March 12 (Numbers 8–9; Psalm 67; John 7)

A reading from the Book of Numbers.

Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Speak to Aaron and say to him,

When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps

shall give light in front of the lampstand.

And Aaron did so.

He set up its lamps in front of the lampstand

as the Lord commanded Moses.

And this was the workmanship of the lampstand,

hammered work of gold.

From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work

according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses,

so he made the lampstand.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

Take the Levites from among the people of Israel

and cleanse them.

Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them.

Sprinkle the water of purification upon them

and let them go with a razor over all their body

and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves.

Then let them take a bull from the herd

and its grain offering a fine flower mixed with oil.

And you shall take another bull from the herd

for a sin offering.

And you shall bring the Levites

before the tentative meeting

and assemble the whole congregation

of the people of Israel.

When you bring the Levites before the Lord,

the people of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites.

And Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord

as a wave offering from the people of Israel

that they may do the service of the Lord.

Then the Levites shall lay their hands

on the heads of the bulls

and you shall offer the one for a sin offering

and the other for a bird offering to the Lord

to make a tonement for the Levites.

And you shall set the Levites before Aaron and his sons

and shall offer them as a wave offering to the Lord.

Thus you shall separate the Levites

from among the people of Israel

and the Levites shall be mine.

And after that, the Levites shall go in to serve

at the tentative meeting when you have cleansed them

and offered them as a wave offering.

For they are wholly given to me

from among the people of Israel.

Instead of all who opened the womb,

the first born of all the people of Israel

I have taken them for myself.

For all the first born among the people of Israel

are mine, both of man and of beast.

On the day that I struck down

all the first born in the land of Egypt,

I consecrated them for myself.

And I have taken the Levites instead

of all the first born among the people of Israel.

And I have given the Levites as a gift

to Aaron and his sons

from among the people of Israel

to do the service for the people of Israel

at the tentative meeting

and to make atonement for the people of Israel

that there may be no plague among the people of Israel

when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.

Thus did Moses and Aaron

and all the congregation of the people of Israel

to the Levites.

According to all that the Lord commanded Moses

concerning the Levites,

the people of Israel did to them.

And the Levites purified themselves from sin

and washed their clothes.

And Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord

and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them.

And after that, the Levites went in to do their service

in the tentative meeting before Aaron and his sons.

As the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites,

so they did to them.

And the Lord spoke to Moses saying,

this applies to the Levites from 25 years old and upward.

They shall come to do duty in the service of the tentative meeting.

And from the age of 50 years,

they shall withdraw from the duty of the service

and serve no more.

They minister to their brothers in the tentative meeting

by keeping guard, but they shall do no service.

Thus shall you do to the Levites

in assigning their duties.

And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai

in the first month of the second year

after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying,

let the people of Israel keep the Passover

at its appointed time.

On the 14th day of this month at twilight,

you shall keep it at its appointed time

according to all its statutes and all its rules.

You shall keep it.

So Moses told the people of Israel

that they should keep the Passover.

And they kept the Passover in the first month

on the 14th day of the month at twilight

in the wilderness of Sinai,

according to all that the Lord commanded Moses

so the people of Israel did.

And there were certain men who were unclean

through touching a dead body

so that they could not keep the Passover on that day.

And they came before Moses and Aaron on that day.

And those men said to him,

we are unclean through touching a dead body.

Why are we kept from bringing the Lord's offering

at its appointed time among the people of Israel?

And Moses said to them,

wait, that I may hear with the Lord will command concerning you.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

speak to the people of Israel, saying,

if any one of you or of your descendants

is unclean through touching a dead body

or is on a long journey,

he shall still keep the Passover to the Lord.

In the second month on the 14th day at twilight,

they shall keep it.

They shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

They shall leave none of it until the morning

nor break any of its bones,

according to all the statute for the Passover,

they shall keep it.

But if anyone who is clean and is not on a journey

fails to keep the Passover,

that person shall be cut off from his people

because he did not bring the Lord's offering

at its appointed time.

That man shall bear his sin.

And if a stranger sojourns among you

and would keep the Passover to the Lord,

according to the statute of the Passover

and according to its rule, so shall he do.

You shall have one statute,

both for the sojourner and for the native.

On the day that the tabernacle was set up,

the cloud covered the tabernacle,

the tent of the testimony.

And at evening it was over the tabernacle

like the appearance of fire until morning.

So it was always the cloud covered it by day

and the appearance of fire by night.

And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent,

after that the people of Israel set out

and in the place where the cloud settled down,

and there the people of Israel camped.

At the command of the Lord, the people of Israel set out.

And at the command of the Lord, they camped.

As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle,

they remained in camp.

Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days,

the people of Israel kept the charge of the Lord

and did not set out.

Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle

and according to the command of the Lord,

they remained in camp.

Then according to the command of the Lord, they set out.

And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning.

And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out.

Or if it continued for a day and a night,

when the cloud lifted, they set out.

Whether it was two days or a month or a longer time

that the cloud continued over the tabernacle,

abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp

and did not set out.

But when it lifted, they set out.

At the command of the Lord, they camped.

And at the command of the Lord, they set out.

They kept the charge of the Lord,

at the command of the Lord by Moses.

A reading from the Psalms.

To the choir, Master, with stringed instruments,

a psalm, a psalm.

May God be gracious to us and bless us

and make his face to shine upon us.

That your way may be known on earth,

your saving power among all nations.

Let the people's praise you, O God.

Let all the people's praise you.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy

for you judge the people's with equity

and guide the nations upon earth.

Let the people's praise you, O God.

Let all the people's praise you.

The earth has yielded its increase.

God, our God shall bless us.

God shall bless us.

Let all the ends of the earth fear him.

A reading from the gospel according to John.

After this, Jesus went about in Galilee.

He would not go about in Judea

because the Jews were seeking to kill him.

Now the Jews, feast of booths, was at hand.

So his brothers said to him,

leave here and go to Judea

that your disciples also may see the works you were doing.

For no one works in secret

if he seeks to be known openly.

If you do these things, show yourself to the world.

We're not even his brothers believed in him.

Jesus said to them,

my time has not yet come,

but your time is always here.

The world cannot hate you,

but it hates me because I testify about it

that its works are evil.

You go up to the feast.

I am not going up to this feast

from my time has not yet fully come.

After saying this, he remained in Galilee,

but after his brothers had gone up to the feast,

then he also went up, not publicly, but in private.

The Jews were looking for him at the feast

and saying, where is he?

And there was much muttering about him among the people.

While some said he is a good man,

others said, no, he is leading the people astray.

Yet for fear of the Jews,

no one spoke openly of him.

About the middle of the feast,

Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.

The Jews therefore marveled saying,

how is it that this man has learning

when he has never studied?

So Jesus answered them,

my teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.

If anyone's will is to do God's will,

he will know whether the teaching is from God

or whether I'm speaking on my own authority.

The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory,

but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true.

And in him, there is no falsehood.

Has not Moses given you the law?

Yet none of you keeps the law.

Why do you seek to kill me?

The crowd answered, you have a demon

who is seeking to kill you.

Jesus answered them, I did one work

and you all marvel at it.

Moses gave you circumcision,

not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers,

and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.

If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision

so that the law of Moses may not be broken,

are you angry with me because on the Sabbath

I made a man's whole body well,

do not judge by appearances,

but judge with right judgment.

Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said,

is not this the man whom they seek to kill,

and here he is speaking openly

and they say nothing to him.

Can it be that the authorities really know

that this is the Christ?

But we know where this man comes from

and when the Christ appears no one will know

where he comes from.

So Jesus proclaimed as he taught in the temple,

you know me and you know where I come from,

but I have not come of my own accord.

He who sent me is true and him you do not know.

I know him for I come from him and he sent me

so they were seeking to arrest him,

but no one laid a hand on him

because his hour had not yet come.

Yet many of the people believed in him.

They said, when the Christ appears,

will he do more signs than this man has done?

The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him

and the chief priests and Pharisees

sent officers to arrest him.

Jesus then said, I will be with you a little longer

and then I'm going to him who sent me.

You will seek me and you will not find me

where I am you cannot come.

The Jews said to one another,

where does this man intend to go

that we will not find him?

Does he intend to go to the dispersion among the Greeks

and teach the Greeks?

What does he mean by saying you will seek me

and you will not find me

and where I am you cannot come?

On the last day of the feast, the great day,

Jesus stood up and cried out,

if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said,

out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

Now this he said about the Spirit

whom those who believed in him were to receive,

for as yet the Spirit had not been given

because Jesus was not yet glorified.

When they heard these words,

some of the people said,

this really is the prophet.

Others said, this is the Christ,

but some said,

is the Christ to come from Galilee?

Has not the scripture said that the Christ

comes from the offspring of David

and comes from Bethlehem,

the village where David was?

So there was a division among the people over him.

Some of them wanted to arrest him,

but no one laid hands on him.

The officers then came to the chief priests

and Pharisees who said to them,

why did you not bring him?

The officers answered,

no one ever spoke like this man.

The Pharisees answered them,

have you also been deceived?

Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?

But this crowd that does not know the law is a cursed.

Nicodemus, who had gone to him before

and who was one of them, said to them,

does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing

and learning what he does?

They replied,

are you from Galilee too?

Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.

They went each to his own house.