Day 58 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Deuteronomy 17

1 Thou shalt not sacrifice to the Lord thy God a calf or a sheep, in which there is a blemish, [or] any evil thing; for it is an abomination to the Lord thy God. 2 And if there should be found in any one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God gives thee, a man or a woman who shall do that which is evil before the Lord thy God, so as to transgress his covenant, 3 and they should go and serve other gods, and worship them, the sun, or the moon, or any of the host of heaven, which he commanded thee not to do, 4 and it be told thee, and thou shalt have enquired diligently, and, behold, the thing really took place, this abomination has been done in Israel; 5 then shalt thou bring out that man, or that woman, and ye shall stone them with stones, and they shall die. 6 He shall die on the testimony of two or three witnesses; a man who is put to death shall not be put to death for one witness. 7 And the hand of the witnesses shall be upon him among the first to put him to death, and the hand of the people at the last; so shalt thou remove the evil one from among yourselves. 8 And if a matter shall be too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, and between cause and cause, and between stroke and stroke, and between contradiction and contradiction, matters of judgment in your cities; 9 then thou shalt arise and go up to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and thou shalt come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days, and they shall search out [the matter] and report the judgment to thee. 10 And thou shalt act according to the thing which they shall report to thee out of the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, and thou shalt observe to do all whatsoever shall have been by law appointed to thee. 11 Thou shalt do according to the law and to the judgment which they shall declare to thee: thou shalt not swerve to the right hand or to the left from any sentence which they shall report to thee. 12 And the man whosoever shall act in haughtiness, so as not to hearken to the priest who stands to minister in the name of the Lord thy God, or the judge who shall preside in those days, that man shall die, and thou shalt remove the evil one out of Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear and fear, and shall no more commit impiety. 14 And when thou shalt enter into the land which the Lord thy God gives thee, and shalt inherit it and dwell in it, and shalt say, I will set a ruler over me, as also the other nations round about me; 15 thou shalt surely set over thee the ruler whom the Lord God shall choose: of thy brethren thou shalt set over thee a ruler; thou shalt not have power to set over thee a stranger, because he is not thy brother. 16 For he shall not multiply to himself horses, and he shall by no means turn the people back to Egypt, lest he should multiply to himself horses; for the Lord said, Ye shall not any more turn back by that way. 17 And he shall not multiply to himself wives, lest his heart turn away; and he shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. 18 And when he shall be established in his government, then shall he write for himself this repetition of the law into a book by the hands of the priests the Levites; 19 and it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord thy God, and to keep all these commandments, and to observe these ordinances: 20 that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, that he depart not from the commandments on the right hand or on the left; that he and his sons may reign long in his dominion among the children of Israel.

Deuteronomy 18

1 The priests, the Levites, even the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel; the burnt-offerings of the Lord [are] their inheritance, they shall eat them. 2 And they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord himself [is] his portion, as he said to him. 3 And this [is] the due of the priests in the things coming from the people from those who offer sacrifices, whether it be a calf or a sheep; and thou shalt give the shoulder to the priest, and the cheeks, and the great intestine: 4 and the first-fruits of thy corn, and of thy wine, and of thine oil; and thou shalt give to him the first-fruits of the fleeces of thy sheep: 5 because the Lord has chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand before the Lord thy God, to minister and bless in his name, himself and his sons among the children of Israel. 6 And if a Levite come from one of the cities of all the children of Israel, where he himself dwells, accordingly as his mind desires, to the place which he shall have chosen, 7 he shall minister to the name of the Lord his God, as all his brethren the Levites, who stand there present before the Lord thy God. 8 He shall eat an allotted portion, besides the sale of his hereditary property. 9 And when thou shalt have entered into the land which the Lord thy God gives thee, thou shalt not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found in thee one who purges his son or his daughter with fire, one who uses divination, who deals with omens, and augury, 11 a sorcerer employing incantation, one who has in him a divining spirit, an observer of signs, questioning the dead. 12 For every one that does these things is an abomination to the Lord thy God; for because of these abominations the Lord will destroy them from before thy face. 13 Thou shalt be perfect before the Lord thy God. 14 For all these nations whose [land] thou shalt inherit, they will listen to omens and divinations; but the Lord thy God has not permitted thee so [to do]. 15 The Lord thy God shall raise up to thee a prophet of thy brethren, like me; him shall ye hear: 16 according to all things which thou didst desire of the Lord thy God in Choreb in the day of the assembly, saying, We will not again hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and we will not any more see this great fire, and [so] we shall not die. 17 And the Lord said to me, They have spoken rightly all that they have said to thee. 18 I will raise up to them a prophet of their brethren, like thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them as I shall command him. 19 And whatever man shall not hearken to whatsoever words that prophet shall speak in my name, I will take vengeance on him. 20 But the prophet whosoever shall impiously speak in my name a word which I have not commanded him to speak, and whosoever shall speak in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. 21 But if thou shalt say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord has not spoken? 22 Whatsoever words that prophet shall speak in the name of the Lord, and they shall not come true, and not come to pass, this [is] the thing which the Lord has not spoken; that prophet has spoken wickedly: ye shall not spare him.

