Old/New Testament
False Prophets
13 Prophets or ·those who tell the future with dreams [L dreamers of dreams] might come to you and ·say they will show [L give] you a sign or a ·miracle [wonder]. 2 The sign or ·miracle [wonder] might even happen, and then they might say, “Let’s serve other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let’s ·worship [L go after] them.” 3 But you must not listen to those prophets or dreamers. The Lord your God is testing you, to ·find out [know] if you love him with ·your whole being [L all your heart/mind and all your soul]. 4 Serve only the Lord your God. ·Respect [Fear] him, keep his commands, and ·obey him [L listen to his voice]. Serve him and ·be loyal [cling] to him. 5 The prophets or dreamers must be killed, because they said you should turn against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and ·saved [ransomed; redeemed] you from the ·land where you were slaves [L house of bondage]. They tried to turn you from ·doing what [L the way] the Lord your God commanded you to ·do [go]. You must ·get rid of [banish; purge] the evil among you.
6 Someone might try to ·lead you to serve other gods [L secretly entice you]—it might be your brother, your son or daughter, the wife you ·love [embrace], or a ·close [intimate] friend. The person might say, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” (These are gods that neither you nor your ·ancestors [fathers] have known, 7 gods of the people who live around you, either nearby or far away, from one end of the ·land [or earth] to the other.) 8 Do not ·give in to [agree with; consent to] such people. Do not listen or ·feel sorry for [L let your eyes look compassionately on] them, and do not ·let them go free [pity them] or ·protect [shield] them. 9 You must ·put them to death [kill them]. ·You must be the first one to start [L Your own hand will be the first on them] to kill them, and then ·everyone else must join in [L the hand of all the people]. 10 You must ·throw stones at them until they die [stone them to death], because they tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, ·where you were slaves [L the house of bondage]. 11 Then everyone in Israel will hear about this and be afraid, and no one among you will ever do such an evil thing again.
Cities to Destroy
12 The Lord your God is giving you cities in which to live, and you might hear something about one of them. Someone might say 13 that ·evil people [worthless people; scoundrels] have moved in among you. And they might lead the people of that city away from God, saying, “Let’s go and ·worship [L serve] other gods.” (These are gods you have not known.) 14 Then you must ask about it, ·looking into [investigating] the matter and checking carefully whether it is true. If it is proved that a ·hateful [detestable; abhorrent; abominable] thing has happened among you, 15 you must ·kill [L strike] with a sword everyone who lives in that city. ·Destroy the city completely and kill everyone in it [Devote that city to the Lord; 20:15–18; Josh. 6:17], as well as the animals, with a sword. 16 Gather up ·everything those people owned [L all its plunder], and put it in the middle of the city square. Then completely burn the city and ·everything they owned [L all its plunder] as a burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17] to the Lord your God. That city should never be rebuilt; let it be ·ruined [a ruin heap] forever. 17 Don’t ·keep for yourselves [L grasp in your hand] any of the ·things found in that city [L devoted things; 20:15–18; Josh. 6:17], so the Lord will not be angry anymore. He will give you ·mercy and feel sorry for you, and he [L …mercy/compassion, and his mercy/compassion] will make your nation grow larger, as he ·promised [swore] to your ·ancestors [fathers]. 18 You will have ·obeyed [L listened to the voice of] the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am ·giving [commanding] to you today, and you will be doing what ·the Lord says is right [L is right/virtuous in the eyes of the Lord].
God’s Special People
14 You are the ·children [sons] of the Lord your God. When someone dies, do not ·cut [lacerate; gash] yourselves or ·shave your heads [L set baldness between your eyes; C to show sadness; mourning customs of the pagan Canaanites]. 2 You are holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. He has chosen you from all the people on earth ·to be his very own [as his special treasure; Ex. 19:5–6].
3 Do not eat anything ·the Lord hates [L detestable; abominable; cf. Lev. 11]. 4 These are the animals you may eat: oxen, sheep, goats, 5 deer, gazelle, roe deer, wild goats, ibex, antelope, and mountain sheep. 6 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof and chews the cud [C considered a normal land animal], 7 but you may not eat camels, rabbits, or rock badgers. These animals chew the cud, but they do not have split hoofs, so they are unclean [C in a ritual sense] for you. 8 Pigs are also unclean for you; they have split hoofs, but they do not chew the cud. Do not eat their meat or touch their dead bodies.
9 There are many things that live in the water. You may eat anything that has fins and scales [C considered a normal aquatic creature], 10 but do not eat anything that does not have fins and scales. It is unclean [C in a ritual sense] for you.
