Daily Bible Reading
Today's Bible reading is from
Deuteronomy 24 – 27
courtesy of StudyLight
Chapter 24
1 "When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that F366 she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency R728 in her, and he R729 writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2 and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man's wife, 3 and if the latter husband turns F367 against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4 then her former R730 husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.
5 "When R731 a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home one year and shall give R732 happiness to his wife whom he has taken. 6 "No one shall take a handmill or an upper millstone in pledge, for he would be taking a life in pledge. 7 "If R733 a man is caught F368 kidnapping any of his countrymen F369 of the sons of Israel, and he deals with him violently or sells him, then that thief shall die; so you shall purge the evil from among you. 8 "Be R734 careful against an F370 infection of leprosy, that you diligently observe and do according to all that the Levitical priests teach you; as I have commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. 9 "Remember what the LORD your God did to R735 Miriam on the way as you came out of Egypt. 10 "When R736 you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not enter his house to take his pledge. 11 "You shall remain outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. 12 "If he is a poor man, you shall not sleep with his pledge. 13 "When R737 the sun goes down you shall surely return the pledge to him, that he may sleep in his cloak and bless you; and it R738 will be righteousness for you before the LORD your God.
14 "You R739 shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your countrymen F371 or one of your aliens who is in your land in your towns. F372 15 "You R740 shall give him his wages on his day before F373 the sun sets, for he is poor and sets his heart F374 on it; so that he R741 will not cry against you to the LORD and it become sin in you. 16 "Fathers R742 shall not be put to death for F375 their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for F375 their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin. 17 "You R743 shall not pervert the justice due F376 an alien or an F377 orphan, nor take R744 a widow's garment in pledge. 18 "But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing. 19 "When R745 you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for R746 the alien, for the orphan, F378 and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may R747 bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 "When R748 you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; F379 it shall be for R749 the alien, for the orphan, F380 and for the widow. 21 "When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not go F381 over it again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, F382 and for the widow. 22 "You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing.
Chapter 25
1 "If R750 there is a dispute between men and they go to court, F383 and the F384 judges decide their case, and R751 they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, 2 then it shall be if the wicked man deserves R752 F385 to be beaten, the judge shall then make him lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of stripes according to his guilt. F386 3 "He R753 may beat him forty times but no more, so that he does not beat him with many more stripes than these and your brother is not degraded R754 in your eyes. 4 "You R755 shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.
5 "When brothers live together and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a strange man. Her R756 husband's brother shall go in to her and take her to himself as wife and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. 6 "It shall be that the firstborn whom she bears shall assume F387 the name of his dead brother, so that his R757 name will not be blotted out from Israel. 7 "But R758 if the man does not desire to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, `My husband's brother refuses to establish a name for his brother in Israel; he is not willing to perform the duty of a husband's brother to me.' 8 "Then the elders of his city shall summon him and speak to him. And if he persists and says, `I do not desire to take her,' 9 then R759 his brother's wife shall come to him in the sight of the elders, and pull his sandal off his foot and spit R760 in his face; and she shall declare, F388 `Thus it is done to the man who does not build up his brother's house.' 10 "In Israel his name shall be called, `The house of him whose sandal is removed.' 11 "If two men, a man and his countryman, F389 are struggling together, and the wife of one comes near to deliver her husband from the hand of the one who is striking him, and puts out her hand and seizes his genitals, 12 then you shall cut off her hand; F390 you R761 F391 shall not show pity.
13 "You R762 shall not have in your bag differing F392 weights, a large and a small. 14 "You shall not have in your house differing F393 measures, a large and a small. 15 "You shall have a full and just weight; you shall have a full and just measure, F394 that R763 your days may be prolonged in the land F395 which the LORD your God gives you. 16 "For everyone R764 who does these things, everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the LORD your God. 17 "Remember R765 what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, 18 how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did R766 not fear F396 God. 19 "Therefore it shall come about when the LORD your God has given you rest R767 from all your surrounding enemies, in the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance to possess, F397 you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven; you must not forget.
Chapter 26
1 "Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and you possess it and live in it, 2 that you shall take some of the R768 first of all the produce of the ground which you bring in from your land that the LORD your God gives you, and you shall put it in a basket and go R769 to the place where the LORD your God chooses to establish His name. 3 "You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time and say to him, `I declare this day to the LORD my F398 God that I have entered the land which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us.' 4 "Then the priest shall take the basket from your hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God. 5 "You shall answer and say before the LORD your God, `My R770 father was a wandering F399 Aramean, and he went down to Egypt and sojourned F400 there, few R771 in number; but there he became a great, R772 mighty and populous nation. 6 `And the Egyptians R773 treated us harshly and afflicted us, and imposed hard labor on us. 7 `Then we R774 cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression; 8 and R775 the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders; 9 and He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a R776 land flowing with milk and honey. 10 `Now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which R777 You, O LORD have given me.' And you shall set it down before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God; 11 and you and the R778 Levite and the alien who is among you shall rejoice R779 in all the good which the LORD your God has given you and your household.
12 "When R780 you have finished paying F401 all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan F402 and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns F403 and be satisfied. 13 "You shall say before the LORD your God, `I have removed the sacred portion from my house, and also have given it to the Levite and the alien, the orphan F404 and the widow, according to all Your commandments which You have commanded me; I R781 have not transgressed or forgotten any of Your commandments. 14 `I have not eaten of it while F405 mourning, nor have I removed any of it while I was unclean, nor offered any of it to the dead. I have listened to the voice of the LORD my God; I have done according to all that You have commanded me. 15 `Look R782 down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel, and the ground which You have given us, a R783 land flowing with milk and honey, as You swore to our fathers.'
