Leviticus 21; Psalms 26–27; Ecclesiastes 4; 1 Timothy 6

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Leviticus 21

Holiness and the Priests

And the Lord said to Moses, Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, aNo one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. bThey shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. They shall be holy to their God and cnot profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord’s food offerings, dthe bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. eThey shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman fdivorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for gI, the Lord, who sanctify you, ham holy. And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; ishe shall be burned with fire.

10 jThe priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, kshall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11 He shall not lgo in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12 mHe shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he nprofane the sanctuary of his God, for the oconsecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.1 14 A widow, por a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin2 of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for gI am the Lord who sanctifies him.

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may qapproach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man rblind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face sor a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a rdefect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or tcrushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to uoffer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of vthe most holy and of the wholy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not xprofane my sanctuaries,3 yfor I am the Lord who sanctifies them. 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.


Psalms 26–27

I Will Bless the Lord

Of David.

qVindicate me, O Lord,

for I have rwalked in my integrity,

and I have strusted in the Lord without wavering.

tProve me, O Lord, and try me;

test my heart and umy mind.1

For your vsteadfast love is before my eyes,

and I wwalk in your vfaithfulness.

I do not xsit with men of yfalsehood,

nor do I consort with hypocrites.

I zhate the assembly of evildoers,

and I will not sit with the wicked.

I awash my hands in innocence

and go around your altar, O Lord,

proclaiming thanksgiving aloud,

and telling all your bwondrous deeds.

O Lord, I clove the habitation of your house

and the place where your glory dwells.

dDo not sweep my soul away with sinners,

nor my life with bloodthirsty men,

10  in whose hands are evil devices,

and whose right hands are full of ebribes.

11  But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity;

redeem me, and be gracious to me.

12  My foot stands on flevel ground;

in gthe great assembly I will bless the Lord.

The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation

Of David.

The Lord is my hlight and my isalvation;

jwhom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold2 of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?

When evildoers assail me

to keat up my flesh,

my adversaries and foes,

it is they who stumble and fall.

lThough an army encamp against me,

my heart shall not fear;

though war arise against me,

yet3 I will be confident.

mOne thing have I asked of the Lord,

that will I seek after:

that I may ndwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon othe beauty of the Lord

and to inquire4 in his temple.

For he will phide me in his shelter

in the day of trouble;

he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;

he will qlift me high upon a rock.

And now my rhead shall be lifted up

above my enemies all around me,

and I will offer in his tent

sacrifices with shouts of sjoy;

tI will sing and make melody to the Lord.

uHear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;

be gracious to me and answer me!

You have said, vSeek5 my face.

My heart says to you,

Your face, Lord, do I seek.6

wHide not your face from me.

Turn not your servant away in anger,

O you who have been my help.

Cast me not off; forsake me not,

xO God of my salvation!

10  For ymy father and my mother have forsaken me,

but the Lord will ztake me in.

11  aTeach me your way, O Lord,

and lead me on ba level path

because of my enemies.

12  cGive me not up to the will of my adversaries;

for dfalse witnesses have risen against me,

and they ebreathe out violence.

13  I believe that I shall look7 upon fthe goodness of the Lord

in gthe land of the living!

14  hWait for the Lord;

ibe strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the Lord!


Ecclesiastes 4

Evil Under the Sun

uAgain I vsaw all wthe oppressions that are done under the sun. And behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had xno one to comfort them! On the side of their oppressors there was power, and there was no one to comfort them. And I ythought the dead who are already dead more fortunate than the living who are still alive. But zbetter than both is he who has not yet been and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is avanity1 and a striving after wind.

The fool bfolds his hands and ceats his own flesh.

dBetter is a handful of equietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind.

uAgain, I saw vanity under the sun: one person who has no other, either son or brother, yet there is no end to all his toil, and his feyes are never satisfied with riches, so that he never asks, gFor whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure? This also is vanity and an unhappy hbusiness.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. 10 For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! 11 Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, ibut how can one keep warm alone? 12 And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand hima threefold cord is not quickly broken.

13 Better was ja poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how kto take advice. 14 For he went lfrom prison to the throne, though in his own kingdom he had been born poor. 15 I saw all the living who move about under the sun, along with that2 youth who was to stand in the king’s3 place. 16 There was no end of all the people, all of whom he led. Yet those who come later will not rejoice in him. Surely this also is mvanity and a striving after wind.


1 Timothy 6

oLet all who are under a yoke as bondservants1 regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, pso that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are qbrothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.

False Teachers and True Contentment

rTeach and urge these things. If anyone steaches a different doctrine and does not agree with tthe sound2 words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching uthat accords with godliness, vhe is puffed up with conceit and wunderstands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for xcontroversy and for yquarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people zwho are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, aimagining that godliness is a means of gain. But bgodliness cwith contentment is great gain, for dwe brought nothing into the world, and3 we cannot take anything out of the world. But eif we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But fthose who desire to be rich fall into temptation, ginto a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that hplunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of iall kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

11 But as for you, jO man of God, kflee these things. lPursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 mFight the good fight of the faith. nTake hold of the eternal life oto which you were called and about which you made pthe good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 qI charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, rwho in his testimony before4 Pontius Pilate made pthe good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until sthe appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display tat the proper timehe who is uthe blessed and only Sovereign, vthe King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 wwho alone has immortality, xwho dwells in yunapproachable light, zwhom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

17 As for the rich in athis present age, charge them bnot to be haughty, nor cto set their hopes on dthe uncertainty of riches, but on God, ewho richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, fto be rich in good works, to be generous and gready to share, 19 thus hstoring up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may itake hold of jthat which is truly life.

20 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. kAvoid the lirreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

mGrace be with you.5