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Bible Reading Plan

Daily Bible Reading

March 8 - Bible-in-a-Year
niv

 

Leviticus 14

Chapter 14

Cleansing From Defiling Skin Diseases

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 "These are the regulations for any diseased person at the time of their ceremonial cleansing, when they are brought to the priest:(a) 3 The priest is to go outside the camp and examine them.(b) If they have been healed of their defiling skin disease,[a](c) 4 the priest shall order that two live clean birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop(d) be brought for the person to be cleansed.(e) 5 Then the priest shall order that one of the birds be killed over fresh water in a clay pot.(f) 6 He is then to take the live bird and dip it, together with the cedar wood, the scarlet yarn and the hyssop, into the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water.(g) 7 Seven times(h) he shall sprinkle(i) the one to be cleansed of the defiling disease, and then pronounce them clean. After that, he is to release the live bird in the open fields.(j)

8 "The person to be cleansed must wash their clothes,(k) shave off all their hair and bathe with water;(l) then they will be ceremonially clean.(m) After this they may come into the camp,(n) but they must stay outside their tent for seven days. 9 On the seventh day(o) they must shave off all their hair;(p) they must shave their head, their beard, their eyebrows and the rest of their hair. They must wash their clothes and bathe themselves with water, and they will be clean.(q)

10 "On the eighth day(r) they must bring two male lambs and one ewe lamb(s) a year old, each without defect, along with three-tenths of an ephah[b](t) of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering,(u) and one log[c] of oil.(v) 11 The priest who pronounces them clean shall present(w) both the one to be cleansed and their offerings before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.(x)

12 "Then the priest is to take one of the male lambs and offer it as a guilt offering,(y) along with the log of oil; he shall wave them before the Lord as a wave offering.(z) 13 He is to slaughter the lamb in the sanctuary area(aa) where the sin offering[d] and the burnt offering are slaughtered. Like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest;(ab) it is most holy. 14 The priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot.(ac) 15 The priest shall then take some of the log of oil, pour it in the palm of his own left hand,(ad) 16 dip his right forefinger into the oil in his palm, and with his finger sprinkle some of it before the Lord seven times.(ae) 17 The priest is to put some of the oil remaining in his palm on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering.(af) 18 The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed(ag) and make atonement for them before the Lord .

19 "Then the priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from their uncleanness.(ah) After that, the priest shall slaughter the burnt offering 20 and offer it on the altar, together with the grain offering, and make atonement for them,(ai) and they will be clean.(aj)

21 "If, however, they are poor(ak) and cannot afford these,(al) they must take one male lamb as a guilt offering to be waved to make atonement for them, together with a tenth of an ephah[e] of the finest flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, a log of oil, 22 and two doves or two young pigeons,(am) such as they can afford, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.(an)

23 "On the eighth day they must bring them for their cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting,(ao) before the Lord .(ap) 24 The priest is to take the lamb for the guilt offering,(aq) together with the log of oil,(ar) and wave them before the Lord as a wave offering.(as) 25 He shall slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot.(at) 26 The priest is to pour some of the oil into the palm of his own left hand,(au) 27 and with his right forefinger sprinkle some of the oil from his palm seven times before the Lord . 28 Some of the oil in his palm he is to put on the same places he put the blood of the guilt offering—on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot. 29 The rest of the oil in his palm the priest shall put on the head of the one to be cleansed, to make atonement for them before the Lord .(av) 30 Then he shall sacrifice the doves or the young pigeons, such as the person can afford,(aw) 31 one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering,(ax) together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord on behalf of the one to be cleansed.(ay)"

32 These are the regulations for anyone who has a defiling skin disease(az) and who cannot afford the regular offerings(ba) for their cleansing.

Cleansing From Defiling Molds

33 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 34 "When you enter the land of Canaan,(bb) which I am giving you as your possession,(bc) and I put a spreading mold in a house in that land, 35 the owner of the house must go and tell the priest, ‘I have seen something that looks like a defiling mold in my house.' 36 The priest is to order the house to be emptied before he goes in to examine the mold, so that nothing in the house will be pronounced unclean. After this the priest is to go in and inspect the house. 37 He is to examine the mold on the walls, and if it has greenish or reddish(bd) depressions that appear to be deeper than the surface of the wall, 38 the priest shall go out the doorway of the house and close it up for seven days.(be) 39 On the seventh day(bf) the priest shall return to inspect the house. If the mold has spread on the walls, 40 he is to order that the contaminated stones be torn out and thrown into an unclean place outside the town.(bg) 41 He must have all the inside walls of the house scraped and the material that is scraped off dumped into an unclean place outside the town. 42 Then they are to take other stones to replace these and take new clay and plaster the house.

