February 28

Deuteronomy 11:1 — 13:18

11 “And you must love Jehovah your God and keep your obligation to him and his statutes and his judicial decisions and his commandments always. 2 And YOU well know today (for [I do] not [address] YOUR sons who have not known and who have not seen the discipline of Jehovah YOUR God, his greatness, his strong hand and his outstretched arm, 3 nor his signs and his deeds that he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land; 4 nor what he did to the military forces of Egypt, to his horses and his war chariots against the faces of which he made the waters of the Red Sea overflow when they were chasing after them, and Jehovah proceeded to destroy them till this day; 5 nor what he has done to YOU in the wilderness until YOUR coming to this place; 6 nor what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab the son of Reuben, when the earth opened its mouth and proceeded to swallow them up and their households and their tents and every existing thing that stepped after them in the midst of all Israel); 7 for YOUR eyes were the ones seeing all the great deeds of Jehovah that he did.

8 “And YOU must keep the whole commandment that I am commanding you today, in order that YOU may grow strong and may indeed enter in and take possession of the land to which YOU are crossing to take possession of it, 9 and in order that YOU may lengthen YOUR days on the soil that Jehovah swore to YOUR forefathers to give to them and their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.

10 “For the land to which you are going to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt out of which YOU came, where you used to sow your seed and you had to do irrigating with your foot, like a garden of vegetables. 11 But the land to which YOU are crossing to take possession of it is a land of mountains and valley plains. Of the rain of the heavens it drinks water; 12 a land that Jehovah your God is caring for. The eyes of Jehovah your God are constantly upon it, from the beginning of the year to the close of the year.

13 “And it must occur that if YOU will without fail obey my commandments that I am commanding YOU today so as to love Jehovah YOUR God and to serve him with all YOUR heart and all YOUR soul, 14 I also shall certainly give rain for YOUR land at its appointed time, autumn rain and spring rain, and you will indeed gather your grain and your sweet wine and your oil. 15 And I shall certainly give vegetation in your field for your domestic animals, and you will indeed eat and be satisfied. 16 Watch out for yourselves for fear YOUR heart may be enticed, and YOU do turn aside and worship other gods and bow down to them, 17 and Jehovah’s anger does blaze against YOU, and he does shut up the heavens so that no rain will occur and the ground will not give its produce and YOU have to perish speedily from off the good land that Jehovah is giving YOU.

18 “And YOU must apply these words of mine to YOUR heart and YOUR soul and bind them as a sign upon YOUR hand, and they must serve as a frontlet band between YOUR eyes. 19 YOU must also teach them to YOUR sons, so as to speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road and when you lie down and when you get up. 20 And you must write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 in order that YOUR days and the days of YOUR sons may be many on the soil that Jehovah swore to YOUR forefathers to give to them, as the days of the heavens over the earth.

22 “For if YOU strictly keep all this commandment that I am commanding YOU so as to do it, to love Jehovah YOUR God, to walk in all his ways and to cling to him, 23 Jehovah also must drive away all these nations on account of YOU, and YOU will certainly dispossess nations greater and more numerous than YOU are. 24 Every place on which the sole of YOUR foot will tread will become YOURS. From the wilderness up to Lebanon, from the River, the river Euphrates, to the western sea YOUR boundary will become. 25 No man will make a firm stand against YOU. The dread of YOU and the fear of YOU Jehovah YOUR God will put before the face of all the land on which YOU will tread, just as he has promised YOU.

26 “See, I am putting before YOU today blessing and malediction: 27 the blessing, provided YOU will obey the commandments of Jehovah YOUR God that I am commanding YOU today; 28 and the malediction, if YOU will not obey the commandments of Jehovah YOUR God and YOU do turn aside from the way about which I am commanding YOU today, so as to walk after other gods whom YOU have not known.