11 You may eat any clean [C in a ritual sense] bird. 12 But do not eat these birds: eagles, vultures, black vultures, 13 red kites, falcons, any kind of kite, 14 any kind of raven, 15 horned owls, screech owls, sea gulls, any kind of hawk, 16 little owls, great owls, white owls, 17 desert owls, ospreys, cormorants, 18 storks, any kind of heron, the hoopoes, or bats [C the exact identification of many of these birds is disputed, but they all eat prey or dead matter and/or live in desolate places].
19 All insects with wings are unclean [C in a ritual sense] for you; do not eat them. 20 Other things with wings are clean, and you may eat them.
21 Do not eat anything you find that is already dead. You may give it to a ·foreigner living in your town [resident alien living within your gates], and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. But you are holy people, who belong to the Lord your God.
Do not cook a baby goat in its mother’s milk [C probably a pagan ritual; Ex. 23:19].
Giving a Tithe
22 Be sure to ·save [set aside/apart] ·one-tenth [T a tithe] of all ·your crops [L the produce/yield of your seed of the field] each year. 23 Eat it in the presence of the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to ·be worshiped [L cause his name to dwell; C Zion; 12:4–7]. Eat the ·tenth [tithe] of your grain, new wine, and oil, and eat the animals born first to your herds and flocks. Do this so that you will learn to ·respect [fear] the Lord your God ·always [L every day]. 24 But if the place the Lord will choose to ·be worshiped [L set his name there] is too far away and he has blessed you so much you cannot carry a ·tenth [T tithe], 25 exchange your ·one-tenth [T tithe] for silver. Then ·take [L grasp in your hand] the silver with you to the place the Lord your God shall choose. 26 ·Use [Spend; L Give] the silver to buy anything you wish—cattle, sheep, wine, ·beer [T strong drink; C an alcoholic beverage made from grain], or anything you wish. Then you and your ·family [L house] will eat and celebrate there before the Lord your God. 27 Do not ·forget [L abandon; forsake] the Levites in your ·town [L gates], because they have no land of their own among you.
28 At the end of every third year, everyone should bring ·one-tenth [T a tithe] of that year’s crop and store it in your ·towns [L gates]. 29 This is for the Levites so they may eat and be full. (They have no ·land of their own [L allotment or inheritance] among you.) It is also for ·strangers [foreigners; resident aliens], orphans, and widows who live in your ·towns [L gates] so that all of them may eat and be full. Then the Lord your God will bless you and all the work ·you do [L of your hands that you do].
The Special Seventh Year
15 At the end of every seven years, you must ·tell those who owe you anything that they do not have to pay you back [grant remission of debts; Ex. 23:10–11]. 2 This is ·how you must do it [the manner of remission]: Everyone who has ·loaned money [a claim] must ·cancel [remit] the loan and not make a neighbor or ·relative [or countryman; L brother] pay it back. This is the Lord’s time for ·canceling what people owe [remitting debts]. 3 You may make a foreigner pay what is owed to you, but you must ·not collect [remit] what ·another Israelite [a relative; or a countryman; L a brother] owes you. 4 But there should be no ·poor [needy] people among you, because the Lord your God will richly bless you in the land he is giving you as your ·own [possession]. 5 He will bless you if you obey the Lord your God completely, but you must be careful to obey all the commands I am ·giving [commanding] you today. 6 The Lord your God will bless you as he promised, and you will lend to other nations, but you will not need to borrow from them. You will rule over many nations, but none will rule over you.
7 If there are ·poor [needy] among ·you [your relatives; or your countrymen; L your brothers], in one of the ·towns [L gates] of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be ·selfish [L hard-hearted] or ·greedy [L tight-fisted] toward them [Prov. 28:27; 29:7, 14]. 8 But ·give freely [L open your hand] to them, and freely lend them whatever they need. 9 Beware of ·evil [useless] thoughts. Don’t think, “The seventh year is near, the year ·to cancel what people owe [of remission].” ·You might be mean to [L Your eye might be evil toward] ·the needy [your needy relative/or countryman/L brother] and not give them anything. Then they will ·complain [call out] to the Lord about you, and he will find you guilty of sin. 10 Give freely to the poor person, and do not ·wish that you didn’t have to give [begrudge him this matter]. The Lord your God will bless your work and everything you ·touch [undertake; L send from your hand]. 11 There will always be poor people in the land, so I command you to ·give freely [L open your hand] to your ·neighbors [or relatives; or countrymen; L brothers] and to the poor and needy in your land.
