Leviticus 3

English Standard Version

Laws for Peace Offerings

3 “If his offering is ^(A)a sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, ^(B)he shall offer it ^(C)without blemish before the Lord. ²And ^(D)he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and kill it at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and Aaron's sons the priests shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar. ³And from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as a food offering to the Lord, he shall offer ^(E)the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, ⁴^(F)and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins, and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove with the kidneys. ⁵Then Aaron's sons ^(G)shall burn it on the altar on top of the burnt offering, which is on the wood on the fire; it is a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

⁶“If his offering for a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord is an animal from the flock, male or female, he shall offer it ^(H)without blemish. ⁷If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before the Lord, ⁸lay his hand on the head of his offering, and kill it in front of the tent of meeting; and Aaron's sons shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. ⁹Then from the sacrifice of the peace offering he shall offer as a food offering to the Lord its fat; he shall remove the whole ^(I)fat tail, cut off close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails ¹⁰and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove ^(J)with the kidneys. ¹¹And the priest shall burn it on the altar as ^(K)a food offering to the Lord.

¹²“If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord ¹³and lay his hand on its head and kill it in front of the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron shall throw its blood against the sides of the altar. ¹⁴Then he shall offer from it, as his offering for a food offering to the Lord, the fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails ¹⁵and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them at the loins and the long lobe of the liver that he shall remove ^(L)with the kidneys. ¹⁶And the priest shall burn them on the altar as a ^(M)food offering with a pleasing aroma. ^(N)All fat is the Lord's. ¹⁷It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither ^(O)fat nor ^(P)blood.”

Read full chapter

1 Kings 12:20-33

English Standard Version

²⁰And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but ^(A)the tribe of Judah only.

²¹^(B)When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. ²²But the word of God came to ^(C)Shemaiah the man of God: ²³“Say to Rehoboam the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and to all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the ^(D)rest of the people, ²⁴‘Thus says the Lord, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, ^(E)for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the Lord and went home again, according to the word of the Lord.

Jeroboam's Golden Calves

²⁵Then Jeroboam ^(F)built Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there. And he went out from there and ^(G)built Penuel. ²⁶And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. ²⁷If this people ^(H)go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” ²⁸So the king took counsel and ^(I)made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. ^(J)Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ²⁹And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰Then ^(K)this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one.^[a] ³¹He also made ^(L)temples on high places and ^(M)appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites. ³²And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like ^(N)the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel ^(O)the priests of the high places that he had made. ³³He went up to the altar that he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, in the month that he had devised from his own heart. And he instituted a feast for the people of Israel and went up to the altar ^(P)to make offerings.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

1 Kings 12:30 Septuagint went to the one at Bethel and to the other as far as Dan

Jeremiah 51:46-64

English Standard Version

⁴⁶Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful
    ^(A)at the report heard in the land,
^(B)when a report comes in one year
    and afterward a report in another year,
and violence is in the land,
    ^(C)and ruler is against ruler.

⁴⁷“Therefore, behold, the days are coming
    when ^(D)I will punish the images of Babylon;
^(E)her whole land shall be put to shame,
    and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
⁴⁸^(F)Then the heavens and the earth,
    and all that is in them,
shall sing for joy over Babylon,
    ^(G)for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north,
declares the Lord.
⁴⁹Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel,
    ^(H)just as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.

⁵⁰^(I)“You who have escaped from the sword,
    go, do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
    and let Jerusalem come into your mind:
⁵¹^(J)‘We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach;
    ^(K)dishonor has covered our face,
^(L)for foreigners have come
    into the holy places of the Lord's house.’

⁵²“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
    when ^(M)I will execute judgment upon her images,
^(N)and through all her land
    the wounded shall groan.
⁵³Though Babylon should ^(O)mount up to heaven,
    and though she should ^(P)fortify her strong height,
yet destroyers would come from me against her,
    declares the Lord.

