DEUTERONOMY 13

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  13:1 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
    6 “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, 7 some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, 8 you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. 9 But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 11 And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.
    12 “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to dwell there, 13 that certain worthless fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, 14 then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, 15 you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. 16 You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. 17 None of the devoted things shall stick to your hand, that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and have compassion on you and multiply you, as he swore to your fathers, 18 if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.

DEUTERONOMY 14

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Clean and Unclean Food  14:1 “You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. 2 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
    3 “You shall not eat any abomination. 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 Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 7 Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you. 8 And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch.
    9 “Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat. 10 And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
    11 “You may eat all clean birds. 12 But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 13 the kite, the falcon of any kind; 14 every raven of any kind; 15 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; 16 the little owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl 17 and the tawny owl, the carrion vulture and the cormorant, 18 the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat. 19 And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. 20 All clean winged things you may eat.
    21 “You shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.
    “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. Tithes22 “You shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. 23 And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. 24 And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because the place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, 25 then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses 26 and spend the money for whatever you desire—oxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And you shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 And you shall not neglect the Levite who is within your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance with you.
    28 “At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

PROVERBS 22

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22:1

A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,

and favor is better than silver or gold. 2

The rich and the poor meet together;

the Lord is the Maker of them all. 3

The prudent sees danger and hides himself,

but the simple go on and suffer for it. 4

The reward for humility and fear of the Lord

is riches and honor and life. 5

Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;

whoever guards his soul will keep far from them. 6

Train up a child in the way he should go;

even when he is old he will not depart from it. 7

The rich rules over the poor,

and the borrower is the slave of the lender. 8

Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,

and the rod of his fury will fail. 9

Whoever has a bountiful eye will be blessed,

for he shares his bread with the poor. 10

Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,

and quarreling and abuse will cease. 11

He who loves purity of heart,

and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend. 12

The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,

but he overthrows the words of the traitor. 13

The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!

I shall be killed in the streets!” 14

The mouth of forbidden women is a deep pit;

he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it. 15

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,

but the rod of discipline drives it far from him. 16

Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,

or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty. Words of the Wise17

Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,

and apply your heart to my knowledge, 18

for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,

if all of them are ready on your lips. 19

That your trust may be in the Lord,

I have made them known to you today, even to you. 20

Have I not written for you thirty sayings

of counsel and knowledge, 21

to make you know what is right and true,

that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?
22

Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,

or crush the afflicted at the gate, 23

for the Lord will plead their cause

and rob of life those who rob them. 24

Make no friendship with a man given to anger,

nor go with a wrathful man, 25

lest you learn his ways

and entangle yourself in a snare. 26

Be not one of those who give pledges,

who put up security for debts. 27

If you have nothing with which to pay,

why should your bed be taken from under you? 28

Do not move the ancient landmark

that your fathers have set. 29

Do you see a man skillful in his work?

He will stand before kings;

he will not stand before obscure men.

PSALM 35

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Great Is the LordOf David.
35:1

Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;

fight against those who fight against me! 2

Take hold of shield and buckler

and rise for my help! 3

Draw the spear and javelin

against my pursuers!

Say to my soul,

“I am your salvation!”
4

Let them be put to shame and dishonor

who seek after my life!

Let them be turned back and disappointed

who devise evil against me! 5

Let them be like chaff before the wind,

with the angel of the Lord driving them away! 6

Let their way be dark and slippery,

with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!
7

For without cause they hid their net for me;

without cause they dug a pit for my life. 8

Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it!

And let the net that he hid ensnare him;

let him fall into it—to his destruction!
9

Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,

exulting in his salvation. 10

All my bones shall say,

“O Lord, who is like you,

delivering the poor

from him who is too strong for him,

the poor and needy from him who robs him?”
11

Malicious witnesses rise up;

they ask me of things that I do not know. 12

They repay me evil for good;

my soul is bereft. 13

But I, when they were sick—

I wore sackcloth;

I afflicted myself with fasting;

I prayed with head bowed on my chest. 14

I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;

as one who laments his mother,

I bowed down in mourning.
15

But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;

they gathered together against me;

wretches whom I did not know

tore at me without ceasing; 16

like profane mockers at a feast,

they gnash at me with their teeth.
17

How long, O Lord, will you look on?

Rescue me from their destruction,

my precious life from the lions! 18

I will thank you in the great congregation;

in the mighty throng I will praise you.
19

Let not those rejoice over me

who are wrongfully my foes,

and let not those wink the eye

who hate me without cause. 20

For they do not speak peace,

but against those who are quiet in the land

they devise words of deceit. 21

They open wide their mouths against me;

they say, “Aha, Aha!

Our eyes have seen it!”
22

You have seen, O Lord; be not silent!

O Lord, be not far from me! 23

Awake and rouse yourself for my vindication,

for my cause, my God and my Lord! 24

Vindicate me, O Lord, my God,

according to your righteousness,

and let them not rejoice over me! 25

Let them not say in their hearts,

“Aha, our heart’s desire!”

Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26

Let them be put to shame and disappointed altogether

who rejoice at my calamity!

Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor

who magnify themselves against me!
27

Let those who delight in my righteousness

shout for joy and be glad

and say evermore,

“Great is the Lord,

who delights in the welfare of his servant!” 28

Then my tongue shall tell of your righteousness

and of your praise all the day long.

PSALM 36

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How Precious Is Your Steadfast LoveTo the choirmaster. Of David, the servant of the Lord.
36:1

Transgression speaks to the wicked

deep in his heart;

there is no fear of God

before his eyes. 2

For he flatters himself in his own eyes

that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. 3

The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;

he has ceased to act wisely and do good. 4

He plots trouble while on his bed;

he sets himself in a way that is not good;

he does not reject evil.
5

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds. 6

Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;

your judgments are like the great deep;

man and beast you save, O Lord.
7

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!

The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 8

They feast on the abundance of your house,

and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 9

For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light do we see light.
10

Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,

and your righteousness to the upright of heart! 11

Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,

nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. 12

There the evildoers lie fallen;

they are thrust down, unable to rise.