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Deuteronomy 13-15; Mark 12:28-44 (Contemporary English Version)

Contemporary English Version (CEV)
Deuteronomy 13-15 Listen to this passage View commentary related to this passage Deuteronomy 13 Don't Worship Other Gods Moses said to Israel: ^1-2Someday a prophet ^[a] may come along who is able to perform miracles or tell what will happen in the future. Then the prophet may say, " Let's start worshiping some new gods--some gods that we know nothing about." ³If the prophet says this, don't listen! The LORD your God will be watching to find out whether or not you love him with all your heart and soul. ⁴You must be completely faithful to the LORD. Worship and obey only the LORD and do this with fear and trembling, ⁵because he rescued you from slavery in Egypt. If a prophet tells you to disobey the LORD your God and to stop worshiping him, then that prophet is evil and must be put to death. ^6-10Someone else may say to you, " Let's worship other gods." That person may be your best friend, your brother or sister, your son or daughter, or your own dear wife or husband. But you must not listen to people who say such things. Instead, you must stone them to death. You must be the first to throw the stones, then others from the community will finish the job. Don't show any pity. The gods worshiped by other nations have never done anything for you or your ancestors. People who ask you to worship other gods are trying to get you to stop worshiping the LORD, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. So put to death anyone who asks you to worship another god. ¹¹And when the rest of Israel hears about it, they will be afraid, and no one else will ever do such an evil thing again. ¹²After the LORD your God gives you towns to live in, you may hear a rumor about one of the towns. ¹³You may hear that some worthless people have talked everyone there into worshiping other gods, even though these gods had never done anything for them. ¹⁴You must carefully find out if the rumor is true. Then if the people of that town have actually done such a disgusting thing in your own country, ¹⁵you must take your swords and kill every one of them, and their livestock too. ^16-17Gather all the possessions of the people who lived there, and pile them up in the marketplace, without keeping anything for yourself. Set the pile and the whole town on fire, and don't ever rebuild the town. The whole town will be a sacrifice to the LORD your God. Then he won't be angry anymore, and he will have mercy on you and make you successful, just as he promised your ancestors. ¹⁸That's why you must do what the LORD your God says is right. I am giving you his laws and teachings today, and you must obey them. Deuteronomy 14 Don't Mourn like Other Nations Moses said: ¹People of Israel, you are the LORD's children, so when you mourn for the dead, you must not cut yourselves or shave your forehead. ^[b] ²Out of all the nations on this earth, the LORD your God chose you to be his own. You belong to the LORD, so don't behave like those who worship other gods. Animals That Can Be Eaten (Leviticus 11.1-47) ³Don't eat any disgusting animals. ^4-5You may eat the meat of cattle, sheep, and goats; wild sheep and goats; and gazelles, antelopes, and all kinds of deer. ⁶It is all right to eat meat from any animals that have divided hoofs and also chew the cud. ^[c] ⁷But don't eat camels, rabbits, and rock badgers. These animals chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs. You must treat them as unclean. ⁸And don't eat pork, since pigs have divided hoofs, but they do not chew their cud. Don't even touch a dead pig! ⁹You can eat any fish that has fins and scales. But there are other creatures that live in the water, ¹⁰and if they do not have fins and scales, you must not eat them. Treat them as unclean. ¹¹You can eat any clean bird. ^12-18But don't eat the meat of any of the following birds: eagles, vultures, falcons, kites, ravens, ostriches, owls, sea gulls, hawks, pelicans, ospreys, cormorants, storks, herons, and hoopoes. ^[d] You must not eat bats. ¹⁹Swarming insects are unclean, so don't eat them. ²⁰However, you are allowed to eat certain kinds of winged insects. ^[e] ²¹You belong to the LORD your God, so if you happen to find a dead animal, don't eat its meat. You may give it to foreigners who live in your town or sell it to foreigners who are visiting your town. Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk. Give the LORD Ten Percent of Your Harvest Moses said: ²²People of Israel, every year you must set aside ten percent of your grain harvest. ²³Also set aside ten percent of your wine and olive oil, and the first-born of every cow, sheep, and goat. Take these to the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped, and eat them there. This will teach you to always respect the LORD your God. ²⁴But suppose you can't carry that ten percent of your harvest to the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped. If you live too far away, or if the LORD gives you a big harvest, ²⁵then sell this part and take the money there instead. ²⁶When you and your family arrive, spend the money on food for a big celebration. Buy cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, and if there are any other kinds of food that you want, buy those too. ²⁷And since people of the Levi tribe won't own any land for growing crops, remember to ask the Levites to celebrate with you. ²⁸Every third year, instead of using the ten percent of your harvest for a big celebration, bring it into town and put it in a community storehouse. ²⁹The Levites have no land of their own, so you must give them food from the storehouse. You must also give food to the poor who live in your town, including orphans, widows, and foreigners. If they have enough to eat, then the LORD your God will be pleased and make you successful in everything you do. Moses said: Deuteronomy 15 Loans (Leviticus 25.1-7) ^1-2Every seven years you must announce, " The LORD says loans do not need to be paid back." Then if you have loaned money to another Israelite, you can no longer ask for payment. ^[f] ³This law applies only to loans you have made to other Israelites. Foreigners will still have to pay back what you have loaned them. ^4-6No one in Israel should ever be poor. The LORD your God is giving you this land, and he has promised to make you very successful, if you obey his laws and teachings that I'm giving you today. You will lend money to many nations, but you won't have to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they won't rule you. ⁷After