Psalm 20

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
² May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
³ May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
⁴ May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
⁵ May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.

⁶ Now this I know:
The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand.
⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
⁸ They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
⁹ Lord, give victory to the king!
Answer us when we call!

---

Numbers 9:15-23

The Cloud Above the Tabernacle

¹⁵ On the day the tabernacle, the tent of the covenant law, was set up, the cloud covered it. From evening till morning the cloud above the tabernacle looked like fire. ¹⁶ That is how it continued to be; the cloud covered it, and at night it looked like fire. ¹⁷ Whenever the cloud lifted from above the tent, the Israelites set out; wherever the cloud settled, the Israelites encamped. ¹⁸ At the Lord's command the Israelites set out, and at his command they encamped. As long as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle, they remained in camp

. ¹⁹ When the cloud remained over the tabernacle a long time, the Israelites obeyed the Lord's order and did not set out. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud was over the tabernacle only a few days; at the Lord's command they would encamp, and then at his command they would set out. ²¹ Sometimes the cloud stayed only from evening till morning, and when it lifted in the morning, they set out. Whether by day or by night, whenever the cloud lifted, they set out. ²² Whether the cloud stayed over the tabernacle for two days or a month or a year, the Israelites would remain in camp and not set out; but when it lifted, they would set out. ²³ At the Lord's command they encamped, and at the Lord's command they set out. They obeyed the Lord's order, in accordance with his command through Moses.

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Revelation 4:1-8

The Throne in Heaven

1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." ² At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. ³ And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. ⁴ Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.

⁶ Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. ⁸ Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,' who was, and is, and is to come."

Psalm 20

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
² May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
³ May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
⁴ May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
⁵ May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.

⁶ Now this I know:
The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand.
⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
⁸ They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
⁹ Lord, give victory to the king!
Answer us when we call!

---

Exodus 25:1-22

Offerings for the Tabernacle

¹ The Lord said to Moses, ² "Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give. ³ These are the offerings you are to receive from them: gold, silver and bronze; ⁴ blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen; goat hair; ⁵ ram skins dyed red and another type of durable leather; acacia wood; ⁶ olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; ⁷ and onyx stones and other gems to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.
⁸ "Then have them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them. ⁹ Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you.

The Ark
¹⁰ "Have them make an ark of acacia wood-two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. ¹¹ Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. ¹² Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. ¹³ Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. ¹⁵ The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. ¹⁶ Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you.
¹⁷ "Make an atonement cover of pure gold-two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. ¹⁸ And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. ¹⁹ Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. ²⁰ The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover. ²¹ Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law that I will give you. ²² There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.

---

1 Corinthians 2:1-10

¹ And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ² For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³ I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. ⁴ My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, ⁵ so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power.

God's Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit
⁶ We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷ No, we declare God's wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. ⁸ None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. ⁹ However, as it is written: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" - the things God has prepared for those who love him- ¹⁰ these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.

Psalm 20

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

¹ May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
² May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
³ May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
⁴ May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
⁵ May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.

⁶ Now this I know:
The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand.
⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
⁸ They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
⁹ Lord, give victory to the king!
Answer us when we call!

---

Numbers 6:22-27

The Priestly Blessing

²² The Lord said to Moses,
²³ "Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

²⁴ "'"The Lord bless you and keep you;
²⁵ the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
²⁶ the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace."'
²⁷ "So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."

---

Mark 4:21-25

A Lamp on a Stand

²¹ He said to them, "Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand? ²² For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. ²³ If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear."

²⁴ "Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you-and even more. ²⁵ Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them."

Psalm 81:1-10

For the director of music. According to gittith Of Asaph.

¹ Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
² Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
play the melodious harp and lyre.

³ Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon,
and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
⁴ this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
⁵ When God went out against Egypt,
he established it as a statute for Joseph.

⁶ I heard an unknown voice say:
"I removed the burden from their shoulders;
their hands were set free from the basket.
⁷ In your distress you called and I rescued you,
I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
⁸ Hear me, my people, and I will warn you-
if you would only listen to me, Israel!
⁹ You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not worship any god other than me.
¹⁰ I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

---

Exodus 31:12-18

The Sabbath

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹³ "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.

¹⁴ "'Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. ¹⁵ For six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. ¹⁶ The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant.

¹⁷ It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.'" ¹⁸ When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

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Acts 25:1-12

Paul's Trial Before Festus

¹ Three days after arriving in the province, Festus went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, ² where the chief priests and the Jewish leaders appeared before him and presented the charges against Paul. ³ They requested Festus, as a favor to them, to have Paul transferred to Jerusalem, for they were preparing an ambush to kill him along the way.

