Nancy: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 100 and 55
appoint judges and officials for yourselves.
From each of your tribes and all the towns the Lord your God has given you.
They must judge the people fairly.
You must never twist justice or show partiality.
Never accept a bribe for bribes.
Blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the Godly.
Let true justice prevail so you may live and occupy the land that
the Lord your God is giving you.
You must never set up a wooden, a shera pole beside the altar.
You build for the Lord your God and never set up secret pillars for worship.
For the Lord your God hates them.
Never sacrifice sick or defective cattle, sheep, or goats to the Lord
your God, for he detests such gifts.
When you begin living in the towns, the Lord your God has
given you a man or woman.
Among you might do evil in the sight of the Lord your
God, and violate the covenant.
For instance, they might serve other gods or worship the sun, the moon,
or any of the stars, the forces of heaven, which I have strictly forbidden.
When you hear about it, investigate the matter thoroughly.
If it is true that this detestable thing has been done in Israel, Then
the man or a woman who has committed such an evil act must be taken to
the gates of the town and stoned to death, but never put a person to death.
On the testimony of only one witness, there must always
be two or three witnesses.
The witnesses must throw the first stones, and then all the people may join in.
In this way, you will purge the evil from among you.
Suppose a case arises in a local court that is too hard for you to decide.
For instance, whether someone is guilty of murder or only of manslaughter,
or a difficult lawsuit, or a case involving different kinds of assault.
Take such legal cases to the place, the Lord your God will choose and
present them to the Levitical priests or the judge on duty at that time.
They will hear the case and declare the verdict.
You must carry out the verdict they announce and the sentence they
prescribe at the place the Lord chooses.
You must do exactly what they say after they have interpreted the law
and declare their verdict, the sentence they impose must be fully executed.
Do not modify it in any way.
Anyone arrogant enough to reject the verdict of the judge or of the priest who
represents the Lord, your God must die.
In this way, you will purge the evil from Israel.
Then everyone else will hear about it and be afraid to act so arrogantly.
You are about to enter the land, the Lord your God is giving you.
When you take it over and settle there, you may think we should
select a king to rule over us like the other nations around us.
If this happens, be sure to select as king the man, the Lord your God chooses
You must appoint a fellow Israelite.
He may not be a foreigner.
The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people
to Egypt to buy horses For the Lord has told you you must never return to Egypt.
The king must not take many wives for himself because they will turn
his heart away from the Lord and he must not accumulate large amounts of
wealth and silver and gold for himself.
When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body
of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.
He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as
long as he lives that way, he will learn to fear the Lord is God.
By obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees, this
regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as
if he is above his fellow citizens.
It'll also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the
smallest way, and it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for
many generations in Israel, remember that the Levitical priests, that
is the whole of the tribe of Levi will receive no allotment of land
among the other tribes in Israel.
Instead, the priests and Levites will eat from the special gifts given to the Lord.
For that is their share.
They will have no land of their own among the Israelites.
The Lord himself is their special possession, just as he promised them.
These are the parts the priests may claim as their share from the cattle, sheep, and
goats that the people bring his offerings, the shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach.
You must also give to the priests, the first chair of the grain,
the new wine, the olive oil, and the wool at cheering time.
For the Lord your God chose the tribe of Levi out of all your tribes to minister
in the Lord's name forever supposed Levite chooses to move from his town
in Israel, wherever he is living, to the place the Lord chooses for worship.
He may minister there in the name of the Lord his God, just like all his
fellow levies who are serving the Lord there, he may eat his share of the
sacrifices and offerings, even if he also receives support from his family.
When you enter the land, the Lord your God is giving you, be very
careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nation's living there.
For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering, and
do not let your people practice fortune telling or use sorcery or interpret
omens, or engage in witchcraft or cast spells or function as mediums or psychics,
or call forth the spirits of the dead.
Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.
It is because the other nations have done these detestable things that
the Lord your God will drive them out ahead of you, but you must be
blameless before the Lord your God, the nations you are about to displace.
Consult sorcerers and fortune tellers.
But the Lord your God forbids you to do such things.
Moses continued.
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me, from
among your fellow Israelites.
You must listen to him for this is what you yourselves
requested of the Lord your God.
When you were assembled at Mount Sinai, you said, don't let us hear the voice
of the Lord our God anymore, or see this blazing fire for we will die.
Then the Lord said to me, what they have said is right.
I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites.
I will put my words in his mouth and he will tell the
people everything I command him.
I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to the messages
the prophet proclaims on my behalf.
But any prophet who falsely claims to speak in my name or who speaks
in the name of another God must die.
But you may wonder how will we know whether or not a prophecy is from
the Lord if the prophet speaks in the Lord's name, but his prediction
does not happen or come true.
You will know that the Lord did not give that message that
prophet has spoken without my authority and need not be feared.
When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he is giving you,
you will take over their land and settle in their towns and homes, then you must
set apart three cities of refuge and the land the Lord your God has given you.
Survey the territory and divide the land.
The Lord your God is giving you into three districts with one of
these cities in each district.
Then anyone who has killed someone can flee to one of the
cities of refuge for safety.
If someone kills another person unintentionally without previous
hostility, the slayer may flee to any of these cities to live in safety.
For example, suppose someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to cut wood.
And suppose one of them swings and ax to chop down a tree and the AXS head flies
off the handle killing the other person.
In such cases, the slayer may flee to one of the cities of refuge to live in safety.
If the distance to the nearest city of refuge is too far an enraged avenger
might be able to chase down and kill the person who caused the death.
Then the slayer would die unfairly since he had never shown hostility
toward the person who died.
That is why I am commanding you to set aside three cities of refuge.
And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory as he swore to your
ancestors and gives you all the land he promised them, you must designate
three additional cities of refuge.
He will give you this land if you are careful to obey all
the commands I have given you.
If you always love the Lord your God and walk in his ways.
That way you will prevent the death of innocent people and the
land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.
You will not be held responsible for the death of innocent people.
But suppose someone is hostile toward a neighbor and deliberately
ambushes and murders him and then flees to one of the cities of refuge.
In that case, the elders of the murderer's hometown must send agents
to the city of refuge to bring him back and hand him over to the dead
persons of injure to be put to death.
Do not feel sorry for that murderer.
Purge from Israel.
The guilt of murdering innocent people, then all will go well with you.
When you arrive in the land, the Lord your God has given
you as your special possession.
You must never steal anyone's land.
By moving the boundary markers your ancestors set up to mark their property.
You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness, the
facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
If a malicious witness comes forward and accuses someone of a crime.
Then both the accuser and accused must appear before the Lord by coming
to the priests and judges in office.
At that time, the judges must investigate the case thoroughly.
If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite, you must
impose on the accuser, the sentence he intended for the other person.
In this way, you will purge such evil from among you.
Then the rest of the people will hear about it and be
afraid to do such an evil thing.
You must show no pity for the guilty.
Your rule should be life for life.
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand.
Foot forefoot.
This concludes today's Immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.
I.