Deuteronomy 25; Deuteronomy 26; Deuteronomy 27; Mark 14:27-53

1 If two people have an argument and go to court, the judges will decide the case. They will declare one person right and the other guilty.

2 If the guilty person has to be punished with a beating, the judge will make that person lie down and be beaten in front of him. The number of lashes should match the crime.

3 But don't hit a person more than forty times, because more than that would disgrace him before others.

4 When an ox is working in the grain, do not cover its mouth to keep it from eating.

5 If two brothers are living together, and one of them dies without having a son, his widow must not marry someone outside her husband's family. Her husband's brother must marry her, which is his duty to her as a brother-in-law.

6 The first son she has counts as the son of the dead brother so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel.

7 But if a man does not want to marry his brother's widow, she should go to the older leaders at the town gate. She should say, "My brother-in-law will not carry on his brother's name in Israel. He refuses to do his duty for me."

8 Then the older leaders of the town must call for the man and talk to him. But if he is stubborn and says, "I don't want to marry her,"

9 the woman must go up to him in front of the leaders. She must take off one of his sandals and spit in his face and say, "This is for the man who won't continue his brother's family!"

10 Then that man's family shall be known in Israel as the Family of the Unsandaled.

11 If two men are fighting and one man's wife comes to save her husband from his attacker, grabbing the attacker by his sex organs,

12 you must cut off her hand. Show her no mercy.

13 Don't carry two sets of weights with you, one heavy and one light.

14 Don't have two different sets of measures in your house, one large and one small.

15 You must have true and honest weights and measures so that you will live a long time in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

16 The Lord your God hates anyone who is dishonest and uses dishonest measures.

17 Remember what the Amalekites did to you when you came out of Egypt.

18 When you were tired and worn out, they met you on the road and attacked all those lagging behind. They were not afraid of God.

19 When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you as your own, you shall destroy any memory of the Amalekites on the earth. Do not forget!

1 When you go into the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own, to take it over and live in it,

2 you must take some of the first harvest of crops that grow from the land the Lord your God is giving you. Put the food in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God will choose to be worshiped.

3 Say to the priest on duty at that time, "Today I declare before the Lord your God that I have come into the land the Lord promised our ancestors that he would give us."

4 The priest will take your basket and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God.

5 Then you shall announce before the Lord your God: "My father was a wandering Aramean. He went down to Egypt with only a few people, but they became a great, powerful, and large nation there.

6 But the Egyptians were cruel to us, making us suffer and work very hard.

7 So we prayed to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and he heard us. When he saw our trouble, hard work, and suffering,

8 the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his great power and strength, using great terrors, signs, and miracles.

9 Then he brought us to this place and gave us this fertile land.

10 Now I bring part of the first harvest from this land that you, Lord, have given me." Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him.

11 Then you and the Levites and foreigners among you should rejoice, because the Lord your God has given good things to you and your family.

12 Bring a tenth of all your harvest the third year (the year to give a tenth of your harvest). Give it to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows so that they may eat in your towns and be full.

13 Then say to the Lord your God, "I have taken out of my house the part of my harvest that belongs to God, and I have given it to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows. I have done everything you commanded me; I have not broken your commands, and I have not forgotten any of them.

14 I have not eaten any of the holy part while I was in sorrow. I have not removed any of it while I was unclean, and I have not offered it for dead people. I have obeyed you, the Lord my God, and have done everything you commanded me.

15 So look down from heaven, your holy home. Bless your people Israel and bless the land you have given us, which you promised to our ancestors -- a fertile land."

16 Today the Lord your God commands you to obey all these rules and laws; be careful to obey them with your whole being.

17 Today you have said that the Lord is your God, and you have promised to do what he wants you to do -- to keep his rules, commands, and laws. You have said you will obey him.

18 And today the Lord has said that you are his very own people, as he has promised you. But you must obey his commands.

19 He will make you greater than all the other nations he made. He will give you praise, fame, and honor, and you will be a holy people to the Lord your God, as he has said.

1 Then Moses, along with the older leaders of Israel, commanded the people, saying, "Keep all the commands I have given you today.

2 Soon you will cross the Jordan River to go into the land the Lord your God is giving you. On that day set up some large stones and cover them with plaster.

3 When you cross over, write all the words of these teachings on them. Then you may enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a fertile land, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised.

4 After you have crossed the Jordan River, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and cover them with plaster.

