Exodus 19

• 1. The Israelites arrived in the wilderness of Sinai exactly two months after they left Egypt.
• 2. After breaking camp at Rephidim, they came to the base of Mount Sinai and set up camp there.
• 3. Then Moses climbed the mountain to appear before God. The LORD called out to him from the mountain and said, "Give these instructions to the descendants of Jacob, the people of Israel:
• 4. `You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I brought you to myself and carried you on eagle's wings.
• 5. Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the nations of the earth; for all the earth belongs to me.
• 6. And you will be to me a kingdom of priests, my holy nation.' Give this message to the Israelites."
• 7. Moses returned from the mountain and called together the leaders of the people and told them what the LORD had said.
• 8. They all responded together, "We will certainly do everything the LORD asks of us." So Moses brought the people's answer back to the LORD.
• 9. Then the LORD said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a thick cloud so the people themselves can hear me as I speak to you. Then they will always have confidence in you." Moses told the LORD what the people had said.
• 10. Then the LORD told Moses, "Go down and prepare the people for my visit. Purify them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing.
• 11. Be sure they are ready on the third day, for I will come down upon Mount Sinai as all the people watch.
• 12. Set boundary lines that the people may not pass. Warn them, `Be careful! Do not go up on the mountain or even touch its boundaries. Those who do will certainly die!
• 13. Any people or animals that cross the boundary must be stoned to death or shot with arrows. They must not be touched by human hands.' The people must stay away from the mountain until they hear one long blast from the ram's horn. Then they must gather at the foot of the mountain."
• 14. So Moses went down to the people. He purified them for worship and had them wash their clothing.
• 15. He told them, "Get ready for an important event two days from now. And until then, abstain from having sexual intercourse."
• 16. On the morning of the third day, there was a powerful thunder and lightning storm, and a dense cloud came down upon the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram's horn, and all the people trembled.
• 17. Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
• 18. All Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the LORD had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain shook with a violent earthquake.
• 19. As the horn blast grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply for all to hear.
• 20. The LORD came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. So Moses climbed the mountain.
• 21. Then the LORD told Moses, "Go back down and warn the people not to cross the boundaries. They must not come up here to see the LORD, for those who do will die.
• 22. Even the priests who regularly come near to the LORD must purify themselves, or I will destroy them."
• 23. "But LORD, the people cannot come up on the mountain!" Moses protested. "You already told them not to. You told me to set boundaries around the mountain and to declare it off limits."
• 24. But the LORD said, "Go down anyway and bring Aaron back with you. In the meantime, do not let the priests or the people cross the boundaries to come up here. If they do, I will punish them."
• 25. So Moses went down to the people and told them what the LORD had said.

