Exodus 23
Justice
1 “Now you shall not circulate a false report. Do not agree with the wicked man to be an unrighteous witness.†
2 You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor join with them, so as to turn aside with the majority to pervert justice.†
3 You shall not show partiality to a poor man in his dispute.†
4 If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again.†
5 If you see your enemy’s donkey fallen beneath its load, you shall not walk away from it, but shall surely help him with it.
6 You shall not pervert the judgment of your poor in his dispute.
7 Keep yourself far from every unjust matter; do not kill the innocent and the righteous; and do not justify the wicked for his gifts.
8 You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes and corrupts just pronouncements.
9 Also you shall not oppress a resident alien, for you know the heart of a resident alien, because you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.
Sabbath Laws
10 “Six years you shall sow your land and gather in its produce,†
11 but in the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave, the beasts of the field may eat. In like manner you shall do with your vineyard and your olive grove.
12 Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and donkey may rest, and the son of your female servant and the stranger may be refreshed.
Three Yearly Feasts
13 “Now in everything I said to you, be circumspect and do not invoke the name of other gods, nor let it be heard from your mouth.
14 Keep a feast to Me three times in the year:
15 You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread (you shall eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month of new grains, for in it you came out of Egypt; none shall appear before Me empty);†
16 and the Feast of Harvest, the first fruits of your labors you sowed in the field; and the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field.
17 Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God.
18 When I cast out the nations from before your face and expand your borders, you shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread; nor shall the fat of My sacrifice remain until morning.
19 The first of the first fruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a lamb in its mother’s milk.
An Angel of Protection
20 “Behold, I send My Angel before your face, to keep you in the way and to bring you into the land I prepared for you.†
21 Listen to Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.†
22 But if you will indeed obey My voice and do all I command you and keep My covenant, you shall be My special people above all nations, for the whole earth is Mine; and you shall be a royal priesthood and a holy nation. You shall speak these words to the children of Israel; and if you shall indeed obey My voice and do all I tell you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.†
23 For My Angel will go before you and bring you in to the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Gergesites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off.†
24 You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars.
25 So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread, wine, and water; and I will take away sickness from you.†
26 No one shall suffer miscarriage or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.†
27 “I will send My fear before you; and I will cause confusion among all the nations to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.
28 I will also send hornets before you which shall drive out the Amorites, the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you.
29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals of the field become too numerous for you.
30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land.
31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand and will drive them out from before you.
32 You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a stumbling block to you.”
Psalms 64
1 For the End; a psalm by David; an ode; sung by Jeremiah and Ezekiel regarding the situation of the sojourners, when they were about to depart. †
2 It is fitting to sing a hymn to You in Zion, O God, And a vow shall be rendered to You in Jerusalem.
3 Hear my prayer; To You all flesh shall come.
4 The words of lawless men overpowered us, And You will show mercy to our ungodliness.
5 Blessed is he whom You choose and help; He shall dwell in Your courts. We shall be filled with the good things of Your house; Holy is Your temple, wondrous in righteousness.
6 Hear us, O God our savior, The hope of all the ends of earth And of those far off at sea,
7 He who prepares mountains in His strength, Who is girded with power,
8 Who troubles the depth of the sea, The sounds of its waves. The nations shall be troubled,
9 And those who inhabit the ends of the earth Shall be afraid because of Your signs; You shall gladden the outgoings of morning and evening.
10 You visited the earth and watered it; You enriched it abundantly; The river of God is filled with waters; You prepared their food, for thus is Your preparation thereof.
11 Water its furrows; multiply its fruits; With its raindrops the earth will be gladdened when it produces fruits.
12 You will bless the crown of the year with Your goodness, And Your fields will be filled with fatness;
13 The desert fruits will be made fat, And the hills will be girded with rejoicing.
14 The rams of the sheep are clothed with wool, And the valleys shall abound in wheat; They will shout and truly sing hymns.
Proverbs of Solomon 13
6 Righteousness guards the simple, But sin makes the ungodly worthless.
7 There are those with nothing who make themselves rich, And there are those, though very rich, who humble themselves.
8 The ransom of a man’s soul is his own wealth, But the poor man does not withstand a threat.†
9 Light is with the righteous continually, But the light of the ungodly is extinguished.
10 Deceitful souls are led astray in sins, But the righteous have compassion and are merciful.†
Mark 13
The Destruction of the Temple
1 Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! ”†
2 And Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
The Beginning of Sorrows
3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately,
4 “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?”
5 And Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one deceives you.†
6 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He, ’ and will deceive many.
7 But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.
8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows.
9 “But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues. You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.
10 And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.
11 But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak. But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
12 Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.
13 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Tribulation in Jerusalem
14 “So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
15 Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house.
16 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
17 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!
18 And pray that your flight may not be in winter.
19 For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be.
20 And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.
21 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not believe it.
22 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
23 But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.