Day 62 – March 3, 2022

Deuteronomy 4:44-7:26; Psalm 54:13–24; Proverbs 11:16–20; Mark 8:1–21

Deuteronomy 4:44-7:26

44 Now this is the law Moses set before the sons of Israel. 45 These are the testimonies, the ordinances, and the judgments Moses spoke to the sons of Israel in the desert after they came out of Egypt, 46 beyond the Jordan, in the valley near Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel defeated after they came out of Egypt. 47 So they inherited his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, beyond the Jordan toward the rising of the sun, 48 from Aroer, which is on the bank of the Arnon River, even to Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), 49 and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan toward the rising of the sun, below Asedoth hewn in the rock.
The Ten Commandments
1 Now Moses called all Israel, and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the ordinances and the judgments I speak in your hearing on this day, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with you in Horeb. 3 The Lord did not make this covenant with your fathers, but with you, all of you alive here today. 4 The Lord spoke to you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. 5 I stood between the Lord and you at that time to declare to you the words of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain. And He said,
6 ‘I am the Lord your God who brings you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 7 There shall be no different gods before My face. 8 You shall not make for yourself an image, neither any likeness of anything in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth; 9 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them, because I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, repaying the sins of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, 10 but showing mercy to thousands who love Me and keep My commandments.
11 ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not cleanse him who takes His name in vain.
12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your works, 14 but the seventh day is the Sabbath to the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work—you, your son and your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your ox, your donkey, and all of your cattle, and your resident alien dwelling among you; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15 Remember, you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore, the Lord your God ordered you to guard the Sabbath day and to sanctify it.
16 ‘Honor your father and mother in the manner the Lord your God commanded you, that it may be well with you, and you may be a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
17 ‘You shall not murder.
18 ‘You shall not commit adultery.
19 ‘You shall not steal.
20 ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
21 ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not covet your neighbor’s house, neither his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or his cattle, or anything belonging to your neighbor.’
The People Fear God’s Presence
22 “The Lord spoke these words to all your assembly in the mountain from the midst of the fire; there was darkness, gloom, storm, and a loud voice, and He added no more. Then He wrote them on two tablets of stone, and gave them to me. 23 So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the fire, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near me, all the leaders of your tribes and your elders. 24 Then you said, ‘Surely the Lord our God showed us His glory and His greatness, and we heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We saw this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives. 25 Now therefore, let us not die, because this great fire will destroy us; and if we continue to hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. 26 For who of flesh heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 You go near and hear whatever the Lord our God may say, and tell us whatever the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.’
28 “Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, ‘I heard the voice of this people, whatever words they spoke to you. They are right in whatever they said. 29 Would they had such a heart in them so as to fear Me and guard My commandments all the time, that it might be well with them and their sons forever. 30 Go and say to them, “Return to your houses.” 31 But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the ordinances, and the judgments you are to teach them, so they may do them in the land I give them as an inheritance.’ 32 Therefore you shall be careful to do in the manner the Lord your God commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 You shall walk in every way the Lord your God commanded you, that He may give you rest, and it be well with you, and you prolong your days in the land you are to inherit.
The Great Commandment
1 “Now these are the commandments, the ordinances, and the judgments the Lord our God commanded to teach you, that you may do them in the land you are crossing over to inherit, 2 and may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His ordinances and commandments I command you today, you and your sons and the sons of your sons, all the days of your life, so your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you, and you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers told you—‘to give you a land flowing with milk and honey.’ ”
4 These are the ordinances and the judgments the Lord commanded the children of Israel in the desert, when they came from the land of Egypt: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. 5 You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart, from your whole soul, and from your whole power. 6 So these words I command you today shall be in your heart and in your soul. 7 You shall teach them to your sons, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and it shall be immovable before your eyes; 9 and you shall write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.
Do Not Disobey
10 “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities you did not build, 11 and houses full of all good things you did not fill, and hewn-out wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—and when you have eaten and are full— 12 then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brings you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 13 You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and you shall cling to Him and take oaths in His name. 14 You shall not go after different gods, the gods of the nations around you, 15 because the Lord your God is a jealous God among you, lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.
16 “You shall not tempt the Lord your God, as you tempted Him in the Temptation. 17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies, and the ordinances He commanded you. 18 So you shall do what is pleasing and good before the Lord your God, that it may be well with you, and you may go in and inherit the good land the Lord swore to your fathers, 19 to chase out all your enemies from before your face, as He said.
20 “Then it shall be when your son asks you tomorrow, saying, ‘What are the testimonies, the ordinances, and the judgments the Lord our God commanded you?’ 21 you shall say to your son, ‘We were servants of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; 22 and the Lord set great and evil signs affecting Egypt, Pharaoh, and his house before us. 23 Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in to give us this land He swore to give our fathers. 24 So the Lord commanded us to do all these ordinances, to fear the Lord our God, that it may be well with us all our days, and we may live as today. 25 Then we shall have mercy, if we are careful to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as the Lord commanded us.’
The Chosen People
1 “Now if the Lord your God brings you into the land you go to inherit, and casts out great nations before your face, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you, 2 and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands, you shall strike and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show them mercy. 3 Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to his son, nor take his daughter for your son. 4 For she will turn your son away from Me, and he will serve other gods; so the Lord will be very angry with you and destroy you suddenly. 5 But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their pillars, and cut down their groves, and burn the carved images of their gods with fire.
6 “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God chose you to be a people for Himself, special above all the nations on the face of the earth. 7 The Lord did not prefer nor choose you because you were more in number than all the nations, for you are the least of all the nations; 8 but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath He swore to your fathers, the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Therefore know, the Lord your God, this God, is a faithful God, who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with those who hate Him; He will repay them to their face. 11 Therefore, you shall keep the commandments, the ordinances, and these judgments I command you today to do them.
Obedience Brings Blessing
12 “Then it shall come to pass, when you listen to all these ordinances and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy He swore to your fathers; 13 and He will love you and bless and multiply you; He will also bless the offspring of your womb, and the fruit of your land: your grain, wine, and olive oil, and the herds of your oxen, and the flocks of your sheep, in the land the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You shall be blessed more than all the nations; there shall not be a childless male or a barren female among you or your cattle. 15 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and He will not put on you the evil diseases you saw and knew in Egypt, but will put them on all who hate you. 16 Also you shall eat all the spoils of the nations the Lord your God gives you; your eye shall have no pity on them; nor shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.
17 “If you should say in your mind, ‘This nation is greater than I; how will I be able to destroy them?’ 18 you shall not be afraid of them, but shall remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all the Egyptians: 19 the great trials your eyes saw, those great signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord our God do to all the nations of whose face you are afraid. 20 Moreover the Lord your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left, who hide themselves from you, are destroyed. 21 You shall not be terrified of their face; for the Lord your God is among you, a great and powerful God; 22 and the Lord your God will consume those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the land become a desert and the wild animals increase against you. 23 But the Lord your God will deliver them into your hands and destroy them with a great destruction, until they are destroyed. 24 So He will deliver their kings into your hands, and will destroy their name from that place; no one shall be able to stand against your presence until you destroy them. 25 You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not desire the silver or gold of theirs, nor take it for yourselves, lest you stumble because of it; for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. 26 Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.

