Justice, Compassion, and the Kingdom's Unexpected Guests

1. “If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it, or sells it; he shall pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. 2. If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him. 3. If the sun has risen on him, guilt of bloodshed shall be for him; he shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4. If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay double. 5. “If a man causes a field or vineyard to be eaten, and lets his animal loose, and it grazes in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best of his own field, and from the best of his own vineyard. 6. “If fire breaks out, and catches in thorns so that the shocks of grain, or the standing grain, or the field are consumed; he who kindled the fire shall surely make restitution. 7. “If a man delivers to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house; if the thief is found, he shall pay double. 8. If the thief isn’t found, then the master of the house shall come near to God, to find out if he hasn’t put his hand to his neighbor’s goods. 9. For every matter of trespass, whether it is for ox, for donkey, for sheep, for clothing, or for any kind of lost thing, about which one says, ‘This is mine,’ the cause of both parties shall come before God. He whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor. 10. “If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies or is injured, or driven away, no man seeing it; 11. the oath of Yahweh shall be between them both, whether he hasn’t put his hand to his neighbor’s goods; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution. 12. But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. 13. If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it for evidence. He shall not make good that which was torn. 14. “If a man borrows anything of his neighbor’s, and it is injured, or dies, its owner not being with it, he shall surely make restitution. 15. If its owner is with it, he shall not make it good. If it is a leased thing, it came for its lease. 16. “If a man entices a virgin who isn’t pledged to be married, and lies with her, he shall surely pay a dowry for her to be his wife. 17. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins. 18. “You shall not allow a sorceress to live. 19. “Whoever has sex with an animal shall surely be put to death. 20. “He who sacrifices to any god, except to Yahweh only, shall be utterly destroyed. 21. “You shall not wrong an alien or oppress him, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 22. “You shall not take advantage of any widow or fatherless child. 23. If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry; 24. and my wrath will grow hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. 25. “If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor. You shall not charge him interest. 26. If you take your neighbor’s garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down, 27. for that is his only covering, it is his garment for his skin. What would he sleep in? It will happen, when he cries to me, that I will hear, for I am gracious. 28. “You shall not blaspheme God, nor curse a ruler of your people. 29. “You shall not delay to offer from your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. “You shall give the firstborn of your sons to me. 30. You shall do likewise with your cattle and with your sheep. Seven days it shall be with its mother, then on the eighth day you shall give it to me. 31. “You shall be holy men to me, therefore you shall not eat any meat that is torn by animals in the field. You shall cast it to the dogs. 1. “You shall not spread a false report. Don’t join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness. 2. “You shall not follow a crowd to do evil. You shall not testify in court to side with a multitude to pervert justice. 3. You shall not favor a poor man in his cause. 4. “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall surely bring it back to him again. 5. If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don’t leave him, you shall surely help him with it. 6. “You shall not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. 7. “Keep far from a false charge, and don’t kill the innocent and righteous: for I will not justify the wicked. 8. “You shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the words of the righteous. 9. “You shall not oppress an alien, for you know the heart of an alien, since you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 10. “For six years you shall sow your land, and shall gather in its increase, 11. but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the animal of the field shall eat. In the same way, you shall deal with your vineyard and with your olive grove. 12. “Six days you shall do your work, and on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant, and the alien may be refreshed. 13. “Be careful to do all things that I have said to you; and don’t invoke the name of other gods or even let them be heard out of your mouth. 14. “You shall observe a feast to me three times a year. 15. You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it you came out of Egypt), and no one shall appear before me empty. 16. And the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field; and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field. 17. Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh. 18. “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread. The fat of my feast shall not remain all night until the morning. 19. The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of Yahweh your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. 20. “Behold, I send an angel before you, to keep you by the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. 21. Pay attention to him, and listen to his voice. Don’t provoke him, for he will not pardon your disobedience, for my name is in him. 22. But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries. 23. For my angel shall go before you, and bring you in to the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I will cut them off. 24. You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor follow their practices, but you shall utterly overthrow them and demolish their pillars. 25. You shall serve Yahweh your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. 26. No one will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. 27. I will send my terror before you, and will confuse all the people to whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28. I will send the hornet before you, which will drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before you. 29. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the animals of the field multiply against you. 30. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and inherit the land. 31. I will set your border from the Red Sea even to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32. You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.” 1. He said to Moses, “Come up to Yahweh, you, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship from a distance. 2. Moses alone shall come near to Yahweh, but they shall not come near. The people shall not go up with him.” 3. Moses came and told the people all Yahweh’s words, and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, “All the words which Yahweh has spoken will we do.” 4. Moses wrote all Yahweh’s words, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5. He sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of cattle to Yahweh. 6. Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7. He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that Yahweh has spoken will we do, and be obedient.” 8. Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.” 9. Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. 10. They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone, like the skies for clearness. 11. He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank. 12. Yahweh said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them.” 13. Moses rose up with Joshua, his servant, and Moses went up onto God’s Mountain. 14. He said to the elders, “Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them.” 15. Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16. Yahweh’s glory settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. The seventh day he called to Moses out of the middle of the cloud. 17. The appearance of Yahweh’s glory was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 18. Moses entered into the middle of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

1. Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2. Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3. I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way. 4. Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem? 5. I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.” 6. He spoke this parable. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none. 7. He said to the vine dresser, ‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down. Why does it waste the soil?’ 8. He answered, ‘Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it, and fertilize it. 9. If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’” 10. He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day. 11. Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bent over, and could in no way straighten herself up. 12. When Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” 13. He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight, and glorified God. 14. The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, “There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!” 15. Therefore the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him away to water? 16. Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?” 17. As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed, and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him. 18. He said, “What is God’s Kingdom like? To what shall I compare it? 19. It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and put in his own garden. It grew, and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky live in its branches.” 20. Again he said, “To what shall I compare God’s Kingdom? 21. It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.” 22. He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem. 23. One said to him, “Lord, are they few who are saved?” He said to them, 24. “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able. 25. When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ then he will answer and tell you, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26. Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27. He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’ 28. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets, in God’s Kingdom, and yourselves being thrown outside. 29. They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in God’s Kingdom. 30. Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.” 31. On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, “Get out of here, and go away, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32. He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission. 33. Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it can’t be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.’ 34. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused! 35. Behold, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’” 1. When he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching him. 2. Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him. 3. Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” 4. But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go. 5. He answered them, “Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn’t immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?” 6. They couldn’t answer him regarding these things. 7. He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them, 8. “When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, don’t sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him, 9. and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, ‘Make room for this person.’ Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place. 10. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. 11. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” 12. He also said to the one who had invited him, “When you make a dinner or a supper, don’t call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back. 13. But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind; 14. and you will be blessed, because they don’t have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous.” 15. When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is he who will feast in God’s Kingdom!” 16. But he said to him, “A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people. 17. He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, ‘Come, for everything is ready now.’ 18. They all as one began to make excuses. “The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19. “Another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.’ 20. “Another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I can’t come.’ 21. “That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.’ 22. “The servant said, ‘Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.’ 23. “The lord said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24. For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.’” 25. Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them, 26. “If anyone comes to me, and doesn’t disregard his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple. 27. Whoever doesn’t bear his own cross, and come after me, can’t be my disciple. 28. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? 29. Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, 30. saying, ‘This man began to build, and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31. Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32. Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace. 33. So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple. 34. Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it? 35. It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 1. Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him. 2. The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.” 3. He told them this parable. 4. “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? 5. When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7. I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance. 8. Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn’t light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it? 9. When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.’ 10. Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.” 11. He said, “A certain man had two sons. 12. The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his livelihood between them. 13. Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living. 14. When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need. 15. He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16. He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any. 17. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger! 18. I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. 19. I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20. “He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 21. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22. “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23. Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate; 24. for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate. 25. “Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26. He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on. 27. He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’ 28. But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him. 29. But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30. But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ 31. “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32. But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”

1. The king rejoices in your strength, Yahweh! How greatly he rejoices in your salvation! 2. You have given him his heart’s desire, and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. 3. For you meet him with the blessings of goodness. You set a crown of fine gold on his head. 4. He asked life of you, you gave it to him, even length of days forever and ever. 5. His glory is great in your salvation. You lay honor and majesty on him. 6. For you make him most blessed forever. You make him glad with joy in your presence. 7. For the king trusts in Yahweh. Through the loving kindness of the Most High, he shall not be moved. 8. Your hand will find out all of your enemies. Your right hand will find out those who hate you. 9. You will make them as a fiery furnace in the time of your anger. Yahweh will swallow them up in his wrath. The fire shall devour them. 10. You will destroy their descendants from the earth, their posterity from among the children of men. 11. For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed. 12. For you will make them turn their back, when you aim drawn bows at their face. 13. Be exalted, Yahweh, in your strength, so we will sing and praise your power.