Today's Readings and Stuff -- Sunday, 08 February 2015

enjoying a VERY brief interlude from the snow storms and bitter bitter cold.  Actually above freezing, and for the second day in a row.  Not for long.  By the end of the week, the predictions are for "highs" in the teens, and lows near or below zero.  The positive, the ONLY positive thing is that we are now more than 1/4 of the way through February, and gaining today another 2 minutes 26 seconds of daylight over what was the case yesterday.  The Equinox, the first day of Spring which has the time of daylight equaling that of night, is only about 5-1/2 weeks away.  SOME time around then we should be seeing some moderation in the weather.  Sooner than later, one hopes.  Yes, I hate winter and winter weather, particularly in this latitude.

Dear Wife has a doctor appointment in the morning, which is good as she's been sick for the last week, actually for the last three weeks, but intensifying.  She's been in bed since yesterday afternoon, and the toast I made her before heading to church is still on the plate.  She's had some greek-style yogurt, some cranberry juice (with azo) to deal with what's likely to be yet another kidney and/or bladder infection that she' prone to.  Orange cat seems to know when she's not feeling well, and is curled up to her, which gives her some comfort.

I'm fresh out of wisdom and high-sounding insights.  Sometimes, seeing someone you live in constant pain and misery, wears you down too.  I'm there.

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The Old Testament reading is chapters 4, 5, and 6 of Leviticus.  This gets us into the system of what amounts to penance for sin.  Please note something here.  The sins for which atonement is prescribed here are for UNINTENTIONAL sins.  Ones of ignorance or unawareness.  Not deliberate sin.  That's not covered here, much of which merit death.

Leviticus 4 

1	And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2	Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a soul shall sin through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and shall do against any of them:
3	If the priest that is anointed do sin according to the sin of the people; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.
4	And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD; and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head, and kill the bullock before the LORD.
5	And the priest that is anointed shall take of the bullock's blood, and bring it to the tabernacle of the congregation:
6	And the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before the LORD, before the vail of the sanctuary.
7	And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of sweet incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the congregation; and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
8	And he shall take off from it all the fat of the bullock for the sin offering; the fat that covereth the inwards, and all the fat that is upon the inwards,
9	And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away,
10	As it was taken off from the bullock of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall burn them upon the altar of the burnt offering.
11	And the skin of the bullock, and all his flesh, with his head, and with his legs, and his inwards, and his dung,
12	Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.
13	And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty;
14	When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation.
15	And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD.
16	And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock's blood to the tabernacle of the congregation:
17	And the priest shall dip his finger in some of the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD, even before the vail.
18	And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
19	And he shall take all his fat from him, and burn it upon the altar.
20	And he shall do with the bullock as he did with the bullock for a sin offering, so shall he do with this: and the priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them.
21	And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.
22	When a ruler hath sinned, and done somewhat through ignorance against any of the commandments of the LORD his God concerning things which should not be done, and is guilty;
23	Or if his sin, wherein he hath sinned, come to his knowledge; he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a male without blemish:
24	And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the LORD: it is a sin offering.
25	And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out his blood at the bottom of the altar of burnt offering.
26	And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.
27	And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which ought not to be done, and be guilty;
28	Or if his sin, which he hath sinned, come to his knowledge: then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned.
29	And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.
30	And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar.
31	And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat is taken away from off the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savor unto the LORD; and the priest shall make an atonement for him, and it shall be forgiven him.
32	And if he bring a lamb for a sin offering, he shall bring it a female without blemish.
33	And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering.
34	And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar:
35	And he shall take away all the fat thereof, as the fat of the lamb is taken away from the sacrifice of the peace offerings; and the priest shall burn them upon the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: and the priest shall make an atonement for his sin that he hath committed, and it shall be forgiven him.

