Bible Readings for February 28, 2021

Let's read the Bible together in the next year. Today our passages are Leviticus 22:17–23:44; Mark 9:30–10:12; Psalm 44:1-8; and Proverbs 10:19. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.  

---

Leviticus 22:17-23:44 (Contemporary English Version)

Acceptable Sacrifices

 ¹⁷The LORD told Moses ¹⁸to tell Aaron and his sons and everyone else the rules for offering sacrifices. He said:    The animals that are to be completely burned on the altar ^19-20must have nothing wrong with them, or else I won't accept them. Bulls or rams or goats ^[a] are the animals to be used for these sacrifices. ²¹When you offer a sacrifice to ask my blessing, ^[b] there must be nothing wrong with the animal. This is true, whether the sacrifice is part of a promise or something you do voluntarily. ²²Don't offer an animal that is blind or injured or that has an infection or a skin disease. ²³If one of your cattle or lambs has a leg that is longer or shorter than the others, you may offer it voluntarily, but not as part of a promise. ²⁴As long as you live in this land, don't offer an animal with injured testicles. ²⁵And don't bring me animals you bought from a foreigner. I won't accept them, because they are no better than one that has something wrong with it. ²⁶The LORD told Moses to say:
    ²⁷Newborn cattle, sheep, or goats must remain with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day, you may send them up in smoke to me, and I will accept the offering. ²⁸Don't sacrifice a newborn animal and its mother on the same day.
    ²⁹When you offer a sacrifice to give thanks ^[c] to me, you must do it in a way that is acceptable. ³⁰Eat all of the meat that same day and don't save any for the next day. I am the LORD your God! ³¹Obey my laws and teachings--I am the LORD. ^32-33I demand respect from the people of Israel, so don't disgrace my holy name. Remember--I am the one who chose you to be priests and rescued all of you from Egypt, so that I would be your LORD.
    

Leviticus 23

Religious Festivals

 ¹The LORD told Moses ²to say to the community of Israel:    I have chosen certain times for you to come together and worship me.
    ³You have six days when you can do your work, but the seventh day of each week is holy because it belongs to me. No matter where you live, you must rest on the Sabbath and come together for worship. This law will never change.
   The LORD said: 
    

Passover and the Festival of Thin Bread

(Numbers 28.16-25)

 ^4-5Passover is another time when you must come together to worship me, and it must be celebrated on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month ^[d] of each year. ⁶The Festival of Thin Bread begins on the fifteenth day of that same month; it lasts seven days, and during this time you must honor me by eating bread made without yeast. ⁷On the first day of this festival you must rest from your work and come together for worship. ⁸Each day of this festival you must offer sacrifices. Then on the final day you must once again rest from your work and come together for worship.     

Offering the First Part of the Harvest

 ⁹The LORD told Moses ¹⁰to say to the community of Israel:    After you enter the land I am giving you, the first bundle of wheat from each crop must be given to me. So bring it to a priest ¹¹on the day after the Sabbath. He will lift it up ^[e] in dedication to me, and I will accept you. ¹²You must also offer a sacrifice to please me. ^[f] So bring the priest a one-year-old lamb that has nothing wrong with it ¹³and four pounds of your finest flour mixed with olive oil. Then he will place these on the bronze altar and send them up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. Together with these, you must bring a quart of wine as a drink offering. ¹⁴I am your God, and I forbid you to eat any new grain or anything made from it until you have brought these offerings. This law will never change. The LORD said: 
    

The Harvest Festival

(Numbers 28.26-31)

 ¹⁵Seven weeks after you offer this bundle of grain, each family must bring another offering of new grain. ¹⁶Do this exactly fifty days later, which is the day following the seventh Sabbath. ¹⁷Bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up ^[g] in dedication to me. Each loaf is to be made with yeast and with four pounds of the finest flour from the first part of your harvest. ¹⁸At this same time, the entire community of Israel must bring seven lambs that are a year old, a young bull, and two rams. These animals must have nothing wrong with them, and they must be offered as a sacrifice to please me. ^[h] You must also offer the proper grain and wine sacrifices with each animal. ^[i] ¹⁹Offer a goat ^[j] as a sacrifice for sin, and two rams a year old as a sacrifice to ask my blessing. ^[k] ²⁰The priest will lift up ^[l] the rams together with the bread in dedication to me. These offerings are holy and are my gift to the priest. ²¹This is a day of celebration and worship, a time of rest from your work. You and your descendants must obey this law. ²²When you harvest your grain, always leave some of it standing around the edges of your fields and don't pick up what falls on the ground. Leave it for the poor and for those foreigners who live among you. I am the LORD your God!     