the LORD your God gives land to each of you, there may be poor Israelites in the town where you live. If there are, then don't be mean and selfish with your money. ⁸Instead, be kind and lend them what they need. ⁹Be careful! Don't say to yourself, " Soon it will be the seventh year, and then I won't be able to get my money back." It would be horrible for you to think that way and to be so selfish that you refuse to help the poor. They are your relatives, and if you don't help them, they may ask the LORD to decide whether you have done wrong. And he will say that you are guilty. ¹⁰You should be happy to give the poor what they need, because then the LORD will make you successful in everything you do. ¹¹There will always be some Israelites who are poor and needy. That's why I am commanding you to be generous with them. Moses said to Israel: Setting Slaves Free (Exodus 21.1-11) ¹²If any of you buy Israelites as slaves, you must set them free after six years. ¹³And don't just tell them they are free to leave-- ¹⁴give them sheep and goats and a good supply of grain and wine. The more the LORD has given you, the more you should give them. ¹⁵I am commanding you to obey the LORD as a reminder that you were slaves in Egypt before he set you free. ¹⁶But one of your slaves may say, " I love you and your family, and I would be better off staying with you, so please don't make me leave." ¹⁷Take the slave to the door of your house and push a sharp metal rod through one earlobe and into the door. Such slaves will belong to you for life, whether they are men or women. ¹⁸Don't complain when you have to set a slave free. After all, you got six years of service at half the cost of hiring someone to do the work. ^[g] Moses said to Israel: First-Born Animals (Leviticus 27.26,27; Numbers 18.15-18) ¹⁹If the first-born animal of a cow or sheep or goat is a male, it must be given to the LORD. Don't put first-born cattle to work or cut wool from first-born sheep. ²⁰Instead, each year you must take the first-born of these animals to the place where the LORD your God chooses to be worshiped. You and your family will sacrifice them to the LORD and then eat them as part of a sacred meal. ²¹But if the animal is lame or blind or has something else wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. ²²You can butcher it where you live, and eat it just like the meat of a deer or gazelle that you kill while hunting. Even those people who are unclean and unfit for worship can have some. ²³But you must never eat the blood of an animal--let it drain out on the ground. Moses said: Footnotes: Deuteronomy 13:1 a prophet: Hebrew adds " or a dreamer of dreams," another name for a prophet. Deuteronomy 14:1 when you mourn. . . forehead: Or " you must not worship Baal, cutting yourselves and shaving your forehead." Deuteronomy 14:6 chew the cud: Some animals that eat grass and leaves have more than one stomach, and they chew their food a second time, after it has been partly digested in the first stomach. This partly digested food is called " cud." Deuteronomy 14:12 eagles. . . hoopoes: Some of the birds in this list are difficult to identify. Deuteronomy 14:20 certain kinds of winged insects: These were locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers; see Leviticus 11.21,22. Deuteronomy 15:1 The LORD says. . . no longer ask for payment: Or "The LORD says loans do not need to be paid back this year. Then if you have loaned money to another Israelite, you cannot ask for payment until the next year." Deuteronomy 15:18 six years. . . work: Or " six years of service, and it cost you no more than if you had hired someone to do the work" ; or " six years of service, for what you would have had to pay a worker for two years." Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
Mark 12:28-44 Listen to this passage View commentary related to this passage The Most Important Commandment (Matthew 22.34-40; Luke 10.25-28) ²⁸One of the teachers of the Law of Moses came up while Jesus and the Sadducees were arguing. When he heard Jesus give a good answer, he asked him, "What is the most important commandment?" ²⁹Jesus answered, "The most important one says: `People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. ³⁰You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.' ³¹The second most important commandment says: `Love others as much as you love yourself.' No other commandment is more important than these." ³²The man replied, "Teacher, you are certainly right to say there is only one God. ³³It is also true that we must love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and that we must love others as much as we love ourselves. These commandments are more important than all the sacrifices and offerings that we could possibly make." ³⁴When Jesus saw that the man had given a sensible answer, he told him, "You are not far from God's kingdom." After this, no one dared ask Jesus any more questions. About David's Son (Matthew 22.41-46; Luke 20.41-44) ³⁵As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, "How can the teachers of the Law of Moses say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David? ³⁶The Holy Spirit led David to say, `The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right side ^[a] until I make your enemies into a footstool for you.' ³⁷If David called the Messiah his Lord, how can the Messiah be his son?" ^[b] The large crowd enjoyed listening to Jesus teach. Jesus Condemns the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law of Moses (Matthew 23.1-36; Luke 20.45-47) ³⁸As Jesus was teaching, he said: Guard against the teachers of the Law of Moses! They love to walk around in long robes and be greeted in the market. ³⁹They like the front seats in the meeting places and the best seats at banquets. ⁴⁰But they cheat widows out of their homes and pray long prayers just to show off. They will be punished most of all. A Widow's Offering (Luke 21.1-4) ⁴¹Jesus was sitting in the temple near the offering box and watching people put in their gifts. He noticed that many rich people were giving a lot of money. ⁴²Finally, a poor widow came up and put in two coins that were worth only a few pennies. ⁴³Jesus told his disciples to gather around him. Then he said: I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴⁴Everyone else gave what they didn't need. But she is very poor and gave everything she had. Now she doesn't have a cent to live on. Footnotes: Mark 12:36 right side: The place of power and honor. Mark 12:37 David. . . his son: See the note at 10.47. Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Deuteronomy 13-15

