Leviticus 22

• 1. The LORD said to Moses,
• 2. "Tell Aaron and his sons to treat the sacred gifts that the Israelites set apart for me with great care, so they do not profane my holy name. I am the LORD.
• 3. Remind them that if any of their descendants are ceremonially unclean when they approach the sacred food presented by the Israelites, they must be cut off from my presence. I am the LORD!
• 4. "If any of the priests have a contagious skin disease or any kind of discharge that makes them ceremonially unclean, they may not eat the sacred offerings until they have been pronounced clean. If any of the priests become unclean by touching a corpse, or are defiled by an emission of semen,
• 5. or by touching a creeping creature that is unclean, or by touching someone who is ceremonially unclean for any reason,
• 6. they will remain defiled until evening. They must not eat any of the sacred offerings until they have purified their bodies with water.
• 7. When the sun goes down, they will be clean again and may eat the sacred offerings. After all, this food has been set aside for them.
• 8. The priests may never eat an animal that has died a natural death or has been torn apart by wild animals, for this would defile them. I am the LORD.
• 9. Warn all the priests to follow these instructions carefully; otherwise they will be subject to punishment and die for violating them. I am the LORD who makes them holy.
• 10. "No one outside a priest's family may ever eat the sacred offerings, even if the person lives in a priest's home or is one of his hired servants.
• 11. However, if the priest buys slaves with his own money, they may eat of his food. And if his slaves have children, they also may share his food.
• 12. If a priest's daughter marries someone outside the priestly family, she may no longer eat the sacred offerings.
• 13. But if she becomes a widow or is divorced and has no children to support her, and she returns to live in her father's home, she may eat her father's food again. But other than these exceptions, only members of the priests' families are allowed to eat the sacred offerings.
• 14. "Anyone who eats the sacred offerings without realizing it must pay the priest for the amount eaten, plus an added penalty of 20 percent.
• 15. No one may defile the sacred offerings brought to the LORD by the Israelites
• 16. by allowing unauthorized people to eat them. The negligent priest would bring guilt upon the people and require them to pay compensation. I am the LORD, who makes them holy."
• 17. And the LORD said to Moses,
• 18. "Give Aaron and his sons and all the Israelites these instructions, which apply to those who are Israelites by birth as well as to the foreigners living among you. If you offer a whole burnt offering to the LORD, whether to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering,
• 19. it will be accepted only if it is a male animal with no physical defects. It may be either a bull, a ram, or a male goat.
• 20. Do not bring an animal with physical defects, because it won't be accepted on your behalf.
• 21. "If you bring a peace offering to the LORD from the herd or flock, whether to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering, you must offer an animal that has no physical defects of any kind.
• 22. An animal that is blind, injured, mutilated, or that has a growth, an open sore, or a scab must never be offered to the LORD by fire on the altar.
• 23. If the bull or lamb is deformed or stunted, it may still be offered as a freewill offering, but it may not be offered to fulfill a vow.
• 24. If an animal has damaged testicles or is castrated, it may never be offered to the LORD.
• 25. You must never accept mutilated or defective animals from foreigners to be offered as a sacrifice to your God. Such animals will not be accepted on your behalf because they are defective."
• 26. And the LORD said to Moses,
• 27. "When a bull or a ram or a male goat is born, it must be left with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as an offering given to the LORD by fire.
• 28. But you must never slaughter a mother animal and her offspring on the same day, whether from the herd or the flock.
• 29. When you bring a thanksgiving offering to the LORD, it must be sacrificed properly so it will be accepted on your behalf.
• 30. Eat the entire sacrificial animal on the day it is presented. Don't leave any of it until the second day. I am the LORD.
• 31. "You must faithfully keep all my commands by obeying them, for I am the LORD.
• 32. Do not treat my holy name as common and ordinary. I must be treated as holy by the people of Israel. It is I, the LORD, who makes you holy.
• 33. It was I who rescued you from Egypt, that I might be your very own God. I am the LORD."

Psalms 28

• 1. O LORD, you are my rock of safety. Please help me; don't refuse to answer me. For if you are silent, I might as well give up and die.
• 2. Listen to my prayer for mercy as I cry out to you for help, as I lift my hands toward your holy sanctuary.
• 3. Don't drag me away with the wicked--with those who do evil--those who speak friendly words to their neighbors while planning evil in their hearts.
• 4. Give them the punishment they so richly deserve! Measure it out in proportion to their wickedness. Pay them back for all their evil deeds! Give them a taste of what they have done to others.
• 5. They care nothing for what the LORD has done or for what his hands have made. So he will tear them down like old buildings, and they will never be rebuilt!
• 6. Praise the LORD! For he has heard my cry for mercy.
• 7. The LORD is my strength, my shield from every danger. I trust in him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.
• 8. The LORD protects his people and gives victory to his anointed king.
• 9. Save your people! Bless Israel, your special possession! Lead them like a shepherd, and carry them forever in your arms.

Psalms 29

• 1. Give honor to the LORD, you angels; give honor to the LORD for his glory and strength.
• 2. Give honor to the LORD for the glory of his name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.
• 3. The voice of the LORD echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The LORD thunders over the mighty sea.
• 4. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
• 5. The voice of the LORD splits the mighty cedars; the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
• 6. He makes Lebanon's mountains skip like a calf and Mount Hermon to leap like a young bull.
• 7. The voice of the LORD strikes with lightning bolts.
• 8. The voice of the LORD makes the desert quake; the LORD shakes the desert of Kadesh.
• 9. The voice of the LORD twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare. In his Temple everyone shouts, "Glory!"
• 10. The LORD rules over the floodwaters. The LORD reigns as king forever.
• 11. The LORD gives his people strength. The LORD blesses them with peace.

Ecclesiastes 5

• 1. As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut! Don't be a fool who doesn't realize that mindless offerings to God are evil.
• 2. And don't make rash promises to God, for he is in heaven, and you are only here on earth. So let your words be few.
• 3. Just as being too busy gives you nightmares, being a fool makes you a blabbermouth.
• 4. So when you make a promise to God, don't delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him.
• 5. It is better to say nothing than to promise something that you don't follow through on.
• 6. In such cases, your mouth is making you sin. And don't defend yourself by telling the Temple messenger that the promise you made was a mistake. That would make God angry, and he might wipe out everything you have achieved.
• 7. Dreaming all the time instead of working is foolishness. And there is ruin in a flood of empty words. Fear God instead.
• 8. If you see a poor person being oppressed by the powerful and justice being miscarried throughout the land, don't be surprised! For every official is under orders from higher up, and matters of justice only get lost in red tape and bureaucracy.
• 9. Even the king milks the land for his own profit!
• 10. Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness!
• 11. The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what is the advantage of wealth--except perhaps to watch it run through your fingers!
• 12. People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich are always worrying and seldom get a good night's sleep.
• 13. There is another serious problem I have seen in the world. Riches are sometimes hoarded to the harm of the saver,
• 14. or they are put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost. In the end, there is nothing left to pass on to one's children.
• 15. People who live only for wealth come to the end of their lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day they were born.
• 16. And this, too, is a very serious problem. As people come into this world, so they depart. All their hard work is for nothing. They have been working for the wind, and everything will be swept away.
• 17. Throughout their lives, they live under a cloud--frustrated, discouraged, and angry.
• 18. Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat well, drink a good glass of wine, and enjoy their work--whatever they do under the sun--for however long God lets them live.
• 19. And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life--that is indeed a gift from God.
• 20. People who do this rarely look with sorrow on the past, for God has given them reasons for joy.

New Living Translation: 108 of 365 days.