Beware of False Prophets

13 “Whatever I command you, you must take care to do—you are not to add to it or take away from it.^[a]

² “Suppose a prophet or a dreamer of dreams rises up among you and gives you a sign or wonder, ³ and the sign or wonder he spoke to you comes true, while saying, ‘Let’s follow other gods’—that you have not known, and—‘Let’s serve them!’ ^{[b] 4} You must not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams—for Adonai your God is testing you, to find out whether you love Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁵ Adonai your God you will follow and Him you will fear. His mitzvot you will keep, to His voice you will listen, Him you will serve and to Him you will cling. ⁶ That prophet or dreamer of dreams must be put to death! For he has spoken falsehood against Adonai your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to entice you from the way Adonai your God commanded you to walk. So you will purge the evil from your midst.^[c]

⁷ “Suppose your brother—your mother’s son—or your son or daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your best friend of your own soul misleads you secretly, saying, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods’—that you and your fathers have not known, ⁸ from among the gods of the peoples around you, near you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other. ⁹ You are not to give in or listen to him, your eye is not to pity him, and you are not to spare or conceal him. ¹⁰ Instead, you will surely put him to death. Your hand should be the first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. ¹¹ You are to stone him with stones to death because he tried to entice you away from Adonai your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ¹² Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and never again will they do such an evil thing as this in your midst.

¹³ “Suppose you hear it said in one of your cities, which Adonai your God is giving you to dwell in, ¹⁴ that worthless fellows^[d] have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, ‘Let’s go and serve other gods’—that you have not known. ¹⁵ Then you are to investigate, search out and inquire thoroughly. If indeed it is true and the matter certain that this abomination has been done in your midst, ¹⁶ you will surely strike down the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it and all that is in it and its livestock with the sword. ¹⁷ You are to gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and you are to burn with fire the city and all its plunder—all of it to Adonai your God. It will be a ruin forever—it shall never be built again. ¹⁸ Nothing from the ban should cling to your hand, so that Adonai may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, and have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers— ¹⁹ when you listen to the voice of Adonai your God, keeping all His mitzvot that I am commanding you today, doing what is right in the eyes of Adonai your God.

Clean Foods for a Holy People

14 “You are the children of Adonai your God. You are not to cut yourselves or shave your forehead for the dead. ² For you are a holy people to Adonai your God—from all the peoples on the face of the earth, Adonai has chosen you to be His treasured people. ³ You are not to eat any detestable thing. ⁴ These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, ⁵ the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. ⁶ Among the animals, you may eat any animal that splits the hoof—the hoof completely split in two—and chews the cud. ⁷ Yet of those that chew the cud or have a split hoof, you are not to eat the camel, the hare, and the rabbit—because they chew the cud but do not split the hoof, they are unclean to you. ⁸ The pig, because it splits the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you—you are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses. ⁹ Of all that are in the waters, these you may eat: whatever has fins and scales you may eat, ¹⁰ but whatever does not have fins and scales you are not to eat—it is unclean to you. ¹¹ You may eat all clean birds, ¹² but these are the ones you are not to eat: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard, ¹³ the red kite, the black kite, and any bird of prey of that kind, ¹⁴ every raven of any kind, ¹⁵ the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, a hawk of any kind, ¹⁶ the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, ¹⁷ the pelican, the Egyptian vulture, the cormorant, ¹⁸ the stork, a heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat. ¹⁹ All winged insects are unclean to you—they are not to be eaten. ²⁰ You may eat any clean bird. ²¹ You are not to eat anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the outsider within your gates so that he may eat it or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people to Adonai your God. You are not to boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Tithe and Remember the Levite

²² “You will surely set aside a tenth of all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. ²³ You are to eat the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, before Adonai your God in the place He chooses to make His Name dwell, so that you may learn to fear Adonai your God always. ²⁴ Now suppose the way is too long for you, for you cannot carry the tithe because the place Adonai your God chooses to set His Name is too far from you. When Adonai your God blesses you, ²⁵ then you are to exchange the tithe for silver, bind up the silver in your hand, and go to the place that Adonai your God chooses. ²⁶ You may spend the money for whatever your soul desires—cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever your soul asks of you. Then you will eat there before Adonai your God and rejoice—you and your household. ²⁷ But you are not to neglect the Levite within your gates, for he has no portion or inheritance with you. ²⁸ At the end of every three years, you are to bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year and store it within your gates. ²⁹ Then the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, along with the outsider, the orphan and the widow within your gates, will come and eat and be satisfied, so that Adonai your God may bless you in all the work of your hand that you do.

Shmittah: Cancellation of Debts

15 “At the end of every seven years you are to cancel debts. ² This is how you are to cancel debts: every creditor is to release what he has loaned to his neighbor. He must not force his neighbor or his brother to repay, for Adonai’s debt cancellation has been proclaimed. ³ A foreigner you may force, but your hand is to release whatever your brother owes you.