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Deuteronomy 13

Don't Worship Other Gods

Moses said to Israel:

^1-2Someday a prophet ^[a] may come along who is able to perform miracles or tell what will happen in the future. Then the prophet may say, " Let's start worshiping some new gods--some gods that we know nothing about." ³If the prophet says this, don't listen! The LORD your God will be watching to find out whether or not you love him with all your heart and soul. ⁴You must be completely faithful to the LORD. Worship and obey only the LORD and do this with fear and trembling, ⁵because he rescued you from slavery in Egypt. If a prophet tells you to disobey the LORD your God and to stop worshiping him, then that prophet is evil and must be put to death.

^6-10Someone else may say to you, " Let's worship other gods." That person may be your best friend, your brother or sister, your son or daughter, or your own dear wife or husband. But you must not listen to people who say such things. Instead, you must stone them to death. You must be the first to throw the stones, then others from the community will finish the job. Don't show any pity.

The gods worshiped by other nations have never done anything for you or your ancestors. People who ask you to worship other gods are trying to get you to stop worshiping the LORD, who rescued you from slavery in Egypt. So put to death anyone who asks you to worship another god. ¹¹And when the rest of Israel hears about it, they will be afraid, and no one else will ever do such an evil thing again.

¹²After the LORD your God gives you towns to live in, you may hear a rumor about one of the towns. ¹³You may hear that some worthless people have talked everyone there into worshiping other gods, even though these gods had never done anything for them. ¹⁴You must carefully find out if the rumor is true. Then if the people of that town have actually done such a disgusting thing in your own country, ¹⁵you must take your swords and kill every one of them, and their livestock too. ^16-17Gather all the possessions of the people who lived there, and pile them up in the marketplace, without keeping anything for yourself. Set the pile and the whole town on fire, and don't ever rebuild the town. The whole town will be a sacrifice to the LORD your God. Then he won't be angry anymore, and he will have mercy on you and make you successful, just as he promised your ancestors. ¹⁸That's why you must do what the LORD your God says is right. I am giving you his laws and teachings today, and you must obey them.

Deuteronomy 14

Don't Mourn like Other Nations

Moses said:

¹People of Israel, you are the LORD's children, so when you mourn for the dead, you must not cut yourselves or shave your forehead. ^[b] ²Out of all the nations on this earth, the LORD your God chose you to be his own. You belong to the LORD, so don't behave like those who worship other gods.

Animals That Can Be Eaten

(Leviticus 11.1-47)

³Don't eat any disgusting animals.

^4-5You may eat the meat of cattle, sheep, and goats; wild sheep and goats; and gazelles, antelopes, and all kinds of deer. ⁶It is all right to eat meat from any animals that have divided hoofs and also chew the cud. ^[c] ⁷But don't eat camels, rabbits, and rock badgers. These animals chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs. You must treat them as unclean. ⁸And don't eat pork, since pigs have divided hoofs, but they do not chew their cud. Don't even touch a dead pig!

