Persons Excluded from the Assembly
1“No one who is emasculated or has his male organ cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord. 2No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the assembly of the Lord. 3No Ammonite or Moabite shall enter the assembly of the Lord; none of their descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall ever enter the assembly of the Lord, 4because they did not meet you with food and water on the way when you came out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam the son of Beor from Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you. 5Nevertheless, the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you. 6You shall never seek their peace or their prosperity all your days.
7“You shall not detest an Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall not detest an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land. 8The sons of the third generation who are born to them may enter the assembly of the Lord.
9“When you go out as an army against your enemies, you shall keep yourself from every evil thing.
10“If there is among you any man who is unclean because of a nocturnal emission, then he must go outside the camp; he may not reenter the camp. 11But it shall be when evening approaches, he shall bathe himself with water, and at sundown he may reenter the camp.
12“You shall also have a place outside the camp and go out there, 13and you shall have a spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn to cover up your excrement. 14Since the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp to deliver you and to defeat your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy; and He must not see anything indecent among you or He will turn away from you.
15“You shall not hand over to his master a slave who has escaped from his master to you. 16He shall live with you in your midst, in the place which he shall choose in one of your towns where it pleases him; you shall not mistreat him.
17“None of the daughters of Israel shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any of the sons of Israel be a cult prostitute. 18You shall not bring the hire of a harlot or the wages of a dog into the house of the Lord your God for any votive offering, for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God.
19“You shall not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. 20You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess.
21“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the Lord your God will surely require it of you. 22However, if you refrain from vowing, it would not be sin in you. 23You shall be careful to perform what goes out from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God, what you have promised.
24“When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your basket.
25“When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.
14“Bad, bad,” says the buyer,
But when he goes his way, then he boasts.
15There is gold, and an abundance of jewels;
But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.
16Take his garment when he becomes surety for a stranger;
And for foreigners, hold him in pledge.
17Bread obtained by falsehood is sweet to a man,
But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.
18Prepare plans by consultation,
And make war by wise guidance.
19He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets,
Therefore do not associate with a gossip.
20He who curses his father or his mother,
His lamp will go out in time of darkness.
21An inheritance gained hurriedly at the beginning
Will not be blessed in the end.
22Do not say, “I will repay evil”;
Wait for the Lord, and He will save you.
23Differing weights are an abomination to the Lord,
And a false scale is not good.
24Man’s steps are ordained by the Lord,
How then can man understand his way?
25It is a trap for a man to say rashly, “It is holy!”
And after the vows to make inquiry.
26A wise king winnows the wicked,
And drives the threshing wheel over them.
27The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord,
Searching all the innermost parts of his being.
28Loyalty and truth preserve the king,
And he upholds his throne by righteousness.
29The glory of young men is their strength,
And the honor of old men is their gray hair.
30Stripes that wound scour away evil,
And strokes reach the innermost parts.
5Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. 6For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
8Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
1) How does Proverbs show that honesty and humility reflect fear of יהוה in everyday conduct?
2) How does Paul call believers to fulfill Torah through genuine love and moral vigilance?
3) What habits help you “put on the armor of light” in word, work, and integrity?
Contrast the Upright and the Wicked
1The plans of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.
2All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight,
But the Lord weighs the motives.
3Commit your works to the Lord
And your plans will be established.
4The Lord has made everything for its own purpose,
Even the wicked for the day of evil.
5Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord;
Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.
6By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for,
And by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil.
7When a man’s ways are pleasing to the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
8Better is a little with righteousness
Than great income with injustice.
9The mind of man plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.
10A divine decision is in the lips of the king;
His mouth should not err in judgment.
11A just balance and scales belong to the Lord;
All the weights of the bag are His concern.
12It is an abomination for kings to commit wicked acts,
For a throne is established on righteousness.
13Righteous lips are the delight of kings,
And he who speaks right is loved.
14The fury of a king is like messengers of death,
But a wise man will appease it.
15In the light of a king’s face is life,
And his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain.
16How much better it is to get wisdom than gold!
And to get understanding is to be chosen above silver.
17The highway of the upright is to depart from evil;
He who watches his way preserves his life.
The Overthrow of Nineveh
1The one who scatters has come up against you.
Man the fortress, watch the road;
Strengthen your back, summon all your strength.
2For the Lord will restore the splendor of Jacob
Like the splendor of Israel,
Even though devastators have devastated them
And destroyed their vine branches.
3The shields of his mighty men are colored red,
The warriors are dressed in scarlet,
The chariots are enveloped in flashing steel
When he is prepared to march,
And the cypress spears are brandished.
4The chariots race madly in the streets,
They rush wildly in the squares,
Their appearance is like torches,
They dash to and fro like lightning flashes.
5He remembers his nobles;
They stumble in their march,
They hurry to her wall,
And the mantelet is set up.
6The gates of the rivers are opened
And the palace is dissolved.
7It is fixed:
She is stripped, she is carried away,
And her handmaids are moaning like the sound of doves,
Beating on their breasts.
8Though Nineveh was like a pool of water throughout her days,
Now they are fleeing;
“Stop, stop,”
But no one turns back.
9Plunder the silver!
Plunder the gold!
For there is no limit to the treasure—
Wealth from every kind of desirable object.
10She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and waste!
Hearts are melting and knees knocking!
Also anguish is in the whole body
And all their faces are grown pale!
11Where is the den of the lions
And the feeding place of the young lions,
Where the lion, lioness and lion’s cub prowled,
With nothing to disturb them?
12The lion tore enough for his cubs,
Killed enough for his lionesses,
And filled his lairs with prey
And his dens with torn flesh.
13“Behold, I am against you,” declares the Lord of hosts. “I will burn up her chariots in smoke, a sword will devour your young lions; I will cut off your prey from the land, and no longer will the voice of your messengers be heard.”