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Daily Readings for February 16
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Exodus 27
1."You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and its height shall be three cubits. 2.You shall make its horns on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it; and you shall overlay it with brass. 3.You shall make its pots to take away its ashes, its shovels, its basins, its flesh hooks, and its fire pans: all its vessels you shall make of brass. 4.You shall make a grating for it of network of brass: and on the net you shall make four bronze rings in its four corners. 5.You shall put it under the ledge around the altar beneath, that the net may reach halfway up the altar. 6.You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with brass. 7.Its poles shall be put into the rings, and the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar, when carrying it. 8.You shall make it with hollow planks. They shall make it as it has been shown you on the mountain.
9."You shall make the court of the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long for one side: 10.and its pillars shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver. 11.Likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, and its pillars twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks of the pillars, and their fillets, of silver. 12.For the breadth of the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits; their pillars ten, and their sockets ten. 13.The breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be fifty cubits. 14.The hangings for the one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. 15.For the other side shall be hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three. 16.For the gate of the court shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their sockets four. 17.All the pillars of the court around shall be filleted with silver; their hooks of silver, and their sockets of brass. 18.The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits, of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass. 19.All the instruments of the tabernacle in all its service, and all its pins, and all the pins of the court, shall be of brass.
20."You shall command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. 21.In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh: it shall be a statute forever throughout their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
Psalm 81
1.Sing aloud to God, our strength! Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob! 2.Raise a song, and bring here the tambourine, the pleasant lyre with the harp. 3.Blow the trumpet at the New Moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. 4.For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. 5.He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out over the land of Egypt, I heard a language that I didn't know. 6."I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were freed from the basket. 7.You called in trouble, and I delivered you. I answered you in the secret place of thunder. I tested you at the waters of Meribah." Selah.
8."Hear, my people, and I will testify to you, Israel, if you would listen to me! 9.There shall be no strange god in you, neither shall you worship any foreign god. 10.I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. 11.But my people didn't listen to my voice. Israel desired none of me. 12.So I let them go after the stubbornness of their hearts, that they might walk in their own counsels. 13.Oh that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! 14.I would soon subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their adversaries. 15.The haters of Yahweh would cringe before him, and their punishment would last forever. 16.But he would have also fed them with the finest of the wheat. I will satisfy you with honey out of the rock."
Psalm 82
1.God presides in the great assembly. He judges among the gods. 2."How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?" Selah.
3."Defend the weak, the poor, and the fatherless. Maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. 4.Rescue the weak and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked." 5.They don't know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6.I said, "You are gods, all of you are sons of the Most High. 7.Nevertheless you shall die like men, and fall like one of the rulers." 8.Arise, God, judge the earth, for you inherit all of the nations.
Mark 12
1.He began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the winepress, built a tower, rented it out to a farmer, and went into another country. 2.When it was time, he sent a servant to the farmer to get from the farmer his share of the fruit of the vineyard. 3.They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty. 4.Again, he sent another servant to them; and they threw stones at him, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated. 5.Again he sent another; and they killed him; and many others, beating some, and killing some. 6.Therefore still having one, his beloved son, he sent him last to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' 7.But those farmers said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' 8.They took him, killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 9.What therefore will the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the farmers, and will give the vineyard to others. 10.Haven't you even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected, the same was made the head of the corner. 11.This was from the Lord, it is marvelous in our eyes'?"34
12.They tried to seize him, but they feared the multitude; for they perceived that he spoke the parable against them. They left him, and went away. 13.They sent some of the Pharisees and of the Herodians to him, that they might trap him with words. 14.When they had come, they asked him, "Teacher, we know that you are honest, and don't defer to anyone; for you aren't partial to anyone, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15.Shall we give, or shall we not give?"
But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test me? Bring me a denarius, that I may see it."
16.They brought it.
He said to them, "Whose is this image and inscription?"
They said to him, "Caesar's."
17.Jesus answered them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
They marveled greatly at him.
18.There came to him Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection. They asked him, saying, 19."Teacher, Moses wrote to us, 'If a man's brother dies, and leaves a wife behind him, and leaves no children, that his brother should take his wife, and raise up offspring for his brother.' 20.There were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and dying left no offspring. 21.The second took her, and died, leaving no children behind him. The third likewise; 22.and the seven took her and left no children. Last of all the woman also died. 23.In the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be of them? For the seven had her as a wife."
24.Jesus answered them, "Isn't this because you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God? 25.For when they will rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26.But about the dead, that they are raised; haven't you read in the book of Moses, about the Bush, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'35? 27.He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are therefore badly mistaken."
28.One of the scribes came, and heard them questioning together. Knowing that he had answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the greatest of all?"
29.Jesus answered, "The greatest is, 'Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one: 30.you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.'36 This is the first commandment. 31.The second is like this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'37 There is no other commandment greater than these."
32.The scribe said to him, "Truly, teacher, you have said well that he is one, and there is none other but he, 33.and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices."
34.When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God."
No one dared ask him any question after that. 35.Jesus responded, as he taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36.For David himself said in the Holy Spirit, 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet."'38
37.Therefore David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?"
The common people heard him gladly. 38.In his teaching he said to them, "Beware of the scribes, who like to walk in long robes, and to get greetings in the marketplaces, 39.and the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts: 40.those who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."
41.Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and saw how the multitude cast money into the treasury. Many who were rich cast in much. 42.A poor widow came, and she cast in two small brass coins,39 which equal a quadrans coin.40 43.He called his disciples to himself, and said to them, "Most certainly I tell you, this poor widow gave more than all those who are giving into the treasury, 44.for they all gave out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on."