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Reading Plan
Day 51 Day 52Day 53

Numbers chapter 8

1
The LORD said to Moses,
2
"Tell Aaron that when he puts the seven lamps on the lampstand, he should place them so that the light shines toward the front."
3
Aaron obeyed and placed the lamps facing the front of the lampstand.
4
From top to bottom the lampstand was made of hammered gold, according to the pattern that the LORD had shown Moses.
5
The LORD said to Moses,
6
"Separate the Levites from the rest of the people of Israel and purify them
7
in the following way: sprinkle them with the water of purification and have them shave their whole bodies and have them wash their clothes. Then they will be ritually clean.
8
Then they are to take a young bull and the required grain offering of flour mixed with olive oil; and you are to take another bull for the sin offering.
9
Then assemble the whole community of Israel and have the Levites stand in front of the Tent of my presence.
10
The people of Israel are to place their hands on the heads of the Levites,
11
and then Aaron shall dedicate the Levites to me as a special gift from the Israelites, so that they may do my work.
12
The Levites shall then put their hands on the heads of the two bulls; one is to be offered as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, in order to perform the ritual of purification for the Levites.
13
"Dedicate the Levites as a special gift to me, and put Aaron and his sons in charge of them.
14
Separate the Levites in this way from the rest of the Israelites, so that they will belong to me.
15
After you have purified and dedicated the Levites, they will be qualified to work in the Tent.
16
I have claimed them in the place of all the first-born sons of the Israelites, and they belong to me alone.
17
When I killed all the first-born in Egypt, I consecrated as my own the oldest son of each Israelite family and the first-born of every animal.
18
I am now taking the Levites instead of all the first-born of the Israelites,
19
and I assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons, as a gift from the Israelites, to work in the Tent for the people of Israel and to protect the Israelites from the disaster that would strike them if they came too near the Holy Place."
20
So Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel dedicated the Levites, as the LORD commanded Moses.
21
The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron dedicated them as a special gift to the LORD. He also performed the ritual of purification for them.
22
The people did everything the LORD had commanded Moses concerning the Levites. And so the Levites were qualified to work in the Tent under Aaron and his sons.
23
The LORD said to Moses,
24
"From the age of twenty-five each Levite shall perform his duties in the Tent of my presence,
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and at the age of fifty he shall retire.
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After that, he may help his fellow Levites in performing their duties in the Tent, but he must not perform any service by himself. This is how you are to regulate the duties of the Levites."

Numbers chapter 9

1
The LORD spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert in the first month of the second year after the people of Israel had left Egypt. He said,
2
"On the fourteenth day of this month, beginning at sunset, the people of Israel are to observe the Passover according to all the rules and regulations for it."
3
(SEE 9:2)
4
So Moses told the people to observe the Passover,
5
and on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month they did so in the Sinai Desert. The people did everything just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
6
But there were some people who were ritually unclean because they had touched a corpse, and they were not able to keep the Passover on that day. They went to Moses and Aaron
7
and said, "We are unclean because we have touched a corpse, but why should we be excluded from presenting the LORD's offering with the rest of the Israelites?"
8
Moses answered, "Wait until I receive instructions from the LORD."
9
The LORD told Moses
10
to say to the people of Israel, "When any of you or your descendants are unclean from touching a corpse or are far away on a journey, but still want to keep the Passover,
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you are permitted to observe it one month later instead, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the second month. Celebrate it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
12
Do not leave any of the food until the following morning and do not break any of the animal's bones. Observe the Passover according to all the regulations.
13
But if any of you are ritually clean and not away on a journey and do not observe the Passover, you shall no longer be considered my people, because you did not present the offering to me at the appointed time. You must suffer the consequences of your sin.
14
"If foreigners living among you want to keep the Passover, they must observe it according to all the rules and regulations. The same law applies to everyone, whether native or foreigner."
15
On the day the Tent of the LORD's presence was set up, a cloud came and covered it. At night the cloud looked like fire.
16
(SEE 9:15)
17
Whenever the cloud lifted, the people of Israel broke camp, and they set up camp again in the place where the cloud came down.
18
The people broke camp at the command of the LORD, and at his command they set up camp. As long as the cloud stayed over the Tent, they stayed in the same camp.
19
When the cloud stayed over the Tent for a long time, they obeyed the LORD and did not move on.
20
Sometimes the cloud remained over the Tent for only a few days; in any case, they remained in camp or moved, according to the command of the LORD.
21
Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning, and they moved on as soon as the cloud lifted. Whenever the cloud lifted, they moved on.
22
Whether it was two days, a month, a year, or longer, as long as the cloud remained over the Tent, they did not move on; but when it lifted, they moved.
23
They set up camp and broke camp in obedience to the commands which the LORD gave through Moses.

