Today our passages are
Deuteronomy 16:1–17:20; Luke 9:7-27; Psalm 72:1-20; and Proverbs 12:8-9. The
readings are from The Message by Eugene H.
Peterson.
Deuteronomy 16-17:20 (The Message)
Deuteronomy 16
1-4 Observe the month of Abib by celebrating the Passover to God, your God. It was in the month of Abib that God, your God, delivered you by night from Egypt. Offer the Passover-Sacrifice to God, your God, at the place God chooses to be worshiped by establishing his name there. Don't eat yeast bread with it; for seven days eat it with unraised bread, hard-times bread, because you left Egypt in a hurry—that bread will keep the memory fresh of how you left Egypt for as long as you live. There is to be no sign of yeast anywhere for seven days. And don't let any of the meat that you sacrifice in the evening be left over until morning. 5-7 Don't sacrifice the Passover in any of the towns that God, your God, gives you other than the one God, your God, designates for worship; there and there only you will offer the Passover-Sacrifice at evening as the sun goes down, marking the time that you left Egypt. Boil and eat it at the place designated by God, your God. Then, at daybreak, turn around and go home.8 Eat unraised bread for six days. Set aside the seventh day as a holiday; don't do any work.
9-11 Starting from the day you put the sickle to the ripe grain, count out seven weeks. Celebrate the Feast-of-Weeks to God, your God, by bringing your Freewill-Offering—give as generously as God, your God, has blessed you. Rejoice in the Presence of God, your God: you, your son, your daughter, your servant, your maid, the Levite who lives in your neighborhood, the foreigner, the orphan and widow among you; rejoice at the place God, your God, will set aside to be worshiped.
12 Don't forget that you were once a slave in Egypt. So be diligent in observing these regulations.
13-15 Observe the Feast-of-Booths for seven days when you gather the harvest from your threshing-floor and your wine-vat. Rejoice at your festival: you, your son, your daughter, your servant, your maid, the Levite, the foreigner, and the orphans and widows who live in your neighborhood. Celebrate the Feast to God, your God, for seven days at the place God designates. God, your God, has been blessing you in your harvest and in all your work, so make a day of it—really celebrate!
16-17 All your men must appear before God, your God, three times each year at the place he designates: at the Feast-of-Unraised-Bread (Passover), at the Feast-of-Weeks, and at the Feast-of-Booths. No one is to show up in the Presence of God empty-handed; each man must bring as much as he can manage, giving generously in response to the blessings of God, your God.
18-19 Appoint judges and officers, organized by tribes, in all the towns that God, your God, is giving you. They are to judge the people fairly and honestly. Don't twist the law. Don't play favorites. Don't take a bribe—a bribe blinds even a wise person; it undermines the intentions of the best of people.
20 The right! The right! Pursue only what's right! It's the only way you can really live and possess the land that God, your God, is giving you.
21-22 Don't plant fertility Asherah trees alongside the Altar of God, your God, that you build. Don't set up phallic sex pillars—God, your God, hates them.
Deuteronomy 17
1 And don't sacrifice to God, your God, an ox or sheep that is defective or has anything at all wrong with it. That's an abomination, an insult to God, your God.2-5 If you find anyone within the towns that God, your God, is giving you doing what is wrong in God's eyes, breaking his covenant by going off to worship other gods, bowing down to them—the sun, say, or the moon, or any rebel sky-gods— look at the evidence and investigate carefully. If you find that it is true, that, in fact, an abomination has been committed in Israel, then you are to take the man or woman who did this evil thing outside your city gates and stone the man or the woman. Hurl stones at the person until dead.
6-7 But only on the testimony of two or three witnesses may a person be put to death. No one may be put to death on the testimony of one witness. The witnesses must throw the first stones in the execution, then the rest of the community joins in. You have to purge the evil from your community.
8-9 When matters of justice come up that are too much for you—hard cases regarding homicides, legal disputes, fights—take them up to the central place of worship that God, your God, has designated. Bring them to the Levitical priests and the judge who is in office at the time. Consult them and they will hand down the decision for you.
10-13 Then carry out their verdict at the place designated by God, your God. Do what they tell you, in exactly the way they tell you. Follow their instructions precisely: Don't leave out anything; don't add anything. Anyone who presumes to override or twist the decision handed down by the priest or judge who was acting in the Presence of God, your God, is as good as dead—root him out, rid Israel of the evil. Everyone will take notice and be impressed. That will put an end to presumptuous behavior.
14-17 When you enter the land that God, your God, is giving you and take it over and settle down, and then say, "I'm going to get me a king, a king like all the nations around me," make sure you get yourself a king whom God, your God, chooses. Choose your king from among your kinsmen; don't take a foreigner—only a kinsman. And make sure he doesn't build up a war machine, amassing military horses and chariots. He must not send people to Egypt to get more horses, because God told you, "You'll never go back there again!" And make sure he doesn't build up a harem, collecting wives who will divert him from the straight and narrow. And make sure he doesn't pile up a lot of silver and gold.
