Debts Canceled

15 “At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.^{(A) 2} This is how to cancel debt: Every creditor^[a] is to cancel what he has lent his neighbor. He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother, because the Lord’s release of debts has been proclaimed. ³ You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

⁴ “There will be no poor among you, however, because the Lord is certain to bless you in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance^(B)— ⁵ if only you obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow every one of these commands I am giving you today. ⁶ When the Lord your God blesses you as he has promised you, you will lend to many nations but not borrow; you will rule many nations, but they will not rule you.

Lending to the Poor

⁷ “If there is a poor person among you, one of your brothers within any of your city gates in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. ⁸ Instead, you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has. ⁹ Be careful that there isn’t this wicked thought in your heart, ‘The seventh year, the year of canceling debts, is near,’ and you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing. He will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty. ¹⁰ Give to him, and don’t have a stingy heart^[b] when you give, and because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do.^{[c] 11} For there will never cease to be poor people in the land;^(C) that is why I am commanding you, ‘Open your hand willingly to your poor and needy brother in your land.’

Release of Slaves

¹² “If your fellow Hebrew, a man or woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, you must set him free in the seventh year.^{(D) 13} When you set him free, do not send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴ Give generously to him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress. You are to give him whatever the Lord your God has blessed you with. ¹⁵ Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed^(E) you; that is why I am giving you this command today.^{(F) 16} But if your slave says to you, ‘I don’t want to leave you,’ because he loves you and your family, and is well off with you, ¹⁷ take an awl and pierce through his ear into the door, and he will become your slave for life. Also treat your female slave the same way. ¹⁸ Do not regard it as a hardship^[d] when you set him free, because he worked for you six years—worth twice the wages of a hired worker. Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.^(G)

Consecration of Firstborn Animals

¹⁹ “Consecrate to the Lord your God every firstborn male produced by your herd and flock.^(H) You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work or shear the firstborn of your flock. ²⁰ Each year you and your family are to eat it before the Lord your God in the place the Lord chooses. ²¹ But if there is a defect in the animal, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you may not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²² Eat it within your city gates; both the unclean person and the clean may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or deer. ²³ But you must not eat its blood; pour it on the ground like water.^(I)

The Festival of Passover

16 “Set aside the month of Abib^[e](J) and observe the Passover to the Lord your God, because the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night in the month of Abib.^{(K) 2} Sacrifice to the Lord your God a Passover animal from the herd or flock in the place where the Lord chooses to have his name dwell.^{(L) 3} Do not eat leavened bread with it.^(M) For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread with it, the bread of hardship—because you left the land of Egypt in a hurry^(N)—so that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt. ⁴ No yeast is to be found anywhere in your territory for seven days,^(O) and none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day is to remain until morning.^{(P) 5} You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns the Lord your God is giving you. ⁶ Sacrifice the Passover animal only at the place where the Lord your God chooses to have his name dwell. Do this in the evening as the sun sets at the same time of day you departed from Egypt. ⁷ You are to cook and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses, and you are to return to your tents in the morning. ⁸ Eat unleavened bread for six days. On the seventh day there is to be a solemn assembly to the Lord your God; do not do any work.

The Festival of Weeks

⁹ “You are to count seven weeks, counting the weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain.^{(Q) 10} You are to celebrate the Festival of Weeks^(R) to the Lord your God with a freewill offering^(S) that you give in proportion to how the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹¹ Rejoice^(T) before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to have his name dwell—you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, the Levite within your city gates, as well as the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow among you. ¹² Remember that you were slaves in Egypt; carefully follow these statutes.

The Festival of Shelters

¹³ “You are to celebrate the Festival of Shelters^(U) for seven days when you have gathered in everything from your threshing floor and winepress.^{(V) 14} Rejoice during your festival—you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, as well as the Levite, the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow within your city gates. ¹⁵ You are to hold a seven-day festival for the Lord your God in the place he chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands,^(W) and you will have abundant joy.

¹⁶ “All your males are to appear three times a year^(X) before the Lord your God in the place he chooses: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks, and the Festival of Shelters. No one is to appear before the Lord empty-handed.^{(Y) 17} Everyone must appear with a gift suited to his means, according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you.

