Today our passages are
Deuteronomy 21:1–22:30; Luke 9:51–10:12; Psalm 74:1-23; and Proverbs 12:11. The
readings are from The Message by Eugene H.
Peterson.
Deuteronomy 21-22:30 (The Message)
Deuteronomy 21
1-8If a dead body is found on the ground,
this ground that God, your God,
has given you, lying out in the open, and no one knows who killed him, your
leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance from the body to the
nearest cities. The leaders and judges of the city that is nearest the corpse
will then take a heifer that has never been used for work, never had a yoke on
it. The leaders will take the heifer to a valley with a stream, a valley that
has never been plowed or planted, and there break the neck of the heifer. The
Levitical priests will then step up. God has chosen them to serve him in
these matters by settling legal disputes and violent crimes and by pronouncing
blessings in God's name. Finally,
all the leaders of that town that is nearest the body will wash their hands over
the heifer that had its neck broken at the stream and say, "We didn't kill this
man and we didn't see who did it. Purify your people Israel whom you redeemed, O
God. Clear your people Israel from
any guilt in this murder."
8-9 That will clear them from any
responsibility in the murder. By following these procedures you will have
absolved yourselves of any part in the murder because you will have done what is
right in God's sight.
10-14 When you go to war against your enemies and God, your God, gives you victory and you take prisoners, and then you notice among the prisoners of war a good-looking woman whom you find attractive and would like to marry, this is what you do: Take her home; have her trim her hair, cut her nails, and discard the clothes she was wearing when captured. She is then to stay in your home for a full month, mourning her father and mother. Then you may go to bed with her as husband and wife. If it turns out you don't like her, you must let her go and live wherever she wishes. But you can't sell her or use her as a slave since you've humiliated her.
15-17 When a man has two wives, one loved and the other hated, and they both give him sons, but the firstborn is from the hated wife, at the time he divides the inheritance with his sons he must not treat the son of the loved wife as the firstborn, cutting out the son of the hated wife, who is the actual firstborn. No, he must acknowledge the inheritance rights of the real firstborn, the son of the hated wife, by giving him a double share of the inheritance: that son is the first proof of his virility; the rights of the firstborn belong to him.
18-20 When a man has a stubborn son, a real rebel who won't do a thing his mother and father tell him, and even though they discipline him he still won't obey, his father and mother shall forcibly bring him before the leaders at the city gate and say to the city fathers, "This son of ours is a stubborn rebel; he won't listen to a thing we say. He's a glutton and a drunk."
21 Then all the men of the town are to throw
rocks at him until he's dead. You will have purged the evil pollution from among
you. All Israel will hear what's happened and be in awe.
22-23 When a man has committed a capital crime, been given the death sentence, executed and hung from a tree, don't leave his dead body hanging overnight from the tree. Give him a decent burial that same day so that you don't desecrate your God-given land—a hanged man is an insult to God.
Deuteronomy 22
1-3 If you see your kinsman's ox or sheep
wandering off loose, don't look the other way as if you didn't see it. Return it
promptly. If your fellow Israelite is not close by or you don't know whose it
is, take the animal home with you and take care of it until your fellow asks
about it. Then return it to him. Do the same if it's his donkey or a piece of
clothing or anything else your fellow Israelite loses. Don't look the other way
as if you didn't see it.
4 If you see your fellow's donkey or ox
injured along the road, don't look the other way. Help him get it up and on its
way.
5 A woman must not wear a man's clothing,
nor a man wear women's clothing. This kind of thing is an abomination to God, your God.
6-7 When you come across a bird's nest
alongside the road, whether in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is
sitting on the young or on the eggs, don't take the mother with the young. You
may take the babies, but let the mother go so that you will live a good and long
life.
8 When you build a new house, make a parapet
around your roof to make it safe so that someone doesn't fall off and die and
your family become responsible for the death.
9 Don't plant two kinds of seed in your
vineyard. If you do, you will forfeit what you've sown, the total production of
the vineyard.
10 Don't plow with an ox and a donkey yoked
together.
11 Don't wear clothes of mixed fabrics, wool
and linen together.
12 Make tassels on the four corners of the
cloak you use to cover yourself.
