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The Lord’s People
23 No man who has had ·part of his sex organ [L his testicles crushed or his penis] cut off may come into the ·meeting to worship [assembly of] the Lord [Acts 8:26–40].
2 No one born ·to parents who were forbidden by law to marry [of a forbidden marriage] may come into the ·meeting to worship [assembly of] the Lord. The descendants for ten generations may not come in either.
3 No Ammonite or Moabite may come into the ·meeting to worship [assembly of] the Lord, and none of their descendants for ten generations may come in. 4 This is because the Ammonites and Moabites did not give you bread and water when you came out of Egypt. And they hired Balaam son of Beor, from Pethor in Northwest Mesopotamia, to put a curse on you [Num. 22–24]. 5 But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam. He ·turned [transformed; overturned] the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you. 6 Don’t ·wish for [seek] their peace or ·success [prosperity] as long as you live.
7 Don’t ·hate [detest] Edomites; they are your ·close relatives [brothers; C descendants of Esau the brother of Jacob/Israel]. Don’t ·hate [detest] Egyptians, because you were ·foreigners [resident aliens] in their country [C during the time of Joseph, God’s people survived a famine in Egypt; Gen. 41–42]. 8 ·The great-grandchildren of these two peoples [L their children to the third generation] may come into the ·meeting to worship [assembly of] the Lord.
Keeping the Camp Clean
9 When you are camped ·in time of war [L against your enemies], keep away from ·unclean things [foulness; L a bad/evil thing; C referring to ritual uncleanness]. 10 If a man becomes unclean during the night, he must go outside the camp and not come back [C referring to an emission of semen; Lev. 15:16]. 11 But when evening comes, he must wash himself, and at sunset he may come back into the camp.
12 Choose a place outside the camp where people may go ·to relieve themselves [L outside]. 13 ·Carry a tent peg with you [L As part of your equipment have a tent peg/or trowel with you], and when you ·relieve yourself [squat; L sit], dig a hole and cover up your ·dung [excrement]. 14 The Lord your God ·moves [walks] around through your camp to protect you and to defeat your enemies for you, so the camp must be holy. He must not see anything ·unclean [indecent] among you so that he will not leave you.
Other Laws
15 If an escaped slave comes to you, do not hand over the slave to his master. 16 Let the slave live with you anywhere he likes, in any ·town [gate] he chooses. Do not ·mistreat [oppress; exploit] him.
17 No Israelite ·man [L son] or ·woman [L daughter] must ever become a ·temple [sacred] prostitute. 18 Do not bring ·a male or female prostitute’s pay [L the pay of a prostitute or the price of a “dog”; C “dog” is probably a reference to a male temple prostitute] to the ·Temple [L house] of the Lord your God to pay what you have ·promised [vowed] to the Lord, because the Lord your God ·hates [detests] ·prostitution [L both of them; C male and female temple prostitution].
19 If you loan your ·fellow Israelites [relatives; brothers] money or food or anything else, don’t make them pay back ·more than you loaned them [interest; Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:36–37]. 20 You may charge foreigners, but not ·fellow Israelites [L your relatives/brothers]. Then the Lord your God will bless ·everything you do [your undertakings; L all that is sent out from your hand] in the land you are entering to ·take as your own [possess].
21 If you make a ·promise [vow] to give ·something [a vow] to the Lord your God [Lev. 7:16–17; Num. 30:2–17], do not ·be slow [delay] to pay it, because the Lord your God ·demands [will surely seek] it from you. Do not be guilty of sin. 22 But if you do not make the ·promise [vow], you will not be guilty. 23 You must do whatever ·you say you will do [L comes out of your lips], because you ·chose to make [L freely made with your own mouth] the ·promise [vow] to the Lord your God [Eccl. 5:4–5].
24 If you go into your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat as many grapes as you wish, but do not put any grapes into your basket. 25 If you go into your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pick grain with your hands, but you must not cut down your neighbor’s grain with your sickle.
