DEUTERONOMY 23:1-25:19
LUKE 10:13-37
PSALM 75:1-10
PROVERBS 12:12-14DEUTERONOMY 23:1-25:19
" If a man's testicles are crushed or his penis is cut off, he may not be included in the assembly of the LORD. 2 " Those of illegitimate birth and their descendants for ten generations may not be included in the assembly of the LORD. 3 " No Ammonites or Moabites, or any of their descendants for ten generations, may be included in the assembly of the LORD. 4 These nations did not welcome you with food and water when you came out of Egypt. Instead, they tried to hire Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you. 5 (But the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam. He turned the intended curse into a blessing because the LORD your God loves you.) 6 You must never, as long as you live, try to help the Ammonites or the Moabites in any way. 7 " Do not detest the Edomites or the Egyptians, because the Edomites are your relatives, and you lived as foreigners among the Egyptians. 8 The third generation of Egyptians who came with you from Egypt may enter the assembly of the LORD. 9 " When you go to war against your enemies, stay away from everything impure. 10 " Any man who becomes ceremonially defiled because of a nocturnal emission must leave the camp and stay away all day. 11 Toward evening he must bathe himself, and at sunset he may return to the camp.12 " Mark off an area outside the camp for a latrine. 13 Each of you must have a spade as part of your equipment. Whenever you relieve yourself, you must dig a hole with the spade and cover the excrement. 14 The camp must be holy, for the LORD your God moves around in your camp to protect you and to defeat your enemies. He must not see any shameful thing among you, or he might turn away from you. 15 " If slaves should escape from their masters and take refuge with you, do not force them to return. 16 Let them live among you in whatever town they choose, and do not oppress them. 17 " No Israelite man or woman may ever become a temple prostitute. 18 Do not bring to the house of the LORD your God any offering from the earnings of a prostitute, whether a man or a woman, for both are detestable to the LORD your God.19 " Do not charge interest on the loans you make to a fellow Israelite, whether it is money, food, or anything else that may be loaned with interest. 20 You may charge interest to foreigners, but not to Israelites, so the LORD your God may bless you in everything you do in the land you are about to enter and occupy. 21 " When you make a vow to the LORD your God, be prompt in doing whatever you promised him. For the LORD your God demands that you promptly fulfill all your vows. If you don't, you will be guilty of sin. 22 However, it is not a sin to refrain from making a vow. 23 But once you have voluntarily made a vow, be careful to do as you have said, for you have made a vow to the LORD your God. 24 " You may eat your fill of grapes from your neighbor's vineyard, but do not take any away in a basket. 25 And you may pluck a few heads of your neighbor's grain by hand, but you may not harvest it with a sickle.24:1 " SUPPOSE a man marries a woman but later discovers something about her that is shameful. So he writes her a letter of divorce, gives it to her, and sends her away. 2 If she then leaves and marries another man 3 and the second husband also divorces her or dies, 4 the former husband may not marry her again, for she has been defiled. That would be detestable to the LORD. You must not bring guilt upon the land the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession. 5 " A newly married man must not be drafted into the army or given any other special responsibilities. He must be free to be at home for one year, bringing happiness to the wife he has married. 6 " It is wrong to take a pair of millstones, or even just the upper millstone, as a pledge, for the owner uses it to make a living. 7 " If anyone kidnaps a fellow Israelite and treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. You must cleanse the evil from among you.8 " Watch all contagious skin diseases carefully and follow the instructions of the Levitical priests; obey the commands I have given them. 9 Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam as you were coming from Egypt. 10 " If you lend anything to your neighbor, do not enter your neighbor's house to claim the security. 11 Stand outside and the owner will bring it out to you. 12 If your neighbor is poor and has only a cloak to give as security, do not keep the cloak overnight. 13 Return the cloak to its owner by sunset so your neighbor can sleep in it and bless you. And the LORD your God will count it as a righteous act. 14 " Never take advantage of poor laborers, whether fellow Israelites or foreigners living in your towns. 15 Pay them their wages each day before sunset because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they might cry out to the LORD against you, and it would be counted against you as sin. 16 " Parents must not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor the children for the sins of their parents. Those worthy of death must be executed for their own crimes. 17 " True justice must be given to foreigners living among you and to orphans, and you must never accept a widow's garment in pledge of her debt. 18 Always remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God redeemed you. That is why I have given you this command.19 " When you are harvesting your crops and forget to bring in a bundle of grain from your field, don't go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. Then the LORD your God will bless you in all you do. 20 When you beat the olives from your olive trees, don't go over the boughs twice. Leave some of the olives for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 21 This also applies to the grapes in your vineyard. Do not glean the vines after they are picked, but leave any remaining grapes for the foreigners, orphans, and widows. 22 Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt. That is why I am giving you this command. 25:1 " SUPPOSE two people take a dispute to court, and the judges declare that one is right and the other is wrong. 2 If the person in the wrong is sentenced to be flogged, the judge will command him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of lashes appropriate to the crime. 