Deuteronomy 21
1 “If someone is found slain, lying in the field, in the land which the Lord your God gives you to possess, and it is not known who has killed him, 2 then your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the dead person. 3 It shall be that the elders of the city which is nearest to the dead man shall take a heifer of the herd, one which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke; 4 and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a [river] valley with running water, which has not been plowed or planted, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall approach, for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the Name (Presence) of the Lord; and every dispute and every assault (violent crime) shall be settled by them. 6 All the elders of that city nearest to the dead man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 7 and they shall respond, and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. 8 Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Lord, and do not put the guilt of innocent blood among Your people Israel.’ And the guilt of blood shall be forgiven them. 9 So shall you remove the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.
10 “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the Lord your God hands them over to you and you lead them away captive, 11 and you see a beautiful woman among the captives, and desire her and would take her as your wife, 12 then you shall bring her [home] to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails [in preparation for mourning]. 13 She shall take off the clothes of her captivity and remain in your house, and weep (mourn) for her father and her mother a full month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. 14 But it shall be that if you have no delight and take no pleasure in her, then you shall let her go wherever she wishes. You certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not deal with her as a slave or mistreat her, because you have humbled her [by forced marriage].
15 “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have born him sons, and the firstborn son belongs to the unloved wife, 16 then on the day when he wills his possessions to his sons, he cannot treat the son of his loved wife as firstborn in place of the son of the unloved wife—the [actual] firstborn. 17 Instead he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved as the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he was the beginning of his strength (generative power); to him belongs the right of the firstborn.
18 “If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or of his mother, and when they reprimand and discipline him, he will not listen to them, 19 then his father and mother shall take hold of him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. 20 They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
22 “And if a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death and [afterward] you hang him on a tree [as a public example], 23 his body shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall most certainly bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is cursed by God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.
Psalms 108-109
1 O God, my heart is steadfast [with confident faith];
I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my soul.
2
Awake, harp and lyre;
I will awaken the dawn!
3
I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the people;
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
4
For Your lovingkindness is great and higher than the heavens;
Your truth reaches to the skies.
5
Be exalted [in majesty], O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth.
6
That Your beloved [ones] may be rescued,
Save with Your right hand, and answer me!
7
God has spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice, I will portion out Shechem [as I divide Canaan among My people],
And measure out the Valley of Succoth.
8
“Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the helmet of My head [My stronghold, My defense];
Judah is My scepter.
9
“Moab is My washbowl;
Over Edom I will throw My shoe [to show Edom is Mine];
Over Philistia I will shout [in triumph].”
10
Who will bring me into the fortified city [of Petra]?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11
Have You not rejected us, O God?
And will You not go out, O God, with our armies?
12
Give us help against the adversary,
For deliverance by man is in vain [a worthless hope].
13
With God we will do valiantly,
For it is He who will trample down our enemies.
1 O God of my praise!
Do not keep silent,
2
For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me;
They have spoken against me with a lying tongue.
3
They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And have fought against me without a cause.
4
In return for my love, they attack me,
But I am in prayer.
5
They have repaid me evil for good,
And hatred for my love.
6
Appoint a wicked man against him,
And let an attacker stand at his right hand [to kill him].
7
When he enters into dispute, let wickedness come about.
Let his prayer [for help] result [only] in sin.
8
Let his days be few;
And let another take his office.
9
Let his children be fatherless
And his wife a widow.
10
Let his children wander and beg;
Let them seek their food and be driven far from their ruined homes.
11
Let the creditor seize all that he has,
And let strangers plunder the product of his labor.
12
Let there be no one to extend kindness to him,
Nor let anyone be gracious to his fatherless children.
13
Let his descendants be cut off,
And in the following generation let their name be blotted out.
14
Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered by the Lord;
And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15
Let them be before the Lord continually,
That He may cut off their memory from the earth;
16
Because the man did not remember to show kindness,
But persecuted the suffering and needy man,
And the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17
He also loved cursing, and it came [back] to him;
He did not delight in blessing, so it was far from him.
