Leviticus 19-21
Laws of Morality and Justice
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel and say to them, ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 3 Every one of you shall reverence his father and mother and keep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God. 4 Do not follow idols, nor make for yourselves molten gods: I am the Lord your God. 5 And if you offer a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, you shall offer it in a manner acceptable for you. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the next day, and if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire. 7 And if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is not fit to be offered. It shall not be accepted. 8 Therefore, everyone who eats it shall bear his guilt, because he has defiled the holy things of the Lord; and the souls that eat it shall be utterly destroyed from among their people.
9 ‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 Also you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the resident alien: I am the Lord your God.
11 ‘You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. 12 You shall not swear by My name unjustly, nor shall you defile the name of your God: I am the Lord your God. 13 You shall not treat your neighbor unjustly, nor rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. 14 You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God: I am the Lord your God.
15 ‘You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor admire the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. 16 You shall not go about deceitfully among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord your God. 17 You shall not hate your brother in your mind. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear guilt because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
19 ‘You shall keep My law. You shall not let your cattle mate with a different species. You shall not sow your field with mixed seeds. Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.
20 ‘Whoever lies carnally with a woman who is betrothed to a man as a concubine and has not at all been redeemed nor given her freedom, for this there shall be an inquiry; but they shall not be put to death, because she was not free. 21 Then he shall bring his trespass offering to the Lord, to the door of the tabernacle of testimony, a ram as a trespass offering. 22 The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the trespass offering before the Lord for the sin he committed; and the sin he committed shall be remitted him.
23 ‘When you come into the land the Lord your God gives you and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall cleanse its impurity. Three years its fruit shall be impure to you. It shall not be eaten. 24 But in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. 25 Then in the fifth year you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the Lord your God.
26 ‘You shall not eat upon the mountains, nor divine for omens, nor watch birds for omens. 27 You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. 28 You shall not make any gashing on your bodies for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord your God. 29 Do not defile your daughter, to cause her to commit fornication, lest the land fall into fornication, and the land become full of lawlessness.
30 ‘You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My holy things: I am the Lord. 31 You shall not follow ventriloquists, nor attach yourselves to enchanters, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God. 32 You shall rise before the gray-headed and honor the presence of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord your God. 33 And if a resident alien dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. 34 The resident alien who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God. 35 You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or balances. 36 You shall have honest scales, honest weights, and honest measures: I am the Lord your God, who brings you out of the land of Egypt.
37 ‘Therefore you shall keep all My law and all My ordinances, and perform them: I am the Lord your God.’ ”
Penalties for Lawbreakers
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Again, you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the resident aliens dwelling in Israel, gives any of his children to worship a ruler, let him be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 I will set My face against that man and will destroy him from among his people, because he gave his children to a ruler, to defile My holy things and profane the name of those sanctified for Me. 4 But if the natives of the land disregard that man, taking no notice of him when he gives his children to a ruler, and they do not kill him, 5 then I will set My face against that man and those of his kind. For since he and those in agreement with him prostituted themselves to rulers, I will destroy them from among their people. 6 Also the soul who follows ventriloquists and charmers, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that soul and destroy him from among his people. 7 Therefore, you shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. 8 You shall keep My ordinances and perform them: I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 9 Whatever man curses his father or mother shall surely be put to death. He cursed his father or mother. Thus he shall be guilty.
10 ‘The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, or who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. 11 The man who lies with his father’s wife has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both shall surely be put to death, for they are guilty. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both shall surely be put to death. They are impious, and therefore guilty. 13 If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both committed an abomination. They shall be put to death, for they are guilty. 14 If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. 15 If a man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death, for they are guilty.
17 ‘If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a reproach. They shall be utterly destroyed in the presence of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness. They shall bear their guilt. 18 If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both shall be utterly destroyed from among their people. 19 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister, nor your mother’s sister, for that would uncover his near of kin. They shall bear their guilt. 20 If a man lies with his close relative, he has uncovered his relative’s nakedness. They shall die childless. 21 If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is uncleanness. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.
22 ‘You shall therefore keep all My ordinances and all My judgments and perform them, that the land to which I am bringing you to dwell in not be provoked at you. 23 Also, you shall not walk in the ordinances of the nations I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them. 24 But I said to you, “You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who separated you from all peoples. 25 You shall therefore distinguish between clean animals and unclean, between unclean birds and clean, and you shall not make your souls abominable by animals or birds, or by any kind of living thing that creeps on the ground, which I separated from you as unclean. 26 You shall be holy to Me, for I, the Lord your God, who separated you from all peoples for Myself, am holy.
