Walking in Light, Keeping God's Covenant

1. If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2. and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let us go after other gods” (which you have not known) “and let us serve them”; 3. you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4. You shall walk after Yahweh your God, fear him, keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cling to him. 5. That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall remove the evil from among you. 6. If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,” which you have not known, you, nor your fathers; 7. of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near to you, or far off from you, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; 8. you shall not consent to him, nor listen to him; neither shall your eye pity him, neither shall you spare, neither shall you conceal him; 9. but you shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first on him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people. 10. You shall stone him to death with stones, because he has sought to draw you away from Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 11. All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more wickedness like this among you. 12. If you shall hear about one of your cities, which Yahweh your God gives you to dwell there, that 13. certain wicked fellows have gone out from among you, and have drawn away the inhabitants of their city, saying, “Let us go and serve other gods,” which you have not known; 14. then you shall inquire, and make search, and ask diligently. Behold, if it is true, and the thing certain, that such abomination was done among you, 15. you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, with all that is therein and its livestock, with the edge of the sword. 16. You shall gather all its plunder into the middle of its street, and shall burn with fire the city, and all of its plunder, to Yahweh your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. 17. Nothing of the devoted thing shall cling to your hand, that Yahweh may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and show you mercy, and have compassion on you, and multiply you, as he has sworn to your fathers; 18. when you listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to keep all his commandments which I command you today, to do that which is right in Yahweh your God’s eyes. 1. You are the children of Yahweh your God. You shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. 2. For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God, and Yahweh has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth. 3. You shall not eat any abominable thing. 4. These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5. the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the chamois. 6. Every animal that parts the hoof, and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that may you eat. 7. Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of those who have the hoof cloven: the camel, the hare, and the rabbit. Because they chew the cud but don’t part the hoof, they are unclean to you. 8. The pig, because it has a split hoof but doesn’t chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat their meat, and you shall not touch their carcasses. 9. These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales may you eat. 10. You shall not eat whatever doesn’t have fins and scales. It is unclean to you. 11. Of all clean birds you may eat. 12. But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, 13. the red kite, the falcon, the kite after its kind, 14. every raven after its kind, 15. the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, the hawk after its kind, 16. the little owl, the great owl, the horned owl, 17. the pelican, the vulture, the cormorant, 18. the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat. 19. All winged creeping things are unclean to you. They shall not be eaten. 20. Of all clean birds you may eat. 21. You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the foreigner living among you who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk. 22. You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes out of the field year by year. 23. You shall eat before Yahweh your God, in the place which he chooses, to cause his name to dwell there, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear Yahweh your God always. 24. If the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it, because the place is too far from you, which Yahweh your God shall choose, to set his name there, when Yahweh your God shall bless you; 25. then you shall turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose. 26. You shall trade the money for whatever your soul desires, for cattle, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you; and you shall eat there before Yahweh your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household. 27. You shall not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you. 28. At the end of every three years you shall bring all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and shall store it within your gates. 29. The Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the foreigner living among you, and the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that Yahweh your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do. 1. At the end of every seven years, you shall cancel debts. 2. This is the way it shall be done: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor. He shall not require payment from his neighbor and his brother; because Yahweh’s release has been proclaimed. 3. Of a foreigner you may require it; but whatever of yours is with your brother, your hand shall release. 4. However there shall be no poor with you (for Yahweh will surely bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it) 5. if only you diligently listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all this commandment which I command you today. 6. For Yahweh your God will bless you, as he promised you. You will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. You will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you. 7. If a poor man, one of your brothers, is with you within any of your gates in your land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; 8. but you shall surely open your hand to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, which he lacks. 9. Beware that there not be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand”; and your eye be evil against your poor brother, and you give him nothing; and he cry to Yahweh against you, and it be sin to you. 10. You shall surely give, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him; because that for this thing Yahweh your God will bless you in all your work, and in all that you put your hand to. 11. For the poor will never cease out of the land. Therefore I command you to surely open your hand to your brother, to your needy, and to your poor, in your land. 12. If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you, and serves you six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. 13. When you let him go free from you, you shall not let him go empty. 14. You shall furnish him liberally out of your flock, out of your threshing floor, and out of your wine press. As Yahweh your God has blessed you, you shall give to him. 15. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this thing today. 16. It shall be, if he tells you, “I will not go out from you,” because he loves you and your house, because he is well with you; 17. then you shall take an awl, and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. 18. It shall not seem hard to you, when you let him go free from you; for he has been double value of a hired hand as he served you six years. Yahweh your God will bless you in all that you do. 19. You shall dedicate all the firstborn males that are born of your herd and of your flock to Yahweh your God. You shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. 20. You shall eat it before Yahweh your God year by year in the place which Yahweh shall choose, you and your household. 21. If it has any defect, is lame or blind, or has any defect whatever, you shall not sacrifice it to Yahweh your God. 22. You shall eat it within your gates. The unclean and the clean shall eat it alike, as the gazelle, and as the deer. 23. Only you shall not eat its blood. You shall pour it out on the ground like water. 1. Observe the month of Abib, and keep the Passover to Yahweh your God; for in the month of Abib Yahweh your God brought you out of Egypt by night. 2. You shall sacrifice the Passover to Yahweh your God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which Yahweh shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. 3. You shall eat no leavened bread with it. You shall eat unleavened bread with it seven days, even the bread of affliction; for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste; that you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. 4. No yeast shall be seen with you in all your borders seven days; neither shall any of the meat, which you sacrifice the first day at evening, remain all night until the morning. 5. You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you; 6. but at the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell in, there you shall sacrifice the Passover at evening, at the going down of the sun, at the season that you came out of Egypt. 7. You shall roast and eat it in the place which Yahweh your God chooses. In the morning you shall return to your tents. 8. Six days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the seventh day shall be a solemn assembly to Yahweh your God. You shall do no work. 9. You shall count for yourselves seven weeks. From the time you begin to put the sickle to the standing grain you shall begin to count seven weeks. 10. You shall keep the feast of weeks to Yahweh your God with a tribute of a freewill offering of your hand, which you shall give, according as Yahweh your God blesses you. 11. You shall rejoice before Yahweh your God: you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are among you, in the place which Yahweh your God shall choose to cause his name to dwell there. 12. You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt. You shall observe and do these statutes. 13. You shall keep the feast of tents seven days, after you have gathered in from your threshing floor and from your wine press. 14. You shall rejoice in your feast, you, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your gates. 15. You shall keep a feast to Yahweh your God seven days in the place which Yahweh chooses; because Yahweh your God will bless you in all your increase, and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be altogether joyful. 16. Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents. They shall not appear before Yahweh empty. 17. Every man shall give as he is able, according to Yahweh your God’s blessing which he has given you. 18. You shall make judges and officers in all your gates, which Yahweh your God gives you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality. You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous. 20. You shall follow that which is altogether just, that you may live, and inherit the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 21. You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah of any kind of tree beside Yahweh your God’s altar, which you shall make for yourselves. 22. Neither shall you set yourself up a sacred stone which Yahweh your God hates.

