Today's Reading

¹At that time the Lord said to me, "Cut two tables of stone like the first, and come up to me onto the mountain, and make an ark of wood.

²I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark."

³So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two tables of stone like the first, and went up onto the mountain, having the two tables in my hand.

⁴He wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spoke to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them to me.

⁵I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are as the Lord commanded me.

⁶(The children of Israel traveled from Beeroth Bene Jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his place.

⁷From there they traveled to Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water.

⁸At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day.

⁹Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, according as the Lord your God spoke to him.)

¹⁰I stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights: and the Lord listened to me that time also; the Lord would not destroy you.

¹¹The Lord said to me, "Arise, take your journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give to them."

¹²Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

¹³to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command you this day for your good?

¹⁴Behold, to the Lord your God belongs heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is therein.

¹⁵Only the Lord had a delight in your fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples, as at this day.

¹⁶Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiff-necked.

¹⁷For the Lord your God, he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the awesome, who doesn't respect persons, nor takes reward.

¹⁸He does execute justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the foreigner, in giving him food and clothing.

¹⁹Therefore love the foreigner; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

²⁰You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve him; and you shall cling to him, and you shall swear by his name.

²¹He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things, which your eyes have seen.

²²Your fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons; and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of the sky for multitude.

¹Therefore you shall love the Lord your God, and keep his instructions, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, always.

²Know this day: for I do not speak with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm,

³and his signs, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land;

⁴and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day;

⁵and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place;

⁶and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; how the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel:

⁷but your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord which he did.

⁸Therefore you shall keep all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land, where you go over to possess it;

⁹and that you may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.

¹⁰For the land, where you go in to possess it, isn't as the land of Egypt, that you came out from, where you sowed your seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs;

¹¹but the land, where you go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water of the rain of the sky,

¹²a land which the Lord your God cares for: the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.

¹³It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

¹⁴that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, and your new wine, and your oil.

¹⁵I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.

¹⁶Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

¹⁷and the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and he shut up the sky, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord gives you.

¹⁸Therefore you shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for symbols between your eyes.

¹⁹You shall teach them your children, talking of them, when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.

²⁰You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates;

²¹that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.

²²For if you shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you, to do it, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him;

²³then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.

²⁴Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the hinder sea shall be your border.

²⁵No man shall be able to stand before you: the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread on, as he has spoken to you.

²⁶Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:

²⁷the blessing, if you shall listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day;

²⁸and the curse, if you shall not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.

²⁹It shall happen, when the Lord your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim, and the curse on Mount Ebal.

³⁰Aren't they beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?

³¹For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you shall possess it, and dwell therein.

³²You shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you this day.

¹These are the statutes and the ordinances which you shall observe to do in the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess it, all the days that you live on the earth.

²You shall surely destroy all the places in which the nations that you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the hills, and under every green tree:

³and you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods; and you shall destroy their name out of that place.

⁴You shall not do so to the Lord your God.

⁵But to the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even to his habitation you shall seek, and there you shall come;

⁶and there you shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock:

⁷and there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice in all that you put your hand to, you and your households, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

⁸You shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatever is right in his own eyes;

⁹for you haven't yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the Lord your God gives you.

¹⁰But when you go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which the Lord your God causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies around you, so that you dwell in safety;

¹¹then it shall happen that to the place which the Lord your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to the Lord.

¹²You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you, and your sons, and your daughters, and your male servants, and your female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you.

¹³Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see;

¹⁴but in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

¹⁵Notwithstanding, you may kill and eat flesh within all your gates, after all the desire of your soul, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you: the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the gazelle, and as of the hart.

¹⁶Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it out on the earth as water.

¹⁷You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain, or of your new wine, or of your oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, nor any of your vows which you vow, nor your freewill offerings, nor the wave offering of your hand;

¹⁸but you shall eat them before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord your God shall choose, you, and your son, and your daughter, and your male servant, and your female servant, and the Levite who is within your gates: and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you put your hand to.

¹⁹Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live in your land.

²⁰When the Lord your God shall enlarge your border, as he has promised you, and you shall say, "I want to eat meat," because your soul desires to eat meat; you may eat meat, after all the desire of your soul.

²¹If the place which the Lord your God shall choose, to put his name there, is too far from you, then you shall kill of your herd and of your flock, which the Lord has given you, as I have commanded you; and you may eat within your gates, after all the desire of your soul.

²²Even as the gazelle and as the hart is eaten, so you shall eat of it: the unclean and the clean may eat of it alike.

²³Only be sure that you do not eat the blood: for the blood is the life; and you shall not eat the life with the flesh.

²⁴You shall not eat it; you shall pour it out on the earth as water.

²⁵You shall not eat it; that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord.

²⁶Only your holy things which you have, and your vows, you shall take, and go to the place which the Lord shall choose:

²⁷and you shall offer your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the Lord your God; and you shall eat the flesh.

²⁸Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you forever, when you do that which is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

²⁹When the Lord your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go in to dispossess them, and you dispossess them, and dwell in their land;

³⁰take heed to yourself that you not be ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before you; and that you not inquire after their gods, saying, "How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise."

³¹You shall not do so to the Lord your God: for every abomination to the Lord, which he hates, have they done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.

³²Whatever thing I command you, that you shall observe to do: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

¹It happened, that when he finished praying in a certain place, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples."

²He said to them, "When you pray, say, 'Father, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come.

³Give us day by day our daily bread.

⁴Forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.'"

⁵He said to them, "Which of you, if you go to a friend at midnight, and tell him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,

⁶for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him,'

⁷and he from within will answer and say, 'Do not bother me. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give it to you'?

⁸I tell you, although he will not rise and give it to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence, he will get up and give him as many as he needs.

⁹"I tell you, ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you.

