Weekly Parashah

Mk. 14:1–16    Acts 9:1-21

Scripture: 

 Deut. 1:1–3:22

Torah

Devarim: The Words that Moses Spoke

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan—in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Di-Zahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.

3 Now Moses spoke to Bnei-Yisrael, according to all Adonai had commanded him for them—in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, 4 after he had struck down Sihon king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon, and Og king of the Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei.

5 Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this Torah saying, 6 “Adonai our God spoke to us at Horeb saying: ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn, journey on, and enter the hill country of the Amorites and all their neighbors, in the Arabah, the hill country, the lowland, the Negev, and by the seashore—the land of the Canaanites and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Enter and possess the land that Adonai swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give to them and to their descendants after them.’[a]

Bad Report and Poor Response

9 “I spoke to you at that time saying: ‘I am not able to bear the burden of you by myself. 10 Adonai your God has multiplied you—and here you are today, like the stars of the heavens in number.

11 “‘May Adonai, God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times as many as you are, and may He bless you just as He has promised you! 

Scripture: 

 Isa. 1:1–27

Haftarah

1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah:

A Nation Sick With Sin

2 Listen! Heavens, and hear, earth,
    for Adonai has spoken: “Sons I have raised and brought up, but they have rebelled against Me.
3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its manger, but Israel does not know, My people do not understand.”

4 Oy, a sinful nation, a people weighed down with iniquity, offspring of evildoers,
    sons dealing corruptly!
They have abandoned Adonai.

They have despised Israel’s Holy One.
They have turned backwards.
5 Where will you be struck again, as you stray away more and more?
The whole head is sick, the whole heart faint.
6 From the foot to the head there is no soundness.
Wounds, bruises and raw sores:
    not pressed, nor bandaged, nor softened with oil.
7 Your land is desolate;
your cities are burned with fire;
your fields, strangers devour it in your presence—a desolation, overthrown by strangers.
8 So the Daughter of Zion is left as a sukkah in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
9 Unless Adonai-Tzva’ot had left us a small remnant,[a] we would have been as Sodom,
    we would have been as Gomorrah.
10 Hear the word of Adonai, you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the Torah of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isa.+1%3A1%E2%80%9327+&version=TLV

Scripture: 

 Mk. 14:1–16 Acts 9:1-21

Brit Chadashah

Anointed for Burial

14 Now it was two days before Passover and the Feast of Matzah. The ruling kohanim and Torah scholars were searching for a way to grab Yeshua by stealth and kill Him. 2 “But not during the festival,” they were saying, “so there won’t be a riot among the people.”

3 And while Yeshua was in Bethany at the house of Simon ha-Metzora, reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive oil of pure nard. Breaking open the jar, she poured it over His head. 4 But some got angry and said among themselves, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? 5 It could have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor!” And they kept scolding her.

6 But Yeshua said, “Leave her alone. Why do you cause trouble for her? She’s done Me a mitzvah. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and you can do good for them whenever you want; but you won’t always have Me. 8 She did what she could—she came beforehand to anoint My body for burial. 9 Amen, I tell you, wherever the Good News is proclaimed in all the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”

10 Then Judah from Kriot, one of the Twelve, went out to the ruling kohanim to betray Yeshua to them. 11 They were delighted when they heard this and promised to give him money. And Judah began looking for a chance to hand Him over.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mk.+14%3A1%E2%80%9316+&version=TLV 

Acts 9 : 1 – 21

Saul Turns from Murder to Messiah

9 Now Saul, still breathing out threats and murder against the Lord’s disciples, went to the kohen gadol. 2 He requested letters of introduction from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women belonging to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

3 As he was traveling, approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

5 “Who are You, Lord?” Saul said.

“I am Yeshua—whom you are persecuting. [a] 6 But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”[b]

7 The men travelling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. [c] 8 Saul got up from the ground—but opening his eyes, he could see nothing. They led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 For three days he could not see, and he did not eat or drink.

10 Now there was a disciple named Ananias in Damascus. The Lord said to him, “Ananias.”

He said, “Here I am, Lord.”