Deuteronomy 19

1 And when the Lord thy God shall have destroyed the nations, which God gives thee, [even] the land, and ye shall inherit them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses, 2 thou shalt separate for thyself three cities in the midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God gives thee. 3 Take a survey of thy way, and thou shalt divide the coasts of thy land, which the Lord thy God apportions to thee, into three parts, and there shall be there a refuge for every manslayer. 4 And this shall be the ordinance of the manslayer, who shall flee thither, and shall live, whosoever shall have smitten his neighbour ignorantly, whereas he hated him not in times past. 5 And whosoever shall enter with his neighbour into the thicket, to gather wood, if the hand of him that cuts wood with the axe should be violently shaken, and the axe head falling off from the handle should light on his neighbour, and he should die, he shall flee to one of these cities, and live. 6 Lest the avenger of blood pursue after the slayer, because his heart is hot, and overtake him, if the way be too long, and slay him, though there is to this man no sentence of death, because he hated him not in time past. 7 Therefore I charge thee, saying, Thou shalt separate for thyself three cities. 8 And if the Lord shall enlarge thy borders, as he sware to thy fathers, and the Lord shall give to thee all the land which he said he would give to thy fathers; 9 if thou shalt hearken to do all these commands, which I charge thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways continually; thou shalt add for thyself yet three cities to these three. 10 So innocent blood shall not be spilt in the land, which the Lord thy God gives thee to inherit, and there shall not be in thee one guilty of blood. 11 But if there should be in thee a man hating his neighbour, and he should lay wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him, that he die, and he should flee to one of these cities, 12 then shall the elders of his city send, and take him thence, and they shall deliver him into the hands of the avengers of blood, and he shall die. 13 Thine eye shall not spare him; so shalt thou purge innocent blood from Israel, and it shall be well with thee. 14 Thou shalt not move the landmarks of thy neighbour, which thy fathers set in the inheritance, in which thou hast obtained a share in the land, which the Lord thy God gives thee to inherit. 15 One witness shall not stand to testify against a man for any iniquity, or for any fault, or for any sin which he may commit; by the mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three witnesses, shall every word be established. 16 And if an unjust witness rise up against a man, alleging iniquity against him; 17 then shall the two men between whom the controversy is, stand before the Lord, and before the priests, and before the judges, who may be in those days. 18 And the judges shall make diligent inquiry, and, behold, [if] an unjust witness has borne unjust testimony; [and] has stood up against his brother; 19 then shall ye do to him as he wickedly devised to do against his brother, and thou shalt remove the evil from yourselves. 20 And the rest shall hear and fear, and do no more according to this evil thing in the midst of you. 21 Thine eye shall not spare him: [thou shalt exact] life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Mark 14

