The Lamp and the Bread of the Sanctuary

24 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you ^(A)clear oil from beaten olives for the ^[a]light, to make a lamp ^[b]burn continually. ³ Outside the veil of the testimony in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a permanent statute throughout your generations. ⁴ He shall keep the lamps in order on the ^(B)pure gold lampstand before the Lord continually.

⁵ “^(C)Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve ^[c]cakes with it; ^[d]two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. ⁶ And you shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the ^(D)pure gold table before the Lord. ⁷ You shall put pure frankincense on each row so that it may be ^(E)a memorial portion for the bread, an offering by fire to the Lord. ^8 (F)Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord ^(G)continually; it is an everlasting covenant ^[e]for the sons of Israel. ⁹ And ^(H)it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the Lord’s offerings by fire, his portion forever.”

¹⁰ Now the son of an Israelite woman—his father was an Egyptian—went out among the sons of Israel; and the Israelite woman’s son and an Israelite man had a fight within the camp. ¹¹ And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the ^(I)Name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) ¹² Then they put him in custody, waiting for Moses to give them a clear decision in accordance with ^(J)the command of the Lord.

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁴ “Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp, and have all who heard him ^(K)lay their hands on his head; then ^(L)have all the congregation stone him. ¹⁵ You shall also speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘^(M)If anyone curses his God, then he will bear the responsibility for his sin. ¹⁶ Moreover, the one who ^(N)blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The stranger as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

An Eye for an Eye

¹⁷ ‘Now ^(O)if someone ^[f]takes any human life, he must be put to death. ¹⁸ But ^(P)the one who ^[g]takes the life of an animal shall make restitution, life for life. ¹⁹ If someone injures his neighbor, just as he has done, so shall it be done to him: ^20 (Q)fracture for fracture, ^(R)eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a person, so shall it be ^[h]inflicted on him. ²¹ So the one who ^[i]kills an animal shall make restitution, but ^(S)the one who ^[j]kills a person shall be put to death. ²² There shall be only ^(T)one ^[k]standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the Lord your God.’” ²³ Then Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, and they brought the one who had cursed outside the camp, and stoned him with stones. So the sons of Israel did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise.

For the music director. A Psalm of David.

Wisdom and Foolishness Contrasted

¹⁵ I have seen everything during my ^[m](W)lifetime of futility; there is ^(X)a righteous person who perishes in his righteousness, and there is ^(Y)a wicked person who prolongs his life in his wickedness. ¹⁶ Do not be excessively ^(Z)righteous, and do not ^(AA)be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself? ¹⁷ Do not be excessively wicked, and do not be foolish. Why should you ^(AB)die ^[n]before your time? ¹⁸ It is good that you grasp one thing while not ^[o]letting go of the other; for one who ^(AC)fears God comes out with ^[p]both of them.

^19 (AD)Wisdom strengthens a wise person more than ten rulers who are in a city. ²⁰ Indeed, ^(AE)there is not a righteous person on earth who always does good and does not ever sin. ²¹ Also, do not ^[q]take seriously all the words which are spoken, so that you do not hear your servant ^(AF)cursing you, ²² for ^[r]you know that even you have cursed others many times as well.

²³ I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” ^(AG)but wisdom was far from me. ²⁴ What has been is remote and ^(AH)very ^[s]mysterious. ^(AI)Who can discover it? ²⁵ I ^[t](AJ)directed my ^[u]mind to know and to investigate, and to seek wisdom and an explanation, and to know the evil of foolishness and the foolishness of insanity. ²⁶ And I discovered as more ^(AK)bitter than death the woman whose heart is ^(AL)snares and nets, whose hands are chains. ^(AM)One who is pleasing to God will escape from her, but ^(AN)the sinner will be captured by her.

²⁷ “Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “by adding one thing to another to find an explanation, ²⁸ which ^[v]I am still seeking but have not found. I have found one man among a thousand, but I have not found a ^(AO)woman among all these. ²⁹ Behold, I have found only this, that ^(AP)God made people upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”

Difficult Times Will Come

3 But realize this, that ^(A)in the last days difficult times will come. ² For people will be ^(B)lovers of self, ^(C)lovers of money, ^(D)boastful, ^(E)arrogant, ^(F)slanderers, ^(G)disobedient to parents, ^(H)ungrateful, ^(I)unholy, ^3 (J)unloving, irreconcilable, ^(K)malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, ^[a](L)haters of good, ^4 (M)treacherous, ^(N)reckless, ^(O)conceited, ^(P)lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ holding to a form of ^[b](Q)godliness although they have ^(R)denied its power; ^(S)avoid such people as these. ⁶ For among them are those who ^[c](T)slip into households and captivate ^[d](U)weak women weighed down with sins, led on by ^(V)various impulses, ⁷ always learning and never able to ^(W)come to the ^[e]knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as ^(X)Jannes and Jambres ^(Y)opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, ^(Z)men of depraved mind, ^[f]worthless in regard to the faith. ⁹ But they will not make further progress; for their ^(AA)foolishness will be obvious to all, just ^(AB)as was that also of ^[g]Jannes and Jambres.

¹⁰ Now you ^(AC)followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, ^(AD)love, ^[h]perseverance, ^11 (AE)persecutions, and ^(AF)sufferings, such as happened to me at ^(AG)Antioch, at ^(AH)Iconium, and at ^(AI)Lystra; what ^(AJ)persecutions I endured, and out of them all ^(AK)the Lord rescued me! ¹² Indeed, all who want to live in a godly way in Christ Jesus ^(AL)will be persecuted. ¹³ But evil people and impostors ^(AM)will proceed from bad to worse, ^(AN)deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ You, however, ^(AO)continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that ^(AP)from childhood you have known ^(AQ)the sacred writings which are able to ^(AR)give you the wisdom that leads to ^(AS)salvation through faith which is in ^(AT)Christ Jesus. ^16 (AU)All Scripture is ^[i]inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for ^[j]rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; ¹⁷ so that ^(AV)the man or woman of God may be ^[k]fully capable, ^(AW)equipped for every good work.