24 A man might marry a woman but later decide she doesn’t ·please him [L find favor in his eyes] because he has found something ·bad [indecent; objectionable] about her. He writes out divorce papers for her, ·gives them to her [L places them in her hand], and sends her away from his house. 2 After she leaves his house, she goes and marries another man, 3 but her second husband ·does not like her either [hates her]. So he writes out divorce papers for her, ·gives them to her [L places them in her hand], and sends her away from his house. Or the second husband might die. 4 In either case, her first husband who divorced her must not marry her again, because she has become ·unclean [C in a ritual sense]. The Lord would ·hate [detest] this. Don’t bring this sin into the land the Lord your God is giving you as your ·own [L inheritance; Matt. 5:31–32; 19:3–9].
5 A man who has just married must not be sent ·to war [L with the army] or be given any other duty. He should be free to stay home for a year to make his new wife happy [20:7].
6 If someone owes you ·something [a pledge], do not take his two stones for grinding grain—not even the upper one—·in place of what he owes [as a pledge], ·because this is how the person makes a living [L that would be taking a person’s life as a pledge].
7 If someone ·kidnaps a fellow Israelite [L is found stealing one of his brothers from among the sons/T children of Israel], either to make him a slave or sell him, the ·kidnapper [robber] must be killed. You must ·get rid of [banish; purge] the evil among you [Ex. 21:16].
8 Be careful when someone has a ·skin disease [T leprosy; C the term does not refer to modern leprosy (Hansen’s disease), but to various skin disorders; Lev. 13:2]. Do exactly what the priests, the Levites, teach you, being careful to do what I have commanded them. 9 Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam on your way out of Egypt [Num. 12:10].
10 When you make a loan to your neighbors, don’t go into their homes to get ·something in place of it [a pledge]. 11 Stay outside and let them go in and get what they ·promised [pledged to] you. 12 If a poor person gives you a ·coat to show he will pay the loan back [L pledge], don’t keep it overnight. 13 Give the ·coat [L pledge] back at sunset, because your neighbor needs that coat to sleep in, and he will ·be grateful to [bless] you. And the Lord your God will see that you have done a ·good [righteous] thing.
14 Don’t ·cheat [oppress; exploit] hired servants who are poor and needy, whether they are ·fellow Israelites [relatives; brothers] or ·foreigners [resident aliens] living in one of your ·towns [gates]. 15 Pay them each day before sunset, because they are poor and need the money. Otherwise, they may ·complain [cry out] to the Lord about you, and you will be guilty of sin.
16 ·Parents [Fathers] must not be put to death if their children do wrong, and children must not be put to death if their ·parents [fathers] do wrong. Each person must die for his own sin [Jer. 31:29–30; Ezek. 18:1–4].
17 Do not be unfair to a ·foreigner [resident alien] or an orphan. Don’t take a widow’s coat ·to make sure she pays you back [as a pledge; 24:10–13]. 18 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God ·saved [ransomed; redeemed] you from there. That is why I am commanding you to do this.
19 When you are ·gathering [reaping] your harvest in the field and ·leave behind [L forget] a bundle of grain, don’t go back and get it. Leave it there for ·foreigners [resident aliens], orphans, and widows so that the Lord your God can bless everything you do [Ruth 2]. 20 When you beat your olive trees to knock the olives off, don’t ·beat the trees a second time. Leave […strip] what is left for ·foreigners [resident aliens], orphans, and widows. 21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, don’t ·pick the vines a second time [glean what is left]. Leave what is left for foreigners [resident aliens], orphans, and widows. 22 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt; that is why I am commanding you to do this [Ex. 23:11; Lev. 19:9–10; 23:22].
25 If two people have an argument and go to court, the judges will decide the case. They will ·declare one person right [acquit the innocent] and ·the other [convict the] guilty. 2 If the guilty person has to be ·punished with a beating [struck; flogged], the judge will make that person lie down and be ·beaten [struck; flogged] in front of him. The number of lashes should match the crime. 3 But don’t ·hit [strike] a person more than forty times, because more than that would disgrace ·him [your relative/neighbor] before others [2 Cor. 11:24].
4 When an ox is ·working in the grain [treading the grain], do not ·cover its mouth to keep it from eating [muzzle it; 1 Cor. 9:9].
