Day 29 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Exodus 34

1 And the Lord said to Moses, Hew for thyself two tables of stone, as also the first were, and come up to me to the mountain; and I will write upon the tables the words, which were on the first tables, which thou brokest. 2 And be ready by the morning, and thou shalt go up to the mount Sina, and shalt stand there for me on the top of the mountain. 3 And let no one go up with thee, nor be seen in all the mountain; and let not the sheep and oxen feed near that mountain. 4 And [Moses] hewed two tables of stone, as also the first were; and Moses having arisen early, went up to the mount Sina, as the Lord appointed him; and Moses took the two tables of stone. 5 And the Lord descended in a cloud, and stood near him there, and called by the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed by before his face, and proclaimed, The Lord God, pitiful and merciful, longsuffering and very compassionate, and true, 7 and keeping justice and mercy for thousands, taking away iniquity, and unrighteousness, and sins; and he will not clear the guilty; bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and to the children's children, to the third and fourth generation. 8 And Moses hasted, and bowed to the earth and worshipped; 9 and said, If I have found grace before thee, let my Lord go with us; for the people is stiff-necked: and thou shalt take away our sins and our iniquities, and we will be thine. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I establish a covenant for thee in the presence of all thy people; I will do glorious things, which have not been done in all the earth, or in any nation; and all the people among whom thou art shall see the works of the Lord, that they are wonderful, which I will do for thee. 11 Do thou take heed to all things whatsoever I command thee: behold, I cast out before your face the Amorite and the Chananite and the Pherezite, and the Chettite, and Evite, and Gergesite and Jebusite: 12 take heed to thyself, lest at any time thou make a covenant with the dwellers on the land, into which thou art entering, lest it be to thee a stumbling-block among you. 13 Ye shall destroy their altars, and break in pieces their pillars, and ye shall cut down their groves, and the graven images of their gods ye shall burn with fire. 14 For ye shall not worship strange gods, for the Lord God, a jealous name, is a jealous God; 15 lest at any time thou make a covenant with the dwellers on the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and sacrifice to their gods, and they call thee, and thou shouldest eat of their feasts, 16 and thou shouldest take of their daughters to thy sons, and thou shouldest give of thy daughters to their sons; and thy daughters should go a whoring after their gods, and thy sons should go a whoring after their gods. 17 And thou shalt not make to thyself molten gods. 18 And thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I have charged thee, at the season in the month of new [corn]; for in the month of new [corn] thou camest out from Egypt. 19 The males [are] mine, everything that opens the womb; every first-born of oxen, and [every] first-born of sheep. 20 And the first-born of an ass thou shalt redeem with a sheep, and if thou wilt not redeem it thou shalt pay a price: every first-born of thy sons shalt thou redeem: thou shalt not appear before me empty. 21 Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest: [there shall be] rest in seed-time and harvest. 22 And thou shalt keep to me the feast of weeks, the beginning of wheat-harvest; and the feast of ingathering in the middle of the year. 23 Three times in the year shall every male of thine appear before the Lord the God of Israel. 24 For when I shall have cast out the nations before thy face, and shall have enlarged thy coasts, no one shall desire thy land, whenever thou mayest go up to appear before the Lord thy God, three times in the year. 25 Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifices with leaven, neither shall the sacrifices of the feast of the passover remain till the morning. 26 The first-fruits of thy land shalt thou put into the house of the Lord thy God: thou shalt not boil a lamb in his mother's milk. 27 And the Lord said to Moses, Write these words for thyself, for on these words I have established a covenant with thee and with Israel. 28 And Moses was there before the Lord forty days, and forty nights; he did not eat bread, and he did not drink water; and he wrote upon the tables these words of the covenant, the ten sayings. 29 And when Moses went down from the mountain, [there were] the two tables in the hands of Moses,—as then he went down from the mountain, Moses knew not that the appearance of the skin of his face was glorified, when God spoke to him. 30 And Aaron and all the elders of Israel saw Moses, and the appearance of the skin of his face was made glorious, and they feared to approach him. 31 And Moses called them, and Aaron and all the rulers of the synagogue turned towards him, and Moses spoke to them. 32 And afterwards all the children of Israel came to him, and he commanded them all things, whatsoever the Lord had commanded him in the mount of Sina. 33 And when he ceased speaking to them, he put a veil on his face. 34 And whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak to him, he took off the veil till he went out, and he went forth and spoke to all the children of Israel whatsoever the Lord commanded him. 35 And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that it was glorified; and Moses put the veil over his face, till he went in to speak with him.

