21 Sivan, 5783

Numbers 11:30-35

Moses then reentered the camp together with the elders of Israel. A wind from the LORD started up, swept quail from the sea and strewed them over the camp, about a day’s journey on this side and about a day’s journey on that side, all around the camp, and some two cubits deep on the ground. The people set to gathering quail all that day and night and all the next day—even he who gathered least had ten ḥomers—and they spread them out all around the camp. The meat was still between their teeth, nor yet chewed, when the anger of the LORD blazed forth against the people and the LORD struck the people with a very severe plague. That place was named Kibroth-hattaavah, because the people who had the craving were buried there. Then the people set out from Kibroth-hattaavah for Hazeroth.

Numbers 12:1-16

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married: “He married a Cushite woman!” They said, “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” The LORD heard it. Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any other man on earth. Suddenly the LORD called to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the Tent of Meeting.” So the three of them went out. The LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, stopped at the entrance of the Tent, and called out, “Aaron and Miriam!” The two of them came forward; and He said, “Hear these My words: When a prophet of the LORD arises among you, I make Myself known to him in a vision, I speak with him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is trusted throughout My household. With him I speak mouth to mouth, plainly and not in riddles, and he beholds the likeness of the LORD. How then did you not shrink from speaking against My servant Moses!” Still incensed with them, the LORD departed. As the cloud withdrew from the Tent, there was Miriam stricken with snow-white scales! When Aaron turned toward Miriam, he saw that she was stricken with scales. And Aaron said to Moses, “O my lord, account not to us the sin which we committed in our folly. Let her not be as one dead, who emerges from his mother’s womb with half his flesh eaten away.” So Moses cried out to the LORD, saying, “O God, pray heal her!” But the LORD said to Moses, “If her father spat in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut out of camp for seven days, and then let her be readmitted.” So Miriam was shut out of camp seven days; and the people did not march on until Miriam was readmitted. After that the people set out from Hazeroth and encamped in the wilderness of Paran.

Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, published by JPS
Copyright: JPS, 1985

Psalms 104

Bless the LORD, O my soul; O LORD, my God, You are very great; You are clothed in glory and majesty, wrapped in a robe of light; You spread the heavens like a tent cloth. He sets the rafters of His lofts in the waters, makes the clouds His chariot, moves on the wings of the wind. He makes the winds His messengers, fiery flames His servants. He established the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never totter. You made the deep cover it as a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. They fled at Your blast, rushed away at the sound of Your thunder, —mountains rising, valleys sinking— to the place You established for them. You set bounds they must not pass so that they never again cover the earth. You make springs gush forth in torrents; they make their way between the hills, giving drink to all the wild beasts; the wild asses slake their thirst. The birds of the sky dwell beside them and sing among the foliage. You water the mountains from Your lofts; the earth is sated from the fruit of Your work. You make the grass grow for the cattle, and herbage for man’s labor that he may get food out of the earth— wine that cheers the hearts of men oil that makes the face shine, and bread that sustains man’s life. The trees of the LORD drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon, His own planting, where birds make their nests; the stork has her home in the junipers. The high mountains are for wild goats; the crags are a refuge for rock-badgers. He made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows when to set. You bring on darkness and it is night, when all the beasts of the forests stir. The lions roar for prey, seeking their food from God. When the sun rises, they come home and couch in their dens. Man then goes out to his work, to his labor until the evening. How many are the things You have made, O LORD; You have made them all with wisdom; the earth is full of Your creations. There is the sea, vast and wide, with its creatures beyond number, living things, small and great. There go the ships, and Leviathan that You formed to sport with. All of them look to You to give them their food when it is due. Give it to them, they gather it up; open Your hand, they are well satisfied; hide Your face, they are terrified; take away their breath, they perish and turn again into dust; send back Your breath, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in His works! He looks at the earth and it trembles; He touches the mountains and they smoke. I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; all my life I will chant hymns to my God. May my prayer be pleasing to Him; I will rejoice in the LORD. May sinners disappear from the earth, and the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Hallelujah.

Psalms 105

Praise the LORD; call on His name; proclaim His deeds among the peoples. Sing praises to Him; speak of all His wondrous acts. Exult in His holy name; let all who seek the LORD rejoice. Turn to the LORD, to His might; seek His presence constantly. Remember the wonders He has done, His portents and the judgments He has pronounced, O offspring of Abraham, His servant, O descendants of Jacob, His chosen ones. He is the LORD our God; His judgments are throughout the earth. He is ever mindful of His covenant, the promise He gave for a thousand generations, that He made with Abraham, swore to Isaac, and confirmed in a decree for Jacob, for Israel, as an eternal covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your allotted heritage.” They were then few in number, a mere handful, sojourning there, wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. He allowed no one to oppress them; He reproved kings on their account, “Do not touch My anointed ones; do not harm My prophets.” He called down a famine on the land, destroyed every staff of bread. He sent ahead of them a man, Joseph, sold into slavery. His feet were subjected to fetters; an iron collar was put on his neck. Until his prediction came true the decree of the LORD purged him. The king sent to have him freed; the ruler of nations released him. He made him the lord of his household, empowered him over all his possessions, to discipline his princes at will, to teach his elders wisdom. Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. He made His people very fruitful, more numerous than their foes. He changed their heart to hate His people, to plot against His servants. He sent His servant Moses, and Aaron, whom He had chosen. They performed His signs among them, His wonders, against the land of Ham. He sent darkness; it was very dark; did they not defy His word? He turned their waters into blood and killed their fish. Their land teemed with frogs, even the rooms of their king. Swarms of insects came at His command, lice, throughout their country. He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. He struck their vines and fig trees, broke down the trees of their country. Locusts came at His command, grasshoppers without number. They devoured every green thing in the land; they consumed the produce of the soil. He struck down every first-born in the land, the first fruit of their vigor. He led Israel out with silver and gold; none among their tribes faltered. Egypt rejoiced when they left, for dread of Israel had fallen upon them. He spread a cloud for a cover, and fire to light up the night. They asked and He brought them quail, and satisfied them with food from heaven. He opened a rock so that water gushed forth; it flowed as a stream in the parched land. Mindful of His sacred promise to His servant Abraham, He led His people out in gladness, His chosen ones with joyous song. He gave them the lands of nations; they inherited the wealth of peoples, that they might keep His laws and observe His teachings. Hallelujah.

Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures, published by JPS
Copyright: JPS, 1985

Six days before the Passover, Yeshua therefore came to Bethany, where Elazar was, whom Yeshua had raised from the dead. So they gave a dinner for him there. Marta served, and Elazar was one of those reclining with him at table. Miriam therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Yeshua and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Yehudah Ish-Kriyot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?” He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. Yeshua said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of my burial. For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Yeshua was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Elazar, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Elazar to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Yeshua.

The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Yeshua was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” And Yeshua found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

  “Fear not, daughter of Zion;
  behold, your king is coming,
    sitting on a donkey’s colt!”

His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Yeshua was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. The crowd that had been with him when he called Elazar out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign. So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Yeshua.” Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Yeshua. And Yeshua answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Yeshua answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” So Yeshua said to them, “The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

When Yeshua had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

  “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,
    and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

  “He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their heart,
  lest they see with their eyes,
    and understand with their heart, and turn,
    and I would heal them.”

Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

And Yeshua cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

(ESV)