43 "If the defiling mold reappears in the house after the stones have been torn out and the house scraped and plastered, 44 the priest is to go and examine it and, if the mold has spread in the house, it is a persistent defiling mold; the house is unclean.(bh) 45 It must be torn down—its stones, timbers and all the plaster—and taken out of the town to an unclean place.

46 "Anyone who goes into the house while it is closed up will be unclean till evening.(bi) 47 Anyone who sleeps or eats in the house must wash their clothes.(bj)

48 "But if the priest comes to examine it and the mold has not spread after the house has been plastered, he shall pronounce the house clean,(bk) because the defiling mold is gone. 49 To purify the house he is to take two birds and some cedar wood, scarlet yarn and hyssop.(bl) 50 He shall kill one of the birds over fresh water in a clay pot.(bm) 51 Then he is to take the cedar wood, the hyssop,(bn) the scarlet yarn and the live bird, dip them into the blood of the dead bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times.(bo) 52 He shall purify the house with the bird's blood, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the scarlet yarn. 53 Then he is to release the live bird in the open fields(bp) outside the town. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.(bq)"

54 These are the regulations for any defiling skin disease,(br) for a sore, 55 for defiling molds(bs) in fabric or in a house, 56 and for a swelling, a rash or a shiny spot,(bt) 57 to determine when something is clean or unclean.

These are the regulations for defiling skin diseases and defiling molds.(bu)

Proverbs 26

Chapter 26

1 Like snow in summer or rain(a) in harvest,
     honor is not fitting for a fool.(b)
2 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow,
     an undeserved curse does not come to rest.(c)
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,(d)
     and a rod for the backs of fools!(e)
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
     or you yourself will be just like him.(f)
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
     or he will be wise in his own eyes.(g)
6 Sending a message by the hands of a fool(h)
     is like cutting off one's feet or drinking poison.
7 Like the useless legs of one who is lame
     is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.(i)
8 Like tying a stone in a sling
     is the giving of honor to a fool.(j)
9 Like a thornbush in a drunkard's hand
     is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.(k)
10 Like an archer who wounds at random
     is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.
11 As a dog returns to its vomit,(l)
     so fools repeat their folly.(m)
12 Do you see a person wise in their own eyes?(n)
     There is more hope for a fool than for them.(o)

13 A sluggard says,(p) "There's a lion in the road,
     a fierce lion roaming the streets!"(q)
14 As a door turns on its hinges,
     so a sluggard turns on his bed.(r)
15 A sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
     he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.(s)
16 A sluggard is wiser in his own eyes
     than seven people who answer discreetly.

17 Like one who grabs a stray dog by the ears
     is someone who rushes into a quarrel not their own.

18 Like a maniac shooting
     flaming arrows of death
19 is one who deceives their neighbor
     and says, "I was only joking!"

20 Without wood a fire goes out;
     without a gossip a quarrel dies down.(t)
21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,
     so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.(u)
22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;
     they go down to the inmost parts.(v)

23 Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware
     are fervent[a] lips with an evil heart.
24 Enemies disguise themselves with their lips,(w)
     but in their hearts they harbor deceit.(x)
25 Though their speech is charming,(y) do not believe them,
     for seven abominations fill their hearts.(z)
26 Their malice may be concealed by deception,
     but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 Whoever digs a pit(aa) will fall into it;(ab)
     if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.(ac)
28 A lying tongue hates those it hurts,
     and a flattering mouth(ad) works ruin.

Matthew 12:1-21

Chapter 12

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath(a)(b)

1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain(c) and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."(d)

3 He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?(e) 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.(f) 5 Or haven't you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath(g) and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.(h) 7 If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,'[a](i) you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man(j) is Lord of the Sabbath."

9 Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, 10 and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus,(k) they asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"(l)

11 He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?(m) 12 How much more valuable is a person than a sheep!(n) Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."

13 Then he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. 14 But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus.(o)

God's Chosen Servant

15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill.(p) 16 He warned them not to tell others about him.(q) 17 This was to fulfill(r) what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

18 "Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
     the one I love, in whom I delight;(s)
I will put my Spirit on him,(t)
     and he will proclaim justice to the nations.
19 He will not quarrel or cry out;
     no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 A bruised reed he will not break,
     and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory.
21       In his name the nations will put their hope."[b](u)

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