The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday March 1, 2018 (NIV)

Leviticus 24:1-25:46

The Tabernacle Lamps(A)

24 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the lamp, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Outside the veil of the sanctuary, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it continually, from the evening until the morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual statute in your generations. He shall arrange the lamps continually on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord.

The Bread of the Tabernacle

You shall take wheat flour and bake twelve cakes. Two-tenths of an ephah[a] shall be in each cake. You shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the Lord. You shall put pure frankincense on each row, so that it may be on the bread for a memorial, a food offering made by fire to the Lord. Every Sabbath he shall set it in order continually before the Lord, with the portion taken from the children of Israel by a perpetual covenant. It shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is most holy to him of the food offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual statute.

The Punishment for Blasphemy

10 The son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel, and this son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel fought together in the camp. 11 And the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed. And they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 12 And they put him in custody, so that the words of the Lord might be shown to them.

13 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 14 Bring outside the camp him who has cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let the entire congregation stone him. 15 You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and the entire congregation shall certainly stone him. The foreigner as well as the native in the land, when he blasphemes the name, then he shall be put to death.

17 Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death. 18 Whoever kills an animal shall make restitution, animal for animal. 19 If anyone causes injury to his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him, 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused an injury to another, so shall it be done to him. 21 Whoever kills an animal shall make restitution. And whoever kills a man shall be put to death. 22 You shall have one manner of law for the foreigner as for the native, for I am the Lord your God.

23 So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and they brought outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him. And the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Sabbath Year

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. For six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruit, but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. That which grows by itself from your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your unpruned vines, for it is a year of complete rest for the land. The sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, and for your male and female servants, and for your hired servant, and for your stranger who sojourns with you, and for your livestock, and for the wild animals in your land, shall all its increase be food.

The Year of Jubilee(B)

You shall count seven sabbath weeks of years, seven times seven years, and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall sound the horn blasts on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall make the sound of the horn throughout all your land. 10 You shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee to you, and each of you shall return to his possession, and every person shall return to his family. 11 That fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you. You shall neither sow nor reap that which grows by itself, nor gather the grapes of your unpruned vines. 12 For it is the Jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You shall eat the produce of the field.

13 In the Year of Jubilee you shall return to your property.

14 If you sell anything to your neighbor or buy anything from your neighbor, you shall not oppress one another. 15 According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall pay your neighbor, and according to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you. 16 According to the increase of years you shall increase the price, and according to the decrease of years you shall diminish the price of it. For he shall sell to you according to the number of years of crops. 17 You shall not therefore oppress one another, but you shall fear your God. For I am the Lord your God.

18 Therefore you shall do My statutes, and keep My decrees, and do them, and you shall dwell securely in the land. 19 The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill and live securely in it. 20 If you shall say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we shall not sow nor gather in our crop?” 21 then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth produce for three years. 22 You shall sow in the eighth year, and eat yet of old crops until the ninth year until its crops come in for you.

Redemption of Property

23 The land shall not be permanently sold, for the land is Mine. For you are foreigners and sojourners with Me. 24 In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.

25 If your brother becomes poor and has sold some of his possession, then his nearest redeemer will come to redeem it, and buy back that which his brother sold. 26 If the man has none to redeem it, but he himself is able to redeem it, 27 then let him count the years since the sale and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, so that he may return to his property. 28 But if he is not able to restore it to himself, then that which he sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee, and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.

29 If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a year after it is sold, within a full year he may have the right to buy it back. 30 If it is not redeemed within the time of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be given permanently to him who bought it throughout his generations. It shall not be returned in the Jubilee. 31 But the houses of the villages that have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the land. They may be redeemed, and they shall be returned in the Jubilee.

32 For the cities of the Levites, they may redeem at any time the houses in the cities that they possess. 33 If a Levite purchases back the house that was sold in the city of his possession, then it shall be returned in the Jubilee. For the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. 34 But the fields of the land of their cities may not be sold, for they are their perpetual possession.

Helping the Poor

35 If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, then you shall support him as if he were a foreigner or a sojourner, so that he may live with you. 36 Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, so that your brother may live with you. 37 You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor lend him your food for profit. 38 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

The Law About Slavery

39 If your brother who dwells near you becomes poor and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bondservant. 40 But as a hired servant and as a sojourner he shall be with you. He shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. 41 And then he shall depart from you, both he and his children with him, and he shall return to his own family and to the possession of his fathers. 42 For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves. 43 You shall not rule over him with harshness, but you shall fear your God.

44 Both your male and female slaves, whom you may have, they shall be bought from the nations that are around you. 45 Moreover of the foreigners who sojourn among you and of their families who are with you, who were born in your land, you may also buy from them, and they may be your possession. 46 You may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, for their possession. They shall be your slaves forever. But over your brothers, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.

Footnotes:

  1. Leviticus 24:5 Likely about 7 pounds, or 3.2 kilograms.
Modern English Version (MEV)

The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.

Mark 10:13-31

Little Children Blessed(A)

13 They brought young children to Him, that He might touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, He was very displeased and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter it.” 16 And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.

The Rich Man(B)

17 When He set out on His way, a man came running and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good, except God alone. 19 You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.[a]

20 He answered Him, “Teacher, all these have I observed from my youth.”

21 Then Jesus, looking upon him, loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, take up the cross and follow Me.”

22 He was saddened by that word, and he went away grieving. For he had many possessions.

23 Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

24 The disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

26 They were astonished beyond measure, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”

27 Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God. For with God all things are possible.”

28 Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we have left everything and have followed You.”

29 Jesus answered, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left a house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30 who shall not receive a hundred times as much now in this age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, with persecution, and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Modern English Version (MEV)

The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.

Psalm 44:9-26

But You have rejected us and put us to shame,
and do not go out with our armies.
10 You make us to turn back from the opponent,
and those who hate us make us their spoil.
11 You have placed us like sheep for prey,
and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell Your people for nothing,
and do not increase Your wealth by their sale.

13 You make us a reproach to our neighbors,
a scorn and a derision to those who surround us.
14 You make us a byword among the nations,
a shaking of the head among the people.
15 All day long my reproach is before me,
and the shame of my face covers me,
16 from the voice of him who reproaches and reviles,
by reason of the enemy and avenger.

17 All this is come on us,
yet we have not forgotten You,
nor have we dealt falsely in Your covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back,
nor have our steps deviated from Your way,
19 though You have crushed us in the place of jackals,
and covered us with the shadow of death.

20 If we have forgotten the name of our God,
or stretched out our hands to a strange god,
21 would not God search this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yes, for Your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are considered like sheep for the slaughter.

23 Awake; why do You sleep, O Lord?
Arise; do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You hide Your face,
and forget our affliction and our oppression?

25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust;
our body cleaves to the earth.
26 Arise, be our help,
and redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.

Modern English Version (MEV)

The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.

Proverbs 10:20-21

20 The tongue of the just is as choice silver;
the heart of the wicked is worth little.

21 The lips of the righteous feed many,
but fools die for lack of wisdom.

Modern English Version (MEV)

The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.