Shun Idolatry

13 “^[a](A)If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘^(B)Let us go after other gods (whom 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 is ^(C)testing you to find out if ^(D)you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ^4 (E)You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and ^(F)cling to Him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be ^(G)put to death, because he has ^[b]counseled ^[c]rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of ^[d]slavery, ^(H)to seduce you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. ^(I)So you shall purge the evil from among you.

⁶ “^(J)If your brother, your mother’s son, or your son or daughter, or the wife ^[e]you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, ‘^(K)Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, ⁷ of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), ^8 (L)you shall not yield to him or listen to him; ^(M)and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. ^9 (N)But you shall surely kill him; ^(O)your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. ¹⁰ So you shall stone him ^[f]to death because he has sought ^(P)to seduce you from the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of ^[g]slavery. ¹¹ Then ^(Q)all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.

¹² “If you hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you to live in, anyone saying that ¹³ some worthless men have gone out from among you and have seduced the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘^(R)Let us go and serve other gods’ (whom you have not known), ¹⁴ then you shall investigate and search out and inquire thoroughly. If it is true and the matter established that this abomination has been done among you, ^15 (S)you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, ^[h]utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its cattle with the edge of the sword. ^16 (T)Then you shall gather all its booty into the middle of its open square and burn the city and all its booty with fire as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God; and it shall be a ^[i](U)ruin forever. It shall never be rebuilt. ¹⁷ Nothing from that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand, in order that the Lord may turn from ^(V)His burning anger and ^(W)show mercy to you, and have compassion on you and ^(X)make you increase, just ^(Y)as He has sworn to your fathers, ^18 [j]if you will listen to the voice of the Lord your God, ^[k]keeping all His commandments which I am commanding you today, ^[l]and doing what is right in the sight of the Lord your God.

Clean and Unclean Animals

14 “You are ^(Z)the sons of the Lord your God; ^(AA)you shall not cut yourselves nor ^[m]shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. ² For you are ^(AB)a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a ^(AC)people for His ^[n]own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

³ “^(AD)You shall not eat any detestable thing. ^4 (AE)These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, ^5 [o]the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. ⁶ Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in ^[p]two and ^[q]chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. ⁷ Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which ^[r]chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in ^[s]two: the camel and the ^[t]rabbit and the ^[u]shaphan, for though they ^[v]chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. ⁸ The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses.

⁹ “These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, ¹⁰ but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

¹¹ “You may eat any clean bird. ¹² But ^(AF)these are the ones which you shall not eat: the ^[w]eagle and the vulture and the ^[x]buzzard, ¹³ and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, ¹⁴ and every raven in its kind, ¹⁵ and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, ¹⁶ the little owl, the ^[y]great owl, the white owl, ¹⁷ the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, ¹⁸ the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. ¹⁹ And all the ^[z]teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. ²⁰ You may eat any clean bird.

²¹ “^(AG)You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your ^[aa]town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are ^(AH)a holy people to the Lord your God. ^(AI)You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

²² “You ^(AJ)shall surely tithe all the produce from ^[ab]what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. ²³ You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, ^(AK)at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may ^(AL)learn to fear the Lord your God always. ²⁴ If the ^[ac]distance is so great for you that you are not able to ^[ad]bring the tithe, since the place where the Lord your God chooses ^(AM)to set His name is too far away from you when the Lord your God blesses you, ²⁵ then you shall ^[ae]exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. ²⁶ You may spend the money for whatever your ^[af]heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your ^[ag]heart ^[ah]desires; and ^(AN)there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. ²⁷ Also you shall not neglect ^(AO)the Levite who is in your ^[ai]town, ^(AP)for he has no portion or inheritance among you.

²⁸ “^(AQ)At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your ^[aj]town. ²⁹ The Levite, ^(AR)because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and ^(AS)the alien, the ^[ak]orphan and the widow who are in your ^[al]town, shall come and ^(AT)eat and be satisfied, in order that ^(AU)the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

The Sabbatic Year

15 “^(AV)At the end of every seven years you shall ^[am]grant a remission of debts. ² This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord’s remission has been proclaimed. ^3 (AW)From a foreigner you may exact it, but your hand shall release whatever of yours is with your brother. ⁴ However, there will be no poor among you, since ^(AX)the Lord will surely bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, ⁵ if only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. ^6 (AY)For the Lord your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

⁷ “If there is ^(AZ)a poor man with you, one of your brothers, in any of your ^[an]towns in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, ^(BA)you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand from your poor brother; ⁸ but ^(BB)you shall freely open your hand to him, and shall generously lend him sufficient for his need in whatever he lacks. ⁹ Beware that there is no base ^[ao]thought in your heart, saying, ‘^(BC)The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and ^(BD)your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he ^(BE)may cry to the Lord against you, and it will be a sin in you. ¹⁰ You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because ^(BF)for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all ^[ap]your undertakings. ^11 (BG)For the poor will never cease to be ^[aq]in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’

¹² “^(BH)If your ^[ar]kinsman, a Hebrew man or woman, is sold to you, then he shall serve you six years, but in the seventh year you shall set him ^[as]free. ¹³ When you set him ^[at]free, you shall not send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴ You shall furnish him liberally from your flock and from your threshing floor and from your wine vat; you shall give to him as the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹⁵ You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you ^[au]this today. ¹⁶ It shall come about ^(BI)if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he fares well with you; ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl and pierce it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also you shall do likewise to your maidservant.

