DEUTERONOMY 21:1-22:30
LUKE 9:51-10:12
PSALM 74:1-23
PROVERBS 12:11
DEUTERONOMY 21:1-22:30
" Suppose someone is found murdered in a field in the land the LORD your God is giving you, and you don't know who committed the murder. 2 In such cases, your leaders and judges must determine which town is nearest the body. 3 Then the leaders of that town must select a young cow that has never been trained or yoked to a plow. 4 They must lead it to a valley that is neither plowed nor planted with a stream running through it. There they must break the cow's neck. 5 The Levitical priests must go there also, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in the LORD's name. And they are to decide all lawsuits and punishments. 6 " The leaders of the town nearest the body must wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken. 7 Then they must say, ` Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did we see it happen. 8 O LORD, forgive your people Israel whom you have redeemed. Do not charge your people Israel with the guilt of murdering an innocent person.' Then they will be absolved of the guilt of this person's blood. 9 By following these instructions and doing what is right in the LORD's sight, you will cleanse the guilt of murder from your community. 10 " Suppose you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God hands them over to you and you take captives. 11 And suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her and want to marry her. 12 If this happens, you may take her to your home, where she must shave her head, cut her fingernails, 13 and change all her clothes. Then she must remain in your home for a full month, mourning for her father and mother. After that you may marry her. 14 But if you marry her and then decide you do not like her, you must let her go free. You may not sell her or treat her as a slave, for you have humiliated her. 15 " Suppose a man has two wives, but he loves one and not the other, and both have given him sons. And suppose the firstborn son is the son of the wife he does not love. 16 When the man divides the inheritance, he may not give the larger inheritance to his younger son, the son of the wife he loves. 17 He must give the customary double portion to his oldest son, who represents the strength of his father's manhood and who owns the rights of the firstborn son, even though he is the son of the wife his father does not love. 18 " Suppose a man has a stubborn, rebellious son who will not obey his father or mother, even though they discipline him. 19 In such cases, the father and mother must take the son before the leaders of the town. 20 They must declare: ` This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey. He is a worthless drunkard.' 21 Then all the men of the town must stone him to death. In this way, you will cleanse this evil from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid.22 " If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and then hanged on a tree, 23 the body must never remain on the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone hanging on a tree is cursed of God. Do not defile the land the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession. 22:1 " IF you see your neighbor's ox or sheep wandering away, don't pretend not to see it. Take it back to its owner. 2 If it does not belong to someone nearby or you don't know who the owner is, keep it until the owner comes looking for it; then return it. 3 Do the same if you find your neighbor's donkey, clothing, or anything else your neighbor loses. Don't pretend you did not see it. 4 " If you see your neighbor's ox or donkey lying on the road, do not look the other way. Go and help your neighbor get it to its feet! 5 " A woman must not wear men's clothing, and a man must not wear women's clothing. The LORD your God detests people who do this.6 " If you find a bird's nest on the ground or in a tree and there are young ones or eggs in it with the mother sitting in the nest, do not take the mother with the young. 7 You may take the young, but let the mother go, so you may prosper and enjoy a long life. 8 " Every new house you build must have a barrier around the edge of its flat rooftop. That way you will not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your household if someone falls from the roof. 9 " Do not plant any other crop between the rows of your vineyard. If you do, you are forbidden to use either the grapes from the vineyard or the produce of the other crop. 10 " Do not plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together. 11 " Do not wear clothing made of wool and linen woven together. 12 " You must put tassels on the four corners of your cloaks. 13 " Suppose a man marries a woman and, after sleeping with her, changes his mind about her 14 and falsely accuses her of having slept with another man. He might say, ` I discovered she was not a virgin when I married her.' 15 If the man does this, the woman's father and mother must bring the proof of her virginity to the leaders of the town. 16 Her father must tell them, ` I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, and now he has turned against her. 17 He has accused her of shameful things, claiming that she was not a virgin when he married her. But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity.' Then they must spread the cloth before the judges. 18 The judges must then punish the man. 19 They will fine him one hundred pieces of silver, for he falsely accused a virgin of Israel. The payment will be made to the woman's father. The woman will then remain the man's wife, and he may never divorce her. 20 " But suppose the man's accusations are true, and her virginity could not be proved. 21 In such cases, the judges must take the girl to the door of her father's home, and the men of the town will stone her to death. She has committed a disgraceful crime in Israel by being promiscuous while living in her parents' home. Such evil must be cleansed from among you. 22 " If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the other man's wife must be killed. In this way, the evil will be cleansed from Israel. 23 " Suppose a man meets a young woman, a virgin who is engaged to be married, and he has sexual intercourse with her. If this happens within a town, 24 you must take both of them to the gates of the town and stone them to death. The woman is guilty because she did not scream for help. The man must die because he violated another man's wife. In this way, you will cleanse the land of evil. 25 " But if the man meets the engaged woman out in the country, and he rapes her, then only the man should die. 26 Do nothing to the young woman; she has committed no crime worthy of death. This case is similar to that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor. 27 Since the man raped her out in the country, it must be assumed that she screamed, but there was no one to rescue her. 28 " If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, 29 he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her. 30 " A man must not have intercourse with his father's wife, for this would violate his father."
