Deuteronomy 23 Cross References - BSB

¹ No man with crushed or severed genitals may enter the assembly of the LORD. ² No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the LORD, nor may any of his descendants, even to the tenth generation. ³ No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation. ⁴ For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you. ⁵ Yet the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam, and the LORD your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you. ⁶ You are not to seek peace or prosperity from them as long as you live. ⁷ Do not despise an Edomite, for he is your brother. Do not despise an Egyptian, because you lived as a foreigner in his land. ⁸ The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD. ⁹ When you are encamped against your enemies, then you shall keep yourself from every wicked thing. ¹⁰ If any man among you becomes unclean because of a nocturnal emission, he must leave the camp and stay outside. ¹¹ When evening approaches, he must wash with water, and when the sun sets he may return to the camp. ¹² You must have a place outside the camp to go and relieve yourself. ¹³ And you must have a digging tool in your equipment so that when you relieve yourself you can dig a hole and cover up your excrement. ¹⁴ For the LORD your God walks throughout your camp to protect you and deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, lest He see anything unclean among you and turn away from you. ¹⁵ Do not return a slave to his master if he has taken refuge with you. ¹⁶ Let him live among you wherever he chooses, in the town of his pleasing. Do not oppress him. ¹⁷ No daughter or son of Israel is to be a shrine prostitute. ¹⁸ You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God. ¹⁹ Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan. ²⁰ You may charge a foreigner interest, but not your brother, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything to which you put your hand in the land that you are entering to possess. ²¹ If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin. ²² But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty of sin. ²³ Be careful to follow through on what comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed to the LORD your God with your own mouth. ²⁴ When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, you may eat your fill of grapes, but you must not put any in your basket. ²⁵ When you enter your neighbor’s grainfield, you may pluck the heads of grain with your hand, but you must not put a sickle to your neighbor’s grain.

¹⁷ “Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God. ¹⁸ No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed; ¹⁹ no man who has a broken foot or hand, ²⁰ or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle. ²¹ No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the offerings made by fire to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God.

²² You are not to present to the LORD any animal that is blind, injured, or maimed, or anything with a running sore, a festering rash, or a scab; you must not put any of these on the altar as an offering made by fire to the LORD. ²³ You may present as a freewill offering an ox or sheep that has a deformed or stunted limb, but it is not acceptable in fulfillment of a vow. ²⁴ You are not to present to the LORD an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn, or cut; you are not to sacrifice them in your land.

² No one of illegitimate birth may enter the assembly of the LORD, nor may any of his descendants, even to the tenth generation. ³ No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even to the tenth generation.

⁸ The third generation of children born to them may enter the assembly of the LORD.

¹ At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, ² because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing). ³ As soon as the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all of foreign descent.

³ Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.” ⁴ For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, who choose what pleases Me and hold fast to My covenant—

¹⁰ The adversary has seized all her treasures. For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary—those You had forbidden to enter Your assembly.

²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

³ “But come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!

⁶ A mixed race will occupy Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines.

⁴¹ You are doing the works of your father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they declared. “Our only Father is God Himself.”

⁸ If you do not experience discipline like everyone else, then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.

⁶ The kinsman-redeemer replied, “I cannot redeem it myself, or I would jeopardize my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I cannot redeem it.”

¹⁰ Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.” ¹¹ “We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem. ¹² And may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring the LORD will give you by this young woman.” ¹³ So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife. And when he had relations with her, the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. ¹⁴ Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without a kinsman-redeemer. May his name become famous in Israel. ¹⁵ He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.” ¹⁶ And Naomi took the child, placed him on her lap, and became a nurse to him. ¹⁷ The neighbor women said, “A son has been born to Naomi,” and they named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, the father of David. ¹⁸ Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez was the father of Hezron, ¹⁹ Hezron was the father of Ram, Ram was the father of Amminadab, ²⁰ Amminadab was the father of Nahshon, Nahshon was the father of Salmon, ²¹ Salmon was the father of Boaz, Boaz was the father of Obed, ²² Obed was the father of Jesse, and Jesse was the father of David.

