March 30 Reading through the Bible

DEUTERONOMY 13:1-15:23
LUKE 8:40-9:6
PSALM 71:1-24
PROVERBS 12:5-7

DEUTERONOMY 13:1-15:23
" Suppose there are prophets among you, or those who have dreams about the future, and they promise you signs or miracles, 2 and the predicted signs or miracles take place. If the prophets then say, ` Come, let us worship the gods of foreign nations,' 3 do not listen to them. The LORD your God is testing you to see if you love him with all your heart and soul. 4 Serve only the LORD your God and fear him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. 5 The false prophets or dreamers who try to lead you astray must be put to death, for they encourage rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of slavery in the land of Egypt. Since they try to keep you from following the LORD your God, you must execute them to remove the evil from among you. 6 " Suppose your brother, son, daughter, beloved wife, or closest friend comes to you secretly and says, ` Let us go worship other gods'--gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known. 7 They might suggest that you worship the gods of peoples who live nearby or who come from the ends of the earth. 8 If they do this, do not give in or listen, and have no pity. Do not spare or protect them. 9 You must put them to death! You must be the one to initiate the execution; then all the people must join in. 10 Stone the guilty ones to death because they have tried to draw you away from the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery. 11 Then all Israel will hear about it and be afraid, and such wickedness will never again be done among you. 12 " Suppose you hear in one of the towns the LORD your God is giving you 13 that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray by encouraging them to worship foreign gods. 14 In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, 15 you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. 16 Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. 17 Keep none of the plunder that has been set apart for destruction. Then the LORD will turn from his fierce anger and be merciful to you. He will have compassion on you and make you a great nation, just as he solemnly promised your ancestors. 18 " The LORD your God will be merciful only if you obey him and keep all the commands I am giving you today, doing what is pleasing to him.14:1 " SINCE you are the people of the LORD your God, never cut yourselves or shave the hair above your foreheads for the sake of the dead. 2 You have been set apart as holy to the LORD your God, and he has chosen you to be his own special treasure from all the nations of the earth. 3 " You must not eat animals that are ceremonially unclean. 4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. 6 " Any animal that has split hooves and chews the cud may be eaten, 7 but if the animal doesn't have both, it may not be eaten. So you may not eat the camel, the hare, or the rock badger. They chew the cud but do not have split hooves. 8 And the pig may not be eaten, for though it has split hooves, it does not chew the cud. All these animals are ceremonially unclean for you. You may not eat or even touch the dead bodies of such animals. 9 " As for marine animals, you may eat whatever has both fins and scales. 10 You may not, however, eat marine animals that do not have both fins and scales. They are ceremonially unclean for you. 11 " You may eat any bird that is ceremonially clean. 12 These are the birds you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, 13 the buzzard, kites of all kinds, 14 ravens of all kinds, 15 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the seagull, hawks of all kinds, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, herons of all kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat. 19 " All flying insects are ceremonially unclean for you and may not be eaten. 20 But you may eat any winged creature that is ceremonially clean. 21 " Do not eat anything that has died a natural death. You may give it to a foreigner living among you, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But do not eat it yourselves, for you are set apart as holy to the LORD your God. " Do not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. 22 " You must set aside a tithe of your crops--one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year. 23 Bring this tithe to the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored, and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to fear the LORD your God. 24 Now the place the LORD your God chooses for his name to be honored might be a long way from your home. 25 If so, you may sell the tithe portion of your crops and herds and take the money to the place the LORD your God chooses. 26 When you arrive, use the money to buy anything you want--an ox, a sheep, some wine, or beer. Then feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and celebrate with your household. 27 And do not forget the Levites in your community, for they have no inheritance as you do. 28 " At the end of every third year bring the tithe of all your crops and store it in the nearest town. 29 Give it to the Levites, who have no inheritance among you, as well as to the foreigners living among you, the orphans, and the widows in your towns, so they can eat and be satisfied. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all your work.15:1 " AT the end of every seventh year you must cancel your debts. 2 This is how it must be done. Creditors must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Israelites. They must not demand payment from their neighbors or relatives, for the LORD's time of release has arrived. 3 This release from debt, however, applies only to your fellow Israelites--not to the foreigners living among you. 4 There should be no poor among you, for the LORD your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession. 5 You will receive this blessing if you carefully obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today. 6 The LORD your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow! You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you! 7 " But if there are any poor people in your towns when you arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them. 8 Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need. 9 Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year of release is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the LORD, you will be considered guilty of sin. 10 Give freely without begrudging it, and the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do. 11 There will always be some among you who are poor. That is why I am commanding you to share your resources freely with the poor and with other Israelites in need. 12 " If an Israelite man or woman voluntarily becomes your servant and serves you for six years, in the seventh year you must set that servant free.13 " When you release a male servant, do not send him away empty-handed. 14 Give him a generous farewell gift from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. Share with him some of the bounty with which the LORD your God has blessed you. 15 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you! That is why I am giving you this command. 16 But suppose your servant says, ` I will not leave you,' because he loves you and your family, and he is well off with you. 17 In that case, take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door. After that, he will be your servant for life. " You must do the same for your female servants.18 " Do not consider it a hardship when you release your servants. Remember that for six years they have given you the services worth double the wages of hired workers, and the LORD your God will bless you in all you do. 19 " You must set aside for the LORD your God all the firstborn males from your flocks and herds. Do not use the firstborn of your herds to work your fields, and do not shear the firstborn of your flocks. 20 Instead, you and your family must eat these animals in the presence of the LORD your God each year at the place he chooses. 21 But if this firstborn animal has any defect, such as being lame or blind, or if anything else is wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. 22 Instead, use it for food for your family at home. Anyone may eat it, whether ceremonially clean or unclean, just as anyone may eat a gazelle or deer. 23 But do not eat the blood. You must pour it out on the ground like water.

