The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He who is wins souls is wise. Proverbs 11:30

Deuteronomy 5-6

Deuteronomy 5

The Covenant in Horeb

¹ Moses called to all Israel and said to them, “Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking in your ears today, that you may learn them, and observe them.” ² The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. ³ The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, all who are here alive today. ⁴ The Lord spoke with you face to face on the mountain, from the midst of the fire.

The Ten Commandments

⁵ I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to show you the Lord’s word, for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up onto the mountain. He said, ⁶ “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

⁷ You shall have no other gods before me.

⁸ You shall not make a carved image for yourself—any likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁹ You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the sins of the fathers on the children and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, ¹⁰ but showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

¹¹ You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who misuses his name.

¹² Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. ¹³ You shall labor six days and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God, in which you shall not do any work—neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates. so that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. ¹⁵ You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

¹⁶ Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

¹⁷ You shall not murder.

¹⁸ You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁹ You shall not steal.

²⁰ You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

²¹ You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

Moses Intercedes for the People

²² The Lord spoke these words to all your assembly on the mountain out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice. He added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. ²³ When you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders, ²⁴ and you said, “Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. We have seen today that the Lord does speak with man, and he lives. ²⁵ Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the Lord our God’s voice any more, then we shall die. ²⁶ For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? ²⁷ Go near, and hear all that the Lord our God will say and tell us all that the Lord our God tells you, and we will listen and obey.”

²⁸ The Lord heard your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, “I have heard the words of this people which they have spoken to you. All that they have spoken has been well said. ²⁹ Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

³⁰ “Go tell them, ‘Return to your tents.’ ³¹ But as for you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandments and the statutes and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I am giving them to possess.”

³² You shall observe and do therefore as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn away to the right hand or to the left. ³³ You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

Deuteronomy 6

The Greatest Commandment

¹ Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances, which the Lord your God commanded, to teach you, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess; ² that you might fear the Lord your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I am commanding you—you, your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. ³ Listen therefore, Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴ Hear, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. ⁶ These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart, ⁷ and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the door posts of your house and on your gates.

¹⁰ It shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you great and beautiful cities which you did not build, ¹¹ and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and cisterns dug out which you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and when you have eaten and are full, ¹² then beware lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

¹³ You shall fear the Lord your God, and serve him, and swear by his name. ¹⁴ You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you, ¹⁵ for the Lord your God among you is a jealous God, lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from the face of the earth.

¹⁶ You shall not test the Lord your God, as you tested him in Massah. ¹⁷ You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. ¹⁸ You shall do that which is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore to your fathers, ¹⁹ to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken.

Teach Your Children

²⁰ When your son asks you in times to come, “What do the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which the Lord our God has commanded you mean?” ²¹ then you shall tell your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, ²² and the Lord showed great and severe signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; ²³ and he brought us out from there so that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers. ²⁴ The Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might keep us alive, as we are today. ²⁵ It shall be righteousness to us, if we are careful to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.”

Luke 7:11-35

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

¹¹ Soon afterwards, he went to a city called Nain. Many of his disciples, along with a great crowd, went with him.

¹² Now when he came near to the gate of the city,  someone who was dead was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. Many people from the city were with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Don’t cry.” ¹⁴ He came near and touched the coffin, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”

¹⁵ He who was dead sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him to his mother.

¹⁶ Fear took hold of all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has visited his people!” ¹⁷ This report went out concerning him in all of Judea and in all the surrounding region.

John’s Inquiry

¹⁸ Then John’s disciples told him about all these things. ¹⁹ John, calling to himself two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” ²⁰ When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you he who is to come, or should we look for another?’ ”

²¹ In that hour he cured many diseases and illnesses and evil spirits, and to many who were blind he gave sight. ²² Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard: that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news preached to them. ²³ Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.”

Jesus Testifies about John

²⁴ When John’s messengers had departed, he began to tell the crowds about John, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in fine clothing? Listen! Those who indulge in expensive clothes and luxurious living, reside in kings’ courts. ²⁶ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and much more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he of whom it is written, ‘I am sending my messenger before you, who will prepare the way for you.’

²⁸ For I am telling you, among those who are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist, yet he who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than he.”

²⁹ When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they declared God to be just, having been baptized with John’s baptism. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God, not being baptized by him themselves.

³¹ “To what then should I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? ³² They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, saying, ‘We played the pipe for you, and you didn’t dance. We mourned, and you didn’t weep.’ ³³ For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look! A gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵ Wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Psalm 68:19-35

¹⁹ Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears our burdens,
the God who is our salvation.

Selah.

²⁰ Our God is a God of deliverance.
The Sovereign Lord delivers us from death.
²¹ But God will strike through the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crown of those who continue in their guilt.
²² The Lord said, “I will bring you back from Bashan,
I will bring you back from the depths of the sea,
²³ that you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood,
that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies.”

²⁴ They have seen your procession, God,
the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.
²⁵ The singers went before, the minstrels followed after,
among the ladies playing tambourines,
²⁶ “Praise God in the congregations,
the Lord in the assembly of Israel!”
²⁷ There is little Benjamin, their ruler,
the rulers of Judah, in their company,
the rulers of Zebulun, and the rulers of Naphtali.

²⁸ Your God has decreed that you will be powerful.
Display your might and strength, O God,
what you have done for us.
²⁹ Because of your temple at Jerusalem,
kings shall bring presents to you.
³⁰ Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds,
the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the peoples.
Being humbled, may it bring bars of silver.
Scatter the nations that delight in war.
³¹ Princes shall come out of Egypt.
Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch out her hands to God.
³² Sing to the Lord, you kingdoms of the earth!
Sing praises to the Lord!

Selah.

³³ To him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old,
listen, he utters his voice, a mighty voice.
³⁴ Ascribe power to God!
His excellency is over Israel.
His strength is in the heavens.
³⁵ You are awesome, God, in your sanctuary.
The God of Israel gives strength and power to his people.
Praise be to God!

Proverbs 11:29-31

²⁹ He who brings trouble on his own house shall inherit the wind.
The foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.
³⁰ The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.
He who is wins souls is wise.
³¹ If the righteous will be repaid on earth,
how much more the wicked and the sinner!

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