T48 - Shoftim
Portion (parasha) for this week:
Shoftim | שופטים | "Judges"
Torah: Deuteronomy 16:18 - 21:9
Prophets: Isaiah 51:12 - 52:12
Brit Hadasha: Matthew 18:15-20, 26:36 - 27:10; John 1:19-27; Acts 3:13-26, 7:35-53; 1 Timothy 5:17-22; Hebrews 10:28-31
(click on a selected reading to be taken directly to it)
"Torah Portions" are a systematic teaching schedule that includes a portion of scripture from the Torah, Prophets, and Brit Hadasha each week. This schedule is known all over the world, and serves as a great way to facilitate discussion and learning with others in the Body of the Messiah.
Deuteronomy 16:18 - 21:9
English Standard Version (ESV)
Justice
18 “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that YHWH your Elohim is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. 20 Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you.
Forbidden Forms of Worship
21 “You shall not plant any tree as an Asherah beside the altar of YHWH your Elohim that you shall make. 22 And you shall not set up a pillar, which YHWH your Elohim hates.
17 “You shall not sacrifice to YHWH your Elohim an ox or a sheep in which is a blemish, any defect whatever, for that is an abomination to YHWH your Elohim.
2 “If there is found among you, within any of your towns that YHWH your Elohim is giving you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of YHWH your Elohim, in transgressing his covenant, 3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden, 4 and it is told you and you hear of it, then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abomination has been done in Israel, 5 then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. 6 On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. 7 The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge[a] the evil[b] from your midst.
Legal Decisions by Priests and Judges
8 “If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to the place that YHWH your Elohim will choose. 9 And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and they shall declare to you the decision. 10 Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that YHWH will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you. 11 According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. 12 The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before YHWH your Elohim, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again.
Laws Concerning Israel's Kings
14 “When you come to the land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom YHWH your Elohim will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since YHWH has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by[c] the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear YHWH his Elohim by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
Provision for Priests and Levites
18 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat YHWH's food offerings[d] as their[e] inheritance. 2 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; YHWH is their inheritance, as he promised them. 3 And this shall be the priests' due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4 The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. 5 For YHWH your Elohim has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the name of YHWH, him and his sons for all time.
6 “And if a Levite comes from any of your towns out of all Israel, where he lives—and he may come when he desires[f]—to the place that YHWH will choose, 7 and ministers in the name of YHWH his Elohim, like all his fellow Levites who stand to minister there before YHWH, 8 then he may have equal portions to eat, besides what he receives from the sale of his patrimony.[g]
Abominable Practices
9 “When you come into the land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,[h] anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to YHWH. And because of these abominations YHWH your Elohim is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before YHWH your Elohim, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, YHWH your Elohim has not allowed you to do this.
A New Prophet like Moses
15 “YHWH your Elohim will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of YHWH your Elohim at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of YHWH my Elohim or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And YHWH said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or[i] who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that YHWH has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of YHWH, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that YHWH has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
Was Messiah the Prophet Likened Unto Moses,
if so, what would he teach?
Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge
19 “When YHWH your Elohim cuts off the nations whose land YHWH your Elohim is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2 you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you to possess. 3 You shall measure the distances[j] and divide into three parts the area of the land that YHWH your Elohim gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them.
4 “This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— 5 as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, 6 lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. 7 Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. 8 And if YHWH your Elohim enlarges your territory, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— 9 provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving YHWH your Elohim and by walking ever in his ways—then you shall add three other cities to these three, 10 lest innocent blood be shed in your land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you.
11 “But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. 13 Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood[k] from Israel, so that it may be well with you.
Property Boundaries
14 “You shall not move your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you to possess.
Laws Concerning Witnesses
15 “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. 16 If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, 17 then both parties to the dispute shall appear before YHWH, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18 The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19 then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil[l] from your midst. 20 And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. 21 Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Laws Concerning Warfare
20 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for YHWH your Elohim is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And when you draw near to the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people 3 and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, 4 for YHWH your Elohim is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’ 5 Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. 6 And is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit. 7 And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’ 8 And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’ 9 And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people.
