Re'eh, רְאֵה

Passages

Torah: Deuteronomy 12:29 - 13:19
Gospel: Acts 8:9 - 8:25

Torah — Deuteronomy 12:29 - 13:19

12:29 “When Yahweh your God has cut off the nations whom you are about to go to, to dispossess them before you, and you have dispossessed them, and you live in their land,

12:30 take care so that you are not ensnared into imitating them after their being destroyed from before you, and so that you not enquire concerning their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods, and thus I myself want to do also.’

12:31 You must not do so toward Yahweh your God, because of every detestable thing they have done for their gods Yahweh hates, for even their sons and their daughters they would burn in the fire to their gods.

12:32 All of the things that I am commanding you, you must diligently observe; you shall not add to it, and you shall not take away from it.”

13:1 “If a prophet stands up in your midst or a dreamer of dreams and he gives to you a sign or wonder,

13:2 and the sign or the wonder comes about that he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (those whom you have not known), and let us serve them,’

13:3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer, for Yahweh your God is testing you to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all of your heart and with all of your inner self.

13:4 You shall go after Yahweh your God, and him you shall revere, and his commandment you shall keep, and to his voice you shall listen, and him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast.

13:5 But that prophet or the dreamer of that dream shall be executed, for he spoke falsely about Yahweh your God, the one bringing you out from the land of Egypt and the one redeeming you from the house of slavery, in order to seduce you from the way that Yahweh your God commanded you to go in it; so in this way you shall purge the evil from your midst.

13:6 “If your brother, the son of your mother or your son or your daughter or your wife whom you embrace or your intimate friend in secrecy says, ‘Let us go and let us serve other gods!’ gods that you and your ancestors have not known,

13:7 from among the gods of the people who are around you, those near you or those far from you, from one end of the earth and up to the other end of the earth,

13:8 you must not give in to him, and you shall not listen to him, and your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall not have compassion, and you shall not cover up for him.

13:9 But you shall certainly kill him; your hand shall be first against him to kill him and next the hand of all of the people.

13:10 And you shall stone him with stones and let him die, for he tried to seduce you from Yahweh your God, the one bringing you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery.

13:11 And all of Israel shall hear, and they shall fear, and they shall not continue to act according to this evil thing in your midst.

13:12 “If you hear in one of your towns which Yahweh your God is giving to you to live in, someone saying that

13:13 worthless men have gone out from your midst and have seduced the inhabitants of their town, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods!’ whom you have not known,

13:14 then you shall inquire and examine and interrogate thoroughly, and, look! It is true; the thing has actually been done, this detestable thing in your midst,

13:15 then you shall certainly strike down the inhabitants of that town with the edge of the sword; you shall destroy it and everything in it, its domestic animals with the edge of the sword.

13:16 And then you shall gather all of its booty into the middle of its public square, and you shall burn the town and all of its war-booty totally for Yahweh your God, and it shall be a pile of rubble forever; it shall not be built again.

13:17 And let not something cling to your hand from the things devoted to destruction, so that Yahweh may turn back from his burning anger, and he may show compassion to you and he may continue to show compassion and so multiply you just as he swore to your ancestors,

13:18 if you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep all of his commandments that I am commanding to you today so as to do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh your God.”

13:19 Verse text not available.

12:29 You are about to attack the land and take it over as your own. When you do, the Lord your God will cut off the nations who live there. He will do it to make room for you. You will drive them out. You will settle in their land.

12:30 They will be destroyed to make room for you. But when they are, be careful. Don’t be trapped. Don’t ask questions about their gods. Don’t say, “How do these nations serve their gods? We’ll do it in the same way.”

12:31 You must not worship the Lord your God the way they worship their gods. When they worship, they do all kinds of evil things the Lord hates. They even burn up their children in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

12:32 Be sure you do everything I’m commanding you to do. Don’t add anything to my commands. And don’t take anything away from them.

13:1 Don’t Worship Other Gods Suppose a prophet appears among you. Or someone comes who uses dreams to tell what’s going to happen. He tells you that a miraculous sign or wonder is going to take place.

13:2 The sign or wonder he has spoken about might really take place. And he might say, “Let’s follow other gods. Let’s worship them.” But you haven’t known anything about those gods before.

13:3 So you must not listen to what that prophet or dreamer has said. The Lord your God is putting you to the test. He wants to know whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

13:4 You must follow him. You must have respect for him. Keep his commands. Obey him. Serve him. Remain true to him.

13:5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death. He told you not to obey the Lord your God. The Lord brought you out of Egypt. He set you free from the land where you were slaves. He commanded you to live the way he wants you to. But that prophet or dreamer has tried to make you turn away from it. Get rid of that evil person.

