Today's Reading

¹You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely bring them again to your brother.

²If your brother isn't near to you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your brother seek after it, and you shall restore it to him.

³So you shall do with his donkey; and so you shall do with his garment; and so you shall do with every lost thing of your brother's, which he has lost, and you have found: you may not hide yourself.

⁴You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen down by the way, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely help him to lift them up again.

⁵A woman shall not wear men's clothing, neither shall a man put on women's clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.

⁶If a bird's nest chance to be before you in the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the hen sitting on the young, or on the eggs, you shall not take the hen with the young:

⁷you shall surely let the hen go, but the young you may take to yourself; that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days.

⁸When you build a new house, then you shall make a battlement for your roof, that you do not bring blood on your house, if any man fall from there.

⁹You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole fruit be forfeited, the seed which you have sown, and the increase of the vineyard.

¹⁰You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.

¹¹You shall not wear a mixed stuff, wool and linen together.

¹²You shall make yourselves fringes on the four borders of your cloak, with which you cover yourself.

¹³If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and hates her,

¹⁴and accuses her of shameful things, and brings up an evil name on her, and says, "I took this woman, and when I came near to her, I did not find in her the tokens of virginity";

¹⁵then shall the father of the young lady, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the young lady's virginity to the elders of the city in the gate;

¹⁶and the young lady's father shall tell the elders, "I gave my daughter to this man to wife, and he hates her;

¹⁷and behold, he has accused her of shameful things, saying, 'I did not find in your daughter the tokens of virginity;' and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity." They shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.

¹⁸The elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him;

¹⁹and they shall fine him one hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the young lady, because he has brought up an evil name on a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.

²⁰But if this thing be true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young lady;

²¹then they shall bring out the young lady to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done folly in Israel, to play the prostitute in her father's house: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.

²²If a man be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman: so you shall put away the evil from Israel.

²³If there is a young lady who is a virgin pledged to be married to a husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;

²⁴then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones; the lady, because she did not cry, being in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor's wife: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.

²⁵But if the man find the lady who is pledged to be married in the field, and the man force her, and lie with her; then the man only who lay with her shall die:

²⁶but to the lady you shall do nothing; there is in the lady no sin worthy of death: for as when a man rises against his neighbor, and kills him, even so is this matter;

²⁷for he found her in the field, the pledged to be married lady cried, and there was none to save her.

²⁸If a man find a lady who is a virgin, who is not pledged to be married, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;

²⁹then the man who lay with her shall give to the lady's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has humbled her; he may not put her away all his days.

³⁰A man shall not take his father's wife, and shall not uncover his father's skirt.

¹He who is wounded in the stones, or has his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord.

²No one of illegitimate birth shall enter into the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of the Lord.

³An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation shall none belonging to them enter into the assembly of the Lord forever:

⁴because they did not meet you with bread and with water in the way, when you came forth out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you.

⁵Nevertheless the Lord your God wouldn't listen to Balaam; but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing to you, because the Lord your God loved you.

⁶You shall not seek their peace nor their prosperity all your days forever.

⁷You shall not abhor an Edomite; for he is your brother: you shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land.

⁸The children of the third generation who are born to them shall enter into the assembly of the Lord.

⁹When you go forth in camp against your enemies, then you shall keep yourselves from every evil thing.

¹⁰If there is among you any man who is not clean by reason of that which happens him by night, then shall he go outside of the camp. He shall not come within the camp:

¹¹but it shall be, when evening comes on, he shall bathe himself in water; and when the sun is down, he shall come within the camp.

¹²You shall have a place also outside of the camp, where you shall go outside there;

¹³and you shall have a spade among your tools; and it shall be, when you sit down outside, you shall dig therewith, and shall turn and cover that which comes from you:

¹⁴for the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you; therefore your camp shall be holy, that he may not see an unclean thing in you, and turn away from you.

¹⁵You shall not deliver to his master a servant who is escaped from his master to you:

¹⁶he shall dwell with you, in the midst of you, in the place which he shall choose within one of your gates, where it pleases him best: you shall not oppress him.

¹⁷There shall be no prostitute of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a sodomite of the sons of Israel.

¹⁸You shall not bring the hire of a prostitute, or the wages of a dog, into the house of the Lord your God for any vow: for even both these are an abomination to the Lord your God.

¹⁹You shall not lend on interest to your brother; interest of money, interest of food, interest of anything that is lent on interest:

²⁰to a foreigner you may lend on interest; but to your brother you shall not lend on interest, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you put your hand to, in the land where you go in to possess it.

²¹When you shall vow a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not be slack to pay it: for the Lord your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you.

²²But if you shall forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in you.

²³That which is gone out of your lips you shall observe and do; according as you have vowed to the Lord your God, a freewill offering, which you have promised with your mouth.

²⁴When you come into your neighbor's vineyard, then you may eat of grapes your fill at your own pleasure; but you shall not put any in your vessel.

²⁵When you come into your neighbor's standing grain, then you may pluck the ears with your hand; but you shall not move a sickle to your neighbor's standing grain.

¹When a man takes a wife, and marries her, then it shall be, if she find no favor in his eyes, because he has found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a bill of divorce, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

²When she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife.

³If the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorce, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, who took her to be his wife;

⁴her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the Lord: and you shall not cause the land to sin, which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance.

⁵When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army, neither shall he be assigned any business: he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer his wife whom he has taken.

⁶No man shall take the mill or the upper millstone to pledge; for he takes a life in pledge.

⁷If a man be found stealing any of his brothers of the children of Israel, and he deal with him as a slave, or sell him; then that thief shall die: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you.