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+9%3A1-21&version=TLV

Parashah in 60 seconds

Weekly Parashah

Scripture: 

 Num. 25:10–30:1

Torah

10 Then Adonai spoke to Moses saying, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the kohen has turned away My anger from Bnei-Yisrael because he was very zealous for Me among them, so that I did not put an end to Bnei-Yisrael in My zeal. 12 So now say: See, I am making with him a covenant of shalom! 13 It will be for him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood—because he was zealous for his God and atoned for Bnei-Yisrael.”

14 The name of the Israelite man killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, a prince of a Simeonite ancestral household. 15 The name of the executed Midianite woman was Cozbi, daughter of Zur—he was a tribal head of an ancestral house in Midian.

16 Adonai spoke to Moses saying, 17 “Deal with the Midianites as enemies and strike them. 18 For they have been enemies to you in their deceptions of you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a Midianite prince, their sister who was slain on the day of the plague on account of the Peor incident.”

Numbering the Second Generation

26 After the plague, Adonai said to Moses and Eleazar son of Aaron the kohensaying, 2 “Take a headcount of the entire community of Bnei-Yisrael, sons twenty years old and upward, by their ancestral houses, all who can serve in Israel’s army.”

3 So Moses and Eleazar the kohen spoke with them on the Moabite plains by the Jordan across from Jericho saying, 4 “Just as Adonai commanded Moses, a census will be taken of all men of Bnei-Yisrael who came out of Egypt, from 20 years old and upward.”

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Num.+25%3A10%E2%80%9330%3A1&version=TLV

Scripture: 

 Jer. 1:1–2:3

Haftarah

The Call of Jeremiah

1 The words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the kohanim who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. 2 The word of Adonai came to him during the days of King Josiah of Judah, son of Amon, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 3 It continued during the days of King Jehoiakim of Judah, son of Josiah, until the end of the eleventh year of King Zedekiah of Judah, son of Josiah—until the exile from Jerusalem in the fifth month.

4 The word of Adonai came to me, saying:

5 “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you,
    and before you were born, I set you apart—
    I appointed you prophet to the nations.”
6 Then I said, “Alas, Adonai Elohim!
    Look, I don’t know how to speak!
    For I’m still a boy!”
7 But Adonai answered me,
    “Do not say ‘I’m only a boy!’
    For to everyone I send you, you will go,
    and all I command you, you will speak.
8 Do not be afraid of them!
    For I am with you to deliver you.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.

9 Then Adonai stretched out His hand and touched my mouth and Adonai said to me,

“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jer.+1%3A1%E2%80%932%3A3+&version=TLV

Scripture: 

 Mk. 11:27–12:37
Rom. 11:2-32

Brit Chadashah

A Question for a Question

27 Again they come to Jerusalem. While Yeshua was walking in the Temple, the ruling kohanim, Torah scholars, and elders come up to Him. 28 And they start saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority to do these things?”

29 Yeshua said to them, “I will put one question to you. Answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The immersion of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me!”

31 They began to dialogue among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From men’. . .?” They were afraid of the crowd, for all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So answering Yeshua, they say, “We don’t know.”

And Yeshua tells them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mk.+11%3A27%E2%80%9312%3A37&version=TLV

Romans 11 : 2 - 32

2 God has not rejected His people whom He knew beforehand.[a] Or do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 “Adonai, they have killed your prophets, they have destroyed your altars; I alone am left, and they are seeking my life.” [b] 4 But what is the divine response to him? “I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”[c] 5 So in the same way also at this present time there has come to be a remnant[d]according to God’s gracious choice. 6 But if it is by grace, it is no longer by works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.

7 What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained; but the elect obtained it, and the rest were hardened— 8 just as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
    eyes not to see and ears not to hear,
        until this very day.”[e]

9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and a trap,
    a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened so they do not see,
    and bend their back continually.”[f]

11 I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they?[g] May it never be! But by their false step salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke Israel to jealousy. [h]

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rom.+11%3A2-32&version=TLV

Parashah in 60 seconds

Weekly Parashah

Balak (Destroyer)

בָּלָק

Scripture: 

 Numbers 22:2 - 25:9

Torah

2 When Balak son of Zippor, realized all that Bnei-Yisrael had done to the Amorites, 3 Moab became terrified because there were so many people. Moab was filled with dread because of Bnei-Yisrael. 4 Moab said to the elders of Midian, “The multitude will lick up everything around us like the ox licks up the grass of the field.”

