Punishment of Apostates

13 “If there arises among you a prophet or a ^(A)dreamer of dreams, ^(B)and he gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and ^(C)the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God ^(D)is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall ^(E)walk^[a] after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and ^(F)hold fast to Him. ⁵ But ^(G)that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. ^(H)So you shall ^[b]put away the evil from your midst.

^6 (I)“If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, ^(J)the wife ^[c]of your bosom, or your friend ^(K)who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, ⁷ of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, ⁸ you shall ^(L)not ^[d]consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; ⁹ but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to ^(M)death, and afterward the hand of all the people. ¹⁰ And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. ¹¹ So all Israel shall hear and ^(N)fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you.

^12 (O)“If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in, saying, ^13 [e]‘Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods” ’—which you have not known— ¹⁴ then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an ^[f]abomination was committed among you, ¹⁵ you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock—with the edge of the sword. ¹⁶ And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and ^[g]completely ^(P)burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the Lord your God. It shall be ^(Q)a ^[h]heap forever; it shall not be built again. ^17 (R)So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the Lord may ^(S)turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and ^[i]multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, ¹⁸ because you have listened to the voice of the Lord your God, ^(T)to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God.

Improper Mourning

14 “You are ^(U)the children of the Lord your God; ^(V)you shall not cut yourselves nor ^[j]shave the front of your head for the dead. ^2 (W)For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Clean and Unclean Meat^(X)

^3 (Y)“You shall not eat any ^[k]detestable thing. ^4 (Z)These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, ⁵ the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ^[l]mountain goat, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. ⁶ And you may eat every animal with cloven hooves, having the hoof split into two parts, and that chews the cud, among the animals. ⁷ Nevertheless, of those that chew the cud or have cloven hooves, you shall not eat, such as these: the camel, the hare, and the rock hyrax; for they chew the cud but do not have cloven hooves; they are unclean for you. ⁸ Also the swine is unclean for you, because it has cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud; you shall not eat their flesh ^(AA)or touch their dead carcasses.

^9 (AB)“These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and scales. ¹⁰ And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

¹¹ “All clean birds you may eat. ^12 (AC)But these you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, ¹³ the red kite, the falcon, and the kite after their kinds; ¹⁴ every raven after its kind; ¹⁵ the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after their kinds; ¹⁶ the little owl, the screech owl, the white owl, ¹⁷ the jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the fisher owl, ¹⁸ the stork, the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe and the bat.

¹⁹ “Also ^(AD)every ^[m]creeping thing that flies is unclean for you; ^(AE)they shall not be eaten.

²⁰ “You may eat all clean birds.

^21 (AF)“You shall not eat anything that dies of itself; you may give it to the alien who is within your gates, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; ^(AG)for you are a holy people to the Lord your God.

“^(AH)You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Tithing Principles

^22 (AI)“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. ^23 (AJ)And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of ^(AK)the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. ²⁴ But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or ^(AL)if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, ²⁵ then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. ²⁶ And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall ^(AM)rejoice, you and your household. ²⁷ You shall not ^[n]forsake the ^(AN)Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

^28 (AO)“At the end of every third year you shall bring out the ^(AP)tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. ²⁹ And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Simeon Sees God’s Salvation

²⁵ And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, ^(A)waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^(B)see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. ²⁷ So he came ^(C)by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law, ²⁸ he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:

^33 [a]And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him. ³⁴ Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the ^(G)fall and rising of many in Israel, and for ^(H)a sign which will be spoken against ³⁵ (yes, ^(I)a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Anna Bears Witness to the Redeemer

³⁶ Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of ^(J)Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; ³⁷ and this woman was a widow ^[b]of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers ^(K)night and day. ³⁸ And coming in that instant she gave thanks to ^[c]the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who ^(L)looked for redemption in Jerusalem.

The Family Returns to Nazareth

³⁹ So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. ^40 (M)And the Child grew and became strong ^[d]in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

The Boy Jesus Amazes the Scholars

⁴¹ His parents went to ^(N)Jerusalem ^(O)every year at the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the ^(P)custom of the feast. ⁴³ When they had finished the ^(Q)days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And ^[e]Joseph and His mother did not know it; ⁴⁴ but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. ⁴⁵ So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. ⁴⁶ Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And ^(R)all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. ⁴⁸ So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”

⁴⁹ And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be ^(S)about ^(T)My Father’s business?” ⁵⁰ But ^(U)they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

Jesus Advances in Wisdom and Favor

⁵¹ Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was ^[f]subject to them, but His mother ^(V)kept all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus ^(W)increased in wisdom and stature, ^(X)and in favor with God and men.