5 If two brothers are living together, and one of them dies without having a son, his widow must not marry ·someone [a stranger] outside her husband’s family. Her husband’s brother must marry her, which is his duty to her as a brother-in-law. 6 The first son she has ·counts as the son of the dead [will raise up the name of his] brother so that his name will not be ·forgotten [blotted/wiped out] in Israel [Gen. 38; Ruth 4].
7 But if a man does not want to marry his brother’s widow, she should go to the elders at the town gate. She should say, “My brother-in-law will not ·carry on [raise up] his brother’s name in Israel. He refuses to do his duty for me.”
8 Then the elders of the town must call for the man and talk to him. But if he ·is stubborn [L stands] and says, “I don’t want to marry her,” 9 the woman must go up to him in ·front of the leaders [the presence of the elders]. She must take off one of his sandals and spit in his face and say, “This is for the man who won’t ·continue [L build] his brother’s ·family [L house]!” 10 Then that man’s ·family [L house] shall be known in Israel as the ·Family [L House] of the Unsandaled.
11 If two men are fighting and one man’s wife comes to ·save [protect] her husband from his attacker, grabbing the attacker by his ·sex organs [genitals], 12 you must cut off her hand. ·Show her no mercy [L Do not let your eyes show compassion on her].
13 Don’t carry two ·sets of weights [L stones] ·with you [L in your bag/pouch], one heavy and one light. 14 Don’t have two different sets of measures in your house, one large and one small. 15 You must have ·true [whole; full] and ·honest [accurate] weights and measures so that you will live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 16 The Lord your God ·hates [detests] anyone who ·is dishonest and uses dishonest measures [L does such things—who acts crookedly/does bad things; Lev. 19:35–37; Prov. 11:1; Ezek. 45:10–12; Amos 8:5; Mic. 6:10–12].
17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you when you came out of Egypt [Ex. 17:8–16]. 18 When you were tired and worn out, they met you on the road and ·attacked [picked off] all ·those lagging behind [the stragglers]. They were not afraid of God. 19 When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he ·is giving you [L makes you inherit] as your ·own [possession], you shall ·destroy [blot/wipe out] any memory of the Amalekites ·on the earth [L from under the heavens]. Do not forget [C Saul forgot (1 Sam. 15), but the Amalekites (called Agagites) come to an end in the book of Esther (Esth. 3:1)]!
Jesus Warns Unbelievers(A)
13 “·How terrible for [L Woe to] you, Korazin! ·How terrible for [L Woe to] you, Bethsaida [C towns in Galilee where Jesus ministered]! If the ·miracles [powerful deeds] ·I did [L that occurred] in you had happened in Tyre and Sidon [C cities in Phoenicia notorious for their wickedness], those people would have ·changed their lives [repented] long ago. ·They would have worn rough cloth and put ashes on themselves to show they had changed [L …sitting in sackcloth/burlap and ashes; C signs of sorrow and deep remorse]. 14 But ·on the judgment day [L at the judgment] it will be ·better [more bearable/tolerable] for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 15 And you, Capernaum [C a town in Galilee where Jesus lived and ministered], will you be ·lifted up to [honored/exalted in] heaven? No! You will be thrown down to ·the depths [the place of the dead; hell; L Hades; Is. 14:13–15]!
16 “Whoever listens to you listens to me [Matt. 10:40; John 13:20], and whoever ·refuses to accept [rejects] you ·refuses to accept [rejects] me. And whoever ·refuses to accept [rejects] me ·refuses to accept [rejects] the One who sent me.”
Satan Falls
17 When the ·seventy-two[a] came back, they were very ·happy [joyful] and said, “Lord, even the demons ·obeyed [submit to] us ·when we used your name [L in your name]!”
18 Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven [C symbolically in the exorcisms; Is. 14:12; Rev. 12:13]. 19 ·Listen [L Look; T Behold], I have given you ·power [authority] to ·walk on [trample] snakes and scorpions, ·power that is greater than the enemy has [L …and authority over all the power of the enemy]. So nothing will hurt you. 20 But you should not ·be happy [rejoice] because the spirits ·obey [submit to] you but because your names are ·written [recorded] in heaven.”
