone who did was healed.
Footnotes:
- Mark 6:30 the apostles returned to Jesus: From the mission on which he had sent them (see 6.7,12,13).
- Mark 6:31 a place: This was probably northeast of Lake Galilee (see verse 45).
- Mark 6:37 almost a year's wages: The Greek text has "two hundred silver coins." Each coin was the average day's wage for a worker.
- Mark 6:38 small loaves of bread: These would have been flat and round or in the shape of a bun.
Psalm 40:1-10 (Contemporary English Version)
Psalm 40
(A psalm by David for the music leader.)
A Prayer for Help
1I patiently waited, LORD, for you to hear my prayer.You listened 2and pulled me
from a lonely pit
full of mud and mire.
You let me stand on a rock
with my feet firm,
3and you gave me a new song,
a song of praise to you.
Many will see this,
and they will honor
and trust
you, the LORD God.
4You bless all of those
who trust you, LORD,
and refuse to worship idols
or follow false gods.
5You, LORD God, have done
many wonderful things,
and you have planned
marvelous things for us.
No one is like you!
I would never be able to tell
all you have done.
6Sacrifices and offerings
are not what please you;
gifts and payment for sin
are not what you demand.
But you made me willing
to listen and obey.
7And so, I said, "I am here
to do what is written
about me in the book,
where it says,
8'I enjoy pleasing you.
Your Law is in my heart.' "
9When your people worshiped,
you know I told them,
"Our LORD always helps!"
10When all your people met,
I did not keep silent.
I said, "Our LORD is kind.
He is faithful and caring,
and he saves us."
Proverbs 10:11-12 (Contemporary English Version)
11The words of good people
are a source of life,
but evil hides behind
the words of the wicked.
12Hatred stirs up trouble;
love overlooks the wrongs
that others do.
Verse of the Day
“It's a mistake to make evil plans, but you will have loyal friends if you want to do right.” - Proverbs 14:22
are a source of life,
but evil hides behind
the words of the wicked.
12Hatred stirs up trouble;
love overlooks the wrongs
that others do.
Verse of the Day
“It's a mistake to make evil plans, but you will have loyal friends if you want to do right.” - Proverbs 14:22
Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.
Thought for the Day
American novelist, short story writer, and poet, Margaret Deland wrote, “Conscience that isn't hitched up to common sense is a mighty dangerous thing.”
A Joke for TodayYou might be a redneck if...
You think cur is a breed of dog.
People hear your car long before they see it.
Your four-year-old is a member of the NRA.
Your satellite dish payment delays buying school clothes for the kids.
Your most expensive shoes have numbers on the heels.
Your wife has ever burned out an electric razor.
Your birth announcement included the word "rug rat".
You've ever hitchhiked naked.
You're turned on by a woman who can field dress a deer.
Your wife keeps a can of Vienna sausage in her purse.
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