Deuteronomy 13; Deuteronomy 14; Deuteronomy 15; Mark 12:28-44

1 One of your people, claiming to be a prophet or to have prophetic dreams, may predict a miraculous sign or an amazing thing.

2 What he predicts may even take place. But don't listen to that prophet or dreamer if he says, "Let's worship and serve other gods." (Those gods may be gods you've never heard of.)

3 The LORD your God is testing you to find out if you really love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

4 Worship the LORD your God, fear him, obey his commands, listen to what he says, serve him, and be loyal to him.

5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death because he preached rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt and freed you from slavery. He was trying to lead you away from following the directions the LORD your God gave you. You must get rid of this evil.

6 Your own brother, son, or daughter, the wife you love, or your best friend may secretly tempt you, saying, "Let's go worship other gods." (Those gods may be gods that you and your ancestors never knew.

7 They may be the gods of the people around you, who live near or far, from one end of the land to the other.)

8 Don't be influenced by any of these people or listen to them. Have no pity on them. Don't feel sorry for them or protect them.

9 You must put them to death. You must start the execution. Then all the other people will join you in putting them to death.

10 Stone them to death because they were trying to lead you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of slavery in Egypt.

11 All Israel will hear about it and be afraid. Then no one among you will ever do such a wicked thing again.

12 You may hear that the residents in one of the cities which the LORD your God is giving you to live in

13 have been led away from the LORD your God by worthless people. You may hear that these people have been saying, "Let's worship other gods." (Those gods may be gods you've never heard of.)

14 Then make a thorough investigation. If it is true, and you can prove that this disgusting thing has been done among you,

15 you must kill the residents of that city with swords and destroy that city and everyone in it, including the animals, because they are claimed by God.

16 Gather their goods into the middle of the city square. Then burn their city and all their goods as a burnt offering to the LORD your God. It must remain a mound of ruins and never be rebuilt.

17 Don't ever take any of the things claimed for destruction. Then the LORD will stop being angry and will show you mercy. In his mercy he will make your population increase, as he swore to your ancestors.

18 The LORD your God will do this if you listen to him, obey all the commands that I'm giving you today, and do what he considers right.

1 You are the children of the LORD your God. So when someone dies, don't [mourn] by cutting yourselves or shaving bald spots on your head.

2 You are people who are holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the people who live on earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his own special possession.

3 Never eat anything that is disgusting to the LORD.

4 Here are the [kinds of] animals you may eat: oxen, sheep, goats,

5 deer, gazelles, fallow deer, wild goats, mountain goats, antelope, and mountain sheep.

6 You may eat all animals that have completely divided hoofs and that also chew their cud.

7 But some animals chew their cud, while others have completely divided hoofs. You may not eat these [kinds of] animals. They include camels, rabbits, and rock badgers. (Although they chew their cud, they don't have divided hoofs. They are unclean for you.)

8 Also, you may not eat pigs. (Although their hoofs are divided, they don't chew their cud.) Never eat their meat or touch their dead bodies.

9 Here's what you may eat of every creature that lives in the water: You may eat any creature that has fins and scales.

10 But never eat anything that doesn't have fins and scales. It is unclean for you.

11 You may eat any clean bird.

12 But here are the birds that you should never eat: eagles, bearded vultures, black vultures,

13 buzzards, all types of kites,

14 all types of crows,

15 ostriches, nighthawks, seagulls, all types of falcons,

16 little owls, great owls, barn owls,

17 pelicans, ospreys, cormorants,

18 storks, all types of herons, hoopoes, and bats.

19 Every swarming, winged insect is also unclean for you. They must never be eaten.

20 However, you may eat any [other kind of] flying creature that is clean.

21 Never eat any creature that dies naturally. You may give it to the foreigners who live in your cities, and they may eat it. You may also sell it to foreigners who are visiting. But you are people who are holy to the LORD your God. Never cook a young goat in its mother's milk.

22 Every year be sure to save a tenth of the crops harvested from whatever you plant in your fields.

23 Eat the tenth of your grain, new wine, and olive oil, and eat the firstborn of your cattle, sheep, and goats in the presence of the LORD your God in the place he will choose to put his name. Then you will learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live.

24 But the place the LORD your God will choose to put his name may be too far away. He may bless you with so much that you can't carry a tenth of your income that far.

25 If so, exchange the tenth part of your income for silver. Take the silver with you, and go to the place the LORD your God will choose.

