the Week of Proper 19 / Ordinary 24
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Bible Reading Plan
Daily Bible Reading
April 12 - Bible-in-a-Year
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Deuteronomy 17-18
Chapter 17
1 "You must not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw, for that is detestable to the Lord your God.(a)
The Judicial Procedure for Idolatry
2 "If(b) a man or woman among you in one of your towns that the Lord your God will give you is discovered doing evil in the sight of the Lord your God and violating His covenant(c) 3 and has gone to worship other gods by bowing down to the sun, moon, or all the stars in the sky—which I have forbidden— 4 and if you are told or hear about it, you must investigate it thoroughly. If the report turns out to be true that this detestable thing has happened in Israel, 5 you must bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death. 6 The one condemned to die is to be executed on the testimony of two or three witnesses. No one is to be executed on the testimony of a single witness. 7 The witnesses' hands are to be the first in putting him to death, and after that, the hands of all the people.(d) You must purge the evil from you.(e)
Difficult Cases
8 "If a case is too difficult for you—concerning bloodshed,(f) lawsuits,(g) or assaults(h)—cases disputed at your gates,(i) you must go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. 9 You are to go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who presides at that time. Ask, and they will give you a verdict in the case. 10 You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do exactly as they instruct you. 11 You must abide by the instruction they give you and the verdict they announce to you. Do not turn to the right or the left from the decision they declare to you. 12 The person who acts arrogantly, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there serving the Lord your God or to the judge, must die. You must purge the evil from Israel. 13 Then all the people will hear about it, be afraid, and no longer behave arrogantly.
Appointing a King
14 "When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you,(j) take possession of it, live in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations around me,' 15 you are to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses.(k) Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people.(l) 16 However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You are never to go back that way again.'(m) 17 He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won't go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself. 18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear(n) the Lord his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. 20 Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue ruling many years[a] over Israel.
Chapter 18
Provisions for the Levites
1 "The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, will have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They will eat the Lord 's fire offerings; that is their[a][b] inheritance. 2 Although Levi has no inheritance among his brothers, the Lord is his inheritance, as He promised him.(a) 3 This is the priests' share from the people who offer a sacrifice, whether it is an ox, a sheep, or a goat; the priests are to be given the shoulder, jaws, and stomach. 4 You are to give him the firstfruits of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the first sheared wool of your flock. 5 For Yahweh your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes to stand and minister in His name from now on.[c] 6 When a Levite leaves one of your towns where he lives in Israel and wants to go to the place the Lord chooses, 7 he may serve in the name of Yahweh his God like all his fellow Levites who minister there in the presence of the Lord . 8 They will eat equal portions besides what he has received from the sale of the family estate.[d](b)
Occult Practices versus Prophetic Revelation
9 "When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations. 10 No one among you is to make his son or daughter pass through the fire,[e](c) practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, 11 cast spells, consult a medium or a familiar spirit, or inquire of the dead.(d) 12 Everyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord , and the Lord your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable things. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do this.
15 "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers.(e) You must listen to him. 16 This is what you requested from the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!'(f) 17 Then the Lord said to me, ‘They have spoken well. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19 I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to My words that he speaks in My name.(g) 20 But the prophet who dares to speak a message in My name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods—that prophet must die.' 21 You may say to yourself, ‘How can we recognize a message the Lord has not spoken?' 22 When a prophet speaks in the Lord 's name, and the message does not come true or is not fulfilled, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
Job 12
Chapter 12
Job's Reply to Zophar
1 Then Job answered:
2 No doubt you are the people,
and wisdom will die with you!
3 But I also have a mind;
I am not inferior to you.
Who doesn't know the things you are talking about?[a](a)
4 I am a laughingstock to my[b] friends,
by calling on God, who answers me.[c]
The righteous and upright man is a laughingstock.(b)
5 The one who is at ease(c) holds calamity in contempt
and thinks it is prepared for those whose feet are slipping.
6 The tents of robbers are safe,(d)
and those who provoke God are secure;
God's power provides this.[d](e)
7 But ask the animals, and they will instruct you;
ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you.(f)
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will instruct you;
let the fish of the sea inform you.
9 Which of all these does not know
that the hand of the
Lord
has done this?(g)
10 The life of every living thing is in His hand,
as well as the breath of all mankind.(h)
11 Doesn't the ear test words
as the palate tastes food?
12 Wisdom is found with the elderly,
and understanding comes with long life.(i)
13 Wisdom and strength belong to God;
counsel and understanding are His.(j)
14 Whatever He tears down cannot be rebuilt;
whoever He imprisons cannot be released.(k)
15 When He withholds the waters, everything dries up,
and when He releases them, they destroy the land.(l)
16 True wisdom and power belong to Him.
The deceived and the deceiver are His.
17 He leads counselors away barefoot
and makes judges go mad.(m)
18 He releases the bonds[e] put on by kings(n)
and fastens a belt around their waists.
19 He leads priests away barefoot
and overthrows established leaders.(o)
20 He deprives trusted advisers of speech
and takes away the elders' good judgment.
21 He pours out contempt on nobles
and disarms[f] the strong.
22 He reveals mysteries from the darkness
and brings the deepest darkness into the light.(p)
23 He makes nations great, then destroys them;
He enlarges nations,(q) then leads them away.
24 He deprives the world's leaders of reason,
and makes them wander in a trackless wasteland.(r)
25 They grope around in darkness without light;
He makes them stagger like drunken men.(s)
Acts 3
Chapter 3
Healing of a Lame Man
1 Now Peter and John were going up together to the temple complex at the hour of prayer(a) at three in the afternoon.[a] 2 And a man who was lame from birth was carried there and placed every day at the temple gate called Beautiful, so he could beg from those entering the temple complex.(b) 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter the temple complex, he asked for help. 4 Peter, along with John, looked at him intently and said, "Look at us." 5 So he turned to them,[b] expecting to get something from them. 6 But Peter said, "I don't have silver or gold, but what I have, I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!"(c) 7 Then, taking him by the right hand he raised him up, and at once his feet and ankles became strong. 8 So he jumped up, stood, and started to walk, and he entered the temple complex with them—walking, leaping, and praising God.(d) 9 All the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and they recognized that he was the one who used to sit and beg at the Beautiful Gate of the temple complex. So they were filled with awe and astonishment at what had happened to him.(e)
Preaching in Solomon's Colonnade
11 While he[c] was holding on to Peter and John, all the people, greatly amazed, ran toward them in what is called Solomon's Colonnade.(f) 12 When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Or why do you stare at us, as though we had made him walk by our own power or godliness? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers,(g) has glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate,(h) when he had decided to release Him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One(i) and asked to have a murderer given to you.(j) 15 You killed the source[d] of life, whom God raised from the dead; we are witnesses of this.(k) 16 By faith in His name, His name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. So the faith that comes through Him has given him this perfect health in front of all of you.
17 "And now, brothers, I know that you did it in ignorance, just as your leaders also did.(l) 18 But what God predicted through the mouth of all the prophets—that His Messiah would suffer—He has fulfilled(m) in this way. 19 Therefore repent(n) and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out,(o) that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,[e] 20 and that He may send Jesus, who has been appointed(p) for you as the Messiah. 21 Heaven must welcome[f] Him until the times of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about by the mouth of His holy prophets from the beginning.(q) 22 Moses said:[g]
The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He will say to you. 23 And everyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from the people. (r)[h]
24 "In addition, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, have also announced these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors, saying to Abraham, And all the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring. (s)[i] 26 God raised up His Servant[j] and sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways."(t)
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