DEUTERONOMY 16:1-17:20
LUKE 9:7-27
PSALM 72:1-20
PROVERBS 12:8-9
DEUTERONOMY 16:1-17:20
" In honor of the LORD your God, always celebrate the Passover at the proper time in early spring, for that was when the LORD your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2 Your Passover sacrifice may be from either the flock or the herd, and it must be sacrificed to the LORD your God at the place he chooses for his name to be honored. 3 Eat it with bread made without yeast. For seven days eat only bread made without yeast, as you did when you escaped from Egypt in such a hurry. Eat this bread--the bread of suffering--so that you will remember the day you departed from Egypt as long as you live. 4 Let no yeast be found in any house throughout your land for seven days. And do not let any of the meat of the Passover lamb remain until the next morning. 5 " The Passover must not be eaten in the towns that the LORD your God is giving you. 6 It must be offered at the place the LORD your God will choose for his name to be honored. Sacrifice it there as the sun goes down on the anniversary of your exodus from Egypt. 7 Roast the lamb and eat it in the place the LORD your God chooses. Then go back to your tents the next morning. 8 For the next six days you may not eat bread made with yeast. On the seventh day the people must assemble before the LORD your God, and no work may be done on that day. 9 " Count off seven weeks from the beginning of your grain harvest. 10 Then you must celebrate the Festival of Harvest to honor the LORD your God. Bring him a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings you have received from him. 11 It is a time to celebrate before the LORD your God at the place he chooses for his name to be honored. Celebrate with your whole family, all your servants, the Levites from your towns, and the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you. 12 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, so be careful to obey all these laws. 13 " Another celebration, the Festival of Shelters, must be observed for seven days at the end of the harvest season, after the grain has been threshed and the grapes have been pressed. 14 This festival will be a happy time of rejoicing with your family, your servants, and with the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows from your towns. 15 For seven days celebrate this festival to honor the LORD your God at the place he chooses, for it is the LORD your God who gives you bountiful harvests and blesses all your work. This festival will be a time of great joy for all. 16 " Each year every man in Israel must celebrate these three festivals: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters. They must appear before the LORD your God at the place he chooses on each of these occasions, and they must bring a gift to the LORD. 17 All must give as they are able, according to the blessings given to them by the LORD your God. 18 " Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes in all the towns the LORD your God is giving you. They will judge the people fairly throughout the land. 19 You must never twist justice or show partiality. Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly. 20 Let true justice prevail, so you may live and occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you. 21 " You must never set up an Asherah pole beside the altar of the LORD your God. 22 And never set up sacred pillars for worship, for the LORD your God hates them.17:1 " NEVER sacrifice a sick or defective ox or sheep to the LORD your God, for he detests such gifts. 2 " Suppose a man or woman among you, in one of your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, has done evil in the sight of the LORD your God and has violated the covenant 3 by serving other gods or by worshiping the sun, the moon, or any of the forces of heaven, which I have strictly forbidden. 4 When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly. If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, 5 then that man or woman must be taken to the gates of the town and stoned to death. 6 But never put a person to death on the testimony of only one witness. There must always be at least two or three witnesses. 7 The witnesses must throw the first stones, and then all the people will join in. In this way, you will purge all evil from among you. 8 " Suppose a case arises in a local court that is too hard for you to decide--for instance, whether someone is guilty of murder or only of manslaughter, or a difficult lawsuit, or a case involving different kinds of assault. Take such cases to the place the LORD your God will choose, 9 where the Levitical priests and the judge on duty will hear the case and decide what to do. 10 The decision they make at the place the LORD chooses will always stand. You must do exactly what they say. 11 After they have interpreted the law and reached a verdict, the sentence they impose must be fully executed; do not modify it in any way. 12 Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who represents the LORD your God must be put to death. Such evil must be purged from Israel. 13 Then everyone will hear about it and be afraid to act so arrogantly. 14 " You will soon arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you, and you will conquer it and settle there. Then you may begin to think, ` We ought to have a king like the other nations around us.' 15 If this happens, be sure that you select as king the man the LORD your God chooses. You must appoint a fellow Israelite, not a foreigner. 16 The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself, and he must never send his people to Egypt to buy horses there, for the LORD has told you, ` You must never return to Egypt.' 17 The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will lead him away from the LORD. And he must not accumulate vast amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself. 18 " When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy these laws on a scroll for himself in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 He must always keep this copy of the law with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the LORD his God by obeying all the terms of this law. 20 This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. This will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel."