³ Then Tobiah the Ammonite, who was beside him, said, “If even a fox were to climb up on what they are building, it would break down their wall of stones!”

⁷ When Sanballat and Tobiah, together with the Arabs, Ammonites, and Ashdodites, heard that the repair to the walls of Jerusalem was progressing and that the gaps were being closed, they were furious,

¹ At that time the Book of Moses was read aloud in the hearing of the people, and in it they found the passage stating that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter the assembly of God, ² because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).

²³ In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab.

³ Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”

¹⁷ After Abram returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). ¹⁸ Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine—since he was priest of God Most High—

⁵ he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people. “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt,” said Balak. “They cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. ⁶ So please come now and put a curse on this people, because they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land; for I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.” ⁷ The elders of Moab and Midian departed with the fees for divination in hand. They came to Balaam and relayed to him the words of Balak.

¹⁷ for I will honor you richly and do whatever you say. So please come and put a curse on this people for me!’”

⁷ And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’

²⁸ You can sell us food to eat and water to drink in exchange for silver. Only let us pass through on foot, ²⁹ just as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for us, until we cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is giving us.”

¹¹ Why should I take my bread and water and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give them to these men whose origin I do not know?”

⁴ for when Jezebel had slaughtered the prophets of the LORD, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty men per cave, providing them with food and water.)

² because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).

⁹ In all their distress, He too was afflicted, and the Angel of His Presence saved them. In His love and compassion He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

⁸ For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “After His Glory has sent Me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye—

⁴⁰ And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’

⁴ He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”

¹⁵ They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

³⁵ But the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you are to speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.

⁵ Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.” ⁶ So he returned to Balak, who was standing there beside his burnt offering, with all the princes of Moab. ⁷ And Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Balak brought me from Aram, the king of Moab from the mountains of the east. ‘Come,’ he said, ‘put a curse on Jacob for me; come and denounce Israel!’ ⁸ How can I curse what God has not cursed? How can I denounce what the LORD has not denounced? ⁹ For I see them from atop the rocky cliffs, and I watch them from the hills. Behold, a people dwelling apart, not reckoning themselves among the nations. ¹⁰ Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous; let my end be like theirs!” ¹¹ Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you here to curse my enemies, and behold, you have only blessed them!” ¹² But Balaam replied, “Should I not speak exactly what the LORD puts in my mouth?”

¹⁶ And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.” ¹⁷ So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the princes of Moab. “What did the LORD say?” Balak asked. ¹⁸ Then Balaam lifted up an oracle, saying: “Arise, O Balak, and listen; give ear to me, O son of Zippor. ¹⁹ God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill? ²⁰ I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it. ²¹ He considers no disaster for Jacob; He sees no trouble for Israel. The LORD their God is with them, and the shout of the King is among them. ²² God brought them out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox. ²³ For there is no spell against Jacob and no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and Israel, ‘What great things God has done!’ ²⁴ Behold, the people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion, not resting until they devour their prey and drink the blood of the slain.” ²⁵ Now Balak said to Balaam, “Then neither curse them at all nor bless them at all!” ²⁶ But Balaam replied, “Did I not tell you that whatever the LORD says, I must do?”

⁹ He crouches, he lies down like a lion; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.”

⁷ The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than the other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. ⁸ But because the LORD loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

³ Surely You love the people; all the holy ones are in Your hand, and they sit down at Your feet; each receives Your words—

¹ A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

² Like a fluttering sparrow or darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest.

³ The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.

⁸ Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD.

⁵ My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”

² “I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you ask, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved,

³¹ What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

¹³ So it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

²⁸ Regarding the gospel, they are enemies on your account; but regarding election, they are loved on account of the patriarchs.

¹⁷ For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.

⁴ But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!

