This is Friday’s Common Lectionary Bible reading, which we will include in the Cam Villages pop-up prayer.
Exodus 28.1-4a, 29-38
1 “Bring Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, near to you from amongst the children of Israel, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office: Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. 2 You shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all who are wise-hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they make Aaron’s garments to sanctify him, that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. 4 These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a fitted tunic, a turban, and a sash.
29 Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgement on his heart, when he goes in to the holy place, for a memorial before the LORD continually. 30 You shall put in the breastplate of judgement the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be on Aaron’s heart, when he goes in before the LORD. Aaron shall bear the judgement of the children of Israel on his heart before the LORD continually.
31 “You shall make the robe of the ephod all of blue. 32 It shall have a hole for the head in the middle of it. It shall have a binding of woven work around its hole, as it were the hole of a coat of mail, that it not be torn. 33 On its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, all around its hem; with bells of gold between and around them: 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe. 35 It shall be on Aaron to minister: and its sound shall be heard when he goes in to the holy place before the LORD, and when he comes out, that he not die.
36 “You shall make a plate of pure gold, and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet, ‘HOLY TO THE LORD.’ 37 You shall put it on a lace of blue, and it shall be on the sash. It shall be on the front of the sash. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, and Aaron shall bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel shall make holy in all their holy gifts; and it shall be always on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the LORD.
Psalm 107
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,for his loving kindness endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed by the LORD say so,
whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,
3 And gathered out of the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way.
They found no city to live in.
5 Hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them out of their distresses,
7 he led them also by a straight way,
that they might go to a city to live in.
8 Let them praise the LORD for his loving kindness,
for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
9 For he satisfies the longing soul.
He fills the hungry soul with good.
10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
being bound in affliction and iron,
11 because they rebelled against the words of God,
and condemned the counsel of the Most High.
12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour.
They fell down, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he saved them out of their distresses.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
and broke away their chains.
15 Let them praise the LORD for his loving kindness,
for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
16 For he has broken the gates of bronze,
and cut through bars of iron.
17 Fools are afflicted because of their disobedience,
and because of their iniquities.
18 Their soul abhors all kinds of food.
They draw near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cry to the LORD in their trouble,
he saves them out of their distresses.
20 He sends his word, and heals them,
and delivers them from their graves.
21 Let them praise the LORD for his loving kindness,
for his wonderful deeds to the children of men!
22 Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and declare his deeds with singing.
23 Those who go down to the sea in ships,
who do business in great waters;
24 These see the LORD’s deeds,
and his wonders in the deep.
25 For he commands, and raises the stormy wind,
which lifts up its waves.
26 They mount up to the sky; they go down again to the depths.
Their soul melts away because of trouble.
27 They reel back and forth, and stagger like a drunken man,
and are at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cry to the LORD in their trouble,
and he brings them out of their distress.
29 He makes the storm a calm,
so that its waves are still.
30 Then they are glad because it is calm,
so he brings them to their desired haven.
31 Let them praise the LORD for his loving kindness,
for his wonderful deeds for the children of men!
32 Let them exalt him also in the assembly of the people,
and praise him in the seat of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a desert,
water springs into a thirsty ground,
34 and a fruitful land into a salt waste,
for the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35 He turns a desert into a pool of water,
and a dry land into water springs.
36 There he makes the hungry live,
that they may prepare a city to live in,
37 sow fields, plant vineyards,
and reap the fruits of increase.
38 He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly.
He doesn’t allow their livestock to decrease.
39 Again, they are diminished and bowed down
through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.
40 He pours contempt on princes,
and causes them to wander in a trackless waste.
41 Yet he lifts the needy out of their affliction,
and increases their families like a flock.
42 The upright will see it, and be glad.
All the wicked will shut their mouths.
43 Whoever is wise will pay attention to these things.
They will consider the loving kindnesses of the LORD.