The Festival of Trumpets

(Numbers 29.1-6)

 ²³The LORD told Moses ^24-25to say to the people of Israel:    The first day of the seventh month ^[m] must be a day of complete rest. Then at the sound of the trumpets, you will come together to worship and to offer sacrifices on the altar. 

The Great Day of Forgiveness

(Numbers 29.7-11)

 ²⁶The LORD God said to Moses:     ²⁷The tenth day of the seventh month ^[n] is the Great Day of Forgiveness. ^[o] It is a solemn day of worship; everyone must go without eating to show sorrow for their sins, and sacrifices must be burned. ²⁸No one is to work on that day--it is the Great Day of Forgiveness, when sacrifices will be offered to me, so that I will forgive your sins. ²⁹I will destroy anyone who refuses to go without eating. ^30-31None of my people are ever to do any work on that day--not now or in the future. And I will wipe out those who do! ³²This is a time of complete rest just like the Sabbath, and everyone must go without eating from the evening of the ninth to the evening of the tenth. 

The Festival of Shelters

(Numbers 29.12-40)

 ³³The LORD told Moses ³⁴to say to the community of Israel:    Beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, ^[p]and continuing for seven days, everyone must celebrate the Festival of Shelters in honor of me. ³⁵No one is to do any work on the first day of the festival--it is a time when everyone must come together for worship. ³⁶For seven days, sacrifices must be offered on the altar. The eighth day is also to be a day of complete rest, as well as a time of offering sacrifices on the altar and of coming together for worship. ³⁷I have chosen these festivals as times when my people must come together for worship and when animals, grain, and wine are to be offered on the proper days. ³⁸These festivals must be celebrated in addition to the Sabbaths and the times when you offer special gifts or sacrifices to keep a promise or as a voluntary offering.
    ³⁹Remember to begin the Festival of Shelters on the fifteenth day of the seventh month after you have harvested your crops. Celebrate this festival for seven days in honor of me and don't do any work on the first day or on the day following the festival. ⁴⁰Pick the best fruit from your trees ^[q] and cut leafy branches to use during the time of this joyous celebration in my honor. ⁴¹I command you and all of your descendants to celebrate this festival during the seventh month of each year. ⁴²For seven days every Israelite must live in a shelter, ⁴³so future generations will know that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. ⁴⁴This is how Moses instructed the people of Israel to celebrate the LORD's festivals.
    

Footnotes:

1. Leviticus 22:19 goats: See the note at 1.1-3.
2. Leviticus 22:21 sacrifice to ask my blessing: See the note at 3.1.
3. Leviticus 22:29 sacrifice to give thanks: See 7.12.
4. Leviticus 23:4 first month: Abib (also called Nisan), the first month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-March to mid-April.
5. Leviticus 23:11 lift it up: See the note at 7.29,30.
6. Leviticus 23:12 sacrifice to please me: See the note at 1.1-3.
7. Leviticus 23:17 lifted up: See the note at 7.29,30.
8. Leviticus 23:18 sacrifice to please me: See the note at 1.1-3.
9. Leviticus 23:18 proper grain. . . animal: See Numbers 15.1-16.
10. Leviticus 23:19 goat: See the note at 1.1-3.
11. Leviticus 23:19 sacrifice to ask my blessing: See the note at 3.1.
12. Leviticus 23:20 lift up: See the note at 7.29,30.
13. Leviticus 23:24 seventh month: See the note at 16.29.
14. Leviticus 23:27 seventh month: See the note at 16.29.
15. Leviticus 23:27 Great Day of Forgiveness: See the note at 16.34.
16. Leviticus 23:34 seventh month: See the note at 16.29.
17. Leviticus 23:40 best fruit from your trees: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

