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Expiation of a Crime
21 “If a slain person is found lying in the open country in the land which the Lord your God gives you to [a]possess, and it is not known who has struck him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the slain one. 3 It shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man, that is, the elders of that city, shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke; 4 and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 Then (A)the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; and every dispute and every [b]assault [c]shall be settled by them. 6 All the elders of that city [d]which is nearest to the slain man shall (B)wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 7 and they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. 8 [e]Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Lord, and do not place the guilt of (C)innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.’ And the bloodguiltiness shall be [f]forgiven them. 9 (D)So you shall remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.
Domestic Relations
10 “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and (E)the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive, 11 and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her and would take her as a wife for yourself, 12 then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall (F)shave her head and [g]trim her nails. 13 She shall also [h]remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house, and (G)mourn her father and mother a full month; and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. 14 It shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go [i]wherever she wishes; but you shall certainly not sell her for money, you shall not [j]mistreat her, because you have (H)humbled her.
15 “If a man has two wives, the one loved and (I)the other [k]unloved, and both the loved and the [l]unloved have borne him sons, if the firstborn son belongs to the [m]unloved, 16 then it shall be in the day he [n]wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the [o]unloved, who is the firstborn. 17 But he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the [p]unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that [q]he has, for he is the (J)beginning of his strength; (K)to him belongs the right of the firstborn.
18 “If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will (L)not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, 19 then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city [r]at the gateway of his hometown. 20 They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 (M)Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so (N)you shall remove the evil from your midst, and (O)all Israel will hear of it and fear.
22 “If a man has committed a sin (P)worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 (Q)his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for (R)he who is hanged is [s]accursed of God), so that you (S)do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.
Sundry Laws
22 “(T)You shall not see your [t]countryman’s ox or his sheep straying away, and [u]pay no attention to them; you shall certainly bring them back to your countryman. 2 If your countryman is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall remain with you until your countryman looks for it; then you shall restore it to him. 3 Thus you shall do with his donkey, and you shall do the same with his garment, and you shall do likewise with anything lost by your countryman, which he has lost and you have found. You are not allowed to [v]neglect them. 4 You shall not see your countryman’s donkey or his ox fallen down on the way, and [w]pay no attention to them; you shall certainly help him to raise them up.
5 “A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.
6 “If you happen to come upon a bird’s nest along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, (U)you shall not take the mother with the young; 7 you shall certainly let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, (V)in order that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days.
8 “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you will not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone falls from it.
9 “(W)You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, or [x]all the produce of the seed which you have sown and the increase of the vineyard will become defiled.
10 “(X)You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.
11 “(Y)You shall not wear a material mixed of wool and linen together.
12 “(Z)You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of your garment with which you cover yourself.
Laws on Morality
13 “(AA)If any man takes a wife and goes in to her and then [y]turns against her, 14 and charges her with shameful deeds and [z]publicly defames her, and says, ‘I took this woman, but when I came near her, I did not find her a virgin,’ 15 then the girl’s father and her mother shall take and bring out the evidence of the girl’s virginity to the elders of the city at the gate. 16 The girl’s father shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man for a wife, but he [aa]turned against her; 17 and behold, he has charged her with shameful deeds, saying, “I did not find your daughter a virgin.” But [ab]this is the evidence of my daughter’s virginity.’ And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city. 18 So (AB)the elders of that city shall take the man and chastise him, 19 and they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give it to the girl’s father, because he [ac]publicly defamed a virgin of Israel. And she shall remain his wife; he cannot [ad]divorce her all his days.
20 “But if this [ae](AC)charge is true, that the girl was not found a virgin, 21 then they shall bring out the girl to the doorway of her father’s house, and the men of her city shall stone her [af]to death because she has (AD)committed an act of folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father’s house; thus (AE)you shall purge the evil from among you.
22 “(AF)If a man is found lying with a married woman, then both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.
23 “(AG)If there is a girl who is a virgin engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and lies with her, 24 then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city and you shall stone them [ag]to death; the girl, because she did not cry out in the city, and the man, because he has violated his neighbor’s wife. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.
25 “But if in the field the man finds the girl who is engaged, and the man forces her and lies with her, then only the man who lies with her shall die. 26 But you shall do nothing to the girl; there is no sin in the girl worthy of death, for just as a man rises against his neighbor and murders him, so is this case. 27 When he found her in the field, the engaged girl cried out, but there was no one to save her.
28 “(AH)If a man finds a girl who is a virgin, who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her and they are discovered, 29 then the man who lay with her shall give to the girl’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife because he has violated her; he cannot divorce her all his days.
30 “[ah](AI)A man shall not take his father’s wife so that he will not uncover his father’s skirt.
51 When the days were approaching for (A)His [a]ascension, He [b]was determined (B)to go to Jerusalem; 52 and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the (C)Samaritans to [c]make arrangements for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, (D)because [d]He was traveling toward Jerusalem. 54 When His disciples (E)James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to (F)command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But He turned and rebuked them, [[e]and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; 56 for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”] And they went on to another village.
Exacting Discipleship
57 (G)As they were going along the road, (H)someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the [f]air have [g]nests, but (I)the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 And He said to another, “(J)Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 60 But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and (K)proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” 61 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but (L)first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “(M)No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
The Seventy Sent Out
10 Now after this (N)the Lord appointed [h]seventy (O)others, and sent them (P)in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. 2 And He was saying to them, “(Q)The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go; (R)behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 (S)Carry no money belt, no [i]bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6 If a [j]man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in [k]that house, eating and drinking [l]what they give you; for (T)the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. 8 Whatever city you enter and they receive you, (U)eat what is set before you; 9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘(V)The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘(W)Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet [m]be sure of this, that (X)the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I say to you, (Y)it will be more tolerable in that day for (Z)Sodom than for that city.
An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
74 O God, why have You (A)rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger (B)smoke against the (C)sheep of Your [b]pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have (D)purchased of old,
Which You have (E)redeemed to be the (F)tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount (G)Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 [c]Turn Your footsteps toward the (H)perpetual ruins;
The enemy (I)has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have (J)roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their (K)own [d]standards (L)for signs.
5 It seems as if one had lifted up
His [e](M)axe in a [f]forest of trees.
6 And now [g]all its (N)carved work
They smash with hatchet and [h]hammers.
7 They have [i](O)burned Your sanctuary [j]to the ground;
They have (P)defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They (Q)said in their heart, “Let us [k]completely [l]subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (R)signs;
There is (S)no longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows (T)how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary (U)revile,
And the enemy (V)spurn Your name forever?
11 Why (W)do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
From within Your bosom, (X)destroy them!
12 Yet God is (Y)my king from of old,
Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth.
13 [m]You (Z)divided the sea by Your strength;
[n]You (AA)broke the heads of the (AB)sea monsters [o]in the waters.
14 [p]You crushed the heads of [q](AC)Leviathan;
[r]You gave him as food for the [s]creatures (AD)of the wilderness.
15 [t]You (AE)broke open springs and torrents;
[u]You (AF)dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
[v]You have (AG)prepared the [w]light and the sun.
17 [x]You have (AH)established all the boundaries of the earth;
[y]You have [z]made (AI)summer and winter.
18 Remember this, [aa]O Lord, that the enemy has (AJ)reviled,
And a (AK)foolish people has spurned Your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of Your (AL)turtledove to the wild beast;
(AM)Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Consider the (AN)covenant;
For the (AO)dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not the (AP)oppressed return dishonored;
Let the (AQ)afflicted and needy praise Your name.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.