Shoftim, שֹׁפְטִים

Passages

Torah: Deuteronomy 17:14 - 17:20
Gospel: Acts 10:9 - 10:23

Torah — Deuteronomy 17:14 - 17:20

17:14 “When you have come to that land that Yahweh your God is giving to you and you have taken possession of it and you have settled in it, and you say, ‘I will set over me a king like all the nations that are around me,’

17:15 indeed, you may set a king over you whom Yahweh your God will choose, from the midst of your countrymen you must set a king over you; you are not allowed to appoint over you a man, a foreigner, who is not your countryman.

17:16 Except, he may not make numerous for himself horses, and he may not allow the people to to go to Egypt in order to increase horses, for Yahweh has said to you that you may never return.

17:17 And he must not acquire many wives for himself, so that his heart would turn aside; and he must not accumulate silver and gold for himself excessively.

17:18 “And then when he is sitting on the throne of his kingdom, then he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll before the Levitical priests.

17:19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere Yahweh your God by diligently observing all the word of this law and these rules,

17:20 so as not to exalt his heart above his countrymen and not to turn aside from the commandment to the right or to the left, so that he may reign long over his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.”

17:14 Appoint the King the Lord Chooses You will enter the land the Lord your God is giving you. You will take it as your own. You will settle down in it. When you do, you will say, “Let’s appoint a king over us, just like all of the nations around us.”

17:15 When that happens, make sure you appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own people. Don’t appoint over you someone from another country. Don’t choose anyone who isn’t from one of the tribes of Israel.

17:16 The king must not get large numbers of horses for himself. He must not make the people return to Egypt to get more horses. The Lord has told you, “You must not go back there again.”

17:17 The king must not have a lot of wives. If he does, he will be led down the wrong path. He must not store up large amounts of silver and gold.

17:18 When he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he must make himself a copy of the law I’m teaching you. He must write it on a scroll. He must copy it from the scroll of a priest, who is a Levite.

17:19 The king must keep the scroll close to him at all times. He must read it all the days of his life. Then he can learn to have respect for the Lord his God. He can carefully follow all of the words of that law and those rules.

17:20 He won’t think of himself as being better than his people are. He won’t turn away from the law. He won’t turn to the right or the left. Then he and his sons after him will rule over his kingdom in Israel for a long time.

Gospel — Acts 10:9 - 10:23

10:9 Peter Has a Vision And the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray at about the sixth hour.

10:10 And he became hungry and wanted to eat. But while they were preparing the food, a trance came over him.

10:11 And he saw heaven opened and an object something like a large sheet coming down, being let down to the earth by its four corners,

10:12 in which were all the four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and birds of the sky.

10:13 And a voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, slaughter and eat!”

10:14 But Peter said, “Certainly not, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common and unclean!”

10:15 And the voice came again to him for the second time: “The things which God has made clean, you must not consider unclean!”

10:16 And this happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into heaven.

10:17 Now while Peter was greatly perplexed within himself as to what the vision that he had seen might be, behold, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having found the house of Simon by asking around, stood at the gate.

10:18 And they called out and asked if Simon who was also called Peter was staying there as a guest.

10:19 And while Peter was reflecting about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, men are looking for you.

10:20 But get up, go down, and go with them—not hesitating at all, because I have sent them.”

10:21 So Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am he whom you are looking for! What is the reason for which you have come?”

10:22 And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and God-fearing man—and well spoken of by the whole nation of the Jews—was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear words from you.”

10:23 So he invited them in and entertained them as guests, and on the next day he got up and went away with them. And some of the brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

10:9 Peter Has a Vision It was about noon the next day. The men were on their journey and were approaching the city. Peter went up on the roof to pray.

10:10 He became hungry. He wanted something to eat. While the meal was being prepared, Peter had a vision.

10:11 He saw heaven open up. There he saw something that looked like a large sheet. It was being let down to earth by its four corners.

10:12 It had all kinds of four-footed animals in it. It also had reptiles of the earth and birds of the air.

10:13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

10:14 “No, Lord! I will not!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything that is not pure and ‘clean.’”

10:15 The voice spoke to him a second time. “Do not say anything is not pure that God has made ‘clean,’” it said.

10:16 This happened three times. Right away the sheet was taken back up to heaven.

10:17 Peter was wondering what the vision meant. At that very moment the men sent by Cornelius found Simon’s house. They stopped at the gate

10:18 and called out. They asked if Simon Peter was staying there.

10:19 Peter was still thinking about the vision. The Holy Spirit spoke to him. “Simon,” he said, “three men are looking for you.

10:20 Get up and go downstairs. Don’t let anything keep you from going with them. I have sent them.”

10:21 Peter went down and spoke to the men. “I’m the one you’re looking for,” he said. “Why have you come?”

10:22 The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius, the Roman commander. He is a good man who worships God. All the Jewish people respect him. A holy angel told him to invite you to his house. Cornelius wants to hear what you have to say.”

10:23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests. Peter Goes to the House of Cornelius The next day Peter went with the three men. Some of the believers from Joppa went along.

Passages

Torah — Deuteronomy 17:14 - 17:20

LEB translation

NIRV translation

Gospel — Acts 10:9 - 10:23

LEB translation

NIRV translation