10 “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. 11 And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. 12 But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And when YHWH your Elohim gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword, 14 but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which YHWH your Elohim has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. 16 But in the cities of these peoples that YHWH your Elohim is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but you shall devote them to complete destruction,[m] the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as YHWH your Elohim has commanded, 18 that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against YHWH your Elohim.
19 “When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? 20 Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.
Atonement for Unsolved Murders
21 “If in the land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you to possess someone is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities. 3 And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke. 4 And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. 5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for YHWH your Elohim has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of YHWH, and by their word every dispute and every 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 and they shall testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. 8 Accept atonement, YHWH, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.’ 9 So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of YHWH.
Footnotes:
- Deuteronomy 17:7 Septuagint drive out; also verse 12
- Deuteronomy 17:7 Or evil person; also verse 12
- Deuteronomy 17:18 Hebrew from before
- Deuteronomy 18:1 Or the offerings by fire to the Lord
- Deuteronomy 18:1 Hebrew his
- Deuteronomy 18:6 Or lives—if he comes enthusiastically
- Deuteronomy 18:8 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain
- Deuteronomy 18:10 Hebrew makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire
- Deuteronomy 18:20 Or and
- Deuteronomy 19:3 Hebrew road
- Deuteronomy 19:13 Or the blood of the innocent
- Deuteronomy 19:19 Or evil person
- Deuteronomy 20:17 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction)
Isaiah 51:12 - 52:12
English Standard Version (ESV)
12 “I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass,
13 and have forgotten YHWH, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 He who is bowed down shall speedily be released;
he shall not die and go down to the pit,
neither shall his bread be lacking.
15 I am YHWH your Elohim,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
YHWH of hosts is his name.
16 And I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you in the shadow of my hand,
establishing[a] the heavens
and laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
17 Wake yourself, wake yourself,
stand up, O Jerusalem,
you who have drunk from the hand of YHWH
the cup of his wrath,
who have drunk to the dregs
the bowl, the cup of staggering.
18 There is none to guide her
among all the sons she has borne;
there is none to take her by the hand
among all the sons she has brought up.
19 These two things have happened to you—
who will console you?—
devastation and destruction, famine and sword;
who will comfort you?[b]
20 Your sons have fainted;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a net;
they are full of the wrath of YHWH,
the rebuke of your Elohim.
21 Therefore hear this, you who are afflicted,
who are drunk, but not with wine:
22 Thus says your Lord, YHWH,
your Elohim who pleads the cause of his people:
“Behold, I have taken from your hand the cup of staggering;
the bowl of my wrath you shall drink no more;
23 and I will put it into the hand of your tormentors,
who have said to you,
‘Bow down, that we may pass over’;
and you have made your back like the ground
and like the street for them to pass over.”
YHWH's Coming Salvation
52 Awake, awake,
put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city;
for there shall no more come into you
the uncircumcised and the unclean.
2 Shake yourself from the dust and arise;
be seated, O Jerusalem;
loose the bonds from your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus says YHWH: “You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.” 4 For thus says the Lord Elohim: “My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian oppressed them for nothing.[c] 5 Now therefore what have I here,” declares YHWH, “seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail,” declares YHWH, “and continually all the day my name is despised. 6 Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore in that day they shall know that it is I who speak; here I am.”
7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness,
who publishes salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your Elohim reigns.”
8 The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice;
together they sing for joy;
for eye to eye they see
the return of YHWH to Zion.
9 Break forth together into singing,
you waste places of Jerusalem,
for YHWH has comforted his people;
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 YHWH has bared his holy arm
before the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our Elohim.
11 Depart, depart, go out from there;
touch no unclean thing;
go out from the midst of her; purify yourselves,
you who bear the vessels of YHWH.
12 For you shall not go out in haste,
and you shall not go in flight,
for YHWH will go before you,
and the Elohim of Israel will be your rear guard.