LUKE 9:7-27
When reports of Jesus' miracles reached Herod Antipas, he was worried and puzzled because some were saying, " This is John the Baptist come back to life again." 8 Others were saying, " It is Elijah or some other ancient prophet risen from the dead." 9 " I beheaded John," Herod said, " so who is this man about whom I hear such strange stories?" And he tried to see him. 10 When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Bethsaida. 11 But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him. And he welcomed them, teaching them about the Kingdom of God and curing those who were ill. 12 Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, " Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this deserted place." 13 But Jesus said, " You feed them." " Impossible!" they protested. " We have only five loaves of bread and two fish. Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?" 14 For there were about five thousand men there. " Just tell them to sit down on the ground in groups of about fifty each," Jesus replied. 15 So the people all sat down. 16 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and asked God's blessing on the food. Breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples to give to the people. 17 They all ate as much as they wanted, and they picked up twelve baskets of leftovers! 18 One day as Jesus was alone, praying, he came over to his disciples and asked them, " Who do people say I am?" 19 " Well," they replied, " some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead." 20 Then he asked them, " Who do you say I am?" Peter replied, " You are the Messiah sent from God!" 21 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about this. 22 " For I, the Son of Man, must suffer many terrible things," he said. " I will be rejected by the leaders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. I will be killed, but three days later I will be raised from the dead." 23 Then he said to the crowd, " If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me. 24 If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. 25 And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose or forfeit your own soul in the process? 26 If a person is ashamed of me and my message, I, the Son of Man, will be ashamed of that person when I return in my glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels. 27 And I assure you that some of you standing here right now will not die before you see the Kingdom of God."
PSALM 72:1-20
A psalm of Solomon.
1 Give justice to the king, O God,
and righteousness to the king's son.
2 Help him judge your people in the right way;
let the poor always be treated fairly.
3 May the mountains yield prosperity for all,
and may the hills be fruitful,
because the king does what is right.
4 Help him to defend the poor,
to rescue the children of the needy,
and to crush their oppressors.
5 May he live as long as the sun shines,
as long as the moon continues in the skies.
Yes, forever!
6 May his reign be as refreshing as the springtime rains--
like the showers that water the earth.
7 May all the godly flourish during his reign.
May there be abundant prosperity until the end of time.
8 May he reign from sea to sea,
and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
9 Desert nomads will bow before him;
his enemies will fall before him in the dust.
10 The western kings of Tarshish and the islands
will bring him tribute.
The eastern kings of Sheba and Seba
will bring him gifts.
11 All kings will bow before him,
and all nations will serve him.
12 He will rescue the poor when they cry to him;
he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them.
13 He feels pity for the weak and the needy,
and he will rescue them.
14 He will save them from oppression and from violence,
for their lives are precious to him.
15 Long live the king!
May the gold of Sheba be given to him.
May the people always pray for him
and bless him all day long.
16 May there be abundant crops throughout the land,
flourishing even on the mountaintops.
May the fruit trees flourish as they do in Lebanon,
sprouting up like grass in afield.
17 May the king's name endure forever;
may it continue as long as the sun shines.
May all nations be blessed through him
and bring him praise.
18 Bless the LORD God, the God of Israel,
who alone does such wonderful things.
19 Bless his glorious name forever!
Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and amen!
20 (This ends the prayers of David son of Jesse.)
PROVERBS 12:8-9
A sensible person wins admiration but a warped mind is despised. Better to be an ordinary person with a servant than to be self-important but have no food.
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