Jesus Prays to the Father(B)
21 ·Then [At that time; L In the same hour] Jesus ·rejoiced [was full of joy] in the Holy Spirit and said, “I ·praise [bless; thank; acknowledge] you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the people who are wise and ·smart [learned; intelligent]. But you have ·shown [revealed] them to ·those who are like little children [L little children; infants; C those with a childlike faith]. Yes, Father, [L because] this is what ·you really wanted [pleased you].
22 “My Father has ·given [entrusted/committed to] me all things. No one knows who the Son is, except the Father. And no one knows who the Father is, except the Son and those whom the Son ·chooses [desires; intends] to ·tell [L reveal it to].”
23 Then Jesus turned to his ·followers [disciples] and said privately, “·You are blessed to [L Blessed are the eyes that] see what you now see. 24 [L For] I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you now see, but they did not, and they wanted to hear what you now hear, but they did not.”
The Good Samaritan(C)
25 Then an expert on the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to ·get life forever [L inherit eternal life]?”
26 Jesus said, “What is written in the law? ·What do you read there [or How do you interpret it]?”
27 The man answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind [Deut. 6:5].” Also, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].”
28 Jesus said to him, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will live.”
29 But the man, wanting to ·show the importance of his question [or justify his question; or justify himself/his own actions], said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered, “As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho [C a dangerous 17-mile trek through desolate territory], some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. 31 ·It happened that [or By chance] a priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he ·walked [passed] by on the other side. 32 ·Next [L Likewise; So too], a Levite [C Levites were members of the tribe of Levi who helped the priests in the temple; 1 Chr. 23:24–32] came there, and ·after he went over and looked at the man [L seeing him], he ·walked [passed] by on the other side of the road. 33 Then a Samaritan [C a people disliked by the Jews because they were only part Jewish and worshiped differently] traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt ·very sorry [compassion] for him. 34 The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine on his wounds [C to soothe and clean them], and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own ·donkey [L animal] and took him to an inn where he cared for him. 35 The next day, the Samaritan brought out two ·coins [L denarii; C each equivalent to a day’s wage], gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of this man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’”
36 Then Jesus said, “Which one of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the robbers?”
37 The expert on the law answered, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Then go and do ·what he did [the same; likewise].”
God the Judge
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12]. A song.
75 God, we ·thank [praise] you;
we ·thank [praise] you because ·you [L your name] are near.
We tell about the ·miracles [wonders] you do.
2 You say, “I set ·the time for trial [L an appointed time],
and I will judge ·fairly [with integrity].
3 The earth with all its people may ·shake [totter],
but I ·am the one who holds it steady [L set/establish its pillars; C the idea was that the earth was supported by pillars]. ·
4 I say to those who ·are proud [brag; boast], ‘Don’t ·be proud [brag; boast],’
and to the wicked, ‘Don’t ·show your power [L exalt your horn; C a horn is a symbol of strength].
5 Don’t ·try to use your power [L exalt your horn] against ·heaven [L the heights; or on high].
Don’t ·be stubborn [L speak with an insolent neck].’”
6 No one from the east or the west
or the ·desert [wilderness] ·can judge you [comes exalting].
7 God is the judge;
he ·judges one person as guilty [L puts one down] and ·another as innocent [L raises another up].
8 The Lord holds a cup in his hand;
it is ·full of wine mixed with [foaming wine full of] spices [C the cup of God’s wrath; 60:3; Jer. 25:15–29; Nah. 3:11; Matt. 26:39].
He pours it out ·even to the last drop [until its dregs drain out],
and the wicked drink it all.
9 I will tell about this forever;
I will ·sing praise [make a psalm] to the God of Jacob.
10 ·He will take all power away from [L I will cut off all the horns of] the wicked [v. 4],
but the ·power [L horn] of ·good [righteous] people will ·grow [be exalted].
12 The wicked ·want [covet; desire] ·what other evil people have stolen [or the catch/prey of the evil],
but ·good [L the root of righteous] people ·want to give what they have to others [or endures].
13 Evil people are trapped by their ·evil [offensive] talk,
but ·good [righteous] people ·stay out of trouble [escape from distress].
14 People will be rewarded for ·what they say [L the fruit of their mouth],
and they will also be rewarded for ·what they do [L the work of their hands].
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