29 “And it must occur that when Jehovah your God brings you into the land to which you are going to take possession of it, you must also give the blessing upon Mount Gerizim and the malediction upon Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the side of the Jordan toward the direction of the sunset, in the land of the Canaanites dwelling in the Arabah, in front of Gilgal, beside the big trees of Moreh? 31 For YOU are crossing the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land that Jehovah YOUR God is giving YOU, and YOU must take possession of it and dwell in it. 32 And YOU must be careful to carry out all the regulations and the judicial decisions that I am putting before YOU today.

(February 29th)
12 “These are the regulations and the judicial decisions that YOU should be careful to carry out in the land that Jehovah the God of your forefathers will certainly allow you to take possession of, all the days that YOU are alive on the soil. 2 YOU should absolutely destroy all the places where the nations whom YOU are dispossessing have served their gods, on the tall mountains and the hills and under every luxuriant tree. 3 And YOU must pull down their altars and shatter their sacred pillars, and YOU should burn their sacred poles in the fire and cut down the graven images of their gods, and YOU must destroy their names from that place.

4 “YOU must not do that way to Jehovah YOUR God, 5 but to the place that Jehovah YOUR God will choose out of all YOUR tribes to place his name there, to have it reside, YOU will seek, and there you must come. 6 And there YOU must bring YOUR burnt offerings and YOUR sacrifices and YOUR tenth parts and the contribution of YOUR hand and YOUR vow offerings and YOUR voluntary offerings and the firstborn ones of YOUR herd and of YOUR flock. 7 And there YOU must eat before Jehovah YOUR God and rejoice in every undertaking of YOURS, YOU and YOUR households, because Jehovah your God has blessed you.

       8 “YOU must not do according to all that we are doing here today, each one whatever is right in his own eyes, 9 because YOU have not yet come into the resting-place and the inheritance that Jehovah your God is giving you. 10 And YOU must cross the Jordan and dwell in the land that Jehovah YOUR God is giving YOU as a possession, and he will certainly give YOU rest from all YOUR enemies round about, and YOU will indeed dwell in security. 11 And it must occur that the place that Jehovah YOUR God will choose to have his name reside there is where YOU will bring all about which I am commanding YOU, YOUR burnt offerings and YOUR sacrifices, YOUR tenth parts and the contribution of YOUR hand and every choice of YOUR vow offerings that YOU will vow to Jehovah. 12 And YOU must rejoice before Jehovah YOUR God, YOU and YOUR sons and YOUR daughters and YOUR man slaves and YOUR slave girls and the Levite who is inside YOUR gates, because he has no share or inheritance with YOU. 13 Watch out for yourself for fear you may offer up your burnt offerings in any other place you may see. 14 But in the place that Jehovah will choose in one of your tribes is where you should offer up your burnt offerings, and there you should do all that I am commanding you.

15 “Only whenever your soul craves it you may slaughter, and you must eat meat according to the blessing of Jehovah your God that he has given you, inside all your gates. The unclean one and the clean one may eat it, like the gazelle and like the stag. 16 Only the blood YOU must not eat. On the earth you should pour it out as water. 17 You will not be allowed to eat inside your gates the tenth part of your grain or of your new wine or of your oil or the firstborn ones of your herd and of your flock or any of your vow offerings that you will vow or your voluntary offerings or the contribution of your hand. 18 But before Jehovah your God you will eat it, in the place that Jehovah your God will choose, you and your son and your daughter and your man slave and your slave girl and the Levite who is inside your gates; and you must rejoice before Jehovah your God in every undertaking of yours. 19 Watch out for yourself that you may not abandon the Levite all your days on your soil.