13-19 If a man marries a woman, sleeps with
her, and then turns on her, calling her a slut, giving her a bad name, saying,
"I married this woman, but when I slept with her I discovered she wasn't a
virgin," then the father and mother of the girl are to take her with the proof
of her virginity to the town leaders at the gate. The father is to tell the
leaders, "I gave my daughter to this man as wife and he turned on her, rejecting
her. And now he has slanderously accused her, claiming that she wasn't a virgin.
But look at this, here is the proof of my daughter's virginity." And then he is
to spread out her bloodstained wedding garment before the leaders for their
examination. The town leaders then are to take the husband, whip him, fine him a
hundred pieces of silver, and give it to the father of the girl. The man gave a
virgin girl of Israel a bad name. He has to keep her as his wife and can never
divorce her.
20-21 But if it turns out that the
accusation is true and there is no evidence of the girl's virginity, the men of
the town are to take her to the door of her father's house and stone her to
death. She acted disgracefully in Israel. She lived like a whore while still in
her parents' home. Purge the evil from among you.
22 If a man is found sleeping with another
man's wife, both must die. Purge that evil from Israel.
23-24 If a man comes upon a virgin in town,
a girl who is engaged to another man, and sleeps with her, take both of them to
the town gate and stone them until they die—the girl because she didn't yell out
for help in the town and the man because he raped her, violating the fiancée of
his neighbor. You must purge the evil from among you.
25-27 But if it was out in the country that
the man found the engaged girl and grabbed and raped her, only the man is to
die, the man who raped her. Don't do anything to the girl; she did nothing
wrong. This is similar to the case of a man who comes across his neighbor out in
the country and murders him; when the engaged girl yelled out for help, there
was no one around to hear or help her.
28-29 When a man comes upon a virgin who has
never been engaged and grabs and rapes her and they are found out, the man who
raped her has to give her father fifty pieces of silver. He has to marry her
because he took advantage of her. And he can never divorce her.
30 A man may not marry his father's
ex-wife—that would violate his father's rights.
Luke 9:51-10:12 (The Message)
51-54When it came close to the time for his
Ascension, he gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to
Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead. They came to a Samaritan village to make
arrangements for his hospitality. But when the Samaritans learned that his
destination was Jerusalem, they refused hospitality. When the disciples James
and John learned of it, they said, "Master, do you want us to call a bolt of
lightning down out of the sky and incinerate them?"
55-56Jesus turned on them: "Of course not!"
And they traveled on to another village.
57On the road someone asked if he could go
along. "I'll go with you, wherever," he said.
58Jesus was curt: "Are you ready to rough
it? We're not staying in the best inns, you know."
Jesus
said to another, "Follow me."
59He said, "Certainly, but first excuse me
for a couple of days, please. I have to make arrangements for my father's
funeral."
60Jesus refused. "First things first. Your
business is life, not death. And life is urgent: Announce God's kingdom!"
61Then another said, "I'm ready to follow
you, Master, but first excuse me while I get things straightened out at home."
62Jesus said, "No procrastination. No
backward looks. You can't put God's kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day."
Luke 10
Lambs in a Wolf Pack
1-2Later the Master selected seventy and
sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he intended to go.
He gave them this charge:
"What a
huge harvest! And how few the harvest hands. So on your knees; ask the God of
the Harvest to send harvest hands.
3"On your way! But be careful—this is
hazardous work. You're like lambs in a wolf pack.
4"Travel light. Comb and toothbrush and no
extra luggage.
"Don't
loiter and make small talk with everyone you meet along the way.
5-6"When you enter a home, greet the
family, 'Peace.' If your greeting is received, then it's a good place to stay.
But if it's not received, take it back and get out. Don't impose yourself.
7"Stay at one home, taking your meals
there, for a worker deserves three square meals. Don't move from house to house,
looking for the best cook in town.
8-9"When you enter a town and are received,
eat what they set before you, heal anyone who is sick, and tell them, 'God's
kingdom is right on your doorstep!'
10-12"When you enter a town and are not
received, go out in the street and say, 'The only thing we got from you is the
dirt on our feet, and we're giving it back. Did you have any idea that God's
kingdom was right on your doorstep?' Sodom will have it better on Judgment Day
than the town that rejects you.
Psalm 74:1-23 (The Message)
Psalm 74
An Asaph Psalm
1 You walked off and left us, and never
looked back. God, how could you do that?