Footnotes:
- Isaiah 51:16 Or planting
- Isaiah 51:19 Dead Sea Scroll, Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Masoretic Text how shall I comfort you
- Isaiah 52:4 Or the Assyrian has oppressed them of late
Matthew 18:15-20
English Standard Version (ESV)
If Your Brother Sins Against You
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18 Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[a] in heaven. 19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
Matthew 26:36 - 27:10
English Standard Version (ESV)
Yeshua Prays in Gethsemane
36 Then Yeshua went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” 37 And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch[a] with me.” 39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” 40 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” 43 And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on.[b] See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
Betrayal and Arrest of Yeshua
47 While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” 49 And he came up to Yeshua at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. 50 Yeshua said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.”[c] Then they came up and laid hands on Yeshua and seized him. 51 And behold, one of those who were with Yeshua stretched out his hand and drew his sword and struck the servant[d] of the high priest and cut off his ear. 52 Then Yeshua said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” 55 At that hour Yeshua said to the crowds, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. 56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left him and fled.
Yeshua Before Caiaphas and the Council
57 Then those who had seized Yeshua led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. 58 And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. 59 Now the chief priests and the whole council[e] were seeking false testimony against Yeshua that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of Elohim, and to rebuild it in three days.’” 62 And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”[f] 63 But Yeshua remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living Elohim, tell us if you are HaMashiach, the Son of Elohim.” 64 Yeshua said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you HaMashiach! Who is it that struck you?”
Peter Denies Yeshua
69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Yeshua the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.” 71 And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Yeshua of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.” 73 After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.” 74 Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the saying of Yeshua, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.
Yeshua Delivered to Pilate
27 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Yeshua to put him to death. 2 And they bound him and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate the governor.
Judas Hangs Himself
3 Then when Judas, his betrayer, saw that Yeshua[g] was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, 4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? See to it yourself.” 5 And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. 6 But the chief priests, taking the pieces of silver, said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, since it is blood money.” 7 So they took counsel and bought with them the potter's field as a burial place for strangers. 8 Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day. 9 Then was fulfilled what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him on whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel, 10 and they gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord directed me.”
Footnotes:
- Matthew 26:38 Or keep awake; also verses 40, 41
- Matthew 26:45 Or Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?
- Matthew 26:50 Or Friend, why are you here?
- Matthew 26:51 Greek bondservant
- Matthew 26:59 Greek Sanhedrin
- Matthew 26:62 Or Have you no answer to what these men testify against you?
- Matthew 27:3 Greek he
John 1:19-27
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Testimony of John the Baptist
19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not HaMashiach.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight[a] the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither HaMashiach, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”
Footnotes:
- John 1:23 Or crying out, ‘In the wilderness make straight
Acts 3:13-26
English Standard Version (ESV)
13 The Elohim of Abraham, the Elohim of Isaac, and the Elohim of Jacob, the Elohim of our fathers, glorified his servant[a] Yeshua, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom Elohim raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Yeshua[b] has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what Elohim foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his HaMashiach would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send HaMashiach appointed for you, Yeshua, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which Elohim spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord Elohim will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that Elohim made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 Elohim, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
Acts 7:35-53
English Standard Version (ESV)
35 “This Moses, whom they rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—this man Elohim sent as both ruler and redeemer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites, ‘Elohim will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.’ 38 This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our fathers. He received living oracles to give to us. 39 Our fathers refused to obey him, but thrust him aside, and in their hearts they turned to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 41 And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands. 42 But Elohim turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets:
“‘Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices,
during the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?
43 You took up the tent of Moloch
and the star of your god Rephan,
the images that you made to worship;
and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’
44 “Our fathers had the tent of witness in the wilderness, just as he who spoke to Moses directed him to make it, according to the pattern that he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that Elohim drove out before our fathers. So it was until the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of Elohim and asked to find a dwelling place for the Elohim of Jacob.[a] 47 But it was Solomon who built a house for him. 48 Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says,
49 “‘Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is the place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?’
51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, 53 you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it.”
1 Timothy 5:17-22
English Standard Version (ESV)
17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” 19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 20 As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. 21 In the presence of Elohim and of Yeshua HaMashiach and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. 22 Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.
Hebrews 10:26-31
English Standard Version (ESV)
26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of Elohim, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living Elohim.