Week 140

• Torah (T): Devarim (Deuteronomy) 18:1 – 20:9
• Prophets (P): Jeremiah 29:8-14
• Apostolic (A): Acts 3:11-26
• Additional (ADD): Sirach 49:1-16

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Numbers 18:1-24; Deuteronomy 10:7-9; Deuteronomy 12:8-12; Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Deuteronomy 18:1-8; Joshua 13:32-33; Ezekiel 44:1-31 (T)
• Nehemiah 10:32-39 (T)
• Leviticus 18:21; Leviticus 20:1-5; 2 Kings 23:10 (T)
• Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20:26-27; 1 Samuel 28:6-15; 2 Kings 23:24; Isaiah 8:19-20 (T)
• John 1:44-46; John 4:25-26 (T)
• Luke 7:11-23; John 5:36-47; John 12:44-50 (T)
• Acts 7:35-60 (T)
• Hebrews 3:1-19 (T)
• Exodus 20:18-21; Deuteronomy 5:22-31; Hebrews 12:18-29 (T)
• Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36 (T)
• Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Jeremiah 14:13-16 (T)
• Genesis 9:4-6; Exodus 21:12-27; Leviticus 24:17-22; Matthew 5:38-42; Luke 6:27-36 (T)
• Numbers 35:9-34; Deuteronomy 4:41-43; Joshua 20:1-9 (T)
• Proverbs 22:28; Job 24:2-3 (T)
• Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; Matthew 18:16; John 7:51; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19-21; Hebrews 10:28 (T)
• Proverbs 19:5 (T)
• Deuteronomy 17:7-12; Deuteronomy 19:19; Deuteronomy 21:21; Deuteronomy 22:21; Deuteronomy 24:7; 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 (T)
• Numbers 14:6-10 (T)
• Nehemiah 4:1-23 (T)
• Deuteronomy 24:5 (T)
• Judges 7:1-3 (T)
• Jeremiah 29:1-32 (P)

RELATED ADDITIONAL REA.D.INGS

• A Collection of Messianic Proof Texts 4Q175, Column 1 (T)
• The War Scroll 1QM, Column 10 (T)
• Jubilees 30:7-10 (T)
• Deuteronomy 18:1 – 20:9 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 4.8.33-37 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 18:1 – 20:9

18:1 The priests and the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—will have no portion nor inheritance with Israel. They will eat the offerings of YHWH made by fire and his portion. 2 They will have no inheritance among their brothers. YHWH is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them. 3 This will be the priests’ due from the people, from those who slaughter a slaughter, whether it be ox or sheep, that they will give to the priest: the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the inner parts. 4 You will give him the first fruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep. 5 For YHWH your Elohim has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in YHWH’s name, him and his sons forever. 6 If a Levite comes from any of your gates out of all Israel where he lives, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which YHWH will choose, 7 then he will minister in the name of YHWH his Elohim, as all his brothers the Levites do, who stand there before YHWH. 8 They will have like portions to eat, in addition to that which comes from the sale of his family possessions. 9 When you have come into the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you, you will not learn to imitate the abominations of those nations. 10 There will not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who tells fortunes, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, 11 or a charmer, or someone who consults with a necromancer, or a wizard, or a seeker to the dead. 12 For whoever does these things is an abomination to YHWH [your Elohim].^(LXX) Because of these abominations, YHWH your Elohim drives them out from before you. 13 You will be blameless with YHWH your Elohim. 14 For these nations that you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery and to diviners; but as for you, YHWH your Elohim has not allowed you so to do. 15 YHWH your Elohim will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You will listen to him. 16 This is according to all that you desired of YHWH your Elohim in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, “Let me not hear again YHWH my Elohim’s voice, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.” 17 YHWH said to me, “They have well said that which they have spoken. 18 I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will speak to them all that I will command him. 19 It will happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he will speak in my name, I will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who acts arrogantly to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other elohim, that same prophet will die.” 21 You may say in your heart, “How will we know the word which YHWH has not spoken?” 22 When a prophet speaks in YHWH’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which YHWH has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it in arrogance. You will not be afraid of him.

19:1 When YHWH your Elohim cuts off the nations whose land YHWH your Elohim gives you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2 you will set apart three cities for yourselves in the middle of your land, which YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess. 3 You will prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which YHWH your Elohim causes you to inherit into three parts, that every murderer may flee there. 4 This is the case of the murderer who will flee there and live: Whoever kills his neighbor without knowledge [unintentionally]^(LXX) and didn’t hate him in time past— 5 as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood and his hand swings the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbor so that he dies—he will flee to one of these cities and live. 6 Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the murderer while hot anger is in his heart and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally, even though he was not worthy of death, because he didn’t hate him in time past. 7 Therefore I command you to set apart three cities for yourselves. 8 If YHWH your Elohim enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers; 9 and if you guard all this commandment to do it, which I command you today, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to walk ever in his ways, then you will add three cities more for yourselves, in addition to these three. 10 This is so that innocent blood will not be shed in the middle of your land which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance, leaving blood guilt on you. 11 But if any man hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities; 12 then the elders of his city will send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13 Your eye will not pity him, but you will purge the innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with you. 14 You will not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit, in the land that YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess. 15 One witness will not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, will [every]^(LXX) word be established. 16 If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 then both the men, between whom the controversy is, will stand before YHWH, before the priests and the judges who will be in those days; 18 and the judges will make diligent inquisition; and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has witnessed falsely against his brother, 19 then you will do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you will remove the evil from among you. 20 Those who remain will hear, and fear, and will never again commit any such evil among you. 21 Your eyes will not pity: [his]^(DSS) life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

