the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
March 19 - Old & New Testament
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Numbers 23,24,25
Balaam's Oracles
1 Then Balaam said to Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me." 2 So Balak did as Balaam directed, and they offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here by your burnt offering while I am gone. Maybe the Lord [a] will meet with me. I will tell you whatever He reveals to me." So he went to a barren hill.
4 God[b] met with him and Balaam said to Him, "I have arranged seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar." 5 Then the Lord put a message in Balaam's mouth and said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you."
6 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with all the officials of Moab.
Balaam's First Oracle
7 Balaam proclaimed his poem:
Balak brought me from Aram;(a)
the king of Moab, from the eastern mountains:
"Come, put a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel!"(b)
8 How can I curse someone God has not cursed?
How can I denounce someone the
Lord
has not denounced?
9 I see them from the top of rocky cliffs,
and I watch them from the hills.
There is a people living alone;(c)
it does not consider itself among the nations.
10 Who has counted the dust of Jacob
or numbered the dust clouds[c] of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright;
let the end of my life be like theirs.
11 "What have you done to me?" Balak asked Balaam. "I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!"
12 He answered, "Shouldn't I say exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth?"(d)
Balaam's Second Oracle
13 Then Balak said to him, "Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won't see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me." 14 So Balak took him to Lookout Field[d] on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 Balaam said to Balak, "Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the Lord over there."
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then He said, "Return to Balak and say what I tell you."
17 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, "What did the Lord say?"
18 Balaam proclaimed his poem:
Balak, get up and listen;
son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!
19 God is not a man who lies,
or a son of man who changes His mind.
Does He speak and not act,
or promise and not fulfill?(e)
20 I have indeed received a command to bless;
since He has blessed,[e] I cannot change it.
21 He considers no disaster for Jacob;
He sees no trouble for Israel.[f]
The
Lord
their God is with them,(f)
and there is rejoicing over the King among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;
He is like the horns of a wild ox for them.[g](g)
23 There is no magic curse against Jacob
and no divination against Israel.
It will now be said about Jacob and Israel,
"What great things God has done!"
24 A people rise up like a lioness;
They rouse themselves like a lion.(h)
They will not lie down until they devour the prey
and drink the blood of the slain.
25 Then Balak told Balaam, "Don't curse them and don't bless them!"
26 But Balaam answered him, "Didn't I tell you: Whatever the Lord says, I must do?"(i)
Balaam's Third Oracle
27 Again Balak said to Balaam, "Please come. I will take you to another place. Maybe it will be agreeable to God that you can put a curse on them for me there." 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the wasteland.[h](j)
29 Balaam told Balak, "Build me seven altars here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me."(k) 30 So Balak did as Balaam said and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
1 Since Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go to seek omens as on previous occasions, but turned[a] toward the wilderness. 2 When Balaam looked up and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God(a) came on him, 3 and he proclaimed his poem:
The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened,[b]
4 the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,(b)
who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:
5 How beautiful are your tents, Jacob,
your dwellings, Israel.
6 They stretch out like river valleys,[c]
like gardens beside a stream,
like aloes the
Lord
has planted,
like cedars beside the water.
7 Water will flow from his buckets,
and his seed will be by abundant water.
His king will be greater than Agag,[d](c)
and his kingdom will be exalted.
8 God brought him out of Egypt;
He is like[e] the horns of a wild ox for them.(d)
He will feed on enemy nations
and gnaw their bones;
he will strike them with his arrows.
9 He crouches, he lies down like a lion
or a lioness—who dares to rouse him?(e)
Those who bless you will be blessed,
and those who curse you will be cursed.(f)
10 Then Balak became furious with Balaam, struck his hands together, and said to him, "I summoned you to put a curse on my enemies, but instead, you have blessed them these three times. 11 Now go to your home! I said I would reward you richly,(g) but look, the Lord has denied you a reward."
12 Balaam answered Balak, "Didn't I previously tell the messengers you sent me: 13 If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the Lord 's command, to do anything good or bad of my own will? I will say whatever the Lord says.(h) 14 Now I am going back to my people, but first, let me warn you what these people will do to your people in the future."
Balaam's Fourth Oracle
15 Then he proclaimed his poem:
The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eyes are opened;[f]
16 the oracle of one who hears the sayings of God
and has knowledge from the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls into a trance with his eyes uncovered:(i)
17 I see him,[g] but not now;
I perceive him,[h] but not near.
