2 Elul 5993 / 19 August 2023
Day 231 Readings:
SHOFTIM (Judges)
Deuteronomy 16:18–21:9; Isaiah 51:12–52:12; Mark 14:53–64
Parshat Shoftim 7th Portion Devarim (Deuteronomy) 20:10-21:9
10 “When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. 11 And it shall be that if they accept your offer of peace, and open to you, then all the people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you, and serve you. 12 Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege it.
Deuteronomy 21
5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; by their word every controversy and every [b]assault shall be settled. 6 And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 7 Then they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. 8 Provide atonement, O Lord, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. 9 So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.
Haftarah Shof’tim: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 51:12–52:12
Isaiah 51
12 “I, yes I, am the one who comforts you! Why are you afraid of a man, who must die; of a human being, who will wither like grass?13 You have forgotten Adonai, your maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth.Instead, you are in constant fear all day because of the oppressor’s rage,as he prepares to destroy! But where is the oppressor’s rage? 14 The captive will soon be set free; he will not die and go down to Sh’ol; on the contrary, his food supply will be secure.15 For I am Adonai your God,who stirs up the sea, who makes its waves roar —Adonai-Tzva’ot is my name.16 I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand, in order to plant the skies [anew],lay the foundations of the earth [anew] and say to Tziyon, ‘You are my people.’”
17 Awake! Awake! Stand up, Yerushalayim! At Adonai’s hand you drank the cup of his fury;you have drained to the dregs the goblet of drunkenness.18 There is no one to guide her among all the sons she has borne.Not one of all the children she raised is taking her by the hand.19 These two disasters have overcome you —yet who will grieve with you? —plunder and destruction, famine and sword;by whom can I comfort you?20 Your children lie helpless at every street corner,like an antelope trapped in a net;they are full of Adonai’s fury,the rebuke of your God.21 Therefore, please hear this in your affliction,you who are drunk, but not with wine;22 this is what your Lord Adonai says,your God, who defends his people:“Here, I have removed from your handthe cup of drunkenness,the goblet of my fury. You will never drink it again.23 I will put it in the hands of your tormentors,who said to you, ‘Bend down, so we can trample you,’and you flattened your back on the ground like a street for them to walk on.”
Isaiah 52
1 Awake! Awake, Tziyon!Clothe yourself with your strength!Dress in your splendid garments,Yerushalayim, the holy city!For the uncircumcised and the uncleanwill enter you no more.2 Shake off the dust! Arise!Be enthroned, Yerushalayim!Loosen the chains on your neck,captive daughter of Tziyon!3 For thus says Adonai:“You were sold for nothing,and you will be redeemed without money.”4 For thus says Adonai Elohim:“Long ago my people went down to Egyptto live there as aliens,and Ashur oppressed them for no reason.5 So now, what should I do here,” asks Adonai,“since my people were carried off for nothing?Their oppressors are howling,” says Adonai,“and my name is always being insulted, daily.6 Therefore my people will know my name;therefore on that day they will knowthat I, the one speaking — here I am!”
7 How beautiful on the mountainsare the feet of him who brings good news,proclaiming shalom, bringing good newsof good things, announcing salvationand saying to Tziyon, “Your God is King!”8 Listen! Your watchmen are raising their voices,shouting for joy together.For they will see, before their own eyes,Adonai returning to Tziyon.
9 Break out into joy! Sing together,you ruins of Yerushalayim!For Adonai has comforted his people,he has redeemed Yerushalayim!10 Adonai has bared his holy armin the sight of every nation,and all the ends of the earth will seethe salvation of our God.11 Leave! Leave! Get out of there!Don’t touch anything unclean!Get out from inside it, and be clean,you who carry Adonai’s temple equipment.12 You need not leave in haste,you do not have to flee;for Adonai will go ahead of you,and the God of Isra’el will also be behind you.
Mark 14
61 But he remained silent and made no reply. Again the cohen hagadol questioned him: “Are you the Mashiach, Ben-HaM’vorakh?” 62 “I AM,” answered Yeshua. “Moreover, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of HaG’vurah and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Matthew 5
Go the Second Mile
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
Matthew 18
18 “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 “Again[a] I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
Acts 3
19 “Therefore, repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be erased; 20 so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord’s presence; and he may send the Messiah appointed in advance for you, that is, Yeshua. 21 He has to remain in heaven until the time comes for restoring everything, as God said long ago, when he spoke through the holy prophets.