1. That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life 2. (and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us); 3. that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4. And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled. 5. This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don’t tell the truth. 7. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10. If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1. My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. 2. And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. 3. This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. 4. One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him. 5. But whoever keeps his word, God’s love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him: 6. he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked. 7. Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. 8. Again, I write a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light already shines. 9. He who says he is in the light and hates his brother, is in the darkness even until now. 10. He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him. 11. But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 12. I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. 13. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, little children, because you know the Father. 14. I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 15. Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him. 16. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s. 17. The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever. 18. Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour. 19. They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us. 20. You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21. I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23. Whoever denies the Son, the same doesn’t have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24. Therefore, as for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father. 25. This is the promise which he promised us, the eternal life. 26. These things I have written to you concerning those who would lead you astray. 27. As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him. 28. Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 29. If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him. 1. See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him. 2. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. 3. Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure. 4. Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. 5. You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. 6. Whoever remains in him doesn’t sin. Whoever sins hasn’t seen him and doesn’t know him. 7. Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. 8. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil. 9. Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him; and he can’t sin, because he is born of God. 10. In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother. 11. For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; 12. unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous. 13. Don’t be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14. We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn’t love his brother remains in death. 15. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. 16. By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17. But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God’s love remain in him? 18. My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth. 19. And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him, 20. because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21. Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God; 22. and whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. 23. This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded. 24. He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.

1. I will sing of loving kindness and justice. To you, Yahweh, I will sing praises. 2. I will be careful to live a blameless life. When will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a blameless heart. 3. I will set no vile thing before my eyes. I hate the deeds of faithless men. They will not cling to me. 4. A perverse heart will be far from me. I will have nothing to do with evil. 5. I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor. I won’t tolerate one who is haughty and conceited. 6. My eyes will be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, he will serve me. 7. He who practices deceit won’t dwell within my house. He who speaks falsehood won’t be established before my eyes. 8. Morning by morning, I will destroy all the wicked of the land; to cut off all the workers of iniquity from Yahweh’s city.