² David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one length those to be spared. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.

³¹ David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

¹² Now, therefore, do not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. Never seek their peace or prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, leaving it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’

²³ In those days I also saw Jews who had married women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. ²⁴ Half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod or of the other peoples, but could not speak the language of Judah. ²⁵ I rebuked them and called down curses on them. I beat some of these men and pulled out their hair. Then I made them take an oath before God and said, “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!

²⁴ When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. ²⁵ The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau. ²⁶ After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

³⁰ He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am famished.” (That is why he was also called Edom.)

¹⁷ Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Tell your brothers, ‘Do as follows: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan. ¹⁸ Then bring your father and your families and return to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat from the fat of the land.’

⁷ Jacob took with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons, and his daughters and granddaughters—all his offspring.

⁶ the land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and brothers in the best part of the land. They may dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know of any talented men among them, put them in charge of my own livestock.”

¹² Joseph also provided his father and brothers and all his father’s household with food for their families.

²⁷ Now the Israelites settled in the land of Egypt, in the region of Goshen. They acquired property there and became fruitful and increased greatly in number.

²¹ You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

⁹ Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

³⁴ You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

¹⁴ From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to tell the king of Edom, “This is what your brother Israel says: You know all the hardship that has befallen us,

¹⁹ So you also must love the foreigner, since you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt.

²³ Then Israel entered Egypt; Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.

¹⁰ Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame and cut off forever. ¹¹ On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gate and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were just like one of them. ¹² But you should not gloat in that day, your brother’s day of misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast proudly in the day of their distress.

¹⁰ and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household. ¹¹ Then famine and great suffering swept across Egypt and Canaan, and our fathers could not find food. ¹² When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit. ¹³ On their second visit, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and his family became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Then Joseph sent for his father Jacob and all his relatives, seventy-five in all. ¹⁵ So Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died. ¹⁶ Their bones were carried back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a price he paid in silver. ¹⁷ As the time drew near for God to fulfill His promise to Abraham, our people in Egypt increased greatly in number. ¹⁸ Then another king, who knew nothing of Joseph, arose over Egypt.

⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶ but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

¹ No man with crushed or severed genitals may enter the assembly of the LORD.

²⁹ Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, ³⁰ since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.

¹² remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

¹⁸ But keep away from the things devoted to destruction, lest you yourself be set apart for destruction. If you take any of these, you will set apart the camp of Israel for destruction and bring disaster upon it.

¹¹ Israel has sinned; they have transgressed My covenant that I commanded them, and they have taken some of what was devoted to destruction. Indeed, they have stolen and lied, and they have put these things with their own possessions. ¹² This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they themselves have been set apart for destruction. I will no longer be with you unless you remove from among you whatever is devoted to destruction. ¹³ Get up and consecrate the people, saying, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Among you, O Israel, there are things devoted to destruction. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove them.

²⁶ Then the Israelites, all the people, went up to Bethel, where they sat weeping before the LORD. That day they fasted until evening and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to the LORD.

⁴ Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and once again he went out among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers.

³ Jehoshaphat was alarmed and set his face to seek the LORD. And he proclaimed a fast throughout Judah. ⁴ So the people of Judah gathered to seek the LORD, and indeed, they came from all the cities of Judah to seek Him. ⁵ Then Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem in the house of the LORD in front of the new courtyard ⁶ and said, “O LORD, God of our fathers, are You not the God who is in heaven, and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations? Power and might are in Your hand, and no one can stand against You. ⁷ Our God, did You not drive out the inhabitants of this land before Your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham Your friend? ⁸ They have lived in the land and have built in it a sanctuary for Your Name, saying, ⁹ ‘If disaster comes upon us—whether sword or judgment, plague or famine—we will stand before this temple and before You, for Your Name is in this temple. We will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear us and save us.’ ¹⁰ And now, here are the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, whom You did not let Israel invade when they came out of the land of Egypt; but Israel turned away from them and did not destroy them. ¹¹ See how they are repaying us by coming to drive us out of the possession that You gave us as an inheritance. ¹² Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast army that comes against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” ¹³ Meanwhile all the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, were standing before the LORD.

