Sacred Rhythms and Christ's Supremacy

1. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2. “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The set feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are my set feasts. 3. “‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no kind of work. It is a Sabbath to Yahweh in all your dwellings. 4. “‘These are the set feasts of Yahweh, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season. 5. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Yahweh’s Passover. 6. On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Yahweh. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7. In the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. 8. But you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh seven days. In the seventh day is a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work.’” 9. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10. “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest: 11. and he shall wave the sheaf before Yahweh, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12. On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without defect a year old for a burnt offering to Yahweh. 13. The meal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire to Yahweh for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. 14. You must not eat bread, or roasted grain, or fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 15. “‘You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be completed: 16. even to the next day after the seventh Sabbath you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Yahweh. 17. You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for first fruits to Yahweh. 18. You shall present with the bread seven lambs without defect a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to Yahweh, with their meal offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to Yahweh. 19. You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20. The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before Yahweh, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to Yahweh for the priest. 21. You shall make proclamation on the same day: there shall be a holy convocation to you; you shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations. 22. “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you must not wholly reap into the corners of your field, and you must not gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor, and for the foreigner. I am Yahweh your God.’” 23. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 24. “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest to you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25. You shall do no regular work; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh.’” 26. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 27. “However on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall afflict yourselves; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 28. You shall do no kind of work in that same day; for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Yahweh your God. 29. For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day; shall be cut off from his people. 30. Whoever it is who does any kind of work in that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. 31. You shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32. It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath.” 33. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 34. “Speak to the children of Israel, and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of tents for seven days to Yahweh. 35. On the first day shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no regular work. 36. Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work. 37. “‘These are the appointed feasts of Yahweh, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to Yahweh, a burnt offering, and a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day— 38. besides the Sabbaths of Yahweh, and besides your gifts, and besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to Yahweh. 39. “‘So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of Yahweh seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40. You shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God seven days. 41. You shall keep it as a feast to Yahweh seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations. You shall keep it in the seventh month. 42. You shall dwell in temporary shelters for seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in temporary shelters, 43. that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in temporary shelters, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.’” 44. Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed feasts of Yahweh. 1. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2. “Command the children of Israel, that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. 3. Outside of the veil of the Testimony, in the Tent of Meeting, shall Aaron keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh continually: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 4. He shall keep in order the lamps on the pure gold lamp stand before Yahweh continually. 5. “You shall take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it: two tenths of an ephah shall be in one cake. 6. You shall set them in two rows, six on a row, on the pure gold table before Yahweh. 7. You shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be to the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire to Yahweh. 8. Every Sabbath day he shall set it in order before Yahweh continually. It is an everlasting covenant on the behalf of the children of Israel. 9. It shall be for Aaron and his sons; and they shall eat it in a holy place: for it is most holy to him of the offerings of Yahweh made by fire by a perpetual statute.” 10. The son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and the son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp. 11. The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12. They put him in custody, until Yahweh’s will should be declared to them. 13. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 14. “Bring out of the camp him who cursed; and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15. You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16. He who blasphemes Yahweh’s name, he shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him. The foreigner as well as the native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. 17. “‘He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death. 18. He who strikes an animal mortally shall make it good, life for life. 19. If anyone injures his neighbor; as he has done, so shall it be done to him: 20. fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has injured someone, so shall it be done to him. 21. He who kills an animal shall make it good; and he who kills a man shall be put to death. 22. You shall have one kind of law for the foreigner as well as the native-born; for I am Yahweh your God.’” 23. Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they brought him who had cursed out of the camp, and stoned him with stones. The children of Israel did as Yahweh commanded Moses. 1. Yahweh said to Moses in Mount Sinai, 2. “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to Yahweh. 3. You shall sow your field six years, and you shall prune your vineyard six years, and gather in its fruits; 4. but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to Yahweh. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. 5. What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap, and you shall not gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. 6. The Sabbath of the land shall be for food for you; for yourself, for your servant, for your maid, for your hired servant, and for your stranger, who lives as a foreigner with you. 7. For your livestock also, and for the animals that are in your land, shall all its increase be for food. 8. “‘You shall count off seven Sabbaths of years, seven times seven years; and there shall be to you the days of seven Sabbaths of years, even forty-nine years. 9. Then you shall sound the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. 10. You shall make the fiftieth year holy, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee to you; and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. 11. That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee to you. In it you shall not sow, neither reap that which grows of itself, nor gather from the undressed vines. 12. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat of its increase out of the field. 13. “‘In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his property. 14. “‘If you sell anything to your neighbor, or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. 15. According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall buy from your neighbor. According to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you. 16. According to the length of the years you shall increase its price, and according to the shortness of the years you shall diminish its price; for he is selling the number of the crops to you. 17. You shall not wrong one another; but you shall fear your God: for I am Yahweh your God. 18. “‘Therefore you shall do my statutes, and keep my ordinances and do them; and you shall dwell in the land in safety. 19. The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20. If you said, “What shall we eat the seventh year? Behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase”; 21. then I will command my blessing on you in the sixth year, and it shall bear fruit for the three years. 22. You shall sow the eighth year, and eat of the fruits, the old store; until the ninth year, until its fruits come in, you shall eat the old store. 23. “‘The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; for you are strangers and live as foreigners with me. 24. In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land. 25. “‘If your brother becomes poor, and sells some of his possessions, then his kinsman who is next to him shall come, and redeem that which his brother has sold. 26. If a man has no one to redeem it, and he becomes prosperous and finds sufficient means to redeem it; 27. then let him reckon the years since its sale, and restore the surplus to the man to whom he sold it; and he shall return to his property. 28. But if he isn’t able to get it back for himself, then what he has sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee: and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his property. 29. “‘If a man sells a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it has been sold. For a full year he shall have the right of redemption. 30. If it isn’t redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be made sure in perpetuity to him who bought it, throughout his generations. It shall not be released in the Jubilee. 31. But the houses of the villages which have no wall around them shall be accounted for with the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall be released in the Jubilee. 32. “‘Nevertheless the cities of the Levites, the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. 33. The Levites may redeem the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, and it shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. 34. But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession. 35. “‘If your brother has become poor, and his hand can’t support himself among you; then you shall uphold him. He shall live with you like an alien and a temporary resident. 36. Take no interest from him or profit, but fear your God; that your brother may live among you. 37. You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor give him your food for profit. 38. I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God. 39. “‘If your brother has grown poor among you, and sells himself to you; you shall not make him to serve as a slave. 40. As a hired servant, and as a temporary resident, he shall be with you; he shall serve with you until the Year of Jubilee: 41. then he shall go out from you, he and his children with him, and shall return to his own family, and to the possession of his fathers. 42. For they are my servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves. 43. You shall not rule over him with harshness, but shall fear your God. 44. “‘As for your male and your female slaves, whom you may have; of the nations that are around you, from them you may buy male and female slaves. 45. Moreover of the children of the aliens who live among you, of them you may buy, and of their families who are with you, which they have conceived in your land; and they will be your property. 46. You may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession; of them may you take your slaves forever; but over your brothers the children of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness. 47. “‘If an alien or temporary resident with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him has grown poor, and sells himself to the stranger or foreigner living among you, or to a member of the stranger’s family; 48. after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him; 49. or his uncle, or his uncle’s son, may redeem him, or any who is a close relative to him of his family may redeem him; or if he has grown rich, he may redeem himself. 50. He shall reckon with him who bought him from the year that he sold himself to him to the Year of Jubilee. The price of his sale shall be according to the number of years; he shall be with him according to the time of a hired servant. 51. If there are yet many years, according to them he shall give back the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. 52. If there remain but a few years to the year of jubilee, then he shall reckon with him; according to his years of service he shall give back the price of his redemption. 53. As a servant hired year by year shall he be with him. He shall not rule with harshness over him in your sight. 54. If he isn’t redeemed by these means, then he shall be released in the Year of Jubilee, he, and his children with him. 55. For to me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.

1. Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2. to the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4. having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which you have toward all the saints, 5. because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Good News, 6. which has come to you; even as it is in all the world and is bearing fruit and growing, as it does in you also, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7. even as you learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8. who also declared to us your love in the Spirit. 9. For this cause, we also, since the day we heard this, don’t cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10. that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11. strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, for all endurance and perseverance with joy; 12. giving thanks to the Father, who made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; 13. who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the Kingdom of the Son of his love; 14. in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins; 15. who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16. For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. 17. He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. 18. He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19. For all the fullness was pleased to dwell in him; 20. and through him to reconcile all things to himself, by him, whether things on the earth, or things in the heavens, having made peace through the blood of his cross. 21. You, being in past times alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil deeds, 22. yet now he has reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without defect and blameless before him, 23. if it is so that you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the Good News which you heard, which is being proclaimed in all creation under heaven; of which I, Paul, was made a servant. 24. Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the assembly; 25. of which I was made a servant, according to the stewardship of God which was given me toward you, to fulfill the word of God, 26. the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints, 27. to whom God was pleased to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory; 28. whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus; 29. for which I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily. 1. For I desire to have you know how greatly I struggle for you, and for those at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; 2. that their hearts may be comforted, they being knit together in love, and gaining all riches of the full assurance of understanding, that they may know the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, 3. in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden. 4. Now this I say that no one may delude you with persuasiveness of speech. 5. For though I am absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, rejoicing and seeing your order, and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. 6. As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him, 7. rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, even as you were taught, abounding in it in thanksgiving. 8. Be careful that you don’t let anyone rob you through his philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the elements of the world, and not after Christ. 9. For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily, 10. and in him you are made full, who is the head of all principality and power; 11. in whom you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the sins of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; 12. having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13. You were dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh. He made you alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14. wiping out the handwriting in ordinances which was against us; and he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross; 15. having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. 16. Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day, 17. which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ’s. 18. Let no one rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshiping of the angels, dwelling in the things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19. and not holding firmly to the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and ligaments, grows with God’s growth. 20. If you died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to ordinances, 21. “Don’t handle, nor taste, nor touch” 22. (all of which perish with use), according to the precepts and doctrines of men? 23. Which things indeed appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but aren’t of any value against the indulgence of the flesh. 1. If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 2. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth. 3. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4. When Christ, our life, is revealed, then you will also be revealed with him in glory. 5. Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, depraved passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry; 6. for which things’ sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. 7. You also once walked in those, when you lived in them; 8. but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth. 9. Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings, 10. and have put on the new man, who is being renewed in knowledge after the image of his Creator, 11. where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all. 12. Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance; 13. bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as Christ forgave you, so you also do. 14. Above all these things, walk in love, which is the bond of perfection. 15. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord. 17. Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father, through him. 18. Wives, be in subjection to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19. Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them. 20. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this pleases the Lord. 21. Fathers, don’t provoke your children, so that they won’t be discouraged. 22. Servants, obey in all things those who are your masters according to the flesh, not just when they are looking, as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. 23. And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men, 24. knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. 25. But he who does wrong will receive again for the wrong that he has done, and there is no partiality. 1. Masters, give to your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. 2. Continue steadfastly in prayer, watching therein with thanksgiving; 3. praying together for us also, that God may open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds; 4. that I may reveal it as I ought to speak. 5. Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. 6. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. 7. All my affairs will be made known to you by Tychicus, the beloved brother, faithful servant, and fellow bondservant in the Lord. 8. I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that he may know your circumstances and comfort your hearts, 9. together with Onesimus, the faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will make known to you everything that is going on here. 10. Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, “if he comes to you, receive him”), 11. and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for God’s Kingdom who are of the circumcision, men who have been a comfort to me. 12. Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, salutes you, always striving for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. 13. For I testify about him, that he has great zeal for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for those in Hierapolis. 14. Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you. 15. Greet the brothers who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the assembly that is in his house. 16. When this letter has been read among you, cause it to be read also in the assembly of the Laodiceans; and that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17. Tell Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you fulfill it.” 18. The salutation of me, Paul, with my own hand: remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.

1. God, don’t keep silent. Don’t keep silent, and don’t be still, God. 2. For, behold, your enemies are stirred up. Those who hate you have lifted up their heads. 3. They conspire with cunning against your people. They plot against your cherished ones. 4. “Come,” they say, “let’s destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” 5. For they have conspired together with one mind. They form an alliance against you. 6. The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites; 7. Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; 8. Assyria also is joined with them. They have helped the children of Lot. Selah. 9. Do to them as you did to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the river Kishon; 10. who perished at Endor, who became as dung for the earth. 11. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb; yes, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna; 12. who said, “Let us take possession of God’s pasture lands.” 13. My God, make them like tumbleweed; like chaff before the wind. 14. As the fire that burns the forest, as the flame that sets the mountains on fire, 15. so pursue them with your tempest, and terrify them with your storm. 16. Fill their faces with confusion, that they may seek your name, Yahweh. 17. Let them be disappointed and dismayed forever. Yes, let them be confounded and perish; 18. that they may know that you alone, whose name is Yahweh, are the Most High over all the earth.