Tithing Principles

^22 (A)“You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year. ^23 (B)And you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of ^(C)the firstborn of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. ²⁴ But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or ^(D)if the place where the Lord your God chooses to put His name is too far from you, when the Lord your God has blessed you, ²⁵ then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand, and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. ²⁶ And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall ^(E)rejoice, you and your household. ²⁷ You shall not ^[a]forsake the ^(F)Levite who is within your gates, for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

^28 (G)“At the end of every third year you shall bring out the ^(H)tithe of your produce of that year and store it up within your gates. ²⁹ And the Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates, may come and eat and be satisfied, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Debts Canceled Every Seven Years^(I)

15 “At the end of ^(J)every seven years you shall grant a ^[b]release of debts. ² And this is the form of the release: Every creditor who has lent anything to his neighbor shall ^[c]release it; he shall not ^[d]require it of his neighbor or his brother, because it is called the Lord’s release. ³ Of a foreigner you may require it; but you shall give up your claim to what is owed by your brother, ⁴ except when there may be no poor among you; for the Lord will greatly ^(K)bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance— ⁵ only if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. ⁶ For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you; ^(L)you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you.

Generosity to the Poor

⁷ “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the ^[e]gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, ^(M)you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, ⁸ but ^(N)you shall ^[f]open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. ⁹ Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand,’ and your ^(O)eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and ^(P)he cry out to the Lord against you, and ^(Q)it become sin among you. ¹⁰ You shall surely give to him, and ^(R)your heart should not be grieved when you give to him, because ^(S)for this thing the Lord your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand. ¹¹ For ^(T)the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall ^[g]open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy, in your land.’

The Law Concerning Bondservants

^12 (U)“If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is ^(V)sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. ¹³ And when you ^[h]send him away free from you, you shall not let him go away empty-handed; ¹⁴ you shall supply him liberally from your flock, from your threshing floor, and from your winepress. From what the Lord your God has ^(W)blessed you with, you shall give to him. ^15 (X)You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you; therefore I command you this thing today. ¹⁶ And ^(Y)if it happens that he says to you, ‘I will not go away from you,’ because he loves you and your house, since he prospers with you, ¹⁷ then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever. Also to your female servant you shall do likewise. ¹⁸ It shall not seem hard to you when you send him away free from you; for he has been worth ^(Z)a double hired servant in serving you six years. Then the Lord your God will bless you in all that you do.

The Law Concerning Firstborn Animals

^19 (AA)“All the firstborn males that come from your herd and your flock you shall ^[i]sanctify to the Lord your God; you shall do no work with the firstborn of your herd, nor shear the firstborn of your flock. ^20 (AB)You and your household shall eat it before the Lord your God year by year in the place which the Lord chooses. ^21 (AC)But if there is a defect in it, if it is lame or blind or has any serious defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. ²² You may eat it within your gates; ^(AD)the unclean and the clean person alike may eat it, as if it were a gazelle or a deer. ²³ Only you shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground like water.

The Passover Reviewed^(AE)

16 “Observe the ^(AF)month of Abib, and keep the Passover to the Lord your God, for ^(AG)in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. ² Therefore you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord your God, from the flock and ^(AH)the herd, in the ^(AI)place where the Lord chooses to put His name. ³ You shall eat no leavened bread with it; ^(AJ)seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may ^(AK)remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life. ^4 (AL)And no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory for seven days, nor shall any of the meat which you sacrifice the first day at twilight remain overnight until ^(AM)morning.

⁵ “You may not sacrifice the Passover within any of your gates which the Lord your God gives you; ⁶ but at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide, there you shall sacrifice the Passover ^(AN)at twilight, at the going down of the sun, at the time you came out of Egypt. ⁷ And you shall roast and eat it ^(AO)in the place which the Lord your God chooses, and in the morning you shall turn and go to your tents. ⁸ Six days you shall eat unleavened bread, and ^(AP)on the seventh day there shall be a ^[j]sacred assembly to the Lord your God. You shall do no work on it.

The Feast of Weeks Reviewed^(AQ)

⁹ “You shall count seven weeks for yourself; begin to count the seven weeks from the time you begin to put the sickle to the grain. ¹⁰ Then you shall keep the ^(AR)Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give ^(AS)as the Lord your God blesses you. ^11 (AT)You shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your gates, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are among you, at the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. ^12 (AU)And you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall be careful to observe these statutes.

The Feast of Tabernacles Reviewed^(AV)

^13 (AW)“You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress. ¹⁴ And ^(AX)you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant and the Levite, the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, who are within your ^[k]gates. ^15 (AY)Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.

^16 (AZ)“Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; and ^(BA)they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed. ¹⁷ Every man shall give as he is able, ^(BB)according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you.

³⁵ ‘On the eighth day you shall have a ^(A)sacred^[a] assembly. You shall do no customary work. ³⁶ You shall present a burnt offering, an offering made by fire as a sweet aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, seven lambs in their first year without blemish, ³⁷ and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by their number, according to the ordinance; ³⁸ also one goat as a sin offering, besides the regular burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

³⁹ ‘These you shall present to the Lord at your ^(B)appointed feasts (besides your ^(C)vowed offerings and your freewill offerings) as your burnt offerings and your grain offerings, as your drink offerings and your peace offerings.’ ”

⁴⁰ So Moses told the children of Israel everything, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Law Concerning Vows

30 Then Moses spoke to ^(D)the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded:

Solomon Blesses the Assembly^(A)

^54 (B)And so it was, when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. ⁵⁵ Then he stood ^(C)and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying: ⁵⁶ “Blessed be the Lord, who has given ^(D)rest^[a] to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. ^(E)There has not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised through His servant Moses. ⁵⁷ May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. ^(F)May He not leave us nor forsake us, ⁵⁸ that He may ^(G)incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, which He commanded our fathers. ⁵⁹ And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day may require, ^60 (H)that all the peoples of the earth may know that ^(I)the Lord is God; there is no other. ⁶¹ Let your ^(J)heart therefore be ^[b]loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day.”

Solomon Dedicates the Temple^(K)

⁶² Then ^(L)the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. ⁶³ And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. ⁶⁴ On ^(M)the same day the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings, grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because the ^(N)bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings.

⁶⁵ At that time Solomon held ^(O)a feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly from ^(P)the entrance of Hamath to ^(Q)the Brook of Egypt, before the Lord our God, ^(R)seven days and seven more days—fourteen days. ^66 (S)On the eighth day he sent the people away; and they ^[c]blessed the king, and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for His servant David, and for Israel His people.

God’s Second Appearance to Solomon^(T)

9 And ^(U)it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord ^(V)and the king’s house, and ^(W)all Solomon’s desire which he wanted to do,

Jesus Transfigured on the Mount^(A)

17 Now ^(B)after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; ² and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. ³ And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. ⁴ Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, ^[a]let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

^5 (C)While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ^(D)“This is My beloved Son, ^(E)in whom I am well pleased. ^(F)Hear Him!” ^6 (G)And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. ⁷ But Jesus came and ^(H)touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” ⁸ When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

⁹ Now as they came down from the mountain, Jesus commanded them, saying, “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man is risen from the dead.”

The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?^(A)

^28 (B)Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, ^[a]perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the ^[b]first commandment of all?”

²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The ^[c]first of all the commandments is: ^(C)‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall ^(D)love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ^[d]This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ^(E)‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than ^(F)these.”

³² So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, ^(G)and there is no other but He. ³³ And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, ^[e]with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, ^(H)is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”