NUMBERS 19

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Ordinance of the Red Heifer  19:1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an unblemished red heifer in which is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed. 3 You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence. 4 Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. 5 Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its hide and its flesh and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned. 6 The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet material and cast it into the midst of the burning heifer. 7 The priest shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward come into the camp, but the priest shall be unclean until evening. 8 The one who burns it shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until evening. 9 Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin. 10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; and it shall be a perpetual statute to the sons of Israel and to the alien who sojourns among them.
    11 ‘The one who touches the corpse of any person shall be unclean for seven days. 12 That one shall purify himself from uncleanness with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. 13 Anyone who touches a corpse, the body of a man who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from Israel. Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.
    14 ‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean for seven days. 15 Every open vessel, which has no covering tied down on it, shall be unclean. 16 Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or who has died naturally, or a human bone or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days. 17 Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the burnt purification from sin and flowing water shall be added to them in a vessel. 18 A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one slain or the one dying naturally or the grave. 19 Then the clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him from uncleanness, and he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and shall be clean by evening.
    20 ‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself from uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, he is unclean. 21 So it shall be a perpetual statute for them. And he who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. 22 Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.’”

NUMBERS 20

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Death of Miriam  20:1 Then the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to the wilderness of Zin in the first month; and the people stayed at Kadesh. Now Miriam died there and was buried there.
    2 There was no water for the congregation, and they assembled themselves against Moses and Aaron. 3 The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished before the LORD! 4 Why then have you brought the LORD’S assembly into this wilderness, for us and our beasts to die here? 5 Why have you made us come up from Egypt, to bring us in to this wretched place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, nor is there water to drink.” 6 Then Moses and Aaron came in from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces. Then the glory of the LORD appeared to them; 7 and the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
The Water of Meribah8 “Take the rod; and you and your brother Aaron assemble the congregation and speak to the rock before their eyes, that it may yield its water. You shall thus bring forth water for them out of the rock and let the congregation and their beasts drink.”
    9 So Moses took the rod from before the LORD, just as He had commanded him; 10 and Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly before the rock. And he said to them, “Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came forth abundantly, and the congregation and their beasts drank. 12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.” 13 Those were the waters of Meribah, because the sons of Israel contended with the LORD, and He proved Himself holy among them.
    14 From Kadesh Moses then sent messengers to the king of Edom: “Thus your brother Israel has said, ‘You know all the hardship that has befallen us; 15 that our fathers went down to Egypt, and we stayed in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our fathers badly. 16 But when we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt; now behold, we are at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your territory. 17 Please let us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or through vineyard; we will not even drink water from a well. We will go along the king’s highway, not turning to the right or left, until we pass through your territory.’”
    18 Edom, however, said to him, “You shall not pass through us, or I will come out with the sword against you.” 19 Again, the sons of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if I and my livestock do drink any of your water, then I will pay its price. Let me only pass through on my feet, nothing else.” 20 But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against him with a heavy force and with a strong hand. 21 Thus Edom refused to allow Israel to pass through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.
    22 Now when they set out from Kadesh, the sons of Israel, the whole congregation, came to Mount Hor.
Death of Aaron23 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron at Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying, 24 “Aaron will be gathered to his people; for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the sons of Israel, because you rebelled against My command at the waters of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and his son Eleazar and bring them up to Mount Hor; 26 and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar. So Aaron will be gathered to his people, and will die there.” 27 So Moses did just as the LORD had commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. 28 After Moses had stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on his son Eleazar, Aaron died there on the mountain top. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain. 29 When all the congregation saw that Aaron had died, all the house of Israel wept for Aaron thirty days.

PROVERBS 10

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Contrast of the Righteous and the Wicked  10:1 The proverbs of Solomon.

A wise son makes a father glad,

But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

2 Ill-gotten gains do not profit,

But righteousness delivers from death.

3 The LORD will not allow the righteous to hunger,

But He will reject the craving of the wicked.

4 Poor is he who works with a negligent hand,

But the hand of the diligent makes rich.

5 He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely,

But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.

6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous,

But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

7 The memory of the righteous is blessed,

But the name of the wicked will rot.

8 The wise of heart will receive commands,

But a babbling fool will be ruined.

9 He who walks in integrity walks securely,

But he who perverts his ways will be found out.

10 He who winks the eye causes trouble,

And a babbling fool will be ruined.

11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,

But the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.

12 Hatred stirs up strife,

But love covers all transgressions.

13 On the lips of the discerning, wisdom is found,

But a rod is for the back of him who lacks understanding.

14 Wise men store up knowledge,

But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.

15 The rich man’s wealth is his fortress,

The ruin of the poor is their poverty.

16 The wages of the righteous is life,

The income of the wicked, punishment.

17 He is on the path of life who heeds instruction,

But he who ignores reproof goes astray.

18 He who conceals hatred has lying lips,

And he who spreads slander is a fool.

19 When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,

But he who restrains his lips is wise.

20 The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver,

The heart of the wicked is worth little.

21 The lips of the righteous feed many,

But fools die for lack of understanding.

22 It is the blessing of the LORD that makes rich,

And He adds no sorrow to it.

23 Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool,

And so is wisdom to a man of understanding.

24 What the wicked fears will come upon him,

But the desire of the righteous will be granted.

25 When the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more,

But the righteous has an everlasting foundation.

26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,

So is the lazy one to those who send him.

27 The fear of the LORD prolongs life,

But the years of the wicked will be shortened.

28 The hope of the righteous is gladness,

But the expectation of the wicked perishes.

29 The way of the LORD is a stronghold to the upright,

But ruin to the workers of iniquity.

30 The righteous will never be shaken,

But the wicked will not dwell in the land.

31 The mouth of the righteous flows with wisdom,

But the perverted tongue will be cut out.

32 The lips of the righteous bring forth what is acceptable,

But the mouth of the wicked what is perverted.

PSALM 28

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A Prayer for Help, and Praise for Its Answer.A Psalm of David.
28:1 To You, O LORD, I call;

My rock, do not be deaf to me,

For if You are silent to me,

I will become like those who go down to the pit.

2 Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You for help,

When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.

3 Do not drag me away with the wicked

And with those who work iniquity,

Who speak peace with their neighbors,

While evil is in their hearts.

4 Requite them according to their work and according to the evil of their practices;

Requite them according to the deeds of their hands;

Repay them their recompense.

5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD

Nor the deeds of His hands,

He will tear them down and not build them up.

6 Blessed be the LORD,

Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.

7 The LORD is my strength and my shield;

My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;

Therefore my heart exults,

And with my song I shall thank Him.

8 The LORD is their strength,

And He is a saving defense to His anointed.

9 Save Your people and bless Your inheritance;

Be their shepherd also, and carry them forever.