Leviticus 7
1 “‘This is the law of the guilt offering. It is most holy. 2 In the place where they slaughter the burnt offering they must slaughter the guilt offering, and the officiating priest must splash the blood against the altar’s sides. 3 Then the one making the offering must present all its fat: the fatty tail, the fat covering the entrails, 4 the two kidneys and the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he must remove along with the kidneys). 5 Then the priest must offer them up in smoke on the altar as a gift to the Lord. It is a guilt offering. 6 Any male among the priests may eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place. It is most holy. 7 The law is the same for the sin offering and the guilt offering; it belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it.
8 “‘As for the priest who presents someone’s burnt offering, the hide of that burnt offering which he presented belongs to him. 9 Every grain offering which is baked in the oven or made in the pan or on the griddle belongs to the priest who presented it. 10 Every grain offering, whether mixed with olive oil or dry, belongs to all the sons of Aaron, each one alike.
11 “‘This is the law of the peace-offering sacrifice which he is to present to the Lord. 12 If he presents it on account of thanksgiving, along with the thank-offering sacrifice he must present unleavened loaves mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers smeared with olive oil, and well-soaked, ring-shaped loaves made of choice wheat flour mixed with olive oil. 13 He must present this grain offering in addition to ring-shaped loaves of leavened bread which regularly accompany the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offering. 14 He must present one of each kind of grain offering as a contribution offering to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the peace offering. 15 The meat of his thanksgiving peace offering must be eaten on the day of his offering; he must not set any of it aside until morning.
16 “‘If his offering is a votive or freewill sacrifice, it may be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, and also the leftovers from it may be eaten on the next day, 17 but the leftovers from the meat of the sacrifice must be burned up in the fire on the third day. 18 If some of the meat of his peace-offering sacrifice is ever eaten on the third day it will not be accepted; it will not be accounted to the one who presented it since it is spoiled, and the person who eats from it will bear his punishment for iniquity. 19 The meat which touches anything ceremonially unclean must not be eaten; it must be burned up in the fire. As for ceremonially clean meat, everyone who is ceremonially clean may eat the meat. 20 The person who eats meat from the peace-offering sacrifice which belongs to the Lord while that person’s uncleanness persists will be cut off from his people. 21 When a person touches anything unclean (whether human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or an unclean detestable creature) and eats some of the meat of the peace-offering sacrifice which belongs to the Lord, that person will be cut off from his people.’”
22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 23 “Tell the Israelites, ‘You must not eat any fat of an ox, sheep, or goat. 24 Moreover, the fat of an animal that has died of natural causes and the fat of an animal torn by beasts may be used for any other purpose, but you must certainly never eat it. 25 If anyone eats fat from the animal from which he presents a gift to the Lord, that person will be cut off from his people. 26 And you must not eat any blood of the birds or of the domesticated land animals in any of the places where you live. 27 Any person who eats any blood—that person will be cut off from his people.’”
28 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 29 “Tell the Israelites, ‘The one who presents his peace-offering sacrifice to the Lord must bring part of his offering to the Lord as his sacrifice. 30 With his own hands he must bring the Lord’s gifts. He must bring the fat with the breast to wave the breast as a wave offering before the Lord, 31 and the priest must offer the fat up in smoke on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his sons. 32 The right thigh you must give as a contribution offering to the priest from your peace-offering sacrifice. 33 The one from Aaron’s sons who presents the blood of the peace offering and fat will have the right thigh as his share, 34 for the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution offering I have taken from the Israelites out of their peace-offering sacrifices and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons from the people of Israel as a perpetual allotted portion.’”
35 This is the allotment of Aaron and the allotment of his sons from the Lord’s gifts on the day Moses presented them to serve as priests to the Lord. 36 This is what the Lord commanded to give to them from the Israelites on the day Moses anointed them—a perpetual allotted portion throughout their generations.
37 This is the law for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering, and the peace-offering sacrifice, 38 which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day he commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord in the desert of Sinai.
Psalms 7-8
1 O Lord my God, in you I have taken shelter.
Deliver me from all who chase me. Rescue me!
2 Otherwise they will rip me to shreds like a lion;
they will tear me to bits and no one will be able to rescue me.