²⁰ So this is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the LORD his God. ²¹ He was diligent in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law and the commandments, in order to seek his God. And so he prospered.

²⁰ In response, King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out to heaven in prayer, ²¹ and the LORD sent an angel who annihilated every mighty man of valor and every leader and commander in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he entered the temple of his god, some of his own sons struck him down with the sword. ²² So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hands of King Sennacherib of Assyria and all the others, and He gave them rest on every side.

¹⁴ Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” “Do not take money by force or false accusation,” he said. “Be content with your wages.”

¹¹ Then I saw heaven standing open, and there before me was a white horse. And its rider is called Faithful and True. With righteousness He judges and wages war. ¹² He has eyes like blazing fire, and many royal crowns on His head. He has a name written on Him that only He Himself knows. ¹³ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is The Word of God. ¹⁴ The armies of heaven, dressed in fine linen, white and pure, follow Him on white horses.

¹⁶ When a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his whole body with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

² “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body. ³ You must send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.”

¹¹ But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. ¹² What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? ¹³ God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.”

²⁵ and whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening.

⁹ On the seventh day he must shave off all his hair—his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water, and he will be clean.

⁵ Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

¹¹ If the man with the discharge touches anyone without first rinsing his hands with water, the one who was touched must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.

¹³ When the man has been cleansed from his discharge, he must count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe himself in fresh water, and he shall be clean.

¹⁷ Any clothing or leather on which there is an emission of semen must be washed with water, and it will remain unclean until evening. ¹⁸ If a man lies with a woman and there is an emission of semen, both must bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening. ¹⁹ When a woman has a discharge consisting of blood from her body, she will be unclean due to her menstruation for seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. ²⁰ Anything on which she lies or sits during her menstruation will be unclean, ²¹ and anyone who touches her bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ²² Whoever touches any furniture on which she was sitting must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening. ²³ And whether it is a bed or furniture on which she was sitting, whoever touches it will be unclean until evening.

⁶ the man who touches any of these will remain unclean until evening. He must not eat from the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.

² Wash me clean of my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

⁷ Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

²⁵ I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.

¹¹ I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

³⁸ But the Pharisee was surprised to see that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. ³⁹ “Now then,” said the Lord, “you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.

²⁶ to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.

⁹ It is an illustration for the present time, because the gifts and sacrifices being offered were unable to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper. ¹⁰ They consist only in food and drink and special washings—external regulations imposed until the time of reform.

²² let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

²¹ And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood,

⁶ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Woe to the city of bloodshed, to the pot now rusted, whose rust will not come off! Empty it piece by piece; cast no lots for its contents. ⁷ For the blood she shed is still within her; she poured it out on the bare rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it with dust. ⁸ In order to stir up wrath and take vengeance, I have placed her blood on the bare rock, so that it would not be covered.’

¹ When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.

⁵ “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

¹² I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.

¹⁶ What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.”

¹⁵ “Will you lead me to these raiders?” David asked. And the man replied, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hand of my master, and I will lead you to them.”

¹⁴ Nor should you stand at the crossroads to cut off their fugitives, nor deliver up their survivors in the day of their distress.

³ “Give us counsel; render a decision. Shelter us at noonday with shade as dark as night. Hide the refugees; do not betray the one who flees. ⁴ Let my fugitives stay with you; be a refuge for Moab from the destroyer.” When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ceased, and the oppressors have vanished from the land,

⁶ if you no longer oppress the foreigner and the fatherless and the widow, and if you no longer shed innocent blood in this place or follow other gods to your own harm,

¹⁰ Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. And do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.’

⁵ “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.

¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. ¹⁶ He longed to fill his belly with the pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him a thing. ¹⁷ Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death! ¹⁸ I will get up and go back to my father and say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’ ²⁰ So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still in the distance, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. ²¹ The son declared, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. ²³ Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let us feast and celebrate. ²⁴ For this son of mine was dead and is alive again! He was lost and is found!’ So they began to celebrate.

² to malign no one, and to be peaceable and gentle, showing full consideration to everyone. ³ For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

⁶ But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?

⁴ Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house. ⁵ They called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have relations with them!”

²⁹ You must not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity.

²¹ she shall be brought to the door of her father’s house, and there the men of her city will stone her to death. For she has committed an outrage in Israel by being promiscuous in her father’s house. So you must purge the evil from among you.

²⁹ then the man who lay with her must pay the young woman’s father fifty shekels of silver, and she must become his wife because he has violated her. He must not divorce her as long as he lives.

²² While they were enjoying themselves, suddenly the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they said to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house, so we can have relations with him!”

²⁴ There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land. They imitated all the abominations of the nations the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.

¹² He banished the male shrine prostitutes from the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made.

⁴⁶ He banished from the land the male shrine prostitutes who remained from the days of his father Asa.

⁷ He also tore down the quarters of the male shrine prostitutes that were in the house of the LORD, where the women had woven tapestries for Asherah.

¹⁶ It will rescue you from the forbidden woman, from the stranger with seductive words

²⁶ For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. ²⁷ Likewise, the men abandoned natural relations with women and burned with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. ²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

⁹ Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts,

¹⁰ for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave traders and liars and perjurers, and for anyone else who is averse to sound teaching

¹⁶ If, however, the sacrifice he offers is a vow or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, but the remainder may be eaten on the next day.

²² You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination.

⁶ To that place you are to bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks.

²¹ If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.

⁴ For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You. ⁵ The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all workers of iniquity. ⁶ You destroy those who tell lies; the LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

¹⁶ For dogs surround me; a band of evil men encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet.

¹¹ As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

¹⁰ Israel’s watchmen are blind, they are all oblivious; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they are dreamers lying around, loving to slumber. ¹¹ Like ravenous dogs, they are never satisfied. They are shepherds with no discernment; they all turn to their own way, each one seeking his own gain:

⁸ For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity; in My faithfulness I will give them their recompense and make an everlasting covenant with them.

³³ Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.

¹³ Your eyes are too pure to look upon evil, and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing. So why do You tolerate the faithless? Why are You silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? ¹⁴ “But cursed is the deceiver who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but sacrifices a defective animal to the Lord. For I am a great King,” says the LORD of Hosts, “and My name is to be feared among the nations.

⁶ Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.

² Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!

²² Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

¹⁵ But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

²⁵ If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest.

³⁵ Now if your countryman becomes destitute and cannot support himself among you, then you are to help him as you would a foreigner or stranger, so that he can continue to live among you. ³⁶ Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you. ³⁷ You must not lend him your silver at interest or sell him your food for profit.

¹ About that time there was a great outcry from the people and their wives against their fellow Jews. ² Some were saying, “We and our sons and daughters are numerous. We must get grain in order to eat and stay alive.” ³ Others were saying, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.” ⁴ Still others were saying, “We have borrowed money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. ⁵ We and our children are just like our countrymen and their children, yet we are subjecting our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters are already enslaved, but we are powerless to redeem them because our fields and vineyards belong to others.” ⁶ When I heard their outcry and these complaints, I became extremely angry, ⁷ and after serious thought I rebuked the nobles and officials, saying, “You are exacting usury from your own brothers!” So I called a large assembly against them

⁵ who lends his money without interest and refuses a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

⁷ He does not oppress another, but restores the pledge to the debtor. He does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing. ⁸ He does not engage in usury or take excess interest, but he withholds his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between men.

¹³ He engages in usury and takes excess interest. Will this son live? He will not! Since he has committed all these abominations, he will surely die; his blood will be on his own head.

