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Daily Readings for February 19
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Exodus 30

 

1."You shall make an altar to burn incense on. You shall make it of acacia wood. 2.Its length shall be a cubit, and its breadth a cubit. It shall be square, and its height shall be two cubits. Its horns shall be of one piece with it. 3.You shall overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides around it, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding around it. 4.You shall make two golden rings for it under its molding; on its two ribs, on its two sides you shall make them; and they shall be for places for poles with which to bear it. 5.You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 6.You shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with you. 7.Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it. 8.When Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before Yahweh throughout your generations. 9.You shall offer no strange incense on it, nor burnt offering, nor meal offering; and you shall pour no drink offering on it. 10.Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once in the year; with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once in the year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to Yahweh."

11.Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12."When you take a census of the children of Israel, according to those who are numbered among them, then each man shall give a ransom for his soul to Yahweh, when you number them; that there be no plague among them when you number them. 13.They shall give this, everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary; (the shekel is twenty gerahs;) half a shekel for an offering to Yahweh. 14.Everyone who passes over to those who are numbered, from twenty years old and upward, shall give the offering to Yahweh. 15.The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less, than the half shekel, when they give the offering of Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls. 16.You shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shall appoint it for the service of the Tent of Meeting; that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before Yahweh, to make atonement for your souls."

17.Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 18."You shall also make a basin of brass, and its base of brass, in which to wash. You shall put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it. 19.Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet in it. 20.When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 21.So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they not die: and it shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and to his descendants throughout their generations."

22.Moreover Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23."Also take fine spices: of liquid myrrh, five hundred shekels; and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, even two hundred and fifty; and of fragrant cane, two hundred and fifty; 24.and of cassia five hundred, after the shekel of the sanctuary; and a hin of olive oil. 25.You shall make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil. 26.You shall use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the testimony, 27.the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, 28.the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its base. 29.You shall sanctify them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy. 30.You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and sanctify them, that they may minister to me in the priest's office. 31.You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'This shall be a holy anointing oil to me throughout your generations. 32.It shall not be poured on man's flesh, neither shall you make any like it, according to its composition: it is holy. It shall be holy to you. 33.Whoever compounds any like it, or whoever puts any of it on a stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.'"

34.Yahweh said to Moses, "Take to yourself sweet spices, gum resin, and onycha, and galbanum; sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be an equal weight; 35.and you shall make incense of it, a perfume after the art of the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy: 36.and you shall beat some of it very small, and put some of it before the testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be to you most holy. 37.The incense which you shall make, according to its composition you shall not make for yourselves: it shall be to you holy for Yahweh. 38.Whoever shall make any like that, to smell of it, he shall be cut off from his people."

 

Psalm 87

 

1.His foundation is in the holy mountains. 2.Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. 3.Glorious things are spoken about you, city of God. Selah. 4.I will record Rahab27 and Babylon among those who acknowledge me. Behold, Philistia, Tyre, and also Ethiopia: "This one was born there." 5.Yes, of Zion it will be said, "This one and that one was born in her;" the Most High himself will establish her. 6.Yahweh will count, when he writes up the peoples, "This one was born there." Selah. 7.Those who sing as well as those who dance say, "All my springs are in you."

 

Psalm 88

 

1.Yahweh, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you. 2.Let my prayer enter into your presence. Turn your ear to my cry. 3.For my soul is full of troubles. My life draws near to Sheol28. 4.I am counted among those who go down into the pit. I am like a man who has no help, 5.set apart among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom you remember no more. They are cut off from your hand. 6.You have laid me in the lowest pit, in the darkest depths. 7.Your wrath lies heavily on me. You have afflicted me with all your waves. Selah. 8.You have taken my friends from me. You have made me an abomination to them. I am confined, and I can't escape. 9.My eyes are dim from grief. I have called on you daily, Yahweh. I have spread out my hands to you. 10.Do you show wonders to the dead? Do the dead rise up and praise you? Selah. 11.Is your loving kindness declared in the grave? Or your faithfulness in Destruction? 12.Are your wonders made known in the dark? Or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? 13.But to you, Yahweh, I have cried. In the morning, my prayer comes before you. 14.Yahweh, why do you reject my soul? Why do you hide your face from me? 15.I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. While I suffer your terrors, I am distracted. 16.Your fierce wrath has gone over me. Your terrors have cut me off. 17.They came around me like water all day long. They completely engulfed me. 18.You have put lover and friend far from me, and my friends into darkness.

