the Fifth Week after Easter
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
December 29 - Bible-in-a-Year
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Ezekiel 44-45
Chapter 44
Gate for the Prince
1 Then He brought me back by way of the (C1)outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces east; and it was shut.2 And the LORD said to me, "This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the (C1)LORD God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut.3 "As for the (C1)prince, he shall sit in it as prince to (C2)eat bread before the LORD; he shall (C3)enter by way of the (C4)porch of the gate and shall go out (F1)by the same way."
4 Then He brought me by way of the (C1)north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the (C2)glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD, and I (C3)fell on my face.5 And the LORD said to me, "Son of man, (F1)(C1)pay attention, see with your eyes and hear with your ears everything that I say to you concerning all the (C2)statutes of the house of the LORD and all its laws; and (F1)pay attention to the entrance of the house, with all the exits of the sanctuary.6 "You shall say to the (F1)(C1)rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Lord (F2)GOD says: "(C2)Enough of all your abominations, house of Israel,7 when you brought in (C1)foreigners, (C2)uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, My house, when you (C3)offered My food, the fat, and the blood and they (C4)broke My covenant—this in addition to all your abominations.8 "And you have not (F1)(C1)taken responsibility for My holy things yourselves, but you have appointed foreigners (F2)to take responsibility for My sanctuary."
9 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "(C1)No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.10 "But the Levites who went far from Me when Israel went astray, who (C1)went astray from Me (F1)following their idols, shall (C2)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing.11 "Yet they shall be (C1)ministers in My sanctuary, having (C2)oversight at the gates of the house and (C3)ministering in the house; they shall (C4)slaughter the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall (C5)stand before them to minister to them.12 "Since they ministered to them (C1)before their idols and became a (C2)stumbling block of wrongdoing to the house of Israel, for that reason I have (F1)(C3)sworn against them," declares the Lord GOD, "that they shall (C4)suffer the punishment for their wrongdoing.13 "And they shall (C1)not approach Me to serve as priests for Me, nor approach any of My holy things, to the things that are most holy; but they will (C2)bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed.14 "Nevertheless I will (F1)appoint them (F2)to (C1)take responsibility for the house, of all its service and of everything that shall be done in it.
Ordinances for the Levites
15 "But the (C1)Levitical priests, the sons of (C2)Zadok, who (F1)(C3)took responsibility for My sanctuary when the sons of Israel (C4)went astray from Me, shall come near to Me to serve Me; and they shall (C5)stand before Me to offer Me the (C6)fat and the blood," declares the Lord GOD.16 "They shall (C1)enter My sanctuary; they shall come near to My (C2)table to serve Me and (F1)assume the responsibility I give them.17 "And it shall be that when they enter at the gates of the inner courtyard, they shall be clothed with (C1)linen garments; and wool shall not (F1)be worn by them while they are ministering in the gates of the inner courtyard or in the house.18 "Linen (C1)turbans shall be on their heads and (C2)linen undergarments shall be around their waists; they shall not put on anything that makes them sweat.19 "And when they go out into the outer courtyard, into the outer courtyard to the people, they shall (C1)take off their garments in which they have been ministering and lay them in the holy chambers; then they shall put on other garments, so that they will (C2)not transfer holiness to the people with their garments.20 "Also they shall (C1)not shave their heads, yet they shall not (C2)let their locks (F1)grow long; they shall only trim the hair of their heads.21 "(C1)Nor shall any of the priests drink wine when they enter the inner courtyard.22 "And they shall not (F1)marry a widow or a (C1)divorced woman, but shall (C2)take virgins from the descendants of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest.23 "Moreover, they shall teach My people the (C1)difference between the holy and the (F1)common, and teach them to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.24 "In a dispute (C1)they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My (C2)appointed feasts, and (C3)sanctify My Sabbaths.25 "(F1)(C1)They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves.26 "And after he is (C1)cleansed, seven days (F1)shall elapse for him.27 "On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, to the (C1)inner courtyard to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his (C2)sin offering," declares the Lord GOD.