20:1 When you go out to battle against your enemies, and see horses, chariots, [and]^(DSS) a people more numerous than you, you will not be afraid of them; for YHWH your Elohim, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, is with you. 2 It will be, when you draw near to the battle, that the priest will approach and speak to the people, 3 and will tell them, “Hear, Israel, you draw near today to battle against your enemies. Don’t let your heart faint! Don’t be afraid, nor tremble, neither be scared of them; 4 for YHWH your Elohim is he who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.” 5 The [judges]^(DSS) will speak to the people, saying, “What man is there who has built a new house, and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it. 6 What man is there who has planted a vineyard, and has not used its fruit? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man use its fruit. 7 What man is there who has betrothed to a woman, and has not taken her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.” 8 The [judges]^(DSS) will speak further to the people, and they will say, “What man is there who is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return to his house, lest his brother’s heart melt as his heart.” 9 It will be, when the [judges]^(DSS) have finished speaking to the people, that they will appoint captains of armies at the head of the people.

Prophets Portion (P)

Jeremiah 29:8-14

29:8 For YHWH of Armies, the Elohim of Israel says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you. Don’t listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9 For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them,” says YHWH. 10 For YHWH says, “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says YHWH, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. 12 You will call on me, and you will go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” says YHWH, “and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says YHWH. I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.”

Apostolic Portion (A)

Acts 3:11-26

3:11 As [he]^(mss) held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch that is called Solomon’s, greatly wondering. 12 When Peter saw it, he responded to the people, “You men of Israel, why do you marvel at this man? Why do you fasten your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk? 13 The Elohim of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Elohim of our fathers, has glorified his Servant Yeshua, whom you delivered up and denied in the face of Pilate, when he had determined to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and killed the Prince of life, whom Elohim raised from the dead, to which we are witnesses. 16 By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which is through him has given him this perfect soundness in the face of you all. 17 “Now, brothers, I know that you did this in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But the things which Elohim announced by the mouth of all his prophets, that Messiah should suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the face of the Lord, 20 and that he may send Messiah Yeshua, who was ordained for you before, 21 whom the heavens must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which Elohim spoke long ago by the mouth of his holy prophets. 22 For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘YHWH your Elohim will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me. You will listen to him in all things whatever he says to you. 23 It will be that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ (cf. Deuteronomy 18:15-19) 24 Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed after, as many as have spoken, also told of these days. 25 You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which Elohim made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘All the families of the land will be blessed through your seed.’ (cf. Genesis 22:18; Genesis 26:4) 26 Elohim, having raised up his Servant, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness.”

Additional Portion (ADD)

Sirach, or Wisdom of Sirach, and also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus (abbreviated Ecclus.) or Ben Sira, is a work of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 B.C., written by the Jewish scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his father Joshua son of Sirach, sometimes called Jesus son of Sirach or Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira. The Sirach was almost completely uncovered in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls, at Masada, and the Cairo Geniza. The multiplicity of manuscript fragments uncovered in the Cairo Genizah evidence its authoritative status among Egyptian Jewry until the Middle Ages. Quotes from Sirach can be found in Rabbinic literature in multiple places including the 4th Century Talmud in Bava Kamma 92b:13 and Hagigah 13a:2. Additionally, the Gospels and other Apostolic Scriptures quote from the Book of Sirach including the Song of Miriam in Luke 1:52 (cf. Sirach 10:14); the description of the seed in Mark 4:5, 16–17 (cf. Sirach 40:15); the statement by Yeshua in Matthew 7:16,20 (cf. Sirach 27:6); and Ya’aqov (James) 1:19 (cf. Sirach 5:11).