Psalm 54:13–24

13 For if an enemy reviled me,
I would have endured it;
And if one hating me boasted against me,
I would have hidden from him.
14 But it was you, a man my equal,
My guide and my friend,
15 Who together with me sweetened our meals;
In God’s house we walked in unity.
16 Let death come upon them,
And let them go down alive into Hades;
Because evils are in their dwellings, in the very midst of them.
17 But I cried out to God,
And the Lord heard me.
18 Evening and morning and midday, I shall tell;
I shall proclaim, and He will hear my voice.
19 He will redeem my soul in peace from those who draw near to me,
For they were with me in abundance.
20 God shall hear, and humble them,
He who exists before the ages.
(Pause)
For there is no change in them,
And they have not feared God.
21 He stretched forth His hand in punishment;
They defiled His covenant.
22 They were scattered by the wrath of His face,
And His heart drew near;
His words were softened above oil,
And they are arrows.
23 Cast your care upon the Lord,
And He shall support you;
He will never allow the righteous to be moved.
24 But You, O God, will bring them down into the pit of decay;
Men of blood and deceit
Shall not live even half their days.
But I will hope in You, O Lord.

Proverbs 11:16–20

16 A merciful man does good to his soul,
But an unmerciful man utterly destroys his body.
17 An ungodly man does unrighteous works,
But the seed of the righteous is a reward of truth.
18 A righteous son is begotten unto life,
But the persecution of an ungodly man is unto death.
19 Perverse ways are an abomination to the Lord,
But all who are blameless in their ways are acceptable to Him.
20 He who joins hands with the unrighteous will not go unpunished,
But he who sows righteousness will receive a faithful reward.

Mark 8:1–21

1 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them,
2 “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.
3 “And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.”
4 Then His disciples answered Him, “How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?”
5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”
6 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.
7 They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.
8 So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.
9 Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away,
10 immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
The Pharisees Seek a Sign
11 Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him.
12 But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.”
Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod
13 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.
14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.
15 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened?
18 “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?
19 “When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.”
20 “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.”
21 So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”