1 It was now two days before the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might seize him by deception and kill him. 2 For they said, “Not during the feast, because there might be a riot among the people.” 3 While he was at Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at the table, a woman came having an alabaster jar of ointment of pure nard—very costly. She broke the jar and poured it over his head. 4 But there were some who were indignant among themselves, saying, “Why has this ointment been wasted? 5 For this might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” So they grumbled against her. 6 But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. 7 For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for the burying. 9 Most certainly I tell you, wherever this Good News may be preached throughout the whole world, that which this woman has done will also be spoken of for a memorial of her.” 10 Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went away to the chief priests, that he might deliver him to them. 11 They, when they heard it, were glad, and promised to give him money. He sought how he might conveniently deliver him. 12 On the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the Passover, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare that you may eat the Passover?” 13 He sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and there a man carrying a pitcher of water will meet you. Follow him, 14 and wherever he enters in, tell the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, “Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?”’ 15 He will himself show you a large upper room furnished and ready. Get ready for us there.” 16 His disciples went out, and came into the city, and found things as he had said to them, and they prepared the Passover. 17 When it was evening he came with the twelve. 18 As they sat and were eating, Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, one of you will betray me—he who eats with me.” 19 They began to be sorrowful, and to ask him one by one, “Surely not I?” And another said, “Surely not I?” 20 He answered them, “It is one of the twelve, he who dips with me in the dish. 21 For the Son of Man goes as it is written about him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.” 22 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had blessed it, he broke it and gave to them, and said, “Take, eat. This is my body.” 23 He took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave to them. They all drank of it. 24 He said to them, “This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Most certainly I tell you, I will no more drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in God’s Kingdom.” 26 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27 Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28 However, after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.” 29 But Peter said to him, “Although all will be offended, yet I will not.” 30 Jesus said to him, “Most certainly I tell you that you today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” 31 But he spoke all the more, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” They all said the same thing. 32 They came to a place which was named Gethsemane. He said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be greatly troubled and distressed. 34 He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.” 35 He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him. 36 He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.” 37 He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you watch one hour? 38 Watch and pray, that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 39 Again he went away and prayed, saying the same words. 40 Again he returned and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy; and they didn’t know what to answer him. 41 He came the third time and said to them, “Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Arise! Let’s get going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.” 43 Immediately, while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, came—and with him a multitude with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders. 44 Now he who betrayed him had given them a sign, saying, “Whomever I will kiss, that is he. Seize him, and lead him away safely.” 45 When he had come, immediately he came to him and said, “Rabbi! Rabbi!” and kissed him. 46 They laid their hands on him and seized him. 47 But a certain one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. 48 Jesus answered them, “Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to seize me? 49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you didn’t arrest me. But this is so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled.” 50 They all left him, and fled. 51 A certain young man followed him, having a linen cloth thrown around himself over his naked body. The young men grabbed him, 52 but he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked. 53 They led Jesus away to the high priest. All the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes came together with him. 54 Peter had followed him from a distance, until he came into the court of the high priest. He was sitting with the officers, and warming himself in the light of the fire. 55 Now the chief priests and the whole council sought witnesses against Jesus to put him to death, and found none. 56 For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony didn’t agree with each other. 57 Some stood up and gave false testimony against him, saying, 58 “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’” 59 Even so, their testimony didn’t agree. 60 The high priest stood up in the middle, and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is it which these testify against you?” 61 But he stayed quiet, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 Jesus said, “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.” 63 The high priest tore his clothes and said, “What further need have we of witnesses? 64 You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?” They all condemned him to be worthy of death. 65 Some began to spit on him, and to cover his face, and to beat him with fists, and to tell him, “Prophesy!” The officers struck him with the palms of their hands. 66 As Peter was in the courtyard below, one of the maids of the high priest came, 67 and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You were also with the Nazarene, Jesus!” 68 But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you are saying.” He went out on the porch, and the rooster crowed. 69 The maid saw him and began again to tell those who stood by, “This is one of them.” 70 But he again denied it. After a little while again those who stood by said to Peter, “You truly are one of them, for you are a Galilean, and your speech shows it.” 71 But he began to curse and to swear, “I don’t know this man of whom you speak!” 72 The rooster crowed the second time. Peter remembered the words that Jesus said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” When he thought about that, he wept.