Ezek. 46

46:1 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The gate of the inner court that faces east will be closed six working days, but on the Sabbath day it will be opened and on the day of the new moon it will be opened. 2The prince will enter by way of the porch of the gate from the outside and will stand by the doorpost of the gate. The priests will provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he will bow down at the threshold of the gate and then go out. But the gate will not be closed until evening. 3The people of the land will bow down at the entrance of that gate before the Lord on the Sabbaths and on the new moons. 4The burnt offering that the prince will offer to the Lord on the Sabbath day will be six unblemished lambs and one unblemished ram. 5The grain offering will be an ephah with the ram, and the grain offering with the lambs will be as much as he is able to give, and a gallon of olive oil with an ephah. 6On the day of the new moon he will offer an unblemished young bull and six lambs and a ram, all without blemish. 7He will provide a grain offering: an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wishes, and a gallon of olive oil with each ephah of grain. 8When the prince enters, he will come by way of the porch of the gate and will go out the same way.

9“‘When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed feasts, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship will go out by way of the south gate; whoever enters by way of the south gate will go out by way of the north gate. No one will return by way of the gate they entered but will go out straight ahead. 10When they come in, the prince will come in with them, and when they go out, he will go out.

11“‘At the festivals and at the appointed feasts the grain offering will be an ephah with the bull and an ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as one is able, and a gallon of olive oil with each ephah of grain. 12When the prince provides a freewill offering, a burnt offering, or peace offerings as a voluntary offering to the Lord, the gate facing east will be opened for him, and he will provide his burnt offering and his peace offerings just as he did on the Sabbath. Then he will go out, and the gate will be closed after he goes out.

13“‘You will provide a lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering daily to the Lord; morning by morning he will provide it. 14And you will provide a grain offering with it morning by morning, a sixth of an ephah and a third of a gallon of olive oil to moisten the choice flour, as a grain offering to the Lord; this is a perpetual statute. 15Thus they will provide the lamb, the grain offering, and the olive oil morning by morning as a perpetual burnt offering.

16“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: If the prince should give a gift to one of his sons as his inheritance, it will belong to his sons; it is their property by inheritance. 17But if he gives a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, it will be his until the year of liberty; then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance will only remain with his sons. 18The prince will not take away any of the people’s inheritance by oppressively removing them from their property. He will give his sons an inheritance from his own possessions so that my people will not be scattered, each from his own property.’”

19Then he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into the holy chambers for the priests, which faced north. There I saw a place at the extreme western end. 20He said to me, “This is the place where the priests will boil the guilt offering and the sin offering and where they will bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out to the outer court to transmit holiness to the people.”

21Then he brought me out to the outer court and led me past the four corners of the court, and I noticed that in every corner of the court there was another court. 22In the four corners of the court were small courts, 70 feet in length and 52½ feet in width; the four were all the same size. 23There was a row of masonry around each of the four courts, and places for boiling offerings were made under the rows all around. 24Then he said to me, “These are the houses for boiling, where the ministers of the temple boil the sacrifices of the people.”

Ps. 105:23–45

105:23 Israel moved to Egypt;

Jacob lived for a time in the land of Ham.

24The Lord made his people very fruitful

and made them more numerous than their enemies.

25He caused the Egyptians to hate his people

and to mistreat his servants.

26He sent his servant Moses,

and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

27They executed his miraculous signs among them

and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.

28He made it dark;

Moses and Aaron did not disobey his orders.

29He turned the Egyptians’ water into blood

and killed their fish.

30Their land was overrun by frogs,

which even got into the rooms of their kings.

31He ordered flies to come;

gnats invaded their whole territory.

32He sent hail along with the rain;

there was lightning in their land.

33He destroyed their vines and fig trees

and broke the trees throughout their territory.

34He ordered locusts to come,

innumerable grasshoppers.

35They ate all the vegetation in their land

and devoured the crops of their fields.

36He struck down all the firstborn in their land,

the firstfruits of their reproductive power.

37He brought his people out enriched with silver and gold;

none of his tribes stumbled.

38Egypt was happy when they left,

for they were afraid of them.

39He spread out a cloud for a cover,

and provided a fire to light up the night.

40They asked for food, and he sent quail;

he satisfied them with food from the sky.

41He opened up a rock and water flowed out;

a river ran through dry regions.

42Yes, he remembered the sacred promise

he made to Abraham his servant.

43When he led his people out, they rejoiced;

his chosen ones shouted with joy.

44He handed the territory of nations over to them,

and they took possession of what other peoples had produced,

45so that they might keep his commands

and obey his laws.

Praise the Lord.

Heb. 12:1–6

12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, 2keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. 4You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in your struggle against sin. 5And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons?

“My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline

or give up when he corrects you.

6For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.”