March 19 - Matthew 18.18-35, Numbers 7-8 and Ecclesiastes 6
March 19 - Matthew 18.18-35, Numbers 7-8 and Ecclesiastes 6
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Prohibiting and Permitting Matthew 18 18"And so I tell all of you: what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven. 19"And I tell you more: whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.
20For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them."
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant 21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?"
22"No, not seven times," answered Jesus, "but seventy times seven,
23because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants' accounts.
24He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.
25The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt.
26The servant fell on his knees before the king. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay you everything!'
27The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go.
28"Then the man went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed him and started choking him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he said.
29His fellow servant fell down and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!'
30But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt.
31When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything.
32So he called the servant in. 'You worthless slave!' he said. 'I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to.
33You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.'
34The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount."
35And Jesus concluded, "That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
The Offerings of the Leaders Numbers 7 On the day Moses finished setting up the Tent of the LORD's presence, he anointed and dedicated the Tent and all its equipment, and the altar and all its equipment. 2Then the clan chiefs who were leaders in the tribes of Israel, the same men who were in charge of the census, 3brought their offerings to the LORD: six wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each leader. After they had presented them, 4the LORD said to Moses, 5"Accept these gifts for use in the work to be done for the Tent; give them to the Levites according to the work they have to do." 6So Moses gave the wagons and the oxen to the Levites. 7He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonites, 8and four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites. All their work was to be done under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron. 9But Moses gave no wagons or oxen to the Kohathites, because the sacred objects they took care of had to be carried on their shoulders.10The leaders also brought offerings to celebrate the dedication of the altar. When they were ready to present their gifts at the altar,
11the LORD said to Moses, "Tell them that each day for a period of twelve days one of the leaders is to present his gifts for the dedication of the altar."
12-83They presented their offerings in the following order:
 The offerings each one brought were identical: one silver bowl weighing 50 ounces and one silver basin weighing 30 ounces, by the official standard, both of them full of flour mixed with oil for the grain offering; one gold dish weighing 4 ounces, full of incense; one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old lamb, for the burnt offering; one goat for the sin offering; and two bulls, five rams, five goats, and five one-year-old lambs, for the fellowship offering.
84-88The totals of the offerings brought by the twelve leaders for the dedication of the altar were as follows:
 --twelve silver bowls and twelve silver basins weighing a total of 60 pounds
--twelve gold dishes weighing a total of 48 ounces, filled with incense
--twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve one-year-old lambs, plus the grain offerings that go with them, for the burnt offerings
--twelve goats for the sin offerings
--twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty goats, sixty one-year-old lambs, for the fellowship offerings
89When Moses went into the Tent to talk with the LORD, he heard the LORD speaking to him from above the lid on the Covenant Box, between the two winged creatures.
Placing the Lamps Numbers 8 The LORD said to Moses, 2"Tell Aaron that when he puts the seven lamps on the lampstand, he should place them so that the light shines toward the front." 3Aaron obeyed and placed the lamps facing the front of the lampstand. 4From top to bottom the lampstand was made of hammered gold, according to the pattern that the LORD had shown Moses.The Purification and Dedication of the Levites 5The LORD said to Moses,
6"Separate the Levites from the rest of the people of Israel and purify them
7in the following way: sprinkle them with the water of purification and have them shave their whole bodies and have them wash their clothes. Then they will be ritually clean.
8Then they are to take a young bull and the required grain offering of flour mixed with olive oil; and you are to take another bull for the sin offering.
9Then assemble the whole community of Israel and have the Levites stand in front of the Tent of my presence.
10The people of Israel are to place their hands on the heads of the Levites,
11and then Aaron shall dedicate the Levites to me as a special gift from the Israelites, so that they may do my work.
12The Levites shall then put their hands on the heads of the two bulls; one is to be offered as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, in order to perform the ritual of purification for the Levites.
13"Dedicate the Levites as a special gift to me, and put Aaron and his sons in charge of them.
14Separate the Levites in this way from the rest of the Israelites, so that they will belong to me.
15After you have purified and dedicated the Levites, they will be qualified to work in the Tent.
16I have claimed them in the place of all the first-born sons of the Israelites, and they belong to me alone.
17When I killed all the first-born in Egypt, I consecrated as my own the oldest son of each Israelite family and the first-born of every animal.
18I am now taking the Levites instead of all the first-born of the Israelites,
19and I assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons, as a gift from the Israelites, to work in the Tent for the people of Israel and to protect the Israelites from the disaster that would strike them if they came too near the Holy Place."
20So Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel dedicated the Levites, as the LORD commanded Moses.
21The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron dedicated them as a special gift to the LORD. He also performed the ritual of purification for them.
22The people did everything the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites. And so the Levites were qualified to work in the Tent under Aaron and his sons.
23The LORD said to Moses,
24"From the age of twenty-five each Levite shall perform his duties in the Tent of my presence,
25and at the age of fifty he shall retire.
26After that, he may help his fellow Levites in performing their duties in the Tent, but he must not perform any service by himself. This is how you are to regulate the duties of the Levites."
Ecclesiastes 6 I have noticed that in this world a serious injustice is done. 2God will give us wealth, honor, and property, yes, everything we want, but then will not let us enjoy it. Some stranger will enjoy it instead. It is useless, and it just isn't right. 3We may have a hundred children and live a long time, but no matter how long we live, if we do not get our share of happiness and do not receive a decent burial, then I say that a baby born dead is better off. 4It does that baby no good to be born; it disappears into darkness, where it is forgotten. 5It never sees the light of day or knows what life is like, but at least it has found rest-- 6more so than the man who never enjoys life, though he may live two thousand years. After all, both of them are going to the same place. 7We do all our work just to get something to eat, but we never have enough.
8How are the wise better off than fools? What good does it do the poor to know how to face life?
9It is useless; it is like chasing the wind. It is better to be satisfied with what you have than to be always wanting something else.
10Everything that happens was already determined long ago, and we all know that you cannot argue with someone who is stronger than you.
11The longer you argue, the more useless it is, and you are no better off.
12How can anyone know what is best for us in this short, useless life of ours--a life that passes like a shadow? How can we know what will happen in the world after we die?
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This reading is from The Holy
Bible, Today's English Version, Second Edition copyright © American
Bible Society, 1992;
Old Testament copyright © American Bible Society, 1976, 1992; New Testament ©
American Bible Society, 1966, 1971, 1976, 1992.
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Day --- Tribe --- Leader