Old/New Testament
13 1 Suppose a prophet or one who foretells by dreams[a] should appear among you and show you a sign or wonder,[b] 2 and the sign or wonder should come to pass concerning what he said to you, namely, “Let us follow other gods”—gods whom you have not previously known—“and let us serve them.” 3 You must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer,[c] for the Lord your God will be testing you to see if you love him[d] with all your mind and being.[e] 4 You must follow the Lord your God and revere only him; and you must observe his commandments, obey him, serve him, and remain loyal to him. 5 As for that prophet or dreamer,[f] he must be executed because he encouraged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, redeeming you from that place of slavery, and because he has tried to entice you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to go. In this way you must purge evil from among you.[g]
False Prophets in the Family
6 Suppose your own full brother,[h] your son, your daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend should seduce you secretly and encourage you to go and serve other gods[i] that neither you nor your ancestors[j] have previously known,[k] 7 the gods of the surrounding people (whether near you or far from you, from one end of the earth[l] to the other). 8 You must not give in to him or even listen to him; do not feel sympathy for him or spare him or cover up for him. 9 Instead, you must kill him without fail![m] Your own hand must be the first to strike him,[n] and then the hands of the whole community. 10 You must stone him to death[o] because he tried to entice you away from the Lord your God, who delivered you from the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. 11 Thus all Israel will hear and be afraid; no longer will they continue to do evil like this among you.[p]
Punishment of Community Idolatry
12 Suppose you should hear in one of your cities, which the Lord your God is giving you as a place to live, that 13 some evil people[q] have departed from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities,[r] saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods” (whom you have not known before).[s] 14 You must investigate thoroughly and inquire carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done among you,[t] 15 you must by all means[u] slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the sword; annihilate[v] with the sword everyone in it, as well as the livestock. 16 You must gather all of its plunder into the middle of the plaza[w] and burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It will be an abandoned ruin[x] forever—it must never be rebuilt again. 17 You must not take for yourself anything that has been placed under judgment.[y] Then the Lord will relent from his intense anger, show you compassion, have mercy on you, and multiply you as he promised your ancestors. 18 Thus you must obey the Lord your God, keeping all his commandments that I am giving[z] you today and doing what is right[aa] before him.[ab]
The Holy and the Profane
14 You are children[ac] of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald[ad] for the sake of the dead. 2 For you are a people holy[ae] to the Lord your God. He[af] has chosen you to be his people, prized[ag] above all others on the face of the earth.
3 You must not eat any forbidden thing.[ah] 4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the ibex,[ai] the gazelle,[aj] the deer,[ak] the wild goat, the antelope,[al] the wild oryx,[am] and the mountain sheep.[an] 6 You may eat any animal that has hooves divided into two parts and that chews the cud.[ao] 7 However, you may not eat the following animals among those that chew the cud or those that have divided hooves: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger.[ap] (Although they chew the cud, they do not have divided hooves and are therefore ritually impure to you.) 8 Also, the pig is ritually impure to you; though it has divided hooves,[aq] it does not chew the cud. You may not eat their meat or even touch their remains.
9 These you may eat from among water creatures: anything with fins and scales you may eat, 10 but whatever does not have fins and scales you may not eat; it is ritually impure to you.
11 All ritually clean birds[ar] you may eat. 12 These are the ones you may not eat: the eagle,[as] the vulture,[at] the black vulture,[au] 13 the kite, the black kite, the dayyah[av] after its species, 14 every raven after its species, 15 the ostrich,[aw] the owl,[ax] the seagull, the falcon[ay] after its species, 16 the little owl, the long-eared owl, the white owl,[az] 17 the jackdaw,[ba] the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, the heron after its species, the hoopoe, and the bat.
19 And any swarming winged thing[bb] is impure[bc] to you—they may not be eaten.[bd] 20 You may eat any winged creature that is clean. 21 You may not eat any corpse, though you may give it to the resident foreigner who is living in your villages[be] and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. You are a people holy to the Lord your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.[bf]
The Offering of Tithes
22 You must be certain to tithe[bg] all the produce of your seed that comes from the field year after year. 23 In the presence of the Lord your God, in the place he chooses to locate his name, you must eat from the tithe of your grain, your new wine,[bh] your olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always. 24 When he[bi] blesses you, if the[bj] place where he chooses to locate his name is distant, 25 you may convert the tithe into money, secure the money,[bk] and travel to the place the Lord your God chooses for himself. 26 Then you may spend the money however you wish for cattle, sheep, wine, beer, or whatever you desire. You and your household may eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and enjoy it. 27 As for the Levites in your villages, you must not ignore them, for they have no allotment or inheritance along with you. 28 At the end of every three years you must bring all the tithe of your produce, in that very year, and you must store it up in your villages. 29 Then the Levites (because they have no allotment or inheritance with you), the resident foreigners, the orphans, and the widows of your villages may come and eat their fill so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work you do.
