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The Passover Reviewed
16 “Observe the month[a] of Abib by keeping the Passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.(A) 2 You shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the Lord your God from the flock and the herd, at the place that the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his name.(B) 3 You must not eat with it anything leavened. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it—the bread of affliction—because you came out of the land of Egypt in great haste, so that all the days of your life you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt.(C) 4 No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days, and none of the meat of what you slaughter on the evening of the first day shall remain until morning.(D) 5 You are not permitted to offer the Passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you. 6 But at the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name, only there shall you offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, the time of day when you departed from Egypt.(E) 7 You shall cook it and eat it at the place that the Lord your God will choose; the next morning you may go back to your tents.(F) 8 For six days you shall continue to eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly for the Lord your God, when you shall do no work.(G)
The Festival of Weeks Reviewed
9 “You shall count seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain.(H) 10 Then you shall keep the Festival of Weeks to the Lord your God, contributing a freewill offering in proportion to the blessing that you have received from the Lord your God. 11 Rejoice before the Lord your God—you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, the Levites resident in your towns, as well as the strangers, the orphans, and the widows who are among you—at the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.(I) 12 Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and diligently observe these statutes.(J)
The Festival of Booths Reviewed
13 “You shall keep the Festival of Booths[b] for seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing floor and your winepress.(K) 14 Rejoice during your festival, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, as well as the Levites, the strangers, the orphans, and the widows resident in your towns.(L) 15 Seven days you shall keep the festival to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose, for the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all your undertakings, and you shall surely celebrate.(M)
16 “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, at the Festival of Weeks, and at the Festival of Booths.[c] They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed;(N) 17 all shall give as they are able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.
Municipal Judges and Officers
18 “You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes, in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall render just decisions for the people.(O) 19 You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality; and you must not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.(P) 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
Forbidden Forms of Worship
21 “You shall not plant any tree as a sacred pole[d] beside the altar that you make for the Lord your God,(Q) 22 nor shall you set up a stone pillar—things that the Lord your God hates.
17 “You must not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has a defect, anything seriously wrong, for that is abhorrent to the Lord your God.(R)
2 “If there is found among you, in one of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God and transgresses his covenant(S) 3 by going to serve other gods and worshiping them—whether the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden— 4 and if it is reported to you or you hear of it, and you make a thorough inquiry, and the charge is proved true that such an abhorrent thing has occurred in Israel,(T) 5 then you shall bring out to your gates that man or that woman who has committed this crime, and you shall stone the man or woman to death. 6 On the evidence of two or three witnesses the death sentence shall be executed; a person must not be put to death on the evidence of only one witness.(U) 7 The hands of the witnesses shall be the first raised against the person to execute the death penalty and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.(V)
Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges
8 “If a judicial decision is too difficult for you to make between one kind of bloodshed and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another—any such matters of dispute in your towns—then you shall immediately go up to the place that the Lord your God will choose,(W) 9 where you shall consult with the Levitical priests and the judge who is in office in those days; they shall announce to you the decision in the case.(X) 10 Carry out exactly the decision that they announce to you from the place that the Lord will choose, diligently observing everything they instruct you. 11 You must carry out the law that they interpret for you or the ruling that they announce to you; do not turn aside from the decision that they announce to you, either to the right or to the left.(Y) 12 As for anyone who presumes to disobey the priest appointed to minister there to the Lord your God or the judge, that person shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13 All the people will hear and be afraid and will not act presumptuously again.(Z)
Limitations of Royal Authority
14 “When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’(AA) 15 you may indeed set over you a king whom the Lord your God will choose. One of your own community you may set as king over you; you are not permitted to put a foreigner over you, who is not of your own community.(AB) 16 Even so, he must not acquire many horses for himself or return the people to Egypt in order to acquire more horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You must never return that way again.’(AC) 17 And he must not acquire many wives for himself or else his heart will turn away; also silver and gold he must not acquire in great quantity for himself.(AD) 18 When he has taken the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.(AE) 19 It shall remain with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes,(AF) 20 neither exalting himself above other members of the community nor turning aside from the commandment, either to the right or to the left, so that he and his descendants may reign long over his kingdom in Israel.(AG)
Herod’s Perplexity
7 Now Herod the ruler heard about all that had taken place, and he was perplexed because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead,(A) 8 by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the ancient prophets had arisen.(B) 9 Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And he tried to see him.(C)
Feeding the Five Thousand
10 On their return the apostles told Jesus[a] all they had done. Then, taking them along, he slipped quietly into a city called Bethsaida.(D) 11 When the crowds found out about it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those who needed to be cured.
12 The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside to lodge and get provisions, for we are here in a deserted place.” 13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.”(E) 14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 They did so and had them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.(F) 17 And all ate and were filled, and what was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
Peter’s Declaration about Jesus
18 Once when Jesus[b] was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”(G) 19 They answered, “John the Baptist; but others, Elijah; and still others, that one of the ancient prophets has arisen.”(H) 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “The Messiah[c] of God.”(I)
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection
21 He sternly ordered and commanded them not to tell anyone,(J) 22 saying, “The Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised.”(K)
23 Then he said to them all, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.(L) 24 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.(M) 25 For what does it profit them if they gain the whole world but lose or forfeit themselves?(N) 26 Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.(O) 27 Indeed, truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”(P)
Psalm 72
Prayer for Guidance and Support for the King
Of Solomon.
1 Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to a king’s son.(A)
2 May he judge your people with righteousness
and your poor with justice.(B)
3 May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.(C)
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor.(D)
5 May he live[a] while the sun endures
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.(E)
6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth.(F)
7 In his days may righteousness flourish
and peace abound, until the moon is no more.(G)
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.(H)
9 May his foes[b] bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.(I)
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
render him tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts.(J)
11 May all kings fall down before him,
all nations give him service.
12 For he delivers the needy when they call,
the poor and those who have no helper.(K)
13 He has pity on the weak and the needy
and saves the lives of the needy.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and precious is their blood in his sight.(L)
15 Long may he live!
May gold of Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be made for him continually
and blessings invoked for him all day long.(M)
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field.(N)
17 May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun.
May all nations be blessed in him;[c]
may they pronounce him happy.(O)
18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.(P)
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may his glory fill the whole earth.
Amen and Amen.(Q)
20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.
8 One is commended for good sense,
but a perverse mind is despised.
9 Better to be despised and have produce[a]
than to be self-important and lack food.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.