Sirach 49:1-16

49:1 The memorial of Josiah is like the composition of incense Prepared by the work of the apothecary: It will be sweet as honey in every mouth, And as music at a banquet of wine. 2 He behaved himself uprightly in the conversion of the people, And took away the abominations of iniquity. 3 He set his heart right toward the Lord; In the days of wicked men he made godliness to prevail. 4 Except David and Hezekiah and Josiah, All committed trespass: For they forsook the Torah of the Most High; The kings of Judah failed. 5 For they gave their horn to others, And their glory to a strange nation. 6 They set on fire the chosen city of the sanctuary, And made her streets desolate, as it was written by the hand of Jeremiah. 7 For they mistreated him; And yet he was sanctified in the womb to be a prophet, To root out, and to afflict, and to destroy; And in like manner to build and to plant. 8 It was Ezekiel who saw the vision of glory, Which Elohim showed him upon the chariot of the keruvim. 9 For truly he remembered the enemies in rain, And to do good to those who directed their ways aright. 10 Also of the twelve prophets. [… …] And he comforted Jacob, And delivered them by confidence of hope. 11 How will we magnify Zerubbabel? And he was as a signet on the right hand: 12 So was Yeshua the son of Josedek: Who in their days built the house, And exalted a temple^(mss) holy to the Lord, Prepared for everlasting glory. 13 Also of Nehemiah the memorial is great; Who raised up for us the walls that were fallen, And set up the gates and bars, And raised up our homes again. 14 No man was created upon the land such as was Enoch; For he was taken up from the land. 15 Neither was there a man born like to Joseph, A governor of his kindred, a stay of the people: Yes, his bones were visited. 16 Shem and Seth were glorified among men; And above every living thing in the creation is Adam.

Related Scriptures

Numbers 18:1-24; Deuteronomy 10:7-9; Deuteronomy 12:8-12; Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Joshua 13:32-33; Ezekiel 44:1-31 (T)

Numbers 18:1 YHWH said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your fathers’ house with you will bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you will bear the iniquity of your priesthood. 2 Bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, near with you, that they may be joined to you, and minister to you; but you and your sons with you will be before the Tent of the Witness. 3 They will guard your commands and the watch duty of the whole Tent; only they will not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary and to the altar, that they not die, neither they nor you. 4 They will be joined to you and guard your watch duty of the Appointed Tent, for all the service of the Tent. A stranger will not come near to you. 5 “You will perform the watch duty of the sanctuary and the watch duty of the altar, that there be no more wrath on the sons of Israel. 6 Behold, I myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the sons of Israel. They are a gift to you, dedicated to YHWH, to do the service of the Appointed Tent. 7 You and your sons with you will guard your priesthood for everything of the altar, and for that within the veil. You will serve. I give you the service of the priesthood as a gift. The stranger inside will be put to death.” 8 YHWH spoke to Aaron, “Behold, I myself have given you the command of my wave offerings, all the holy of the sons of Israel. I have given them to you by reason of the anointing, and to your sons, as a portion forever. 9 This will be yours of the holy of holies from the fire: every offering of theirs, even every grain offering of theirs, and every sin offering of theirs, and every trespass offering of theirs, which they will render to me, will be holy of holies for you and for your sons. 10 You will eat of it like the holy of holies. Every male will eat of it. It will be holy to you. 11 “This is yours, too: the wave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the sons of Israel. I have given them to you, and to your sons and to your daughters with you, as a portion forever. Everyone who is clean in your house will eat of it. 12 “I have given to you all the best of the oil, all the best of the vintage, and of the grain, the first fruits of them which they give to YHWH. 13 The first-ripe fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to YHWH, will be yours. Everyone who is clean in your house will eat of it. 14 “Everything devoted in Israel will be yours. 15 Everything that opens the womb, of all flesh which they offer to YHWH, both of man and animal, will be yours. Nevertheless, you will surely redeem the firstborn of man, and you will redeem the firstborn of unclean animals. 16 You will redeem those who are to be redeemed of them from a new moon old, according to your estimation, for five shekels of money, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which weighs twenty gerahs. 17 “But do not redeem the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat. They are holy. You will sprinkle their blood on the altar, and will burn their fat for an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to YHWH. 18 Their flesh will be yours, as the wave offering breast and as the right thigh, it will be yours. 19 All the wave offerings of the holy which the sons of Israel offer to YHWH, I have given you and your sons and your daughters with you, as a portion forever. It is a covenant of salt forever before YHWH to you and to your seed with you.” 20 YHWH said to Aaron, “You will have no inheritance in their land, neither will you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the sons of Israel. 21 “To the sons of Levi, behold, I have given all the tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service which they serve, even the service of the Appointed Tent. 22 Henceforth the sons of Israel will not come near the Appointed Tent, lest they bear sin, and die. 23 But the Levites will do the service of the Appointed Tent, and they will bear their iniquity. It will be a statute forever throughout your generations. Among the sons of Israel, they will have no inheritance. 24 For the tithe of the sons of Israel, which they offer as a wave offering to YHWH, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said to them, ‘Among the sons of Israel they will have no inheritance.’ ”

Deuteronomy 10:7 From there they traveled to Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water. 8 At that time YHWH set apart the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of YHWH, [and]^(DSS) to stand before YHWH to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day. 9 Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers; YHWH is his inheritance, according as YHWH your Elohim spoke to him.