The Year of Debt Release
15 At the end of every seven years you must declare a cancellation of debts.[bl] 2 This is the nature of the cancellation: Every creditor must remit what he has loaned to another person;[bm] he must not force payment from his fellow Israelite,[bn] for it is to be recognized as “the Lord’s cancellation of debts.” 3 You may exact payment from a foreigner, but whatever your fellow Israelite[bo] owes you, you must remit. 4 However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord[bp] will surely bless[bq] you in the land that he[br] is giving you as an inheritance,[bs] 5 if you carefully obey[bt] him[bu] by keeping[bv] all these commandments that I am giving[bw] you today. 6 For the Lord your God will bless you just as he has promised; you will lend to many nations but will not borrow from any, and you will rule over many nations but they will not rule over you.
The Spirit of Liberality
7 If a fellow Israelite[bx] from one of your villages[by] in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive[bz] to his impoverished condition.[ca] 8 Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend[cb] him whatever he needs.[cc] 9 Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude[cd] be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite[ce] and you do not lend[cf] him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be regarded as having sinned.[cg] 10 You must by all means lend[ch] to him and not be upset by doing it,[ci] for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt. 11 There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open[cj] your hand to your fellow Israelites[ck] who are needy and poor in your land.
Release of Debt Slaves
12 If your fellow Hebrew[cl]—whether male or female[cm]—is sold to you and serves you for six years, then in the seventh year you must let that servant[cn] go free.[co] 13 If you set them free, you must not send them away empty-handed. 14 You must supply them generously[cp] from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress—as the Lord your God has blessed you, you must give to them. 15 Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore, I am commanding you to do this thing today. 16 However, if the servant[cq] says to you, “I do not want to leave[cr] you,” because he loves you and your household, since he is well off with you, 17 you shall take an awl and pierce a hole through his ear to the door.[cs] Then he will become your servant permanently (this applies to your female servant as well). 18 You should not consider it difficult to let him go free, for he will have served you for six years, twice[ct] the time of a hired worker; the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.
Giving God the Best
19 You must set apart[cu] for the Lord your God every firstborn male born to your herds and flocks. You must not work the firstborn of your bulls or shear the firstborn of your flocks. 20 You and your household must eat them annually before the Lord your God in the place he[cv] chooses. 21 If one of them has any kind of blemish—lameness, blindness, or anything else[cw]—you may not offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God. 22 You may eat it in your villages,[cx] whether you are ritually impure or clean,[cy] just as you would eat a gazelle or an ibex. 23 However, you must not eat its blood; you must pour it out on the ground like water.
The Greatest Commandment
28 Now[a] one of the experts in the law[b] came and heard them debating. When he saw that Jesus[c] answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is: ‘Listen, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love[d] the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’[e] 31 The second is: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[f] There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 The expert in the law said to him, “That is true, Teacher; you are right to say that he is one, and there is no one else besides him.[g] 33 And to love him with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength[h] and to love your neighbor as yourself[i] is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”[j] Then no one dared any longer to question him.
The Messiah: David’s Son and Lord
35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he said, “How is it that the experts in the law[k] say that the Christ[l] is David’s son?[m] 36 David himself, by the Holy Spirit, said,
37 If David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”[p] And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.
Warnings About Experts in the Law
38 In his teaching Jesus[q] also said, “Watch out for the experts in the law.[r] They like walking[s] around in long robes and elaborate greetings[t] in the marketplaces,[u] 39 and the best seats in the synagogues[v] and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They[w] devour widows’ property,[x] and as a show make long prayers. These men will receive a more severe punishment.”
The Widow’s Offering
41 Then[y] he[z] sat down opposite the offering box,[aa] and watched the crowd putting coins into it. Many rich people were throwing in large amounts. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins,[ab] worth less than a penny. 43 He called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth,[ac] this poor widow has put more into the offering box[ad] than all the others.[ae] 44 For they all gave out of their wealth.[af] But she, out of her poverty, put in what she had to live on, everything she had.”[ag]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.