Exodus 35

1 And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said, These are the words which the Lord has spoken for [you] to do them. 2 Six days shalt thou perform works, but on the seventh day [shall be] rest—a holy sabbath—a rest for the Lord: every one that does work on it, let him die. 3 Ye shall not burn a fire in any of your dwellings on the sabbath-day; I [am] the Lord. 4 And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, This [is] the thing which the Lord has appointed you, saying, 5 Take of yourselves an offering for the Lord: every one that engages in his heart shall bring the first-fruits to the Lord; gold, silver, brass, 6 blue, purple, double scarlet spun, and fine linen spun, and goats' hair, 7 and rams' skins dyed red, and skins [dyed] blue, and incorruptible wood, 9 and sardine stones, and stones for engraving for the shoulder-piece and full-length robe. 10 And every man that is wise in heart among you, let him come and work all things whatsoever the Lord has commanded. 11 The tabernacle, and the cords, and the coverings, and the rings, and the bars, and the posts, 12 and the ark of the testimony, and its staves, and its propitiatory, and the veil, 12a and the curtains of the court, and its posts, and the emerald stones, and the incense, and the anointing oil, 13 and the table and all its furniture, 14 and the candlestick for the light and all its furniture, 16 and the altar and all its furniture; 19 and the holy garments of Aaron the priest, and the garments in which they shall do service; and the garments of priesthood for the sons of Aaron and the anointing oil, and the compound incense. 20 And all the congregation of the children of Israel went out from Moses. And they brought, they whose heart prompted them, and they to whomsoever it seemed good in their mind, each an offering: 21 and they brought an offering to the Lord for all the works of the tabernacle of witness, and all its services, and for all the robes of the sanctuary. 22 And the men, even every one to whom it seemed good in his heart, brought from the women, [even] brought seals and ear-rings, and finger-rings, and necklaces, and bracelets, every article of gold. 23 And all as many as brought ornaments of gold to the Lord, and with whomsoever fine linen was found; and they brought skins [dyed] blue, and rams' skins dyed red. 24 And every one that offered an offering brought silver and brass, the offerings to the Lord; and [they] with whom was found incorruptible wood; and they brought [offerings] for all the works of the preparation. 25 And every woman skilled in her heart to spin with her hands, brought spun [articles], the blue, and purple, and scarlet and fine linen. 26 And all the women to whom it seemed good in their heart in their wisdom, spun the goats' hair. 27 And the rulers brought the emerald stones, and the stones for setting in the ephod, and the oracle, 28 and the compounds both for the anointing oil, and the composition of the incense. 29 And every man and woman whose mind inclined them to come in and do all the works as many as the Lord appointed them to do by Moses—[they] the children of Israel brought an offering to the Lord. 30 And Moses said to the children of Israel, Behold, God has called by name Beseleel the [son] of Urias the [son of] Or, of the tribe of Juda, 31 and has filled him with a divine spirit of wisdom and understanding, and knowledge of all things, 32 to labour skilfully in all works of cunning workmanship, to form the gold and the silver and the brass, 33 and to work in stone, and to fashion the wood, and to work in every work of wisdom. 34 And [God] gave improvement in understanding both to him, and to Eliab the [son] of Achisamach of the tribe of Dan. 35 And [God] filled them with wisdom, understanding [and] perception, to understand to work all the works of the sanctuary, and to weave the woven and embroidered work with scarlet and fine linen, to do all work of curious workmanship [and] embroidery.