Deuteronomy 12:8 You will not do all the things that we do here today, every man whatever is right in his own eyes; 9 for you haven’t yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which YHWH your Elohim gives you. 10 But when you go over the Jordan and dwell in the land which YHWH your Elohim causes you to inherit, and he gives you rest from all your enemies around you, so that you dwell in safety, 11 then it will happen that to the place which YHWH your Elohim will choose, to cause his name to dwell there, there you will bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your slaughters, your tithes, the wave offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which you vow to YHWH. 12 You will rejoice before YHWH your Elohim—you, and your sons, your daughters, your male servants, your maids, and the Levite who is within your gates, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you.

Deuteronomy 14:22 You will surely tithe all the increase of your seed, that which comes out of the field year by year. 23 You will eat before YHWH your Elohim, in the place which he chooses to cause his name to dwell, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock; that you may learn to fear YHWH your Elohim always. 24 If the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it because the place which YHWH your Elohim will choose to set his name there is too far from you, when YHWH your Elohim blesses you, 25 then you will turn it into money, bind up the money in your hand, and will go to the place which YHWH your Elohim will choose. 26 You will trade the money for whatever your soul desires: for cattle, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul asks of you. You will eat there before YHWH your Elohim, and you will rejoice, you and your household. 27 You will not forsake the Levite who is within your gates, for he has no portion nor inheritance with you. 28 At the end of every three years you will bring all the tithe of your increase in the same year, and will store it within your gates. 29 The Levite, because he has no portion nor inheritance with you, as well as the foreigner living among you, the fatherless, and the widow who are within your gates will come, and will eat and be satisfied; that YHWH your Elohim may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

Deuteronomy 18:1 The priests and the Levites—all the tribe of Levi—will have no portion nor inheritance with Israel. They will eat the offerings of YHWH made by fire and his portion. 2 They will have no inheritance among their brothers. YHWH is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them. 3 This will be the priests’ due from the people, from those who offer a slaughter, whether it be ox or sheep, that they will give to the priest: the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the inner parts. 4 You will give him the first fruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep. 5 For YHWH your Elohim has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand to minister in YHWH’s name, him and his sons forever. 6 If a Levite comes from any of your gates out of all Israel where he lives, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which YHWH will choose, 7 then he will minister in the name of YHWH his Elohim, as all his brothers the Levites do, who stand there before YHWH. 8 They will have like portions to eat, in addition to that which comes from the sale of his family possessions.

Joshua 13:32 These are the inheritances which Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan at Jericho, eastward. 33 But Moses gave no inheritance to the tribe of Levi. YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, is their inheritance, as he spoke to them.

Ezekiel 44:1 Then he brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which looks toward the east; and it was shut. 2 YHWH said to me, “This gate will be shut. It will not be opened, no man will enter in by it; for YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, has entered in by it. Therefore it will be shut. 3 As for the prince, he will sit in it as prince to eat bread before YHWH. He will enter by the way of the porch of the gate, and will go out the same way.” 4 Then he brought me by the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of YHWH filled the house of YHWH; so I fell on my face. 5 YHWH said to me, “Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I tell you concerning all the judgments of the house of YHWH and all its Torot; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every exit of the sanctuary. 6 You will tell the rebellious, even the house of Israel, ‘The Lord YHWH says: “You house of Israel, let that be enough of all your abominations, 7 in that you have brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in my sanctuary, to profane it, even my house, when you offer my bread, the fat and the blood; and they have broken my covenant, to add to all your abominations. 8 You have not guarded my watch duty of my holy; but you have set guards of my watch duty in my sanctuary for yourselves.” 9 The Lord YHWH says, “No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, will enter into my sanctuary, of any foreigners who are among the sons of Israel. 10 “ ‘ “But the Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray, who went astray from me after their idols, they will bear their iniquity. 11 Yet they will be ministers in my sanctuary, having oversight at the gates of the house, and ministering in the house. They will kill the burnt offering and the slaughter for the people, and they will stand before them to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before their idols, and became a stumbling block of iniquity to the house of Israel, therefore I have lifted up my hand against them,” says the Lord YHWH, “and they will bear their iniquity. 13 They will not come near to me, to execute the office of priest to me, nor to come near to any of my holy, to the things that are most holy; but they will bear their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14 Yet I will make them performers of the duty of the house, for all its service and for all that will be done therein. 15 “ ‘ “But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who performed the duty of my sanctuary when the sons of Israel went astray from me, will come near to me to minister to me. They will stand before me to offer to me the fat and the blood,” says the Lord YHWH. 16 “They will enter into my sanctuary, and they will come near to my table, to minister to me, and they will guard my watch duty. 17 “ ‘ “It will be that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they will be clothed with linen garments. No wool will come on them while they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. 18 They will have linen turbans on their heads, and will have linen trousers on their waists. They will not clothe themselves with anything that makes them sweat. 19 When they go out into the outer court, even into the outer court to the people, they will put off their garments in which they minister and lay them in the holy rooms. They will put on other garments, that they not sanctify the people with their garments. 20 “ ‘ “They will not shave their heads, or allow their locks to grow long. They will only cut off the hair of their heads. 21 None of the priests will drink wine when they enter into the inner court. 22 They will not take for their wives a widow, or her who is put away; but they will take virgins of the seed of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. 23 They will teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 24 “ ‘ “In a controversy they will stand to judge. They will judge it according to my judgments. They will guard my Torot and my statutes in all my appointed times. They will make my Sabbaths holy. 25 “ ‘ “They will go in to no dead person to defile themselves; but for father, or for mother, or for son, or for daughter, for brother, or for sister who has had no husband, they may defile themselves. 26 After he is cleansed, they will reckon to him seven days. 27 In the day that he goes into the sanctuary, into the inner court, to minister in the sanctuary, he will offer his sin offering,” says the Lord YHWH. 28 “ ‘They will have an inheritance: I am their inheritance; and you will give them no possession in Israel. I am their possession. 29 They will eat the grain offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering; and every devoted thing in Israel will be theirs. 30 The first of all the first fruits of every thing, and every offering of everything, of all your offerings, will be for the priest. You will also give to the priests the first of your dough, to cause a blessing to rest on your house. 31 The priests will not eat of anything that dies of itself or is torn, whether it is bird or animal.

