Wednesday, 27 March

1.   Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. 2.   So fire went out from the LORD and devoured them, and they died before the LORD. 3.   And Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke, saying: ‘By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I must be glorified.’" So Aaron held his peace. 4.   And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, "Come near, carry your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp." 5.   So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said. 6.   And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, "Do not uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the LORD has kindled. 7.   "You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you." And they did according to the word of Moses. 8.   Then the LORD spoke to Aaron, saying: 9.   "Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, 10.   "that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, 11.   "and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to them by the hand of Moses." 12.   And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left: "Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings made by fire to the LORD, and eat it without leaven beside the altar; for it is most holy. 13.   "You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, of the sacrifices made by fire to the LORD; for so I have been commanded. 14.   "The breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you shall eat in a clean place, you, your sons, and your daughters with you; for they are your due and your sons’ due, which are given from the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. 15.   "The thigh of the heave offering and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring with the offerings of fat made by fire, to offer as a wave offering before the LORD. And it shall be yours and your sons’ with you, by a statute forever, as the LORD has commanded." 16.   Then Moses made careful inquiry about the goat of the sin offering, and there it was––burned up. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying, 17.   "Why have you not eaten the sin offering in a holy place, since it is most holy, and God has given it to you to bear the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the LORD? 18.   "See! Its blood was not brought inside the holy place ; indeed you should have eaten it in a holy place , as I commanded." 19.   And Aaron said to Moses, "Look, this day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the LORD, and such things have befallen me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been accepted in the sight of the LORD?" 20.   So when Moses heard that , he was content.

1.   < A Psalm of David. To bring to remembrance.>> Make haste , O God, to deliver me! Make haste to help me, O LORD! 2.   Let them be ashamed and confounded Who seek my life; Let them be turned back and confused Who desire my hurt. 3.   Let them be turned back because of their shame, Who say, "Aha, aha!" 4.   Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; And let those who love Your salvation say continually, "Let God be magnified!" 5.   But I am poor and needy; Make haste to me, O God! You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay.

1.   In You, O LORD, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame. 2.   Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; Incline Your ear to me, and save me. 3.   Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress. 4.   Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. 5.   For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth. 6.   By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You. 7.   I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge. 8.   Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day. 9.   Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails. 10.   For my enemies speak against me; And those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, 11.   Saying, "God has forsaken him; Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him ." 12.   O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! 13.   Let them be confounded and consumed Who are adversaries of my life; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor Who seek my hurt. 14.   But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more. 15.   My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness And Your salvation all the day, For I do not know their limits. 16.   I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. 17.   O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. 18.   Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come. 19.   Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You? 20.   You , who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again, And bring me up again from the depths of the earth. 21.   You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side. 22.   Also with the lute I will praise you–– And Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. 23.   My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, And my soul, which You have redeemed. 24.   My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; For they are confounded, For they are brought to shame Who seek my hurt.

12.   And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13.   Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy. 14.   They came to the chief priests and elders, and said, "We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul. 15.   "Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him; but we are ready to kill him before he comes near." 16.   So when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. 17.   Then Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, "Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him." 18.   So he took him and brought him to the commander and said, "Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to say to you." 19.   Then the commander took him by the hand, went aside and asked privately, "What is it that you have to tell me?" 20.   And he said, "The Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him. 21.   "But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them lie in wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you." 22.   So the commander let the young man depart, and commanded him , "Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me." 23.   And he called for two centurions, saying, "Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night; 24.   "and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor." 25.   He wrote a letter in the following manner: 26.   Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings. 27.   This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. 28.   And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council. 29.   I found out that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains. 30.   And when it was told me that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you, and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him. Farewell. 31.   Then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32.   The next day they left the horsemen to go on with him, and returned to the barracks. 33.   When they came to Caesarea and had delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34.   And when the governor had read it , he asked what province he was from. And when he understood that he was from Cilicia, 35.   he said, "I will hear you when your accusers also have come." And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s Praetorium.