Deuteronomy 23 - 24
Those Who May Not Enter the Assembly
“No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of Yahweh. 2 No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation, none of his seed shall enter the assembly of Yahweh. 3 No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of Yahweh; even to the tenth generation, none of their seed shall ever enter the assembly of Yahweh, 4 because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5 Nevertheless, Yahweh your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but Yahweh your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because Yahweh your God loves you. 6 You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days. 7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a sojourner in his land. 8 The sons of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of Yahweh. 9 “When you go out as an army against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing. 10 “If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he may not reenter the camp. 11 But it shall be when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may reenter the camp. 12 “You shall also have a place outside the camp and go out there, 13 and you shall have a spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn to cover up your excrement. 14 Since Yahweh your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to give your enemies over to you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you, or He will turn away from you. 15 “You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16 He shall live with you in your midst, in the place which he shall choose in one of your gates of the towns where it pleases him; you shall not mistreat him. 17 “None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any of the sons of Israel be a cult prostitute. 18 You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a dog into the house of Yahweh your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to Yahweh your God. 19 “You shall not charge interest to your brother: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. 20 You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your brother you shall not charge interest, so that Yahweh your God may bless you in all that you send forth your hand to do in the land which you are about to enter to possess. 21 “When you make a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it will be a sin in you. 22 However, if you refrain from vowing, it will not be a sin in you. 23 You shall be careful and do what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to Yahweh your God that which you spoke with your mouth. 24 “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your basket. 25 “When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain. Statutes About Divorce
“If a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2 and she goes out of his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3 and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before Yahweh, and you shall not bring sin on the land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance. 5 “When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home one year and shall give gladness to his wife whom he has taken. Remember You Were Slaves in Egypt
6 “No one shall take a handmill or an upper millstone in pledge, for he would be taking a life in pledge. 7 “If a man is caught kidnapping any of his brothers of the sons of Israel, and he mistreats him or sells him, then that thief shall die; so you shall purge the evil from among you. 8 “Take care against an infection of leprosy, to be very careful and to do according to all that the Levitical priests instruct you; as I have commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. 9 Remember what Yahweh your God did to Miriam on the way as you came out of Egypt. 10 “When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not enter his house to take his deposit. 11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the deposit out to you. 12 Now if he is an afflicted man, you shall not sleep with his deposit. 13 When the sun goes down you shall surely return the deposit to him, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you; and it will be righteousness for you before Yahweh your God. 14 “You shall not oppress a hired person who is afflicted and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of your sojourners who is in your land within your gates. 15 You shall give him his wages on his day before the sun goes down, for he is afflicted and sets his soul on it, so that he will not cry against you to Yahweh and it become sin in you. 16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; each shall be put to death for his own sin. 17 “You shall not pervert the justice due a sojourner or an orphan, nor take a widow’s garment in pledge. 18 But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that Yahweh your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing. 19 “When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the sojourner, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs after you finish; it shall be for the sojourner, for the orphan, and for the widow. 21 “When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it after you finish; it shall be for the sojourner, for the orphan, and for the widow. 22 And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.
2 Corinthians 1 - 2
God of All Comfort
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 But whether we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or whether we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is working in your perseverance in the same sufferings which we also suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. 8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even to live. 9 Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not have confidence in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; 10 who rescued us from so great a peril of death, and will rescue us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet rescue us, 11 you also joining in helping us through your prayers on our behalf, so that thanks may be given on our behalf by many persons for the gracious gift bestowed on us through the prayers of many. Paul’s Change of Plans
12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you. 13 For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand until the end, 14 just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason for boasting as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus. 15 And in this confidence I intended at first to come to you, so that you might receive grace twice; 16 that is, to pass your way into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be helped on my journey to Judea. 17 Therefore, was I vacillating when I intended to do this? Or what I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time? 18 But as God is faithful, our word to you is not yes and no. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not yes and no, but has become yes in Him. 20 For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes. Therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts. 23 But I call God as witness to my soul, that to spare you I did not come again to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm. But I determined this for my own sake, that I would not come to you again in sorrow. 2 For if I cause you sorrow, who then makes me glad but the one whom I made sorrowful? 3 And this is the very thing I wrote you, so that when I came, I would not have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice; having confidence in you all that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears; not so that you would be made sorrowful, but that you might know the love which I have abundantly for you. Forgive and Love the Sinner
5 But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but in some degree—in order not to say too much—to all of you. 6 Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, 7 so that on the contrary you should rather graciously forgive and comfort him, lest such a one be swallowed up by excessive sorrow. 8 Therefore I encourage you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For to this end also I wrote, so that I might know your proven character, whether you are obedient in all things. 10 But one whom you graciously forgive anything, I graciously forgive also. For indeed what I have graciously forgiven, if I have graciously forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. 12 Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, 13 I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus my brother. But saying farewell to them, I went on to Macedonia. 14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ, and manifests through us the aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 15 For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God, but as from sincerity, but as from God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.
Psalm 118
Yahweh’s Lovingkindness Endures Forever
Give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness endures forever.
2 Oh let Israel say,
“His lovingkindness endures forever.”
3 Oh let the house of Aaron say,
“His lovingkindness endures forever.”
4 Oh let those who fear Yahweh say,
“His lovingkindness endures forever.”
5 From my distress I called upon Yah;
Yah answered me and set me in a large place.
6 Yahweh is for me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?
7 Yahweh is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I will look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh
Than to trust in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh
Than to trust in nobles.
10 All nations surrounded me;
In the name of Yahweh I will surely cut them off.
11 They surrounded me, indeed, they surrounded me;
In the name of Yahweh I will surely cut them off.
12 They surrounded me like bees;
They were extinguished as a fire of thorns;
In the name of Yahweh I will surely cut them off.
13 You pushed me down violently to make me fall,
But Yahweh helped me.
14 Yah is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.
15 The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
16 The right hand of Yahweh is exalted;
The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly.
17 I will not die; indeed I will live,
And recount the works of Yah.
18 Yah has disciplined me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I shall enter through them, I shall give thanks to Yah.
20 This is the gate of Yahweh;
The righteous will enter through it.
21 I shall give thanks to You, for You have answered me,
And You have become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone.
23 This is from Yahweh;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which Yahweh has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
25 O Yahweh, save!
O Yahweh, succeed!
26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh;
We have blessed you from the house of Yahweh.
27 Yahweh is God, and He has given us light;
Bind the festival sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I give thanks to You;
You are my God, I exalt You.
29 Give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness endures forever.