1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,040 Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:07,040 in a year. 3 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:12,040 Today's reading is from Deuteronomy chapters 19 to 21. 4 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Chapter 19. 5 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,780 When the LORD your God has cut off the nations whose land the LORD your God is giving you 6 00:00:17,780 --> 00:00:22,080 and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, you shall separate 7 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:26,060 three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which the LORD your God is giving 8 00:00:26,060 --> 00:00:27,520 you to possess. 9 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:31,860 You shall prepare roads for yourself and divide into three parts the territory of your land 10 00:00:31,860 --> 00:00:36,940 which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, that any manslayer may flee there. 11 00:00:36,940 --> 00:00:40,960 And this is the case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live, whoever kills 12 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:46,080 his neighbour unintentionally, not having hated him in time past, as when a man goes 13 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:50,600 to the woods with his neighbour to cut timber, and his hand swings a stroke with the axe 14 00:00:50,600 --> 00:00:54,980 to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbour so that 15 00:00:54,980 --> 00:00:55,980 he dies. 16 00:00:55,980 --> 00:01:00,760 He shall flee to one of these cities and live, lest the avenger of blood, while his anger 17 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:06,040 is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and kill him, 18 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:10,960 though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated the victim in time past. 19 00:01:10,960 --> 00:01:15,040 Therefore I command you saying you shall separate three cities for yourself. 20 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,340 Now if the LORD your God enlarges your territory as you swore to your fathers, and gives you 21 00:01:19,340 --> 00:01:23,360 the land which you promised to give to your fathers, and if you keep all these commandments 22 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:27,640 and do them, which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and to always walk 23 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:32,680 in his ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three, lest 24 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,840 innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the LORD your God is giving you 25 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:41,120 as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you. 26 00:01:41,120 --> 00:01:45,020 But if anyone hates his neighbour, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes 27 00:01:45,020 --> 00:01:49,520 him mortally so that he dies, and if flees to one of these cities, then the elders of 28 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:54,440 his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the land of the avenger 29 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:56,600 of blood that he may die. 30 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:00,400 Your eyes shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from 31 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:02,760 Israel that it may go well with you. 32 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:07,680 You shall not remove your neighbour's landmark which the men of old have set in your inheritance 33 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:12,040 which you will inherit in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. 34 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:17,720 One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits. 35 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:21,400 By the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. 36 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:26,080 If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both 37 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:30,480 men in the controversy shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges 38 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:32,080 who serve in those days. 39 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:36,440 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed if the witness is a false witness 40 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:40,960 who has testified falsely against his brother, then you shall do to him as he thought to 41 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:44,960 have done to his brother, so you shall put away the evil from among you. 42 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:49,040 And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit 43 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:50,680 such evil among you. 44 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:55,800 Your eye shall not pity, life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for 45 00:02:55,800 --> 00:02:58,320 hand, foot for foot. 46 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:01,720 Chapter 20 When you go out to battle against your enemies 47 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:06,400 and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them, 48 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,300 for the LORD your God is with you, who brought you up from the land of Egypt. 49 00:03:10,300 --> 00:03:14,400 So it shall be, when you are on the verge of battle, that the priest shall approach 50 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,840 and speak to the people, and he shall say to them, Hero Israel, today you are on the 51 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:23,400 verge of battle with your enemies, do not let your heart faint, do not be afraid, and 52 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:27,920 do not tremble or be terrified because of them, for the LORD your God is he who goes 53 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:31,660 with you, to fight for you against your enemies to save you. 54 00:03:31,660 --> 00:03:36,120 Then officers shall speak to the people, saying, What man is there who has built a new house 55 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,040 and has not dedicated it? 56 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:42,360 Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate 57 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:43,360 it. 58 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:47,440 So what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not eaten of it? 59 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,480 Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of 60 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:52,480 it. 61 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,520 And what man is there who is betrothed to a woman and has not married her? 62 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:59,400 Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man marry 63 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:00,400 her. 64 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:04,620 The officers shall speak further to the people and say, What man is there who is fearful and 65 00:04:04,620 --> 00:04:05,840 faint-hearted? 66 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:10,080 Let him go and return to his house, lest the heart of his brethren faint like his heart. 67 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,400 And so it shall be, when the officers have finished speaking to the people, that they 68 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,700 shall make captains of the armies to lead the people. 69 00:04:16,700 --> 00:04:20,720 When you go near a city to fight against it, then proclaim an offer of peace to it. 70 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:24,640 And it shall be, that if they accept your offer of peace and open to you, then all the 71 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:29,040 people who are found in it shall be placed under tribute to you and serve you. 72 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:33,480 Now if the city will not make peace with you, but war against you, then you shall besiege 73 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:34,480 it. 74 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,600 And when the Lord your God delivers it into your hands, you shall strike every male in 75 00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:39,360 it with the edge of the sword. 