Shoftim, שֹׁפְטִים

Passages

Torah: Deuteronomy 16:18 - 17:13
Gospel: Acts 10:1 - 10:8

Torah — Deuteronomy 16:18 - 17:13

16:18 “You shall appoint judges and officials for you in all your towns that Yahweh your God is giving to you throughout your tribes, and you shall render for the people righteous judgments.

16:19 You shall not subvert justice; you shall not show partiality; and you shall not take a bribe, for the bribe makes blind the eyes of the wise and misrepresents the words of the righteous.

16:20 Justice, only justice you shall pursue, so that you may live, and you shall take possession of the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you.

16:21 You shall not plant for yourselves an Asherah pole beside the altar of Yahweh your God that you make for yourselves.

16:22 And you shall not set up for yourselves a stone pillar, a thing that Yahweh your God hates.

17:1 “You shall not sacrifice to Yahweh your God an ox or sheep that has a physical defect of anything seriously wrong, for that is a detestable thing to Yahweh your God.

17:2 If there is found in one of your towns that Yahweh your God is giving to you a man or a woman that does evil in the eyes of Yahweh your God to transgress his covenant

17:3 and by going and serving other gods and so he bows down to them and to the sun or to the moon or to any of the host of heaven which I have forbidden,

17:4 and it is reported to you or you hear about it and you enquire about it thoroughly and, indeed, the trustworthiness of the deed has been established, it has occurred, this detestable thing, in Israel,

17:5 then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil thing to your gates; that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them with stones to death.

17:6 On the evidence of two or three witnesses the person shall be put to death. The person shall not be put to death by the mouth of one witness.

17:7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against the person to kill the person, and afterward the hands of all the people, and so you shall purge the evil from your midst.

17:8 “If a matter is too difficult for you, for example disputes between blood and blood, between legal claim and legal claim and between assault and assault and between matters of discernment in your towns, then you shall get up and you shall go to the place that Yahweh your God will choose;

17:9 then you shall go to the priests and the Levites and to the judge who will be in office in those days, and you shall enquire, and they shall announce to you the verdict.

17:10 “And you shall carry out exactly the decision that they announced to you from that place that Yahweh will choose, and you shall diligently observe according to all that they instruct you.

17:11 And so according to the instruction of the law that they teach you and according to the decisions that they say to you, you shall do; you shall not turn from the word that they tell you to the right or to the left.

17:12 And the man who treats with contempt so as not to listen to the priest who is standing to minister on behalf of Yahweh your God or to the judge, that man shall die; so you shall purge the evil from Israel.

17:13 And all the people will hear and will be afraid, and they will not behave presumptuously again.

16:18 Appoint Judges and Officials Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes. Do it in every town the Lord your God is giving you. They must judge the people fairly.

16:19 Do what is right. Treat everyone the same. Don’t take money from people who want special favors. It makes those who are wise close their eyes to the truth. It twists the words of those who do what is right.

16:20 Follow only what is right. If you do, you will live. You will take over the land the Lord your God is giving you.

16:21 Don’t Worship Other Gods Don’t set up a wooden pole that is used to worship the goddess Asherah. Don’t set it up beside the altar you build to worship the Lord your God.

16:22 Don’t set up a sacred stone to honor another god. The Lord your God hates Asherah poles and sacred stones.

17:1 Suppose an ox or sheep has anything at all wrong with it. Then don’t sacrifice it to the Lord your God. He hates it.

17:2 Someone who is living among you might do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God. It might happen in one of the towns the Lord is giving you. That person is breaking the Lord’s covenant.

17:3 The person might have worshiped or bowed down to other gods. That person might have bowed down to the sun or moon or stars in the sky. I have commanded you not to do those things.

17:4 When you hear that people have done something like that, check the matter out carefully. If it’s true, an evil thing has been done in Israel. It’s something the Lord hates.

17:5 So take the person who has done that evil thing to your city gate. Put that person to death with stones.

17:6 The witness of two or three people is required to put someone to death. No one can be put to death because of what only one witness says. It needs the witness of two or three people.

17:7 The witnesses must throw the first stones. Then the rest of the people must also throw stones. Get rid of that evil person.

17:8 Law Courts People will bring their cases to your courts. But some cases will be too hard for you to judge. They might be about murders, attacks or other crimes. Then take those hard cases to the place the Lord your God will choose.

17:9 Go to a priest, who is a Levite. And go to the judge who is in office at that time. Ask them for their decision. They will give it to you.

17:10 They’ll hand down their decisions at the place the Lord will choose. You must do what they decide. Be careful to do everything they direct you to do.

17:11 Act in keeping with the laws they teach you. Accept the decisions they give you. Don’t turn away from what they tell you. Don’t turn to the right or the left.

17:12 Someone might make fun of the judge. Or he might make fun of the priest who serves the Lord your God at the place he will choose. If the man does that, he must be put to death. Remove that evil person from Israel.

17:13 All of the people of Israel will hear about it. And they will be afraid to make fun of a judge or priest again.

Gospel — Acts 10:1 - 10:8

10:1 Cornelius Has a Vision Now there was a certain man in Caesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Cohort,

10:2 devout and fearing God together with all his household, doing many charitable deeds for the people and praying to God continually.

10:3 About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming to him and saying to him, “Cornelius.”

10:4 And he stared at him and became terrified and said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and your charitable deeds have gone up for a memorial offering before God.

10:5 And now, send men to Joppa and summon a certain Simon, who is also called Peter.

10:6 This man is staying as a guest with a certain Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea.”

10:7 And when the angel who spoke to him departed, he summoned two of the household slaves and a devout soldier from those who attended him,

10:8 and after he had explained everything to them, he sent them to Joppa.

Passages

Torah — Deuteronomy 16:18 - 17:13

LEB translation

NIRV translation

Gospel — Acts 10:1 - 10:8

LEB translation

NIRV translation