 

Mark 15

 

1.Immediately in the morning the chief priests, with the elders and scribes, and the whole council, held a consultation, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him up to Pilate. 2.Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"

He answered, "So you say."

3.The chief priests accused him of many things. 4.Pilate again asked him, "Have you no answer? See how many things they testify against you!"

5.But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate marveled.

6.Now at the feast he used to release to them one prisoner, whom they asked of him. 7.There was one called Barabbas, bound with those who had made insurrection, men who in the insurrection had committed murder. 8.The multitude, crying aloud, began to ask him to do as he always did for them. 9.Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?" 10.For he perceived that for envy the chief priests had delivered him up. 11.But the chief priests stirred up the multitude, that he should release Barabbas to them instead. 12.Pilate again asked them, "What then should I do to him whom you call the King of the Jews?"

13.They cried out again, "Crucify him!"

14.Pilate said to them, "Why, what evil has he done?"

But they cried out exceedingly, "Crucify him!"

15.Pilate, wishing to please the multitude, released Barabbas to them, and handed over Jesus, when he had flogged him, to be crucified. 16.The soldiers led him away within the court, which is the Praetorium; and they called together the whole cohort. 17.They clothed him with purple, and weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18.They began to salute him, "Hail, King of the Jews!" 19.They struck his head with a reed, and spat on him, and bowing their knees, did homage to him. 20.When they had mocked him, they took the purple off of him, and put his own garments on him. They led him out to crucify him. 21.They compelled one passing by, coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them, that he might bear his cross. 22.They brought him to the place called Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, "The place of a skull." 23.They offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he didn't take it.

24.Crucifying him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots on them, what each should take. 25.It was the third hour,47 and they crucified him. 26.The superscription of his accusation was written over him, "THE KING OF THE JEWS." 27.With him they crucified two robbers; one on his right hand, and one on his left. 28.The Scripture was fulfilled, which says, "He was numbered with transgressors."48

29.Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying, "Ha! You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, 30.save yourself, and come down from the cross!"

31.Likewise, also the chief priests mocking among themselves with the scribes said, "He saved others. He can't save himself. 32.Let the Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, that we may see and believe him.49" Those who were crucified with him insulted him.

33.When the sixth hour50 had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.51 34.At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is, being interpreted, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"52

35.Some of those who stood by, when they heard it, said, "Behold, he is calling Elijah."

36.One ran, and filling a sponge full of vinegar, put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink, saying, "Let him be. Let's see whether Elijah comes to take him down."

37.Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and gave up the spirit. 38.The veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. 39.When the centurion, who stood by opposite him, saw that he cried out like this and breathed his last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"

40.There were also women watching from afar, among whom were both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome; 41.who, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and served him; and many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

42.When evening had now come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43.Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent council member who also himself was looking for the Kingdom of God, came. He boldly went in to Pilate, and asked for Jesus' body. 44.Pilate marveled if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead long. 45.When he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46.He bought a linen cloth, and taking him down, wound him in the linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of a rock. He rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47.Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses, saw where he was laid.

 

Mark 16

 

1.When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2.Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3.They were saying among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" 4.for it was very big. Looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back.

5.Entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were amazed. 6.He said to them, "Don't be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him! 7.But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.'"

8.They went out,53 and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come on them. They said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid. 9.Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10.She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11.When they heard that he was alive, and had been seen by her, they disbelieved. 12.After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country. 13.They went away and told it to the rest. They didn't believe them, either.

14.Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn't believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 15.He said to them, "Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation. 16.He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned. 17.These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages; 18.they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

19.So then the Lord54, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20.They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

 

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