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Daily Readings for May 4
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Deuteronomy 21
1.If one be found slain in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it isn't known who has struck him; 2.then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is slain: 3.and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn't been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke; 4.and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. 5.The priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Yahweh your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of Yahweh; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be. 6.All the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 7.and they shall answer and say, "Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. 8.Forgive, Yahweh, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don't allow innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel." The blood shall be forgiven them. 9.So you shall put away the innocent blood from the midst of you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh.
10.When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God delivers them into your hands, and you carry them away captive, 11.and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you have a desire to her, and would take her to you as wife; 12.then you shall bring her home to your house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; 13.and she shall put the clothing of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that you shall go in to her, and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. 14.It shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she will; but you shall not sell her at all for money, you shall not deal with her as a slave, because you have humbled her. 15.If a man have two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers who was hated; 16.then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not make the son of the beloved the firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn: 17.but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his. 18.If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and, though they chasten him, will not listen to them; 19.then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out to the elders of his city, and to the gate of his place; 20.and they shall tell the elders of his city, "This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard." 21.All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
22.If a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and you hang him on a tree; 23.his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God; that you don't defile your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance.
Song of Solomon 1
1.The Song of songs, which is Solomon's.
Beloved 2.Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth; for your love is better than wine. 3.Your oils have a pleasing fragrance. Your name is oil poured forth, therefore the virgins love you. 4.Take me away with you. Let us hurry. The king has brought me into his rooms.
Friends We will be glad and rejoice in you. We will praise your love more than wine!
Beloved They are right to love you. 5.I am dark, but lovely, you daughters of Jerusalem, like Kedar's tents, like Solomon's curtains. 6.Don't stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me. My mother's sons were angry with me. They made me keeper of the vineyards. I haven't kept my own vineyard. 7.Tell me, you whom my soul loves, where you graze your flock, where you rest them at noon; For why should I be as one who is veiled beside the flocks of your companions?
Lover 8.If you don't know, most beautiful among women, follow the tracks of the sheep. Graze your young goats beside the shepherds' tents.
9.I have compared you, my love, to a steed in Pharaoh's chariots. 10.Your cheeks are beautiful with earrings, your neck with strings of jewels. 11.We will make you earrings of gold, with studs of silver.
Beloved 12.While the king sat at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance. 13.My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh, that lies between my breasts. 14.My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.
Lover 15.Behold, you are beautiful, my love. Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves.
Beloved 16.Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, yes, pleasant; and our couch is verdant.
Lover 17.The beams of our house are cedars. Our rafters are firs.
Acts 13
1.Now in the assembly that was at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2.As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them."
3.Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4.So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia. From there they sailed to Cyprus. 5.When they were at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. They had also John as their attendant. 6.When they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar Jesus, 7.who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of understanding. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul, and sought to hear the word of God. 8.But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn aside the proconsul from the faith. 9.But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fastened his eyes on him, 10.and said, "Full of all deceit and all cunning, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? 11.Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a season!"
Immediately a mist and darkness fell on him. He went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12.Then the proconsul, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
13.Now Paul and his company set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John departed from them and returned to Jerusalem. 14.But they, passing on from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia. They went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down. 15.After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak."
16.Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, "Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen. 17.The God of this people48 chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they stayed as aliens in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm, he led them out of it. 18.For a period of about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. 19.When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land for an inheritance, for about four hundred fifty years. 20.After these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. 21.Afterward they asked for a king, and God gave to them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22.When he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, to whom he also testified, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do all my will.' 23.From this man's seed, God has brought salvation49 to Israel according to his promise, 24.before his coming, when John had first preached the baptism of repentance to Israel.50 25.As John was fulfilling his course, he said, 'What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. But behold, one comes after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.' 26.Brothers, children of the stock of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, the word of this salvation is sent out to you. 27.For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they didn't know him, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him. 28.Though they found no cause for death, they still asked Pilate to have him killed. 29.When they had fulfilled all things that were written about him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a tomb. 30.But God raised him from the dead, 31.and he was seen for many days by those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses to the people. 32.We bring you good news of the promise made to the fathers, 33.that God has fulfilled the same to us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second psalm, 'You are my Son. Today I have become your father.'51
34."Concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: 'I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.'52 35.Therefore he says also in another psalm, 'You will not allow your Holy One to see decay.'53 36.For David, after he had in his own generation served the counsel of God, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers, and saw decay. 37.But he whom God raised up saw no decay. 38.Be it known to you therefore, brothers54, that through this man is proclaimed to you remission of sins, 39.and by him everyone who believes is justified from all things, from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. 40.Beware therefore, lest that come on you which is spoken in the prophets: 41.'Behold, you scoffers, and wonder, and perish; for I work a work in your days, a work which you will in no way believe, if one declares it to you.'"55
42.So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. 43.Now when the synagogue broke up, many of the Jews and of the devout proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas; who, speaking to them, urged them to continue in the grace of God. 44.The next Sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of God. 45.But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed.
46.Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, and said, "It was necessary that God's word should be spoken to you first. Since indeed you thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles. 47.For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, 'I have set you as a light for the Gentiles, that you should bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.'"56
48.As the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God. As many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49.The Lord's word was spread abroad throughout all the region. 50.But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, and stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out of their borders. 51.But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came to Iconium. 52.The disciples were filled with joy with the Holy Spirit.