13:6 Suppose your very own brother or sister secretly tempts you to do something wrong. Or your child or the wife you love tempts you. Or your closest friend does it. Suppose one of them says, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you and your people long ago hadn’t known anything about those gods before.

13:7 They are the gods of the nations that are around you. Those nations might be near or far away. In fact, they might reach from one end of the land to the other.

13:8 Don’t give in to those who are tempting you. Don’t listen to them. Don’t feel sorry for them. Don’t spare them or save them.

13:9 You must certainly put them to death. You must be the first to throw stones at them. Then all of the people must do the same thing.

13:10 Put them to death by throwing stones at them. They tried to turn you away from the Lord your God. He brought you out of Egypt. That’s the land where you were slaves.

13:11 After you kill those who tempted you, all of the people of Israel will hear about it. And they will be too scared to do an evil thing like that again.

13:12 The Lord your God is giving you towns to live in. But suppose you hear something bad about one of those towns.

13:13 You hear that evil men have appeared among you. They’ve tried to get the people of their town to do something wrong. They’ve said, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” But you haven’t known anything about those gods before.

13:14 So you must question people. You must check the matter out carefully. If it’s true, an evil thing has really happened among you. It’s something the Lord hates.

13:15 Then you must certainly kill with your swords everyone who lives in that town. Destroy it completely. Wipe out its people and livestock.

13:16 Gather all of the goods of that town into the middle of the main street. Burn the town completely. Burn up everything in it. It’s a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. The town must remain a pile of stones forever. It must never be built again.

13:17 Don’t keep anything that should be destroyed. Then the Lord will turn away from his burning anger. He will show you mercy. He’ll have deep concern for you. He’ll increase your numbers. That’s what he promised your people long ago. He took an oath when he made the promise.

13:18 The Lord your God will do those things if you obey him. I’m giving you his commands today. And you must obey all of them. You must do what is right in his eyes.

13:19 Verse text not available.

Gospel — Acts 8:9 - 8:25

8:9 Simon the Magician Now a certain man named Simon had been in the city practicing magic and astonishing the people of Samaria, saying he was someone great.

8:10 They were all paying attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, “This man is the power of God that is called ‘Great.’”

8:11 And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astonished them with his magic.

8:12 But when they believed Philip as he was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being baptized.

8:13 And Simon himself also believed, and after he was baptized he was keeping close company with Philip. And when he saw the signs and great miracles that were taking place, he was astonished.

8:14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them,

8:15 who went down and prayed for them so that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

8:16 (For he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.)

8:17 Then they placed their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

8:18 Now Simon, when he saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, offered them money,

8:19 saying, “Give to me also this power, so that whomever I place my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit!”

8:20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver be destroyed along with you, because you thought you could acquire the gift of God by means of money!

8:21 You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God.

8:22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and ask the Lord if perhaps the intent of your heart may be forgiven you!”

8:23 For I see you are in a state of bitter envy and bound by unrighteousness.”

8:24 But Simon answered and said, “You pray to the Lord for me so that nothing of what you have said will come upon me.”

8:25 So when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they turned back toward Jerusalem, and were proclaiming the good news to many villages of the Samaritans.

8:9 Simon the Evil Magician A man named Simon lived in the city. For quite a while he had practiced evil magic there. He amazed all the people of Samaria. He claimed to be someone great.

8:10 All of the people listened to him, from the least important of them to the most important. They exclaimed, “This man is known as the Great Power of God!”

8:11 He had amazed them for a long time with his magic. So they followed him.

8:12 But Philip preached the good news of God’s kingdom. He preached the name of Jesus Christ. So men and women believed and were baptized.

8:13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. He followed Philip everywhere. He was amazed by the great signs and miracles he saw.

8:14 The apostles in Jerusalem heard that people in Samaria had accepted God’s word. So they sent Peter and John to them.

8:15 When they arrived there, they prayed that the believers would receive the Holy Spirit.

8:16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

8:17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them. And they received the Holy Spirit.

8:18 Simon watched as the apostles placed their hands on them. He saw that the Spirit was given to them. So he offered money to Peter and John.

8:19 He said, “Give me this power too. Then everyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.”

8:20 Peter answered, “May your money be destroyed with you! Do you think you can buy God’s gift with money?

8:21 You have no part or share in this holy work. Your heart is not right with God.

8:22 Turn away from this evil sin of yours. Pray to the Lord. Perhaps he will forgive you for having such a thought in your heart.

8:23 I see that you are very bitter. You are a prisoner of sin.”

8:24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me. Pray that nothing you have said will happen to me.”

8:25 Peter and John gave witness and preached the Lord’s word. Then they returned to Jerusalem. On the way they preached the good news in many villages in Samaria.

Passages

Torah — Deuteronomy 12:29 - 13:19

LEB translation

NIRV translation

Gospel — Acts 8:9 - 8:25

LEB translation

NIRV translation