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First Reading: Leviticus Chapter 1 and 2Leviticus 1
1 And Jehovah called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tent of meeting, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When any man of you offereth an oblation unto Jehovah, ye shall offer your oblation of the cattle, `even' of the herd and of the flock.
3 If his oblation be a burnt-offering of the herd, he shall offer it a male without blemish: he shall offer it at the door of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before Jehovah.
4 And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.
5 And he shall kill the bullock before Jehovah: and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall present the blood, and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is at the door of the tent of meeting.
6 And he shall flay the burnt-offering, and cut it into its pieces.
7 And the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay wood in order upon the fire;
8 and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:
9 but its inwards and its legs shall he wash with water: and the priest shall burn the whole on the altar, for a burnt-offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.
10 And if his oblation be of the flock, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt-offering; he shall offer it a male without blemish.
11 And he shall kill it on the side of the altar northward before Jehovah: and Aaron's sons, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood upon the altar round about.
12 And he shall cut it into its pieces, with its head and its fat; and the priest shall lay them in order on the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar:
13 but the inwards and the legs shall he wash with water; and the priest shall offer the whole, and burn it upon the altar: it is a burnt-offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.
14 And if his oblation to Jehovah be a burnt-offering of birds, then he shall offer his oblation of turtle-doves, or of young pigeons.
15 And the priest shall bring it unto the altar, and wring off its head, and burn it on the altar; and the blood thereof shall be drained out on the side of the altar;
16 and he shall take away its crop with the filth thereof, and cast it beside the altar on the east part, in the place of the ashes:
17 and he shall rend it by the wings thereof, `but' shall not divide it asunder; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar, upon the wood that is upon the fire: it is a burnt-offering, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.
Leviticus 2
1 And when any one offereth an oblation of a meal-offering unto Jehovah, his oblation shall be of fine flour; and he shall pour oil upon it, and put frankincense thereon:
2 and he shall bring it to Aaron's sons the priests; and he shall take thereout his handful of the fine flour thereof, and of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof; and the priest shall burn `it as' the memorial thereof upon the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah:
3 and that which is left of the meal-offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of Jehovah made by fire.
4 And when thou offerest an oblation of a meal-offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil.
5 And if thy oblation be a meal-offering of the baking-pan, it shall be of fine flour unleavened, mingled with oil.
6 Thou shalt part it in pieces, and pour oil thereon: it is a meal-offering.
7 And if thy oblation be a meal-offering of the frying-pan, it shall be made of fine flour with oil.
8 And thou shalt bring the meal-offering that is made of these things unto Jehovah: and it shall be presented unto the priest, and he shall bring it unto the altar.
9 And the priest shall take up from the meal-offering the memorial thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.
10 And that which is left of the meal-offering shall be Aaron's and his sons': it is a thing most holy of the offerings of Jehovah made by fire.
11 No meal-offering, which ye shall offer unto Jehovah, shall be made with leaven; for ye shall burn no leaven, nor any honey, as an offering made by fire unto Jehovah.
12 As an oblation of first -`fruits' ye shall offer them unto Jehovah: but they shall not come up for a sweet savor on the altar.
13 And every oblation of thy meal-offering shalt thou season with salt; neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant of thy God to be lacking from thy meal-offering: with all thine oblations thou shalt offer salt.
14 And if thou offer a meal-offering of first-fruits unto Jehovah, thou shalt offer for the meal-offering of thy first-fruits grain in the ear parched with fire, bruised grain of the fresh ear.
15 And thou shalt put oil upon it, and lay frankincense thereon: it is a meal-offering.
16 And the priest shall burn the memorial of it, part of the bruised grain thereof, and part of the oil thereof, with all the frankincense thereof: it is an offering made by fire unto Jehovah.
Second Reading: Acts Chapter 14
Acts 14
1 And it came to pass in Iconium that they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake that a great multitude both of Jews and of Greeks believed.
2 But the Jews that were disobedient stirred up the souls of the Gentiles, and made them evil affected against the brethren.
3 Long time therefore they tarried `there' speaking boldly in the Lord, who bare witness unto the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
4 But the multitude of the city was divided; and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.
5 And when there was made an onset both of the Gentiles and of the Jews with their rulers, to treat them shamefully and to stone them,
6 they became aware of it, and fled unto the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the region round about:
7 and there they preached the gospel.
8 And at Lystra there sat a certain man, impotent in his feet, a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked.
9 The same heard Paul speaking, who, fastening eyes upon him, and seeing that he had faith to be made whole,
10 said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped up and walked.
11 And when the multitude saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.
12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercury, because he was the chief speaker.
13 And the priest of Jupiter whose `temple' was before the city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the multitudes.
14 But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they rent their garments, and sprang forth among the multitude, crying out
15 and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good tidings, that ye should turn from these vain things unto a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is:
16 who in the generations gone by suffered all the nations to walk in their own ways.
17 And yet He left not himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.
18 And with these sayings scarce restrained they the multitudes from doing sacrifice unto them.
19 But there came Jews thither from Antioch and Iconium: and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
20 But as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and entered into the city: and on the morrow he went forth with Barnabas to Derbe.
21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch,
22 confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.
23 And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed.
24 And they passed through Pisidia, and came to Pamphylia.
25 And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia;
26 and thence they sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled.
27 And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith unto the Gentiles.
28 And they tarried no little time with the disciples.
TIPS ON READING
QUESTIONS
Don't be afraid to ask questions and don't be discouraged if you don't find the answers as soon as you'd like. In fact, keep a file of index cards of unanswered questions. A basic principle to reading the Bible more effectively lies in this simple fact:
Your questions about what the Bible teaches are answered in the Bible.
Look in the same chapter or surrounding chapters for your answers. Look in other books of the Bible--especially New vs Old Testament:
It was an angel who spoke to Moses in the burning bush: see Exodus 3:4 and Acts 7:30-31
Why Jesus said "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" See Psalm 22 and Matthew 27:46
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