26 Use the silver to buy whatever you want: cattle, sheep, goats, wine, liquor--whatever you choose. Then you and your family will eat and enjoy yourselves there in the presence of the LORD your God.

27 Never forget to take care of the Levites who live in your cities. They have no land of their own as you have.

28 At the end of every third year bring a tenth of that year's crop, and store it in your cities.

29 Foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your cities may come to eat all they want. The Levites may also come because they have no land of their own as you have. Then the LORD your God will bless you in whatever work you do.

1 At the end of every seven years, you must cancel debts.

2 This is what you will do: If you've made a loan, don't collect payment on the debt your neighbor still owes you. Don't demand that your neighbor or relative pay you, because the [time] for suspending payments on debts has been proclaimed in the LORD's honor.

3 You may demand that a foreigner pay, but don't collect payment on the debt another Israelite still owes you.

4 In any case, there shouldn't be any poor people among you, because the LORD your God will certainly bless you in the land he is giving you as your own possession.

5 He will bless you only if you listen carefully to the LORD your God and faithfully obey all these commands I'm giving you today.

6 The LORD your God will bless you, as he promised. You will make loans to many nations, but you will not have to borrow from any of them. You will rule many nations, but no nation will ever rule you.

7 This is what you must do whenever there are poor Israelites in one of your cities in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

8 Be generous to these poor people, and freely lend them as much as they need. Never be hard-hearted and tight-fisted with them.

9 When the seventh year--the year when payments on debts are canceled--is near, you might be stingy toward poor Israelites and give them nothing. Be careful not to think these worthless thoughts. The poor will complain to the LORD about you, and you will be condemned for your sin.

10 Be sure to give to them without any hesitation. When you do this, the LORD your God will bless you in everything you work for and set out to do.

11 There will always be poor people in the land. That's why I command you to be generous to other Israelites who are poor and needy.

12 Whenever Hebrew men or women are sold to you as slaves, they will be your slaves for six years. In the seventh year you must let them go free.

13 But when you let them go, don't send them away empty-handed.

14 Generously give them provisions--sheep from your flocks, grain from your threshing floor, and wine from your winepress. Be as generous to them as the LORD your God has been to you.

15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the LORD your God freed you. That's why I'm giving you this command today.

16 But suppose a male slave says to you, "I don't want to leave you," because he loves you and your family and is happy with you.

17 Then take an awl and pierce it through his ear lobe into a door, and he will be your slave for life. Do the same to a female slave [if she doesn't want to leave].

18 If you have to let your slave go free, it won't be a hardship for you. It would have cost you twice as much to hire someone to do the same work for those six years. Besides, the LORD your God will bless you in everything you do.

19 You must dedicate every firstborn male from your herds and flocks to the LORD your God. Never use a firstborn ox for work, and never shear a firstborn sheep.

20 Every year you and your family must eat these animals in the presence of the LORD your God in the place the LORD will choose.

21 But if an animal is lame or blind or has any other serious defect--never sacrifice it to the LORD your God.

22 Eat it in your city. Clean and unclean people may eat them together as if they were eating a gazelle or a deer.

23 But never eat the blood. Pour it on the ground like water.

28 One of the scribes went to Jesus during the argument with the Sadducees. He saw how well Jesus answered them, so he asked him, "Which commandment is the most important of them all?"

29 Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the only Lord.

30 So love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.'

31 The second most important commandment is this: 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these."

32 The scribe said to Jesus, "Teacher, that was well said! You've told the truth that there is only one God and no other besides him!

33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices."

34 When Jesus heard how wisely the man answered, he told the man, "You're not too far from the kingdom of God." After that, no one dared to ask him another question.

35 While Jesus was teaching in the temple courtyard, he asked, "How can the scribes say that the Messiah is David's son?

36 David, guided by the Holy Spirit, said, 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Take the highest position in heaven until I put your enemies under your control."'

37 David calls him Lord. So how can he be his son?" The large crowd enjoyed listening to him.

38 As he taught, he said, "Watch out for the scribes! They like to walk around in long robes, to be greeted in the marketplaces,

39 and to have the front seats in synagogues and the places of honor at dinners.

40 They rob widows by taking their houses and then say long prayers to make themselves look good. The scribes will receive the most severe punishment."

41 As Jesus sat facing the temple offering box, he watched how [much] money people put into it. Many rich people put in large amounts.

42 A poor widow dropped in two small coins, worth less than a cent.

43 He called his disciples and said to them, "I can guarantee this truth: This poor widow has given more than all the others.

44 All of them have given what they could spare. But she, in her poverty, has given everything she had to live on."