---

Mark 9:30-10:12 (Contemporary English Version)

Jesus Again Speaks about His Death

(Matthew 17.22,23; Luke 9.43b-45)

 ³⁰Jesus left with his disciples and started through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know about it, ³¹because he was teaching the disciples that the Son of Man would be handed over to people who would kill him. But three days later he would rise to life. ³²The disciples did not understand what Jesus meant, and they were afraid to ask.     

Who Is the Greatest?

(Matthew 18.1-5; Luke 9.46-48)

 ³³Jesus and his disciples went to his home in Capernaum. After they were inside the house, Jesus asked them, "What were you arguing about along the way?" ³⁴They had been arguing about which one of them was the greatest, and so they did not answer.     ³⁵After Jesus sat down and told the twelve disciples to gather around him, he said, "If you want the place of honor, you must become a slave and serve others!"
    ³⁶Then Jesus had a child stand near him. He put his arm around the child and said, ³⁷"When you welcome even a child because of me, you welcome me. And when you welcome me, you welcome the one who sent me."     

For or against Jesus

(Luke 9.49,50)

 ³⁸John said, "Teacher, we saw a man using your name to force demons out of people. But he wasn't one of us, and we told him to stop."     ³⁹Jesus said to his disciples:
   Don't stop him! No one who works miracles in my name will soon turn and say something bad about me. ⁴⁰Anyone who isn't against us is for us. ⁴¹And anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name, just because you belong to me, will surely be rewarded. 

Temptations To Sin

(Matthew 18.6-9; Luke 17.1,2)

 ⁴²It will be terrible for people who cause even one of my little followers to sin. Those people would be better off thrown into the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their necks. ^43-44So if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! You would be better off to go into life crippled than to have two hands and be thrown into the fires of hell that never go out. ^[a] ^45-46If your foot causes you to sin, chop it off. You would be better off to go into life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. ^[b] ⁴⁷If your eye causes you to sin, get rid of it. You would be better off to go into God's kingdom with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. ⁴⁸The worms there never die, and the fire never stops burning.     ⁴⁹Everyone must be salted with fire. ^[c]
    ⁵⁰Salt is good. But if it no longer tastes like salt, how can it be made salty again? Have salt among you and live at peace with each other. ^[d]
    

Mark 10

Teaching about Divorce

(Matthew 19.1-12; Luke 16.18)

 ¹After Jesus left, he went to Judea and then on to the other side of the Jordan River. Once again large crowds came to him, and as usual, he taught them.     ²Some Pharisees wanted to test Jesus. So they came up to him and asked if it was right for a man to divorce his wife. ³Jesus asked them, "What does the Law of Moses say about that?"
    ⁴They answered, "Moses allows a man to write out divorce papers and send his wife away."
    ⁵Jesus replied, "Moses gave you this law because you are so heartless. ⁶But in the beginning God made a man and a woman. ⁷That's why a man leaves his father and mother and gets married. ⁸He becomes like one person with his wife. Then they are no longer two people, but one. ⁹And no one should separate a couple that God has joined together."
    ¹⁰When Jesus and his disciples were back in the house, they asked him about what he had said. ¹¹He told them, "A man who divorces his wife and marries someone else is unfaithful to his wife. ¹²A woman who divorces her husband ^[e]and marries again is also unfaithful."
    

Footnotes:

1. Mark 9:43 never go out: Some manuscripts add, "The worms there never die, and the fire never stops burning."
2. Mark 9:45 thrown into hell: Some manuscripts add, "The worms there never die, and the fire never stops burning."
3. Mark 9:49 salted with fire: Some manuscripts add "and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt." The verse may mean that Christ's followers must suffer because of their faith.
4. Mark 9:50 Have salt among you and live at peace with each other: This may mean that when Christ's followers have to suffer because of their faith, they must still try to live at peace with each other.
5. Mark 10:12 A woman who divorces her husband: Roman law let a woman divorce her husband, but Jewish law did not let a woman do this.