28 "And it shall be regarding an inheritance for them, that (C1)I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no property in Israel—I am their property.29 "They shall (C1)eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering; and everything (C2)banned from secular use in Israel shall be theirs.30 "And the first of all the (C1)first fruits of every kind and every (F1)contribution of every kind, from all your (F1)contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the (C2)first of your (F2)dough, to make a (C3)blessing rest on your house.31 "The priests shall not eat any bird or animal that has (C1)died a natural death or has been torn to pieces by animals.
Chapter 45
The LORD'S Portion of the Land
1 "Now when you (C1)divide the land by lot for inheritance, you shall offer (F1)an (C2)allotment to the LORD, a (C3)holy portion of the land; the length shall be a length of twenty-five thousand (F2)(C4)cubits, and the width shall be (F3)twenty thousand. It shall be holy within its entire surrounding boundary.2 "Out of this there shall be for the sanctuary a square encompassing (C1)five hundred by five hundred cubits, and fifty cubits for its (F1)(C2)open space round about.3 "From this (F1)area you shall measure a length of twenty-five thousand cubits and a width of ten thousand cubits; and in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place.4 "It shall be the holy portion of the land; it shall be for the (C1)priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who (C2)come near to serve the LORD, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.5 "An area (C1)twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width shall be for the Levites, the ministers of the house, and for their possession (F1)cities in which to live.
6 "And you shall give the (C1)city possession of an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long, alongside the (F1)allotment of the holy portion; it shall be for the entire house of Israel.
Portion for the Prince
7 "And the (C1)prince shall have land on either side of the holy (F1)allotment and the (F2)property of the city, adjacent to the holy (F1)allotment and the (F2)property of the city, on the west side toward the west and on the east side toward the east, and in length comparable to one of the portions, from the west border to the east border.8 "This shall be his land as a possession in Israel; so My princes shall no longer (C1)oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel (C2)according to their tribes."
9 'This is what the Lord (F1)GOD says: "(C1)Enough, you princes of Israel; get rid of (C2)violence and destruction, and (C3)practice justice and righteousness. Revoke your (C4)evictions of My people," declares the Lord GOD.
10 "You shall have (C1)accurate balances, an accurate (F1)(C2)ephah, and an accurate (F2)(C2)bath.11 "The ephah and the bath shall be (F1)the same quantity, so that the bath will contain a tenth of a (C1)homer, and the ephah a tenth of a (F2)homer; (F3)their standard shall be according to the homer.12 "And the (C1)shekel shall be twenty (C1)gerahs; twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina.
13 "This is the offering that you shall offer: a sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat; a sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley;14 and the prescribed portion of oil (namely, the bath of oil), a tenth of a bath from each kor (which is ten baths or a homer, for ten baths are a homer);15 and one sheep from each flock of two hundred from the watering places of Israel—for a (C1)grain offering, for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to (C2)make atonement for them," declares the Lord GOD.16 "(C1)All the people of the land shall (F1)give to this offering for the (C2)prince in Israel.17 "And it shall be the (C1)prince's part to provide the (C2)burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the drink offerings, at the (C3)feasts, on the (C4)new moons, and on the Sabbaths, at all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel; he shall provide the sin offering, the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the (C5)peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel."
18 'This is what the Lord GOD says: "In the (C1)first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a (F1)bull (C2)without blemish and (C3)cleanse the sanctuary from sin.19 "And the priest shall take some of the blood from the sin offering and put it on the door posts of the house, on the (C1)four corners of the (C2)ledge of the altar, and on the posts of the gate of the inner courtyard.20 "And you shall do this on the seventh day of the month for everyone who does (C1)wrong inadvertently or is naive; so you shall make (C2)atonement for the house.
21 "In the (C1)first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the (C2)Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten.22 "On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a (C1)bull as a sin offering.23 "And during the (C1)seven days of the feast he shall provide as a (C2)burnt offering to the LORD (C3)seven bulls and seven rams without blemish on every day of the seven days, and a male goat daily as a sin offering.24 "And he shall provide as a (C1)grain offering an (F1)ephah (F2)with a bull, an (F1)ephah (F2)with a ram, and a (F3)hin of oil (F2)with an ephah.25 "In the (C1)seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he shall provide like these, seven days (F1)for the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain offering, and the oil."
