"When Yahweh your God has exterminated the nations concerning whom Yahweh your God is giving to you their land, and you have dispossessed them, and you have settled in their towns and in their houses, you shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to take possession of it. You shall prepare the roads for yourselves, and you shall divide the regions of your land into thirds that Yahweh your God gives you as a possession, so that it will be available for any manslayer to flee there.

"Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live there who has killed his neighbor unintentionally, and he did not hate him previously. For example, when somebody goes with his neighbor into the forest to cut wood, and the iron head slips from the handle of the tool and strikes his neighbor and he dies, then he may flee to one of these cities, and so he may live. He does this lest the avenger of blood might pursue after the killer, because he is hot with anger and he overtakes him, because it is a long distance to the city of refuge, and so he kills him, but he did not deserve a death sentence, because he was not hating him before. Therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall set apart three cities.’ Then if Yahweh your God enlarges your territory just as he swore to your ancestors and gives to you all the land that he promised to give to your ancestors, then if you diligently observe this entire commandment that I am commanding you today by loving Yahweh your God and by going in his ways at all times, then you shall add three more cities for yourselves to these three. Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance and thereby bloodguilt would be on you.

But if someone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and murders him, and the murderer flees to one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and they shall give him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he shall be put to death. Your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that good will be directed toward you.

"You shall not move the boundary marker of your neighbor that former generations set up on your property in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to take possession of it. The testimony of a single witness may not be used to convict with respect to any crime and for any wrongdoing in any offense that a person committed; on the evidence of two witnesses or on the evidence of three witnesses a charge shall be sustained. If a malicious witness gets up to accuse anyone to testify against him falsely, then the two men to whom the legal dispute pertains shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. Then judges shall make a thorough inquiry, and if it turns out that the witness is a false witness and he testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he meant to do to his brother, and so you shall purge the evil from your midst. And the rest shall hear and shall fear, and they shall not continue to do such a thing again as this evil thing in your midst. You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."

"If you go out to war against your enemies and you see a horse and a chariot, an army larger that you, you shall not be afraid because of them; for Yahweh your God is with you, the one who brought you from the land of Egypt. And then when you approach the battle, then the priest shall come near and speak to the troops. And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, Israel, you are near today to the battle against your enemies; do not lose heart; you shall not be afraid, and you shall not panic, and you shall not be terrified because of them, for Yahweh your God is going with you to fight for you against your enemies to help you.’ And the officials shall speak to the troops, saying, ‘Who is the man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to this house, so that he does not die in battle and another man dedicates it. And who is the man that has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed it? Let him go and let him return to his house, so that he does not die in battle and another man enjoys it. And who is the man who got engaged to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and let him return to his house, so that he does not die in battle and another man marries her.’ And the officials shall continue to speak to the troops, and they shall say, ‘What man is afraid and disheartened? Let him go, and let him return to his house, and let him not cause the heart of his brothers to melt like his.’ And when the officials have finished speaking to the army troops, then they shall appoint commanders of divisions at the head of the troops.

"When you approach a city to fight against it, you must offer it peace. And then if they accept your terms of peace and they surrender to you, and then all the people inhabiting it shall be forced labor for you, and they shall serve you. But if they do not accept your terms of peace and they want to make war with you, then you shall lay siege against it. And Yahweh your God will give it into your hand, and you shall kill all its males with the edge of the sword. Only the women and the little children and the domestic animals and all that shall be in the city, all of its spoil you may loot for yourselves, and you may enjoy the spoil of your enemies that Yahweh you God has given to you. Thus you shall do to all the far cities from you, which are not from the cities of these nations located nearby.

But from the cities of these peoples that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance, you shall not let anything live that breathes. Rather, you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, just as Yahweh your God has commanded you, so that they may not teach you to do like all their detestable things that they do for their gods and thereby you sin against Yahweh your God.

"If you besiege a town for many days to make war against it in order to seize it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them, for you may eat from them, and so you must not cut them down. Are the trees of the field humans that they should come in siege against you? Only the trees that you know are not fruit trees you may destroy and you may cut down, and you may build siege works against that city that is making war with you until it falls."