⁹You can eat any fish that has fins and scales. But there are other creatures that live in the water, ¹⁰and if they do not have fins and scales, you must not eat them. Treat them as unclean.

¹¹You can eat any clean bird. ^12-18But don't eat the meat of any of the following birds: eagles, vultures, falcons, kites, ravens, ostriches, owls, sea gulls, hawks, pelicans, ospreys, cormorants, storks, herons, and hoopoes. ^[d] You must not eat bats. ¹⁹Swarming insects are unclean, so don't eat them. ²⁰However, you are allowed to eat certain kinds of winged insects. ^[e] ²¹You belong to the LORD your God, so if you happen to find a dead animal, don't eat its meat. You may give it to foreigners who live in your town or sell it to foreigners who are visiting your town.

Don't boil a young goat in its mother's milk.

Give the LORD Ten Percent of Your Harvest

Moses said:

²²People of Israel, every year you must set aside ten percent of your grain harvest. ²³Also set aside ten percent of your wine and olive oil, and the first-born of every cow, sheep, and goat. Take these to the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped, and eat them there. This will teach you to always respect the LORD your God.

²⁴But suppose you can't carry that ten percent of your harvest to the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped. If you live too far away, or if the LORD gives you a big harvest, ²⁵then sell this part and take the money there instead. ²⁶When you and your family arrive, spend the money on food for a big celebration. Buy cattle, sheep, goats, wine, beer, and if there are any other kinds of food that you want, buy those too. ²⁷And since people of the Levi tribe won't own any land for growing crops, remember to ask the Levites to celebrate with you.

²⁸Every third year, instead of using the ten percent of your harvest for a big celebration, bring it into town and put it in a community storehouse. ²⁹The Levites have no land of their own, so you must give them food from the storehouse. You must also give food to the poor who live in your town, including orphans, widows, and foreigners. If they have enough to eat, then the LORD your God will be pleased and make you successful in everything you do.

Moses said:

Deuteronomy 15

Loans

(Leviticus 25.1-7)

^1-2Every seven years you must announce, " The LORD says loans do not need to be paid back." Then if you have loaned money to another Israelite, you can no longer ask for payment. ^[f] ³This law applies only to loans you have made to other Israelites. Foreigners will still have to pay back what you have loaned them. ^4-6No one in Israel should ever be poor. The LORD your God is giving you this land, and he has promised to make you very successful, if you obey his laws and teachings that I'm giving you today. You will lend money to many nations, but you won't have to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they won't rule you.

⁷After the LORD your God gives land to each of you, there may be poor Israelites in the town where you live. If there are, then don't be mean and selfish with your money. ⁸Instead, be kind and lend them what they need. ⁹Be careful! Don't say to yourself, " Soon it will be the seventh year, and then I won't be able to get my money back." It would be horrible for you to think that way and to be so selfish that you refuse to help the poor. They are your relatives, and if you don't help them, they may ask the LORD to decide whether you have done wrong. And he will say that you are guilty. ¹⁰You should be happy to give the poor what they need, because then the LORD will make you successful in everything you do.

¹¹There will always be some Israelites who are poor and needy. That's why I am commanding you to be generous with them.

Moses said to Israel:

Setting Slaves Free

(Exodus 21.1-11)

¹²If any of you buy Israelites as slaves, you must set them free after six years. ¹³And don't just tell them they are free to leave-- ¹⁴give them sheep and goats and a good supply of grain and wine. The more the LORD has given you, the more you should give them. ¹⁵I am commanding you to obey the LORD as a reminder that you were slaves in Egypt before he set you free. ¹⁶But one of your slaves may say, " I love you and your family, and I would be better off staying with you, so please don't make me leave." ¹⁷Take the slave to the door of your house and push a sharp metal rod through one earlobe and into the door. Such slaves will belong to you for life, whether they are men or women.

¹⁸Don't complain when you have to set a slave free. After all, you got six years of service at half the cost of hiring someone to do the work. ^[g] Moses said to Israel:

First-Born Animals

(Leviticus 27.26,27; Numbers 18.15-18)

¹⁹If the first-born animal of a cow or sheep or goat is a male, it must be given to the LORD. Don't put first-born cattle to work or cut wool from first-born sheep. ²⁰Instead, each year you must take the first-born of these animals to the place where the LORD your God chooses to be worshiped. You and your family will sacrifice them to the LORD and then eat them as part of a sacred meal.

