One Year Bible.

The Lampstand

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, ²“Speak to Aaron and tell him: ‘When you set up the seven lamps, they are to light the area in front of the lampstand.’”

³And Aaron did so; he set up the lamps facing toward the front of the lampstand, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁴This is how the lampstand was constructed: it was made of hammered gold from its base to its blossoms, fashioned according to the pattern the LORD had shown Moses.

Cleansing the Levites

⁵Again the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶“Take the Levites from among the Israelites and make them ceremonially clean. ⁷This is what you must do to cleanse them: Sprinkle them with the water of purification. Have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes, and so purify themselves.

⁸Then have them take a young bull with its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering. ⁹Bring the Levites before the Tent of Meeting and assemble the whole congregation of Israel. ¹⁰You are to present the Levites before the LORD and have the Israelites lay their hands upon them. ¹¹Aaron is to present the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the sons of Israel, so that they may perform the service of the LORD. ¹²And the Levites are to lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and offer to the LORD one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to make atonement for the Levites.

¹³You are to have the Levites stand before Aaron and his sons and then present them before the LORD as a wave offering. ¹⁴In this way you shall separate the Levites from the rest of the Israelites, and the Levites will belong to Me. ¹⁵After you have cleansed them and presented them as a wave offering, they may come to serve at the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁶For the Levites have been wholly given to Me from among the sons of Israel. I have taken them for Myself in place of all who come first from the womb, the firstborn of all the sons of Israel. ¹⁷For every firstborn male in Israel is Mine, both man and beast. I set them apart for Myself on the day I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. ¹⁸But I have taken the Levites in place of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel. ¹⁹And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to perform the service for the Israelites at the Tent of Meeting and to make atonement on their behalf, so that no plague will come against the Israelites when they approach the sanctuary.”

²⁰So Moses, Aaron, and the whole congregation of Israel did with the Levites everything that the LORD had commanded Moses they should do. ²¹The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron presented them as a wave offering before the LORD. Aaron also made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²²After that, the Levites came to perform their service at the Tent of Meeting in the presence of Aaron and his sons. Thus they did with the Levites just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

Retirement for Levites

²³And the LORD said to Moses, ²⁴“This applies to the Levites: Men twenty-five years of age or older shall enter to perform the service in the work at the Tent of Meeting. ²⁵But at the age of fifty, they must retire from performing the work and no longer serve.

²⁶After that, they may assist their brothers in fulfilling their duties at the Tent of Meeting, but they themselves are not to do the work. This is how you are to assign responsibilities to the Levites.”

The Second Passover

¹In the first month of the second year after Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, the LORD spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai: ²“The Israelites are to observe the Passover at its appointed time. ³You are to observe it at the appointed time, at twilight on the fourteenth day of this month, in accordance with its statutes and ordinances.”

⁴So Moses told the Israelites to observe the Passover, ⁵and they did so in the Wilderness of Sinai, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. The Israelites did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁶But there were some men who were unclean due to a dead body, so they could not observe the Passover on that day. And they came before Moses and Aaron that same day ⁷and said to Moses, “We are unclean because of a dead body, but why should we be excluded from presenting the LORD’s offering with the other Israelites at the appointed time?”

⁸“Wait here until I find out what the LORD commands concerning you,” Moses replied.

⁹Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹⁰“Tell the Israelites: ‘When any one of you or your descendants is unclean because of a dead body, or is away on a journey, he may still observe the Passover to the LORD. ¹¹Such people are to observe it at twilight on the fourteenth day of the second month. They are to eat the lamb, together with unleavened bread and bitter herbs; ¹²they may not leave any of it until morning or break any of its bones. They must observe the Passover according to all its statutes.

¹³But if a man who is ceremonially clean and is not on a journey still fails to observe the Passover, he must be cut off from his people, because he did not present the LORD’s offering at its appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin.

¹⁴If a foreigner dwelling among you wants to observe the Passover to the LORD, he is to do so according to the Passover statute and its ordinances. You are to apply the same statute to both the foreigner and the native of the land.’”

The Cloud above the Tabernacle

¹⁵On the day that the tabernacle, the Tent of the Testimony, was set up, the cloud covered it and appeared like fire above the tabernacle from evening until morning. ¹⁶It remained that way continually; the cloud would cover the tabernacle by day, and at night it would appear like fire. ¹⁷Whenever the cloud was lifted from above the Tent, the Israelites would set out, and wherever the cloud settled, there the Israelites would camp. ¹⁸At the LORD’s command the Israelites set out, and at the LORD’s command they camped. As long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle, they remained encamped.