¹⁰For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks it will be opened.

¹¹"Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, he won't give him a snake instead of a fish, will he?

¹²Or if he asks for an egg, he won't give him a scorpion, will he?

¹³If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

¹⁴He was casting out a demon, and it was mute. It happened, when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the multitudes marveled.

¹⁵But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons."

¹⁶Others, testing him, sought from him a sign from heaven.

¹⁷But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation. A house divided against itself falls.

¹⁸If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.

¹⁹But if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore will they be your judges.

²⁰But if I by the finger of God cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come to you.

²¹"When the strong man, fully armed, guards his own dwelling, his goods are safe.

²²But when someone stronger attacks him and overcomes him, he takes from him his whole armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.

²³"He that is not with me is against me. He who does not gather with me scatters.

²⁴The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, 'I will turn back to my house from which I came out.'

²⁵When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order.

²⁶Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first."

²⁷It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!"

²⁸But he said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it."

²⁹When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, "This generation is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah.

³⁰For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will also the Son of Man be to this generation.

³¹The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here.

³²The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the proclaiming of Jonah, and behold, one greater than Jonah is here.

³³"No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light.

³⁴The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness.

³⁵Therefore see whether the light that is in you is not darkness.

³⁶If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light."

³⁷Now as he spoke, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him. He went in, and sat at the table.

³⁸When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner.

³⁹The Lord said to him, "Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness.

⁴⁰You foolish ones, did not he who made the outside make the inside also?

⁴¹But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you.

⁴²But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and the love of God. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone.

⁴³Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces.

⁴⁴Woe to you! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them do not know it."

⁴⁵One of the Law scholars answered him, "Teacher, in saying this you insult us also."

⁴⁶He said, "Woe to you Law scholars also! For you load people with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won't even lift one finger to help carry those burdens.

⁴⁷Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

⁴⁸So you are witnesses and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs.

⁴⁹Therefore also the wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles; and some of them they will kill and persecute,

⁵⁰that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

⁵¹from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.' Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation.

⁵²Woe to you Law scholars! For you took away the key of knowledge. You did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered."

⁵³And when he left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him;

⁵⁴lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

¹ Listen to my prayer, God. Do not hide yourself from my supplication.

²Attend to me, and answer me. I am restless in my complaint, and moan,

³Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked. For they bring suffering on me. In anger they hold a grudge against me.

⁴My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me.

⁵Fearfulness and trembling have come on me. Horror has overwhelmed me.

⁶I said, "Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away, and be at rest.

⁷Behold, then I would wander far off. I would lodge in the wilderness." Selah.

⁸"I would hurry to a shelter from the stormy wind and storm."

⁹Confuse them, Lord, and confound their language, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.

¹⁰Day and night they prowl around on its walls. Malice and abuse are also within her.

¹¹Destructive forces are within her. Threats and lies do not depart from her streets.

¹²For it was not an enemy who insulted me, then I could have endured it. Neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me, then I would have hid myself from him.

¹³But it was you, a man like me, my companion, and my familiar friend.

¹⁴We took sweet fellowship together. We walked in God's house with company.

¹⁵Let death come suddenly on them. Let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is in their dwelling, in the midst of them.

¹⁶As for me, I will call on God. The Lord will save me.

¹⁷Evening, morning, and at noon, I will cry out in distress. He will hear my voice.

¹⁸He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, although there are many who oppose me.

¹⁹God, who is enthroned forever, will hear, and answer them. Selah. They never change, who do not fear God.

²⁰He raises his hands against his friends. He has violated his covenant.

²¹His mouth was smooth as butter, but his heart was war. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.

²²Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you. He will never allow the righteous to be moved.

²³But you, God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days, but I will trust in you.

¹Do not be envious of evil men; neither desire to be with them:

²for their hearts plot violence, and their lips talk about mischief.

³Through wisdom a house is built; by understanding it is established;

⁴by knowledge the rooms are filled with all rare and beautiful treasure.

⁵A wise man has great power; and a knowledgeable man increases strength;

⁶for by wise guidance you wage your war; and victory is in many advisors.

⁷Wisdom is too high for a fool: he doesn't open his mouth in the gate.

⁸One who plots to do evil will be called a schemer.

⁹The schemes of folly are sin. The mocker is detested by men.

¹⁰If you falter in the time of trouble, your strength is small.

¹¹Rescue those who are being led away to death! Indeed, hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter!

¹²If you say, "Behold, we did not know this;" doesn't he who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, doesn't he know it? Shall he not render to every man according to his work?

¹³My son, eat honey, for it is good; the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste:

¹⁴so you shall know wisdom to be to your soul; if you have found it, then there will be a reward, your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁵Do not lie in wait, wicked man, against the habitation of the righteous. Do not destroy his resting place:

¹⁶for a righteous man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.

¹⁷Do not rejoice when your enemy falls. Do not let your heart be glad when he is overthrown;

¹⁸lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

¹⁹Do not fret yourself because of evildoers; neither be envious of the wicked:

²⁰for there will be no reward to the evil man; and the lamp of the wicked shall be snuffed out.

²¹My son, fear the Lord and the king. Do not join those who are rebellious:

²²for their calamity will rise suddenly; the destruction from them both-who knows?

²³These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good.

²⁴He who says to the wicked, "You are righteous;" peoples shall curse him, and nations shall abhor him-

²⁵but it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and a rich blessing will come on them.

²⁶An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips.

²⁷Prepare your work outside, and get your fields ready. Afterwards, build your house.

²⁸Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Do not deceive with your lips.

²⁹Do not say, "I will do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work."

³⁰I went by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

³¹Behold, it was all grown over with thorns. Its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

³²Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction:

³³a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep;

³⁴so your poverty will come as a robber, and your want as an armed man.