The Berean Pursuit
At that time the LORD said to me, "Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to place them in the ark."
So I made an ark of acacia wood, chiseled out two stone tablets like the originals, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. And the LORD wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Commandments that He had spoken to you on the mountain out of the fire on the day of the assembly. The LORD gave them to me, and I went back down the mountain and placed the tablets in the ark I had made, as the LORD had commanded me; and there they have remained.
The Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest. From there they traveled to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water.
At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day. That is why Levi has no portion or inheritance among his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God promised him.
I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, like the first time, and that time the LORD again listened to me and agreed not to destroy you.
Then the LORD said to me, "Get up. Continue your journey ahead of the people, that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them."
And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the LORD that I am giving you this day for your own good?
Behold, to the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, and the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD has set His affection on your fathers and loved them. And He has chosen you, their descendants after them, above all the peoples, even to this day.
Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and stiffen your necks no more. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and accepting no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and He loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.
You are to fear the LORD your God and serve Him. Hold fast to Him and take your oaths in His name. He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome wonders that your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt, seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.
You shall therefore love the LORD your God and always keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments.
Know this day that it is not your children who have known and seen the discipline of the LORD your God: His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm; the signs and works He did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land; what He did to the Egyptian army and horses and chariots when He made the waters of the Red Sea engulf them as they pursued you, and how He destroyed them completely, even to this day; what He did for you in the wilderness until you reached this place; and what He did in the midst of all the Israelites to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing that belonged to them.
For it is your own eyes that have seen every great work that the LORD has done.
You shall therefore keep every commandment I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and possess the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.
For the land that you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated on foot, like a vegetable garden. But the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks in the rain from heaven. It is a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning to the end of the year.
So if you carefully obey the commandments I am giving you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will provide rain for your land in season, the autumn and spring rains, that you may gather your grain, new wine, and oil. And I will provide grass in the fields for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied.
But be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods, or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you. He will shut the heavens so that there will be no rain, nor will the land yield its produce, and you will soon perish from the good land that the LORD is giving you.
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as reminders on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, speaking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates, so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be multiplied in the land that the LORD swore to give your fathers.
For if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you to follow-to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him- then the LORD will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you. Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea. No man will be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land, wherever you set foot, as He has promised you.
See, today I am setting before you a blessing and a curse- a blessing if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you today, but a curse if you disobey the commandments of the LORD your God and turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. Are not these mountains across the Jordan, west of the road toward the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah opposite Gilgal near the Oak of Moreh?
For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and possess the land that the LORD your God is giving you. When you take possession of it and settle in it, be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances that I am setting before you today.
These are the statutes and ordinances you must be careful to follow all the days you live in the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess.
Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods-atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place. You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way.
Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go. To that place you are to bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you.
You are not to do as we are doing here today, where everyone does what seems right in his own eyes. For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you.
When you cross the Jordan and live in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and He gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you dwell securely, then the LORD your God will choose a dwelling for His Name. And there you are to bring everything I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, and all the choice offerings you vow to the LORD. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God-you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.
Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see; you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.
But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your gates, according to the blessing the LORD your God has given you. Both the ceremonially clean and unclean may eat it as they would a gazelle or deer, but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.
Within your gates you must not eat the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, the firstborn of your herds or flocks, any of the offerings that you have vowed to give, or your freewill offerings or special gifts. Instead, you must eat them in the presence of the LORD your God at the place the LORD your God will choose-you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates. Rejoice before the LORD your God in all you do, and be careful not to neglect the Levites as long as you live in your land.
When the LORD your God expands your territory as He has promised, and you crave meat and say, "I want to eat meat," you may eat it whenever you want. If the place where the LORD your God chooses to put His Name is too far from you, then you may slaughter any of the herd or flock He has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your gates whenever you want. Indeed, you may eat it as you would eat a gazelle or deer; both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it. Only be sure not to eat the blood, because the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat. You must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water. Do not eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD.
But you are to take your holy things and your vow offerings and go to the place the LORD will choose. Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the LORD your God. The blood of your other sacrifices must be poured out beside the altar of the LORD your God, but you may eat the meat. Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the LORD your God.
When the LORD your God cuts off before you the nations you are entering to dispossess, and you drive them out and live in their land, be careful not to be ensnared by their ways after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, "How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise."
You must not worship the LORD your God in this way, because they practice for their gods every abomination which the LORD hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.
See that you do everything I command you; do not add to it or subtract from it.
If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, and if the sign or wonder he has spoken to you comes about, but he says, "Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them," you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul. You are to follow the LORD your God and fear Him. Keep His commandments and listen to His voice; serve Him and hold fast to Him.
Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. So you must purge the evil from among you.
If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, "Let us go and worship other gods" (which neither you nor your fathers have known, the gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other), you must not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity, and do not spare him or shield him.
Instead, you must surely kill him. Your hand must be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people. Stone him to death for trying to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such a wicked thing among you.
If, regarding one of the cities the LORD your God is giving you to inhabit, you hear it said that wicked men have arisen from among you and have led the people of their city astray, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods" (which you have not known), then you must inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly. And if it is established with certainty that this abomination has been committed among you, you must surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword. Devote to destruction all its people and livestock.
And you are to gather all its plunder in the middle of the public square, and completely burn the city and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the LORD your God. The city must remain a mound of ruins forever, never to be rebuilt.
Nothing devoted to destruction shall cling to your hands, so that the LORD will turn from His fierce anger, grant you mercy, show you compassion, and multiply you as He swore to your fathers, because you obey the LORD your God, keeping all His commandments I am giving you today and doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God.
You are sons of the LORD your God; do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads on behalf of the dead, for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.
You must not eat any detestable thing. These are the animals that you may eat:
The ox, the sheep, the goat,
the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer,
the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope,
and the mountain sheep.