LUKE 8:40-9:6
On the other side of the lake the crowds received Jesus with open arms because they had been waiting for him. 41 And now a man named Jairus, a leader of the local synagogue, came and fell down at Jesus' feet, begging him to come home with him. 42 His only child was dying, a little girl twelve years old. As Jesus went with him, he was surrounded by the crowds. 43 And there was a woman in the crowd who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years. She had spent everything she had on doctors and still could find no cure. 44 She came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of his robe. Immediately, the bleeding stopped. 45 " Who touched me?" Jesus asked. Everyone denied it, and Peter said, " Master, this whole crowd is pressing up against you." 46 But Jesus told him, " No, someone deliberately touched me, for I felt healing power go out from me." 47 When the woman realized that Jesus knew, she began to tremble and fell to her knees before him. The whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed. 48 " Daughter," he said to her, " your faith has made you well. Go in peace." 49 While he was still speaking to her, a messenger arrived from Jairus's home with the message, " Your little girl is dead. There's no use troubling the Teacher now." 50 But when Jesus heard what had happened, he said to Jairus, " Don't be afraid. Just trust me, and she will be all right." 51 When they arrived at the house, Jesus wouldn't let anyone go in with him except Peter, James, John, and the little girl's father and mother. 52 The house was filled with people weeping and wailing, but he said, " Stop the weeping! She isn't dead; she is only asleep."53 But the crowd laughed at him because they all knew she had died. 54 Then Jesus took her by the hand and said in a loud voice, " Get up, my child!" 55 And at that moment her life returned, and she immediately stood up! Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. 56 Her parents were overwhelmed, but Jesus insisted that they not tell anyone what had happened. 9:1 ONE day Jesus called together his twelve apostles and gave them power and authority to cast out demons and to heal all diseases. 2 Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the coming of the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 " Don't even take along a walking stick," he instructed them, " nor a traveler's bag, nor food, nor money. Not even an extra coat. 4 When you enter each village, be a guest in only one home. 5 If the people of the village won't receive your message when you enter it, shake off its dust from your feet as you leave. It is a sign that you have abandoned that village to its fate." 6 So they began their circuit of the villages, preaching the Good News and healing the sick.

PSALM 71:1-24
O LORD, you are my refuge;
never let me be disgraced.
2 Rescue me! Save me from my enemies, for you are just.
Turn your ear to listen and set me free.
3 Be to me a protecting rock of safety,
where I am always welcome.
Give the order to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked,
from the clutches of cruel oppressors.
5 O Lord, you alone are my hope.
I've trusted you, O LORD, from childhood.
6 Yes, you have been with me from birth;
from my mother's womb you have cared for me.
No wonder I am always praising you!
7 My life is an example to many,
because you have been my strength and protection.
8 That is why I can never stop praising you;
I declare your glory all day long.
9 And now, in my old age, don't set me aside.
Don't abandon me when my strength is failing.
10 For my enemies are whispering against me.
They are plotting together to kill me.
11 They say, " God has abandoned him.
Let's go and get him,
for there is no one to help him now."
12 O God, don't stay away.
My God, please hurry to help me.
13 Bring disgrace and destruction on those who accuse me.
May humiliation and shame cover
those who want to harm me.
14 But I will keep on hoping for you to help me;
I will praise you more and more.
15 I will tell everyone about your righteousness.
All day long I will proclaim your saving power,
for I am overwhelmed by how much you have done for me.
16 I will praise your mighty deeds, O Sovereign LORD.
I will tell everyone that you alone are just and good.
17 O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood,
and I have constantly told others about the wonderful things you do.
18 Now that I am old and gray,
do not abandon me, O God.
Let me proclaim your power to this new generation,
your mighty miracles to all who come after me.
19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the highest heavens.
You have done such wonderful things.
Who can compare with you, O God?
20 You have allowed me to suffer much hardship,
but you will restore me to life again
and lift me up from the depths of the earth.
21 You will restore me to even greater honor
and comfort me once again.
22 Then I will praise you with music on the harp,
because you are faithful to your promises, O God.
I will sing for you with a lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 I will shout for joy and sing your praises,
for you have redeemed me.
24 I will tell about your righteous deeds
all day long,
for everyone who tried to hurt me
has been shamed and humiliated.

PROVERBS 12:5-7

The plans of the godly are just; the advice of the wicked is treacherous. The words of the wicked are like a murderous ambush, but the words of the godly save lives. The wicked perish and are gone, but the children of the godly stand firm.