Matthew 18:1-20; Numbers 5; Numbers 6; Ecclesiastes 5

Matthew 18:1-20

1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

2 Then He called a child to Him and had him stand among them.

3 "I assure you," He said, "unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child-this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 And whoever welcomes one child like this in My name welcomes Me.

6 "But whoever causes the downfall of one of these little ones who believe in Me-it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea!

7 Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes.

8 If your hand or your foot causes your downfall, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire.

9 And if your eye causes your downfall, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, rather than to have two eyes and be thrown into hellfire!

10 "See that you don't look down on one of these little ones, because I tell you that in heaven their angels continually view the face of My Father in heaven. [

11 For the Son of Man has come to save the lost.]

12 What do you think? If a man has 100 sheep, and one of them goes astray, won't he leave the 99 on the hillside and go and search for the stray?

13 And if he finds it, I assure you: He rejoices over that sheep more than over the 99 that did not go astray.

14 In the same way, it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

15 "If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother.

16 But if he won't listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established.

17 If he pays no attention to them, tell the church. But if he doesn't pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you.

18 I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven.

19 Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven.

20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them."

Numbers 5

1 The Lord instructed Moses:

2 "Command the Israelites to send away anyone from the camp who is afflicted with a skin disease, anyone who has a [bodily] discharge, or anyone who is defiled because of a corpse.

3 You must send away both male or female; send them outside the camp, so that they will not defile their camps where I dwell among them."

4 The Israelites did this, sending them outside the camp. The Israelites did as the Lord instructed Moses.

5 The Lord spoke to Moses:

6 "Tell the Israelites: When a man or woman commits any sin against another, that person acts unfaithfully toward the Lord and is guilty.

7 The person is to confess the sin he has committed. He is to pay full compensation, add a fifth of its value to it, and give [it] to the individual he has wronged.

8 But if that individual has no relative to receive compensation, the compensation goes to the Lord for the priest, along with the atonement ram by which the priest will make atonement for the [guilty] person.

9 Every holy contribution the Israelites present to the priest will be his.

10 Each one's holy contribution is his [to give]; what each one gives to the priest will be his."

11 The Lord spoke to Moses:

12 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them: If any man's wife goes astray, is unfaithful to him,

13 and sleeps with another, but it is concealed from her husband, and she is undetected, even though she has defiled herself, since there is no witness against her, and she wasn't caught [in the act];

14 and if a feeling of jealousy comes over the husband and he becomes jealous because of his wife who has defiled herself-or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he becomes jealous of her though she has not defiled herself-

15 then the man is to bring his wife to the priest. He is also to bring an offering for her of two quarts of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for remembrance that brings sin to mind.

16 "The priest is to bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord.

17 Then the priest is to take holy water in a clay bowl, and take some of the dust from the tabernacle floor and put [it] in the water.

18 After the priest has the woman stand before the Lord, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the grain offering of jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse.

19 The priest will require the woman to take an oath and will say to her, 'If no man has slept with you, if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband's authority, be unaffected by this bitter water that brings a curse.

20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband's authority, if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has slept with you'-

21 at this point the priest must make the woman take the oath with the sworn curse, and he is to say to her- 'May the Lord make you into an object of your people's cursing and swearing when He makes your thigh shrivel and your belly swell.

22 May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach, causing [your] belly to swell and [your] thigh to shrivel.' "And the woman must reply, 'Amen, Amen.'

23 "Then the priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wash [them] off into the bitter water.

24 He will require the woman to drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and cause bitter suffering.

25 The priest is to take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman's hand, wave the offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar.

26 The priest is to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar. Then he will require the woman to drink the water.

27 "When he makes her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her thigh will shrivel. She will become a curse among her people.

28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is pure, she will be unaffected and will be able to conceive children.

29 "This is the law regarding jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband's authority,

30 or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he becomes jealous of his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest will apply this entire ritual to her.

