Exodus 22–23; Psalm 36; Mark 15

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Exodus 22–23

If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five oxen for an ox, and cfour sheep for a sheep. 1 If a thief is found dbreaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no bloodguilt for him, but if the sun has risen on him, there shall be bloodguilt for him. He2 shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then ehe shall be sold for his theft. If the stolen beast fis found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, ghe shall pay double.

If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make restitution from the best in his own field and in his own vineyard.

If fire breaks out and catches in thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution.

If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man’s house, then, if the thief is found, ghe shall pay double. If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor’s property. For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing, of which one says, This is it, the case of both parties shall come before God. The one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor.

10 If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away, without anyone seeing it, 11 han oath by the Lord shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor’s property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution. 12 But if iit is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. 13 If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence. He shall not make restitution for what has been torn.

14 If a man borrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution. 15 If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution; if it was hired, it came for its hiring fee.3

Laws About Social Justice

16 jIf a man seduces a virgin4 who is not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride-price5 for her and make her his wife. 17 If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, jhe shall pay money equal to the kbride-price for virgins.

18 lYou shall not permit a sorceress to live.

19 mWhoever lies with an animal shall be put to death.

20 nWhoever sacrifices to any god, other than the Lord alone, shall be devoted to destruction.6

21 oYou shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 22 pYou shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you do mistreat them, and they qcry out to me, I will surely rhear their cry, 24 and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and syour wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

25 tIf you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a moneylender to him, and you shall not exact interest from him. 26 uIf ever you take your neighbor’s cloak in pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, 27 for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body; in what else shall he sleep? And if he qcries to me, I will hear, for I am vcompassionate.

28 wYou shall not revile God, nor wcurse a ruler of your people.

29 You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. xThe firstborn of your sons you shall give to me. 30 yYou shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep: zseven days it shall be with its mother; on the eighth day you shall give it to me.

31 aYou shall be consecrated to me. Therefore byou shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field; cyou shall throw it to the dogs.

dYou shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a emalicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice, fnor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit.

gIf you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey going astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it; you shall rescue it with him.

hYou shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. dKeep far from a false charge, and ido not kill the innocent and righteous, for jI will not acquit the wicked. kAnd you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of those who are in the right.

lYou shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Laws About the Sabbath and Festivals

10 mFor six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, 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 beasts of the field may eat. You shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard.

12 nSix days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman, and the alien, may be refreshed.

13 oPay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips.

14 pThree times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. 15 qYou shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of rAbib, for in it you came out of Egypt. sNone shall appear before me empty-handed. 16 You shall keep tthe Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the uFeast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. 17 pThree times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God.

18 vYou shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning.

19 The best of the wfirstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God.

xYou shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Conquest of Canaan Promised

20 yBehold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. 21 Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; zdo not rebel against him, afor he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.

22 But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then bI will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries.

23 yWhen my angel goes before you and brings you cto the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, 24 you shall dnot bow down to their gods nor serve them, enor do as they do, but fyou shall utterly overthrow them and break their gpillars in pieces. 25 You hshall serve the Lord your God, and ihe7 will bless your bread and your water, and jI will take sickness away from among you. 26 kNone shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the lnumber of your days. 27 I will send mmy terror before you and will throw into nconfusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And oI will send hornets8 before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. 29 pI will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. 31 qAnd I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates,9 for rI will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32 sYou shall make no covenant with them and their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, tit will surely be a snare to you.


Psalm 36

How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love

To the choirmaster. Of David, the xservant of the Lord.

Transgression speaks to the wicked

deep in his heart;1

ythere is no fear of God

before his eyes.

zFor he flatters himself in his own eyes

that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.

The words of his mouth are atrouble and deceit;

bhe has ceased to act wisely and do good.

He cplots dtrouble while on his bed;

he sets himself in ea way that is not good;

fhe does not reject evil.

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,

your faithfulness to the clouds.

gYour righteousness is like the mountains of God;

hyour judgments are like the great deep;

man and beast you isave, O Lord.

jHow precious is your steadfast love, O God!

The children of mankind take refuge kin the shadow of your wings.

They feast on lthe abundance of your house,

and you give them drink from mthe river of nyour delights.

For with you is othe fountain of life;

pin your light do we see light.

10  Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who qknow you,

and your righteousness to rthe upright of heart!

11  Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,

nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.

12  There sthe evildoers lie fallen;

they are thrust down, tunable to rise.


Mark 15

Jesus Delivered to Pilate

cAnd as soon as it was morning, the chief priests dheld a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And ethey bound Jesus and fled him away and gdelivered him over to hPilate. iAnd Pilate asked him, jAre you the King of the Jews? And he answered him, kYou have said so. And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, lHave you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you. But Jesus lmade no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

mNow at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had ncommitted murder oin the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews? 10 For he perceived that pit was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. 11 But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. 12 And Pilate again said to them, Then what shall I do with qthe man you call the King of the Jews? 13 And they cried out again, Crucify him. 14 And Pilate said to them, Why? rWhat evil has he done? But they shouted all the more, Crucify him. 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having sscourged1 Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

Jesus Is Mocked

16 tAnd the soldiers led him away inside uthe palace (that is, vthe governor’s headquarters),2 and they called together the whole wbattalion.3 17 And they clothed him in xa purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. 18 And they began to salute him, yHail, King of the Jews! 19 And they were striking his head with a reed and zspitting on him and akneeling down in homage to him. 20 And when they had bmocked him, they stripped him of xthe purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they cled him out to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

21 dAnd they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. 22 eAnd they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). 23 And they offered him wine mixed with fmyrrh, but he did not take it. 24 And they crucified him and gdivided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And hit was the third hour4 when they crucified him. 26 And the inscription of the charge against him read, iThe King of the Jews. 27 And with him they crucified two jrobbers, kone on his right and one on his left.5 29 And lthose who passed by derided him, mwagging their heads and saying, nAha! oYou who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save yourself, and come down from the cross! 31 So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, pHe saved others; qhe cannot save himself. 32 Let rthe Christ, sthe King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may tsee and believe. uThose who were crucified with him also reviled him.

The Death of Jesus

33 And when the sixth hour6 had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.7 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus vcried with a loud voice, wEloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani? which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 35 And some of the bystanders hearing it said, Behold, he is calling Elijah. 36 And someone ran and filled a sponge with xsour wine, put it on a reed yand gave it to him to drink, saying, Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down. 37 And Jesus zuttered a loud cry and abreathed his last. 38 And bthe curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 cAnd when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he8 breathed his last, he said, dTruly this man was the Son9 of God!

40 There were also ewomen looking on ffrom a distance, among whom were gMary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and iSalome. 41 When he was in Galilee, they followed him and gministered to him, and there were also many other women who jcame up with him to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried

42 kAnd when evening had come, since it was lthe day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, ma respected member of the council, who nwas also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died.10 And summoning othe centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from othe centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph11 bought pa linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and qlaid him in a tomb rthat had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled sa stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 tMary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.