Old Testament

Deuteronomy 25-27

^25:1If there be a controversy between men, and they come to judgment, and the judges judge them; then they shall justify the righteous, and condemn the wicked; ^25:2and it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his wickedness, by number. ^25:3Forty stripes he may give him, he shall not exceed; lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then your brother should seem vile to you. ^25:4You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain. ^25:5If brothers dwell together, and one of them die, and have no son, the wife of the dead shall not be married outside to a stranger: her husband's brother shall go in to her, and take her to him as wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her. ^25:6It shall be, that the firstborn whom she bears shall succeed in the name of his brother who is dead, that his name not be blotted out of Israel. ^25:7If the man doesn't want to take his brother's wife, then his brother's wife shall go up to the gate to the elders, and say, My husband's brother refuses to raise up to his brother a name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's brother to me. ^25:8Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak to him: and if he stand, and say, I don't want to take her; ^25:9then his brother's wife shall come to him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face; and she shall answer and say, So shall it be done to the man who does not build up his brother's house. ^25:10His name shall be called in Israel, The house of him who has his shoe loosed. ^25:11When men strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts forth her hand, and takes him by the secrets; ^25:12then you shall cut off her hand, your eye shall have no pity. ^25:13You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, a great and a small. ^25:14You shall not have in your house diverse measures, a great and a small. ^25:15A perfect and just weight shall you have; a perfect and just measure shall you have: that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. ^25:16For all who do such things, even all who do unrighteously, are an abomination to Yahweh your God. ^25:17Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came forth out of Egypt; ^25:18how he met you by the way, and struck the hindmost of you, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary; and he didn't fear God. ^25:19Therefore it shall be, when Yahweh your God has given you rest from all your enemies round about, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky; you shall not forget.

^26:1It shall be, when you are come in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell therein, ^26:2that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you; and you shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. ^26:3You shall come to the priest who shall be in those days, and tell him, I profess this day to Yahweh your God, that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us. ^26:4The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God. ^26:5You shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. ^26:6The Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage: ^26:7and we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression; ^26:8and Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror, and with signs, and with wonders; ^26:9and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ^26:10Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, Yahweh, have given me. You shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God: ^26:11and you shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is in the midst of you. ^26:12When you have made an end of tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled. ^26:13You shall say before Yahweh your God, I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the sojourner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten them: ^26:14I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I put away of it, being unclean, nor given of it for the dead: I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done according to all that you have commanded me. ^26:15Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey. ^26:16This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances: you shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul. ^26:17You have declared Yahweh this day to be your God, and that you would walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice: ^26:18and Yahweh has declared you this day to be a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments; ^26:19and to make you high above all nations that he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to Yahweh your God, as he has spoken.

^27:1Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandment which I command you this day. ^27:2It shall be on the day when you shall pass over the Jordan to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, that you shall set yourself up great stones, and plaster them with plaster: ^27:3and you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you are passed over; that you may go in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you. ^27:4It shall be, when you are passed over the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. ^27:5There shall you build an altar to Yahweh your God, an altar of stones: you shall lift up no iron tool on them. ^27:6You shall build the altar of Yahweh your God of uncut stones; and you shall offer burnt offerings thereon to Yahweh your God: ^27:7and you shall sacrifice peace-offerings, and shall eat there; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God. ^27:8You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly. ^27:9Moses and the priests the Levites spoke to all Israel, saying, Keep silence, and listen, Israel: this day you are become the people of Yahweh your God. ^27:10You shall therefore obey the voice of Yahweh your God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day. ^27:11Moses charged the people the same day, saying, ^27:12These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you are passed over the Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin. ^27:13These shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. ^27:14The Levites shall answer, and tell all the men of Israel with a loud voice, ^27:15Cursed be the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret. All the people shall answer and say, Amen. ^27:16Cursed be he who sets light by his father or his mother. All the people shall say, Amen. ^27:17Cursed be he who removes his neighbor's landmark. All the people shall say, Amen. ^27:18Cursed be he who makes the blind to wander out of the way. All the people shall say, Amen. ^27:19Cursed be he who wrests the justice due to the sojourner, fatherless, and widow. All the people shall say, Amen. ^27:20Cursed be he who lies with his father's wife, because he has uncovered his father's skirt. All the people shall say, Amen. ^27:21Cursed be he who lies with any manner of animal. All the people shall say, Amen. ^27:22Cursed be he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. All the people shall say, Amen. ^27:23Cursed be he who lies with his mother-in-law. All the people shall say, Amen. ^27:24Cursed be he who strikes his neighbor in secret. All the people shall say, Amen. ^27:25Cursed be he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person. All the people shall say, Amen. ^27:26Cursed be he who doesn't confirm the words of this law to do them. All the people shall say, Amen.

New Testament

Acts 16

^16:1He came to Derbe and Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed; but his father was a Greek. ^16:2The brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony about him. ^16:3Paul wanted to have him go out with him, and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts; for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ^16:4As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered the decrees to them to keep which had been ordained by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem. ^16:5So the assemblies were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

^16:6When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. ^16:7When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn't allow them. ^16:8Passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. ^16:9A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, begging him, and saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us." ^16:10When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. ^16:11Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis; ^16:12and from there to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony. We were staying some days in this city.

^16:13On the Sabbath day we went forth outside of the city by a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down, and spoke to the women who had come together. ^16:14A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul. ^16:15When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay." She urged us.

^16:16It happened, as we were going to prayer, that a certain girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune telling. ^16:17The same, following after Paul and us, cried out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation!" ^16:18This she did for many days.

But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" It came out that very hour. ^16:19But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. ^16:20When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, "These men, being Jews, are agitating our city, ^16:21and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans."

^16:22The multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore their clothes off of them, and commanded them to be beaten with rods. ^16:23When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely, ^16:24who, having received such a charge, threw them into the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks.

^16:25But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ^16:26Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were loosened. ^16:27The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. ^16:28But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, "Don't harm yourself, for we are all here!"

^16:29He called for lights and sprang in, and, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas, ^16:30and brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

^16:31They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." ^16:32They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house.

^16:33He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household. ^16:34He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God.

^16:35But when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, "Let those men go."

^16:36The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent to let you go; now therefore come out, and go in peace."

^16:37But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly, without a trial, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison! Do they now release us secretly? No, most assuredly, but let them come themselves and bring us out!"

^16:38The sergeants reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, ^16:39and they came and begged them. When they had brought them out, they asked them to depart from the city. ^16:40They went out of the prison, and entered into Lydia's house. When they had seen the brothers, they comforted them, and departed.