Nehemiah 10:32-39 (T)

10:32 Also we made ordinances for ourselves, to charge ourselves yearly with the third part of a shekel* for the service of the house of our Elohim: 33 for the bread of the presence, for the continual grain offering, for the continual burnt offering, for the Sabbaths, for the new moons, for the set feasts, for the holy, for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel, and for all the work of the house of our Elohim. 34 We, the priests, the Levites, and the people, cast lots for the wood offering, to bring it into the house of our Elohim, according to our fathers’ houses, at times appointed year by year, to burn on YHWH our Elohim’s altar, as it is written in the Torah; 35 and to bring the first fruits of our ground and the first fruits of all fruit of all kinds of trees, year by year, to the house of YHWH; 36 also the firstborn of our sons and of our livestock, as it is written in the Torah, and the firstborn of our herds and of our flocks, to bring to the house of our Elohim, to the priests who minister in the house of our Elohim; 37 and that we should bring the first fruits of our dough, our wave offerings, the fruit of all kinds of trees, and the new wine and the oil, to the priests, to the rooms of the house of our Elohim; and the tithes of our ground to the Levites; for they, the Levites, take the tithes in all our farming villages. 38 The priest, the descendent of Aaron, will be with the Levites when the Levites take tithes. The Levites will bring up the tithe of the tithes to the house of our Elohim, to the rooms, into the treasure house. 39 For the sons of Israel and the sons of Levi will bring the wave offering of the grain, of the new wine, and of the oil, to the rooms where the vessels of the sanctuary are, and the priests who minister, with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not forsake the house of our Elohim.

Leviticus 18:21; Leviticus 20:1-5; 2 Kings 23:10 (T)

Leviticus 18:21 You will not give your seed to be made to cross over to Molek. You will not profane the name of your Elohim. I am YHWH.

Leviticus 20:1 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Moreover, you will tell the sons of Israel, ‘Anyone of the sons of Israel, or of the strangers who live as foreigners in Israel, who gives any of his seed to Molek will surely be put to death. The people of the land will stone that person with stones. 3 I also will set my face against that person, and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given of his seed to Molek, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. 4 If the people of the land all hide their eyes from that person when he gives of his seed to Molek, and don’t put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his family, and will cut him off, and all who whore after him to whore after Molek, from among their people.

2 Kings 23:10 [Josiah] made Topheth unclean, which is in the valley of the sons of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molek.

1 Samuel 28:6 When Shaul inquired of YHWH, YHWH didn’t answer him by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets. 7 Then Shaul said to his servants, “Seek for me a woman who is a necromancer, that I may go to her and inquire of her.” His servants said to him, “Behold, there is a woman who is a necromancer at Endor.” 8 Shaul disguised himself and put on other clothing, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night. Then he said, “Divine to me now, by necromancy, and bring me up whomever I will name to you.” 9 The woman said to him, “Behold, you know what Shaul has done, how he has cut off the necromancers and the wizards out of the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?” 10 Shaul swore to her by YHWH, saying, “As YHWH lives, no punishment will happen to you for this thing.” 11 Then the woman said, “Whom will I bring up to you?” He said, “Bring Samuel up for me.” 12 When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, “Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!” 13 The king said to her, “Don’t be afraid! What do you see?” The woman said to Saul, “I see elohim coming up out of the land.” 14 He said to her, “What does he look like?” She said, “An bearded man comes up. He is covered with a robe.” Shaul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and showed respect. 15 Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me, to bring me up?” Shaul answered, “I am very distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and Elohim has departed from me, and answers me no more, by prophets, or by dreams. Therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I will do.”