31 The husband will be free of guilt, but that woman will bear the consequences of her guilt."

Numbers 6

1 The Lord instructed Moses:

2 "Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When a man or woman makes a special vow, a Nazirite vow, to consecrate himself to the Lord,

3 he is to abstain from wine and beer. He must not drink vinegar made from wine or from beer. He must not drink any grape juice or eat fresh grapes or raisins.

4 He is not to eat anything produced by the grapevine, from seeds to skin, during his vow.

5 "You must not cut his hair throughout the time of his vow of consecration. He must be holy until the time is completed during which he consecrates himself to the Lord; he is to let the hair of his head grow long.

6 He must not go near a dead body during the time he consecrates himself to the Lord.

7 He is not to defile himself for his father or mother, or his brother or sister, when they die, because the hair consecrated to his God is on his head.

8 He is holy to the Lord during the time of consecration.

9 "If someone suddenly dies near him, defiling his consecrated head of hair, he must shave his head on the day of his purification; he is to shave it on the seventh day.

10 On the eighth day he is to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

11 The priest is to offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering to make atonement on behalf of the Nazirite, since he sinned because of the corpse. On that day he must consecrate his head [again].

12 He is to rededicate his time of consecration to the Lord and to bring a year-old male lamb as a restitution offering. But do not count the previous period, because his consecrated hair became defiled.

13 "This is the law of the Nazirite: On the day his time of consecration is completed, he must be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting.

14 He is to present an offering to the Lord of one unblemished year-old male lamb as a burnt offering, one unblemished year-old female lamb as a sin offering, one unblemished ram as a fellowship offering,

15 along with their grain offerings and drink offerings, and a basket of unleavened cakes made from fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers coated with oil.

16 "The priest is to present [these] before the Lord and sacrifice the Nazirite's sin offering and burnt offering.

17 He will also offer the ram as a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord, together with the basket of unleavened bread. Then the priest will offer the accompanying grain offering and drink offering.

18 "The Nazirite is to shave his consecrated head at the entrance to the tent of meeting, take the hair from his head, and put [it] on the fire under the fellowship sacrifice.

19 The priest is to take the boiled shoulder from the ram, one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put [them] into the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecrated head.

20 The priest is to wave them as a presentation offering before the Lord. It is a holy portion for the priest, in addition to the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution. After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.

21 "This is the ritual of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the Lord for his consecration, in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes in keeping with the ritual for his consecration."

22 The Lord spoke to Moses:

23 "Tell Aaron and his sons how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

24 The Lord bless you and protect you;

25 the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you;

26 the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.

27 In this way they will put My name on the Israelites, and I will bless them."

Ecclesiastes 5

1 Guard your step when you go to the house of God. Better to draw near in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they are ignorant and do wrong.

2 Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.

3 For dreams result from much work and a fool's voice from many words.

4 When you make a vow to God, don't delay fulfilling it, because He does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow.

5 Better that you do not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it.

6 Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

7 For many dreams bring futility, also many words. So, fear God.

8 If you see oppression of the poor and perversion of justice and righteousness in the province, don't be astonished at the situation, because one official protects another official, and higher officials [protect] them.

9 The profit from the land is taken by all; the king is served by the field.

10 The one who loves money is never satisfied with money, and whoever loves wealth [is] never [satisfied] with income. This too is futile.

11 When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes?

12 The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much; but the abundance of the rich permits him no sleep.

13 There is a sickening tragedy I have seen under the sun: wealth kept by its owner to his harm.

14 That wealth was lost in a bad venture, so when he fathered a son, he was empty-handed.

15 As he came from his mother's womb, so he will go again, naked as he came; he will take nothing for his efforts that he can carry in his hands.

16 This too is a sickening tragedy: exactly as he comes, so he will go. What does he gain who struggles for the wind?

17 What is more, he eats in darkness all his days, with much sorrow, sickness, and anger.

18 Here is what I have seen to be good: it is appropriate to eat, drink, and experience good in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of his life God has given him, because that is his reward.

19 God has also given riches and wealth to every man, and He has allowed him to enjoy them, take his reward, and rejoice in his labor. This is a gift of God,

20 for he does not often consider the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with the joy of his heart.