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 was leperous or has a discharge and everyone who was uncleaned 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 has 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 no 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 our 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 are under your husband's authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse.

But if you have gone astray, though you are 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 priests 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,

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 priests, to the entrance of the ten of meeting, and the priests shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burn offering, and make a tomen 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 Nazarite, when the time of his separation has been completed, he shall be brought to the entrance of the ten of meeting, and he shall bring his gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burn 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 wafer smeared with oil, and their grain offering and their drink offerings, and the priests shall bring them before the Lord, and offer his sin offering and his burn offering, and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread, the priests shall offer also its grain offering, and its drink offering, and the Nazarite shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the ten 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 priests 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 Nazarite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration, and the priests shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord.

They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breasts that is waived, 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 and offering to the Lord above his Nazarite vow, as he can afford, and exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do an addition to the law of the Nazarite.

The Lord spoke to Moses saying,

Speak to Aaron and his sons, 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 book of Psalms.

To the choir master, a psalm of David, a psalm.

Praise is due to you, O God and 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 established 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 metals 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, an Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.

In these lay a multitude of embelleds, 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 was 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.

Afterwards Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, See, You are well.

Send 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, an 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 is 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?