18-20 This is what must be done: When he sits down on the throne of his kingdom, the first thing he must do is make himself a copy of this Revelation on a scroll, copied under the supervision of the Levitical priests. That scroll is to remain at his side at all times; he is to study it every day so that he may learn what it means to fear his God, living in reverent obedience before these rules and regulations by following them. He must not become proud and arrogant, changing the commands at whim to suit himself or making up his own versions. If he reads and learns, he will have a long reign as king in Israel, he and his sons.
Luke 9:7-27 (The Message)
7-9Herod, the ruler, heard of these goings on and didn't
know what to think. There were people saying John had come back from the dead,
others that Elijah had appeared, still others that some prophet of long ago had
shown up. Herod said, "But I killed John—took off his head. So who is this that
I keep hearing about?" Curious, he looked for a chance to see him in action.
10-11The apostles returned and reported on what they had
done. Jesus took them away, off by themselves, near the town called Bethsaida.
But the crowds got wind of it and followed. Jesus graciously welcomed them and
talked to them about the kingdom of God. Those who needed healing, he healed.
Bread and Fish for Five Thousand
12As the day declined, the Twelve said, "Dismiss the crowd
so they can go to the farms or villages around here and get a room for the night
and a bite to eat. We're out in the middle of nowhere."
13-14"You feed them," Jesus said.
They said, "We couldn't scrape up more than
five loaves of bread and a couple of fish—unless, of course, you want us to go
to town ourselves and buy food for everybody." (There were more than five
thousand people in the crowd.)
14-17But he went ahead and directed his disciples, "Sit
them down in groups of about fifty." They did what he said, and soon had
everyone seated. He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven
in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread and fish to the disciples to hand
out to the crowd. After the people had all eaten their fill, twelve baskets of
leftovers were gathered up.
Don't Run from Suffering
18One time when Jesus was off praying by himself, his
disciples nearby, he asked them, "What are the crowds saying about me, about who
I am?"
19They said, "John the Baptizer. Others say Elijah. Still
others say that one of the prophets from long ago has come back."
20-21He then asked, "And you—what are you saying about me?
Who am I?"
Peter answered, "The Messiah of God." Jesus
then warned them to keep it quiet. They were to tell no one what Peter had said.
22He
went on, "It is necessary that the Son of Man proceed to an ordeal of suffering,
be tried and found guilty by the religious leaders, high priests, and religion
scholars, be killed, and on the third day be raised up alive."
23-27Then he told them what they could expect for
themselves: "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not
in the driver's seat—I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and
I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my
way, to finding yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get
everything you want and lose you, the real you? If any of you is embarrassed
with me and the way I'm leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more
embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the
Father and the holy angels. This isn't, you realize, pie in the sky by and by.
Some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen, see with
their own eyes the kingdom of God."
Psalm 72:1-20 (The Message)
Psalm 72
A Solomon Psalm
1-8 Give the gift of wise rule to the king, O God, the gift of just rule to the crown prince.May he judge your people rightly,
be honorable to your meek and lowly.
Let the mountains give exuberant witness;
shape the hills with the contours of right living.
Please stand up for the poor,
help the children of the needy,
come down hard on the cruel tyrants.
Outlast the sun, outlive the moon—
age after age after age.
Be rainfall on cut grass,
earth-refreshing rain showers.
Let righteousness burst into blossom
and peace abound until the moon fades to nothing.
Rule from sea to sea,
from the River to the Rim.
9-14 Foes will fall on their knees before God,
his enemies lick the dust.
Kings remote and legendary will pay homage,
kings rich and resplendent will turn over their wealth.
All kings will fall down and worship,
and godless nations sign up to serve him,
Because he rescues the poor at the first sign of need,
the destitute who have run out of luck.
He opens a place in his heart for the down-and-out,
he restores the wretched of the earth.
He frees them from tyranny and torture—
when they bleed, he bleeds;
when they die, he dies.
15-17 And live! Oh, let him live!
Deck him out in Sheba gold.
Offer prayers unceasing to him,
bless him from morning to night.
Fields of golden grain in the land,
cresting the mountains in wild exuberance,
Cornucopias of praise, praises
springing from the city like grass from the earth.
May he never be forgotten,
his fame shine on like sunshine.
May all godless people enter his circle of blessing
and bless the One who blessed them.
18-20 Blessed God, Israel's God,
the one and only wonder-working God!
Blessed always his blazing glory!
All earth brims with his glory.
Yes and Yes and Yes.
Proverbs 12:8-9 (The Message)
8 A person who talks sense is honored;
airheads are held in contempt.
9 Better to be ordinary and work for a living
than act important and starve in the process.
Verse of the
Day
“He was wounded and crushed because of our
sins; by taking our punishment, he made us completely well. All of us were like
sheep that had wandered off. We had each gone our own way, but the LORD gave him
the punishment we deserved.” - Isaiah
53:5-6
Today's passage is from the Contemporary
English Version.
Thought for the Day
Mexican poet-diplomat and writer, Octavio Paz wrote, “Wisdom
lies neither in fixity nor in change, but in the dialectic between the two. A
constant coming and going: wisdom lies in the momentary.”
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