Day 56 of 730

¹The Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, 'A priest shall not defile himself for the dead among his people;

²except for his relatives that are near to him: for his mother, for his father, for his son, for his daughter, for his brother,

³and for his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.

⁴He shall not defile himself, being a chief man among his people, to profane himself.

⁵"'They shall not shave their heads, neither shall they shave off the corners of their beards, nor make any cuttings in their flesh.

⁶They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy.

⁷"'They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane; neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband: for he is holy to his God.

⁸You shall sanctify him therefore; for he offers the bread of your God: he shall be holy to you: for I the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy.

⁹"'The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the prostitute, she profanes her father: she shall be burned with fire.

¹⁰"'He who is the high priest among his brothers, upon whose head the anointing oil is poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose, nor tear his clothes;

¹¹neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father, or for his mother;

¹²neither shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the crown of the anointing oil of his God is upon him. I am the Lord.

¹³"'He shall take a wife in her virginity.

¹⁴A widow, or one divorced, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry: but a virgin of his own people shall he take as a wife.

¹⁵He shall not profane his seed among his people: for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.'"

¹⁶The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁷"Say to Aaron, 'None of your seed throughout their generations who has a blemish, may approach to offer the bread of his God.

¹⁸For whatever man he is that has a blemish, he shall not draw near: a blind man, or a lame, or he who has a flat nose, or any deformity,

¹⁹or a man who has an injured foot, or an injured hand,

²⁰or hunchbacked, or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye, or an itching disease, or scabs, or who has damaged testicles;

²¹no man of the seed of Aaron the priest, who has a blemish, shall come near to offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire. Since has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God.

²²He shall eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy, and of the holy.

²³He shall not come near to the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he has a blemish; that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.'"

²⁴So Moses spoke to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Tell Aaron and his sons to separate themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, which they make holy to me, and that they not profane my holy name. I am the Lord.

³"Tell them, 'If anyone of all your seed throughout your generations approaches the holy things, which the children of Israel make holy to the Lord, having his uncleanness on him, that soul shall be cut off from before me. I am the Lord.

⁴"'Whoever of the seed of Aaron is a leper or has an issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he is clean. Whoever touches anything that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goes from him;

⁵or whoever touches any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatever uncleanness he has;

⁶the person that touches any such shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his body in water.

⁷When the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his bread.

⁸That which dies of itself, or is torn by animals, he shall not eat, defiling himself by it. I am the Lord.

⁹"'They shall therefore follow my requirements, lest they bear sin for it, and die therein, if they profane it. I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

¹⁰"'No stranger shall eat of the holy thing: a foreigner living with the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.

¹¹But if a priest buys a slave, purchased by his money, he shall eat of it; and such as are born in his house, they shall eat of his bread.

¹²If a priest's daughter is married to an outsider, she shall not eat of the heave offering of the holy things.

¹³But if a priest's daughter is a widow, or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father's house, as in her youth, she may eat of her father's bread: but no stranger shall eat any of it.

¹⁴"'If a man eats something holy unwittingly, then he shall add the fifth part of its value to it, and shall give the holy thing to the priest.

¹⁵The priests shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer to the Lord,

¹⁶and so cause them to bear the iniquity that brings guilt, when they eat their holy things: for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.'"

¹⁷The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁸"Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, 'Whoever is of the house of Israel, or of the foreigners in Israel, who offers his offering, whether it be any of their vows, or any of their freewill offerings, which they offer to the Lord for a burnt offering;

¹⁹that you may be accepted, you shall offer a male without blemish, of the bulls, of the sheep, or of the goats.

²⁰But whatever has a blemish, that you shall not offer: for it shall not be acceptable for you.

²¹Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to accomplish a vow, or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.

²²Blind, injured, maimed, having a wart, festering, or having a running sore, you shall not offer these to the Lord, nor make an offering by fire of them on the altar to the Lord.

²³Either a bull or a lamb that has any deformity or lacking in his parts, that you may offer for a freewill offering; but for a vow it shall not be accepted.

²⁴That which has its testicles bruised, crushed, broken, or cut, you shall not offer to the Lord; neither shall you do thus in your land.

²⁵Neither shall you offer the bread of your God from the hand of a foreigner of any of these; because their corruption is in them. There is a blemish in them. They shall not be accepted for you.'"

²⁶The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁷"When a bull, or a sheep, or a goat, is born, then it shall remain seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thenceforth it shall be accepted for the offering of an offering made by fire to the Lord.

²⁸Whether it is a cow or ewe, you shall not kill it and its young both in one day.

²⁹"When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.

³⁰It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until the morning. I am the Lord.

³¹"Therefore you shall keep my commandments, and do them. I am the Lord.

³²You shall not profane my holy name, but I will be made holy among the children of Israel. I am the Lord who makes you holy,

³³who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. I am the Lord."

¹Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me.

²My enemies want to swallow me up all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me.

³When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.

⁴In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

⁵All day long they twist my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil.

⁶They conspire and lurk, watching my steps, they are eager to take my life.

⁷Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, God.

⁸You number my wanderings. You put my tears into your bottle. Aren't they in your book?

⁹Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this, that God is for me.

¹⁰In God, I will praise his word. In the Lord, I will praise his word.

¹¹I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

¹²Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you.

¹³For you have delivered my soul from death, and prevented my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

¹These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.

²It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

³As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.

⁴Take away the dross from the silver, and material comes out for the refiner;

⁵Take away the wicked from the king's presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king, or claim a place among great men;

⁷for it is better that it be said to you, "Come up here," than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince, whom your eyes have seen.

⁸Do not be hasty in bringing charges to court. What will you do in the end when your neighbor shames you?

⁹Debate your case with your neighbor, and do not betray the confidence of another;

¹⁰lest one who hears it put you to shame, and your bad reputation never depart.

¹¹A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

¹²As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover to an obedient ear.

¹³As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to those who send him; for he refreshes the soul of his masters.

¹⁴As clouds and wind without rain, so is he who boasts of gifts deceptively.

¹⁵By patience a ruler is persuaded. A soft tongue breaks the bone.

¹⁶Have you found honey? Eat as much as is sufficient for you, lest you eat too much, and vomit it.

¹⁷Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he be weary of you, and hate you.

¹⁸A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

¹⁹Confidence in someone unfaithful in time of trouble is like a bad tooth, or a lame foot.

²⁰As one who takes away a garment in cold weather, or vinegar on soda, so is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.

²¹If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink:

²²for you will heap coals of fire on his head, and the Lord will reward you.

²³The north wind brings forth rain: so a backbiting tongue brings an angry face.

²⁴It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than to share a house with a contentious woman.

²⁵Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.

²⁶Like a muddied spring, and a polluted well, so is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

²⁷It is not good to eat much honey; nor is it honorable to seek one's own honor.

²⁸Like a city that is broken down and without walls is a man whose spirit is without restraint.