Exodus 19; Exodus 20; Matthew 18:21-35

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Exodus 19

1 The people of Israel left Rephidim, and on the first day of the third month after they had left Egypt they came to the desert of Sinai. There they set up camp at the foot of Mount Sinai,
3 and Moses went up the mountain to meet with God. The Lord called to him from the mountain and told him to say to the Israelites, Jacob's descendants:
4 "You saw what I, the Lord, did to the Egyptians and how I carried you as an eagle carries her young on her wings, and brought you here to me.
5 Now, if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own people. The whole earth is mine, but you will be my chosen people,
6 a people dedicated to me alone, and you will serve me as priests."
7 So Moses went down and called the leaders of the people together and told them everything that the Lord had commanded him.
8 Then all the people answered together, "We will do everything that the Lord has said," and Moses reported this to the Lord.
9 The Lord said to Moses, "I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will believe you from now on." Moses told the Lord what the people had answered,
10 and the Lord said to him, "Go to the people and tell them to spend today and tomorrow purifying themselves for worship. They must wash their clothes
11 and be ready the day after tomorrow. On that day I will come down on Mount Sinai, where all the people can see me.
12 Mark a boundary around the mountain that the people must not cross, and tell them not to go up the mountain or even get near it. If any of you set foot on it, you are to be put to death;
13 you must either be stoned or shot with arrows, without anyone touching you. This applies to both people and animals; they must be put to death. But when the trumpet is blown, then the people are to go up to the mountain."
14 Then Moses came down the mountain and told the people to get ready for worship. So they washed their clothes,
15 and Moses told them, "Be ready by the day after tomorrow and don't have sexual intercourse in the meantime."
16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud appeared on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast was heard. All the people in the camp trembled with fear.
17 Moses led them out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain.
18 All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord had come down on it in fire. The smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and all the people trembled violently.
19 The sound of the trumpet became louder and louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with thunder.
20 The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain. Moses went up
21 and the Lord said to him, "Go down and warn the people not to cross the boundary to come and look at me; if they do, many of them will die.
22 Even the priests who come near me must purify themselves, or I will punish them."
23 Moses said to the Lord, "The people cannot come up, because you commanded us to consider the mountain sacred and to mark a boundary around it."
24 The Lord replied, "Go down and bring Aaron back with you. But the priests and the people must not cross the boundary to come up to me, or I will punish them."
25 Moses then went down to the people and told them what the Lord had said.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Exodus 20

1 God spoke, and these were his words:
2 "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, where you were slaves.
3 "Worship no god but me.
4 "Do not make for yourselves images of anything in heaven or on earth or in the water under the earth.
5 Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the Lord your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation.
6 But I show my love to thousands of generations of those who love me and obey my laws.
7 "Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the Lord your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name.
8 "Observe the Sabbath and keep it holy.
9 You have six days in which to do your work,
10 but the seventh day is a day of rest dedicated to me. On that day no one is to work - neither you, your children, your slaves, your animals, nor the foreigners who live in your country.
11 In six days I, the Lord, made the earth, the sky, the seas, and everything in them, but on the seventh day I rested. That is why I, the Lord, blessed the Sabbath and made it holy.
12 "Respect your father and your mother, so that you may live a long time in the land that I am giving you.
13 "Do not commit murder.
14 "Do not commit adultery.
15 "Do not steal.
16 "Do not accuse anyone falsely.
17 "Do not desire another man's house; do not desire his wife, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns."
18 When the people heard the thunder and the trumpet blast and saw the lightning and the smoking mountain, they trembled with fear and stood a long way off.
19 They said to Moses, "If you speak to us, we will listen; but we are afraid that if God speaks to us, we will die."
20 Moses replied, "Don't be afraid; God has only come to test you and make you keep on obeying him, so that you will not sin."
21 But the people continued to stand a long way off, and only Moses went near the dark cloud where God was.
22 The Lord commanded Moses to tell the Israelites: "You have seen how I, the Lord, have spoken to you from heaven.
23 Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gold to be worshiped in addition to me.
24 Make an altar of earth for me, and on it sacrifice your sheep and your cattle as offerings to be completely burned and as fellowship offerings. In every place that I set aside for you to worship me, I will come to you and bless you.
25 If you make an altar of stone for me, do not build it out of cut stones, because when you use a chisel on stones, you make them unfit for my use.
26 Do not build an altar for me with steps leading up to it; if you do, you will expose yourselves as you go up the steps.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.

Matthew 18:21-35

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, if my brother keeps on sinning against me, how many times do I have to forgive him? Seven times?"
22 "No, not seven times," answered Jesus, "but seventy times seven,
23 because the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Once there was a king who decided to check on his servants' accounts.
24 He had just begun to do so when one of them was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.
25 The servant did not have enough to pay his debt, so the king ordered him to be sold as a slave, with his wife and his children and all that he had, in order to pay the debt.
26 The servant fell on his knees before the king. "Be patient with me,' he begged, "and I will pay you everything!'
27 The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave him the debt and let him go.
28 "Then the man went out and met one of his fellow servants who owed him a few dollars. He grabbed him and started choking him. "Pay back what you owe me!' he said.
29 His fellow servant fell down and begged him, "Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!'
30 But he refused; instead, he had him thrown into jail until he should pay the debt.
31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were very upset and went to the king and told him everything.
32 So he called the servant in. "You worthless slave!' he said. "I forgave you the whole amount you owed me, just because you asked me to.
33 You should have had mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you.'
34 The king was very angry, and he sent the servant to jail to be punished until he should pay back the whole amount."
35 And Jesus concluded, "That is how my Father in heaven will treat every one of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.