We're your very own sheep;
how can you stomp off in anger?
2-3 Refresh your memory of us—you bought us a long time ago.
Your most precious tribe—you paid a good price for us!
Your very own Mount Zion—you actually lived here once!
Come and visit the site of disaster,
see how they've wrecked the sanctuary.
4-8 While your people were at worship, your enemies barged in,
brawling and scrawling graffiti.
They set fire to the porch;
axes swinging, they chopped up the woodwork,
Beat down the doors with sledgehammers,
then split them into kindling.
They burned your holy place to the ground,
violated the place of worship.
They said to themselves, "We'll wipe them all out,"
and burned down all the places of worship.
9-17 There's not a sign or symbol of God in sight,
nor anyone to speak in his name,
no one who knows what's going on.
How long, God, will barbarians blaspheme,
enemies curse and get by with it?
Why don't you do something? How long are you going
to sit there with your hands folded in your lap?
God is my King from the very start;
he works salvation in the womb of the earth.
With one blow you split the sea in two,
you made mincemeat of the dragon Tannin.
You lopped off the heads of Leviathan,
then served them up in a stew for the animals.
With your finger you opened up springs and creeks,
and dried up the wild floodwaters.
You own the day, you own the night;
you put stars and sun in place.
You laid out the four corners of earth,
shaped the seasons of summer and winter.
18-21 Mark and remember, God, all the enemy
taunts, each idiot desecration.
Don't throw your lambs to the wolves;
after all we've been through, don't forget us.
Remember your promises;
the city is in darkness, the countryside violent.
Don't leave the victims to rot in the street;
make them a choir that sings your praises.
22-23 On your feet, O God—
stand up for yourself!
Do you hear what they're saying about you,
all the vile obscenities?
Don't tune out their malicious filth,
the brawling invective that never lets up.
We're your very own sheep;
how can you stomp off in anger?
2-3 Refresh your memory of us—you bought us a long time ago.
Your most precious tribe—you paid a good price for us!
Your very own Mount Zion—you actually lived here once!
Come and visit the site of disaster,
see how they've wrecked the sanctuary.
4-8 While your people were at worship, your enemies barged in,
brawling and scrawling graffiti.
They set fire to the porch;
axes swinging, they chopped up the woodwork,
Beat down the doors with sledgehammers,
then split them into kindling.
They burned your holy place to the ground,
violated the place of worship.
They said to themselves, "We'll wipe them all out,"
and burned down all the places of worship.
9-17 There's not a sign or symbol of God in sight,
nor anyone to speak in his name,
no one who knows what's going on.
How long, God, will barbarians blaspheme,
enemies curse and get by with it?
Why don't you do something? How long are you going
to sit there with your hands folded in your lap?
God is my King from the very start;
he works salvation in the womb of the earth.
With one blow you split the sea in two,
you made mincemeat of the dragon Tannin.
You lopped off the heads of Leviathan,
then served them up in a stew for the animals.
With your finger you opened up springs and creeks,
and dried up the wild floodwaters.
You own the day, you own the night;
you put stars and sun in place.
You laid out the four corners of earth,
shaped the seasons of summer and winter.
18-21 Mark and remember, God, all the enemy
taunts, each idiot desecration.
Don't throw your lambs to the wolves;
after all we've been through, don't forget us.
Remember your promises;
the city is in darkness, the countryside violent.
Don't leave the victims to rot in the street;
make them a choir that sings your praises.
22-23 On your feet, O God—
stand up for yourself!
Do you hear what they're saying about you,
all the vile obscenities?
Don't tune out their malicious filth,
the brawling invective that never lets up.
Proverbs 12:11 (The Message)
11 The one who stays on the job has food on the table;
the witless chase whims and fancies.
Verse of the Day
“[To
Drink from the Cup]Jesus, now well on the way up to Jerusalem, took the Twelve
off to the side of the road and said, "Listen to me carefully. We are on our way
up to Jerusalem. When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the
religious leaders and scholars. They will sentence him to death. They will then
hand him over to the Romans for mockery and torture and crucifixion. On the
third day he will be raised up alive.” - Matthew 20: 17-19
Today's passage is from
the The Message.
Thought for the Day
German-born American poet, novelist and short story writer, Charles Bukowski wrote,
“Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way.”
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