20 “When Jehovah your God will widen out your territory, just as he has promised you, and you will be certain to say, ‘Let me eat meat,’ because your soul craves to eat meat, whenever your soul craves it you may eat meat. 21 In case the place that Jehovah your God will choose to put his name there should be far away from you, you must then slaughter some of your herd or some of your flock that Jehovah has given you, just as I have commanded you, and you must eat inside your gates whenever your soul craves it. 22 Only in the way that the gazelle and the stag may be eaten, so you may eat it: the unclean one and the clean one together may eat it. 23 Simply be firmly resolved not to eat the blood, because the blood is the soul and you must not eat the soul with the flesh. 24 You must not eat it. You should pour it out upon the ground as water. 25 You must not eat it, in order that it may go well with you and your sons after you, because you will do what is right in Jehovah’s eyes. 26 Merely your holy things that will become yours, and your vow offerings you should carry, and you must come to the place that Jehovah will choose. 27 And you must render up your burnt offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of Jehovah your God; and the blood of your sacrifices should be poured out against the altar of Jehovah your God, but the flesh you may eat.

28 “Watch, and you must obey all these words that I am commanding you, in order that it may go well with you and your sons after you to time indefinite, because you will do what is good and right in the eyes of Jehovah your God.

29 “When Jehovah your God will cut off from before you the nations to whom you are going to dispossess them, you must also dispossess them and dwell in their land. 30 Watch out for yourself for fear you may be entrapped after them, after they have been annihilated from before you, and for fear you may inquire respecting their gods, saying, ‘How was it these nations used to serve their gods? And I, yes, I, will do the same way.’ 31 You must not do that way to Jehovah your God, for everything detestable to Jehovah that he does hate they have done to their gods, for even their sons and their daughters they regularly burn in the fire to their gods. 32 Every word that I am commanding YOU is what YOU should be careful to do. YOU must not add to it nor take away from it.

13 “In case a prophet or a dreamer of a dream arises in your midst and does give you a sign or a portent, 2 and the sign or the portent does come true of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us walk after other gods, whom you have not known, and let us serve them,’ 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to the dreamer of that dream, because Jehovah YOUR God is testing YOU to know whether YOU are loving Jehovah YOUR God with all YOUR heart and all YOUR soul. 4 After Jehovah YOUR God YOU should walk, and him YOU should fear, and his commandments YOU should keep, and to his voice YOU should listen, and him YOU should serve, and to him YOU should cling. 5 And that prophet or that dreamer of the dream should be put to death, because he has spoken of revolt against Jehovah YOUR God, who has brought YOU out of the land of Egypt and has redeemed you from the house of slaves, to turn you from the way in which Jehovah your God has commanded you to walk; and you must clear out what is evil from your midst.

6 “In case your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or your cherished wife or your companion who is like your own soul, should try to allure you in secrecy, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ whom you have not known, neither you nor your forefathers, 7 some of the gods of the peoples who are all around YOU, the ones near you or those far away from you, from one end of the land to the other end of the land, 8 you must not accede to his wish or listen to him, nor should your eye feel sorry for him, nor must you feel compassion, nor cover him [protectively]; 9 but you should kill him without fail. Your hand first of all should come upon him to put him to death, and the hand of all the people afterward. 10 And you must stone him with stones, and he must die, because he has sought to turn you away from Jehovah your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves. 11 Then all Israel will hear and become afraid, and they will not do anything like this bad thing again in your midst.

12 “In case you hear it said in one of your cities, which Jehovah your God is giving you to dwell there, 13 ‘Good-for-nothing men have gone out from your midst that they may try to turn away the inhabitants of their city, saying: “Let us go and serve other gods,” whom you have not known,’ 14 you must also search and investigate and inquire thoroughly; and if the thing is established as the truth, this detestable thing has been done in your midst, 15 you should without fail strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword. Devote it and everything that is in it, and its domestic animals, to destruction at the edge of the sword. 16 And all its spoil you should collect into the middle of its public square, and you must burn in the fire the city and all its spoil as a whole offering to Jehovah your God, and it must become a heap of ruins to time indefinite. It should never be rebuilt. 17 And nothing at all should stick to your hand of the thing made sacred by ban, in order that Jehovah may turn from his burning anger and may indeed give you mercy and he may certainly show you mercy and multiply you, just as he has sworn to your forefathers. 18 For you should listen to the voice of Jehovah your God by keeping all his commandments that I am commanding you today, so as to do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah your God.

End of February