Exodus 30

• 1. "Then make a small altar out of acacia wood for burning incense.
• 2. It must be eighteen inches square and three feet high, with horns at the corners carved from the same piece of wood as the altar.
• 3. Overlay the top, sides, and horns of the altar with pure gold, and run a gold molding around the entire altar.
• 4. Beneath the molding, on opposite sides of the altar, attach two gold rings to support the carrying poles.
• 5. The poles are to be made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold.
• 6. Place the incense altar just outside the inner curtain, opposite the Ark's cover--the place of atonement--that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. I will meet with you there.
• 7. "Every morning when Aaron trims the lamps, he must burn fragrant incense on the altar.
• 8. And each evening when he tends to the lamps, he must again burn incense in the LORD's presence. This must be done from generation to generation.
• 9. Do not offer any unholy incense on this altar, or any burnt offerings, grain offerings, or drink offerings.
• 10. "Once a year Aaron must purify the altar by placing on its horns the blood from the offering made for the atonement of sin. This will be a regular, annual event from generation to generation, for this is the LORD's supremely holy altar."
• 11. And the LORD said to Moses,
• 12. "Whenever you take a census of the people of Israel, each man who is counted must pay a ransom for himself to the LORD. Then there will be no plagues among the people as you count them.
• 13. His payment to the LORD will be one-fifth of an ounce of silver.
• 14. All who have reached their twentieth birthday must give this offering to the LORD.
• 15. When this offering is given to the LORD to make atonement for yourselves, the rich must not give more, and the poor must not give less.
• 16. Use this money for the care of the Tabernacle. It will bring you, the Israelites, to the LORD's attention, and it will make atonement for your lives."
• 17. And the LORD said to Moses,
• 18. "Make a large bronze washbasin with a bronze pedestal. Put it between the Tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water.
• 19. Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and feet there
• 20. before they go into the Tabernacle to appear before the LORD and before they approach the altar to burn offerings to the LORD. They must always wash before ministering in these ways, or they will die.
• 21. This is a permanent law for Aaron and his descendants, to be kept from generation to generation."
• 22. Then the LORD said to Moses,
• 23. "Collect choice spices--12 1/2 pounds of pure myrrh, 6 1/4 pounds each of cinnamon and of sweet cane,
• 24. 12 1/2 pounds of cassia, and one gallon of olive oil.
• 25. Blend these ingredients into a holy anointing oil.
• 26. Use this scented oil to anoint the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant,
• 27. the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and all its accessories, the incense altar,
• 28. the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the large washbasin with its pedestal.
• 29. Sanctify them to make them entirely holy. After this, whatever touches them will become holy.
• 30. Use this oil also to anoint Aaron and his sons, sanctifying them so they can minister before me as priests.
• 31. And say to the people of Israel, `This will always be my holy anointing oil.
• 32. It must never be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you must never make any of it for yourselves. It is holy, and you must treat it as holy.
• 33. Anyone who blends scented oil like it or puts any of it on someone who is not a priest will be cut off from the community.'"
• 34. These were the LORD's instructions to Moses concerning the incense: "Gather sweet spices--resin droplets, mollusk scent, galbanum, and pure frankincense--weighing out the same amounts of each.
• 35. Using the usual techniques of the incense maker, refine it to produce a pure and holy incense.
• 36. Beat some of it very fine and put some of it in front of the Ark of the Covenant, where I will meet with you in the Tabernacle. This incense is most holy.
• 37. Never make this incense for yourselves. It is reserved for the LORD, and you must treat it as holy.
• 38. Those who make it for their own enjoyment will be cut off from the community."