Appointing Judges and Officials

¹⁸ “Appoint judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns the Lord your God is giving you. They are to judge the people with righteous judgment. ¹⁹ Do not deny justice or show partiality to anyone. Do not accept a bribe, for it blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.^{(Z) 20} Pursue justice and justice alone, so that you will live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.^(AA)

Forbidden Worship

²¹ “Do not set up an Asherah of any kind of wood next to the altar you will build for the Lord your God, ²² and do not set up a sacred pillar; the Lord your God hates them.^(AB)

17 “Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, for that is detestable to the Lord your God.^(AC)

The Judicial Procedure for Idolatry

² “If a man or woman among you in one of your towns that the Lord your God will give you is discovered doing evil in the sight of the Lord your God and violating his covenant^{(AD) 3} and has gone to serve other gods^(AE) by bowing in worship to the sun, moon, or all the stars in the sky^(AF)—which I have forbidden^(AG)— ⁴ and if you are told or hear about it, then investigate it thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable act has been done in Israel, ⁵ you are to bring out to your city gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death.^{(AH) 6} The one condemned to die is to be executed on the testimony of two or three witnesses.^(AI) No one is to be executed on the testimony of a single witness. ⁷ The witnesses’ hands are to be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people.^(AJ) You must purge the evil from you.^(AK)

Difficult Cases

⁸ “If a case is too difficult for you—concerning bloodshed,^(AL) lawsuits,^(AM) or assaults^(AN)—cases disputed at your city gates,^(AO) then go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. ⁹ You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Ask, and they will give you a verdict in the case. ¹⁰ You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do exactly as they instruct you. ¹¹ You must abide by the instruction they give you and the verdict they announce to you. Do not turn to the right or the left from the decision they declare to you. ¹² The person who acts arrogantly, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there serving the Lord your God or to the judge, must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. ¹³ Then all the people will hear about it, be afraid, and no longer behave arrogantly.

Appointing a King

¹⁴ “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you,^(AP) take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,’ ¹⁵ you are to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses.^(AQ) Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people.^{(AR) 16} However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’^{(AS) 17} He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray.^(AT) He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.^{(AU) 18} When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear^(AV) the Lord his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. ²⁰ Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years^[f] in Israel.

Provisions for the Levites

18 “The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They will eat the Lord’s food offerings; that is their^[g][h] inheritance. ² Although Levi has no inheritance among his brothers, the Lord is his inheritance, as he promised him.^{(AW) 3} This is the priests’ share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether it is an ox, a sheep, or a goat; the priests are to be given the shoulder, jaws, and stomach. ⁴ You are to give him the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and fresh oil,^(AX) and the first sheared wool of your flock. ⁵ For the Lord your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes to stand and minister in his name from now on.^{[i] 6} When a Levite leaves one of your towns in Israel where he was staying and wants to go to the place the Lord chooses, ⁷ he may serve in the name of the Lord his God like all his fellow Levites who minister there in the presence of the Lord. ⁸ They will eat equal portions besides what he has received from the sale of the family estate.^[j](AY)

Occult Practices versus Prophetic Revelation

⁹ “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations.^{(AZ) 10} No one among you is to sacrifice his son or daughter in the fire,^[k](BA) practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, ¹¹ cast spells, consult a medium or a spiritist, or inquire of the dead.^{(BB) 12} Everyone who does these acts is detestable to the Lord, and the Lord your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable acts. ¹³ You must be blameless before the Lord your God. ¹⁴ Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do this.

¹⁵ “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers.^(BC) You must listen to him. ¹⁶ This is what you requested from the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!’ ^{(BD) 17} Then the Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. ¹⁹ I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.^{(BE) 20} But the prophet who presumes to speak a message in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet must die.’ ²¹ You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a message the Lord has not spoken?’ ²² When a prophet speaks in the Lord’s name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.

Psalm 115

Glory to God Alone

Commissioning the Twelve

9 Summoning the Twelve,^(A) he gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases.^{(B) 2} Then he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.^(C)

³ “Take nothing for the road,”^(D) he told them, “no staff,^(E) no traveling bag, no bread, no money; and don’t take an extra shirt. ⁴ Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there. ⁵ If they do not welcome you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”^{(F) 6} So they went out and traveled from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere.

Herod’s Desire to See Jesus

⁷ Herod the tetrarch^(G) heard about everything that was going on.^(H) He was perplexed, because some said that John had been raised from the dead, ⁸ some that Elijah had appeared,^(I) and others that one of the ancient prophets had risen.^{(J) 9} “I beheaded John,” Herod said, “but who is this I hear such things about?” And he wanted to see him.^(K)

Feeding of the Five Thousand

¹⁰ When the apostles returned,^(L) they reported to Jesus all that they had done.^(M) He took them along and withdrew privately to a^[a] town called Bethsaida.^{(N) 11} When the crowds found out, they followed him. He welcomed them,^(O) spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

¹² Late in the day,^(P) the Twelve approached and said to him, “Send the crowd away,^(Q) so that they can go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find food and lodging, because we are in a deserted place here.”

¹³ “You give them something to eat,” he told them.