"If someone slain is found in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to take possession of it and is lying in the field, and it is not known who killed him, then your elders and your judges shall go out and shall measure the distance to the cities that are around the slain one. And then the nearest city to the slain one, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked with in the field, that has not pulled a yoke, and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a wadi that flows with water all year and that has not been plowed and has not been sown; then there they shall break the neck of the heifer in the wadi. Then the priests, the descendants of Levi, shall come near, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to bless in the name of Yahweh, and every legal dispute and every case of assault will be subject to their ruling. And all of the elders of that city nearest to the slain person shall wash their hands over the heifer with the broken neck in the wadi. And they shall declare, and they shall say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see what was done. Forgive your people, Israel, whom you redeemed, Yahweh, and do not allow the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, and let them be forgiven with regard to blood.’ And so you shall purge the innocent blood from your midst, because you must do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh.

"When you go out for battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God gives them into your hand, and you lead the captives away, and you see among the captives a woman beautiful in appearance, and you become attached to her and you want to take her as a wife, then you shall bring her into your household, and she shall shave her head, and she shall trim her nails. And she shall remove the clothing of her captivity from her, and she shall remain in your house, and she shall mourn her father and her mother a full month, and after this you may have sex with her, and you may marry her, and she may become your wife. And then if you do not take delight in her, then you shall let her go to do whatever she wants, but you shall not treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

"If a man has two wives, and the one is loved and the other one is disliked and the one loved and the one that is disliked have borne for him sons, if it happens that the firstborn son belongs to the one that is disliked, nevertheless it will be the case that on the day of bestowing his inheritance upon his sons, he will not be allowed to treat as the firstborn son the son of the beloved wife in preference to the son of the disliked wife, who is the firstborn son. But he shall acknowledge the firstborn son of the disliked wife by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruit of his vigor; to him is the legal claim of the birthright.

"If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not listen to the voice of his father and to the voice of his mother, and they discipline him, and he does not obey them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him, and they shall bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his town, and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us, and he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his city shall stone him with stones and let him die; and so you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all of Israel will hear, and they will fear.

"And if a man commits a sin punishable by death, and so he is put to death and you hang him on a tree, his dead body shall not hang on the tree, but certainly you shall bury him on that day, for cursed by God is one that is being hung; so you shall not defile your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance."

"You shall not watch the ox of your neighbor or his sheep or goat straying and ignore them; certainly you shall return them to your neighbor. And if your countryman is not near you or you do not know who he is, then you shall bring it to your household, and it shall be with you until your countryman seeks after it, and you shall return it to him. And thus also you shall do regarding his donkey, and thus you shall do concerning his garment, and so you shall do with respect to all of the lost property of your countryman that is lost from him and you find it; you are not allowed to withhold help.

"You shall not see the donkey of your neighbor or his ox fallen on the road and you ignore them; certainly you must help them get up along with him.

"The apparel of a man shall not be put on a woman, and a man shall not wear the clothing of a woman, because everyone who does these things is detestable to Yahweh your God.

"If a bird’s nest is found before you on the road in any tree or on the ground, and there are chicks or eggs, and the mother is lying down on the chicks or the eggs, you shall not take the mother along with the young; you shall certainly let the mother go, but you may take the young for yourselves; do this so that it may go well for you and you may live long in the land.

"When you build a new house then you shall make a parapet wall for your roof, so that you will not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone should fall from it.

"You shall not sow your vineyard with differing kinds of seed, so that you shall not forfeit the whole harvest, both the seed that you sowed and the yield of the vineyard.

"You shall not plow with an ox and with a donkey yoked together.

"You shall not wear woven material made of wool and linen mixed together.

"You shall make tassels for yourselves on the four corners of your clothing with which you cover yourself.