⁴ Festus answered, "Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. ⁵ Let some of your leaders come with me, and if the man has done anything wrong, they can press charges against him there." ⁶ After spending eight or ten days with them, Festus went down to Caesarea. The next day he convened the court and ordered that Paul be brought before him. ⁷ When Paul came in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many serious charges against him, but they could not prove them.

⁸ Then Paul made his defense: "I have done nothing wrong against the Jewish law or against the temple or against Caesar." ⁹ Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, "Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?" ¹⁰ Paul answered: "I am now standing before Caesar's court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹ If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!" ¹² After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!"

Psalm 81:1-10

For the director of music. According to gittith Of Asaph.

¹ Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
² Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
play the melodious harp and lyre.

³ Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon,
and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
⁴ this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
⁵ When God went out against Egypt,
he established it as a statute for Joseph.

⁶ I heard an unknown voice say:
"I removed the burden from their shoulders;
their hands were set free from the basket.
⁷ In your distress you called and I rescued you,
I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
⁸ Hear me, my people, and I will warn you-
if you would only listen to me, Israel!
⁹ You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not worship any god other than me.
¹⁰ I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

---

Leviticus 23:1-8

The Appointed Festivals

¹ The Lord said to Moses, ² "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'These are my appointed festivals, the appointed festivals of the Lord, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.

The Sabbath
³ "'There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord.

The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
⁴ "'These are the Lord's appointed festivals, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times: ⁵ The Lord's Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month. ⁶ On the fifteenth day of that month the Lord's Festival of Unleavened Bread begins; for seven days you must eat bread made without yeast. ⁷ On the first day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. ⁸ For seven days present a food offering to the Lord. And on the seventh day hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work.'"

---

Romans 8:31-39

More Than Conquerors

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

³⁶ As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 81:1-10

For the director of music. According to gittith Of Asaph.

¹ Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
² Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
play the melodious harp and lyre.

³ Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon,
and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
⁴ this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
⁵ When God went out against Egypt,
he established it as a statute for Joseph.

⁶ I heard an unknown voice say:
"I removed the burden from their shoulders;
their hands were set free from the basket.
⁷ In your distress you called and I rescued you,
I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
⁸ Hear me, my people, and I will warn you-
if you would only listen to me, Israel!
⁹ You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not worship any god other than me.
¹⁰ I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

---

Leviticus 24:5-9

⁵ "Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf. ⁶ Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. ⁷ By each stack put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the Lord. ⁸ This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. ⁹ It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is a most holy part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord."

---

John 7:19-24

¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?" ²⁰ "You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?" ²¹ Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. ²² Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. ²³ Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man's whole body on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly."

Psalm 81:1-10

For the director of music. According to gittith Of Asaph.

¹ Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
² Begin the music, strike the timbrel,
play the melodious harp and lyre.

³ Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon,
and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;
⁴ this is a decree for Israel,
an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
⁵ When God went out against Egypt,
he established it as a statute for Joseph.

⁶ I heard an unknown voice say:
"I removed the burden from their shoulders;
their hands were set free from the basket.
⁷ In your distress you called and I rescued you,
I answered you out of a thundercloud;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
⁸ Hear me, my people, and I will warn you-
if you would only listen to me, Israel!
⁹ You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not worship any god other than me.
¹⁰ I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

---

1 Samuel 3:1-20

The Lord Calls Samuel

¹The boy Samuel ministered before the Lord under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions.²One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place.

³The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord, where the ark of God was.⁴Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am."⁵And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down.⁶Again the Lord called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." "My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down."⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

⁸A third time the Lord called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." Then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy.⁹So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.¹⁰The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."¹¹And the Lord said to Samuel: "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it tingle.¹²At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family-from beginning to end.¹³For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons blasphemed God, and he failed to restrain them.

¹⁴Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, 'The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.'"¹⁵Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision,¹⁶but Eli called him and said, "Samuel, my son." Samuel answered, "Here I am."¹⁷"What was it he said to you?" Eli asked. "Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you."¹⁸So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, "He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes."¹⁹The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel's words fall to the ground.²⁰And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord.

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Psalm 139:1-6

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.¹ You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

---

Psalm 139:13-18

¹³ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand- when I awake, I am still with you.

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Deuteronomy 5:12-15

¹² "Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. ¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

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2 Corinthians 4:5-12

⁵ For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. ⁶ For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. ⁷ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

⁸ We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. ¹¹ For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. ¹² So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

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Mark 2:23-3:6

²³ One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. ²⁴ The Pharisees said to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"
²⁵ He answered,"Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? ²⁶ In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions." ²⁷ Then he said to them,"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

³ Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. ² Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. ³ Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand,"Stand up in front of everyone."
⁴ Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent. ⁵ He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. ⁶ Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.