Day 63 of 730

¹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²"Speak to Aaron, and tell him, 'When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the menorah.'"

³Aaron did so. He lit its lamps to light the area in front of the menorah, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴This was the workmanship of the menorah, beaten work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was beaten work: according to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the menorah.

⁵The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

⁶"Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.

⁷You shall do this to them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of cleansing on them, let them shave their whole bodies with a razor, and let them wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves.

⁸Then let them take a young bull, and its meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil; and another young bull you shall take for a sin offering.

⁹You shall present the Levites before the Tent of Meeting. You shall assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel.

¹⁰You shall present the Levites before the Lord. The children of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites,

¹¹and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord for a wave offering, on the behalf of the children of Israel, that it may be theirs to do the service of the Lord.

¹²The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord, to make atonement for the Levites.

¹³You shall set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them as a wave offering to the Lord.

¹⁴Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the children of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.

¹⁵"After that, the Levites shall go in to do the service of the Tent of Meeting: and you shall cleanse them, and offer them as a wave offering.

¹⁶For they are wholly given to me from among the children of Israel; instead of all who open the womb, even the firstborn of all the children of Israel, I have taken them to me.

¹⁷For all the firstborn among the children of Israel are mine, both man and animal. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified them for myself.

¹⁸I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel.

¹⁹I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel; that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come near to the sanctuary."

²⁰Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel did so to the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so the children of Israel did to them.

²¹The Levites purified themselves from sin, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them for a wave offering before the Lord; and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

²²After that, the Levites went in to do their service in the Tent of Meeting before Aaron, and before his sons: as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.

²³The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²⁴"This is that which belongs to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall go in to wait on the service in the work of the Tent of Meeting;

²⁵and from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting on the work, and shall serve no more,

²⁶but shall minister with their brothers in the Tent of Meeting, to perform the duty, and shall do no service. You shall do thus to the Levites concerning their duties."

¹The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

²"Moreover let the children of Israel keep the Passover in its appointed season.

³On the fourteenth day of this month, at evening, you shall keep it in its appointed season-according to all its statutes, and according to all its ordinances, you shall keep it."

⁴Moses spoke to the children of Israel, that they should keep the Passover.

⁵They kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at evening, in the wilderness of Sinai. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did.

⁶There were certain men, who were unclean because of the dead body of a man, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day.

⁷Those men said to him, "We are unclean because of the dead body of a man. Why are we kept back, that we may not offer the offering of the Lord in its appointed season among the children of Israel?"

⁸Moses answered them, "Wait, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you."

⁹The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁰"Say to the children of Israel, 'If any man of you or of your generations is unclean by reason of a dead body, or is on a journey far away, he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord.

¹¹In the second month, on the fourteenth day at evening they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

¹²They shall leave none of it until the morning, nor break a bone of it. According to all the statute of the Passover they shall keep it.

¹³But the man who is clean, and is not on a journey, and fails to keep the Passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people. Because he did not offer the offering of the Lord in its appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.

¹⁴If a foreigner lives among you, and desires to keep the Passover to the Lord; according to the statute of the Passover, and according to its ordinance, so shall he do. You shall have one statute, both for the foreigner, and for him who is born in the land.'"

¹⁵On the day that the tabernacle was raised up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the Tent of the Testimony: and at evening it was over the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until morning.

¹⁶So it was continually. The cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night.

¹⁷Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tent, then after that the children of Israel traveled; and in the place where the cloud remained, there the children of Israel encamped.

¹⁸At the commandment of the Lord, the children of Israel traveled, and at the commandment of the Lord they encamped. As long as the cloud remained on the tabernacle they remained encamped.

¹⁹When the cloud stayed on the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the Lord's command, and did not travel.

²⁰Sometimes the cloud was a few days on the tabernacle; then according to the commandment of the Lord they remained encamped, and according to the commandment of the Lord they traveled.

²¹Sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they traveled: or by day and by night, when the cloud was taken up, they traveled.

²²Whether it was two days, or a month, or a year that the cloud stayed on the tabernacle, remaining on it, the children of Israel remained encamped, and did not travel; but when it was taken up, they traveled.

²³At the commandment of the Lord they encamped, and at the commandment of the Lord they traveled. They kept the Lord's command, at the commandment of the Lord by Moses.

¹God, you are my God. I will earnestly seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and weary land, where there is no water.

²So I have seen you in the sanctuary, watching your power and your glory.

³Because your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you.

⁴So I will bless you while I live. I will lift up my hands in your name.

⁵My soul shall be satisfied as with the richest food. My mouth shall praise you with joyful lips,

⁶when I remember you on my bed, and think about you in the night watches.

⁷For you have been my help. I will rejoice in the shadow of your wings.

⁸My soul stays close to you. Your right hand holds me up.

⁹But those who seek my soul, to destroy it, shall go into the lower parts of the earth.

¹⁰They shall be given over to the power of the sword. They shall be jackal food.

¹¹But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone who swears by him will praise him, for the mouth of those who speak lies shall be silenced.

¹The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:

²to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;

³to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity;

⁴to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young man:

⁵that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:

⁶to understand a proverb, and parables, the words and riddles of the wise.

⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.

⁸My son, listen to your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching:

⁹for they will be a garland to grace your head, and chains around your neck.

¹⁰My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.

¹¹If they say, "Come with us, Let's lie in wait for blood; let's lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

¹²let's swallow them up alive like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down into the pit.

¹³We'll find all valuable wealth. We'll fill our houses with spoil.

¹⁴You shall cast your lot among us. We'll all have one purse."

¹⁵My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path,

¹⁶for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood.

¹⁷For in vain is the net spread in the sight of any bird:

¹⁸but these lie in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives.

¹⁹So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.

²⁰Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.

²¹She calls at the head of noisy places. At the entrance of the city gates, she utters her words:

²²"How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long will mockers delight themselves in mockery, and fools hate knowledge?

²³Turn at my reproof. Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make known my words to you.

²⁴Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention;

²⁵but you have ignored all my counsel, and wanted none of my reproof;

²⁶I also will laugh at your disaster. I will mock when calamity overtakes you;

²⁷when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when your disaster comes on like a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come on you.

²⁸Then will they call on me, but I will not answer. They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me;

²⁹because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord.

³⁰They wanted none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof.

³¹Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.

³²For the backsliding of the simple will kill them. The careless ease of fools will destroy them.

³³But whoever listens to me will dwell securely, and will be at ease, without fear of harm."