Leviticus 12
Purification After Childbirth
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,†
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying to them, ‘If a woman conceived and bore a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; she shall be unclean as in the days of her menstrual isolation.
3 Then on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
4 She will then continue in the blood of her uncleanness thirty-three days. She is not to touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are fulfilled.
5 But if she bears a female child, she will be unclean two weeks, as in her menstrual isolation, and she will continue in the blood of her uncleanness sixty-six days.
6 When the days of her purification are fulfilled, whether for a son or a daughter, she is to bring to the priest a lamb of the first year as a whole burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of the tabernacle of testimony.
7 Then he shall bring it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and it will cleanse her from her flow of blood. This is the law for her who bore a male or a female.
8 But if she is unable to afford a lamb, she may bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons—one as a whole burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. So the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’ ”
Psalms 76
11 I said, “Now I am beginning to see; This change is by the right hand of the Most High.”
12 I remembered the Lord’s works, For I will remember Your wonders of old,
13 And I will meditate on all Your works; And I will consider Your ways.
14 O God, Your way is in the holy place; Who is so great a God as our God?
15 You are the God who does wonders; You made known Your power among the peoples;
16 You redeemed Your people with Your arm, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. (Pause)
17 The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You and were afraid, And the depths were troubled, A multitude like the sound of waters.
18 The clouds uttered their voice, For Your arrows passed through them;
19 The voice of Your thunder was in the wheel; Your lightning gave light to the world; It was shaken, and the earth was made to tremble.
20 Your way is in the sea, And Your paths are in many waters; And Your footsteps shall not be known.
21 You led Your people as sheep By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Proverbs of Solomon 16
Humility, Discernment, and Righteousness
1 All the works of the humble are evident before the Lord, But the ungodly will be destroyed in the evil day.†
2 Every high-hearted man is unclean before the Lord, And he who joins hands with the unrighteous will not go unpunished.
3 The beginning of a good way is to do righteous things, And this is more acceptable to God than to offer sacrifices.†
4 He who seeks the Lord will find knowledge with righteousness, And those who seek Him rightly will find peace.†
5 All the works of the Lord are with righteousness, But the ungodly man is kept for an evil day.
Luke 5
Jesus Forgives Sins
17 Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them.†
18 Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him.
19 And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.
20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts?
23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’?
24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
25 Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.
26 And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”
Jesus Invites Matthew, a Sinner
27 After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” †
28 So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.
29 Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.†
30 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, “Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
When Does Jesus Fast?
33 Then they said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?”†
34 And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?
35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”
36 Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old.
37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined.
38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved.
39 And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ”†