⁴ “However, there should be no poor among you, for Adonai will surely bless you in the land Adonai your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess. ⁵ If only you would carefully listen to the voice of Adonai your God, being careful to do all these mitzvah that I am commanding you today! ⁶ For Adonai your God will bless you as He promised you. So you will lend to many nations, but not borrow; you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.

⁷ “If there is a poor man among you—any of your brothers within any of your gates in your land that Adonai your God is giving you—you are not to harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother. ^{[e] 8} Rather, you must surely open your hand to him and you must surely lend him enough for his need—whatever he is lacking. ⁹ Watch yourself, so there is no unworthy thing in your heart saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of cancelling debts, is near,’ and your eye is evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing. Then he may call out to Adonai against you, and it will be a sin upon you. ¹⁰ You must surely give to him, and your heart is not to be grieved when you give to him—for because of this thing Adonai your God will bless you in all your work and in every undertaking of your hand.

¹¹ “For there will never cease to be poor people in the land. Therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You must surely open your hand to your brother—to your needy and poor in your land.’

¹² “If your fellow Hebrew—a man or woman—is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you are to set him free. ¹³ When you set him free, you are not to send him away empty-handed. ¹⁴ You are to surely provide for him from your flock and threshing floor and winepress. As Adonai your God has blessed you, you are to give to him. ¹⁵ You will remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Adonai your God redeemed you; therefore I am commanding you this thing today.

¹⁶ “Now if he tells you, ‘I will not go away from you’—because he loves you and your household since he is well off with you— ¹⁷ then you are to take an awl and put it through his ear to the door, and he will be your servant forever. And to your female slave you are to do the same. ¹⁸ It should not seem hard to you when you set him free from you, for he has served you six years—double the value of a hired worker. So Adonai your God will bless you in all that you do.

¹⁹ “All the firstborn males that are born in your herd and your flock you are to consecrate to Adonai your God. You are to do no work with the firstborn of your herd or shear the firstborn of your flock. ²⁰ You are to eat it before Adonai your God year after year in the place Adonai chooses—you and your household. ²¹ But if it has any blemish—if it is lame or blind or has any serious blemish—you are not to sacrifice it to Adonai your God. ²² You are to eat it within your gates, the unclean and the clean together, just as they eat the gazelle or deer. ²³ Only its blood you are not to eat—you must pour it out on the ground like water.

Interrupted on the Way to a Miracle

⁴⁰ As Yeshua returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they were all expecting Him. ⁴¹ And here came a man named Jairus, a leader in the synagogue. Falling at Yeshua’s feet, he begged Him to come to his house, ⁴² because his only daughter, about twelve years old, was dying. But as He made His way, the masses were crushing in upon Him.

⁴³ And there was a woman with a blood flow for twelve years,^[a] who could not be healed by anyone. ⁴⁴ She came up from behind and touched the tzitzit of Yeshua’s garment. Immediately, her blood flow stopped. ⁴⁵ Yeshua said, “Who touched Me?”

When everyone denied it, Peter said, “Master, the crowds are surrounding You and pressing in!”

⁴⁶ But Yeshua said, “Someone touched Me, for I recognized power going out from Me.” ⁴⁷ Then seeing that she did not escape notice, the woman came trembling and fell prostrate before Him. In the presence of all the people, she confessed why she had touched Him and how she had been healed immediately. ⁴⁸ He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in shalom.”

⁴⁹ While He was still speaking, someone comes from the house of the synagogue leader, saying, “Your daughter has died. Don’t bother the Teacher anymore.”

⁵⁰ But hearing this, Yeshua replied to him, “Do not fear—just keep trusting, and she shall be restored.”

⁵¹ When Yeshua came into the house, He didn’t let anyone enter with Him except Peter, John, Jacob, and the child’s father and mother. ⁵² And everyone was weeping and lamenting her; but He said, “Don’t weep, for she didn’t die but is sleeping.” ⁵³ But they were ridiculing Him, knowing she had died.

⁵⁴ But Yeshua, took her by the hand and called out, saying, “Child, get up!” ⁵⁵ Her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. Yeshua ordered food to be given to her to eat. ⁵⁶ Her parents were utterly astonished, but He ordered them to say nothing of what had happened.

Sending Out the Twelve

9 Now when Yeshua called the twelve together, He gave them power and authority over all the demons and to heal diseases. ² He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. ³ And He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey—no walking stick, no travel bag, no bread, no money, nor even to have two shirts. ⁴ Whatever house you enter, stay there and depart from there. ⁵ And whoever does not receive you, when you leave that town, shake off the dust from your feet as a witness against them.” ⁶ So they went out and began traveling throughout the villages, proclaiming the Good News and healing everywhere.

My Hope When I Am Gray

Psalm 71