Day 24 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Exodus 19

1 And in the third month of the departure of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came into the wilderness of Sina. 2 And they departed from Raphidin, and came into the wilderness of Sina, and there Israel encamped before the mountain. 3 And Moses went up to the mount of God, and God called him out of the mountain, saying, These things shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and thou shalt report them to the children of Israel. 4 Ye have seen all that I have done to the Egyptians, and I took you up as upon eagles' wings, and I brought you near to myself. 5 And now if ye will indeed hear my voice, and keep my covenant, ye shall be to me a peculiar people above all nations; for the whole earth is mine. 6 And ye shall be to me a royal priesthood and a holy nation: these words shalt thou speak to the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and he set before them all these words, which God appointed them. 8 And all the people answered with one accord, and said, All things that God has spoken, we will do and hearken to: and Moses reported these words to God. 9 And the Lord said to Moses, Lo! I come to thee in a pillar of a cloud, that the people may hear me speaking to thee, and may believe thee for ever: and Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and solemnly charge the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and let them wash their garments. 11 And let them be ready against the third day, for on the third day the Lord will descend upon mount Sina before all the people. 12 And thou shalt separate the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves that ye go not up into the mountain, nor touch any part of it: every one that touches the mountain shall surely die. 13 A hand shall not touch it, for [every one that touches] shall be stoned with stones or shot through with a dart, whether beast or whether man, it shall not live: when the voices and trumpets and cloud depart from off the mountain, they shall come up on the mountain. 14 And Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified them, and they washed their clothes. 15 And he said to the people, Be ready: for three days come not near to a woman. 16 And it came to pass on the third day, as the morning drew nigh, there were voices and lightnings and a dark cloud on mount Sina: the voice of the trumpet sounded loud, and all the people in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses led the people forth out of the camp to meet God, and they stood by under the mountain. 18 The mount of Sina was altogether on a smoke, because God had descended upon it in fire; and the smoke went up as the smoke of a furnace, and the people were exceedingly amazed. 19 And the sounds of the trumpet were waxing very much louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice. 20 And the Lord came down upon mount Sina on the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 And God spoke to Moses, saying, Go down, and solemnly charge the people, lest at any time they draw nigh to God to gaze, and a multitude of them fall. 22 And let the priests that draw nigh to the Lord God sanctify themselves, lest he destroy some of them. 23 And Moses said to God, The people will not be able to approach to the mount of Sina, for thou hast solemnly charged us, saying, Set bounds to the mountain and sanctify it. 24 And the Lord said to him, Go, descend, and come up thou and Aaron with thee; but let not the priests and the people force their way to come up to God, lest the Lord destroy some of them. 25 And Moses went down to the people, and spoke to them.

Exodus 20

1 And the Lord spoke all these words, saying: 2 I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods beside me. 4 Thou shalt not make to thyself an idol, nor likeness of anything, whatever things are in the heaven above, and whatever are in the earth beneath, and whatever are in the waters under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bow down to them, nor serve them; for I am the Lord thy God, a jealous God, recompensing the sins of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generation to them that hate me, 6 and bestowing mercy on them that love me to thousands [of them], and on them that keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord thy God will not acquit him that takes his name in vain. 8 Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. 9 Six days thou shalt labour, and shalt perform all thy work. 10 But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God; on it thou shalt do no work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy servant nor thy maidservant, thine ox nor thine ass, nor any cattle of thine, nor the stranger that sojourns with thee. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, and the sea and all things in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. 12 Honour thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the good land, which the Lord thy God gives to thee. 13 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 14 Thou shalt not steal. 15 Thou shalt not kill. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house; nor his field, nor his servant, nor his maid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any of his cattle, nor whatever belongs to thy neighbour. 18 And all the people perceived the thundering, and the flashes, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and all the people feared and stood afar off, 19 and said to Moses, Speak thou to us, and let not God speak to us, lest we die. 20 And Moses says to them, Be of good courage, for God is come to you to try you, that his fear may be among you, that ye sin not. 21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses went into the darkness where God was. 22 And the Lord said to Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and thou shalt report it to the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 Ye shall not make to yourselves gods of silver, and gods of gold ye shall not make to yourselves. 24 Ye shall make to me an altar of earth; and upon it ye shall sacrifice your whole burnt-offerings, and your peace-offerings, and your sheep and your calves in every place, where I shall record my name; and I will come to thee and bless thee. 25 And if thou wilt make to me an altar of stones, thou shalt not build them hewn [stones]; for thou hast lifted up thy tool upon them, and they are defiled. 26 Thou shalt not go up to my altar by steps, that thou mayest not uncover thy nakedness upon it.

