Leviticus 2–3; John 21; Proverbs 18; Colossians 1

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Leviticus 2–3

Laws for Grain Offerings

When anyone brings a pgrain offering as an offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of fine flour. qHe shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it and bring it to Aaron’s sons the priests. And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this as its rmemorial portion on the altar, a food soffering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. But the trest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; uit is a most holy part of the Lord’s food offerings.

When you bring a grain offering baked in the oven as an offering, it shall be vunleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened wafers smeared with oil. And if your offering is a grain offering wbaked on a griddle, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mixed with oil. You shall break it in pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. And if your offering is a grain offering cooked in a pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil. And you shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the Lord, and when it is presented to the priest, he shall bring it to the altar. And the priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, a food xoffering with a ypleasing aroma to the Lord. 10 But the zrest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; zit is a most holy part of the Lord’s food offerings.

11 No grain offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with aleaven, for you shall burn no leaven nor any honey as a food offering to the Lord. 12 bAs an offering of firstfruits you may bring them to the Lord, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing aroma. 13 You cshall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the dsalt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; ewith all your offerings you shall offer salt.

14 If you offer a grain offering of firstfruits to the Lord, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits fresh fears, roasted with fire, crushed new grain. 15 And gyou shall put oil on it and lay frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. 16 And the priest shall burn as its hmemorial portion some of the crushed grain and some of the oil with all of its frankincense; it is a food offering to the Lord.

Laws for Peace Offerings

If his offering is ia sacrifice of peace offering, if he offers an animal from the herd, male or female, jhe shall offer it kwithout blemish before the Lord. And lhe 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. And from the sacrifice of the peace offering, as a food offering to the Lord, he shall offer mthe fat covering the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, nand 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. Then Aaron’s sons oshall 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.

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 kwithout blemish. If he offers a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it before the Lord, lay 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. Then from the sacrifice of the peace offering he shall offer as a food offering to the Lord its fat; he shall remove the whole pfat tail, cut off close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails 10 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 qwith the kidneys. 11 And the priest shall burn it on the altar as ra food offering to the Lord.

12 If his offering is a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord 13 and 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. 14 Then 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 15 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 qwith the kidneys. 16 And the priest shall burn them on the altar as a rfood offering with a pleasing aroma. sAll fat is the Lord’s. 17 It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, in all your dwelling places, that you eat neither sfat nor tblood.


John 21

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

After this Jesus brevealed himself cagain to the disciples by dthe Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, eThomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of fCana in Galilee, gthe sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. They said to him, We will go with you. They went out and got into the boat, but hthat night they caught nothing.

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples idid not know that it was Jesus. jJesus said to them, Children, do you have any fish? They answered him, No. kHe said to them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some. So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple lwhom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, It is the Lord! When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, mhe put on his outer garment, for he was nstripped for work, and othrew himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards1 off.

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish that you have just caught. 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, pCome and qhave breakfast. Now rnone of the disciples dared ask him, Who are you? They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and stook the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 tThis was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus and Peter

15 When they had ufinished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, vSimon, wson of John, xdo you love me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed ymy lambs. 16 He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, zTend ymy sheep. 17 He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him athe third time, Do you love me? and he said to him, Lord, byou know everything; you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, Feed cmy sheep. 18 dTruly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, eyou used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. 19 (This he said to show fby what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, gFollow me.

Jesus and the Beloved Apostle

20 Peter turned and saw hthe disciple whom Jesus loved following them, ithe one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man? 22 Jesus said to him, If it is my will that he remain juntil kI come, what is that to you? lYou follow me! 23 So the saying spread abroad among mthe brothers2 that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?

24 This is the disciple nwho is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and owe know pthat his testimony is true.

25 Now qthere are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that rthe world itself could not contain the books that would be written.


Proverbs 18

Whoever yisolates himself seeks his own desire;

he breaks out against all sound judgment.

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,

but only zin expressing his opinion.

When wickedness comes, contempt comes also,

and with dishonor comes disgrace.

The words of a man’s mouth are adeep waters;

the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

It is not good to bbe partial to1 the wicked

or to cdeprive the righteous of justice.

A fool’s lips walk into a fight,

and his mouth invites da beating.

eA fool’s mouth is his ruin,

and his lips are a snare to his soul.

fThe words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;

they go down into gthe inner parts of the body.

Whoever is slack in his work

is a hbrother to him who destroys.

10  iThe name of the Lord is ja strong tower;

the righteous man runs into it and kis safe.

11  lA rich man’s wealth is his strong city,

and like a high wall in his imagination.

12  mBefore destruction a man’s heart is haughty,

but nhumility comes before honor.

13  If one gives an answer obefore he hears,

it is his folly and shame.

14  A man’s spirit will endure sickness,

but pa crushed spirit who can bear?

15  An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,

and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

16  A man’s qgift makes room for him

and brings him before the great.

17  The one who states his case first seems right,

until the other comes and examines him.

18  rThe lot puts an end to quarrels

and decides between powerful contenders.

19  A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city,

and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.

20  sFrom the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach is satisfied;

he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.

21  tDeath and life are in the power of the tongue,

and those who love it will eat its fruits.

22  He who finds ua wife finds va good thing

and wobtains favor xfrom the Lord.

23  The poor use entreaties,

but ythe rich answer roughly.

24  A man of many companions may come to ruin,

but zthere is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.


Colossians 1

Greeting

Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby the will of God, and Timothy cour brother,

To the dsaints and faithful brothers1 in Christ at Colossae:

eGrace to you and peace from God our Father.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

fWe always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of gyour faith in Christ Jesus and of gthe love that you have for all the saints, because of hthe hope ilaid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in jthe word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed kin the whole world it is lbearing fruit and increasingas it also does among you, since the day you mheard it and understood nthe grace of God in truth, just as you learned it from oEpaphras our beloved pfellow servant.2 He is pa faithful minister of Christ on your3 behalf and has made known to us your qlove in the Spirit.

And so, rfrom the day we heard, swe have not ceased to pray for you, asking that tyou may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all uspiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as vto walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, wfully pleasing to him: xbearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 ybeing strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for zall endurance and patience awith joy; 12 bgiving thanks4 to the Father, who has qualified you5 to share in cthe inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He dhas delivered us from ethe domain of darkness and transferred us to fthe kingdom of ghis beloved Son, 14 hin whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Preeminence of Christ

15 iHe is the image of jthe invisible God, kthe firstborn of all creation. 16 For by6 him all things were created, lin heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether mthrones or ndominions or rulers or authoritiesall things were created othrough him and for him. 17 And phe is before all things, and in him all things qhold together. 18 And rhe is the head of the body, the church. He is sthe beginning, tthe firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For uin him all the vfullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and wthrough him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, xmaking peace yby the blood of his cross.

21 zAnd you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, adoing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled bin his body of flesh by his death, cin order to present you holy and blameless and dabove reproach before him, 23 eif indeed you continue in the faith, fstable and steadfast, not shifting from gthe hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed hin all creation7 under heaven, iand of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Paul’s Ministry to the Church

24 Now jI rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh kI am filling up lwhat is lacking in Christ’s afflictions mfor the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 nof which I became a minister according to othe stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 pthe mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 qTo them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are rthe riches of the glory of pthis mystery, which is Christ in you, sthe hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that twe may present everyone umature in Christ. 29 For this vI toil, wstruggling xwith all his energy that he powerfully works within me.