Exodus 23 - 24, John 5:25-6:71, Psalm 64

23“^aYou shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a ^bmalicious witness. ²“You shall not follow ¹the masses in doing evil, nor shall you ²testify in a case so as to turn aside after ³the masses in order to ⁴^,^acause justice to be turned aside; ³^anor shall you ¹be partial to a poor man in his case.

⁴“^aIf you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. ⁵“^aIf you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him.

⁶“^aYou shall not cause the justice due to your needy brother to be turned aside in his case. ⁷“^aKeep far from a ¹false charge, and ^bdo not kill the innocent or the righteous, for ^cI will not justify the guilty.

⁸“^aAnd you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and ¹subverts the cause of the ²just.

⁹“^aAnd you shall not oppress a sojourner, since you yourselves know the soul of a sojourner, for you also were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Judgments About Work and Rest

¹⁰“^aNow you shall sow your land for six years and gather in its produce, ¹¹but on the seventh year you shall let it ¹rest and lie fallow, so that the needy of your people may eat; and whatever they leave the beast of the field may eat. Thus you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.

¹²“^aSix days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall ¹rest so that your ox and your donkey may ²rest, and the son of your maidservant, as well as your sojourner, may refresh themselves. ¹³“Now ^aconcerning everything which I have said to you, beware; and ^bdo not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard ¹from your mouth.

Judgments About National Feasts

¹⁴“^aThree times a year you shall celebrate a feast to Me. ¹⁵“You shall keep ^athe Feast of Unleavened Bread; for seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the ^bmonth Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. And ¹^,^cnone shall appear before Me empty-handed. ¹⁶“Also you shall keep ^athe Feast of the Harvest of the first fruits of your labors from what you sow in the field; also the Feast of the Ingathering at the end of the year ^bwhen you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field. ¹⁷“^aThree times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁸“^aYou shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; ^bnor is the fat of My ¹feast to remain overnight until morning.

¹⁹“You shall bring ^athe choice first fruits of your ground into the house of Yahweh your God. “^bYou shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.

Yahweh Will Drive Out Israel’s Enemies

²⁰“Behold, I am going to send ^aan angel before you to keep you along the way and ^bto bring you into the place which I have prepared. ²¹“Keep watch of yourself before him and listen to his voice; ^ado not be rebellious toward him, for he will not pardon your transgression, since ^bMy name is in him. ²²“But if you truly listen to his voice and do all that I speak, then ^aI will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. ²³“^aFor My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will annihilate them. ²⁴“^aYou shall not worship their gods, you shall not serve them, and you shall not do according to their deeds; ^bbut you shall utterly pull them down and shatter their ^csacred pillars in pieces. ²⁵“^aBut you shall serve Yahweh your God, ¹and He will bless your bread and your water; and ^bI will remove sickness from your midst. ²⁶“There shall be no one miscarrying or ^abarren in your land; ^bI will fulfill the number of your days. ²⁷“I will ^asend My terror ahead of you and ^bthrow into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will ^cmake all your enemies ¹turn their backs to you. ²⁸“And I will send ^ahornets ahead of you so that they will ^bdrive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. ²⁹“^aI will not drive them out before you in a single year, lest the land become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. ³⁰“I will drive them out before you ^alittle by little, until you become fruitful and take the land as an inheritance. ³¹“^aAnd I will set your boundary from the ¹Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the ²River; ^bfor I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will ^cdrive them out from before you. ³²“^aYou shall cut no covenant with them ^bor with their gods. ³³“^aThey shall not live in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, ^bit will surely be a snare to you.”

Yahweh Cuts His Covenant with Israel

24Then He said to Moses, “^aCome up to Yahweh, you and Aaron, ^bNadab and Abihu and ^cseventy of the elders of Israel, and you all shall worship at a distance. ²“Moses alone, however, shall come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”

³Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of Yahweh and all the judgments; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “^aAll the words which Yahweh has spoken we will do!” ⁴^aAnd Moses wrote down all the words of Yahweh. Then he arose early in the morning and built an ^baltar ¹at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, ^aand they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to Yahweh. ⁶^aAnd Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he ¹sprinkled on the altar. ⁷Then he took ^athe book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “^bAll that Yahweh has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” ⁸So ^aMoses took the blood and ¹sprinkled it on the people and said, “Behold ^bthe blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has cut with you ²in accordance with all these words.”

⁹Then Moses went up ¹with Aaron, ^aNadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, ¹⁰and ^athey saw the God of Israel; and under His feet ¹^,^bthere appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, ²as clear as the sky itself. ¹¹Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and ^athey beheld God, and they ate and drank.