¹⁹Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites kept the LORD’s charge and did not set out. ²⁰Sometimes the cloud remained over the tabernacle for only a few days, and they would camp at the LORD’s command and set out at the LORD’s command. ²¹Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they would set out. Whether it was by day or by night, when the cloud was taken up, they would set out.

²²Whether the cloud lingered for two days, a month, or longer, the Israelites camped and did not set out as long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle; but when it was lifted, they would set out. ²³They camped at the LORD’s command, and they set out at the LORD’s command; they carried out the LORD’s charge according to His command through Moses.

I Stretch Out My Hands to You

¹A Psalm of David.

O LORD, hear my prayer.

In Your faithfulness, give ear to my plea;

in Your righteousness, answer me.

²Do not bring Your servant into judgment,

for no one alive is righteous before You.

³For the enemy has pursued my soul,

crushing my life to the ground,

making me dwell in darkness

like those long since dead.

⁴My spirit grows faint within me;

my heart is dismayed inside me.

⁵I remember the days of old;

I meditate on all Your works;

I consider the work of Your hands.

⁶I stretch out my hands to You;

my soul thirsts for You like a parched land.

Selah

⁷Answer me quickly, O LORD;

my spirit fails.

Do not hide Your face from me,

or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.

⁸Let me hear Your loving devotion in the morning,

for I have put my trust in You.

Teach me the way I should walk,

for to You I lift up my soul.

⁹Deliver me from my enemies, O LORD;

I flee to You for refuge.

¹⁰Teach me to do Your will,

for You are my God.

May Your good Spirit lead me

on level ground.

¹¹For the sake of Your name, O LORD,

revive me.

In Your righteousness,

bring my soul out of trouble.

¹²And in Your loving devotion,

cut off my enemies.

Destroy all who afflict me,

for I am Your servant.

Blessed Be the LORD, My Rock

¹Of David.

Blessed be the LORD, my Rock,

who trains my hands for war,

my fingers for battle.

²He is my steadfast love and my fortress,

my stronghold and my deliverer.

He is my shield, in whom I take refuge,

who subdues peoples under me.

³O LORD, what is man, that You regard him,

the son of man that You think of him?

⁴Man is like a breath;

his days are like a passing shadow.

⁵Part Your heavens, O LORD, and come down;

touch the mountains, that they may smoke.

⁶Flash forth Your lightning and scatter them;

shoot Your arrows and rout them.

⁷Reach down from on high;

set me free and rescue me

from the deep waters,

from the grasp of foreigners,

⁸whose mouths speak falsehood,

whose right hands are deceitful.

⁹I will sing to You a new song, O God;

on a harp of ten strings I will make music to You —

¹⁰to Him who gives victory to kings,

who frees His servant David from the deadly sword.

¹¹Set me free and rescue me

from the grasp of foreigners,

whose mouths speak falsehood,

whose right hands are deceitful.

¹²Then our sons will be like plants

nurtured in their youth,

our daughters like corner pillars

carved to adorn a palace.

¹³Our storehouses will be full,

supplying all manner of produce;

our flocks will bring forth thousands,

tens of thousands in our fields.

¹⁴Our oxen will bear great loads.

There will be no breach in the walls,

no going into captivity,

and no cry of lament in our streets.

¹⁵Blessed are the people of whom this is so;

blessed are the people whose God is the LORD.

To the Church in Ephesus

¹“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.

²I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles. ³Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name.

⁴But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. ⁵Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

⁶But you have this to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.

To the Church in Smyrna

⁸To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.

⁹I know your affliction and your poverty — though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.

¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

¹¹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.

To the Church in Pergamum

¹²To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of the One who holds the sharp, double-edged sword.

¹³I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits, yet you hold fast to My name. You did not deny your faith in Me, even in the days of My faithful witness Antipas, who was killed among you where Satan dwells.

¹⁴But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. ¹⁵In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.

¹⁷He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.

To the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.

¹⁹I know your deeds — your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance — and your latest deeds are greater than your first.

²⁰But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.

²²Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds. ²³Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

²⁴But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned the so-called deep things of Satan: I will place no further burden upon you ²⁵than to hold fast to what you have until I come. ²⁶And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations. ²⁷He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery — just as I have received authority from My Father. ²⁸And I will give him the morning star.

²⁹He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.[’’]