“We have no more than five loaves^(R) and two fish,” they said, “unless we go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ (For about five thousand men were there.)

Then he told his disciples, “Have them sit down^[b] in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ They did what he said, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶ Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven,^(S) he blessed and broke them.^(T) He kept giving them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷ Everyone ate and was filled. They picked up twelve baskets of leftover pieces.

Peter’s Confession of the Messiah

¹⁸ While he was praying in private^(U) and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

¹⁹ They answered, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, that one of the ancient prophets has come back.”^[c](V)

²⁰ “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”^(W)

His Death and Resurrection Predicted

²¹ But he strictly warned and instructed them to tell this to no one,^{(X) 22} saying,^(Y) “It is necessary that the Son of Man^(Z) suffer many things^(AA) and be rejected^(AB) by the elders, chief priests, and scribes,^(AC) be killed, and be raised the third day.”^(AD)

Take Up Your Cross

²³ Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after^[d] me, let him deny himself,^(AE) take up his cross daily,^[e] and follow me.^{(AF) 24} For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it.^{(AG) 25} For what does it benefit someone if he gains the whole world, and yet loses or forfeits himself?^{(AH) 26} For whoever is ashamed of me and my words,^(AI) the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory^(AJ) and that of the Father and the holy angels.^{(AK) 27} Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death^(AL) until they see the kingdom of God.”^(AM)

The Transfiguration

²⁸ About eight days after this conversation,^(AN) he took along Peter, John, and James^(AO) and went up on the mountain to pray.^{(AP) 29} As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed,^(AQ) and his clothes became dazzling white.^{(AR) 30} Suddenly, two men were talking with him—Moses and Elijah. ³¹ They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish in Jerusalem.

³² Peter and those with him were in a deep sleep,^[f](AS) and when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were standing with him. ³³ As the two men were departing from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master,^(AT) it’s good for us to be here. Let’s set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he was saying.^(AU)

³⁴ While he was saying this, a cloud appeared and overshadowed^(AV) them. They became afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ Then a voice came from the cloud,^(AW) saying, “This is my Son,^(AX) the Chosen One;^[g](AY) listen to him!” ^(AZ)

³⁶ After the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. They kept silent, and at that time told no one what they had seen.

The Power of Jesus over a Demon

³⁷ The next day,^(BA) when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him. ³⁸ Just then a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, because he’s my only child.^{(BB) 39} A spirit seizes him; suddenly he shrieks, and it throws him into convulsions until he foams at the mouth; severely bruising him, it scarcely ever leaves him. ⁴⁰ I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”^(BC)

⁴¹ Jesus replied, “You unbelieving and perverse^[h] generation,^(BD) how long will I be with you and put up with you?^(BE) Bring your son here.”

⁴² As the boy was still approaching, the demon knocked him down and threw him into severe convulsions. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the boy,^(BF) and gave him back to his father.^{(BG) 43} And they were all astonished at the greatness of God.^(BH)

The Second Prediction of His Death

While everyone was amazed at all the things he was doing,^(BI) he told his disciples, ⁴⁴ “Let these words sink in:^[i] The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men.”^(BJ)

⁴⁵ But they did not understand this statement;^(BK) it was concealed from them so that they could not grasp it,^(BL) and they were afraid to ask him about it.

Who Is the Greatest?

⁴⁶ An argument started among them about who was the greatest of them.^{(BM) 47} But Jesus, knowing their inner thoughts,^[j](BN) took a little child and had him stand next to him. ⁴⁸ He told them, “Whoever welcomes^[k] this little child in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me welcomes him who sent me.^(BO) For whoever is least among you—this one is great.”^(BP)

In His Name

⁴⁹ John responded,^(BQ) “Master, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,^(BR) and we tried to stop him because he does not follow us.”^(BS)

⁵⁰ “Don’t stop him,” Jesus told him, “because whoever is not against you is for you.”^[l](BT)

The Journey to Jerusalem

⁵¹ When the days were coming to a close for him to be taken up,^(BU) he determined^[m](BV) to journey to Jerusalem.^{(BW) 52} He sent messengers ahead of himself,^(BX) and on the way they entered a village of the Samaritans^(BY) to make preparations for him. ⁵³ But they did not welcome him, because he determined to journey to Jerusalem.^{(BZ) 54} When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” ^[n](CA)

⁵⁵ But he turned and rebuked them,^{[o] 56} and they went to another village.

Following Jesus

⁵⁷ As they were traveling on the road someone said to him,^(CB) “I will follow you wherever you go.”

⁵⁸ Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ⁵⁹ Then he said to another, “Follow me.”

“Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.”

⁶⁰ But he told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.”^(CC)

⁶¹ Another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.”^(CD)

⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”