LUKE 9:51-10:12
As the time drew near for his return to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 He sent messengers ahead to a Samaritan village to prepare for his arrival. 53 But they were turned away. The people of the village refused to have anything to do with Jesus because he had resolved to go to Jerusalem. 54 When James and John heard about it, they said to Jesus, " Lord, should we order down fire from heaven to burn them up?" 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 So they went on to another village. 57 As they were walking along someone said to Jesus, " I will follow you no matter where you go." 58 But Jesus replied, " Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but I, the Son of Man, have no home of my own, not even a place to lay my head." 59 He said to another person, " Come, be my disciple." The man agreed, but he said, " Lord, first let me return home and bury my father." 60 Jesus replied, " Let those who are spiritually dead care for their own dead. Your duty is to go and preach the coming of the Kingdom of God." 61 Another said, " Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family." 62 But Jesus told him, " Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God."10:1 THE Lord now chose seventy-two other disciples and sent them on ahead in pairs to all the towns and villages he planned to visit. 2 These were his instructions to them: " The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, and ask him to send out more workers for his fields. 3 Go now, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves. 4 Don't take along any money, or a traveler's bag, or even an extra pair of sandals. And don't stop to greet anyone on the road. 5 " Whenever you enter a home, give it your blessing. 6 If those who live there are worthy, the blessing will stand; if they are not, the blessing will return to you. 7 When you enter a town, don't move around from home to home. Stay in one place, eating and drinking what they provide you. Don't hesitate to accept hospitality, because those who work deserve their pay. 8 " If a town welcomes you, eat whatever is set before you 9 and heal the sick. As you heal them, say, ` The Kingdom of God is near you now.' 10 But if a town refuses to welcome you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ` We wipe the dust of your town from our feet as a public announcement of your doom. And don't forget the Kingdom of God is near!' 12 The truth is, even wicked Sodom will be better off than such a town on the judgment day."
PSALM 74:1-23
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, why have you rejected us forever?
Why is your anger so intense against the sheep of your own pasture?
2 Remember that we are the people you chose in ancient times,
the tribe you redeemed as your own special possession!
And remember Jerusalem, your home here on earth.
3 Walk through the awful ruins of the city;
see how the enemy has destroyed your sanctuary.
4 There your enemies shouted their victorious battle cries;
there they set up their battle standards.
5 They chopped down the entrance
like woodcutters in a forest.
6 With axes and picks,
they smashed the carved paneling.
7 They set the sanctuary on fire, burning it to the ground.
They utterly defiled the place that bears your holy name.
8 Then they thought, " Let's destroy everything!"
So they burned down all the places where God was worshiped.
9 We see no miraculous signs
as evidence that you will save us.
All the prophets are gone;
no one can tell us when it will end.
10 How long, O God, will you allow our enemies to mock you?
Will you let them dishonor your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your strong right hand?
Unleash your powerful fist and deliver a deathblow.
12 You, O God, are my king from ages past,
bringing salvation to the earth.
13 You split the sea by your strength
and smashed the sea monster's heads.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan
and let the desert animals eat him.
15 You caused the springs and streams to gush forth,
and you dried up rivers that never run dry.
16 Both day and night belong to you;
you made the starlight and the sun.
17 You set the boundaries of the earth,
and you make both summer and winter.
18 See how these enemies scoff at you, LORD.
A foolish nation has dishonored your name.
19 Don't let these wild beasts destroy your doves.
Don't forget your afflicted people forever.
20 Remember your covenant promises,
for the land is full of darkness and violence!
21 Don't let the downtrodden be constantly disgraced!
Instead, let these poor and needy ones give praise to your name.
22 Arise, O God, and defend your cause.
Remember how these fools insult you all day long.
23 Don't overlook these things your enemies have said.
Their uproar of rebellion grows ever louder.
PROVERBS 12:11
Hard work means prosperity; only fools idle away their time.