18
He clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
And it seeped into his inner self like water
And like [anointing] oil into his bones.
19
Let it be to him as a robe with which he covers himself,
And as a sash with which he is constantly bound.
20
Let this be the reward of my attackers from the Lord,
And of those who speak evil against my life.
21
But You, O God, the Lord, show kindness to me, for Your name’s sake;
Because Your lovingkindness (faithfulness, compassion) is good, O rescue me;
22
For I am suffering and needy,
And my heart is wounded within me.
23
I am vanishing like a shadow when it lengthens and fades;
I am shaken off like the locust.
24
My knees are unsteady from fasting;
And my flesh is gaunt and without fatness.
25
I also have become a reproach and an object of taunting to others;
When they see me, they shake their heads [in derision].
26
Help me, O Lord my God;
Save me according to Your lovingkindness—
27
And let them know that this is Your hand;
You, Lord, have done it.
28
Let them curse, but You bless.
When adversaries arise, let them be ashamed,
But let Your servant rejoice.
29
Let my attackers be clothed with dishonor,
And let them cover themselves with their own shame as with a robe.
30
I will give great praise and thanks to the Lord with my mouth;
And in the midst of many I will praise Him.
31
For He will stand at the right hand of the needy,
To save him from those who judge his soul.
Isaiah 48
1 “Hear this, O house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel
And who come from the seed of Judah,
You who swear [allegiance] by the name of the Lord
And invoke the God of Israel,
But not in truth (sincerity) nor in righteousness [with moral and spiritual integrity].
2
“For they call themselves [citizens of Jerusalem] after the holy city
And depend on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name.
3
“I have declared the former things [which happened to Israel] in times past;
They went forth from My mouth and I proclaimed them;
Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass.
4
“Because I know that you are obstinate,
And your neck is an iron tendon
And your brow is bronze [both unyielding],
5
I have declared them to you long ago;
Before they came to pass I announced them to you,
So that you could not say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my carved image and my cast image have commanded them.’
6
“You have heard [these things foretold]; look at all this [that has been fulfilled].
And you, will you not declare it?
I proclaim to you [specific] new things from this time,
Even hidden things which you have not known.
7
“They are created now [called into being by the prophetic word] and not long ago;
And before today you have not heard of them,
So that you will not say, ‘Oh yes! I knew them.’
8
“You have not heard, you have not known;
Even from long ago your ear has not been open.
For I [the Lord] knew that you [Israel] would act very treacherously;
You have been called a transgressor and a rebel from birth.
9
“For the sake of My Name I refrain from My wrath,
And for My praise I restrain Myself from you,
So that I do not cut you off.
10
“Indeed, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested and chosen you in the furnace of affliction.
11
“For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it [I refrain and do not completely destroy you];
For how can My Name be defiled and profaned [as it would if My chosen people were completely destroyed]?
And I will not give My glory to another [by permitting the worshipers of idols to triumph over you].
12
“Listen to Me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called;
I am He, I am the First, I am the Last.
13
“My hand founded and established the earth,
And My right hand spread out the heavens;
When I call to them, they stand together [in obedience to carry out My decrees].
14
“Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them [the idols and Chaldean astrologers] has declared these things?
The Lord loves him (Cyrus of Persia); he will do His pleasure and purpose against Babylon,
And his arm will be against the Chaldeans [who reign in Babylon].
15
“I, even I, have spoken; indeed, I have called Cyrus;
I have brought him, and will make his way successful.
16
“Come near to Me, listen to this:
From the beginning I have not spoken in secret,
From the time that it happened, I was there.
And now the Lord God has sent Me, and His [Holy] Spirit.”
17 This is what the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel says,
“I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit (benefit),
Who leads you in the way that you should go.
18
“Oh, that you had paid attention to My commandments!
Then your peace and prosperity would have been like a [flowing] river,
And your righteousness [the holiness and purity of the nation] like the [abundant] waves of the sea.
