the Fifth Week after Easter
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!
Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
March 24 - Bible-in-a-Year
nas
Numbers 17-18
Chapter 17
Aaron's Staff Buds
1 (F1)Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,2 "Speak to the sons of Israel, and obtain from them a staff for each father's household: twelve staffs, from all their leaders for their fathers' households. You shall write each man's name on his staff,3 and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi; for there is to be one staff for the head of each of their fathers' households.4 "You shall then leave them in the tent of meeting in front of (C1)the testimony, where I meet with you.5 "And it will come about that the staff of (C1)the man whom I choose will sprout. So I will relieve Myself of the grumblings of the sons of Israel, who are grumbling against you."6 So Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and all their leaders gave him a staff, one for each leader, for their fathers' households, twelve staffs in all, with the staff of Aaron among their staffs.7 Then Moses left the staffs before the LORD in (C1)the tent of the testimony.
8 Now on the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, (C1)Aaron's staff for the house of Levi had sprouted and produced buds and bloomed with blossoms, and it yielded ripe almonds.9 Moses then brought out all the staffs from the presence of the LORD to all the sons of Israel; and they looked, and each man took his staff.10 But the LORD said to Moses, "Put the staff of Aaron (C1)back in front of the testimony (F1)to be kept as a sign against the (F2)(C2)rebels, so that you may put an end to their grumblings against Me and they do not die."11 Moses did so; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did.
12 Then the sons of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, "(C1)Behold, we are passing away, we are perishing, we are all perishing!13 "(C1)Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the LORD, must die. Are we to perish completely?"
Chapter 18
Duties of Levites
1 So the LORD said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and your father's household with you shall (C1)bear the guilt (F1)in connection with the sanctuary, and you and your sons with you shall bear the guilt (F2)in connection with your priesthood.2 "But also bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may (C1)join you and serve you, while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony.3 "And they shall perform duties for you and the duties of the whole tent, but (C1)they shall not come near the furnishings of the sanctuary and (C2)the altar, or both they and you will die.4 "They shall join you and perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; but (F1)an unauthorized person shall not come near you.5 "So you shall perform the (C1)duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, (C2)so that there will no longer be wrath on the sons of Israel.6 "Behold, I Myself (C1)have taken your (F1)fellow Levites from among the sons of Israel; they are (C2)a gift to you, (F2)dedicated to the LORD, to perform the service for the tent of meeting.7 "But you and your sons with you shall (C1)attend to your priesthood for everything that concerns the altar and inside the veil, and you are to perform service. I am giving you the priesthood as (C2)a (F1)service that is a gift, and (C3)the (F2)unauthorized person who comes near shall be put to death."
The Priests' Portion
8 Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, "Now behold, I Myself have put you in charge of My (F1)(C1)offerings, all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel I have given to you as a portion and to your sons as a permanent allotment.9 "This shall be yours from the most holy gifts reserved from the fire; every offering of theirs, namely (C1)every grain offering, every (C2)sin offering, and every guilt offering, with which they shall make restitution to Me, shall be most holy for you and for your sons.10 "As the most holy gifts you shall eat it; every male shall eat it. It shall be holy to you.11 "This also is yours, (C1)the offering of their gift, that is, all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel; I have (C2)given them to you and to your sons and daughters with you as a permanent allotment. Everyone of your household who is clean may eat it.12 "(C1)All the (F1)best of the fresh oil and all the (F1)best of the fresh wine and of the grain, the first fruits of what they give to the LORD, I have given them to you.13 "(C1)The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the LORD, shall be yours; everyone of your household who is clean may eat it.14 "(C1)Everything banned from secular use in Israel shall be yours.15 "(F1)(C1)Every firstborn of the womb of all flesh, whether human or animal, which they offer to the LORD, shall be yours; however you must redeem the human firstborn, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.16 "As to (F1)their redemption price, from a month old you shall redeem them, by your assessment, five (F2)shekels in silver by the (F2)shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.17 "But (C1)the firstborn of an ox, the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. (C2)You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a soothing aroma to the LORD.18 "However, their (F1)meat shall be yours; it shall be yours like the (C1)breast of a wave offering and like the right thigh.19 "(C1)All the offerings of the holy gifts, which the sons of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a permanent allotment. It is (C2)a permanent covenant of salt before the LORD to you and your (F1)descendants with you."20 Then the LORD said to Aaron, "(C1)You shall have no inheritance in their land nor own any portion among them; (C2)I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel.
