Wednesday, 29 May

1.   "Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always. 2.   "Know today that I do not speak with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the chastening of the LORD your God, His greatness and His mighty hand and His outstretched arm–– 3.   "His signs and His acts which He did in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to all his land; 4.   "what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and their chariots: how He made the waters of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued you, and how the LORD has destroyed them to this day; 5.   "what He did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place; 6.   "and what He did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, their households, their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel–– 7.   "but your eyes have seen every great act of the LORD which He did. 8.   "Therefore you shall keep every commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land which you cross over to possess, 9.   "and that you may prolong your days in the land which the LORD swore to give your fathers, to them and their descendants, ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’ 10.   "For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; 11.   "but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12.   "a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year. 13.   ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14.   ‘then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15.   ‘And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’ 16.   "Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, 17.   "lest the LORD’S anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you. 18.   "Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19.   "You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 20.   "And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21.   "that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth. 22.   "For if you carefully keep all these commandments which I command you to do––to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him–– 23.   "then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess greater and mightier nations than yourselves. 24.   "Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the River Euphrates, even to the Western Sea, shall be your territory. 25.   "No man shall be able to stand against you; the LORD your God will put the dread of you and the fear of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has said to you. 26.   "Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: 27.   "the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today; 28.   "and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known. 29.   "Now it shall be, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30.   " Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh? 31.   "For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it. 32.   "And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today.

1.   Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. 2.   Do not be rash with your mouth, And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few. 3.   For a dream comes through much activity, And a fool’s voice is known by his many words. 4.   When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed–– 5.   Better not to vow than to vow and not pay. 6.   Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, nor say before the messenger of God that it was an error. Why should God be angry at your excuse and destroy the work of your hands? 7.   For in the multitude of dreams and many words there is also vanity. But fear God. 8.   If you see the oppression of the poor, and the violent perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them. 9.   Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field. 10.   He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he who loves abundance, with increase. This also is vanity. 11.   When goods increase, They increase who eat them; So what profit have the owners Except to see them with their eyes? 12.   The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, Whether he eats little or much; But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep. 13.   There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches kept for their owner to his hurt. 14.   But those riches perish through misfortune; When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand. 15.   As he came from his mother’s womb, naked shall he return, To go as he came; And he shall take nothing from his labor Which he may carry away in his hand. 16.   And this also is a severe evil––Just exactly as he came, so shall he go. And what profit has he who has labored for the wind? 17.   All his days he also eats in darkness, And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger. 18.   Here is what I have seen: It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. 19.   As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor––this is the gift of God. 20.   For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

1.   There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it is common among men: 2.   A man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor, so that he lacks nothing for himself of all he desires; yet God does not give him power to eat of it, but a foreigner consumes it. This is vanity, and it is an evil affliction. 3.   If a man begets a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul is not satisfied with goodness, or indeed he has no burial, I say that a stillborn child is better than he–– 4.   for it comes in vanity and departs in darkness, and its name is covered with darkness. 5.   Though it has not seen the sun or known anything , this has more rest than that man, 6.   even if he lives a thousand years twice––but has not seen goodness. Do not all go to one place? 7.   All the labor of man is for his mouth, And yet the soul is not satisfied. 8.   For what more has the wise man than the fool? What does the poor man have, Who knows how to walk before the living? 9.   Better is the sight of the eyes than the wandering of desire. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind. 10.   Whatever one is, he has been named already, For it is known that he is man; And he cannot contend with Him who is mightier than he. 11.   Since there are many things that increase vanity, How is man the better? 12.   For who knows what is good for man in life, all the days of his vain life which he passes like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will happen after him under the sun?

21.   Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. 22.   And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. 23.   Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24.   saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are––the Holy One of God!" 25.   But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" 26.   And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. 27.   Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." 28.   And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee. 29.   Now as soon as they had come out of the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. 30.   But Simon’s wife’s mother lay sick with a fever, and they told Him about her at once. 31.   So He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her. And she served them. 32.   At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon–possessed. 33.   And the whole city was gathered together at the door. 34.   Then He healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him. 35.   Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. 36.   And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. 37.   When they found Him, they said to Him, "Everyone is looking for You." 38.   But He said to them, "Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth." 39.   And He was preaching in their synagogues throughout all Galilee, and casting out demons. 40.   Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, "If You are willing, You can make me clean." 41.   Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed." 42.   As soon as He had spoken, immediately the leprosy left him, and he was cleansed. 43.   And He strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 44.   and said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." 45.   However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction.