February 25
29“On the tenth day of the appointed month in early autumn, you must deny yourselves. Neither native-born Israelites nor foreigners living among you may do any kind of work. This is a permanent law for you. 30On that day offerings of purification will be made for you, and you will be purified in the Lord’s presence from all your sins.
31It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. This is a permanent law for you. 32In future generations, the purification ceremony will be performed by the priest who has been anointed and ordained to serve as high priest in place of his ancestor Aaron. He will put on the holy linen garments
33and purify the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and the entire congregation. 34This is a permanent law for you, to purify the people of Israel from their sins, making them right with the Lord once each year.” Moses followed all these instructions exactly as the Lord had commanded him.
Chapter 17
1Then the Lord said to Moses, 2“Give the following instructions to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel. This is what the Lord has commanded. 3“If any native Israelite sacrifices a bull* or a lamb or a goat anywhere inside or outside the camp
4instead of bringing it to the entrance of the Tabernacle to present it as an offering to the Lord, that person will be as guilty as a murderer. Such a person has shed blood and will be cut off from the community. 5The purpose of this rule is to stop the Israelites from sacrificing animals in the open fields. It will ensure that they bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle, so he can present them to the Lord as peace offerings.
6Then the priest will be able to splatter the blood against the Lord’s altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and he will burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 7The people must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering sacrifices to the goat idols. This is a permanent law for them, to be observed from generation to generation.
8“Give them this command as well. If any native Israelite or foreigner living among you offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice 9but does not bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle to offer it to the Lord, that person will be cut off from the community. 10“And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you eats or drinks blood in any form, I will turn against that person and cut him off from the community of your people,
11for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible. 12That is why I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or drink blood—neither you nor the foreigners living among you.’
13“And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you goes hunting and kills an animal or bird that is approved for eating, he must drain its blood and cover it with earth. 14The life of every creature is in its blood. That is why I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or drink blood, for the life of any creature is in its blood.’ So whoever consumes blood will be cut off from the community.
15“And if any native-born Israelites or foreigners eat the meat of an animal that died naturally or was torn up by wild animals, they must wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. They will remain ceremonially unclean until evening, but then they will be clean. 16But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be punished for their sin.”
Chapter 18
1Then the Lord said to Moses, 2“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the Lord your God. 3So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life.
4You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God. 5If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the Lord. 6“You must never have sexual relations with a close relative, for I am the Lord. 7“Do not violate your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her.
8“Do not have sexual relations with any of your father’s wives, for this would violate your father. 9“Do not have sexual relations with your sister or half sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born into your household or someone else’s.
10“Do not have sexual relations with your granddaughter, whether she is your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for this would violate yourself. 11“Do not have sexual relations with your stepsister, the daughter of any of your father’s wives, for she is your sister.
12“Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister, for she is your father’s close relative. 13“Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s close relative.
14“Do not violate your uncle, your father’s brother, by having sexual relations with his wife, for she is your aunt. 15“Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her.
16“Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, for this would violate your brother. 17“Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. And do not take* her granddaughter, whether her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives, and this would be a wicked act.
18“While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her, for they would be rivals. 19“Do not have sexual relations with a woman during her period of menstrual impurity.
20“Do not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife. 21“Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a sacrifice to Molech, for you must not bring shame on the name of your God. I am the Lord.
22“Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin. 23“A man must not defile himself by having sex with an animal. And a woman must not offer herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it. This is a perverse act.
24“Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for the people I am driving out before you have defiled themselves in all these ways. 25Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out.
26You must obey all my decrees and regulations. You must not commit any of these detestable sins. This applies both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.
27“All these detestable activities are practiced by the people of the land where I am taking you, and this is how the land has become defiled.
28So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now. 29Whoever commits any of these detestable sins will be cut off from the community of Israel. 30So obey my instructions, and do not defile yourselves by committing any of these detestable practices that were committed by the people who lived in the land before you. I am the Lord your God.”
Mark 7:24–8:10
24Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret. 25Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil spirit,
26and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, 27Jesus told her, “First I should feed the children—my own family, the Jews.* It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”
28She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.” 29“Good answer!” he said. “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.” 30And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.
31Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns. 32A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.
33Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue. 34Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!” 35Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!
36Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news. 37They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”
Chapter 8
1About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, 2“I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. 3If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.”
4His disciples replied, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?” 5Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?” “Seven loaves,” they replied. 6So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd.
7A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them. 8They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. 9There were about 4,000 people in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten. 10Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.
Psalm 41:1-13
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor!
The Lord rescues them when they are in trouble.
2 The Lord protects them
and keeps them alive.
He gives them prosperity in the land
and rescues them from their enemies.
3 The Lord nurses them when they
are sick and restores them to health.
4 “O Lord,” I prayed, “have mercy on me.
Heal me, for I have sinned against you.”
5 But my enemies say nothing but evil about me.
“How soon will he die and be forgotten?” they ask.
6 They visit me as if they were my friends,
but all the while they gather gossip,
and when they leave, they spread it everywhere.
7 All who hate me whisper about me,
imagining the worst.
8 “He has some fatal disease,” they say.
“He will never get out of that bed!”
9 Even my best friend, the one I trusted completely,
the one who shared my food, has turned against me.
10 Lord, have mercy on me.
Make me well again, so I can pay them back!
11 I know you are pleased with me,
for you have not let my enemies triumph over me.
12 You have preserved my life because I am innocent;
you have brought me into your presence forever.
13 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel,
who lives from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and amen!
Proverbs 10:15-16
15 The wealth of the rich is their fortress;
the poverty of the poor is their destruction.
16 The earnings of the godly enhance their lives,
but evil people squander their money on sin.