¹²Now Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and ¹remain there, and ^aI will give you the stone tablets ²with the ³law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.” ¹³So Moses arose ¹with ^aJoshua his ²attendant, and Moses went up to ^bthe mountain of God. ¹⁴But to the elders he said, “^aRemain here for us until we return to you. And behold, ^bAaron and Hur are with you; whoever ¹has a legal matter, let him approach them.” ¹⁵Then Moses went up to the mountain, and ^athe cloud covered the mountain. ¹⁶^aAnd the glory of Yahweh dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He ^bcalled to Moses from the midst of the cloud. ¹⁷^aAnd the appearance of the glory of Yahweh was like a ^bconsuming fire on the mountain top, in the eyes of the sons of Israel. ¹⁸Then Moses entered the midst of the cloud ¹as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain ^aforty days and forty nights.

Two Resurrections

²⁵“Truly, truly, I say to you, ^aan hour is coming and now is, when ^bthe dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who ^chear will live. ²⁶“For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He ^agave to the Son also to have life in Himself; ²⁷and He gave Him authority to ^aexecute judgment, because He is ¹the Son of Man. ²⁸“Do not marvel at this; for ^aan hour is coming, in which ^ball who are in the tombs will hear His voice, ²⁹and will come forth; ^athose who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.

³⁰“^aI can do nothing from Myself. As I hear, I judge; and ^bMy judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but ^cthe will of Him who sent Me.

³¹“^aIf I alone bear witness about Myself, My witness is not ¹true. ³²“There is ^aanother who bears witness about Me, and I know that the witness which He gives about Me is true.

Witnesses to Jesus: The Father and the Scriptures

³³“You have sent to John, and he ^ahas borne witness to the truth. ³⁴“But ^athe witness I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵“He was ^athe lamp that was burning and shining and you ^bwere willing to rejoice for ¹a while in his light. ³⁶“But the witness I have is greater than the witness of John; for ^athe works which the Father has given Me ^bto finish—the very works that I do—bear witness about Me, that the Father ^chas sent Me. ³⁷“And the Father who sent Me, ^aHe has borne witness about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. ³⁸“And you do not have ^aHis word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He ^bsent. ³⁹“¹^,^aYou search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is ^bthese that bear witness about Me; ⁴⁰and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. ⁴¹“^aI do not receive glory from men; ⁴²but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. ⁴³“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; ^aif another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴“How can you believe, when you ^areceive ¹glory from one another and you do not seek ^bthe ²glory that is from ^cthe only God? ⁴⁵“Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; the one who accuses you is ^aMoses, in whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for ^ahe wrote about Me. ⁴⁷“But ^aif you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

6After these things ^aJesus went away to the other side of ^bthe Sea of Galilee (or ^cTiberias). ²Now a large crowd was following Him, because they were seeing the ¹^,^asigns which He was doing on those who were sick. ³Then ^aJesus went up on the mountain, and there He was sitting down with His disciples. ⁴Now ^athe Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. ⁵Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, *said to ^aPhilip, “Where should we buy bread, so that these people may eat?” ⁶And this He was saying to ^atest him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do. ⁷^aPhilip answered Him, “^bTwo hundred ¹denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” ⁸One of His ^adisciples, ^bAndrew, Simon Peter’s brother, *said to Him, ⁹“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two ^afish, but what are these for so many people?” ¹⁰Jesus said, “Have the people ¹sit down.” Now there was ^amuch grass in the place. So the men ²sat down, in number about ^bfive thousand. ¹¹Jesus then took the loaves, and ^ahaving given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated; likewise also of the ^bfish, as much as they wanted. ¹²And when they were filled, He *said to His ^adisciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be lost.” ¹³So they gathered them up, and filled twelve ^abaskets with pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. ¹⁴Therefore when the people saw the ¹sign which He had done, they were saying, “This is truly the ^aProphet who is to come into the world.”

Jesus Walks on the Sea

¹⁵So Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take Him by force ^ato make Him king, ^bwithdrew again to ^cthe mountain by Himself alone.

¹⁶Now when evening came, His ^adisciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷and after getting into a boat, they began to cross the sea ^ato Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸And the sea *was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. ¹⁹Then, when they had rowed about ¹twenty-five or thirty stadia, they *saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. ²⁰But He *said to them, ¹“It is I; ²^,^ado not be afraid.” ²¹So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

²²On the next day, ^athe crowd which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus ^bhad not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. ²³Other small boats came from ^aTiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the ^bLord ^chad given thanks. ²⁴So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and ^acame to Capernaum seeking Jesus. ²⁵And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “^aRabbi, when did You come here?”