John 10

• 1. "I assure you, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber!
• 2. For a shepherd enters through the gate.
• 3. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
• 4. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they recognize his voice.
• 5. They won't follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don't recognize his voice."
• 6. Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn't understand what he meant,
• 7. so he explained it to them. "I assure you, I am the gate for the sheep," he said.
• 8. "All others who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them.
• 9. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. Wherever they go, they will find green pastures.
• 10. The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.
• 11. "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
• 12. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will leave the sheep because they aren't his and he isn't their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock.
• 13. The hired hand runs away because he is merely hired and has no real concern for the sheep.
• 14. "I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,
• 15. just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.
• 16. I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice; and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
• 17. "The Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may have it back again.
• 18. No one can take my life from me. I lay down my life voluntarily. For I have the right to lay it down when I want to and also the power to take it again. For my Father has given me this command."
• 19. When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him.
• 20. Some of them said, "He has a demon, or he's crazy. Why listen to a man like that?"
• 21. Others said, "This doesn't sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"
• 22. It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah.
• 23. He was at the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon's Colonnade.
• 24. The Jewish leaders surrounded him and asked, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly."
• 25. Jesus replied, "I have already told you, and you don't believe me. The proof is what I do in the name of my Father.
• 26. But you don't believe me because you are not part of my flock.
• 27. My sheep recognize my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
• 28. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them away from me,
• 29. for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. So no one can take them from me.
• 30. The Father and I are one."
• 31. Once again the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill him.
• 32. Jesus said, "At my Father's direction I have done many things to help the people. For which one of these good deeds are you killing me?"
• 33. They replied, "Not for any good work, but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, have made yourself God."
• 34. Jesus replied, "It is written in your own law that God said to certain leaders of the people, 'I say, you are gods!'
• 35. And you know that the Scriptures cannot be altered. So if those people, who received God's message, were called 'gods,'
• 36. why do you call it blasphemy when the Holy One who was sent into the world by the Father says, 'I am the Son of God'?
• 37. Don't believe me unless I carry out my Father's work.
• 38. But if I do his work, believe in what I have done, even if you don't believe me. Then you will realize that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father."
• 39. Once again they tried to arrest him, but he got away and left them.
• 40. He went beyond the Jordan River to stay near the place where John was first baptizing.
• 41. And many followed him. "John didn't do miracles," they remarked to one another, "but all his predictions about this man have come true."
• 42. And many believed in him there.

Proverbs 7

• 1. Follow my advice, my son; always treasure my commands.
• 2. Obey them and live! Guard my teachings as your most precious possession.
• 3. Tie them on your fingers as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.
• 4. Love wisdom like a sister; make insight a beloved member of your family.
• 5. Let them hold you back from an affair with an immoral woman, from listening to the flattery of an adulterous woman.
• 6. I was looking out the window of my house one day
• 7. and saw a simpleminded young man who lacked common sense.
• 8. He was crossing the street near the house of an immoral woman. He was strolling down the path by her house
• 9. at twilight, as the day was fading, as the dark of night set in.
• 10. The woman approached him, dressed seductively and sly of heart.
• 11. She was the brash, rebellious type who never stays at home.
• 12. She is often seen in the streets and markets, soliciting at every corner.
• 13. She threw her arms around him and kissed him, and with a brazen look she said,
• 14. "I've offered my sacrifices and just finished my vows.
• 15. It's you I was looking for! I came out to find you, and here you are!
• 16. My bed is spread with colored sheets of finest linen imported from Egypt.
• 17. I've perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
• 18. Come, let's drink our fill of love until morning. Let's enjoy each other's caresses,
• 19. for my husband is not home. He's away on a long trip.
• 20. He has taken a wallet full of money with him, and he won't return until later in the month."
• 21. So she seduced him with her pretty speech. With her flattery she enticed him.
• 22. He followed her at once, like an ox going to the slaughter or like a trapped stag,
• 23. awaiting the arrow that would pierce its heart. He was like a bird flying into a snare, little knowing it would cost him his life.
• 24. Listen to me, my sons, and pay attention to my words.
• 25. Don't let your hearts stray away toward her. Don't wander down her wayward path.
• 26. For she has been the ruin of many; numerous men have been her victims.
• 27. Her house is the road to the grave. Her bedroom is the den of death.

New Living Translation: 79 of 365 days.