⁸Take heed in the plague of leprosy, that you observe diligently, and do according to all that the priests the Levites shall teach you: as I commanded them, so you shall observe to do.

⁹Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam, by the way as you came forth out of Egypt.

¹⁰When you do lend your neighbor any kind of loan, you shall not go into his house to get his pledge.

¹¹You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you do lend shall bring forth the pledge outside to you.

¹²If he be a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge;

¹³you shall surely restore to him the pledge when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his garment, and bless you: and it shall be righteousness to you before the Lord your God.

¹⁴You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he be of your brothers, or of your foreigners who are in your land within your gates:

¹⁵in his day you shall give him his hire, neither shall the sun go down on it; for he is poor, and sets his heart on it: lest he cry against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you.

¹⁶The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

¹⁷You shall not deprive the foreigner, or the fatherless of justice, nor take a widow's clothing in pledge;

¹⁸but you shall remember that you were a bondservant in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you there: therefore I command you to do this thing.

¹⁹When you reap your harvest in your field, and have forgot a sheaf in the field, you shall not go again to get it: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow; that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

²⁰When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

²¹When you harvest your vineyard, you shall not glean it after yourselves: it shall be for the foreigner, for the fatherless, and for the widow.

²²You shall remember that you were a bondservant in the land of Egypt: therefore I command you to do this thing.

¹Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him.

²The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them."

³He told them this parable.

⁴"Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?

⁵When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

⁶When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'

⁷I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.

⁸Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, would not light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it?

⁹When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.'

¹⁰Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting."

¹¹He said, "A certain man had two sons.

¹²The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of your property.' He divided his livelihood between them.

¹³Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.

¹⁴When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need.

¹⁵He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.

¹⁶He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.

¹⁷But when he came to himself he said, 'How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough to spare, and I'm dying with hunger!

¹⁸I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.

¹⁹I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants."'

²⁰"He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

²¹The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'

²²"But the father said to his servants, 'Quickly, bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.

²³Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate;

²⁴for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.' They began to celebrate.

²⁵"Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing.

²⁶He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on.

²⁷He said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.'

²⁸But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him.

²⁹But he answered his father, 'Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.

³⁰But when this, your son, came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'

³¹"He said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

³²But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.'"

¹ Deliver me from my enemies, my God. Set me on high from those who rise up against me.

²Deliver me from the workers of iniquity. Save me from the bloodthirsty men.

³For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul. The mighty gather themselves together against me, not for my disobedience, nor for my sin, Lord.

⁴I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Rise up, behold, and help me!

⁵You, Lord God of Hosts, the God of Israel, rouse yourself to punish the nations. Show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah.

⁶They return at evening, howling like dogs, and prowl around the city.

⁷Behold, they spew with their mouth. Swords are in their lips, "For," they say, "who hears us?"

⁸But you, Lord, laugh at them. You scoff at all the nations.

⁹Oh, my Strength, I watch for you, for God is my high tower.

¹⁰My God will go before me with his loving kindness. God will let me look at my enemies in triumph.

¹¹Do not kill them, or my people may forget. Scatter them by your power, and bring them down, Lord our shield.

¹²For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips, let them be caught in their pride, for the curses and lies which they utter.

¹³Consume them in wrath. Consume them, and they will be no more. Let them know that God rules in Jacob, to the ends of the earth. Selah.

¹⁴At evening let them return. Let them howl like a dog, and go around the city.

¹⁵They shall wander up and down for food, and wait all night if they aren't satisfied.

¹⁶But I will sing of your strength. Yes, I will sing aloud of your loving kindness in the morning. For you have been my high tower, a refuge in the day of my distress.

¹⁷To you, my strength, I will sing praises. For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.

¹The wicked flee when no one pursues; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

²In rebellion, a land has many rulers, but order is maintained by a man of understanding and knowledge.

³A needy man who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain which leaves no crops.

⁴Those who forsake the Law praise the wicked; but those who keep the Law contend with them.

⁵Evil men do not understand justice; but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.

⁶Better is the poor who walks in his integrity, than he who is perverse in his ways, and he is rich.

⁷Whoever keeps the Law is a wise son; but he who is a companion of gluttons shames his father.

⁸He who increases his wealth by excessive interest gathers it for one who has pity on the poor.

⁹He who turns away his ear from hearing the Law, even his prayer is an abomination.

¹⁰Whoever causes the upright to go astray in an evil way, he will fall into his own trap; but the blameless will inherit good.

¹¹The rich man is wise in his own eyes; but the poor who has understanding sees through him.

¹²When the righteous triumph, there is great glory; but when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

¹³He who conceals his sins doesn't prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

¹⁴Blessed is the man who always fears; but one who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

¹⁵As a roaring lion or a charging bear, so is a wicked ruler over helpless people.

¹⁶A tyrannical ruler lacks judgment. One who hates ill-gotten gain will have long days.

¹⁷A man who is tormented by life blood will be a fugitive until death; no one will support him.

¹⁸Whoever walks blamelessly is kept safe; but one with perverse ways will fall suddenly.

¹⁹One who works his land will have an abundance of food; but one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

²⁰A faithful man is rich with blessings; but one who is eager to be rich will not go unpunished.

²¹To show partiality is not good; yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.

²²A stingy man hurries after riches, and doesn't know that poverty waits for him.

²³One who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor than one who flatters with the tongue.

²⁴Whoever robs his father or his mother, and says, "It's not wrong." He is a partner with a destroyer.

²⁵One who is greedy stirs up strife; but one who trusts in the Lord will prosper.

²⁶One who trusts in himself is a fool; but one who walks in wisdom is kept safe.

²⁷One who gives to the poor has no lack; but one who closes his eyes will have many curses.

²⁸When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; but when they perish, the righteous thrive.