March 20
1*Then Moses summoned the leaders of the tribes of Israel and told them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: 2A man who makes a vow to the Lord or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would do. 3“If a young woman makes a vow to the Lord or a pledge under oath while she is still living at her father’s home, 4and her father hears of the vow or pledge and does not object to it, then all her vows and pledges will stand.
5But if her father refuses to let her fulfill the vow or pledge on the day he hears of it, then all her vows and pledges will become invalid. The Lord will forgive her because her father would not let her fulfill them. 6“Now suppose a young woman makes a vow or binds herself with an impulsive pledge and later marries. 7If her husband learns of her vow or pledge and does not object on the day he hears of it, her vows and pledges will stand. 8But if her husband refuses to accept her vow or impulsive pledge on the day he hears of it, he nullifies her commitments, and the Lord will forgive her.
9If, however, a woman is a widow or is divorced, she must fulfill all her vows and pledges. 10“But suppose a woman is married and living in her husband’s home when she makes a vow or binds herself with a pledge. 11If her husband hears of it and does not object to it, her vow or pledge will stand. 12But if her husband refuses to accept it on the day he hears of it, her vow or pledge will be nullified, and the Lord will forgive her. 13So her husband may either confirm or nullify any vows or pledges she makes to deny herself.
14But if he does not object on the day he hears of it, then he is agreeing to all her vows and pledges. 15If he waits more than a day and then tries to nullify a vow or pledge, he will be punished for her guilt.” 16These are the regulations the Lord gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife, and between a father and a young daughter who still lives at home.
Chapter 31
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2“On behalf of the people of Israel, take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors.” 3So Moses said to the people, “Choose some men, and arm them to fight the Lord’s war of revenge against Midian. 4From each tribe of Israel, send 1,000 men into battle.” 5So they chose 1,000 men from each tribe of Israel, a total of 12,000 men armed for battle. 6Then Moses sent them out, 1,000 men from each tribe, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest led them into battle. They carried along the holy objects of the sanctuary and the trumpets for sounding the charge.
7They attacked Midian as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed all the men. 8All five of the Midianite kings—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—died in the battle. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.
9Then the Israelite army captured the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder. 10They burned all the towns and villages where the Midianites had lived. 11After they had gathered the plunder and captives, both people and animals,
12they brought them all to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the whole community of Israel, which was camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho. 13Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. 14But Moses was furious with all the generals and captains* who had returned from the battle. 15“Why have you let all the women live?” he demanded. 16“These are the very ones who followed Balaam’s advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the Lord at Mount Peor. They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the Lord’s people.
17So kill all the boys and all the women who have had intercourse with a man. 18Only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves. 19And all of you who have killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days. 20Purify all your clothing, too, and everything made of leather, goat hair, or wood.” 21Then Eleazar the priest said to the men who were in the battle, “The Lord has given Moses this legal requirement: 22Anything made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead—
23that is, all metals that do not burn—must be passed through fire in order to be made ceremonially pure. These metal objects must then be further purified with the water of purification. But everything that burns must be purified by the water alone. 24On the seventh day you must wash your clothes and be purified. Then you may return to the camp.” 25And the Lord said to Moses, 26“You and Eleazar the priest and the family leaders of each tribe are to make a list of all the plunder taken in the battle, including the people and animals. 27Then divide the plunder into two parts, and give half to the men who fought the battle and half to the rest of the people.
28From the army’s portion, first give the Lord his share of the plunder—one of every 500 of the prisoners and of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. 29Give this share of the army’s half to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord. 30From the half that belongs to the people of Israel, take one of every fifty of the prisoners and of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and other animals. Give this share to the Levites, who are in charge of maintaining the Lord’s Tabernacle.” 31So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.
32The plunder remaining from everything the fighting men had taken totaled 675,000 sheep and goats, 3372,000 cattle, 3461,000 donkeys, 35and 32,000 virgin girls. 36Half of the plunder was given to the fighting men. It totaled 337,500 sheep and goats, 37of which 675 were the Lord’s share; 3836,000 cattle, of which 72 were the Lord’s share; 3930,500 donkeys, of which 61 were the Lord’s share; 40and 16,000 virgin girls, of whom 32 were the Lord’s share. 41Moses gave all the Lord’s share to Eleazar the priest, just as the Lord had directed him.
42Half of the plunder belonged to the people of Israel, and Moses separated it from the half belonging to the fighting men. 43It totaled 337,500 sheep and goats, 4436,000 cattle, 4530,500 donkeys, 46and 16,000 virgin girls. 47From the half-share given to the people, Moses took one of every fifty prisoners and animals and gave them to the Levites, who maintained the Lord’s Tabernacle. All this was done as the Lord had commanded Moses. 48Then all the generals and captains came to Moses 49and said, “We, your servants, have accounted for all the men who went out to battle under our command; not one of us is missing!
50So we are presenting the items of gold we captured as an offering to the Lord from our share of the plunder—armbands, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces. This will purify our lives before the Lord and make us right with him.” 51So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from all the military commanders—all kinds of jewelry and crafted objects. 52In all, the gold that the generals and captains presented as a gift to the Lord weighed about 420 pounds. 53All the fighting men had taken some of the plunder for themselves. 54So Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gifts from the generals and captains and brought the gold to the Tabernacle as a reminder to the Lord that the people of Israel belong to him.
Luke 4:1-30
1Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry. 3Then the devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’” 5Then the devil took him up and revealed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6“I will give you the glory of these kingdoms and authority over them,” the devil said, “because they are mine to give to anyone I please. 7I will give it all to you if you will worship me.” 8Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” 9Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! 10For the Scriptures say ‘He will order his angels to protect and guard you. 11And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”
12Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”13When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came. 14Then Jesus returned to Galilee, filled with the Holy Spirit’s power. Reports about him spread quickly through the whole region. 15He taught regularly in their synagogues and was praised by everyone. 16When he came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. 17The scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where this was written:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, 19and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” 20He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. All eyes in the synagogue looked at him intently. 21Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”
22Everyone spoke well of him and was amazed by the gracious words that came from his lips. “How can this be?” they asked. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” 23Then he said, “You will undoubtedly quote me this proverb: ‘Physician, heal yourself’—meaning, ‘Do miracles here in your hometown like those you did in Capernaum.’ 24But I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his own hometown. 25“Certainly there were many needy widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the heavens were closed for three and a half years, and a severe famine devastated the land.
26Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them. He was sent instead to a foreigner—a widow of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. 27And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, but the only one healed was Naaman, a Syrian.” 28When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. 29Jumping up, they mobbed him and forced him to the edge of the hill on which the town was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, 30but he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.
Psalm 63:1-11
A psalm of David, regarding a time when David was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O God, you are my God;
I earnestly search for you.
My soul thirsts for you;
my whole body longs for you
in this parched and weary land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in your sanctuary
and gazed upon your power and glory.
3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself;
how I praise you!
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
lifting up my hands to you in prayer.
5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast.
I will praise you with songs of joy.
6 I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
7 Because you are my helper,
I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
your strong right hand holds me securely.
9 But those plotting to destroy me will come to ruin.
They will go down into the depths of the earth.
10 They will die by the sword
and become the food of jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God.
All who trust in him will praise him,
while liars will be silenced.
Proverbs 11:20-21
20 The Lord detests people with crooked hearts,
but he delights in those with integrity.
21 Evil people will surely be punished,
but the children of the godly will go free.