27 ‘A man or a woman who is a ventriloquist or a charmer shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones, for they are guilty.’ ”
Conduct for Priests
1 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ‘They shall not be defiled by the dead among their people, 2 except for their nearest relatives: their father, mother, sons, daughters, brother, 3 and virgin sister near to him and having no husband; for these he may be defiled. 4 Otherwise, he shall not be unexpectedly defiled and profaned among his people. 5 You shall not shave a bald spot on your head for the dead, nor shall they shave the edges of their beard, nor make any cuttings on their flesh. 6 They shall be holy to their God, and not defile the name of their God, for they offer the sacrifices of the Lord as the gifts of their God; therefore, they shall be holy. 7 They shall not take a wife who is a prostitute and defiled, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for a priest is holy to the Lord his God. 8 Therefore you shall sanctify him, for he offers the gifts of the Lord your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, who sanctifies them, am holy. 9 The daughter of any priest, if she defiles herself by playing the harlot, she defiles the name of her father. She shall be burned with fire. 10 The high priest who is great among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who was consecrated to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes; 11 nor shall he go near any soul who died, nor defile himself for his father or mother; 12 nor shall he go out of the holy places, nor defile the sanctified place of his God; for the consecration of God’s holy anointing oil is upon him: I am the Lord. 13 Moreover, he shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 But a widow, a divorced woman, a defiled woman, or a prostitute—these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife. 15 Nor shall he defile his seed among his people, for I the Lord sanctify him.’ ”
16 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘No man of your descendants in succeeding generations who has any defect may approach to offer the gifts of his God. 18 For any man who has a defect shall not approach: a man lame or blind, who has a slit nose or ear, 19 a man who has a broken hand or foot, 20 or is a hunchback or has a defect in his eye, or an inflammation with respect to the eyes, or a man who has a severe itch or a single testicle. 21 No man of the seed of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall come near to offer the sacrifices to your God. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the gifts of your God. 22 The gifts of his God are most holy, and he may eat only the holy things; 23 but he shall not go near the veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest he defile the holy place of his God; for I the Lord sanctify them.’ ” 24 Thus Moses told this to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel.
Psalm 36:21–40
21 The sinner borrows, but will not repay;
However, the righteous man is compassionate, and gives;
22 For those who bless Him shall inherit the earth,
But those who curse Him shall be utterly destroyed.
23 The steps of a man are guided aright by the Lord,
And he shall desire His way.
24 When he falls, he shall not be broken to pieces,
For the Lord supports him with His hand.
25 I was young, but indeed I grew old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his seed begging bread.
26 Day in and out, he is merciful and lends,
And his seed shall be a blessing.
27 Turn away from evil, and do good,
And dwell unto ages of ages;
28 For the Lord loves judgment,
And He will not abandon His holy ones;
They shall be kept forever.
But the lawless shall be banished,
And the seed of the ungodly shall be utterly destroyed.
29 The righteous shall inherit the earth
And dwell upon it unto ages of ages.
30 The mouth of the righteous shall meditate on wisdom,
And his tongue shall speak of judgment;
31 The law of God is in his heart,
And his steps shall not be tripped up.
32 The sinner observes the righteous man
And seeks to put him to death;
33 But the Lord will not leave him in his hands,
Nor condemn him, when He judges him.
34 Wait on the Lord, and keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the earth;
You shall see the sinners when they are utterly destroyed.
35 I saw the ungodly greatly exalted
And lifting himself up like the cedars of Lebanon;
36 And I passed by, and behold, he was not;
And I sought for him,
But his place was not found.
37 Keep innocence, and behold uprightness,
For this is the remnant for the peaceful man.
38 But transgressors shall be utterly destroyed together;
The remnants of the ungodly shall be utterly destroyed.
39 Now the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord,
And He is their protector in time of affliction;
40 And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them;
And He shall deliver them from sinners,
And save them, because they hope in Him.
Proverbs 7:25–27
25 Now therefore, my son, hear me,
And hold fast to the words of my mouth;
26 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways,
For she wounded and cast down many,
And those whom she slew are innumerable;
27 Her house is the road to Hades,
Leading down to the chambers of death.
Matthew 25:1–30
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 “Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 “Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,
4 “but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 “But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’
7 “Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
8 “And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
9 “But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’
10 “And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’
12 “But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
The Parable of the Talents
14 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.
15 “And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
16 “Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents.
17 “And likewise he who had received two gained two more also.
18 “But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money.
19 “After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
20 “So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’
21 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
22 “He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’
23 “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
24 “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed.
25 ‘And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’
26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.
27 ‘So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
28 ‘Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
29 ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.30 ‘And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’