3 No more than forty lashes may ever be given; more than forty lashes would publicly humiliate your neighbor. 4 " Do not keep an ox from eating as it treads out the grain. 5 " If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Instead, her husband's brother must marry her and fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law. 6 The first son she bears to him will be counted as the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel. 7 But if the dead man's brother refuses to marry the widow, she must go to the town gate and say to the leaders there, ` My husband's brother refuses to preserve his brother's name in Israel--he refuses to marry me.' 8 The leaders of the town will then summon him and try to reason with him. If he still insists that he doesn't want to marry her, 9 the widow must walk over to him in the presence of the leaders, pull his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. She will then say, ` This is what happens to a man who refuses to raise up a son for his brother.' 10 Ever afterward his family will be referred to as ` the family of the man whose sandal was pulled off'! 11 " If two Israelite men are fighting and the wife of one tries to rescue her husband by grabbing the testicles of the other man, 12 her hand must be cut off without pity. 13 " You must use accurate scales when you weigh out merchandise, 14 and you must use full and honest measures. 15 Yes, use honest weights and measures, so that you will enjoy a long life in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 16 Those who cheat with dishonest weights and measures are detestable to the LORD your God. 17 " Never forget what the Amalekites did to you as you came from Egypt. 18 They attacked you when you were exhausted and weary, and they struck down those who were lagging behind. They had no fear of God. 19 Therefore, when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies in the land he is giving you as a special possession, you are to destroy the Amalekites and erase their memory from under heaven. Never forget this!"
LUKE 10:13-37
" What horrors await you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have sat in deep repentance long ago, clothed in sackcloth and throwing ashes on their heads to show their remorse. 14 Yes, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on the judgment day than you. 15 And you people of Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to the place of the dead." 16 Then he said to the disciples, " Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God who sent me." 17 When the seventy-two disciples returned, they joyfully reported to him, " Lord, even the demons obey us when we use your name!" 18 " Yes," he told them, " I saw Satan falling from heaven as a flash of lightning! 19 And I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. 20 But don't rejoice just because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered as citizens of heaven."21 Then Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and said, " O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way. 22 " My Father has given me authority over everything. No one really knows the Son except the Father, and no one really knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him." 23 Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, " How privileged you are to see what you have seen. 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings have longed to see and hear what you have seen and heard, but they could not." 25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: " Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?" 26 Jesus replied, " What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?" 27 The man answered, " ` You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.' And, ` Love your neighbor as yourself.' " 28 " Right!" Jesus told him. " Do this and you will live!" 29 The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, " And who is my neighbor?"30 Jesus replied with an illustration: " A Jewish man was traveling on a trip from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes and money, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road. 31 "By chance a Jewish priest came along; but when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. 33 " Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt deep pity. 34 Kneeling beside him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with medicine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two pieces of silver and told him to take care of the man. ` If his bill runs higher than that,' he said, ` I'll pay the difference the next time I am here.' 36 " Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?" Jesus asked. 37 The man replied, " The one who showed him mercy." Then Jesus said, " Yes, now go and do the same."
PSALM 75:1-10
For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be sung to the tune " Do Not Destroy!" A song.
1 We thank you, O God!
We give thanks because you are near.
People everywhere tell of your mighty miracles.
2 God says, " At the time I have planned,
I will bring justice against the wicked.
3 When the earth quakes and its people live in turmoil,
I am the one who keeps its foundations firm.
Interlude4 " I warned the proud, ` Stop your boasting!'
I told the wicked, ` Don't raise your fists!
5 Don't lift your fists in defiance at the heavens
or speak with rebellious arrogance.' "
6 For no one on earth--from east or west,
or even from the wilderness--
can raise another person up.
7 It is God alone who judges;
he decides who will rise and who will fall.
8 For the LORD holds a cup in his hand;
it is full of foaming wine mixed with spices.
He pours the wine out in judgment,
and all the wicked must drink it,
draining it to the dregs.
9 But as for me, I will always proclaim what God has done;
I will sing praises to the God of Israel.
10 For God says, " I will cut off the strength of the wicked,
but I will increase the power of the godly."
PROVERBS 12:12-14
Thieves are jealous of each other's loot, while the godly bear their own fruit. The wicked are trapped by their own words, but the godly escape such trouble. People can get many good things by the words they say; the work of their hands also gives them many benefits.