Isaiah 64
Chapter 64
Prayer for Mercy and Help
1 (F1)Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and (C1)come down,
That the mountains would (C2)quake at Your presence—
2 (F1)As fire kindles brushwood, as fire causes water to boil—
To make Your name known to Your adversaries,
That the (C1)nations may tremble at Your presence!
3 When You did (C1)awesome things which we did not expect,
You came down, the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4 For from days of old (C1)they have not heard or perceived by ear,
Nor has the eye seen a God besides You,
Who acts in behalf of one who (C2)waits for Him.
5 You (C1)meet him who rejoices in (C2)doing righteousness,
Who (C3)remembers You in Your ways.
Behold, (C4)You were angry, for we sinned,
We continued in (F1)our sins for a long time;
Yet shall we be saved?
6 For all of us have become like one who is (C1)unclean,
And all our (C2)righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us (C3)wither like a leaf,
And our (C4)wrongdoings, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is (C1)no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself to take hold of You;
For You have (C2)hidden Your face from us
And have (F1)surrendered us to the power of our wrongdoings.
8 But now, LORD, (C1)You are our Father;
We are the (C2)clay, and You our potter,
And all of us are the (C3)work of Your hand.
9 Do not be (C1)angry beyond measure, LORD,
(C2)Nor remember wrongdoing forever.
Behold, please look, all of us are (C3)Your people.
10 Your (C1)holy cities have become a (C2)wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
11 Our holy and beautiful (C1)house,
Where our fathers praised You,
Has been burned by fire;
And (C2)all our precious things have become a ruin.
12 Will You (C1)restrain Yourself at these things, LORD?
Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
Luke 4:1-30
Chapter 4
The Temptation of Jesus
1 (C1)Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, (C2)returned from the Jordan and was led around (F1)by the Spirit in the wilderness2 for (C1)forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry.3 And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."4 And Jesus answered him, "It is written: '(C1)MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE.'"
5 (C1)And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of (F1)(C2)the world in a moment of time.6 And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and (F1)its glory, (C1)for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I want.7 "Therefore if You (F1)worship before me, it shall all be Yours."8 Jesus replied to him, "It is written: '(C1)YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'"
9 (C1)And he brought Him into Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here;10 for it is written: '(C1)HE WILL GIVE HIS ANGELS ORDERS CONCERNING YOU, TO PROTECT YOU,'
'(C1)ON THEIR HANDS THEY WILL LIFT YOU UP,
SO THAT YOU DO NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'"
13 And so when the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.
Jesus' Public Ministry
14 And (C1)Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and (C2)news about Him spread through all the surrounding region.15 And He began (C1)teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all.
16 And He came to (C1)Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, (C2)He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and (C3)stood up to read.17 And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 "(C1)THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,
BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO BRING GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO CAPTIVES,
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED,
19 (C1)TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD."
20 And He (C1)rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and (C2)sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him.21 Now He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your (F1)hearing."22 And all the people were (F1)speaking well of Him, and admiring the (F2)gracious words which were coming from His (F3)lips; and yet they were saying, "(C1)Is this not Joseph's son?"23 And He said to them, "No doubt you will (F1)quote this proverb to Me: 'Physician, heal yourself! All the miracles that we heard were done (C1)in Capernaum, do here in (C2)Your hometown as well.'"24 But He said, "Truly I say to you, (C1)no prophet is welcome in his hometown.25 "But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel (C1)in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a (F1)severe famine came over all the land;26 and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to (F1)(C1)Zarephath, in the land of (C2)Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.27 "And there were many with leprosy in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was (F1)cleansed, but only (C1)Naaman the Syrian."28 And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things;29 and they got up and (C1)drove Him out of the city, and brought Him to the (F1)crest of the hill on which their city had been built, so that they could throw Him down from the cliff.30 But He (C1)passed through their midst and went on His way.<Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995,2020 by The Lockman Foundation
