Taste and See That the Lord Is Good

^[a] Of David, when he ^(A)changed his behavior before ^(B)Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.

The Sabbatical Year

15 “At the end of ^(A)every seven years you shall grant a release. ² And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because the Lord's release has been proclaimed. ^3 (B)Of a foreigner you may exact it, but whatever of yours is with your brother your hand shall release. ^4 (C)But there will be no poor among you; ^(D)for the Lord will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance to possess— ^5 (E)if only you will strictly obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment that I command you today. ⁶ For the Lord your God will bless you, ^(F)as he promised you, and ^(G)you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow, and ^(H)you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you.

⁷ “If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, ^(I)you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, ⁸ but ^(J)you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. ⁹ Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near,’ and your ^(K)eye look grudgingly^[a] on your poor brother, and you give him nothing, and he ^(L)cry to the Lord against you, and ^(M)you be guilty of sin. ¹⁰ You shall give to him freely, and ^(N)your heart shall not be grudging when you give to him, because ^(O)for this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake. ¹¹ For ^(P)there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ^(Q)‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.’

^12 (R)“If your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold^[b] to you, he shall serve you six years, and in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. ¹³ And when you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty-handed. ¹⁴ You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your winepress. ^(S)As the Lord your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. ^15 (T)You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this today. ¹⁶ But ^(U)if he says to you, ‘I will not go out from you,’ because he loves you and your household, since he is well-off with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl, and put it through his ear into the door, and he shall be your slave^[c] forever. And to your female slave^[d] you shall do the same. ¹⁸ It shall not seem hard to you when you let him go free from you, for at half the cost of a hired worker he has served you six years. So the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

^19 (V)“All the firstborn males that are born of your herd and flock you shall dedicate to the Lord your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. ^20 (W)You shall eat it, you and your household, before the Lord your God year by year at the place that the Lord will choose. ^21 (X)But if it has any blemish, if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²² You shall eat it within your towns. ^(Y)The unclean and the clean alike may eat it, as though it were a gazelle or a deer. ^23 (Z)Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it out on the ground like water.

Jesus Calms a Storm

^22 (A)One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of ^(B)the lake.” So they set out, ²³ and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on ^(C)the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. ²⁴ And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and ^(D)rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, ^(E)and there was a calm. ²⁵ He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they ^(F)were afraid, and they ^(G)marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that ^(H)he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

^26 (I)Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes,^[a] which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ When Jesus^[b] had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house ^(J)but among the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he ^(K)cried out and fell down before him and said ^(L)with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, ^(M)Son of ^(N)the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” ²⁹ For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon ^(O)into the desert.) ³⁰ Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, ^(P)“Legion,” for many demons had entered him. ³¹ And they begged him not to command them to depart into ^(Q)the abyss. ³² Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. ³³ Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into ^(R)the lake and drowned.

³⁴ When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵ Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting ^(S)at the feet of Jesus, ^(T)clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ³⁶ And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed^[c] man had been healed. ³⁷ Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes ^(U)asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. ³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your home, and ^(V)declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter

⁴⁰ Now when Jesus returned, the crowd ^(W)welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. ^41 (X)And there came a man named Jairus, who was ^(Y)a ruler of the synagogue. And falling at Jesus' feet, he implored him to come to his house, ⁴² for he had ^(Z)an only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she was dying.

As Jesus went, the people ^(AA)pressed around him. ⁴³ And there was a woman ^(AB)who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and though she had spent all her ^(AC)living on physicians,^[d] she could not be healed by anyone. ⁴⁴ She came up behind him and touched ^(AD)the fringe of his garment, and ^(AE)immediately her discharge of blood ceased. ⁴⁵ And Jesus said, “Who was it that touched me?” When all denied it, Peter^[e] said, “Master, the crowds surround you and are pressing in on you!” ⁴⁶ But Jesus said, “Someone touched me, for I perceive that ^(AF)power has gone out from me.” ⁴⁷ And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. ⁴⁸ And he said to her, “Daughter, ^(AG)your faith has made you well; ^(AH)go in peace.”

⁴⁹ While he was still speaking, someone from ^(AI)the ruler's house came and said, “Your daughter is dead; ^(AJ)do not trouble ^(AK)the Teacher any more.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus on hearing this answered him, “Do not fear; only believe, and she will be well.” ⁵¹ And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him, except ^(AL)Peter and ^(AM)John and James, and the father and mother of the child. ⁵² And all were weeping and ^(AN)mourning for her, but he ^(AO)said, “Do not weep, for ^(AP)she is not dead but ^(AQ)sleeping.” ⁵³ And they laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. ⁵⁴ But ^(AR)taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, ^(AS)arise.” ⁵⁵ And ^(AT)her spirit returned, and she got up at once. And he directed that something should be given her to eat. ⁵⁶ And her parents were amazed, but ^(AU)he charged them to tell no one what had happened.