Israel’s Unfaithfulness

¹¹ Then the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and worshipped the Baals; ¹² and they abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; they followed other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were all around them, and bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³ They abandoned the Lord, and worshipped Baal and the Astartes. ¹⁴ So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers who plundered them, and he sold them into the power of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. ¹⁵ Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them to bring misfortune, as the Lord had warned them and sworn to them; and they were in great distress.

¹⁶ Then the Lord raised up judges, who delivered them out of the power of those who plundered them. ¹⁷ Yet they did not listen even to their judges; for they lusted after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their ancestors had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord; they did not follow their example. ¹⁸ Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord would be moved to pity by their groaning because of those who persecuted and oppressed them. ¹⁹ But whenever the judge died, they would relapse and behave worse than their ancestors, following other gods, worshipping them and bowing down to them. They would not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways.

The Rich Young Man

¹⁶ Then someone came to him and said, ‘Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?’ ¹⁷ And he said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’ ¹⁸ He said to him, ‘Which ones?’ And Jesus said, ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; ¹⁹ Honour your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ ²⁰ The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these;^[a] what do I still lack?’ ²¹ Jesus said to him, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money^[b] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ ²² When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.