March 10 (Numbers 5–6; Psalm 65; John 5)

A reading from the Book of Numbers.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Command the people of Israel that they put out of the camp,

Everyone who is lepros, or has a discharge,

And everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead.

You shall put out both male and female,

Putting them outside the camp,

That they may not defile their camp,

In the midst of which I dwell.

And the people of Israel did so,

And put them outside the camp,

As the Lord said to Moses,

So the people of Israel did.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Speak to the people of Israel,

When a man or woman commits any of the sins

That people commit by breaking faith with the Lord,

And that person realizes his guilt,

He shall confess his sin that he is committed,

And he shall make full restitution for his wrong,

Adding a fifth to it, and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.

But if the man has known next of kin to whom restitution may be made for the wrong,

The restitution for wrong shall go to the Lord for the priest,

In addition to the ram of atonement,

With which atonement is made for him.

And every contribution, all the holy donations of the people of Israel,

Which they bring to the priest shall be his.

Each one shall keep his holy donations,

Whatever anyone gives to the priest shall be his.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Speak to the people of Israel,

If any man's wife goes astray and breaks faith with him,

If a man lies with her sexually,

And it is hidden from the eyes of her husband,

And she is undetected, though she has defiled herself.

And there is no witness against her,

Since she was not taken in the act.

And if the spirit of jealousy comes over him,

And he is jealous of his wife, who has defiled herself,

Or if the spirit of jealousy comes over him,

And he is jealous of his wife,

Though she has not defiled herself.

Then the man shall bring his wife to the priest,

And bring the offering required of her,

A tenth of an effa of barley flour.

He shall pour no oil on it,

And put no frankincense on it,

For it is a grain offering of jealousy,

A grain offering of remembrance,

Bringing iniquity to remembrance.

And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the Lord.

And the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel,

And take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle

And put it into the water.

And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord,

And unbind the hair of the woman's head,

And place in her hands the grain offering of remembrance,

Which is the grain offering of jealousy.

And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness

That brings the curse.

Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying,

If no man has lain with you,

And if you have not turned aside to uncleanness

While you were under your husband's authority,

Be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse.

But if you have gone astray,

Though you were under your husband's authority,

And if you have defiled yourself,

And some man other than your husband has lain with you,

Then let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse

And say to the woman,

The Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people

When the Lord makes your thigh fall away and your body swell.

May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels

And make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.

And the woman shall say, Amen, Amen.

Then the priest shall write these curses in a book

And wash them off into the water of bitterness.

And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse.

And the water that brings the curse shall enter into her

And cause bitter pain.

And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand

And shall wave the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar.

And the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering

As its memorial portion and burn it on the altar

And afterward shall make the woman drink the water.

And when he has made her drink the water, then

If she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband.

The water that brings the curse shall enter into her

And cause bitter pain and her womb shall swell

And her thigh shall fall away

And the woman shall become a curse among her people.

But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean

Then she shall be free and shall conceive children.

This is the law in cases of jealousy

When a wife, though under her husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself

Or when the spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife.

Then he shall set the woman before the Lord

And the priest shall carry out for her all this law.

The man shall be free from iniquity

But the woman shall bear her iniquity

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Speak to the people of Israel and say to them,

When either a man or a woman makes a special vow

The vow of a Nazarite to separate himself to the Lord

He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink

He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink

And shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried

All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine

Not even the seeds or the skins

All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall touch his head

Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord

He shall be holy

He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long

All the days that he separates himself to the Lord

He shall not go near a dead body

Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die

Shall he make himself unclean

Because his separation to God is on his head

All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord

And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head

Then he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing

On the seventh day he shall shave it

On the eighth day he shall bring two turtle doves or two pigeons to the priest

To the entrance of the tent of meeting

And the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering

And make a tonement for him because he sinned by reason of the dead body

And he shall consecrate his head that same day and separate himself to the Lord for the days of his separation

And bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering

But the previous period shall be void because his separation was defiled

And this is the law for the Nazareth when the time of his separation has been completed

He shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting

And he shall bring his gift to the Lord

One male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering

And one you lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering

And one ram without blemish as a peace offering

And a basket of unleavened bread

Loaves of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers smeared with oil

And their grain offering and their drink offerings

And the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer his sin offering and his burnt offering

And he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord

With the basket of unleavened bread

The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering

And the Nazareth shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting

And shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering

And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram when it is boiled

And one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer

And shall put them on the hands of the Nazareth after he has shaved the hair of his consecration

And the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord

They are a holy portion for the priest

Together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed

And after that the Nazarite may drink wine

This is the law of the Nazarite

But if he vows an offering to the Lord above his Nazarite vow

As he can afford in exact accordance with the vow that he takes

Then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazarite

The Lord spoke to Moses saying

Speak to Aaron and his son saying

Thus you shall bless the people of Israel

You shall say to them

The Lord bless you and keep you

The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you

The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace

So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel

And I will bless them

A reading from the Psalms

To the choir master, a Psalm of David, a song

Praise is due to you, O God in Zion

And to you shall vows be performed

O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come

When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions

Blessed is the one you choose and bring near to dwell in your courts

We shall be satisfied with the goodness of your house, the holiness of your temple

By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness

O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas

The one who by his strength establish the mountains being girded with might

Who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples

So that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs

You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy

You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it

The river of God is full of water, you provide their grain for so you have prepared it

You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers and blessing its growth

You crown the year with your bounty, your wagon tracks overflow with abundance

The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy

The meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain

They shout and sing together for joy

A reading from the gospel according to John

After this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem

Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheepgate a pool in Aramaic called Bethesda

which has five roofed colonnades

In these lay a multitude of invalids blind, lame and paralyzed

One man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him

Do you want to be healed?

The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up

And while I am going, another steps down before me

Jesus said to him, Get up, take up your bed and walk

And at once the man was healed and he took up his bed and walked

Now that day was the Sabbath

So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, it is the Sabbath and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed

But he answered them, the man who healed me, that man said to me, take up your bed and walk

They asked him, Who is the man who said to you, take up your bed and walk

Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was

For Jesus had withdrawn as there was a crowd in the place

After where Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, See, you are well

Sin no more that nothing worse may happen to you

The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him

And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus

Because he was doing these things on the Sabbath

But Jesus answered them, My Father is working until now and I am working

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him

Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath

But he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God

So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you

The Son can do nothing of his own accord

But only what he sees the Father doing

For whatever the Father does that the Son does likewise

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing

And greater works than these will he show him so that you may marvel

For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life

So also the Son gives life to whom he will

For the Father judges no one

But has given all judgment to the Son

That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father

Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him

Truly, truly, I say to you

Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me

Has eternal life

He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life

Truly, truly, I say to you

And hour is coming and is now here

When the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God

And those who hear will live

For as the Father has life in himself

So he has granted the Son also to have life in himself

And he has given him authority to execute judgment

Because he is the Son of Man

Do not marvel at this

For an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice

And come out those who have done good to the resurrection of life

And those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment

I can do nothing on my own

As I hear I judge

And my judgment is just

Because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me

If I alone bear witness about myself

My testimony is not true

There is another who bears witness about me

And I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true

You sent to John and he has born witness to the truth

Not that the testimony that I receive is from man

But I say these things so that you may be saved

He was a burning and shining lamp

And you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light

But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John

For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish

The very works that I am doing bear witness about me

That the Father has sent me

And the Father who sent me has himself born witness about me

His voice you have never heard

His form you have never seen

And you do not have his word abiding in you

For you do not believe the one whom he has sent

You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life

And it is they that bear witness about me

Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life

I do not receive glory from people

But I know that you do not have the love of God within you

I have come in my Father's name

And you do not receive me

If another comes in his own name you will receive him

How can you believe when you receive glory from one another

And do not seek the glory that comes from the only God

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father

There is one who accuses you

Moses on whom you have set your hope

For if you believed Moses

You would believe me

For he wrote of me

But if you do not believe his writings

How will you believe my words