Day 40 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 28

¹To You, O LORD, I call; be not deaf to me, O my Rock. For if You remain silent, I will be like those descending to the Pit. ²Hear my cry for mercy when I call to You for help, when I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary. ³Do not drag me away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, who speak peace to their neighbors while malice is in their hearts. ⁴Repay them according to their deeds and for their works of evil. Repay them for what their hands have done; bring back on them what they deserve. ⁵Since they show no regard for the works of the LORD or what His hands have done, He will tear them down and never rebuild them. ⁶Blessed be the LORD, for He has heard my cry for mercy. ⁷The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I give thanks to Him with my song. ⁸The LORD is the strength of His people, a stronghold of salvation for His anointed. ⁹Save Your people and bless Your inheritance; shepherd them and carry them forever.

New Testament·Matthew 24:39–51

³⁹And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. ⁴²Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come. ⁴³But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect. ⁴⁵Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. ⁴⁷Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. ⁴⁸But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’ ⁴⁹And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. ⁵⁰The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. ⁵¹Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Old Testament·Exodus 22–23

¹“If a man steals an ox or a sheep and slaughters or sells it, he must repay five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. ²If a thief is caught breaking in and is beaten to death, no one shall be guilty of bloodshed. ³But if it happens after sunrise, there is guilt for his bloodshed. A thief must make full restitution; if he has nothing, he himself shall be sold for his theft. ⁴If what was stolen is actually found alive in his possession—whether ox or donkey or sheep—he must pay back double. ⁵If a man grazes his livestock in a field or vineyard and allows them to stray so that they graze in someone else’s field, he must make restitution from the best of his own field or vineyard. ⁶If a fire breaks out and spreads to thornbushes so that it consumes stacked or standing grain, or the whole field, the one who started the fire must make full restitution. ⁷If a man gives his neighbor money or goods for safekeeping and they are stolen from the neighbor’s house, the thief, if caught, must pay back double. ⁸If the thief is not found, the owner of the house must appear before the judges to determine whether he has taken his neighbor’s property. ⁹In all cases of illegal possession of an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any lost item that someone claims, ‘This is mine,’ both parties shall bring their cases before the judges. The one whom the judges find guilty must pay back double to his neighbor. ¹⁰If a man gives a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any other animal to be cared for by his neighbor, but it dies or is injured or stolen while no one is watching, ¹¹an oath before the LORD shall be made between the parties to determine whether or not the man has taken his neighbor’s property. The owner must accept the oath and require no restitution. ¹²But if the animal was actually stolen from the neighbor, he must make restitution to the owner. ¹³If the animal was torn to pieces, he shall bring it as evidence; he need not make restitution for the torn carcass. ¹⁴If a man borrows an animal from his neighbor and it is injured or dies while its owner is not present, he must make full restitution. ¹⁵If the owner was present, no restitution is required. If the animal was rented, the fee covers the loss. ¹⁶If a man seduces a virgin who is not pledged in marriage and sleeps with her, he must pay the full dowry for her to be his wife. ¹⁷If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, the man still must pay an amount comparable to the bridal price of a virgin. ¹⁸You must not allow a sorceress to live. ¹⁹Whoever lies with an animal must surely be put to death. ²⁰If anyone sacrifices to any god other than the LORD alone, he must be set apart for destruction. ²¹You must not exploit or oppress a foreign resident, for you yourselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt. ²²You must not mistreat any widow or orphan. ²³If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to Me in distress, I will surely hear their cry. ²⁴My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless. ²⁵If you lend money to one of My people among you who is poor, you must not act as a creditor to him; you are not to charge him interest. ²⁶If you take your neighbor’s cloak as collateral, return it to him by sunset, ²⁷because his cloak is the only covering he has for his body. What else will he sleep in? And if he cries out to Me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. ²⁸You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people. ²⁹You must not hold back offerings from your granaries or vats. You are to give Me the firstborn of your sons. ³⁰You shall do likewise with your cattle and your sheep. Let them stay with their mothers for seven days, but on the eighth day you are to give them to Me. ³¹You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs.

23“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness. ²You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd. ³And do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit. ⁴If you encounter your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him. ⁵If you see the donkey of one who hates you fallen under its load, do not leave it there; you must help him with it. ⁶You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits. ⁷Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty. ⁸Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous. ⁹Do not oppress a foreign resident, since you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners; for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. ¹⁰For six years you are to sow your land and gather its produce, ¹¹but in the seventh year you must let it rest and lie fallow, so that the poor among your people may eat from the field and the wild animals may consume what they leave. Do the same with your vineyard and olive grove. ¹²For six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you must cease, so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the son of your maidservant may be refreshed, as well as the foreign resident. ¹³Pay close attention to everything I have said to you. You must not invoke the names of other gods; they must not be heard on your lips. ¹⁴Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me. ¹⁵You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed. ¹⁶You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field. And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field. ¹⁷Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD. ¹⁸You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning. ¹⁹Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk. ²⁰Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. ²¹Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him. ²²But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. ²³For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them. ²⁴You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces. ²⁵So you shall serve the LORD your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you. ²⁶No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days. ²⁷I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run. ²⁸I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. ²⁹I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you. ³⁰Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land. ³¹And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. ³²You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. ³³They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”