Luke 23

• 1. Then the entire council took Jesus over to Pilate, the Roman governor.
• 2. They began at once to state their case: "This man has been leading our people to ruin by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king."
• 3. So Pilate asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus replied, "Yes, it is as you say."
• 4. Pilate turned to the leading priests and to the crowd and said, "I find nothing wrong with this man!"
• 5. Then they became desperate. "But he is causing riots everywhere he goes, all over Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem!"
• 6. "Oh, is he a Galilean?" Pilate asked.
• 7. When they answered that he was, Pilate sent him to Herod Antipas, because Galilee was under Herod's jurisdiction, and Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at the time.
• 8. Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle.
• 9. He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer.
• 10. Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations.
• 11. Now Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Then they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate.
• 12. Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before, became friends that day.
• 13. Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people,
• 14. and he announced his verdict. "You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent.
• 15. Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty.
• 16. So I will have him flogged, but then I will release him."
• 17. See Footnote
• 18. Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, "Kill him, and release Barabbas to us!"
• 19. (Barabbas was in prison for murder and for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government.)
• 20. Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus.
• 21. But they shouted, "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
• 22. For the third time he demanded, "Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. I will therefore flog him and let him go."
• 23. But the crowd shouted louder and louder for Jesus' death, and their voices prevailed.
• 24. So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded.
• 25. As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he delivered Jesus over to them to do as they wished.
• 26. As they led Jesus away, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country just then, was forced to follow Jesus and carry his cross.
• 27. Great crowds trailed along behind, including many grief-stricken women.
• 28. But Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, don't weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
• 29. For the days are coming when they will say, 'Fortunate indeed are the women who are childless, the wombs that have not borne a child and the breasts that have never nursed.'
• 30. People will beg the mountains to fall on them and the hills to bury them.
• 31. For if these things are done when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? "
• 32. Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with him.
• 33. Finally, they came to a place called The Skull. All three were crucified there--Jesus on the center cross, and the two criminals on either side.
• 34. Jesus said, "Father, forgive these people, because they don't know what they are doing." And the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.
• 35. The crowd watched, and the leaders laughed and scoffed. "He saved others," they said, "let him save himself if he is really God's Chosen One, the Messiah."
• 36. The soldiers mocked him, too, by offering him a drink of sour wine.
• 37. They called out to him, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"
• 38. A signboard was nailed to the cross above him with these words: "This is the King of the Jews."
• 39. One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, "So you're the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself--and us, too, while you're at it!"
• 40. But the other criminal protested, "Don't you fear God even when you are dying?
• 41. We deserve to die for our evil deeds, but this man hasn't done anything wrong."
• 42. Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom."
• 43. And Jesus replied, "I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise."
• 44. By this time it was noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o'clock.
• 45. The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the thick veil hanging in the Temple was torn apart.
• 46. Then Jesus shouted, "Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!" And with those words he breathed his last.
• 47. When the captain of the Roman soldiers handling the executions saw what had happened, he praised God and said, "Surely this man was innocent. "
• 48. And when the crowd that came to see the crucifixion saw all that had happened, they went home in deep sorrow.
• 49. But Jesus' friends, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance watching.
• 50. Now there was a good and righteous man named Joseph. He was a member of the Jewish high council,
• 51. but he had not agreed with the decision and actions of the other religious leaders. He was from the town of Arimathea in Judea, and he had been waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.
• 52. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body.
• 53. Then he took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in a long linen cloth and laid it in a new tomb that had been carved out of rock.
• 54. This was done late on Friday afternoon, the day of preparation for the Sabbath.
• 55. As his body was taken away, the women from Galilee followed and saw the tomb where they placed his body.
• 56. Then they went home and prepared spices and ointments to embalm him. But by the time they were finished it was the Sabbath, so they rested all that day as required by the law.

Job 38

• 1. Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
• 2. "Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words?
• 3. Brace yourself, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.
• 4. "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much.
• 5. Do you know how its dimensions were determined and who did the surveying?
• 6. What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone
• 7. as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
• 8. "Who defined the boundaries of the sea as it burst from the womb,
• 9. and as I clothed it with clouds and thick darkness?
• 10. For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores.
• 11. I said, `Thus far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!'
• 12. "Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
• 13. Have you ever told the daylight to spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night's wickedness?
• 14. For the features of the earth take shape as the light approaches, and the dawn is robed in red.
• 15. The light disturbs the haunts of the wicked, and it stops the arm that is raised in violence.
• 16. "Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you walked about and explored their depths?
• 17. Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
• 18. Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know!
• 19. "Where does the light come from, and where does the darkness go?
• 20. Can you take it to its home? Do you know how to get there?
• 21. But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced!
• 22. "Have you visited the treasuries of the snow? Have you seen where the hail is made and stored?
• 23. I have reserved it for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.
• 24. Where is the path to the origin of light? Where is the home of the east wind?
• 25. "Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning?
• 26. Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives?
• 27. Who sends the rain that satisfies the parched ground and makes the tender grass spring up?
• 28. "Does the rain have a father? Where does dew come from?
• 29. Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?
• 30. For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes.
• 31. "Can you hold back the movements of the stars? Are you able to restrain the Pleiades or Orion?
• 32. Can you ensure the proper sequence of the seasons or guide the constellation of the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?
• 33. Do you know the laws of the universe and how God rules the earth?
• 34. "Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain?
• 35. Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct it?
• 36. Who gives intuition and instinct?
• 37. Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven,
• 38. turning the dry dust to clumps of mud?
• 39. "Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions' appetites
• 40. as they lie in their dens or crouch in the thicket?
• 41. Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God as they wander about in hunger?

New Living Translation: 68 of 365 days.