Deuteronomy 14-17, Psalm 64

0:00We're reading Deuteronomy chapters 14 through 17 and Psalm 64 here on commuter Bible 18 There is a beautiful picture on display in the act of bringing a tent that will produce to the Lord as an offering The instructions given to Israel are that they should bring the tent to where the Lord resides and have a feast in the presence of God So get this God provides all the food as a gift the Israelite brings some of it back to supply the party and then in some way the Israelite and God Feast together at the same table who would turn aside from this God Friends one day we too will feast with our heavenly Father Moses also gives instructions on canceling debts lending to the poor releasing slaves Celebrating festivals and appointing judges and trying cases Deuteronomy chapters 14 through 17

1:02You are sons of the Lord your God Do not cut yourselves or make a bald spot on your head on behalf of the dead For you are a holy people belonging to the Lord your God The Lord has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth You must not eat any detestable thing These are the animals you may eat Oxen sheep goats deer gazelles rodeer Wild goats ibexas antelopes and mountain sheep You may eat any animal that has hooves divided into and choose the cut But among the ones that chew the cut or have divided hooves you are not to eat these Camels hairs and high raxes Though they chew the cut they do not have hooves. They are unclean for you

2:08And pigs though they have hooves they do not chew the cut They are unclean for you Do not eat their meat or touch their carcasses You may eat everything from the water that has fins and scales But you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales. It is unclean for you You may eat every clean bird, but these are the ones you may not eat Eagles bearded vultures black vultures the kites Any kind of falcon every kind of raven ostriches short eared owls Goals any kind of hawk Little owls long eared owls barn owls eagle owls Osprey's Cormorants Storks any kind of heron

3:08hoopoos and bats All winged insects are unclean for you. They may not be eaten But you may eat every clean flying creature You are not to eat any carcass You may give it to a resident alien 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 Do not boil a young goat in its mother's milk Each year you are to set aside a tenth of all the produce grown in your fields You are to eat a tenth of your grain New wine and fresh oil And the firstborn of your herd and flock In the presence of the Lord your God at the place where he chooses to have his name dwell So that you will always learn to fear the Lord your God But if the distance is too great for you to carry it

4:11Since the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far away from you And since the Lord your God has blessed you Then exchange it for silver Take the silver in your hand And go to the place the Lord your God chooses You may spend the silver on anything you want cattle sheep goats one beer or anything you desire You are to feast there in the presence of the Lord your God And rejoice with your family Do not neglect the Levite within your city gates Since he has no portion or inheritance among you At the end of every three years bring a tenth of all your produce for that year And store it within your city gates Then the Levite who has no portion or inheritance among you The resident alien the fatherless and the widow within your city gates May come Eat and be satisfied

5:13And the Lord your God will bless you in all the work of your hands that you do At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts This is how to cancel debt Every creditor is to cancel what he has lent his neighbor He is not to collect anything from his neighbor or brother Because the Lord's release of debts has been proclaimed You may collect something from a foreigner But you must forgive whatever your brother owes you There will be no poor among you however Because the Lord is certain to bless you in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance If only you obey the Lord your God And are careful to follow Every one of these commands I am giving you today When the Lord your God blesses you as he has promised you You will lend to many nations but not borrow

6:16You will rule many nations But they will not rule you If there is a poor person among you One of your brothers within any of your city gates and the land the Lord your God is giving you Do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your poor brother Instead you are to open your hand to him and freely loan him enough for whatever need he has Be careful that there isn't this wicked thought in your heart The seventh year the year of canceling debts is near And you are stingy toward your poor brother and give him nothing He will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be guilty Give to him and don't have a stingy heart when you give And because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you do For there will never cease to be poor people in the land

7:19That is why I am commanding you Open your hand willingly to your poor and needy brother in your land If your fellow Hebrew a man or woman is sold to you and serves you six years You must set him free in the seventh year When you set him free do not send him away empty handed Give generously to him from your flock your threshing floor and your winepress You are to give him whatever the Lord your God has blessed you with Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you That is why I am giving you this command today But if your slave says to you I don't want to leave you Because he loves you and your family and as well off with you Take an all and pierce through his ear into the door and he will become your slave for life

8:24Also treat your female slave the same way Do not regard it as a hardship when you set him free Because he worked for you six years Worth twice the wages of a hired worker Then the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do Consecrate to the Lord your God every firstborn male produced by your herd and flock You are not to put the firstborn of your oxen to work or shear the firstborn of your flock Each year you and your family are to eat it before the Lord your God in the place the Lord chooses But if there is a defect in the animal If it is lame or blind or has any serious defect You may not sacrifice it to the Lord your God Eat it within your city gates both the unclean person and the clean may eat it

9:25As though it were a gazelle or deer But you must not eat its blood Pour it on the ground like water You Set aside the month of a bib and observe the Passover to the Lord your God Because the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night in the month of a bib