16 "This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore be careful to do them with R784 all your heart and with all your soul. 17 "You R785 have today declared the LORD to be your God, and that F406 you would walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and listen to His voice. 18 "The LORD has today declared you to be His R786 people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that F407 you should keep all His commandments; 19 and that F408 He will set R787 you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a R788 consecrated people to the LORD your God, as He has spoken."
Chapter 27
1 Then Moses and the elders of Israel charged the people, saying, "Keep all the commandments which I command you today. 2 "So R789 it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God gives you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime 3 and write on them all the words of this law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, a R790 land flowing with milk and honey, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised F409 you. 4 "So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up on R791 Mount Ebal, these stones, as F410 I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime. 5 "Moreover, you shall build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you shall R792 not wield F411 an iron tool on them. 6 "You shall build the altar of the LORD your God of uncut F412 stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the LORD your God; 7 and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and rejoice R793 before the LORD your God. 8 "You shall write on the stones F413 all the words of this law very distinctly." 9 Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, "Be silent and listen, O Israel! This day you have become a people for the LORD your God. 10 "You shall therefore obey F414 the LORD your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I command you today."
11 Moses also charged the people on that day, saying, 12 "When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount R794 Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, R795 Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 "For the curse, these shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 "The Levites shall then answer and say to all the men of Israel with a loud voice, 15 `Cursed is the man who makes an R796 F415 idol or a molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all R797 the people shall answer and say, `Amen.' 16 `Cursed R798 is he who dishonors his father or mother.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.' 17 `Cursed R799 is he who moves his neighbor's boundary mark.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.' 18 `Cursed R800 is he who misleads a blind person on the road.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.' 19 `Cursed R801 is he who distorts the justice due an alien, orphan, F416 and widow.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.' 20 `Cursed R802 is he who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's skirt.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.' 21 `Cursed R803 is he who lies with any animal.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.' 22 `Cursed R804 is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.' 23 `Cursed R805 is he who lies with his mother-in-law.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.' 24 `Cursed R806 is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.' 25 `Cursed R807 is he who accepts a bribe to strike down an innocent person.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.' 26 `Cursed R808 is he who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.' And all the people shall say, `Amen.'
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Daily Devotional
Highlights:
God speaks of His blessings at Mount Gerizim through Jacob's six children by his two wives. His curses are pronounced by the children of his concubines at Mount Ebal. The blessings result from obedience and faithfulness. The curses result from disobeying the Word of God! Take note of the Law of the offering of firstfruits.
Verses for Today:
Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small. But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure . . . that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord . . . giveth thee. For all that do . . . unrighteously, are an abomination (detestable) unto the Lord thy God (Deut. 25:14-16).
Moses, the lawgiver and prophet, placed great emphasis on the necessity of honesty and truthfulness in all areas of life. When presenting the Law, he warned against two sets of weights and measures — one for buying and the other for selling. It is of utmost importance in our business dealings with others not to take advantage of them or misrepresent the facts. We must conduct our business transactions in a true Christian way that conforms to the character of our Heavenly Father. It is cruel to neglect to pay what one owes. God hates lying and thievery. We can exercise the principles of justice and equity or take advantage of others. Dishonesty is expressed in various ways: wasting time on the job, taking what doesn't belong to us, unethically conducting business, and lying. These are an abomination to God.
Our conduct with others goes much deeper than either word or deed; it goes to the hidden motives of our hearts and reveals what we truly are. Jesus taught: From within, out of the heart of men, proceed . . . All . . . evil things . . . and defile the man (Mark 7:21-23; comp. Matt. 15:19-20). This means that the thoughts and actions of a Christian should always be the expression of what Jesus would think and do.
The attitude of fairness and consideration for others' well-being applies to a Christian's daily relationships with others. It is possible to have bitter thoughts while doing kind deeds and to say loving words while having wrong attitudes and motives. But, our Adamic nature and its self-serving conduct can be overcome by the Christ-centered nature that He has bestowed within us. The self-centered "I" must give way to Christ and His control.
We do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal (fleshly), but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) . . . bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (II Cor. 10:3-5).
Thought for Today:
Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted Word, which is able to save your souls (James 1:21).
Christ Revealed:
Through the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt and Pharaoh (Deut. 26:8). Our Lord Jesus Christ . . . gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world (Gal. 1:3-4).
Word Studies:
24:3 hate = dislike; 24:4 abomination = detestable; 24:10 pledge = a loan, security; 25:1 unto judgment = to court; 25:13 divers = different; 26:5 sojourned = dwelled temporarily; 26:6 evil entreated us = treated us harshly; bondage = cruel slavery; 26:10 set = offer; 26:14 in my mourning = in distress, defiled ceremonially; hearkened = listened; 26:18 peculiar people = treasured possession; 26:19 holy = consecrated; 27:11 charged = commanded; 27:15 an abomination = a detestable thing; 27:16 setteth light by = disgraces, dishonors; 27:19 perverteth the judgment = denies justice or the rights; 27:24 smiteth = strikes, kills; 27:25 taketh reward = accepts a bribe; 27:26 confirmeth not = fails to live by word of this Law.
Prayer Needs:
Pray for International Broadcasts in honor of Rev. Al Joslyn • Executive Director of the IBRA in our Washington DC Branch: Reverend Michael Hall • Country: Benin (6 million) in western Africa • Major languages: French and tribal languages • Some hostility toward Christians • 59% animism and voodoo; 17% Muslim; 16% Roman Catholic; 3% Protestant • Prayer Suggestion: Ask according to the will of God and you will receive (John 16:24).
Optional Reading:
Luke 24
Memory Verse for the Week:
Matthew 5:11