²¹But if the animal is lame or blind or has something else wrong with it, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God. ²²You can butcher it where you live, and eat it just like the meat of a deer or gazelle that you kill while hunting. Even those people who are unclean and unfit for worship can have some. ²³But you must never eat the blood of an animal--let it drain out on the ground.

Moses said:

Footnotes:

Deuteronomy 13:1 a prophet: Hebrew adds " or a dreamer of dreams," another name for a prophet.
Deuteronomy 14:1 when you mourn. . . forehead: Or " you must not worship Baal, cutting yourselves and shaving your forehead."
Deuteronomy 14:6 chew the cud: Some animals that eat grass and leaves have more than one stomach, and they chew their food a second time, after it has been partly digested in the first stomach. This partly digested food is called " cud."
Deuteronomy 14:12 eagles. . . hoopoes: Some of the birds in this list are difficult to identify.
Deuteronomy 14:20 certain kinds of winged insects: These were locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers; see Leviticus 11.21,22.
Deuteronomy 15:1 The LORD says. . . no longer ask for payment: Or "The LORD says loans do not need to be paid back this year. Then if you have loaned money to another Israelite, you cannot ask for payment until the next year."
Deuteronomy 15:18 six years. . . work: Or " six years of service, and it cost you no more than if you had hired someone to do the work" ; or " six years of service, for what you would have had to pay a worker for two years."

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Mark 12:28-44

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The Most Important Commandment

(Matthew 22.34-40; Luke 10.25-28)

²⁸One of the teachers of the Law of Moses came up while Jesus and the Sadducees were arguing. When he heard Jesus give a good answer, he asked him, "What is the most important commandment?"

²⁹Jesus answered, "The most important one says: `People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. ³⁰You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.' ³¹The second most important commandment says: `Love others as much as you love yourself.' No other commandment is more important than these."

³²The man replied, "Teacher, you are certainly right to say there is only one God. ³³It is also true that we must love God with all our heart, mind, and strength, and that we must love others as much as we love ourselves. These commandments are more important than all the sacrifices and offerings that we could possibly make."

³⁴When Jesus saw that the man had given a sensible answer, he told him, "You are not far from God's kingdom." After this, no one dared ask Jesus any more questions.

About David's Son

(Matthew 22.41-46; Luke 20.41-44)

³⁵As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he said, "How can the teachers of the Law of Moses say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David? ³⁶The Holy Spirit led David to say,

`The Lord said to my Lord:

Sit at my right side ^[a]

until I make your enemies

into a footstool for you.'

³⁷If David called the Messiah his Lord, how can the Messiah be his son?" ^[b]

The large crowd enjoyed listening to Jesus teach.

Jesus Condemns the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law of Moses

(Matthew 23.1-36; Luke 20.45-47)

³⁸As Jesus was teaching, he said:

Guard against the teachers of the Law of Moses! They love to walk around in long robes and be greeted in the market. ³⁹They like the front seats in the meeting places and the best seats at banquets. ⁴⁰But they cheat widows out of their homes and pray long prayers just to show off. They will be punished most of all.

A Widow's Offering

(Luke 21.1-4)

⁴¹Jesus was sitting in the temple near the offering box and watching people put in their gifts. He noticed that many rich people were giving a lot of money. ⁴²Finally, a poor widow came up and put in two coins that were worth only a few pennies. ⁴³Jesus told his disciples to gather around him. Then he said:

I tell you that this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴⁴Everyone else gave what they didn't need. But she is very poor and gave everything she had. Now she doesn't have a cent to live on.

Footnotes:

Mark 12:36 right side: The place of power and honor.
Mark 12:37 David. . . his son: See the note at 10.47.

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

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Passage results

Deuteronomy 13-15; Mark 12:28-44 (Contemporary English Version)

Deuteronomy 13

Don't Worship Other Gods

Moses said to Israel:

Deuteronomy 14

Don't Mourn like Other Nations

Moses said:

Animals That Can Be Eaten

(Leviticus 11.1-47)

Give the LORD Ten Percent of Your Harvest

Moses said:

Deuteronomy 15

Loans

(Leviticus 25.1-7)

Setting Slaves Free

(Exodus 21.1-11)

First-Born Animals

(Leviticus 27.26,27; Numbers 18.15-18)

The Most Important Commandment

(Matthew 22.34-40; Luke 10.25-28)

About David's Son

(Matthew 22.41-46; Luke 20.41-44)

Jesus Condemns the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law of Moses

(Matthew 23.1-36; Luke 20.45-47)

A Widow's Offering

(Luke 21.1-4)