A star will come from Jacob,
and a scepter will arise from Israel.(j)
He will smash the forehead[i] of Moab
and strike down[j] all the Shethites.[k]
18 Edom will become a possession;
Seir(k) will become a possession of its enemies,
but Israel will be triumphant.
19 One who comes from Jacob will rule;
he will destroy the city's survivors.
20 Then Balaam saw Amalek and proclaimed his poem:
Amalek was first among the nations,(l)
but his future is destruction.
21 Next he saw the Kenites and proclaimed his poem:
Your dwelling place is enduring;
your nest is set in the cliffs.
22 Kain will be destroyed
when Asshur takes you captive.
23 Once more he proclaimed his poem:
Ah, who can live when God does this?
24 Ships will come from the coast of Kittim;(m)
they will afflict Asshur and Eber,(n)
but they too will come to destruction.
25 Balaam then arose and went back to his homeland, and Balak also went his way.
Israel Worships Baal
1 While Israel was staying in the Acacia Grove,[a](a) the people began to have sexual relations with the women of Moab. 2 The women invited them to the sacrifices for their gods, and the people ate and bowed in worship to their gods.(b) 3 So Israel aligned itself with Baal of Peor,(c) and the Lord 's anger burned against Israel.(d) 4 The Lord said to Moses, "Take all the leaders of the people and execute[b] them in broad daylight before the Lord so that His burning anger may turn away from Israel."
5 So Moses told Israel's judges, "Kill each of the men who aligned themselves with Baal of Peor."
Phinehas Intervenes
6 An Israelite man came bringing a Midianite woman to his relatives in the sight of Moses and the whole Israelite community while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand, 8 followed the Israelite man into the tent,[c] and drove it through both the Israelite man and the woman—through her belly. Then the plague on the Israelites was stopped, 9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.(e)
10 The Lord spoke to Moses, 11 "Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Israelites because he was zealous among them with My zeal,[d](f) so that I did not destroy the Israelites in My zeal. 12 Therefore declare: I grant him My covenant of peace.(g) 13 It will be a covenant of perpetual priesthood for him and his future descendants,(h) because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites."
14 The name of the slain Israelite man, who was struck dead with the Midianite woman, was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite ancestral house. 15 The name of the slain Midianite woman was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, a tribal head of an ancestral house in Midian.
Vengeance against the Midianites
16 The Lord told Moses: 17 "Attack the Midianites and strike them dead. 18 For they attacked you with the treachery that they used against you in the Peor incident. They did the same in the case involving their sister Cozbi, daughter of the Midianite leader who was killed the day the plague came at Peor."
Mark 16
Chapter 16
Resurrection Morning
1 When(a) the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene,(b) Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so they could go and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week,(c) they went to the tomb(d) at sunrise. 3 They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?" 4 Looking up, they observed that the stone—which was very large—had been rolled away. 5 When(e) they entered the tomb,(f) they saw a young man[a](g) dressed(h) in a long white(i) robe sitting on the right side; they were amazed and alarmed.
6 "Don't be alarmed," he told them. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene,(j) who was crucified. He has been resurrected!(k) He is not here! See the place where they put Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter,(l) ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee;(m) you will see Him there just as He told you.'"
8 So they went out and started running from the tomb,(n) because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone,(o) since they were afraid.
Appearances of the Risen Lord
[9 Early(p) on the first day of the week,(q) after He had risen,(r) He appeared first to Mary Magdalene,(s) out of whom He had driven seven demons.(t) 10 She went and reported to those who had been with Him, as they were mourning and weeping. 11 Yet, when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it.(u) 12 Then after this, He appeared(v) in a different form to two of them walking on their way into the country.(w) 13 And they went and reported it to the rest, who did not believe them either.
The Great Commission
14 Later, He appeared to the Eleven(x) themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw Him after He had been resurrected.(y) 15 Then(z) He said to them, "Go into all the world(aa) and preach the gospel to the whole creation.(ab) 16 Whoever believes(ac) and is baptized will be saved,(ad) but whoever does not believe will be condemned.(ae) 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; 18 they will pick up snakes; [b](af) if they should drink anything deadly, it will never harm(ag) them; they will lay hands on(ah) the sick, and they will get well."
The Ascension
19 Then after speaking to them, the Lord Jesus(ai) was taken up into heaven(aj) and sat down at the right hand(ak) of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the accompanying signs.][c]
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