Now Balak son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. 5 He sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor, at Pethor near the River[a] in his native land, saying to him, “Look now, a people has come out of Egypt. See now, they cover the surface of the earth and are settling beside me. 6 Come now, curse this people for me, because they are too strong for me! Perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them away from the country. I know that whoever you bless will be blessed and whoever you curse will be accursed!”

7 The elders of Moab and Midian left with divination fees in their hand. When they came to Balaam, they told him Balak’s words.

8 He said to them, “Spend the night here. I will give you an answer just as Adonaispeaks to me.” So the officials of Moab stayed with Balaam.

9 God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”

10 Balaam said to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent word to me: 11 See, the people coming out of Egypt cover the surface of the land. Come now, curse them for me. Perhaps I will be able to fight against them and drive them away!”

12 God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them! Do not curse them, for they are blessed!”

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Num.+22%3A2%E2%80%9325%3A9&version=TLV

Scripture: 

 Micah 5 : 6 – 6 : 8

Haftarah

The Remnant of Jacob

6 Now the remnant of Jacob will be
    in the midst of many peoples,
like dew from Adonai,
like abundant showers on grass
    that does not wait for a man,
    nor lingers for the sons of men.
7 For the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations,
    in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the forest beasts,
like a young lion among flocks of sheep,
who, if he passed through, would trample and tear to pieces,
    and there would be no deliverer.
8 May your hand be raised up against your adversaries,
and may all your foes be cut off.
9 “Now in that day”
—it is a declaration of Adonai—
“I will cut off your horses among you,
and I will destroy your chariots.
10 I will cut off the cities of your land,
and throw down all your strongholds.
11 I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
and you will have no more diviners.
12 I will cut off your carved images
and your sacred pillars from among you,
so you will no longer bow down
    to the work of your hands.
13 I will uproot your Asherah poles from among you,
and destroy your cities.
14 So I will execute vengeance in anger
and wrath on the nations that have not listened.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mic.+5%3A6%E2%80%936%3A8&version=TLV

Scripture: 

 Mark 11 : 12 – 26
Romans 11 : 25 – 32

Brit Chadashah

The Fruit of the Faithful

12 The next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. 13 Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if He would find any fruit on it. When He came up to it, He found nothing except leaves, because it wasn’t the season for figs. 14 And He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.

15 Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the Temple and started to drive out those selling and buying in the Temple. He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those selling doves, 16 and He wouldn’t let anyone carry goods through the Temple. 17 And He began to teach them, saying, “Is it not written,

‘My house shall be called
a house of prayer for all the nations’?[a]
But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”[b]

18 The ruling kohanim and Torah scholars heard this and began looking for a way to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching. 19 Whenever evening came, Yeshua and His disciples would leave the city.

20 As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree shriveled from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to Yeshua, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree You cursed has shriveled up!”

22 And Yeshua answered, saying to them, “Have faith in God! 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mk.+11%3A12%E2%80%9326+&version=TLV

Romans 11 : 25 – 32

The Mystery Revealed!

25 For I do not want you, brothers and sisters, to be ignorant of this mystery—lest you be wise in your own eyes[a]—that a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; [b] 26 and in this way[c] all Israel will be saved, as it is written,

“The Deliverer shall come out of Zion.
    He shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
27 And this is My covenant with them,[d]
    when I take away their sins.”[e]

28 Concerning the Good News, they are hostile for your sake; but concerning chosenness, they are loved on account of the fathers[f]— 29 for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. [g] 30 For just as you once were disobedient to God but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience, 31 in like manner these also have now been disobedient with the result that, because of the mercy shown to you, they also may receive mercy. 32 For God has shut up all in disobedience, so that He might show mercy to all.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+11%3A25-32&version=TLV

Parashah in 60 seconds