21 "To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the (C1)tithe in Israel as an inheritance, in return for their service which they perform, the service of the tent of meeting.22 "And (C1)the sons of Israel shall not come near the tent of meeting again, or they will bring sin on themselves and die.23 "Only the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall (C1)bear their own guilt; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations, and among the sons of Israel (C2)they shall have no inheritance.24 "For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as an offering to the LORD, I have given to the Levites as an inheritance; therefore I have said concerning them, '(C1)They shall have no inheritance among the sons of Israel.'"
25 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,26 "Moreover, you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, 'When you take from the sons of Israel (C1)the tithe which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present an offering from it to the LORD, a (C2)tithe of the tithe.27 'Your offering shall be credited to you like the grain from the threshing floor or the full produce from the wine vat.28 'So you shall also present an offering to the LORD from all your tithes, which you receive from the sons of Israel; and from it you shall give the LORD'S offering to Aaron the priest.29 'Out of all your gifts you shall present every offering due to the LORD, from all the (F1)best of them, (F2)the sacred part from them.'30 "And you shall say to them, 'When you have (F1)offered from it the best of it, then the rest shall be credited to the Levites like the product of the threshing floor, and like the product of the wine vat.31 'You may eat it anywhere, you and your households, for it is your compensation in return for your service in the tent of meeting.32 'And you will bring on yourselves no sin by reason of it when you have (F1)offered the (F2)best of it. But you shall not (C1)profane the sacred gifts of the sons of Israel, so that you do not die.'"
Ecclesiastes 11:1-8
Chapter 11
Cast Your Bread on the Waters
1 (C1)Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, for you (C1)will find it (F1)after many days.2 (C1)Divide your portion to seven, or even to eight, for you do not know what (C2)misfortune may occur on the earth.3 If the clouds are full, they pour out rain on the earth; and whether a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, wherever the tree falls, there it (F1)lies.4 One who watches the wind will not sow and one who looks at the clouds will not harvest.5 Just as you do not (C1)know the path of the (F1)wind, and (C2)how bones are formed in the womb of the (F2)pregnant woman, so you do not (C3)know the activity of God who makes everything.
6 Sow your seed (C1)in the morning and do not (F1)be idle in the evening, for you do not know whether (F2)one or the other will succeed, or whether both of them alike will be good.
7 The light is pleasant, and it is good for the eyes to (C1)see the sun.8 Indeed, if a person lives many years, let him (C1)rejoice in them all; but let him remember the (C2)days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything that is to come will be futility.<
Matthew 21:1-27
Chapter 21
The Triumphal Entry
1 (C1)When they had approached Jerusalem and had come to Bethphage, at (C2)the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples,2 saying to them, "Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied there and a colt with it. Untie them and bring them to Me.3 "And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them on immediately."4 Now (C1)this (F1)took place so that what was spoken through (F2)the prophet would be fulfilled:
5 "(C1)SAY TO THE DAUGHTER OF ZION,
'BEHOLD YOUR KING IS COMING TO YOU,
HUMBLE, AND MOUNTED ON A DONKEY,
EVEN ON A COLT, THE FOAL OF A DONKEY.'"
"(F1)Hosanna to the (C1)Son of David;
(C2)BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD;
(F1)Hosanna (C3)in the highest!"
Cleansing the Temple
12 (C1)And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the (C2)money changers and the seats of those who were selling (C3)doves.13 And He (*)said to them, "It is written: '(C1)MY HOUSE WILL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER'; but you are making it a (C2)DEN OF ROBBERS."
14 And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and (C1)He healed them.15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, "(F1)Hosanna to the (C1)Son of David," they became indignant,16 and they said to Him, "Do You hear what these children are saying?" And Jesus (*)said to them, "Yes. Have you never read, '(C1)FROM THE MOUTHS OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABIES YOU HAVE PREPARED PRAISE FOR YOURSELF'?"17 And He left them and went out of the city to (C1)Bethany, and spent the night there.
The Barren Fig Tree
18 (C1)Now in the early morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry.19 And seeing a lone (C1)fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves alone; and He (*)said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered.
20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and (F1)asked, "How did the fig tree wither all at once?"21 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, (C1)if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen.22 "And (C1)whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all."
Authority Challenged
23 (C1)When He entered the temple area, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him (C2)while He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?"24 But Jesus responded and said to them, "I will also ask you one (F1)question, which, if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.25 "The baptism of John was from what source: from heaven or from men?" And they began considering the implications among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Then why did you not believe him?'26 "But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the (F1)people; for they all regard John as (C1)a prophet."27 And answering Jesus, they said, "We do not know." He also said to them, "Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.<
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995,2020 by The Lockman Foundation