Exodus 21

1 And these [are] the ordinances which thou shalt set before them. 2 If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve thee, and in the seventh year he shall go forth free for nothing. 3 If he should have come in alone, he shall also go forth alone; and if his wife should have gone in together with him, his wife also shall go out. 4 Moreover, if his master give him a wife, and she have [born] him sons or daughters, the wife and the children shall be his master's; and he shall go forth alone. 5 And if the servant should answer and say, I love my master and wife and children, I will not go away free; 6 his master shall bring him to the judgment-seat of God, and then shall he bring him to the door,—to the door-post, and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall serve him for ever. 7 And if any one sell his daughter as a domestic, she shall not depart as the maid-servants depart. 8 If she be not pleasing to her master, after she has betrothed herself to him, he shall let her go free; but he is not at liberty to sell her to a foreign nation, because he has trifled with her. 9 And if he should have betrothed her to his son, he shall do to her according to the right of daughters. 10 And if he take another to himself, he shall not deprive her of necessaries and her apparel, and her companionship [with him]. 11 And if he will not do these three things to her, she shall go out free without money. 12 And if any man smite another and he die, let him be certainly put to death. 13 But as for him that did it not willingly, but God delivered him into his hands, I will give thee a place whither the slayer may flee. 14 And if any one lie in wait for his neighbour to slay him by craft, and he go for refuge, thou shalt take him from my altar to put him to death. 15 Whoever smites his father or his mother, let him be certainly put to death. 16 He that reviles his father or his mother shall surely die. 17 Whosoever shall steal one of the children of Israel, and prevail over him and sell him, and he be found with him, let him certainly die. 18 And if two men revile each other and smite the one the other with a stone or his fist, and he die not, but be laid upon his bed; 19 if the man arise and walk abroad on his staff, he that smote him shall be clear; only he shall pay for his loss of time, and for his healing. 20 And if a man smite his man-servant or his maid-servant, with a rod, and [the party] die under his hands, he shall be surely punished. 21 But if [the servant] continue to live a day or two, let not [the master] be punished; for he is his money. 22 And if two men strive and smite a woman with child, and her child be born imperfectly formed, he shall be forced to pay a penalty: as the woman's husband may lay upon him, he shall pay with a valuation. 23 But if it be perfectly formed, he shall give life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. 26 And if one smite the eye of his man-servant, or the eye of his maid-servant, and put it out, he shall let them go free for their eye's sake. 27 And if he should smite out the tooth of his man-servant, or the tooth of his maid-servant, he shall send them away free for their tooth's sake. 28 And if a bull gore a man or woman and they die, the bull shall be stoned with stones, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the bull shall be clear. 29 But if the bull should have been given to goring in former time, and men should have told his owner, and he have not removed him, but he should have slain a man or woman, the bull shall be stoned, and his owner shall die also. 30 And if a ransom should be imposed on him, he shall pay for the ransom of his soul as much as they shall lay upon him. 31 And if [the bull] gore a son or daughter, let them do to him according to this ordinance. 32 And if the bull gore a man-servant or maid-servant, he shall pay to their master thirty silver didrachms, and the bull shall be stoned. 33 And if any one open a pit or dig a cavity in stone, and cover it not, and an ox or an ass fall in there, 34 the owner of the pit shall make compensation; he shall give money to their owner, and the dead shall be his own. 35 And if any man's bull gore the bull of his neighbour, and it die, they shall sell the living bull and divide the money, and they shall divide the dead bull. 36 But if the bull be known to have been given to goring in time past, and they have testified to his owner, and he have not removed him, he shall repay bull for bull, but the dead shall be his own. 37 And if one steal an ox or a sheep, and kill it or sell it, he shall pay five calves for a calf, and four sheep for a sheep.

Matthew 18

1 In that hour the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” 2 Jesus called a little child to himself, and set him in the middle of them 3 and said, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you turn and become as little children, you will in no way enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5 Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if a huge millstone were hung around his neck and that he were sunk in the depths of the sea. 7 “Woe to the world because of occasions of stumbling! For it must be that the occasions come, but woe to that person through whom the occasion comes! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into the eternal fire. 9 If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna of fire. 10 See that you don’t despise one of these little ones, for I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 11 For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost. 12 “What do you think? If a man has one hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine, go to the mountains, and seek that which has gone astray? 13 If he finds it, most certainly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. 15 “If your brother sins against you, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. 16 But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector. 18 Most certainly I tell you, whatever things you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever things you release on earth will have been released in heaven. 19 Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.” 21 Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven. 23 Therefore the Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he had begun to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But because he couldn’t pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, with his wife, his children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, have patience with me, and I will repay you all!’ 27 The lord of that servant, being moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred denarii, and he grabbed him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 “So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will repay you!’ 30 He would not, but went and cast him into prison until he should pay back that which was due. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were exceedingly sorry, and came and told their lord all that was done. 32 Then his lord called him in and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, even as I had mercy on you?’ 34 His lord was angry, and delivered him to the tormentors until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 So my heavenly Father will also do to you, if you don’t each forgive your brother from your hearts for his misdeeds.”