---

Psalm 44:1-8 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 44

(A special psalm for the people of Korah and for the music leader.)

A Prayer for Help

 ¹Our God, our ancestors told us    what wonders you worked
   and we listened carefully.
    ²You chased off the nations
   by causing them trouble
   with your powerful arm.
   Then you let our ancestors
   take over their land.
    ³Their strength and weapons
   were not
   what won the land
   and gave them victory!
   You loved them and fought
   with your powerful arm
   and your shining glory.
    ⁴You are my God and King,
   and you give victory ^[a] to the people of Jacob.
    ⁵By your great power,
   we knocked our enemies down
   and stomped on them.
    ⁶I don't depend on my arrows
   or my sword to save me.
    ⁷But you saved us
   from our hateful enemies,
   and you put them to shame.
    ⁸We boast about you, our God,
   and we are always grateful.
    

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 44:4 and. . . victory: One ancient translation; Hebrew " please give victory."

---

Proverbs 10:19 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁹You will say the wrong thing
   if you talk too much--
   so be sensible and watch
   what you say.

---

Thought for the Day

 

“God's Spirit doesn't make cowards out of us. The Spirit gives us power, love, and self-control.” (2 Timothy 1:7 - Contemporary English Version) Paul offers a pretty clear picture of spiritual courage. You see, those who are spiritually courageous don't just possess power. They also show love and practice self-control.

---

Quote for the Day

British biologist and writer, Peter Medawar wrote, “Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in.”

---

A Joke for Today

A young seminary student went home for Christmas break. A horrible snowstorm stranded the regular minister in another town. The leaders of the congregation asked the young man to substitute for the regular minister.

The young preacher started his sermon by explaining the meaning of a substitute. "If you break a window," he said, "and then place a piece of plywood over the hole -- that's a substitute."

After the sermon, a well-intentioned woman wished to compliment the young man. As she enthusiastically shook his hand, she said: "You were no substitute. You were a real pane!"

---

A Prayer Request

As Christians, we can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Below is the need that we're laying before God today.

That our city, state and national leaders would be presented with the Gospel and a loving Christian witness.

A Thought from the Word

A brief thought based on 1 John 4:9 - “God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life.”

Bible Readings for February 27, 2021

Let's read the Bible together in the next year. Today our passages are Leviticus 20:22–22:16; Mark 9:1-29; Psalm 43:1-5; and Proverbs 10:18. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.  

---

Leviticus 20:22-22:16 (Contemporary English Version)

²²Obey my laws and teachings. Or else the land I am giving you will become sick of you and throw you out. ²³The nations I am chasing out did these disgusting things, and I hated them for it, so don't follow their example. ²⁴I am the LORD your God, and I have promised you their land that is rich with milk and honey. I have chosen you to be different from other people. ²⁵That's why you must make a difference between animals and birds that I have said are clean and unclean ^] --this will keep you from becoming disgusting to me. ²⁶I am the LORD, the holy God. You have been chosen to be my people, and so you must be holy too. ²⁷If you claim to receive messages from the dead, you will be put to death by stoning, just as you deserve.

   

Leviticus 21

Instructions for Priests

 ¹The LORD gave Moses these instructions for Aaron's sons, the priests:

   Touching a dead body will make you unclean. So don't go near a dead relative, ²except your mother, father, son, daughter, brother, ³or an unmarried sister, who has no husband to take care of her. ⁴Don't make yourself unclean by attending the funeral of someone related to you by marriage. ^] 5Don't shave any part of your head or trim your beard or cut yourself to show that you are mourning. ⁶I am the LORD your God, and I have chosen you alone to offer sacrifices of food to me on the altar. That's why you must keep yourselves holy. ⁷Don't marry a divorced woman or a woman who has served as a temple prostitute. You are holy,⁸because I am holy. And so, you must be treated with proper respect, since you offer food sacrifices to me, the God of holiness. ⁹If any of you priests has a daughter who disgraces you by serving as a temple prostitute, she must be burned to death.

