Matthew 21:1-27; Numbers 17; Numbers 18; Ecclesiastes 11:1-8

Matthew 21:1-27

1 When they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, Jesus then sent two disciples,

2 telling them, "Go into the village ahead of you. At once you will find a donkey tied there, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me.

3 If anyone says anything to you, you should say that the Lord needs them, and immediately he will send them."

4 This took place so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled:

5 Tell Daughter Zion, "See, your King is coming to you, gentle, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."

6 The disciples went and did just as Jesus directed them.

7 They brought the donkey and the colt; then they laid their robes on them, and He sat on them.

8 A very large crowd spread their robes on the road; others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them on the road.

9 Then the crowds who went ahead of Him and those who followed kept shouting: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven!

10 When He entered Jerusalem, the whole city was shaken, saying, "Who is this?"

11 And the crowds kept saying, "This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee!"

12 Jesus went into the temple complex and drove out all those buying and selling in the temple. He overturned the money changers' tables and the chairs of those selling doves.

13 And He said to them, "It is written, My house will be called a house of prayer. But you are making it a den of thieves !"

14 The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple complex, and He healed them.

15 When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that He did and the children in the temple complex cheering, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" they were indignant

16 and said to Him, "Do You hear what these [children] are saying?" "Yes," Jesus told them. "Have you never read: You have prepared praise from the mouths of children and nursing infants "?

17 Then He left them, went out of the city to Bethany, and spent the night there.

18 Early in the morning, as He was returning to the city, He was hungry.

19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And He said to it, "May no fruit ever come from you again!" At once the fig tree withered.

20 When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?"

21 Jesus answered them, "I assure you: If you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' it will be done.

22 And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

23 When He entered the temple complex, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority?"

24 Jesus answered them, "I will also ask you one question, and if you answer it for Me, then I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

25 Where did John's baptism come from? From heaven or from men?" They began to argue among themselves, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Then why didn't you believe him?'

26 But if we say, 'From men,' we're afraid of the crowd, because everyone thought John was a prophet."

27 So they answered Jesus, "We don't know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Numbers 17

1 The Lord instructed Moses:

2 "Speak to the Israelites and take one staff from them for each ancestral house, 12 staffs from all the leaders of their ancestral houses. Write each man's name on his staff.

3 Write Aaron's name on Levi's staff, because there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral house.

4 Then place them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony where I meet with you.

5 The staff of the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid Myself of the Israelites' complaints that they have been making about you."

6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a staff, one for each of the leaders of their ancestral houses, 12 staffs [in all]. Aaron's staff was among them.

7 Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the testimony.

8 The next day Moses entered the tent of the testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, formed buds, blossomed, and produced almonds!

9 Moses then brought out all the staffs from the Lord's presence to all the Israelites. They saw [them], and each man took his own staff.

10 The Lord told Moses, "Put Aaron's rod back in front of the testimony to be kept as a sign for the rebels, so that you may put an end to their complaints before Me, or else they will die."

11 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

12 Then the Israelites declared to Moses, "Look, we're perishing! We're lost; we're all lost!

13 Anyone who comes near the Lord's tabernacle will die. Will we all perish?"

Numbers 18

1 The Lord said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and your ancestral house will be responsible for sin against the sanctuary. You and your sons will be responsible for sin involving your priesthood.

2 But also bring your brothers with you from the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, so they may join you and serve with you and your sons in front of the tent of the testimony.

3 They are to perform duties for you and for the whole tent. They must not come near the sanctuary equipment or the altar; otherwise, both they and you will die.

4 They are to join you and guard the tent of meeting, doing all the work at the tent, but no unauthorized person may come near you.

5 "You are to guard the sanctuary and the altar so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again.

6 Look, I have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift for you, assigned by the Lord to work at the tent of meeting.

7 But you and your sons will carry out your priestly responsibilities for everything concerning the altar and for what is inside the veil, and you will do that work. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but an unauthorized person who comes near [the sanctuary] will be put to death."

8 Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, "Look, I have put you in charge of the contributions brought to Me. As for all the holy offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a perpetual statute.

9 A portion of the holiest offerings [kept] from the fire will be yours; every one of their offerings that they give Me, whether the grain offering, sin offering, or restitution offering will be most holy for you and your sons.

10 You are to eat it as a most holy offering. Every male may eat it; it is to be holy to you.

11 "The contribution of their gifts also belongs to you. I have given all the Israelites' presentation offerings to you and to your sons and daughters as a perpetual statute. Every ceremonially clean person in your house may eat it.

12 I am giving you all the best of the fresh olive oil, new wine, and grain, which the Israelites give to the Lord as their firstfruits.

13 The firstfruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, belong to you. Every clean person in your house may eat them.

14 "Everything in Israel that is permanently dedicated [to the Lord] belongs to you.

15 The firstborn of every living thing, man or animal, presented to the Lord belongs to you. But you must certainly redeem the firstborn of man, and redeem the firstborn of an unclean animal.

16 You will pay the redemption price for a month-old male according to your valuation: five shekels of silver by the standard sanctuary shekel, which is 20 gerahs.

17 "However, you must not redeem the firstborn of an ox, a sheep, or a goat; they are holy. You are to sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat as a fire offering for a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

18 But their meat belongs to you. It belongs to you like the breast of the presentation offering and the right thigh.

19 "I give to you and to your sons and daughters all the holy contributions that the Israelites present to the Lord as a perpetual statute. It is a perpetual covenant of salt before the Lord for you as well as your offspring."

20 The Lord told Aaron, "You will not have an inheritance in their land; there will be no portion among them for you. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.

21 "Look, I have given the Levites every tenth in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work they do, the work of the tent of meeting.

22 The Israelites must never again come near the tent of meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.

23 The Levites will do the work of the tent of meeting, and they will bear the [consequences] of their sin. The Levites will not receive an inheritance among the Israelites; this is a perpetual statute throughout your generations.

24 For I have given them the tenth that the Israelites present to the Lord as a contribution for [their] inheritance. That is why I told them that they would not receive an inheritance among the Israelites."

25 The Lord instructed Moses,

26 "Speak to the Levites and tell them: When you receive from the Israelites the tenth that I have given you as your inheritance, you must present part of it as an offering to the Lord-a tenth of the tenth.

27 Your offering will be credited to you as if [it were your] grain from the threshing floor or the full harvest from the winepress.

28 You are to present an offering to the Lord from every tenth you receive from the Israelites. Give some of it to Aaron the priest as an offering to the Lord.

29 You must present the entire offering due the Lord from all your gifts. The best part of the tenth is to be consecrated.

30 "Tell them further: Once you have presented the best part of the tenth, and it is credited to you Levites as the produce of the threshing floor or the winepress,

31 then you and your household may eat it anywhere. It is your wage in return for your work at the tent of meeting.

32 You will not incur guilt because of it once you have presented the best part of it, but you must not defile the Israelites' holy offerings, so that you will not die."

Ecclesiastes 11:1-8

1 Send your bread on the surface of the waters, for after many days you may find it.

2 Give a portion to seven or even to eight, for you don't know what disaster may happen on earth.

3 If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain on the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or the north, the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

4 One who watches the wind will not sow, and the one who looks at the clouds will not reap.

5 Just as you don't know the path of the wind, or how bones [develop] in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you don't know the work of God who makes everything.

6 In the morning sow your seed, and at evening do not let your hand rest, because you don't know which will succeed, whether one or the other, or if both of them will be equally good.

7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasing for the eyes to see the sun.

8 For if a man should live many years, let him rejoice in them all, and let him remember the days of darkness, since they will be many. All that comes is futile.