Wednesday, 17 April

1.   Now these are the records of Aaron and Moses when the LORD spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. 2.   And these are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab, the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3.   These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he consecrated to minister as priests. 4.   Nadab and Abihu had died before the LORD when they offered profane fire before the LORD in the Wilderness of Sinai; and they had no children. So Eleazar and Ithamar ministered as priests in the presence of Aaron their father. 5.   And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 6.   "Bring the tribe of Levi near, and present them before Aaron the priest, that they may serve him. 7.   "And they shall attend to his needs and the needs of the whole congregation before the tabernacle of meeting, to do the work of the tabernacle. 8.   "Also they shall attend to all the furnishings of the tabernacle of meeting, and to the needs of the children of Israel, to do the work of the tabernacle. 9.   "And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are given entirely to him from among the children of Israel. 10.   "So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall attend to their priesthood; but the outsider who comes near shall be put to death." 11.   Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 12.   "Now behold, I Myself have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the children of Israel. Therefore the Levites shall be Mine, 13.   "because all the firstborn are Mine. On the day that I struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I sanctified to Myself all the firstborn in Israel, both man and beast. They shall be Mine: I am the LORD." 14.   Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying: 15.   "Number the children of Levi by their fathers’ houses, by their families; you shall number every male from a month old and above." 16.   So Moses numbered them according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded. 17.   These were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 18.   And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their families: Libni and Shimei. 19.   And the sons of Kohath by their families: Amram, Izehar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 20.   And the sons of Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites by their fathers’ houses. 21.   From Gershon came the family of the Libnites and the family of the Shimites; these were the families of the Gershonites. 22.   Those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above––of those who were numbered there were seven thousand five hundred. 23.   The families of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle westward. 24.   And the leader of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites was Eliasaph the son of Lael. 25.   The duties of the children of Gershon in the tabernacle of meeting included the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the door of the tabernacle of meeting, 26.   the screen for the door of the court, the hangings of the court which are around the tabernacle and the altar, and their cords, according to all the work relating to them. 27.   From Kohath came the family of the Amramites, the family of the Izharites, the family of the Hebronites, and the family of the Uzzielites; these were the families of the Kohathites. 28.   According to the number of all the males, from a month old and above, there were eight thousand six hundred keeping charge of the sanctuary. 29.   The families of the children of Kohath were to camp on the south side of the tabernacle. 30.   And the leader of the fathers’ house of the families of the Kohathites was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. 31.   Their duty included the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which they ministered, the screen, and all the work relating to them. 32.   And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest was to be chief over the leaders of the Levites, with oversight of those who kept charge of the sanctuary. 33.   From Merari came the family of the Mahlites and the family of the Mushites; these were the families of Merari. 34.   And those who were numbered, according to the number of all the males from a month old and above, were six thousand two hundred. 35.   The leader of the fathers’ house of the families of Merari was Zuriel the son of Abihail. These were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle. 36.   And the appointed duty of the children of Merari included the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, its utensils, all the work relating to them, 37.   and the pillars of the court all around, with their sockets, their pegs, and their cords. 38.   Moreover those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tabernacle of meeting, were Moses, Aaron, and his sons, keeping charge of the sanctuary, to meet the needs of the children of Israel; but the outsider who came near was to be put to death. 39.   All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, by their families, all the males from a month old and above, were twenty–two thousand. 40.   Then the LORD said to Moses: "Number all the firstborn males of the children of Israel from a month old and above, and take the number of their names. 41.   "And you shall take the Levites for Me––I am the LORD––instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the livestock of the children of Israel." 42.   So Moses numbered all the firstborn among the children of Israel, as the LORD commanded him. 43.   And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names from a month old and above, of those who were numbered of them, were twenty–two thousand two hundred and seventy–three. 44.   Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 45.   "Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the children of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. The Levites shall be Mine: I am the LORD. 46.   "And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy–three of the firstborn of the children of Israel, who are more than the number of the Levites, 47.   "you shall take five shekels for each one individually; you shall take them in the currency of the shekel of the sanctuary, the shekel of twenty gerahs. 48.   "And you shall give the money, with which the excess number of them is redeemed, to Aaron and his sons." 49.   So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those who were redeemed by the Levites. 50.   From the firstborn of the children of Israel he took the money, one thousand three hundred and sixty–five shekels , according to the shekel of the sanctuary. 51.   And Moses gave their redemption money to Aaron and his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.

1.   <> O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory. 0.   2Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn. 3.   I will praise You, O LORD, among the peoples, And I will sing praises to You among the nations. 4.   For Your mercy is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the clouds. 5.   Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, And Your glory above all the earth; 6.   That Your beloved may be delivered, Save with Your right hand, and hear me. 7.   God has spoken in His holiness: "I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem And measure out the Valley of Succoth. 8.   Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver. 9.   Moab is My washpot; Over Edom I will cast My shoe; Over Philistia I will triumph." 10.   Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me to Edom? 11.   Is it not You , O God, who cast us off? And You , O God, who did not go out with our armies? 12.   Give us help from trouble, For the help of man is useless. 13.   Through God we will do valiantly, For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.

1.   <> Do not keep silent, O God of my praise! 2.   For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful Have opened against me; They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. 3.   They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without a cause. 4.   In return for my love they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer. 5.   Thus they have rewarded me evil for good, And hatred for my love. 6.   Set a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand. 7.   When he is judged, let him be found guilty, And let his prayer become sin. 8.   Let his days be few, And let another take his office. 9.   Let his children be fatherless, And his wife a widow. 10.   Let his children continually be vagabonds, and beg; Let them seek their bread also from their desolate places. 11.   Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder his labor. 12.   Let there be none to extend mercy to him, Nor let there be any to favor his fatherless children. 13.   Let his posterity be cut off, And in the generation following let their name be blotted out. 14.   Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD, And let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. 15.   Let them be continually before the LORD, That He may cut off the memory of them from the earth; 16.   Because he did not remember to show mercy, But persecuted the poor and needy man, That he might even slay the broken in heart. 17.   As he loved cursing, so let it come to him; As he did not delight in blessing, so let it be far from him. 18.   As he clothed himself with cursing as with his garment, So let it enter his body like water, And like oil into his bones. 19.   Let it be to him like the garment which covers him, And for a belt with which he girds himself continually. 20.   Let this be the LORD’S reward to my accusers, And to those who speak evil against my person. 21.   But You, O GOD the Lord, Deal with me for Your name’s sake; Because Your mercy is good, deliver me. 22.   For I am poor and needy, And my heart is wounded within me. 23.   I am gone like a shadow when it lengthens; I am shaken off like a locust. 24.   My knees are weak through fasting, And my flesh is feeble from lack of fatness. 25.   I also have become a reproach to them; When they look at me, they shake their heads. 26.   Help me, O LORD my God! Oh, save me according to Your mercy, 27.   That they may know that this is Your hand–– That You, LORD, have done it! 28.   Let them curse, but You bless; When they arise, let them be ashamed, But let Your servant rejoice. 29.   Let my accusers be clothed with shame, And let them cover themselves with their own disgrace as with a mantle. 30.   I will greatly praise the LORD with my mouth; Yes, I will praise Him among the multitude. 31.   For He shall stand at the right hand of the poor, To save him from those who condemn him.

1.   I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2.   And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 3.   For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4.   For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5.   so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. 6.   Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them : if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; 7.   or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; 8.   he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. 9.   Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10.   Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11.   not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12.   rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13.   distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality. 14.   Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15.   Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16.   Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. 17.   Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18.   If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19.   Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. 20.   Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head." 21.   Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.