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Sun 2023-07-16 Numbers19 Psalms56 Psalms57 Isaiah8 Isaiah9 James2
Numbers 19.
19:1 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron:
19:2 "This is a requirement of the law that the LORD has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke.
19:3 Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.
19:4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting.
19:5 While he watches, the heifer is to be burned--its hide, flesh, blood and offal.
19:6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.
19:7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening.
19:8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.
19:9 "A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They shall be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin.
19:10 The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the aliens living among them.
19:11 "Whoever touches the dead body of anyone will be unclean for seven days.
19:12 He must purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third and seventh days, he will not be clean.
19:13 Whoever touches the dead body of anyone and fails to purify himself defiles the LORD'S tabernacle. That person must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.
19:14 "This is the law that applies when a person dies in a tent: Anyone who enters the tent and anyone who is in it will be unclean for seven days,
19:15 and every open container without a lid fastened on it will be unclean.
19:16 "Anyone out in the open who touches someone who has been killed with a sword or someone who has died a natural death, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
19:17 "For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them.
19:18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or someone who has been killed or someone who has died a natural death.
19:19 The man who is clean is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify him. The person being cleansed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and that evening he will be clean.
19:20 But if a person who is unclean does not purify himself, he must be cut off from the community, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on him, and he is unclean.
19:21 This is a lasting ordinance for them. "The man who sprinkles the water of cleansing must also wash his clothes, and anyone who touches the water of cleansing will be unclean till evening.
19:22 Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening."
Psalms 56.
56:1 Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me; all day long they press their attack.
56:2 My slanderers pursue me all day long; many are attacking me in their pride.
56:3 When I am afraid, I will trust in you.
56:4 In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?
56:5 All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me.
56:6 They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, eager to take my life.
56:7 On no account let them escape; in your anger, O God, bring down the nations.
56:8 Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll--are they not in your record?
56:9 Then my enemies will turn back when I call for help. By this I will know that God is for me.
56:10 In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise--
56:11 in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
56:12 I am under vows to you, O God; I will present my thank offerings to you.
56:13 For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.
Psalms 57.
57:1 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.
57:2 I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.
57:3 He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; Selah God sends his love and his faithfulness.
57:4 I am in the midst of lions; I lie among ravenous beasts--men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
57:5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
57:6 They spread a net for my feet--I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path--but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
57:7 My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.
57:8 Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.
57:9 I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples.
57:10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
57:11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.
Isaiah 8.
8:1 The LORD said to me, "Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
8:2 And I will call in Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah as reliable witnesses for me."
8:3 Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said to me, "Name him Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.
8:4 Before the boy knows how to say 'My father' or 'My mother,' the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria."
8:5 The LORD spoke to me again:
8:6 "Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah,
8:7 therefore the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the River--the king of Assyria with all his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks
8:8 and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, O Immanuel!"
8:9 Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
8:10 Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us.
8:11 The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said:
8:12 "Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.
8:13 The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread,
8:14 and he will be a sanctuary; but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.
8:15 Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured."
8:16 Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples.
8:17 I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.
8:18 Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.
8:19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
8:20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
8:21 Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.
8:22 Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.
Isaiah 9 1-7.
9:1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan--
9:2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
9:3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.
9:4 For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
9:5 Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
James 2.
2:1 My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism.
2:2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.
2:3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet,"
2:4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
2:5 Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
2:6 But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?
2:7 Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
2:8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.
2:9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.
2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
2:11 For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.
2:12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom,
2:13 because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!
2:14 What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?
2:15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.
2:16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?
2:17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
2:18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.
2:19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder.
2:20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?
2:21 Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
2:22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
2:23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend.
2:24 You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.
2:25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
2:26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.