March 13 - Matthew 14.22-36, Leviticus 22-23 and Proverbs 31
March 13 - Matthew 14.22-36, Leviticus 22-23 and Proverbs 31
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Jesus Walks on the Water
 24By this time the boat was a long way from the shore. It was going against the wind and was being tossed around by the waves. 25A little while before morning, Jesus came walking on the water toward his disciples. 26When they saw him, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified and started screaming.
27At once, Jesus said to them, "Don't worry! I am Jesus. Don't be afraid."
28Peter replied, "Lord, if it is really you, tell me to come to you on the water."
29"Come on!" Jesus said. Peter then got out of the boat and started walking on the water toward him.
30But when Peter saw how strong the wind was, he was afraid and started sinking. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted.
31Right away, Jesus reached out his hand. He helped Peter up and said, "You surely don't have much faith. Why do you doubt?"
32When Jesus and Peter got into the boat, the wind died down. 33The men in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, "You really are the Son of God!"
Jesus Heals Sick People in Gennesaret
34Jesus and his disciples crossed the lake and came to shore near the town of Gennesaret. 35The people found out that he was there, and they sent word to everyone who lived in that part of the country. So they brought all the sick people to Jesus. 36They begged him just to let them touch his clothes, and everyone who did was healed.
The Offerings Are Holy Leviticus 22 The LORD told Moses 2to say to Aaron and his sons:I am the LORD God, and I demand that you honor my holy name by showing proper respect for the offerings brought to me by the people of Israel. 3If any of you are unclean when you accept an offering for me, I will no longer let you serve as a priest. 4None of you may take part in the sacred meals while you have a skin disease or an infected penis, or after you have been near a dead body or have had a flow of semen, 5or if you have touched an unclean creature of any sort, including an unclean person. 6-7Once you are unclean, you must take a bath, but you still cannot eat any of the sacred food until evening. 8I command you not to eat anything that is killed by a wild animal or dies a natural death. This would make you unclean. 9Obey me, or you will die on duty for disgracing the place of worship. Remember--I am the LORD, the one who makes a priest holy.
10Only you priests and your families may eat the food offerings; these are too sacred for any of your servants. 11However, any slave that you own, including those born into your household, may eat this food. 12If your daughter marries someone who isn't a priest, she can no longer have any of this food. 13But if she returns to your home, either widowed or divorced, and has no children, she may join in the meal. Only members of a priestly family can eat this food, 14and anyone else who accidentally does so, must pay for the food plus a fine of twenty percent.
15I warn you not to treat lightly the offerings that are brought by the people of Israel. 16Don't let them become guilty of eating this sacred food. Remember--I am the LORD, the one who makes these offerings holy.
Acceptable Sacrifices 17The LORD told Moses 18to tell Aaron and his sons and everyone else the rules for offering sacrifices. He said:
The animals that are to be completely burned on the altar 19-20must have nothing wrong with them, or else I won't accept them. Bulls or rams or goats are the animals to be used for these sacrifices.
21When you offer a sacrifice to ask my blessing, there must be nothing wrong with the animal. This is true, whether the sacrifice is part of a promise or something you do voluntarily. 22Don't offer an animal that is blind or injured or that has an infection or a skin disease. 23If one of your cattle or lambs has a leg that is longer or shorter than the others, you may offer it voluntarily, but not as part of a promise. 24As long as you live in this land, don't offer an animal with injured testicles. 25And don't bring me animals you bought from a foreigner. I won't accept them, because they are no better than one that has something wrong with it.
26The LORD told Moses to say:
27Newborn cattle, sheep, or goats must remain with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day, you may send them up in smoke to me, and I will accept the offering. 28Don't sacrifice a newborn animal and its mother on the same day.
29When you offer a sacrifice to give thanks to me, you must do it in a way that is acceptable. 30Eat all of the meat that same day and don't save any for the next day. I am the LORD your God!
31Obey my laws and teachings--I am the LORD. 32-33I demand respect from the people of Israel, so don't disgrace my holy name. Remember--I am the one who chose you to be priests and rescued all of you from Egypt, so that I would be your LORD.
Religious Festivals Leviticus 23 The LORD told Moses 2to say to the community of Israel:I have chosen certain times for you to come together and worship me.
3You have six days when you can do your work, but the seventh day of each week is holy because it belongs to me. No matter where you live, you must rest on the Sabbath and come together for worship. This law will never change.
Passover and the Festival of Thin Bread
4-5Passover is another time when you must come together to worship me, and it must be celebrated on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month of each year.
6The Festival of Thin Bread begins on the fifteenth day of that same month; it lasts seven days, and during this time you must honor me by eating bread made without yeast. 7On the first day of this festival you must rest from your work and come together for worship. 8Each day of this festival you must offer sacrifices. Then on the final day you must once again rest from your work and come together for worship.
Offering the First Part of the Harvest 9The LORD told Moses 10to say to the community of Israel:
After you enter the land I am giving you, the first bundle of wheat from each crop must be given to me. So bring it to a priest 11on the day after the Sabbath. He will lift it up in dedication to me, and I will accept you. 12You must also offer a sacrifice to please me. So bring the priest a one-year-old lamb that has nothing wrong with it 13and four pounds of your finest flour mixed with olive oil. Then he will place these on the bronze altar and send them up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. Together with these, you must bring a quart of wine as a drink offering. 14I am your God, and I forbid you to eat any new grain or anything made from it until you have brought these offerings. This law will never change.