19
“Your offspring would have been like the sand,
And your descendants [in number] like the grains of sand;
Their name would never be cut off or destroyed from My presence.”
20
Get out of Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans [who reign there]!
Declare with a voice of jubilation, proclaim this,
Send it out to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has redeemed His servant Jacob.”
21
They did not thirst when He led them through the deserts.
He made the waters flow out of the rock for them;
He split the rock and the waters flowed.
22
“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.
Revelations 18
1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, possessing great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his splendor and radiance. 2 And he shouted with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen [certainly to be destroyed] is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a dungeon haunted by every unclean spirit, and a prison for every unclean and loathsome bird. 3 For all the nations have drunk from the wine of the passion of her [sexual] immorality, and the kings and political leaders of the earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth and economic power of her sensuous luxury.”
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not be a partner in her sins and receive her plagues; 5 for her sins (crimes, transgressions) have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her wickedness and crimes [for judgment]. 6 Repay to her even as she has repaid others, and pay back [to her] double [her torment] in accordance with what she has done; in the cup [of sin and suffering] which she mixed, mix a double portion [of perfect justice] for her. 7 To the degree that she glorified herself and reveled and gloated in her sensuality [living deliciously and luxuriously], to that same degree impose on her torment and anguish, and mourning and grief; for in her heart she boasts, ‘I sit as a queen [on a throne] and I am not a widow, and will never, ever see mourning or experience grief.’ 8 For this reason in a single day her plagues (afflictions, calamities) will come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire and completely consumed; for strong and powerful is the Lord God who judges her.
9 “And the kings and political leaders of the earth, who committed immorality and lived luxuriously with her, will weep and beat their chests [in mourning] over her when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 standing a long way off, in fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, the strong city, Babylon! In a single hour your judgment has come.’
11 “And merchants of the earth will weep and grieve over her, because no one buys their cargo (goods, merchandise) anymore— 12 cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet; all kinds of citron (scented) wood and every article of ivory and every article of very costly and lavish wood and bronze and iron and marble; 13 and cinnamon and spices and incense and perfume and frankincense and wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat; of cattle and sheep, and cargoes of horses and chariots and carriages; and of slaves and human lives. 14 The ripe fruits and delicacies of your soul’s desire have gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and extravagant are lost to you, never again to be found. 15 The merchants who handled these articles, who grew wealthy from [their business with] her, will stand a long way off in fear of her torment, weeping and mourning aloud, 16 saying, ‘Woe, woe, for the great city that was robed in fine linen, in purple and scarlet, gilded and adorned with gold, with precious stones, and with pearls; 17 because in one hour all the vast wealth has been laid waste.’ And every ship captain or navigator, and every passenger and sailor, and all who make their living by the sea, stood a long way off, 18 and exclaimed as they watched the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What could be compared to the great city?’ 19 And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, ‘Woe, woe, for the great city, where all who had ships at sea grew rich from her great wealth, because in one hour she has been laid waste!’ 20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints (God’s people) and apostles and prophets [who were martyred], because God has executed vengeance for you [through righteous judgment] upon her.”
21 Then a single powerful angel picked up a boulder like a great millstone and flung it into the sea, saying, “With such violence will Babylon the great city be hurled down [by the sudden, spectacular judgment of God], and will never again be found. 22 And the sound of harpists and musicians and flutists and trumpeters will never again be heard in you, and no skilled artisan of any craft will ever again be found in you, and the sound of the millstone [grinding grain] will never again be heard in you [for commerce will no longer flourish, and normal life will cease]. 23 And never again will the light of a lamp shine in you, and never again will the voice of the bridegroom and bride be heard in you; for your merchants were the great and prominent men of the earth, because all the nations were deceived and misled by your sorcery [your magic spells and poisonous charm]. 24 And in Babylon was found the blood of prophets and of saints (God’s people) and of all those who have been slaughtered on the earth.”