Acts chapter 28

1
When we were safely ashore, we learned that the island was called Malta.
2
The natives there were very friendly to us. It had started to rain and was cold, so they built a fire and made us all welcome.
3
Paul gathered up a bundle of sticks and was putting them on the fire when a snake came out on account of the heat and fastened itself to his hand.
4
The natives saw the snake hanging on Paul's hand and said to one another, "This man must be a murderer, but Fate will not let him live, even though he escaped from the sea."
5
But Paul shook the snake off into the fire without being harmed at all.
6
They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after waiting for a long time and not seeing anything unusual happening to him, they changed their minds and said, "He is a god!"
7
Not far from that place were some fields that belonged to Publius, the chief of the island. He welcomed us kindly and for three days we were his guests.
8
Publius' father was in bed, sick with fever and dysentery. Paul went into his room, prayed, placed his hands on him, and healed him.
9
When this happened, all the other sick people on the island came and were healed.
10
They gave us many gifts, and when we sailed, they put on board what we needed for the voyage.
11
After three months we sailed away on a ship from Alexandria, called "The Twin Gods," which had spent the winter in the island.
12
We arrived in the city of Syracuse and stayed there for three days.
13
From there we sailed on and arrived in the city of Rhegium. The next day a wind began to blow from the south, and in two days we came to the town of Puteoli.
14
We found some believers there who asked us to stay with them a week. And so we came to Rome.
15
The believers in Rome heard about us and came as far as the towns of Market of Appius and Three Inns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and was greatly encouraged.
16
When we arrived in Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself with a soldier guarding him.
17
After three days Paul called the local Jewish leaders to a meeting. When they had gathered, he said to them, "My fellow Israelites, even though I did nothing against our people or the customs that we received from our ancestors, I was made a prisoner in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans.
18
After questioning me, the Romans wanted to release me, because they found that I had done nothing for which I deserved to die.
19
But when the Jews opposed this, I was forced to appeal to the Emperor, even though I had no accusation to make against my own people.
20
That is why I asked to see you and talk with you. As a matter of fact, I am bound in chains like this for the sake of him for whom the people of Israel hope."
21
They said to him, "We have not received any letters from Judea about you, nor have any of our people come from there with any news or anything bad to say about you.
22
But we would like to hear your ideas, because we know that everywhere people speak against this party to which you belong."
23
So they set a date with Paul, and a large number of them came that day to the place where Paul was staying. From morning till night he explained to them his message about the Kingdom of God, and he tried to convince them about Jesus by quoting from the Law of Moses and the writings of the prophets.
24
Some of them were convinced by his words, but others would not believe.
25
So they left, disagreeing among themselves, after Paul had said this one thing: "How well the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophet Isaiah to your ancestors!
26
For he said, 'Go and say to this people: You will listen and listen, but not understand; you will look and look, but not see,
27
because this people's minds are dull, and they have stopped up their ears and closed their eyes. Otherwise, their eyes would see, their ears would hear, their minds would understand, and they would turn to me, says God, and I would heal them.' "
28
And Paul concluded: "You are to know, then, that God's message of salvation has been sent to the Gentiles. They will listen!"
29
OMITTED TEXT
30
For two years Paul lived in a place he rented for himself, and there he welcomed all who came to see him.
31
He preached about the Kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking with all boldness and freedom.

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