LEVITICUS 21

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Holiness and the Priests  21:1 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, 2 except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). 4 He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord’s food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the Lord, who sanctify you, am holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.
    10 “The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11 He shall not go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12 He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he profane the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.”
    16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may approach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face or a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or crushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to offer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not profane my sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

PSALM 46

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God Is Our FortressTo the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.
46:1

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble. 2

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, 3

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
4

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High. 5

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns. 6

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

he utters his voice, the earth melts. 7

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8

Come, behold the works of the Lord,

how he has brought desolations on the earth. 9

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the chariots with fire. 10

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!” 11

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

PROVERBS 23

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23:1

When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

observe carefully what is before you, 2

and put a knife to your throat

if you are given to appetite. 3

Do not desire his delicacies,

for they are deceptive food. 4

Do not toil to acquire wealth;

be discerning enough to desist. 5

When your eyes light on it, it is gone,

for suddenly it sprouts wings,

flying like an eagle toward heaven. 6

Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;

do not desire his delicacies, 7

for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.

“Eat and drink!” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you. 8

You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,

and waste your pleasant words. 9

Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,

for he will despise the good sense of your words. 10

Do not move an ancient landmark

or enter the fields of the fatherless, 11

for their Redeemer is strong;

he will plead their cause against you. 12

Apply your heart to instruction

and your ear to words of knowledge. 13

Do not withhold discipline from a child;

if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. 14

If you strike him with the rod,

you will save his soul from Sheol. 15

My son, if your heart is wise,

my heart too will be glad. 16

My inmost being will exult

when your lips speak what is right. 17

Let not your heart envy sinners,

but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. 18

Surely there is a future,

and your hope will not be cut off.
19

Hear, my son, and be wise,

and direct your heart in the way. 20

Be not among drunkards

or among gluttonous eaters of meat, 21

for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

and slumber will clothe them with rags.
22

Listen to your father who gave you life,

and do not despise your mother when she is old. 23

Buy truth, and do not sell it;

buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. 24

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;

he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. 25

Let your father and mother be glad;

let her who bore you rejoice.
26

My son, give me your heart,

and let your eyes observe my ways. 27

For a prostitute is a deep pit;

an adulteress is a narrow well. 28

She lies in wait like a robber

and increases the traitors among mankind.
29

Who has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has strife? Who has complaining?

Who has wounds without cause?

Who has redness of eyes? 30

Those who tarry long over wine;

those who go to try mixed wine. 31

Do not look at wine when it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup

and goes down smoothly. 32

In the end it bites like a serpent

and stings like an adder. 33

Your eyes will see strange things,

and your heart utter perverse things. 34

You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,

like one who lies on the top of a mast. 35

“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt;

they beat me, but I did not feel it.

When shall I awake?

I must have another drink.”