Dubbisa Har'aa: August 22

A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.

[1] It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
[2] to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night,
[3] to the music of the lute and the harp,
to the melody of the lyre.
[4] For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work;
at the works of your hands I sing for joy.


[5] How great are your works, O LORD!
Your thoughts are very deep!
[6] The stupid man cannot know;
the fool cannot understand this:
[7] that though the wicked sprout like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever;
[8] but you, O LORD, are on high forever.
[9] For behold, your enemies, O LORD,
for behold, your enemies shall perish;
all evildoers shall be scattered.


[10] But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox;
you have poured over me fresh oil.
[11] My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.


[12] The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
[13] They are planted in the house of the LORD;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
[14] They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
[15] to declare that the LORD is upright;
he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.


[1] The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed; he has put on strength as his belt.
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
[2] Your throne is established from of old;
you are from everlasting.


[3] The floods have lifted up, O LORD,
the floods have lifted up their voice;
the floods lift up their roaring.
[4] Mightier than the thunders of many waters,
mightier than the waves of the sea,
the LORD on high is mighty!


[5] Your decrees are very trustworthy;
holiness befits your house,
O LORD, forevermore.

[1] “When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set apart for the LORD a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits long and 20,000 cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. [2] Of this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. [3] And from this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, in which shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. [4] It shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the LORD to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. [5] Another section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.

[6] “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. It shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

[7] “And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary [8] of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no more oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

[9] “Thus says the Lord GOD: Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease your evictions of my people, declares the Lord GOD.

[10] “You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath. [11] The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, the bath containing one tenth of a homer, and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. [12] The shekel shall be twenty gerahs; twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.

[13] “This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, [14] and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor (the cor, like the homer, contains ten baths). [15] And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them, declares the Lord GOD. [16] All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. [17] It shall be the prince’s duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

[18] “Thus says the Lord GOD: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and purify the sanctuary. [19] The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. [20] You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.

[21] “In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. [22] On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. [23] And on the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the LORD seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and a male goat daily for a sin offering. [24] And he shall provide as a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin of oil to each ephah. [25] In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil.

[1] But all this I laid to heart, examining it all, how the righteous and the wise and their deeds are in the hand of God. Whether it is love or hate, man does not know; both are before him. [2] It is the same for all, since the same event happens to the righteous and the wicked, to the good and the evil, to the clean and the unclean, to him who sacrifices and him who does not sacrifice. As the good one is, so is the sinner, and he who swears is as he who shuns an oath. [3] This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that the same event happens to all. Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. [4] But he who is joined with all the living has hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion. [5] For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. [6] Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun.

[7] Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.

[8] Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head.

[9] Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. [10] Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

[11] Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. [12] For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them.

[13] I have also seen this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me. [14] There was a little city with few men in it, and a great king came against it and besieged it, building great siegeworks against it. [15] But there was found in it a poor, wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man. [16] But I say that wisdom is better than might, though the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

[17] The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. [18] Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good.

[1] I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!—[2] I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. [3] For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. [4] For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. [5] We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, [6] being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

[7] Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we. [8] For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. [9] I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. [10] For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.” [11] Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. [12] Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

[13] But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you. [14] For we are not overextending ourselves, as though we did not reach you. For we were the first to come all the way to you with the gospel of Christ. [15] We do not boast beyond limit in the labors of others. But our hope is that as your faith increases, our area of influence among you may be greatly enlarged, [16] so that we may preach the gospel in lands beyond you, without boasting of work already done in another’s area of influence. [17] “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” [18] For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.