5 Build an altar of stones there to the Lord your God, but don't use any iron tool to cut the stones;

6 build the altar of the Lord your God with stones from the field. Offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God,

7 and offer fellowship offerings there, and eat them and rejoice before the Lord your God.

8 Then write clearly all the words of these teachings on the stones."

9 Then Moses and the Levites who were priests spoke to all Israel and said, "Be quiet, Israel. Listen! Today you have become the people of the Lord your God.

10 Obey the Lord your God, and keep his commands and laws that I give you today."

11 That day Moses also gave the people this command:

12 When you cross the Jordan River, these tribes must stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin.

13 And these tribes must stand on Mount Ebal to announce the curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

14 The Levites will say to all the people of Israel in a loud voice:

15 "Anyone will be cursed who makes an idol or statue and secretly sets it up, because the Lord hates the idols people make." Then all the people will say, "Amen!"

16 "Anyone will be cursed who dishonors his father or mother." Then all the people will say, "Amen!"

17 "Anyone will be cursed who moves the stone that marks a neighbor's border." Then all the people will say, "Amen!"

18 "Anyone will be cursed who sends a blind person down the wrong road." Then all the people will say, "Amen!"

19 "Anyone will be cursed who is unfair to foreigners, orphans, or widows." Then all the people will say, "Amen!"

20 "A man will be cursed who has sexual relations with his father's wife, because it is a dishonor to his father." Then all the people will say, "Amen!"

21 "Anyone will be cursed who has sexual relations with an animal." Then all the people will say, "Amen!"

22 "A man will be cursed who has sexual relations with his sister, whether she is his father's daughter or his mother's daughter." Then all the people will say, "Amen!"

23 "A man will be cursed who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law." Then all the people will say, "Amen!"

24 "Anyone will be cursed who kills a neighbor secretly." Then all the people will say, "Amen!"

25 "Anyone will be cursed who takes money to murder an innocent person." Then all the people will say, "Amen!"

26 "Anyone will be cursed who does not agree with the words of these teachings and does not obey them." Then all the people will say, "Amen!"

27 Then Jesus told the followers, "You will all stumble in your faith, because it is written in the Scriptures: 'I will kill the shepherd, and the sheep will scatter.'

28 But after I rise from the dead, I will go ahead of you into Galilee."

29 Peter said, "Everyone else may stumble in their faith, but I will not."

30 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, tonight before the rooster crows twice you will say three times you don't know me."

31 But Peter insisted, "I will never say that I don't know you! I will even die with you!" And all the other followers said the same thing.

32 Jesus and his followers went to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, "Sit here while I pray."

33 Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be very sad and troubled.

34 He said to them, "My heart is full of sorrow, to the point of death. Stay here and watch."

35 After walking a little farther away from them, Jesus fell to the ground and prayed that, if possible, he would not have this time of suffering.

36 He prayed, "Abba, Father! You can do all things. Take away this cupn of suffering. But do what you want, not what I want."

37 Then Jesus went back to his followers and found them asleep. He said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn't you stay awake with me for one hour?

38 Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. The spirit wants to do what is right, but the body is weak."

39 Again Jesus went away and prayed the same thing.

40 Then he went back to his followers, and again he found them asleep, because their eyes were very heavy. And they did not know what to say to him.

41 After Jesus prayed a third time, he went back to his followers and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? That's enough. The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to sinful people.

42 Get up, we must go. Look, here comes the man who has turned against me."

43 At once, while Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles, came up. With him were many people carrying swords and clubs who had been sent from the leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the older Jewish leaders.

44 Judas had planned a signal for them, saying, "The man I kiss is Jesus. Arrest him and guard him while you lead him away."

45 So Judas went straight to Jesus and said, "Teacher!" and kissed him.

46 Then the people grabbed Jesus and arrested him.

47 One of his followers standing nearby pulled out his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.

48 Then Jesus said, "You came to get me with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal.

49 Every day I was with you teaching in the Temple, and you did not arrest me there. But all these things have happened to make the Scriptures come true."

50 Then all of Jesus' followers left him and ran away.

51 A young man, wearing only a linen cloth, was following Jesus, and the people also grabbed him.

52 But the cloth he was wearing came off, and he ran away naked.

53 The people who arrested Jesus led him to the house of the high priest, where all the leading priests, the older Jewish leaders, and the teachers of the law were gathered.