Acts 7
35 “This Moshe, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’ is the very one whom God sent as both ruler and ransomer by means of the angel that appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36 This man led them out, performing miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moshe who said to the people of Isra’el, ‘God will raise up a prophet like me from among your brothers’[a] 38 This is the man who was in the assembly in the wilderness, accompanied by the angel that had spoken to him at Mount Sinai and by our fathers, the man who was given living words to pass on to us.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13
12 For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Isn’t it those who are part of the community that you should be judging? 13 God will judge those who are outside. Just expel the evildoer from among yourselves.[a]
1 Timothy 5:17-22
Complete Jewish Bible
17 The leaders who lead well should be considered worthy of double honor, especially those working hard at communicating the Word and at teaching. 18 For the Tanakh says, “You are not to muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain,”[a] in other words, “The worker deserves his wages.” 19 Never listen to any accusation against a leader unless it is supported by two or three witnesses.[b] 20 Rebuke before the whole assembly those leaders who continue sinning, as a warning to the others. 21 Before God, the Messiah Yeshua and the chosen angels, I solemnly charge you to observe these instructions, not pre-judging and not doing anything out of favoritism. 22 Do not be hasty in granting s’mikhah to anyone, and do not share in other people’s sins — keep yourself pure.
Hebrews 10:28-31
Complete Jewish Bible
28 Someone who disregards the Torah of Moshe is put to death without mercy on the word of two or three witnesses.[a] 29 Think how much worse will be the punishment deserved by someone who has trampled underfoot the Son of God; who has treated as something common the blood of the covenant[b] which made him holy; and who has insulted the Spirit, giver of God’s grace!
30 For the One we know is the One who said,
“Vengeance is my responsibility;I will repay,”
and then said,
“Adonai will judge his people.”[c]
31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!
Bible Study Together
Deuteronomy 4:15-49
20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be His people, an inheritance, as you are this day.
Romans 6
1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 [a]Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have become [b]united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be [c]in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old [d]self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be [e]done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; 7 for the one who has died is [f]freed from sin.
365 Daily Kingdom Living
Pursue God
What are you pursuing in your life? Does your pursuit lead you to a fullfilling life with prosperity and honour? Or are your pursuits leaving you tired, angry, broken? We must be mindful in what we pursue and the end results of our pursuits? Here the proverb encourages us to pursue righteousness and love. We pursue righteousness because Christ has made us righteous. We pursue love because God loves us.
Prayer: Father, it is not always easy to pursue righteousness and love. I ask that you will strengthen me when it becomes difficult. Let not the reward be my motivation, but that my joy would be you. Give me a heart that desires to pursue the Father’s heart. Amen.
Scripture
Esther 4
Esther 5
Esther 6
Esther 7
1 Corinthians 11:17-34
Psalms 36:1-12
(0) For the leader. By David, the servant of Adonai:
2 (1) Crime speaks to the wicked.I perceive this in my heart;before his eyes there is no fearof God.3 (2) For, the way he sees it,crime makes his life easy —that is, until his wrongs are discovered;then, he is hated.4 (3) His words are wrong and deceitful;he has stopped being wise and doing good.5 (4) He devises trouble as he lies in bed;so set is he on his own bad waythat he doesn’t hate evil.
6 (5) Adonai, in the heavens is your grace;your faithfulness reaches to the skies.7 (6) Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,your judgments are like the great deep. You save man and beast, Adonai.8 (7) How precious, God, is your grace!People take refuge in the shadow of your wings,9 (8) they feast on the rich bounty of your house,and you have them drink from the stream of your delights.10 (9) For with you is the fountain of life;in your light we see light.11 (10) Continue your grace to those who know youand your righteousness to the upright in heart.12 (11) Don’t let the foot of the proud tread on meor the hands of the wicked drive me away.13 (12) There they lie fallen, those evildoers,flung down and unable to rise.
Proverbs 21:21-22