17 Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect^(A) or flaw in it, for that would be detestable^(B) to him.^(C)

² If a man or woman living among you in one of the towns the Lord gives you is found doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God in violation of his covenant,^{(D) 3} and contrary to my command^(E) has worshiped other gods,^(F) bowing down to them or to the sun^(G) or the moon or the stars in the sky,^{(H) 4} and this has been brought to your attention, then you must investigate it thoroughly. If it is true^(I) and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,^{(J) 5} take the man or woman who has done this evil deed to your city gate and stone that person to death.^{(K) 6} On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.^{(L) 7} The hands of the witnesses must be the first in putting that person to death,^(M) and then the hands of all the people.^(N) You must purge the evil^(O) from among you.

Law Courts

⁸ If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge^(P)—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults^(Q)—take them to the place the Lord your God will choose.^{(R) 9} Go to the Levitical^(S) priests and to the judge^(T) who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict.^{(U) 10} You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you to do. ¹¹ Act according to whatever they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left.^{(V) 12} Anyone who shows contempt^(W) for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering^(X) there to the Lord your God is to be put to death.^(Y) You must purge the evil from Israel.^{(Z) 13} All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.^(AA)

The King

¹⁴ When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession^(AB) of it and settled in it,^(AC) and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”^{(AD) 15} be sure to appoint^(AE) over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites.^(AF) Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. ¹⁶ The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses^(AG) for himself^(AH) or make the people return to Egypt^(AI) to get more of them,^(AJ) for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.”^{(AK) 17} He must not take many wives,^(AL) or his heart will be led astray.^(AM) He must not accumulate^(AN) large amounts of silver and gold.^(AO)

¹⁸ When he takes the throne^(AP) of his kingdom, he is to write^(AQ) for himself on a scroll a copy^(AR) of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life^(AS) so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees^{(AT) 20} and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law^(AU) to the right or to the left.^(AV) Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.^(AW)

The Servant of the Lord

Song of Praise to the Lord

Israel Blind and Deaf

²⁵ Near the cross^(A) of Jesus stood his mother,^(B) his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.^{(C) 26} When Jesus saw his mother^(D) there, and the disciple whom he loved^(E) standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman,^[a] here is your son,” ²⁷ and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

The Death of Jesus^(F)

²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished,^(G) and so that Scripture would be fulfilled,^(H) Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar^(I) was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”^(J) With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

³¹ Now it was the day of Preparation,^(K) and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses^(L) during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³² The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other.^{(M) 33} But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced^(N) Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.^{(O) 35} The man who saw it^(P) has given testimony, and his testimony is true.^(Q) He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. ³⁶ These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled:^(R) “Not one of his bones will be broken,”^{[b](S) 37} and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”^[c](T)

The Burial of Jesus^(U)

³⁸ Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders.^(V) With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. ³⁹ He was accompanied by Nicodemus,^(W) the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.^{[d] 40} Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.^(X) This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.^{(Y) 41} At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. ⁴² Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation^(Z) and since the tomb was nearby,^(AA) they laid Jesus there.

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.