Deuteronomy 5-6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Ten Commandments
5 Moses convened all Israel and said to them:
“Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances that I am addressing to you today; you shall learn them and observe them diligently. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb.(A) 3 Not with our ancestors did the Lord make this covenant but with us, who are all of us here alive today. 4 The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the fire.(B) 5 (At that time I was standing between the Lord and you to declare to you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain.) And he said:(C)
6 “ ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;(D) 7 you shall have no other gods before[a] me.
8 “ ‘You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. 9 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and fourth generation of those who reject me(E) 10 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.(F)
11 “ ‘You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
12 “ ‘Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.(G) 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.(H)
16 “ ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
17 “ ‘You shall not murder.[c]
18 “ ‘Neither shall you commit adultery.
19 “ ‘Neither shall you steal.
20 “ ‘Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 “ ‘Neither shall you covet your neighbor’s wife.
“ ‘Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’ ”(I)
Moses the Mediator of God’s Will
22 “These words the Lord spoke with a loud voice to your whole assembly at the mountain, out of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, and he added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me.(J) 23 When you heard the voice out of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you approached me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders, 24 and you said, ‘Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the fire. We have seen this day that God may speak to someone and the person may still live.(K) 25 But now why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, we shall die.(L) 26 For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the fire, as we have, and lived?(M) 27 Go near, you yourself, and hear all that the Lord our God will say. Then tell us everything that the Lord our God tells you, and we will listen and do it.’
28 “The Lord heard your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you; they are right in all that they have spoken.(N) 29 If only they had such a mind as this, to fear me and to keep all my commandments always, so that it might go well with them and with their children forever!(O) 30 Go say to them, “Return to your tents.” 31 But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandments, the statutes and the ordinances, that you shall teach them, so that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’(P) 32 You must therefore be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn to the right or to the left.(Q) 33 You must follow exactly the path that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land that you are to possess.(R)
The Great Commandment
6 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the ordinances—that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, 2 so that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long.(S) 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.(T)
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.[d](U) 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.(V) 6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.(W) 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem[e] on your forehead,(X) 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.(Y)
Caution against Disobedience
10 “When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—a land with fine, large cities that you did not build,(Z) 11 houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant—and when you have eaten your fill,(AA) 12 take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 The Lord your God you shall fear, him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear.(AB) 14 Do not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who are all around you, 15 because the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a jealous God. The anger of the Lord your God would be kindled against you and he would destroy you from the face of the earth.(AC)
16 “Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.(AD) 17 You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees and his statutes that he has commanded you.(AE) 18 Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors,(AF) 19 thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.
20 “When your children ask you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?’(AG) 21 then you shall say to your children, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. 23 He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. 24 Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case.(AH) 25 If we diligently observe this entire commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, we will be in the right.’(AI)
Luke 7:11-35
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus Raises the Widow’s Son at Nain
11 Soon afterward[a] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him.(A) 12 As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow, and with her was a large crowd from the town. 13 When the Lord saw her, he was moved with compassion for her and said to her, “Do not cry.”(B) 14 Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stopped. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!”(C) 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus[b] gave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized all of them, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has visited his people!”(D) 17 This word about him spread throughout the whole of Judea and all the surrounding region.
Messengers from John the Baptist
18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. So John summoned two of his disciples 19 and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?” 20 When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to expect someone else?’ ” 21 Jesus[c] had just then cured many people of diseases, afflictions, and evil spirits and had given sight to many who were blind.(E) 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight; the lame walk; those with a skin disease are cleansed; the deaf hear; the dead are raised; the poor have good news brought to them.(F) 23 And blessed is anyone who takes no offense at me.”
24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus[d] began to speak to the crowds about John:[e] “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 What, then, did you go out to see? Someone[f] dressed in soft robes? Look, those who put on fine clothing and live in luxury are in royal palaces. 26 What, then, did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is the one about whom it is written,
‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way before you.’
28 “I tell you, among those born of women no one is greater than John, yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 (And all the people who heard this, including the tax collectors, acknowledged the justice of God,[g] having been baptized with John’s baptism.(G) 30 But the Pharisees and the experts in the law, not having been baptized by him, rejected God’s purpose for themselves.)(H)
31 “To what, then, will I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not weep.’
33 “For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon’;(I) 34 the Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’(J) 35 Nevertheless, wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
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Psalm 68:19-35
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
19 Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up;
God is our salvation. Selah(A)
20 Our God is a God of salvation,
and to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death.(B)
21 But God will shatter the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crown of those who walk in their guilty ways.(C)
22 The Lord said,
“I will bring them back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,(D)
23 so that you may bathe[a] your feet in blood,
so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.”(E)
24 Your solemn processions are seen,[b] O God,
the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—(F)
25 the singers in front, the musicians last,
between them young women playing tambourines:(G)
26 “Bless God in the great congregation,
the Lord, O you who are of Israel’s fountain!”(H)
27 There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,
the princes of Judah in a body,
the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali.(I)
28 Summon your might, O God;
show your strength, O God, as you have done for us before.
29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem,
kings bear gifts to you.(J)
30 Rebuke the wild animals that live among the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.
Trample[c] under foot those who lust after tribute;
scatter the peoples who delight in war.[d](K)
31 Let bronze be brought from Egypt;
let Cush hasten to stretch out its hands to God.(L)
32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth;
sing praises to the Lord, Selah
33 O rider in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
listen, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.(M)
34 Ascribe power to God,
whose majesty is over Israel
and whose power is in the skies.(N)
35 Awesome is God in his[e] sanctuary,
the God of Israel;
he gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!(O)
Proverbs 11:29-31
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
29 Those who trouble their households will inherit wind,
and the fool will be servant to the wise.
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
and the wise capture souls.(A)
31 If the righteous are repaid on earth,
how much more the wicked and the sinner!(B)
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.