Meditate

Ezekiel 46

46. Offerings and Holy Days

¹ “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: The gate of the inner court facing east is to be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon it is to be opened. ² The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico of the gateway and stand by the gatepost. The priests are to sacrifice his burnt offering and his fellowship offerings. He is to bow down in worship at the threshold of the gateway and then go out, but the gate will not be shut until evening. ³ On the Sabbaths and New Moons the people of the land are to worship in the presence of the LORD at the entrance of that gateway. ⁴ The burnt offering the prince brings to the LORD on the Sabbath day is to be six male lambs and a ram, all without defect. ⁵ The grain offering given with the ram is to be an ephah, That is, probably about 35 pounds or about 16 kilograms; also in verses 7 and 11 and the grain offering with the lambs is to be as much as he pleases, along with a hin That is, about 1 gallon or about 3.8 liters; also in verses 7 and 11 of olive oil for each ephah. ⁶ On the day of the New Moon he is to offer a young bull, six lambs and a ram, all without defect. ⁷ He is to provide as a grain offering one ephah with the bull, one ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wants to give, along with a hin of oil for each ephah. ⁸ When the prince enters, he is to go in through the portico of the gateway, and he is to come out the same way.

    ⁹ “‘When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed festivals, whoever enters by the north gate to worship is to go out the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate is to go out the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which they entered, but each is to go out the opposite gate. ¹⁰ The prince is to be among them, going in when they go in and going out when they go out. ¹¹ At the feasts and the appointed festivals, the grain offering is to be an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and with the lambs as much as he pleases, along with a hin of oil for each ephah.

    ¹² “‘When the prince provides a freewill offering to the LORD—whether a burnt offering or fellowship offerings—the gate facing east is to be opened for him. He shall offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate will be shut.

    ¹³ “‘Every day you are to provide a year-old lamb without defect for a burnt offering to the LORD; morning by morning you shall provide it. ¹⁴ You are also to provide with it morning by morning a grain offering, consisting of a sixth of an ephah That is, probably about 6 pounds or about 2.7 kilograms with a third of a hin That is, about 1 1/2 quarts or about 1.3 liters of oil to moisten the flour. The presenting of this grain offering to the LORD is a lasting ordinance. ¹⁵ So the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided morning by morning for a regular burnt offering.

    ¹⁶ “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: If the prince makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his sons, it will also belong to his descendants; it is to be their property by inheritance. ¹⁷ If, however, he makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, the servant may keep it until the year of freedom; then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs to his sons only; it is theirs. ¹⁸ The prince must not take any of the inheritance of the people, driving them off their property. He is to give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that not one of my people will be separated from their property.’”

    ¹⁹ Then the man brought me through the entrance at the side of the gate to the sacred rooms facing north, which belonged to the priests, and showed me a place at the western end. ²⁰ He said to me, “This is the place where the priests are to cook the guilt offering and the sin offering Or purification offering and bake the grain offering, to avoid bringing them into the outer court and consecrating the people.”

    ²¹ He then brought me to the outer court and led me around to its four corners, and I saw in each corner another court. ²² In the four corners of the outer court were enclosed The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. courts, forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide; That is, about 70 feet long and 53 feet wide or about 21 meters long and 16 meters wide each of the courts in the four corners was the same size. ²³ Around the inside of each of the four courts was a ledge of stone, with places for fire built all around under the ledge. ²⁴ He said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple are to cook the sacrifices of the people.”

Matthew 19:7-9

19. Teachings of Jesus

⁷ “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

    ⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹ I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

   

Psalm 135

135. Psalm 135

¹ Praise the LORD. Hebrew Hallelu Yah; also in verses 3 and 21

   Praise the name of the LORD;
   praise him, you servants of the LORD,
² you who minister in the house of the LORD,
   in the courts of the house of our God.

    ³ Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
   sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.
⁴ For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own,
   Israel to be his treasured possession.

    ⁵ I know that the LORD is great,
   that our Lord is greater than all gods.
⁶ The LORD does whatever pleases him,
   in the heavens and on the earth,
   in the seas and all their depths.
⁷ He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
   he sends lightning with the rain
   and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

    ⁸ He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
   the firstborn of people and animals.
⁹ He sent his signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
   against Pharaoh and all his servants.
¹⁰ He struck down many nations
   and killed mighty kings—
¹¹ Sihon king of the Amorites,
   Og king of Bashan,
   and all the kings of Canaan—
¹² and he gave their land as an inheritance,
   an inheritance to his people Israel.

    ¹³ Your name, LORD, endures forever,
   your renown, LORD, through all generations.
¹⁴ For the LORD will vindicate his people
   and have compassion on his servants.

    ¹⁵ The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
   made by human hands.
¹⁶ They have mouths, but cannot speak,
   eyes, but cannot see.
¹⁷ They have ears, but cannot hear,
   nor is there breath in their mouths.
¹⁸ Those who make them will be like them,
   and so will all who trust in them.

    ¹⁹ All you Israelites, praise the LORD;
   house of Aaron, praise the LORD;
²⁰ house of Levi, praise the LORD;
   you who fear him, praise the LORD.
²¹ Praise be to the LORD from Zion,
   to him who dwells in Jerusalem.

   Praise the LORD.