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First Reading: Deuteronomy Chapter 3 and 4
Deuteronomy 3
3:1 Next we turned and went up along the road toward Bashan, and Og king of
Bashan with his whole army marched out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 2 The
LORD said to me, "Do not be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to
you with his whole army and his land. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of
the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon."
3 So the LORD our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his
army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors. 4 At that time we took all
his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from
them — the whole region of Argob, Og's kingdom in Bashan. 5 All these cities
were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also
a great many unwalled villages. 6 We completely destroyed them, as we had done
with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city — men, women and children.
7 But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for
ourselves.
8 So at that time we took from these two kings of the Amorites the territory
east of the Jordan, from the Arnon Gorge as far as Mount Hermon. 9(Hermon is
called Sirion by the Sidonians; the Amorites call it Senir.) 10 We took all
the towns on the plateau, and all Gilead, and all Bashan as far as Salecah and
Edrei, towns of Og's kingdom in Bashan. 11(Only Og king of Bashan was left of
the remnant of the Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen
feet long and six feet wide. It is still in Rabbah of the Ammonites.)
12 Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the
Gadites the territory north of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge, including half the
hill country of Gilead, together with its towns. 13 The rest of Gilead and also
all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half tribe of Manasseh. (The
whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites.
14 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as
the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites; it was named after him, so
that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.) 15 And I gave Gilead to Makir.
16 But to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory extending from
Gilead down to the Arnon Gorge (the middle of the gorge being the border) and
out to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites. 17 Its western
border was the Jordan in the Arabah, from Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah
(the Salt Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.
18 I commanded you at that time: "The LORD your God has given you this
land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle,
must cross over ahead of your brother Israelites. 19 However, your wives, your
children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the
towns I have given you, 20 until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as he
has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the LORD your God is
giving them, across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession
I have given you."
21 At that time I commanded Joshua: "You have seen with your own eyes all
that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. The LORD will do the same
to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. 22 Do not be afraid of them;
the LORD your God himself will fight for you."
23 At that time I pleaded with the LORD: 24 "O Sovereign LORD, you have
begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what
god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you
do? 25 Let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan — that fine
hill country and Lebanon."
26 But because of you the LORD was angry with me and would not listen to me.
"That is enough," the LORD said. "Do not speak to me anymore
about this matter. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and
south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going
to cross this Jordan. 28 But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen
him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the
land that you will see." 29 So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.
Deuteronomy 4
4:1 Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow
them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that
the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 Do not add to what I command
you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God
that I give you.
3 You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal Peor. The LORD your God
destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, 4 but all of
you who held fast to the LORD your God are still alive today.
5 See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so
that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of
it. 6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding
to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely
this great nation is a wise and understanding people." 7 What other nation
is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near
us whenever we pray to him? 8 And what other nation is so great as to have such
righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?
9 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the
things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.
Teach them to your children and to their children after them. 10 Remember the
day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, "Assemble
the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as
long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children." 11
You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire
to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness. 12 Then the LORD spoke
to you out of the fire. You heard the sound of words but saw no form; there
was only a voice. 13 He declared to you his covenant, the Ten Commandments,
which he commanded you to follow and then wrote them on two stone tablets. 14
And the LORD directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you
are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
15 You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of
the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, 16 so that you do not become
corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed
like a man or a woman, 17 or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies
in the air, 18 or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish
in the waters below. 19 And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the
moon and the stars — all the heavenly array — do not be enticed into
bowing down to them and worshiping things the LORD your God has apportioned
to all the nations under heaven. 20 But as for you, the LORD took you and brought
you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his
inheritance, as you now are.
21 The LORD was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would
not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the LORD your God is giving you
as your inheritance. 22 I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan;
but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land. 23 Be
careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you;
do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God
has forbidden. 24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25 After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land
a long time — if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing
evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and provoking him to anger, 26 I call
heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish
from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live
there long but will certainly be destroyed. 27 The LORD will scatter you among
the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the
LORD will drive you. 28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone,
which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. 29 But if from there you seek the
LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and
with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened
to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.
31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you
or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by
oath.
32 Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created
man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything
so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of?
33 Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you
have, and lived? 34 Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out
of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by
a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all
the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
35 You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God;
besides him there is no other. 36 From heaven he made you hear his voice to
discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words
from out of the fire. 37 Because he loved your forefathers and chose their descendants
after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength,
38 to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring
you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.
39 Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above
and on the earth below. There is no other. 40 Keep his decrees and commands,
which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children
after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you
for all time.
41 Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan, 42 to which anyone
who had killed a person could flee if he had unintentionally killed his neighbor
without malice aforethought. He could flee into one of these cities and save
his life. 43 The cities were these: Bezer in the desert plateau, for the Reubenites;
Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.
44 This is the law Moses set before the Israelites. 45 These are the stipulations,
decrees and laws Moses gave them when they came out of Egypt 46 and were in
the valley near Beth Peor east of the Jordan, in the land of Sihon king of the
Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon and was defeated by Moses and the Israelites
as they came out of Egypt. 47 They took possession of his land and the land
of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan. 48 This land
extended from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Gorge to Mount Siyon (that is, Hermon),
49 and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Sea of the
Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah.
Mark 2
2:1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard
that he had come home. 2 So many gathered that there was no room left, not even
outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing
to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him
to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus
and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on.
5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins
are forgiven."
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7
"Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive
sins but God alone?"
8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking
in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things?
9 Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to
say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? 10 But that you may know that the Son
of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic,
11 "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." 12 He got up,
took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and
they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"
13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and
he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting
at the tax collector's booth. "Follow me," Jesus told him, and Levi
got up and followed him.
15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and "sinners"
were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.
16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the "sinners"
and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat with tax
collectors and 'sinners'?"
17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need
a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and
asked Jesus, "How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the
Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?"
19 Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he
is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. 20 But the time
will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they
will fast.
21 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does,
the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no
one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins,
and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into
new wineskins."
23 One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples
walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees said
to him, "Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?"
25 He answered, "Have you never read what David did when he and his companions
were hungry and in need? 26 In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered
the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests
to eat. And he also gave some to his companions."
27 Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the
Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
DEUTERONOMY
Part 2 of 2
The book of Deuteronomy contains the following:
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