24In a dispute they shall take their stand to judge; they shall judge it according to My ordinances. They shall also keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed feasts and sanctify My sabbaths. 25They shall not go to a dead person to defile themselves; however, for father, for mother, for son, for daughter, for brother, or for a sister who has not had a husband, they may defile themselves. 26After he is cleansed, seven days shall elapse for him. 27On the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court to minister in the sanctuary, he shall offer his sin offering,” declares the Lord God.

28“And it shall be with regard to an inheritance for them, that I am their inheritance; and you shall give them no possession in Israel—I am their possession. 29They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering and the guilt offering; and every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30The first of all the first fruits of every kind and every contribution of every kind, from all your contributions, shall be for the priests; you shall also give to the priest the first of your dough to cause a blessing to rest on your house. 31The priests shall not eat any bird or beast that has died a natural death or has been torn to pieces.

15But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. 16For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. 17For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. 18What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

1) What does faithful service earn in יהוה’s house?

2) How does holiness qualify one to draw near?

3) What does contentment protect in ministry?

133Establish my footsteps in Your word,

And do not let any iniquity have dominion over me.

134Redeem me from the oppression of man,

That I may keep Your precepts.

135Make Your face shine upon Your servant,

And teach me Your statutes.

136My eyes shed streams of water,

Because they do not keep Your law.

Tsadhe.

137Righteous are You, O Lord,

And upright are Your judgments.

138You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness

And exceeding faithfulness.

139My zeal has consumed me,

Because my adversaries have forgotten Your words.

140Your word is very pure,

Therefore Your servant loves it.

141I am small and despised,

Yet I do not forget Your precepts.

142Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,

And Your law is truth.

143Trouble and anguish have come upon me,

Yet Your commandments are my delight.

144Your testimonies are righteous forever;

Give me understanding that I may live.

Qoph.

145I cried with all my heart; answer me, O Lord!

I will observe Your statutes.

146I cried to You; save me

And I shall keep Your testimonies.

147I rise before dawn and cry for help;

I wait for Your words.

148My eyes anticipate the night watches,

That I may meditate on Your word.

149Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness;

Revive me, O Lord, according to Your ordinances.

150Those who follow after wickedness draw near;

They are far from Your law.

151You are near, O Lord,

And all Your commandments are truth.

152Of old I have known from Your testimonies

That You have founded them forever.

Resh.

153Look upon my affliction and rescue me,

For I do not forget Your law.

154Plead my cause and redeem me;

Revive me according to Your word.

155Salvation is far from the wicked,

For they do not seek Your statutes.

156Great are Your mercies, O Lord;

Revive me according to Your ordinances.

157Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,

Yet I do not turn aside from Your testimonies.

158I behold the treacherous and loathe them,

Because they do not keep Your word.

159Consider how I love Your precepts;

Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.

160The sum of Your word is truth,

And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting.

Shin.

161Princes persecute me without cause,

But my heart stands in awe of Your words.

162I rejoice at Your word,

As one who finds great spoil.

163I hate and despise falsehood,

But I love Your law.

164Seven times a day I praise You,

Because of Your righteous ordinances.

165Those who love Your law have great peace,

And nothing causes them to stumble.

166I hope for Your salvation, O Lord,

And do Your commandments.

167My soul keeps Your testimonies,

And I love them exceedingly.

168I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies,

For all my ways are before You.

Tav.

169Let my cry come before You, O Lord;

Give me understanding according to Your word.

170Let my supplication come before You;

Deliver me according to Your word.

171Let my lips utter praise,

For You teach me Your statutes.

172Let my tongue sing of Your word,

For all Your commandments are righteousness.

173Let Your hand be ready to help me,

For I have chosen Your precepts.

174I long for Your salvation, O Lord,

And Your law is my delight.

175Let my soul live that it may praise You,

And let Your ordinances help me.

176I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant,

For I do not forget Your commandments.

Vision of Abominations in Jerusalem

1It came about in the sixth year, on the fifth day of the sixth month, as I was sitting in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell on me there. 2Then I looked, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of a man; from His loins and downward there was the appearance of fire, and from His loins and upward the appearance of brightness, like the appearance of glowing metal. 3He stretched out the form of a hand and caught me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the idol of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy, was located. 4And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the appearance which I saw in the plain.

5Then He said to me, “Son of man, raise your eyes now toward the north.” So I raised my eyes toward the north, and behold, to the north of the altar gate was this idol of jealousy at the entrance. 6And He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations which the house of Israel are committing here, so that I would be far from My sanctuary? But yet you will see still greater abominations.”

7Then He brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8He said to me, “Son of man, now dig through the wall.” So I dug through the wall, and behold, an entrance. 9And He said to me, “Go in and see the wicked abominations that they are committing here.” 10So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. 11Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. 12Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are committing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ” 13And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing.”

14Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these.”

16Then He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house. And behold, at the entrance to the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east; and they were prostrating themselves eastward toward the sun. 17He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Is it too light a thing for the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they have committed here, that they have filled the land with violence and provoked Me repeatedly? For behold, they are putting the twig to their nose. 18Therefore, I indeed will deal in wrath. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, yet I will not listen to them.”

8You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. 9For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. 10We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. 11To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; 12and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; 13when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.

14I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. 15For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. 17For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. 18Now some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. 19But I will come to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the words of those who are arrogant but their power. 20For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power. 21What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?