Letting Slaves Go Free
12 If one of your own ·people [relatives; L brothers] ·sells himself [or is sold] to you as a slave, whether it is a Hebrew man or woman, that person will serve you for six years [Lev. 25:39; Neh. 5:4–5]. But in the seventh year you must let the slave go free. 13 When you let slaves go, don’t send them away ·without anything [empty-handed]. 14 ·Give them [Provide/Outfit them with] some of your flock, your grain, and your wine, giving to them as the Lord has ·given to [L blessed] you. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, and the Lord your God ·saved [ransomed; redeemed] you. That is why I am commanding this to you today.
16 But if your slave says to you, “I don’t want to leave you,” because he loves you and your ·family [L house] and has a good life with you, 17 stick an awl [C a pointed tool for making holes] through his ·ear [earlobe] into the door; he will be your slave for life. Also do this to a female slave.
18 Do not think of it as a hard thing when you let your slaves go free. After all, they served you six years and did twice the work of a hired person. The Lord your God will bless you in everything you do [Ex. 21:2–6; Lev. 25:39–46].
Rules About Firstborn Animals
19 Save all the first male animals born to your herds and flocks [Ex. 13:2, 11–16; 22:29; Num. 18:15–18]. They are ·for [consecrated to] the Lord your God. Do not work the first calf born to your oxen, and do not cut off the wool from the first lamb born to your sheep. 20 Each year you and your ·family [L house] are to eat these animals in the presence of the Lord your God, in the place he will choose to be worshiped [C Zion; 12:4–7]. 21 If an animal is crippled or blind or has ·something else wrong [some blemish/defect], do not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. 22 But you may eat that animal in your own ·town [L gate]. Both clean and unclean people [C in a ritual sense] may eat it, as they would eat a gazelle or a deer. 23 But don’t eat its blood; pour it out on the ground like water [12:24].
The Most Important Command(A)
28 One of the ·teachers of the law [scribes] came and heard Jesus arguing with the Sadducees. Seeing that Jesus gave good answers to their questions, he asked Jesus, “Which of the commands is most important?”
29 Jesus answered, “The most important command is this: ‘·Listen, people of Israel [T Hear, O Israel]! The Lord our God is ·the only Lord [one Lord]. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength’ [Deut. 6:4–5; C these are the opening words of the Shema, the prayer said by pious Jews twice a day]. 31 The second command is this: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself’ [Lev. 19:18]. There are no commands ·more important [greater] than these.”
32 The man answered, “·That was a good answer [Well said!], Teacher. You were right when you said God is ·the only Lord [one] and there is no other God besides him. 33 One must love God with all his heart, all his mind, and all his strength. And one must love his neighbor as he loves himself. These commands are more important than all the ·animals [burnt offerings] and sacrifices we offer to God [1 Sam. 15:22; Hos. 6:6; Mic. 6:6–8].”
34 When Jesus saw that the man answered him ·wisely [thoughtfully; with insight], Jesus said to him, “You are close to the kingdom of God.” And after that, no one ·was brave enough [dared] to ask Jesus any more questions.
The Question About David’s Son(B)
35 As Jesus was teaching in the Temple [courts; complex], he asked, “Why do the ·teachers of the law [scribes] say that the ·Christ [Messiah] is the ·son [descendant] of David [C see 2 Sam. 7:12]? 36 David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit, said:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit by me at my right ·side [L hand; C the place of greatest honor beside the king],
until I put your enemies ·under your control [L beneath your feet; C meaning defeated or made subject to your authority; Ps. 110:1].”’
37 David himself calls ·the Christ [the Messiah; L him] ‘Lord,’ so how can ·the Christ [the Messiah; L he] be his son?” The large crowd listened to Jesus with pleasure.
38 Jesus continued teaching and said, “Beware of the ·teachers of the law [scribes]. They like to walk around ·wearing fancy clothes [in long robes], and they love for people to greet them with respect in the marketplaces. 39 They love to have the most important seats in the synagogues and at ·feasts [banquets]. 40 But they ·cheat widows and steal their houses [L devour widows’ homes] and then try to make themselves look good by saying long prayers [in public]. They will receive a greater ·punishment [judgment; condemnation].”
True Giving(C)
41 Jesus sat near the Temple ·money box [offering chest; or treasury] and watched the people put in their money. Many rich people gave large sums of money. 42 Then a poor widow came and put in ·two small copper coins [L two lepta], ·which were only worth a few cents [L which is a quadrans; C a Roman coin worth 1/64 of a denarius, or about 10 minutes of work for a day laborer].
43 Calling his ·followers [disciples] to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people. 44 They gave ·only what they did not need [out of their surplus/abundance]. This woman is very poor, but she gave all she had—everything she had to live on.”
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