¹⁸ “It shall not seem hard to you when you set him ^[av]free, for he has given you six years with ^[aw]double the service of a hired man; so the Lord your God will bless you in whatever you do.

¹⁹ “^(BJ)You shall consecrate to the Lord your God all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock; you shall not work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. ^20 (BK)You and your household shall eat it every year before the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses. ^21 (BL)But if it has any ^[ax]defect, such as lameness or blindness, or any serious ^[ay]defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²² You shall eat it within your gates; ^(BM)the unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as ^(BN)a gazelle or a deer. ²³ Only ^(BO)you shall not eat its blood; you are to pour it out on the ground like water.

God Knows and Cares

12 Under these circumstances, after ^[a]so many thousands of ^[b]people had gathered together that they were stepping on one another, He began saying to His disciples first of all, “^(A)Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ^2 (B)But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. ³ Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have ^[c]whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon ^(C)the housetops.

⁴ “I say to you, ^(D)My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. ⁵ But I will ^[d]warn you whom to fear: ^(E)fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into ^[e](F)hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! ⁶ Are not ^(G)five sparrows sold for two ^[f]cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. ^7 (H)Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

⁸ “And I say to you, everyone who ^(I)confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; ⁹ but ^(J)he who denies Me before men will be denied ^(K)before the angels of God. ^10 (L)And everyone who ^[g]speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. ¹¹ When they bring you before ^(M)the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not ^(N)worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; ¹² for ^(O)the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Covetousness Denounced

¹³ Someone ^[h]in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But He said to him, “^(P)Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ Then He said to them, “^(Q)Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. ¹⁷ And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, ^(R)you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ‘^(S)You fool! This very night ^[i](T)your soul is required of you; and ^(U)now who will own what you have prepared?’ ²¹ So is the man who ^(V)stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

²² And He said to His disciples, “^(W)For this reason I say to you, ^[j]do not worry about your ^[k]life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ^(X)ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor ^(Y)barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add a single ^[l](Z)hour to his ^[m]life’s span? ²⁶ If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even ^(AA)Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸ But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? ^(AB)You men of little faith! ²⁹ And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not ^(AC)keep worrying. ³⁰ For ^[n]all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹ But seek His kingdom, and ^(AD)these things will be added to you. ^32 (AE)Do not be afraid, ^(AF)little flock, for ^(AG)your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.

³³ “^(AH)Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, ^(AI)an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys. ³⁴ For ^(AJ)where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Be in Readiness

³⁵ “^[o](AK)Be dressed in ^(AL)readiness, and keep your lamps lit. ³⁶ Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. ³⁷ Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find ^(AM)on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that ^(AN)he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them. ^38 (AO)Whether he comes in the ^[p]second watch, or even in the ^[q]third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

³⁹ “^(AP)But ^[r]be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be ^[s](AQ)broken into. ^40 (AR)You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not ^[t]expect.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or ^(AS)to everyone else as well?” ⁴² And ^(AT)the Lord said, “^(AU)Who then is the faithful and sensible ^(AV)steward, whom his master will put in charge of his ^[u]servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? ⁴³ Blessed is that ^(AW)slave whom his ^[v]master finds so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master ^[w]will be a long time in coming,’ and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; ⁴⁶ the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷ And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will ^(AX)receive many lashes, ⁴⁸ but the one who did not ^(AY)know it, and committed deeds worthy of ^[x]a flogging, will receive but few. ^(AZ)From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.

Christ Divides Men

⁴⁹ “I ^[y]have come to cast fire upon the earth; and ^[z]how I wish it were already kindled! ⁵⁰ But I have a ^(BA)baptism to ^[aa]undergo, and how distressed I am until it is accomplished! ^51 (BB)Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; ⁵² for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(BC)father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

⁵⁴ And He was also saying to the crowds, “^(BD)When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming,’ and so it turns out. ⁵⁵ And when you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It will be a ^(BE)hot day,’ and it turns out that way. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! ^(BF)You know how to analyze the appearance of the earth and the sky, but ^[ab]why do you not analyze this present time?

⁵⁷ “And ^(BG)why do you not even on your own initiative judge what is right? ⁵⁸ For ^(BH)while you are going with your opponent to appear before the magistrate, on your way there make an effort to ^[ac]settle with him, so that he may not drag you before the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid the very last ^[ad](BI)cent.”