Leviticus 5 

1	And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.
2	Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcass of an unclean beast, or a carcass of unclean cattle, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty.
3	Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.
4	Or if a soul swear, pronouncing with his lips to do evil, or to do good, whatsoever it be that a man shall pronounce with an oath, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty in one of these.
5	And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing:
6	And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or a kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.
7	And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass, which he hath committed, two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, unto the LORD; one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering.
8	And he shall bring them unto the priest, who shall offer that which is for the sin offering first, and wring off his head from his neck, but shall not divide it asunder:
9	And he shall sprinkle of the blood of the sin offering upon the side of the altar; and the rest of the blood shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar: it is a sin offering.
10	And he shall offer the second for a burnt offering, according to the manner: and the priest shall make an atonement for him for his sin which he hath sinned, and it shall be forgiven him.
11	But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put any frankincense thereon: for it is a sin offering.
12	Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, even a memorial thereof, and burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: it is a sin offering.
13	And the priest shall make an atonement for him as touching his sin that he hath sinned in one of these, and it shall be forgiven him: and the remnant shall be the priest's, as a meat offering.
14	And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
15	If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering.
16	And he shall make amends for the harm that he hath done in the holy thing, and shall add the fifth part thereto, and give it unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering, and it shall be forgiven him.
17	And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity.
18	And he shall bring a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest: and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his ignorance wherein he erred and wist it not, and it shall be forgiven him.
19	It is a trespass offering: he hath certainly trespassed against the LORD.

Leviticus 6 

1	And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2	If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbor in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbor;
3	Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein:
4	Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,
5	Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.
6	And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the LORD, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest:
7	And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein.
8	And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
9	Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it.
10	And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh, and take up the ashes which the fire hath consumed with the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar.
11	And he shall put off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry forth the ashes without the camp unto a clean place.
12	And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings.
13	The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.
14	And this is the law of the meat offering: the sons of Aaron shall offer it before the LORD, before the altar.
15	And he shall take of it his handful, of the flour of the meat offering, and of the oil thereof, and all the frankincense which is upon the meat offering, and shall burn it upon the altar for a sweet savor, even the memorial of it, unto the LORD.
16	And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.
17	It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it unto them for their portion of my offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as is the sin offering, and as the trespass offering.
18	All the males among the children of Aaron shall eat of it. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations concerning the offerings of the LORD made by fire: every one that toucheth them shall be holy.
19	And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
20	This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer unto the LORD in the day when he is anointed; the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a meat offering perpetual, half of it in the morning, and half thereof at night.
21	In a pan it shall be made with oil; and when it is baked, thou shalt bring it in: and the baked pieces of the meat offering shalt thou offer for a sweet savor unto the LORD.
22	And the priest of his sons that is anointed in his stead shall offer it: it is a statute for ever unto the LORD; it shall be wholly burnt.
23	For every meat offering for the priest shall be wholly burnt: it shall not be eaten.
24	And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
25	Speak unto Aaron and to his sons, saying, This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed shall the sin offering be killed before the LORD: it is most holy.
26	The priest that offereth it for sin shall eat it: in the holy place shall it be eaten, in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation.
27	Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof shall be holy: and when there is sprinkled of the blood thereof upon any garment, thou shalt wash that whereon it was sprinkled in the holy place.
28	But the earthen vessel wherein it is sodden shall be broken: and if it be sodden in a brazen pot, it shall be both scoured, and rinsed in water.
29	All the males among the priests shall eat thereof: it is most holy.
30	And no sin offering, whereof any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the congregation to reconcile withal in the holy place, shall be eaten: it shall be burnt in the fire.

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The New Testament reading is verses 1-30 from Matthew 25.

Matthew 25:1-30 

1	Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2	And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3	They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4	But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5	While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6	And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7	Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8	And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
9	But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10	And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
11	Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12	But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13	Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
14	For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15	And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16	Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
17	And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
18	But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
19	After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20	And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21	His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22	He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23	His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24	Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25	And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
26	His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27	Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28	Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29	For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30	And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.