Deuteronomy 24; Psalms 114–115; Isaiah 51; Revelation 21

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Deuteronomy 24

Laws Concerning Divorce

When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and ehe writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, and the latter man hates 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 man dies, who took her to be his wife, then fher former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled, for that is an abomination before the Lord. And you shall not bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.

Miscellaneous Laws

gWhen a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be liable for any other public duty. He shall be free at home one year hto be happy with his wife1 whom he has taken.

No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge.

iIf a man is found stealing one of his brothers of the people of Israel, and if he jtreats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die. kSo you shall purge the evil from your midst.

Take care, in la case of leprous2 disease, to be very careful to do according to all that the Levitical priests shall direct you. As I commanded them, so you shall be careful to do. Remember what the Lord your God did to mMiriam non the way as you came out of Egypt.

10 When you make your neighbor a loan of any sort, you shall not go into his house to collect his pledge. 11 You shall stand outside, and the man to whom you make the loan shall bring the pledge out to you. 12 And if he is a poor man, you shall not sleep in his pledge. 13 oYou shall restore to him the pledge as the sun sets, that he may sleep in his cloak and pbless you. And qit shall be righteousness for you before the Lord your God.

14 You shall not roppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15 sYou shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), tlest he cry against you to the Lord, and you be guilty of sin.

16 uFathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.

17 vYou shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, wor take a widow’s garment in pledge, 18 but xyou shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.

19 yWhen you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, zthat the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. 20 When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. 22 xYou shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.


Psalms 114–115

Tremble at the Presence of the Lord

When pIsrael went out from Egypt,

the house of Jacob from qa people of strange language,

Judah became his rsanctuary,

Israel his dominion.

sThe sea looked and fled;

tJordan turned back.

uThe mountains skipped like rams,

the hills like lambs.

What vails you, O sea, that you flee?

O Jordan, that you turn back?

O mountains, that you skip like rams?

O hills, like lambs?

wTremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,

at the presence of the God of Jacob,

who turns xthe rock into ya pool of water,

zthe flint into a spring of water.

To Your Name Give Glory

aNot to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,

bfor the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

Why should the nations say,

cWhere is their God?

dOur God is in the heavens;

ehe does all that he pleases.

fTheir idols are silver and gold,

gthe work of human hands.

They have mouths, hbut do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

iThose who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them.

O jIsrael,1 ktrust in the Lord!

He is their lhelp and their shield.

10  O jhouse of Aaron, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and mtheir shield.

11  You nwho fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!

He is their help and their shield.

12  The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us;

he will bless othe house of Israel;

he will bless othe house of Aaron;

13  he will pbless those who fear the Lord,

qboth the small and the great.

14  May the Lord rgive you increase,

you and your children!

15  May syou be blessed by the Lord,

twho made heaven and earth!

16  The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,

but the earth he has given to the children of man.

17  uThe dead do not praise the Lord,

nor do any who go down into vsilence.

18  But wwe will bless the Lord

from this time forth and forevermore.

xPraise the Lord!


Isaiah 51

The Lord’s Comfort for Zion

dListen to me, you who pursue righteousness,

you who seek the Lord:

look to the rock from which you were hewn,

and to the quarry from which you were dug.

Look to Abraham your father

and to Sarah who bore you;

for ehe was but one when I called him,

that I might bless him and multiply him.

For the Lord fcomforts Zion;

he comforts all her waste places

and makes her wilderness like gEden,

her desert like hthe garden of the Lord;

ijoy and gladness will be found in her,

thanksgiving and the voice of song.

jGive attention to me, my people,

and give ear to me, my nation;

kfor a law1 will go out from me,

and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.

lMy righteousness draws near,

my salvation has gone out,

and my arms will judge the peoples;

mthe coastlands hope for me,

and for my arm they wait.

nLift up your eyes to the heavens,

and look at the earth beneath;

ofor the heavens vanish like smoke,

the earth will wear out like a garment,

and they who dwell in it will die in like manner;2

pbut my salvation will be forever,

and my righteousness will never be dismayed.

qListen to me, you who know righteousness,

the people rin whose heart is my law;

sfear not the reproach of man,

nor be dismayed at their revilings.

tFor the moth will eat them up like a garment,

and the worm will eat them like wool,

pbut my righteousness will be forever,

and my salvation to all generations.

uAwake, awake, vput on strength,

O warm of the Lord;

awake, xas in days of old,

the generations of long ago.

