Apr 3rd

Yahweh our God cut a covenant with us at Horeb.

Yahweh did not cut this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today.

Yahweh spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire.

I was standing between Yahweh and you at that time, to declare to you the word of Yahweh; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said,

¶‘I am Yahweh your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

¶‘You shall have no other gods before Me.

¶‘You shall not make for yourself an idol—any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

¶‘You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

¶‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you.

Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

but the seventh day is a sabbath of Yahweh your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male slave or your female slave or your ox or your donkey or any of your cattle or your sojourner who is within your gates, so that your male slave and your female slave may rest as well as you.

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm; therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day.

¶‘Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

¶‘You shall not murder.

¶‘You shall not commit adultery.

¶‘You shall not steal.

¶‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

¶‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male slave or his female slave, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

“These words Yahweh spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, of the cloud and of the dense gloom, with a great voice, and He added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

Now it happened that when you heard the voice from 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.

And you said, ‘Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives.

So now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of Yahweh our God any longer, then we will die.

For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

As for you, go near and hear all that Yahweh our God says; then speak to us all that Yahweh our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’

“And Yahweh heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and Yahweh said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken.

Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments all the days, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!

Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.”

But as for you, stand here by Me, that I may speak to you all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess.’

So you shall be careful to do just as Yahweh your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left.

In all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, you shall walk, that you may live and that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.

“Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments, which Yahweh your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do it in the land where you are going over to possess it,

so that you and your son and your grandson might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I am commanding you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.

O Israel, you shall listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

“Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!

You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall speak 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.

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as phylacteries between your eyes.

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

“Then it will be, when Yahweh 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 good cities which you did not build,

and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you will eat and be satisfied,

then beware, lest you forget Yahweh who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Yahweh your God you shall fear; and Him you shall serve; and by His name you shall swear.

You shall not walk after other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you,

for Yahweh your God in the midst of you is a jealous God—lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and He destroy you from the face of the earth.

“You shall not put Yahweh your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.

You should diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God and His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you.

And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of Yahweh, that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to give your fathers,

by driving out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken.

“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which Yahweh our God commanded you?’

then you shall say to your son, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us from Egypt with a strong hand.

Moreover, Yahweh showed great and calamitous signs and wonders before our eyes against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household;

but He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land which He had sworn to our fathers.’

So Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God for our good all our days and for our survival, as it is today.

And it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to do all this commandment before Yahweh our God, just as He commanded us.

And Jesus answered and said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he replied, “Say it, Teacher.”

“A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.

When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?”

Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he graciously forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.”

And turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.

You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet.

You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume.

For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”

And those who were reclining at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”

And He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

And it happened that soon afterward He was going around from one city and village to another, preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him,

and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s manager, and Susanna, and many others who were ministering to them from their possessions.

Now when a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:

“The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up.

And other seed fell on rock and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

And other seed fell among the thorns, and when the thorns grew up with it, they choked it out.

And other seed fell into the good soil; and growing up, it produced a crop one hundred times as great.” As He said these things, He would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

And His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant.

And He said, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.

“Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.

And those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

And those on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy, and these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.

And the seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of life, and do not bear ripe fruit.