The Harvest Festival
15Seven weeks after you offer this bundle of grain, each family must bring another offering of new grain. 16Do this exactly fifty days later, which is the day following the seventh Sabbath. 17Bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up in dedication to me. Each loaf is to be made with yeast and with four pounds of the finest flour from the first part of your harvest.
18At this same time, the entire community of Israel must bring seven lambs that are a year old, a young bull, and two rams. These animals must have nothing wrong with them, and they must be offered as a sacrifice to please me. You must also offer the proper grain and wine sacrifices with each animal. 19Offer a goat as a sacrifice for sin, and two rams a year old as a sacrifice to ask my blessing. 20The priest will lift up the rams together with the bread in dedication to me. These offerings are holy and are my gift to the priest. 21This is a day of celebration and worship, a time of rest from your work. You and your descendants must obey this law.
22When you harvest your grain, always leave some of it standing around the edges of your fields and don't pick up what falls on the ground. Leave it for the poor and for those foreigners who live among you. I am the LORD your God!
The Festival of Trumpets
23The LORD told Moses 24-25to say to the people of Israel:
The first day of the seventh month must be a day of complete rest. Then at the sound of the trumpets, you will come together to worship and to offer sacrifices on the altar.
The Great Day of Forgiveness
26The LORD God said to Moses:
27The tenth day of the seventh month is the Great Day of Forgiveness. It is a solemn day of worship; everyone must go without eating to show sorrow for their sins, and sacrifices must be burned. 28No one is to work on that day--it is the Great Day of Forgiveness, when sacrifices will be offered to me, so that I will forgive your sins. 29I will destroy anyone who refuses to go without eating. 30-31None of my people are ever to do any work on that day--not now or in the future. And I will wipe out those who do! 32This is a time of complete rest just like the Sabbath, and everyone must go without eating from the evening of the ninth to the evening of the tenth.
The Festival of Shelters
33The LORD told Moses 34to say to the community of Israel:
Beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and continuing for seven days, everyone must celebrate the Festival of Shelters in honor of me. 35No one is to do any work on the first day of the festival--it is a time when everyone must come together for worship. 36For seven days, sacrifices must be offered on the altar. The eighth day is also to be a day of complete rest, as well as a time of offering sacrifices on the altar and of coming together for worship.
37I have chosen these festivals as times when my people must come together for worship and when animals, grain, and wine are to be offered on the proper days. 38These festivals must be celebrated in addition to the Sabbaths and the times when you offer special gifts or sacrifices to keep a promise or as a voluntary offering.
39Remember to begin the Festival of Shelters on the fifteenth day of the seventh month after you have harvested your crops. Celebrate this festival for seven days in honor of me and don't do any work on the first day or on the day following the festival. 40Pick the best fruit from your trees and cut leafy branches to use during the time of this joyous celebration in my honor. 41I command you and all of your descendants to celebrate this festival during the seventh month of each year. 42For seven days every Israelite must live in a shelter, 43so future generations will know that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.
44This is how Moses instructed the people of Israel to celebrate the LORD's festivals.
What King Lemuel's Mother Taught Him Proverbs 31 These are the sayings that King Lemuel of Massa was taught by his mother.
 2My son Lemuel, you were born
in answer to my prayers,
so listen carefully.
3Don't waste your life
chasing after women!
This has ruined many kings.
4Kings and leaders
should not get drunk
or even want to drink.
5Drinking makes you forget
your responsibilities,
and you mistreat the poor.
6Beer and wine are only
for the dying
or for those
who have lost all hope.
7Let them drink
and forget
how poor and miserable
they feel.
8But you must defend
those who are helpless
and have no hope.
9Be fair and give justice
to the poor and homeless.
In Praise of a Good Wife 10A truly good wife
is the most precious treasure
a man can find!
11Her husband depends on her,
and she never
lets him down.
12She is good to him
every day of her life,
 13 and with her own hands
she gladly makes clothes.
14She is like a sailing ship
that brings food
from across the sea.
15She gets up before daylight
to prepare food
for her family
and for her servants.
16She knows how to buy land
 and how to plant a vineyard,
17and she always works hard.
18She knows when to buy or sell,
and she stays busy
until late at night.
19She spins her own cloth,
20and she helps the poor
and the needy.
21Her family has warm clothing,
and so she doesn't worry
when it snows.
22She does her own sewing,
and everything she wears
is beautiful.
23Her husband is a well-known
and respected leader
in the city.
24She makes clothes to sell
to the shop owners.
25She is strong and graceful,
as well as cheerful
about the future.
26Her words are sensible,
and her advice
is thoughtful.
27She takes good care
of her family
and is never lazy.
28Her children praise her,
and with great pride
her husband says,
29"There are many good women,
but you are the best!"
30Charm can be deceiving,
and beauty fades away,
but a woman
who honors the LORD
deserves to be praised.
31Show her respect--
praise her in public
for what she has done.
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This reading is from The
Holy Bible, Contemporary English Version, copyright © American
Bible Society, 1995.
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