Exodus 36

1 And Beseleel wrought, and Eliab and every one wise in understanding, to whom was given wisdom and knowledge, to understand to do all the works according to the holy offices, according to all things which the Lord appointed. 2 And Moses called Beseleel and Eliab, and all that had wisdom, to whom God gave knowledge in [their] heart, and all who were freely willing to come forward to the works, to perform them. 3 And they received from Moses all the offerings, which the children of Israel brought for all the works of the sanctuary to do them; and they continued to receive the gifts brought, from those who brought them in the morning. 4 And there came all the wise men who wrought the works of the sanctuary, each according to his own work, which they wrought. 5 And one said to Moses, The people bring an abundance [too great] in proportion to all the works which the Lord has appointed [them] to do. 6 And Moses commanded, and proclaimed in the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman any longer labour for the offerings of the sanctuary; and the people were restrained from bringing any more. 7 And they had materials sufficient for making the furniture, and they left some besides. 8 And every wise one among those that wrought made the robes of the holy places, which belong to Aaron the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses. 9 And he made the ephod of gold, and blue, and purple, and spun scarlet, and fine linen twined. 10 And the plates were divided, the threads of gold, so as to interweave with the blue and purple, and with the spun scarlet, and the fine linen twined, they made it a woven work; 11 shoulder-pieces joined from both sides, a work woven by mutual twisting of the parts into one another. 12 They made it of the same material according to the making of it, of gold, and blue, and purple, and spun scarlet, and fine linen twined, as the Lord commanded Moses; 13 and they made the two emerald stones clasped together and set in gold, graven and cut after the cutting of a seal with the names of the children of Israel; 14 and he put them on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, [as] stones of memorial of the children of Israel, as the Lord appointed Moses. 15 And they made the oracle, a work woven with embroidery, according to the work of the ephod, of gold, and blue, and purple, and spun scarlet, and fine linen twined. 16 They made the oracle square [and] double, the length of a span, and the breadth of a span,—double. 17 And there was interwoven with it a woven work of four rows of stones, a series of stones, the first row, a sardius and topaz and emerald; 18 and the second row, a carbuncle and sapphire and jasper; 19 and the third row, a ligure and agate and amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a chrysolite and beryl and onyx set round about with gold, and fastened with gold. 21 And the stones were twelve according to the names of the children of Israel, graven according to their names like seals, each according to his own name for the twelve tribes. 22 And they made on the oracle turned wreaths, wreathen work, of pure gold, 23 and they made two golden circlets and two golden rings. And they put the two golden rings on both the [upper] corners of the oracle; 24 and they put the golden wreaths on the rings on both sides of the oracle, 25 and the two wreaths into the two couplings. And they put them on the two circlets, and they put them on the shoulders of the ephod opposite [each other] in front. 26 And they made two golden rings, and put them on the two projections on the top of the oracle, and on the top of the hinder part of the ephod within. 27 And they made two golden rings, and put them on both the shoulders of the ephod under it, in front by the coupling above the connexion of the ephod. 28 And he fastened the oracle by the rings that were on it to the rings of the ephod, which were fastened with [a string] of blue, joined together with the woven work of the ephod; that the oracle should not be loosed from the ephod, as the Lord commanded Moses. 29 And they made the tunic under the ephod, woven work, all of blue. 30 And the opening of the tunic in the midst woven closely together, the opening having a fringe round about, that it might not be rent. 31 And they made on the border of the tunic below pomegranates as of a flowering pomegranate tree, of blue, and purple, and spun scarlet, and fine linen twined. 32 And they made golden bells, and put the bells on the border of the tunic round about between the pomegranates: 33 a golden bell and a pomegranate on the border of the tunic round about, for the ministration, as the Lord commanded Moses. 34 And they made vestments of fine linen, a woven work, for Aaron and his sons, 35 and the tires of fine linen, and the mitre of fine linen, and the drawers of fine linen twined; 36 and their girdles of fine linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet spun, the work of an embroiderer, according as the Lord commanded Moses. 37 And they made the golden plate, a dedicated thing of the sanctuary, of pure gold; and he wrote upon it graven letters [as] of a seal, Holiness to the Lord. 38 And they put it on the border of blue, so that it should be on the mitre above, as the Lord commanded Moses.

Matthew 21

1 When they came near to Jerusalem and came to Bethsphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village that is opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and immediately he will send them.” 4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet, saying, 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, behold, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” 6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus commanded them, 7 and brought the donkey and the colt and laid their clothes on them; and he sat on them. 8 A very great multitude spread their clothes on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The multitudes who went in front of him, and those who followed, kept shouting, “Hosanna to the son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” 10 When he had come into Jerusalem, all the city was stirred up, saying, “Who is this?” 11 The multitudes said, “This is the prophet, Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.” 12 Jesus entered into the temple of God and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers’ tables and the seats of those who sold the doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers!” 14 The lame and the blind came to him in the temple, and he healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children who were crying in the temple and saying, “Hosanna to the son of David!” they were indignant, 16 and said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes. Did you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of children and nursing babies, you have perfected praise’?” 17 He left them and went out of the city to Bethany, and camped there. 18 Now in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to it, “Let there be no fruit from you forever!” Immediately the fig tree withered away. 20 When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree immediately wither away?” 21 Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it would be done. 22 All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” 23 When he had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority do you do these things? Who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?” They reasoned with themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the multitude, for all hold John as a prophet.” 27 They answered Jesus, and said, “We don’t know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. 28 But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind, and went. 30 He came to the second, and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I’m going, sir,’ but he didn’t go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into God’s Kingdom before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you didn’t believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. When you saw it, you didn’t even repent afterward, that you might believe him. 33 “Hear another parable. There was a man who was a master of a household who planted a vineyard, set a hedge about it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it out to farmers, and went into another country. 34 When the season for the fruit came near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his fruit. 35 The farmers took his servants, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first; and they treated them the same way. 37 But afterward he sent to them his son, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But the farmers, when they saw the son, said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard, then killed him. 40 When therefore the lord of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?” 41 They told him, “He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will lease out the vineyard to other farmers who will give him the fruit in its season.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner. This was from the Lord. It is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 “Therefore I tell you, God’s Kingdom will be taken away from you and will be given to a nation producing its fruit. 44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.” 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he spoke about them. 46 When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.