76 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:44,480 But the women, the little ones, the livestock, and all that is in the city, all its spoil, 77 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:46,240 you shall plunder for yourself. 78 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,760 And you shall eat the enemy's plunder which the Lord your God gives you. 79 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,600 Thus you shall do to all the cities which are very far from you, which are not of the 80 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:55,360 cities of these nations. 81 00:04:55,360 --> 00:05:00,060 But of the cities of these peoples, which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, 82 00:05:00,060 --> 00:05:02,800 you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive. 83 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:04,760 But you shall utterly destroy them. 84 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,880 The Hittite and the Amorite, and the Canaanite and the Perizzite, and the Hivite and the 85 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:13,520 Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, lest they teach you to do according to 86 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:17,720 all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord 87 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:18,920 your God. 88 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,800 When you besiege a city for a long time while making war against it to take it, you shall 89 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:26,040 not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. 90 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,840 If you can eat of them, do not cut them down to use in the siege, for the tree of the field 91 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:32,200 is man's food. 92 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:36,520 Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, to 93 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:41,840 build siege works against the city that makes war with you until it is subdued. 94 00:05:41,840 --> 00:05:45,480 Chapter 21 If anyone is found slain lying in the field 95 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:50,000 in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed 96 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,160 him, then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain 97 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:56,120 man to the surrounding cities. 98 00:05:56,120 --> 00:06:00,600 And it shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer 99 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,440 which has not been worked, and which has not pulled with a yoke. 100 00:06:04,440 --> 00:06:08,480 The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with flowing water, which 101 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:10,800 is neither ploughed nor sown. 102 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:13,720 And they shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. 103 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:17,880 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen 104 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,420 them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the Lord. 105 00:06:21,420 --> 00:06:25,320 By their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled. 106 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:29,720 And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over 107 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,720 the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 108 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:37,680 Then they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes 109 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:38,980 seen it. 110 00:06:38,980 --> 00:06:43,600 Provide atonement O Lord for your people Israel whom you have redeemed, and do not lay innocent 111 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,760 blood to the charge of your people Israel. 112 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:49,560 And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. 113 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:53,800 So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right 114 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:55,420 in the sight of the Lord. 115 00:06:55,420 --> 00:06:59,120 When you go out to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your 116 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:03,760 hand and you take them captive and you see among the captives a beautiful woman and desire 117 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:08,000 her and would take her for your wife, then you shall bring her home to your house. 118 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,640 And she shall shave her head and trim her nails. 119 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,480 She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house and mourn her father 120 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:16,800 and her mother a full month. 121 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,960 After that you may go into her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. 122 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:25,560 And it shall be if you have no delight in her then you shall set her free, but you certainly 123 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:27,560 shall not sell her for money. 124 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:30,960 You shall not treat her brutally because you have humbled her. 125 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:35,160 If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children 126 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:40,240 both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved, then 127 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:45,440 it shall be on the day he bequeathes his possessions to his sons that he must not bestow firstborn 128 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:51,360 status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn. 129 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:55,800 But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double 130 00:07:55,800 --> 00:08:01,000 portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength, the right of the 131 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:02,800 firstborn is his. 132 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:07,040 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father 133 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:11,560 or the voice of his mother, and who when they have chastened him will not heed them, then 134 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:15,320 his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of 135 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:20,240 his city, to the gate of his city, and they shall say to the elders of his city, the son 136 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,800 of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice, he is a glutton and a 137 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:29,560 drunkard, then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones, so you shall 138 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:34,080 put away the evil from among you and all Israel shall hear and fear. 139 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,180 If a man has committed a sin deserving of death and he is put to death, and you hang 140 00:08:38,180 --> 00:08:43,640 him on a tree, his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him 141 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:48,640 that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an 142 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:57,920 inheritance, for he who is hanged is accursed of God. 143 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:01,520 I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing you 144 00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:03,640 again tomorrow to continue on our journey. 145 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:19,080 God bless you and have a great day.