"If a man takes a woman and he has sex with her, but he then dislikes her, and he accuses her falsely, and he defames her, and he says ‘This woman I took and I lay with her and I discovered that she was not a virgin,’ then in defense the father of the young woman shall take, along with her mother, and together they must bring out the evidence of the virginity of the young woman to display it to the elders of the city at the city gate. And then the father of the young woman shall say to the elders, ‘I gave my daughter to this man as wife, but he now dislikes her, and now look he has accused her falsely, saying, "I did not find your daughter a virgin," but here is evidence of the virginity of my daughter’; and they shall spread the cloth out before the elders of the city. Then the elders of that city shall take the man, and they shall discipline him. Then they shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and they shall give them to the father of the young woman, for he defamed an Israelite young woman, and she shall become his wife; he will not be allowed to divorce her all his days.

"But if this charge was true, and the signs of virginity were not found for the young woman, and then they shall bring out the young woman to the doorway of the house of her father, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones, and she shall die, because she did a disgraceful thing in Israel by playing the harlot in the house of her father, and so you shall purge the evil from your midst.

"If a man is found lying with a married woman, then they shall both die; both of them, the man who lay with the woman and the woman also, so you shall purge the evil from Israel.

"If it happens that a young woman, a virgin, is engaged to a man, and a man finds her in the town and lies with her, then you shall bring out both of them to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them with stones so that they shall die, the young woman because she did not cry out in the town, and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife; and so you shall purge the evil from your midst.

"But if the man finds the young engaged woman in the field and the man overpowers her and he has sex with her, then the man only must die who lay with her. But you shall not do anything to the young woman, for there is not reckoned against the young woman a sin deserving death; it is similar to when a man rises up against his neighbor and murders him, a fellow human being, just so is this case, for he found her in the field, the engaged young woman cried out, but there was no rescuer to help her.

"If a man finds a young woman, a virgin who is not engaged, and he seizes her and he has sex with her and they are caught, then the man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall become his wife because he violated her, and he is not allowed to divorce her during his lifetime. A man may not take the wife of his father, and so he may not dishonor his father.

And after these things, the Lord also appointed seventy-two others and sent them out two by two before him into every town and place where he was about to go. And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest that he send out workers into his harvest. Go! Behold, I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves! Do not carry a money bag or a traveler’s bag or sandals, and greet no one along the road. And into whatever house you enter, first say, "Peace be to this household!" And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the worker is worthy of his pay. Do not move from house to house. And into whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat whatever is set before you, and heal the sick in it, and say to them, "The kingdom of God has come near to you." But into whatever town you enter and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, "Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you! Nevertheless know this: that the kingdom of God has come near!" I tell you that it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town!

Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes! But it will be more bearable for Tyre and for Sidon in the judgment than for you! And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No! You will be brought down to Hades! The one who listens to you listens to me, and the one who rejects you rejects me. But the one who rejects me rejects the one who sent me."

And the seventy-two returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" So he said to them, "I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you the authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will ever harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are inscribed in heaven."

At that same time he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to young children. Yes, Father, for this was pleasing before you. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father and who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wants to reveal him."

And turning to the disciples, he said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see the things which you see, and did not see them, and to hear the things which you hear, and did not hear them."

And behold, a certain legal expert stood up to test him, saying, "Teacher, what must I do so that I will inherit eternal life?" And he said to him, "What is written in the law? How do you read it?" And he answered and said, "You shall love the Lord your God from all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." And he said to him, "You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live."

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" And Jesus replied and said, "A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who both stripped him and beat him. After inflicting blows on him, they went away, leaving him half dead. Now by coincidence a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. And in the same way also a Levite, when he came down to the place and saw him, passed by on the opposite side. But a certain Samaritan who was traveling came up to him and, when he saw him, had compassion. And he came up and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine, and he put him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And on the next day, he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, and said, "Take care of him, and whatever you spend in addition, I will repay to you when I return. Which of these three do you suppose became a neighbor of the man who fell among the robbers?" So he said, "The one who showed mercy to him." And Jesus said to him, "You go and do likewise."

Now as they traveled along, he entered into a certain village. And a certain woman named Martha welcomed him. And she had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the feet of Jesus and was listening to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much preparation, so she approached and said, "Lord, is it not a concern to you that my sister has left me alone to make preparations? Then tell her that she should help me!" But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things! But few things are necessary, or only one thing, for Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her."