¹⁶ He does not oppress another, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery. He gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing. ¹⁷ He withholds his hand from harming the poor and takes no interest or usury. He keeps My ordinances and follows My statutes. Such a man will not die for his father’s iniquity. He will surely live. ¹⁸ As for his father, he will die for his own iniquity, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was wrong among his people.

¹² In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.

³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

³³ When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. ³⁴ You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

²¹ You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

³ You may collect something from a foreigner, but you must forgive whatever your brother owes you.

¹⁰ Give generously to him, and do not let your heart be grieved when you do so. And because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything to which you put your hand.

¹² The LORD will open the heavens, His abundant storehouse, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations, but borrow from none.

¹⁷ Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD, and He will repay the lender.

¹⁹ If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best of the land.

¹⁴ and you will be blessed. Since they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,

¹ Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel, and settle there. Build an altar there to the God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ² So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods that are among you. Purify yourselves and change your garments. ³ Then let us arise and go to Bethel. I will build an altar there to God, who answered me in my day of distress. He has been with me wherever I have gone.”

² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘When someone makes a special vow to the LORD involving the value of persons, ³ if the valuation concerns a male from twenty to sixty years of age, then your valuation shall be fifty shekels of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel. ⁴ Or if it is a female, then your valuation shall be thirty shekels. ⁵ And if the person is from five to twenty years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. ⁶ Now if the person is from one month to five years of age, then your valuation for the male shall be five shekels of silver, and for the female three shekels of silver. ⁷ And if the person is sixty years of age or older, then your valuation shall be fifteen shekels for the male and ten shekels for the female. ⁸ But if the one making the vow is too poor to pay the valuation, he is to present the person before the priest, who shall set the value according to what the one making the vow can afford. ⁹ If he vows an animal that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any such animal given to the LORD shall be holy. ¹⁰ He must not replace it or exchange it, either good for bad or bad for good. But if he does substitute one animal for another, both that animal and its substitute will be holy. ¹¹ But if the vow involves any of the unclean animals that may not be brought as an offering to the LORD, the animal must be presented before the priest. ¹² The priest shall set its value, whether high or low; as the priest values it, the price will be set. ¹³ If, however, the owner decides to redeem the animal, he must add a fifth to its value. ¹⁴ Now if a man consecrates his house as holy to the LORD, then the priest shall value it either as good or bad. The price will stand just as the priest values it. ¹⁵ But if he who consecrated his house redeems it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it will belong to him. ¹⁶ If a man consecrates to the LORD a parcel of his land, then your valuation shall be proportional to the seed required for it—fifty shekels of silver for every homer of barley seed. ¹⁷ If he consecrates his field during the Year of Jubilee, the price will stand according to your valuation. ¹⁸ But if he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, the priest is to calculate the price in proportion to the years left until the next Year of Jubilee, so that your valuation will be reduced. ¹⁹ And if the one who consecrated the field decides to redeem it, he must add a fifth to the assessed value, and it shall belong to him. ²⁰ If, however, he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold it to another man, it may no longer be redeemed. ²¹ When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the LORD; it becomes the property of the priests. ²² Now if a man consecrates to the LORD a field he has purchased, which is not a part of his own property, ²³ then the priest shall calculate for him the value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the man shall pay the assessed value on that day as a sacred offering to the LORD. ²⁴ In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom it was bought—the original owner of the land. ²⁵ Every valuation will be according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel. ²⁶ But no one may consecrate a firstborn of the livestock, because a firstborn belongs to the LORD. Whether it is an ox or a sheep, it is the LORD’s. ²⁷ But if it is among the unclean animals, then he may redeem it according to your valuation and add a fifth of its value. If it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to your valuation. ²⁸ Nothing that a man sets apart to the LORD from all he owns—whether a man, an animal, or his inherited land—can be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD. ²⁹ No person set apart for destruction may be ransomed; he must surely be put to death. ³⁰ Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. ³¹ If a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he must add a fifth to its value. ³² Every tenth animal from the herd or flock that passes under the shepherd’s rod will be holy to the LORD. ³³ He must not inspect whether it is good or bad, and he shall not make any substitution. But if he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute shall become holy; they cannot be redeemed.’” ³⁴ These are the commandments that the LORD gave to Moses for the Israelites on Mount Sinai.