10:26Sacrifice to the Lord your God a Passover animal from the herd or flock in the place where the Lord chooses to have his name dwell Do not eat leaven bread with it For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread with it the bread of hardship Because you left the land of Egypt in a hurry So that you may remember for the rest of your life the day you left the land of Egypt No yeast is to be found anywhere in your territory for seven days And none of the meat you sacrifice in the evening of the first day is to remain until morning You are not to sacrifice the Passover animal in any of the towns the Lord your God is giving you Sacrifice the Passover animal only at the place where the Lord your God chooses to have his name dwell Do this in the evening as the sun sets at the same time of day you departed from Egypt You are to cook and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses and you are to return to your tents in the morning

11:32Eat unleavened bread for six days On the seventh day there is to be a solemn assembly to the Lord Do not do any work You are to count seven weeks counting the weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the stand in grain You are to celebrate the festival of weeks to the Lord your God with a free will offering that you give in proportion to how the Lord your God has blessed you Rejoice before the Lord your God in the place where he chooses to have his named well You your son and daughter your male and female slave The Levite within your city gates as well as the resident alien the fatherless and the widow among you Remember that you were slaves in Egypt Carefully follow these statutes You are to celebrate the festival of shelters for seven days when you have gathered in everything from your threshing floor and wine press

12:38Rejoice during your festival You your son and daughter your male and female slave as well as the Levite the resident alien the fatherless and the widow within your city gates You are to hold a seven day festival for the Lord your God in the place he chooses Because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands And you will have abundant joy All your males are to appear three times a year before the Lord your God in the place he chooses At the festival of unleavened bread the festival of weeks and the festival of shelters No one is to appear before the Lord empty handed Everyone must appear with a gift suited to his means According to the blessing your God has given you A point judges and officials for your tribes in all your towns the Lord your God has given you They are to judge the people with righteous judgment

13:41Do not deny justice or show partiality to anyone Do not accept a bribe For it blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous pursue justice and justice alone So that you will live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you Do not set up an ashera of any kind of wood next to the altar you will build for the Lord your God And do not set up a sacred pillar The Lord your God hates them Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God and ox or sheep with a defect or any serious flaw For that is detestable to the Lord your God If a man or a woman among you in one of your towns that the Lord your God will give you Is discovered doing evil in the sight of the Lord your God And violating his covenant and has gone to serve other gods by bowing in worship to the sun moon or all the stars in the sky

14:45Which I have forbidden And if you are told or hear about it Then investigate it thoroughly If the report turns out to be true that this detestable act has been done in Israel You are to bring out to your city gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing and stone them to death The one condemned to die is to be executed on the testimony of two or three witnesses No one is to be executed on the testimony of a single witness The witnesses' hands are to be the first in putting him to death And after that the hands of all the people You must purge the evil from you If a case is too difficult for you concerning bloodshed lawsuits or assaults cases disputed at your city gates Then go up to the place the Lord your God chooses You are to go to the Levitical Priests

15:45And to the judge who presides at that time Ask and they will give you a verdict in the case You must abide by the verdict they give you at the place the Lord chooses Be careful to do exactly as they instruct you You must abide by the instruction they give you and the verdict they announce to you Do not turn to the right or the left from the decision they declare to you The person who acts arrogantly Refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there serving the Lord your God or to the judge must die You must purge the evil from Israel Then all the people will hear about it be afraid and no longer behave arrogantly When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you take possession of it Live in it and say I will set a king over me like all the nations around me

16:46You are to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses appoint a king from your brothers You are not to set a foreigner over you or one who is not of your people However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses For the Lord has told you you are never to go back that way again He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won't go astray He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself When he is seated on his royal throne He is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests It is to remain with him and he is to read from it all the days of his life So that he may learn to fear the Lord his God To observe all the words of this instruction and to do these statutes

17:52Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen He will not turn from his command to the right or the left And he and his sons will continue raining many years in Israel Psalm 64 God Hear my voice when I am in anguish Protect my life from the terror of the enemy Hide me from the scheming of wicked people From the mob of evil doers who sharpen their tongues like swords and aim bitter words like arrows Shooting from concealed places at the blameless They shoot at him suddenly and are not afraid They adopt an evil plan They talk about hiding traps and say who will see them

18:54They devise crimes and say We have perfected a secret plan The inner man and the heart are mysterious But God will shoot them with arrows suddenly they will be wounded They will be made to stumble their own tongues work against them All who see them will shake their heads Then everyone will fear and will tell about God's work for they will understand what he has done The righteous one rejoices in the Lord and takes refuge in him All those who are upright in heart will offer praise Today's episode was narrated and orchestrated by me John Ross and co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible Thanks for listening and remember to trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own understanding

19:57In all your ways know him and he will make your paths straight