    ¹⁰If you are the high priest, you must not mess up your hair or tear your clothes in order to mourn for the dead. ¹¹Don't make yourself unclean by going near a dead body, not even that of your own father or mother. ¹²If you leave the sacred place to attend a funeral, both you and the sacred place become unclean, because you are the high priest.

    ¹³If you are the high priest, you must marry only a virgin ¹⁴from your own tribe. Don't marry a divorced woman or any other woman who has already had sex, including a temple prostitute. ¹⁵In this way, your descendants will be qualified to serve me. Remember--I am the LORD, and I have chosen you.

    ¹⁶The LORD told Moses ^17-18to say to Aaron:

   No descendant of yours can ever serve as my priest if he is blind or lame, if his face is disfigured, if one leg is shorter than the other, ¹⁹if either a foot or a hand is crippled, ²⁰if he is a hunchback or a dwarf, if an eye or his skin is diseased, or if his testicles have been damaged. ²¹These men may not serve as my priests and burn sacrifices to me. ²²They may eat the food offerings presented to me, ²³but they may not enter the sacred place or serve me at the altar. Remember--I am the LORD, the one who makes a priest holy.

    ²⁴Moses told all of this to Aaron, his sons, and the people of Israel.

   

Leviticus 22

The Offerings Are Holy

 ¹The LORD told Moses ²to say to Aaron and his sons:

   I am the LORD God, and I demand that you honor my holy name by showing proper respect for the offerings brought to me by the people of Israel. ³If any of you are unclean when you accept an offering for me, I will no longer let you serve as a priest. ⁴None of you may take part in the sacred meals while you have a skin disease or an infected penis, or after you have been near a dead body or have had a flow of semen, ⁵or if you have touched an unclean creature of any sort, including an unclean person. ^6-7Once you are unclean, you must take a bath, but you still cannot eat any of the sacred food until evening. ⁸I command you not to eat anything that is killed by a wild animal or dies a natural death. This would make you unclean. ⁹Obey me, or you will die on duty for disgracing the place of worship. Remember--I am the LORD, the one who makes a priest holy.

    ¹⁰Only you priests and your families may eat the food offerings; these are too sacred for any of your servants. ¹¹However, any slave that you own, including those born into your household, may eat this food. ¹²If your daughter marries someone who isn't a priest, she can no longer have any of this food. ¹³But if she returns to your home, either widowed or divorced, and has no children, she may join in the meal. Only members of a priestly family can eat this food, ¹⁴and anyone else who accidentally does so, must pay for the food plus a fine of twenty percent.

    ¹⁵I warn you not to treat lightly the offerings that are brought by the people of Israel. ¹⁶Don't let them become guilty of eating this sacred food. Remember--I am the LORD, the one who makes these offerings holy.

   

Footnotes:

1. Leviticus 20:25 clean and unclean: See the note at 11.4-8.
2. Leviticus 21:4 marriage: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text of verse 4.

---

Mark 9:1-29 (Contemporary English Version)

Mark 9

 ¹I can assure you that some of the people standing here will not die before they see God's kingdom come with power.

   

The True Glory of Jesus

(Matthew 17.1-13; Luke 9.28-36)

 ²Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him. They went up on a high mountain, where they could be alone. There in front of the disciples, Jesus was completely changed. ³And his clothes became much whiter than any bleach on earth could make them. ⁴Then Moses and Elijah were there talking with Jesus.

    ⁵Peter said to Jesus, "Teacher, it is good for us to be here! Let us make three shelters, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." ⁶But Peter and the others were terribly frightened, and he did not know what he was talking about.

    ⁷The shadow of a cloud passed over and covered them. From the cloud a voice said, "This is my Son, and I love him. Listen to what he says!" ⁸At once the disciples looked around, but they saw only Jesus.

    ⁹As Jesus and his disciples were coming down the mountain, he told them not to say a word about what they had seen, until the Son of Man had been raised from death. ¹⁰So they kept it to themselves. But they wondered what he meant by the words "raised from death."