¹ Then Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ² If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised. ³ And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge, ⁴ and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁵ But if her father prohibits her on the day he hears about it, then none of the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. The LORD will absolve her because her father has prohibited her. ⁶ If a woman marries while under a vow or rash promise by which she has bound herself, ⁷ and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her on that day, then the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁸ But if her husband prohibits her when he hears of it, he nullifies the vow that binds her or the rash promise she has made, and the LORD will absolve her. ⁹ Every vow a widow or divorced woman pledges to fulfill is binding on her. ¹⁰ If a woman in her husband’s house has made a vow or put herself under an obligation with an oath, ¹¹ and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her and does not prohibit her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ¹² But if her husband nullifies them on the day he hears of them, then nothing that came from her lips, whether her vows or pledges, shall stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will absolve her. ¹³ Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow or any sworn pledge to deny herself. ¹⁴ But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all the vows and pledges that bind her. He has confirmed them, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard about them. ¹⁵ But if he nullifies them after he hears of them, then he will bear her iniquity.” ¹⁶ These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the relationship between a man and his wife, and between a father and a young daughter still in his home.

¹⁸ You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God.

¹² Your vows are upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You.

¹³ I will enter Your house with burnt offerings; I will fulfill my vows to You— ¹⁴ the vows that my lips promised and my mouth spoke in my distress.

¹¹ Make and fulfill your vows to the LORD your God; let all the neighboring lands bring tribute to Him who is to be feared.

¹⁸ I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people,

⁴ When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow. ⁵ It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.

¹⁶ Then the men feared the LORD greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to Him.

⁹ But I, with the voice of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to You. I will fulfill what I have vowed. Salvation is from the LORD!”

¹⁵ Look to the mountains—the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked will never again march through you; they will be utterly cut off.

³³ Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’

² If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.

³⁰ Jephthah made this vow to the LORD: “If indeed You will deliver the Ammonites into my hand, ³¹ then whatever comes out the door of my house to greet me on my triumphant return from the Ammonites will belong to the LORD, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

³⁵ As soon as Jephthah saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “No! Not my daughter! You have brought me to my knees! You have brought great misery upon me, for I have given my word to the LORD and cannot take it back.”

¹¹ And she made a vow, pleading, “O LORD of Hosts, if only You will look upon the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, not forgetting Your maidservant but giving her a son, then I will dedicate him to the LORD all the days of his life, and no razor shall ever come over his head.”

²⁴ Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the troops tasted any food.

²⁵ It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later to reconsider his vows.

²⁵ This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: As for you and your wives, you have spoken with your mouths and fulfilled with your hands your words: ‘We will surely perform our vows that we have made to burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and to pour out drink offerings to her.’ Go ahead, then, do what you have promised! Keep your vows! ²⁶ Nevertheless, hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah living in Egypt: Behold, I have sworn by My great name, says the LORD, that never again will any man of Judah living in the land of Egypt invoke My name or say, ‘As surely as the Lord GOD lives.’ ²⁷ I am watching over them for harm and not for good, and every man of Judah who is in the land of Egypt will meet his end by sword or famine, until they are finished off.

²² When the daughter of Herodias came and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests, and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom!”

¹² When daylight came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.

²¹ Do not let them persuade you, because more than forty men are waiting to ambush him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him; they are ready now, awaiting your consent.”

¹³ Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality.

²⁶ for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.”

⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

¹ At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat them. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

²³ One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain as they walked along.

¹ One Sabbath Jesus was passing through the grainfields, and His disciples began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them. ² But some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?”