3 O Lord my God, if I have done what they say,
or am guilty of unjust actions,
4 or have wronged my ally,
or helped his lawless enemy,
5 may an enemy relentlessly chase me and catch me;
may he trample me to death
and leave me lying dishonored in the dust. (Selah)
6 Stand up angrily, Lord.
Rise up with raging fury against my enemies.
Wake up for my sake, and execute the judgment you have decreed for them.
7 The countries are assembled all around you;
take once more your rightful place over them.
8 The Lord judges the nations.
Vindicate me, Lord, because I am innocent,
because I am blameless, O Exalted One.
9 May the evil deeds of the wicked come to an end.
But make the innocent secure,
O righteous God,
you who examine inner thoughts and motives.
10 The Exalted God is my shield,
the one who delivers the morally upright.
11 God is a just judge;
he is angry throughout the day.
12 If a person does not repent, God will wield his sword.
He has prepared to shoot his bow.
13 He has prepared deadly weapons to use against him;
he gets ready to shoot flaming arrows.
14 See the one who is pregnant with wickedness,
who conceives destructive plans,
and gives birth to harmful lies—
15 he digs a pit
and then falls into the hole he has made.
16 He becomes the victim of his own destructive plans—
and the violence he intended for others falls on his own head.
17 I will thank the Lord for his justice;
I will sing praises to the Lord Most High!
1 O Lord, our Lord,
how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth!
You reveal your majesty in the heavens above.
2 From the mouths of children and nursing babies
you have ordained praise on account of your adversaries,
so that you might put an end to the vindictive enemy.
3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made,
and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place,
4 Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them?
Of what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them?
5 You made them a little less than the heavenly beings.
You crowned mankind with honor and majesty.
6 you appoint them to rule over your creation;
you have placed everything under their authority,
7 including all the sheep and cattle,
as well as the wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that moves through the currents of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
how magnificent is your reputation throughout the earth!
Proverbs 22
1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great wealth,
good favor more than silver or gold.
2 The rich and the poor are met together;
the Lord is the Creator of them both.
3 A shrewd person saw danger and hid himself,
but the naive passed on by and paid for it.
4 The reward for humility and fearing the Lord
is riches and honor and life.
5 Thorns and snares are in the path of the perverse,
but the one who guards himself keeps far from them.
6 Train a child in the way that he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it.
7 The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is servant to the lender.
8 The one who sows iniquity will reap trouble,
and the rod of his fury will end.
9 A generous person will be blessed,
for he has given some of his food to the poor.
10 Drive out the scorner and contention will leave;
strife and insults will cease.
11 The one who loves a pure heart
and whose speech is gracious—the king will be his friend.
12 The eyes of the Lord watched over a cause,
and subverted the words of the treacherous person.
13 The sluggard has said, “There is a lion outside!
I will be killed in the middle of the streets!”
14 The mouth of an adulteress is like a deep pit;
the one against whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.
16 The one who oppresses the poor to increase his own gain
and the one who gives to the rich—both end up only in poverty.
17 Incline your ear and listen to the words of the wise,
and apply your mind to my instruction.
18 For it is pleasing if you keep these sayings within you,
and they are ready on your lips.
19 So that your confidence may be in the Lord,
I hereby make them known to you today—even you.
20 Have I not written thirty sayings for you,
sayings of counsel and knowledge,
21 to show you true and reliable words,
so that you may give accurate answers to those who sent you?
22 Do not exploit a poor person because he is poor
and do not crush the needy in court,
23 for the Lord will plead their case
and will rob the life of those who are robbing them.
24 Do not make friends with an angry person,
and do not associate with a wrathful person,
25 lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
26 Do not be one who strikes hands in pledge
or who puts up security for debts.
27 If you do not have enough to pay,
your bed will be taken right out from under you!
28 Do not move an ancient boundary stone
that was put in place by your ancestors.
29 You have seen a person skilled in his work—
he will take his position before kings;
he will not take his position before obscure people.
1 Thessalonians 1
1 From Paul and Silvanus and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you!
2 We thank God always for all of you as we mention you constantly in our prayers, 3 because we recall in the presence of our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 We know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 in that our gospel did not come to you merely in words, but in power and in the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction (surely you recall the character we displayed when we came among you to help you).
6 And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, when you received the message with joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, despite great affliction. 7 As a result you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For from you the message of the Lord has echoed forth not just in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place reports of your faith in God have spread, so that we do not need to say anything. 9 For people everywhere report how you welcomed us and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus our deliverer from the coming wrath.