    ¹¹The disciples asked Jesus, "Don't the teachers of the Law of Moses say that Elijah must come before the Messiah does?"

    ¹²Jesus answered:

   Elijah certainly will come ^] to get everything ready. But don't the Scriptures also say that the Son of Man must suffer terribly and be rejected? ¹³I can assure you that Elijah has already come. And people treated him just as they wanted to, as the Scriptures say they would.   

Jesus Heals a Boy

(Matthew 17.14-20; Luke 9.37-43a)

 ¹⁴When Jesus and his three disciples came back down, they saw a large crowd around the other disciples. The teachers of the Law of Moses were arguing with them.

    ¹⁵The crowd was really surprised to see Jesus, and everyone hurried over to greet him.

    ¹⁶Jesus asked, "What are you arguing about?"

    ¹⁷Someone from the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought my son to you. A demon keeps him from talking. ¹⁸Whenever the demon attacks my son, it throws him to the ground and makes him foam at the mouth and grit his teeth in pain. Then he becomes stiff. I asked your disciples to force out the demon, but they couldn't do it."

    ¹⁹Jesus said, "You people don't have any faith! How much longer must I be with you? Why do I have to put up with you? Bring the boy to me."

    ²⁰They brought the boy, and as soon as the demon saw Jesus, it made the boy shake all over. He fell down and began rolling on the ground and foaming at the mouth.

    ²¹Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?"

   The man answered, "Ever since he was a child. ²²The demon has often tried to kill him by throwing him into a fire or into water. Please have pity and help us if you can!"

    ²³Jesus replied, "Why do you say `if you can'? Anything is possible for someone who has faith!"

    ²⁴Right away the boy's father shouted, "I do have faith! Please help me to have even more."

    ²⁵When Jesus saw that a crowd was gathering fast, he spoke sternly to the evil spirit that had kept the boy from speaking or hearing. He said, "I order you to come out of the boy! Don't ever bother him again."

    ²⁶The spirit screamed and made the boy shake all over. Then it went out of him. The boy looked dead, and almost everyone said he was. ²⁷But Jesus took hold of his hand and helped him stand up.

    ²⁸After Jesus and the disciples had gone back home and were alone, they asked him, "Why couldn't we force out that demon?"

    ²⁹Jesus answered, "Only prayer can force out that kind of demon."

   

Footnotes:

1. Mark 9:12 Elijah certainly will come: See the note at 6.15.

---

Psalm 43:1-5 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 43

A Prayer in Times of Trouble

 ¹Show that I am right, God!

   Defend me against everyone

   who doesn't know you;

   rescue me from each

   of those deceitful liars.

    ²I run to you

   for protection.

   Why have you turned me away?

   Why must enemies mistreat me

   and make me sad?

    ³Send your light and your truth

   to guide me.

   Let them lead me to your house

   on your sacred mountain.

    ⁴Then I will worship

   at your altar

   because you

   make me joyful.

   You are my God,

   and I will praise you.

   Yes, I will praise you

   as I play my harp.

    ⁵Why am I discouraged?

   Why am I restless?

   I trust you!

   And I will praise you again

   because you help me,

   and you are my God.

---

Proverbs 10:18 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁸You can hide your hatred

   by telling lies,

   but you are a fool

   to spread lies.

---

Thought for the Day

 

“Children, you show love for others by truly helping them, and not merely by talking about it.” (1 John 3:18 - Contemporary English Version) There's a reason why people say "actions speak louder than words" and that "words are cheap. And those sayings are especially truth for those who claim to follow Jesus Christ.

---

Quote for the Day

American philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist, George Herbert Mead wrote, “Society is unity in diversity.”

---

A Joke for Today

A woman phoned her dentist when she received a huge bill.

"I'm shocked!" she complained.

"This is three times what you normally charge."

"Yes, I know," said the dentist. "But you screamed so loudly, you scared away two other patients."

---

A Prayer Request

As Christians, we can offer specific daily prayers for our community, nation and world. Below is the need that we're laying before God today.

That Americans look past the immediate benefit so that they might see the long-term consequences of their actions.