2 Kings 23:24 Moreover, Josiah removed the necromancers, the wizards, and the teraphim, and the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might confirm the words of the Torah which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of YHWH.

Isaiah 8:19 When they tell you, “Consult with the necromancers and with the wizards, who chirp and who mutter,” shouldn’t a people consult with their Elohim? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? 20 Turn to the Torah and to the covenant! If they don’t speak according to this word, surely there is no morning for them.

John 1:44-46; John 4:25-26 (T)

John 1:44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him, of whom Moses in the Torah, and the Prophets, wrote: Yeshua of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

John 4:25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes, he who is called Messiah. When he has come, he will declare to us all things.” 26 Yeshua said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.”

Luke 7:11-23; John 5:36-47; John 12:44-50 (T)

Luke 7:11 Soon afterwards, he went to a city called Nain. Many of his disciples, along with a great multitude, went with him. 12 Now when he came near to the gate of the city, behold, one who was dead was carried out, the only born* son of his mother, and she was a widow. Many people of the city were with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Don’t cry.” 14 He came near and touched the coffin, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!” 15 He who was dead sat up and began to speak. Then he gave him to his mother. 16 Fear took hold of all, and they glorified Elohim, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and, “Elohim has visited his people!” 17 This report went out concerning him in the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region. 18 The disciples of John told him about all these things. 19 John, calling to himself two of his disciples, sent them to Yeshua, saying, “Are you the one who is coming, or should we look for another?” 20 When the men had come to him, they said, “John the Immerser has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you he who comes, or should we look for another?’ ” 21 In that hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits; and to many who were blind he gave sight. 22 Yeshua answered them, “Go and tell John the things which you have seen and heard: that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. 23 Blessed is he who finds no occasion for stumbling in me.”

John 5:36 But the witness which I have is greater than that of John, for the works which the Father gave me to accomplish, the very works that I do, testify about me, that the Father has sent me. 37 The Father himself, who sent me, has witnessed about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form. 38 You don’t have his word living in you; because you don’t believe him whom he sent. 39 “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and these are they which testify about me. 40 Yet you will not come to me, that you may have life. 41 I don’t receive glory from men. 42 But I know you, that you don’t have Elohim’s love in yourselves. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you don’t receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, who receive glory from one another, and you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only Elohim? 45 “Don’t think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, even Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. 47 But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

John 12:44 Yeshua cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me, but in him who sent me. 45 He who sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in the darkness. 47 If anyone listens to my sayings, and doesn’t believe, I don’t judge him. For I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He who rejects me, and doesn’t receive my sayings, has one who judges him. The word that I spoke, the same will judge him in the last day. 49 For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. 50 I know that his commandment is eternal life. The things therefore which I speak, even as the Father has said to me, so I speak.”

Acts 7:35-60 (T)

35 “This Moses, whom they refused, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’—Elohim has sent him as both a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, having worked wonders and signs in Egypt, in the Sea of Reeds, and in the wilderness for forty years. 37 This is that Moses, who said to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord our Elohim will raise up a prophet for you from among your brothers, like me.’ (cf. Deuteronomy 18:15), 38 This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the angel that spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received living oracles to give to us, 39 to whom our fathers wouldn’t be obedient, but rejected him, and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us elohim that will go before us, for as for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt, we don’t know what has become of him.’ (cf. Exodus 32:1) 41 They made a calf in those days, and brought a slaughter to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. 42 But Elohim turned, and gave them up to serve the army of the heavens, as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘Did you offer to me slain animals and slaughters forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? 43You took up the tabernacle of Moloch, the star of your elohim Rephan, the figures which you made to worship. I will carry you away (cf. Amos 5:25-27) beyond Babylon.’ 44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of the witness in the wilderness, even as he who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern that he had seen; 45 which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when they entered into the possession of the nations, whom Elohim drove out before the face of our fathers, to the days of David, 46 who found favor in the sight of Elohim, and asked to find a habitation for the Elohim of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built him a house. 48 However, the Most High doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says, 49 ‘the heavens is my throne, and the land a footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build me?’ says the Lord; ‘or what is the place of my rest? 50 Didn’t my hand make all these things?’ (cf. Isaiah 66:1-2) 51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do. 52 Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers. 53 You received the Torah as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t guard it!” 54 Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into the heavens, and saw the glory of Elohim, and Yeshua standing on the right hand of Elohim, 56 and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of Elohim!” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord. 58 They threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Yeshua, receive my spirit!” 60 He kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Hebrews 3:1-19 (T)