Was it not you who cut yRahab in pieces,

who pierced zthe dragon?

10  aWas it not you who dried up the sea,

the waters of the great deep,

who made the depths of the sea a way

for the redeemed to pass over?

11  bAnd the ransomed of the Lord shall return

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain gladness and joy,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

12  I, I am he cwho comforts you;

who are you that you are afraid of dman who dies,

of the son of man who is made elike grass,

13  and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,

fwho stretched out the heavens

and glaid the foundations of the earth,

and you fear continually all the day

because of the wrath of hthe oppressor,

when he sets himself to destroy?

And where is the wrath of hthe oppressor?

14  iHe who is bowed down shall speedily be released;

he shall not die and go down jto the pit,

neither shall his bread be lacking.

15  I am the Lord your God,

kwho stirs up the sea so that its waves roar

the Lord of hosts is his name.

16  lAnd I have put my words in your mouth

mand covered you in the shadow of my hand,

nestablishing3 the heavens

and olaying the foundations of the earth,

and saying to Zion, You are my people.

17  pWake yourself, wake yourself,

stand up, O Jerusalem,

qyou who have drunk from the hand of the Lord

the cup of his wrath,

who have drunk to the dregs

the bowl, rthe cup of staggering.

18  sThere is none to guide her

among all the sons she has borne;

there is none to take her by the hand

among all the sons she has brought up.

19  tThese two things have happened to you

who will console you?

devastation and destruction, famine and sword;

who will comfort you?4

20  uYour sons have fainted;

they lie at the head of every street

like an vantelope win a net;

they are full of the wrath of the Lord,

the rebuke of your God.

21  xTherefore hear this, you who are afflicted,

who are drunk, but not with wine:

22  Thus says your Lord, the Lord,

your God ywho pleads the cause of his people:

Behold, I have taken from your hand rthe cup of staggering;

the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;

23  zand I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,

awho have said to you,

Bow down, that we may pass over;

and byou have made your back like the ground

and like the street for them to pass over.


Revelation 21

The New Heaven and the New Earth

Then I saw ya new heaven and a new earth, for zthe first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw athe holy city, bnew Jerusalem, ccoming down out of heaven from God, dprepared eas a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, fthe dwelling place1 of God is with man. He will gdwell with them, and they will be his people,2 and God himself will be with them as their God.3 hHe will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and ideath shall be no more, jneither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

And khe who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I lam making all things new. Also he said, Write this down, for mthese words are trustworthy and true. And he said to me, nIt is done! oI am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. pTo the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. qThe one who conquers will have this heritage, and rI will be his God and she will be my son. tBut as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, utheir portion will be in vthe lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is wthe second death.

The New Jerusalem

Then came xone of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of ythe seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, Come, I will show you zthe Bride, the wife of the Lamb. 10 And ahe carried me away in the Spirit to ba great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 chaving the glory of God, dits radiance elike a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, fwith twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve gfoundations, and hon them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And the one who spoke with me ihad a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia.4 Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits5 by jhuman measurement, which is also kan angel’s measurement. 18 The wall was built of ljasper, while the city was pure gold, like lclear glass. 19 mThe foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and nthe street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

22 And oI saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city phas no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for qthe glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light rwill the nations walk, and the kings of the earth swill bring their glory into it, 25 and tits gates will never be shut by dayand uthere will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But vnothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s wbook of life.