I Am the Bread of Life

²⁶Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you ^aseek Me, not because you saw ^bsigns, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷“Do not ^awork for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to ^beternal life, which ^cthe Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, ^dset His seal.” ²⁸Therefore they said to Him, “What should we do, so that we may work the works of God?” ²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “This is ^athe work of God, that you believe in Him whom He ^bhas sent.” ³⁰So they said to Him, “^aWhat then do You do for a ^bsign so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? ³¹“^aOur fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘^bHe gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³²Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³“For the bread of God is ¹that which ^acomes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴Then they said to Him, “Lord, always ^agive us this bread.”

³⁵Jesus said to them, “^aI am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me ^bwill never thirst. ³⁶“But ^aI said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. ³⁷“^aAll that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out. ³⁸“For ^aI have come down from heaven, ^bnot to do My own will, but ^cthe will of Him who ^dsent Me. ³⁹“Now this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of ^aall that He has given Me I ^blose nothing, but ^craise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who ^asees the Son and ^bbelieves in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will ^craise him up on the last day.”

Words to the Jews

⁴¹^aTherefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that ^bcame down from heaven.” ⁴²They were saying, “^aIs not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother ^bwe know? How does He now say, ‘^cI have come down from heaven’?” ⁴³Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves. ⁴⁴“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me ^adraws him; and I will ^braise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵“It is written ^ain the prophets, ‘^bAnd they shall all be ^ctaught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. ⁴⁶“^aNot that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. ⁴⁷“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes ^ahas eternal life. ⁴⁸“^aI am the bread of life. ⁴⁹“^aYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. ⁵⁰“This is the bread which ^acomes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and ^bnot die. ⁵¹“^aI am the living bread that ^bcame down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, ^che will live forever; and also the bread which I will give ^dfor the life of the world is ^eMy flesh.”

⁵²^aThen the Jews ^bbegan to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” ⁵³So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of ^athe Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. ⁵⁴“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will ^araise him up on the last day. ⁵⁵“For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. ⁵⁶“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood ^aabides in Me, and I in him. ⁵⁷“As the ^aliving Father ^bsent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. ⁵⁸“This is the bread which ^acame down out of heaven, not as ^bthe fathers ate and died. He who eats this bread ^cwill live forever.”

Words to the Disciples

⁵⁹These things He said ^ain the synagogue as He taught ^bin Capernaum.

⁶⁰Therefore many of His ^adisciples, when they heard this said, “^bThis is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” ⁶¹But Jesus, ^aknowing in Himself that His disciples were grumbling at this, said to them, “Does this ^bcause you to stumble? ⁶²“What then if you see ^athe Son of Man ^bascending to where He was before? ⁶³“^aThe Spirit is the One who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; ^bthe words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. ⁶⁴“But there are ^asome of you who do not believe.” For Jesus ^bknew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and ^cwho it was that would ¹betray Him. ⁶⁵And He was saying, “For this reason I have ^asaid to you, that no one can come to Me unless ^bit has been granted him from the Father.”

Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ

⁶⁶As a result of this many of His ^adisciples ¹^,^bwent away and were not walking with Him anymore. ⁶⁷So Jesus said to ^athe twelve, “Do you also want to go?” ⁶⁸^aSimon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^bwords of eternal life. ⁶⁹“And we have believed and have come to know that You are ^athe Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰Jesus answered them, “^aDid I Myself not choose you, ^bthe twelve, and yet one of you is ^ca devil?” ⁷¹Now He was speaking of Judas ^athe son of Simon Iscariot, for he, ^bone of ^cthe twelve, ¹was going to betray Him.

The Righteous Will Be Glad in Yahweh

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

Hear my voice, O God, in ^amy ¹complaint;^bGuard my life from dread of the enemy.²Hide me from the ^asecret counsel of evildoers,From the tumult of the ^bworkers of iniquity,³Who ^ahave sharpened their tongue like a sword.They ^baimed bitter speech as their arrow,⁴To ^ashoot ¹from places of hiding at the blameless;Suddenly they shoot at him, and ^bdo not fear.⁵They ¹hold fast to themselves an evil purpose;They ²talk of ^alaying snares secretly;They say, “^bWho can see them?”⁶They searched out unrighteousness, saying,“We have completed a diligent search”;For the ¹^,^ainward thought of a man and his heart are ²deep.⁷But ^aGod ¹will shoot them with an arrow;Suddenly they will be wounded.⁸So ¹they will ^acause their own tongue ^bto turn against them;All who see them will ^cshake their head.⁹Then all men ¹will ^afear,And they ²will ^bdeclare the work of God,And ³will consider ⁴what He has done.¹⁰The righteous man will be ^aglad in Yahweh and will ^btake refuge in Him;And all the upright in heart will boast.