3:1 Therefore, holy brothers, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Emissary and High Priest of our confession: Yeshua, 2 who was faithful to him who appointed him, as also Moses was in all his house. 3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, because he who built the house has more honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone; but he who built all things is Elohim. 5 Moses indeed was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a witness of those things which were afterward to be spoken, 6 but Messiah is faithful as a Son over his house. We are his house, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end. 7 Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice, 8 don’t harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of the trial in the wilderness, 9 where your fathers tested me and tried me, and saw my deeds for forty years. 10 Therefore I was displeased with that generation, and said, ‘They always err in their heart, but they didn’t know my ways.’ 11 As I swore in my wrath, ‘They will not enter into my rest.’ ” (cf. Psalms 95:7-11) 12 Beware, brothers, lest perhaps there might be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living Elohim; 13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called “today”, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Messiah, if we hold the beginning of our confidence firm to the end, 15 while it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.” (cf. Psalms 95:7-8) 16 For who, when they heard, rebelled? Wasn’t it all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 With whom was he displeased forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 To whom did he swear that they wouldn’t enter into his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 We see that they weren’t able to enter in because of unbelief.

Exodus 20:18-21; Deuteronomy 5:22-31; Hebrews 12:18-29 (T)

Exodus 20:18 All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the voice of the shofar, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance. 19 They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let Elohim speak with us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for Elohim has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won’t sin.” 21 The people stayed at a distance, and Moses came near to the thick darkness where Elohim was.

Deuteronomy 5:22 YHWH spoke these words to all your assembly on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, [darkness, blackness, storm],^(LXX) with a great voice. He added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me. 23 When you heard the voice out of the middle of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; 24 and you said, “Behold, YHWH our Elohim has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the middle of the fire. We have seen in [this day] that Elohim does speak with man, and he lives. 25 Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we [continue to]^(DSS) hear YHWH our Elohim’s voice any more, then we will die. 26 For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living Elohim speaking out of the middle of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 Go near, and hear all that YHWH our Elohim [speaks],^(DSS) and tell us all that YHWH our Elohim tells you; and we will hear it, and do it.” 28 YHWH heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me; and YHWH said to me, “I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have well said all that they have spoken. 29 Oh that there were such a heart in them that they would fear me and guard all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their sons forever! 30 “Go tell them, ‘Return to your tents.’ 31 But as for you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which you will teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess.”

Hebrews 12:28 Therefore, receiving a Reign that can’t be shaken, let’s have grace, through which we serve Elohim acceptably, with reverence and awe, 29 for our Elohim is a consuming fire. (cf. Deuteronomy 4:24)

Matthew 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36 (T)

Matthew 17:1 After six days, Yeshua took with him Peter, Jacob, and John his brother, and brought them up into a high mountain by themselves. 2 He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his garments became as white as the light. 3 Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them talking with him. 4 Peter answered, and said to Yeshua, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you want, let’s make three tents here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them. Behold, a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.” 6 When the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces, and were very afraid. 7 Yeshua came and touched them and said, “Get up, and don’t be afraid.” 8 Lifting up their eyes, they saw no one, except Yeshua alone. 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Yeshua commanded them, saying, “Don’t tell anyone what you saw, until the Son of Man has risen from the dead.” 10 His disciples asked him, saying, “Then why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 Yeshua answered them, “Elijah indeed comes first, and will restore all things, 12 but I tell you that Elijah has come already, and they didn’t recognize him, but did to him whatever they wanted to. Even so the Son of Man will also suffer by them.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he spoke to them of John the Immerser.

Mark 9:2 After six days Yeshua took with him Peter, Jacob, and John, and brought them up onto a high mountain privately by themselves, and he was changed into another form in front of them. 3 His clothing became glistening, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on the land can whiten them. 4 Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Yeshua. 5 Peter answered Yeshua, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid. 7 A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” 8 Suddenly looking around, they saw no one with them any more, except Yeshua only. 9 As they were coming down from the mountain, he commanded them that they should tell no one what things they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept this saying to themselves, questioning what the “rising from the dead” meant. 11 They asked him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 12 He said to them, “Elijah indeed comes first, and restores all things. How is it written about the Son of Man, that he should suffer many things and be despised? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they have also done to him whatever they wanted to, even as it is written about him.”

Luke 9:28 About eight days after these sayings, he took with him Peter, John, and Jacob, and went up onto the mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became white and dazzling. 30 Behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in glory, and spoke of his [exodus], which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they were fully awake, they saw his glory, and the two men who stood with him. 33 As they were parting from him, Peter said to Yeshua, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah,” not knowing what he said. 34 While he said these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered into the cloud. 35 A voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” 36 When the voice came, Yeshua was found alone. They were silent, and told no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Jeremiah 14:13-16 (T)

Deuteronomy 13:1 If there arise in the midst of you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder come to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let us go after other elohim,” which you have not known, “and let us serve them;” 3 you will not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams: for YHWH your Elohim proves you, to know whether you love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You will walk after YHWH your Elohim, and fear him, and guard his commandments, and obey his voice, and you will serve him, and cling to him. 5 That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, will be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which YHWH your Elohim commanded you to walk in. So you will put away the evil from the midst of you.

