Daily Devotion and Prayer for February 21st

+ DAILY PRAYER +

This Daily Devotion covers the first five books of the Bible, Genesis through Deuteronomy also called the Books of Moses or the Pentateuch, in a period of one year in a Monday through Friday format, the Psalms and order of devotion follow those presented in The Treasury of Daily Prayer from Concordia Publishing House.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

     Hear my prayer, O Lord; give ear to my pleas for mercy!

     In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness! 

     Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan,

     and he hears my voice. 

     Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you;

     He will never permit the righteous to be moved. 

Psalm 84:1-4, 8-12

My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord

1  To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith.

A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

How lovely is your dwelling place,

O LORD of hosts! 

2  My soul longs, yes, faints

for the courts of the LORD;

my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. 

3  Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O LORD of hosts,

my King and my God. 

4  Blessed are those who dwell in your house,

ever singing your praise! Selah 

8  O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;

give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah 

9  Behold our shield, O God;

look on the face of your anointed! 

10  For a day in your courts is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be a doorkeeper

in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of wickedness. 

11  For the LORD God is a sun and shield;

the LORD bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold

from those who walk uprightly. 

12  O LORD of hosts,

blessed is the one who trusts in you! 

Reading Lev 12:1-13:16

Purification After Childbirth

12 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the ?Israelites?, saying, ‘When a woman becomes pregnant and she gives birth to a male, then she shall be unclean seven days—as in the time of her menstrual bleeding, she shall become unclean. And on the eighth day his foreskin’s flesh shall be circumcised. And for thirty-three days she shall stay in the blood of her cleansing; she must not touch any holy object, and she may not come to the sanctuary until the fulfilling of the days of her cleansing. But if she gives birth to a female, then she shall be unclean for two weeks as in her menstruation, and for sixty-six days she shall stay ?through? the blood of her cleansing. And at the fulfilling of the days of her cleansing, whether for a son or for a daughter, she must bring to the priest at the tent of assembly’s entrance a ?yearling? male lamb as a burnt offering and ?young dove? or a turtledove as a sin offering. And the priest shall present it ?before? Yahweh, and he shall make atonement for her, so that she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the regulation of childbearing for the male or for the female. And if ?she cannot afford? a sheep, then she shall take two turtledoves or two ?young doves?—one as a burnt offering and one as a sin offering—and the priest shall make atonement for her, so that she shall be clean.’ ”

Regulations About Defiling Skin Diseases

13 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “When a ?person? has on his body’s skin a swelling or an epidermal eruption or a spot and it becomes an infectious skin disease on his body’s skin, then he shall be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons the priests. And the priest shall examine the infection on his body’s skin, and if the hair in the infection turns white and the appearance of the infection is deeper than his body’s skin, it is an infectious skin disease, and the priest shall examine it, and he shall declare him unclean. But if a spot is white on his body’s skin and its appearance is not deeper than the skin and its hair does not turn white, then the priest shall confine the afflicted person for seven days. And the priest shall examine it on the seventh day, and ?if?, in his eyes, the infection has stayed unchanged, the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall confine him for seven days a second time. And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day for a second time, and ?if? the infection has faded and the infection has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall declare him clean—it is an epidermal eruption; and he shall wash his garments, and so he shall be clean. But if the epidermal eruption spreads further on the skin after showing himself to the priest for his cleansing, then he shall appear a second time to the priest. And the priest shall examine it, and ?if? the epidermal eruption has spread on the skin, then the priest shall declare him unclean—it is an infectious skin disease.

“When an infectious skin disease is on a person and he is brought to the priest, 10 the priest shall examine it, and ?if? a white swelling is on the skin and it turns the hair white and ?raw flesh? is in the swelling, 11 it is a chronic infectious skin disease on his body’s skin, and the priest shall declare him unclean; he shall not confine him, because he is unclean. 12 And if the infectious skin disease breaks out all over on the skin and the infectious skin disease covers all of the afflicted person’s skin from his head to his feet, ?so far as the priest can see?, 13 then the priest shall examine it, and ?if? the infectious skin disease covers his whole body, then he shall pronounce the afflicted person clean—all of it has turned white; he is clean. 14 But ?whenever? ?raw flesh? appears on him, he shall become unclean. 15 And the priest shall examine the ?raw flesh?, and he shall pronounce him unclean—the ?raw flesh? is unclean; it is an infectious skin disease. 16 Or, when the ?raw flesh? returns and it has changed to white, then he shall come to the priest,

Lord’s Prayer

Daily Prayer

    
   Lord Jesus Christ, Your time has come, for You have traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover from death to life.  Help us to live knowing that the time of our redemption is at hand as You continue to dwell among us at the feast of Your very body and blood, a foretaste of the feast to come; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Concluding Prayer

Heavenly Father, send Your Holy Spirit into our hearts to direct and rule us according to Your will, to comfort us in all our afflictions, to defend us from all error, and to lead us into all truth; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.