⁵⁴^(Q)“A voice! A cry from Babylon!
    The noise of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
⁵⁵For the Lord is laying Babylon waste
    and stilling her mighty voice.
^(R)Their waves roar like many waters;
    the noise of their voice is raised,
⁵⁶for a destroyer has come upon her,
    upon Babylon;
her warriors are taken;
    their bows are broken in pieces,
^(S)for the Lord is a God of recompense;
    he will surely repay.
⁵⁷^(T)I will make drunk her officials and her wise men,
    ^(U)her governors, her commanders, and her warriors;
they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake,
    declares ^(V)the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

⁵⁸“Thus says the Lord of hosts:
The broad ^(W)wall of Babylon
    shall be leveled to the ground,
^(X)and her high gates
    shall be burned with fire.
^(Y)The peoples labor for nothing,
    and ^(Z)the nations weary themselves only for fire.”

⁵⁹The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah ^(AA)the son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, ^(AB)in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. ⁶⁰^(AC)Jeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon, ^(AD)all these words that are written concerning Babylon. ⁶¹And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, ⁶²and say, ‘O Lord, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off, so ^(AE)that nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be ^(AF)desolate forever.’ ⁶³When you finish reading this book, ^(AG)^(AH)tie a stone to it ^(AI)and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, ⁶⁴and say, ^(AJ)‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, ^(AK)and they shall become exhausted.’”

Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.

Read full chapter

Psalm 78:1-11

English Standard Version

Tell the Coming Generation

A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)Asaph.

78 ^(B)Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
²^(C)I will open my mouth ^(D)in a parable;
    I will utter dark sayings from of old,
³things that we have heard and known,
    that our ^(E)fathers have told us.
⁴We will not ^(F)hide them from their children,
    but ^(G)tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
    and ^(H)the wonders that he has done.

⁵He established ^(I)a testimony in ^(J)Jacob
    and appointed a law in ^(K)Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
    to teach to their children,
⁶that ^(L)the next generation might know them,
    the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
⁷    so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget ^(M)the works of God,
    but ^(N)keep his commandments;
⁸and that they should not be ^(O)like their fathers,
    ^(P)a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation ^(Q)whose heart was not steadfast,
    whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹The Ephraimites, armed with^[b] the bow,
    ^(R)turned back on the day of battle.
¹⁰They ^(S)did not keep God's covenant,
    but refused to walk according to his law.
¹¹They ^(T)forgot his works
    and ^(U)the wonders that he had shown them.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Psalm 78:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
Psalm 78:9 Hebrew armed and shooting

Luke 1:46-56

English Standard Version

Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat

⁴⁶And Mary said,

^(A)“My ^(B)soul ^(C)magnifies the Lord,
⁴⁷    ^(D)and my ^(E)spirit rejoices in ^(F)God my Savior,
⁴⁸for ^(G)he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    For behold, from now on all generations ^(H)will call me blessed;
⁴⁹for ^(I)he who is mighty ^(J)has done great things for me,
    and ^(K)holy is his name.
⁵⁰And ^(L)his mercy is for those who fear him
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹^(M)He has shown strength with his arm;
    ^(N)he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
⁵²^(O)he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    ^(P)and exalted those of humble estate;
⁵³he has filled ^(Q)the hungry with good things,
    and the rich ^(R)he has sent away empty.
⁵⁴He has ^(S)helped ^(T)his servant Israel,
    ^(U)in remembrance of his mercy,
⁵⁵^(V)as he spoke to our fathers,
    ^(W)to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

⁵⁶And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

Read full chapter

1 Corinthians 6:12-20

English Standard Version

Flee Sexual Immorality

¹²^(A)“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. ¹³^(B)“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one ^(C)and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but ^(D)for the Lord, and ^(E)the Lord for the body. ¹⁴And ^(F)God raised the Lord and ^(G)will also raise us up ^(H)by his power. ¹⁵Do you not know that ^(I)your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶Or do you not know that he who is joined^[a] to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ^(J)“The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷But he who is joined to the Lord ^(K)becomes one spirit with him. ¹⁸^(L)Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin^[b] a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person ^(M)sins against his own body. ¹⁹Or ^(N)do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? ^(O)You are not your own, ²⁰^(P)for you were bought with a price. ^(Q)So glorify God in your body.