Daily Readings

¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,² Speak unto Aaron and say unto him, When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the candlestick.³ And Aaron did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the LORD commanded Moses.⁴ And this work of the candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the LORD had shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.⁵ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,⁶ Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them.⁷ And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and so make themselves clean.⁸ Then let them take a young bullock with his meat offering, even fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shalt thou take for a sin offering.⁹ And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together:¹⁰ And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites:¹¹ And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the LORD for an offering of the children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the LORD.¹² And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the LORD, to make an atonement for the Levites.¹³ And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for an offering unto the LORD.¹⁴ Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be mine.¹⁵ And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for an offering.¹⁶ For they are wholly given unto me from among the children of Israel; instead of such as open every womb, even instead of the firstborn of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto me.¹⁷ For all the firstborn of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.¹⁸ And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the children of Israel.¹⁹ And I 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 tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh unto the sanctuary.²⁰ And Moses, and Aaron, and all the congregation of the children of Israel, did to the Levites according unto all that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did the children of Israel unto them.²¹ And the Levites were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron offered them as an offering before the LORD; and Aaron made an atonement for them to cleanse them.²² And after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tabernacle of the congregation before Aaron, and before his sons: as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so did they unto them.²³ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,²⁴ This is it that belongeth unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the tabernacle of the congregation:²⁵ And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service thereof, and shall serve no more:²⁶ But shall minister with their brethren in the tabernacle of the congregation, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charge.

¹ And the LORD spake unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying,² Let the children of Israel also keep the passover at his appointed season.³ In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep it in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.⁴ And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, that they should keep the passover.⁵ And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel.⁶ And there were certain men, who were defiled by the dead body of a man, that they could not keep the passover on that day: and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day:⁷ And those men said unto him, We are defiled by the dead body of a man: wherefore are we kept back, that we may not offer an offering of the LORD in his appointed season among the children of Israel?⁸ And Moses said unto them, Stand still, and I will hear what the LORD will command concerning you.⁹ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,¹⁰ Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If any man of you or of your posterity shall be unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall keep the passover unto the LORD.¹¹ The fourteenth day of the second month at even they shall keep it, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.¹² They shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break any bone of it: according to all the ordinances of the passover they shall keep it.¹³ But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of the LORD in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.¹⁴ And if a stranger shall sojourn among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD; according to the ordinance of the passover, and according to the manner thereof, so shall he do: ye shall have one ordinance, both for the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.¹⁵ And on the day that the tabernacle was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, namely, the tent of the testimony: and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire, until the morning.¹⁶ So it was alway: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.¹⁷ And when the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, then after that the children of Israel journeyed: and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel pitched their tents.¹⁸ At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they pitched: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents.¹⁹ And when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the LORD, and journeyed not.²⁰ And so it was, when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; according to the commandment of the LORD they abode in their tents, and according to the commandment of the LORD they journeyed.²¹ And so it was, when the cloud abode from even unto the morning, and that the cloud was taken up in the morning, then they journeyed: whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up, they journeyed.²² Or whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, remaining thereon, the children of Israel abode in their tents, and journeyed not: but when it was taken up, they journeyed.²³ At the commandment of the LORD they rested in the tents, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed: they kept the charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

¹ My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:² That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.³ For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:⁴ But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.⁶ Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.⁷ Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.⁸ Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:⁹ Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:¹⁰ Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;¹¹ And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,¹² And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;¹³ And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!¹⁴ I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.¹⁵ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.¹⁶ Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.¹⁷ Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.¹⁸ Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.¹⁹ Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.²⁰ And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?²¹ For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.²² His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.²³ He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

¹ And Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.² And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.³ And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature.⁴ And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that way.⁵ And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.⁶ And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully.⁷ And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying, That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner.⁸ And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.⁹ And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.¹⁰ For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.¹¹ And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.¹² He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.¹³ And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.¹⁴ But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.¹⁵ And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.¹⁶ Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds.¹⁷ And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.¹⁸ And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds.¹⁹ And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.²⁰ And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin:²¹ For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow.²² And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:²³ Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury?²⁴ And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds.²⁵ (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.)²⁶ For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.²⁷ But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.²⁸ And when he had thus spoken, he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem.²⁹ And it came to pass, when he was come nigh to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount called the mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples,³⁰ Saying, Go ye into the village over against you; in the which at your entering ye shall find a colt tied, whereon yet never man sat: loose him, and bring him hither.³¹ And if any man ask you, Why do ye loose him? thus shall ye say unto him, Because the Lord hath need of him.³² And they that were sent went their way, and found even as he had said unto them.³³ And as they were loosing the colt, the owners thereof said unto them, Why loose ye the colt?³⁴ And they said, The Lord hath need of him.³⁵ And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.³⁶ And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.³⁷ And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;³⁸ Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.³⁹ And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.⁴⁰ And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.⁴¹ And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,⁴² Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.⁴³ For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,⁴⁴ And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.⁴⁵ And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought;⁴⁶ Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.⁴⁷ And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,⁴⁸ And could not find what they might do: for all the people were very attentive to hear him.