You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud.
But of those that chew the cud or have a completely divided hoof, you are not to eat the following:
the camel,
the rabbit,
or the rock badger.
Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof. They are unclean for you, as well as the pig; though it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. It is unclean for you. You must not eat its meat or touch its carcass.
Of all the creatures that live in the water, you may eat anything with fins and scales, but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales; it is unclean for you.
You may eat any clean bird, but these you may not eat:
the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,
the red kite, the falcon, any kind of kite,
any kind of raven,
the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,
the little owl, the great owl, the white owl,
the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant,
the stork, any kind of heron,
the hoopoe, or the bat.
All flying insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten. But you may eat any clean bird.
You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God.
You must not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.
You must be sure to set aside a tenth of all the produce brought forth each year from your fields. And you are to eat a tenth of your grain, new wine, and oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks, in the presence of the LORD your God at the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.
But if the distance is too great for you to carry that with which the LORD your God has blessed you, because the place where the LORD your God will choose to put His Name is too far away, then exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place the LORD your God will choose. Then you may spend the money on anything you desire: cattle, sheep, wine, strong drink, or anything you wish. You are to feast there in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice with your household. And do not neglect the Levite within your gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.
At the end of every three years, bring a tenth of all your produce for that year and lay it up within your gates. Then the Levite (because he has no portion or inheritance among you), the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow within your gates may come and eat and be satisfied. And the LORD your God will bless you in all the work of your hands.
For the choirmaster, to be accompanied by flutes. A Psalm of David.
Give ear to my words, O LORD;
consider my groaning.
Attend to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to You I pray.
In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice;
at daybreak I lay my plea before You
and wait in expectation.
For You are not a God who delights in wickedness;
no evil can dwell with You.
The boastful cannot stand in Your presence;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
You destroy those who tell lies;
the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.
But I will enter Your house
by the abundance of Your loving devotion;
in reverence I will bow down
toward Your holy temple.
Lead me, O LORD, in Your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make straight Your way before me.
For not a word they speak can be trusted;
destruction lies within them.
Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.
Declare them guilty, O God;
let them fall by their own devices.
Drive them out for their many transgressions,
for they have rebelled against You.
But let all who take refuge in You rejoice;
let them ever shout for joy.
May You shelter them,
that those who love Your name may rejoice in You.
For surely You, O LORD, bless the righteous;
You surround them with the shield of Your favor.
Soon afterward, Jesus traveled from one town and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with Him, as well as some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna the wife of Herod's household manager Chuza, Susanna, and many others. These women were ministering to them out of their own means.
While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, He told them this parable: "A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, where it was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it.
Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the seedlings withered because they had no moisture.
Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the seedlings.
Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprang up and produced a crop-a hundredfold."
As Jesus said this, He called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
Then His disciples asked Him what this parable meant.
He replied, "The knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
'though seeing, they may not see;
though hearing, they may not understand.'
Now this is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. The seeds along the path are those who hear, but the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.
The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away.
The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.
But the seeds on good soil are those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, cling to it, and by persevering produce a crop.
No one lights a lamp and covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he sets it on a stand, so those who enter can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light.
Pay attention, therefore, to how you listen. Whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken away from him."
Then Jesus' mother and brothers came to see Him, but they were unable to reach Him because of the crowd. He was told, "Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to see You."
But He replied, "My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and carry it out."
One day Jesus said to His disciples, "Let us cross to the other side of the lake." So He got into a boat with them and set out.
As they sailed, He fell asleep, and a windstorm came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"
Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters, and they subsided, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" He asked.
Frightened and amazed, they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him!"
Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, He was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothing or lived in a house, but he stayed in the tombs.
When the man saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, shouting in a loud voice, "What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You not to torture me!" For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and been driven by the demon into solitary places.
"What is your name?" Jesus asked.
"Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And the demons kept begging Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss.
There on the hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. So the demons begged Jesus to let them enter the pigs, and He gave them permission.
Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside. So the people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man whom the demons had left, sitting at Jesus' feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Meanwhile, those who had seen it reported how the demon-possessed man had been healed.
Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to depart from them, because great fear had taken hold of them. So He got into the boat and started back.
The man whom the demons had left begged to go with Jesus. But He sent him away, saying, "Return home and describe how much God has done for you." So the man went away and proclaimed all over the town how much Jesus had done for him.
When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him. Just then a synagogue leader named Jairus came and fell at Jesus' feet. He begged Him to come to his house, because his only daughter, who was about twelve, was dying.
As Jesus went with him, the crowds pressed around Him, including a woman who had suffered from bleeding for twelve years. She had spent all her money on physicians, but no one was able to heal her. She came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
"Who touched Me?" Jesus asked.
But they all denied it. "Master," said Peter, "the people are crowding and pressing against You."
But Jesus declared, "Someone touched Me, for I know that power has gone out from Me."
Then the woman, seeing that she could not escape notice, came trembling and fell down before Him. In the presence of all the people, she explained why she had touched Him and how she had immediately been healed.
"Daughter," said Jesus, "your faith has healed you. Go in peace."
While He was still speaking, someone arrived from the house of the synagogue leader. "Your daughter is dead," he told Jairus. "Do not bother the Teacher anymore."
But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, "Do not be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed."
When He entered the house, He did not allow anyone to go in with Him except Peter, John, James, and the child's father and mother. Meanwhile, everyone was weeping and mourning for her. But Jesus said, "Stop weeping; she is not dead but asleep." And they laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead.
But Jesus took her by the hand and called out, "Child, get up!" Her spirit returned, and at once she got up. And He directed that she be given something to eat. Her parents were astounded, but Jesus ordered them not to tell anyone what had happened.