Jeremiah 14:13 Then I said, Ah, Lord YHWH! behold, the prophets tell them, You will not see the sword, neither will you have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. 14 Then YHWH said to me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name; I didn’t send them, neither have I commanded them, neither spoke I to them: they prophesy to you a lying vision, and divination, and a thing of nothing, and the deceit of their own heart. 15 Therefore thus says YHWH concerning the prophets who prophesy in my name, and I didn’t send them, yet they say, Sword and famine will not be in this land: By sword and famine will those prophets be consumed. 16 The people to whom they prophesy will be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they will have none to bury them—them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness on them.

Genesis 9:4-6; Exodus 21:12-27; Leviticus 24:17-22; Matthew 5:38-42; Luke 6:27-36 (T)

Genesis 9:4 But flesh with its life, that is, its blood, you will not eat. 5 I will surely require accounting for your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will require it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will require the life of man. 6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for Elohim made man in his own image.

Exodus 21:12 One who strikes a man so that he dies will surely be put to death, 13 if he did not lay in wait and [the elohim] deliver him to his hand; then I will appoint you a place where he will flee. 14 If a man boils against his neighbor to kill him, you will take him from my altar, that he may die. 15 Anyone who attacks his father or his mother will be surely put to death. 16 Anyone who kidnaps someone and sells him, or if he is found in his hand, he will surely be put to death. 17 Anyone who curses his father or his mother will surely be put to death. 18 If men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone, or with his fist, and he doesn’t die, but is confined to bed; 19 if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him will be cleared; only he will pay for the loss of his time, and will provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed. 20 If a man strikes his servant or his maid with a rod, and he dies under his hand, the man will surely be punished. 21 Notwithstanding, if his servant gets up after a day or two, he will not be punished, for the servant is his property. 22 If men fight and hurt a pregnant woman so that she gives birth prematurely, and yet no harm follows, he will be surely fined as much as the woman’s husband demands and he will give through the judges. 23 But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burning for burning, wound for wound, and bruise for bruise. 26 If a man strikes his servant’s eye, or his maid’s eye, and destroys it, he will let him go free for his eye’s sake. 27 If he strikes out his male servant’s tooth, or his maid’s tooth, he will let the servant go free for his tooth’s sake.

Leviticus 24:17 He who strikes any man mortally will surely be put to death. 18 He who strikes an animal mortally will make it good, life for life. 19 If anyone injures his neighbor, it will be done to him as he has done: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. It will be done to him as he has injured someone. 21 He who kills an animal will make it good; and he who kills a man will be put to death. 22 You will have one kind of Torah for the foreigner as well as the native; for I am YHWH your Elohim.’ ”

Matthew 5:38 You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” 39 But I tell you, don’t resist him who is evil; but whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 If anyone sues you to take away your coat, let him have your cloak also. 41 Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.

Luke 6:27 But I tell you who hear: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. 29 To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your cloak, don’t withhold your coat also. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and don’t ask him who takes away your goods to give them back again. 31 As you would like people to do to you, do exactly so to them. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive back as much. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing back; and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Highest; for he is kind toward the unthankful and evil. 36 Therefore be merciful, even as your Father is also merciful.

Numbers 35:9-34; Deuteronomy 4:41-43; Joshua 20:1-9 (T)

Numbers 35:9 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you will appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the murderer who kills any person in error may flee there. 12 The cities will be for your refuge from the redeemer, that the murderer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 The cities which you will give will be for you six cities of refuge. 14 You will give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you will give three cities in the land of Canaan. They will be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities will be refuge for the sons of Israel, for the stranger, and for the foreigner living among them, that everyone who kills any person in error may flee there. 16 But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer will surely be put to death. 17 If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer will surely be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, [he will surely be put to death; the one who struck him is a murderer,]^(DSS) the murderer will surely be put to death. 19 The redeemer of the blood will himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he will put him to death. 20 If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled something at him [so that he dies, lying in wait]^(DSS) 21 or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him will surely be put to death. He is a murderer, [the murderer will surely be put to death;]^(DSS) the redeemer of the blood [himself]^(DSS) will put the murderer to death when he meets him. 22 But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, 23 or with [a weapon of ]^(DSS) stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him so that he died, and he was not his enemy and not seeking his harm, 24 then the congregation will judge between the striker and the redeemer of the blood according to these judgments. 25 The congregation will deliver the murderer out of the hand of the redeemer of the blood, and the congregation will restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He will dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the murderer will at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees, 27 and the redeemer of the blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the redeemer of the blood kills the murderer, he will not be guilty of blood, 28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the murderer will return into the land of his possession. 29 These things will be for a statute and judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 30 Whoever kills any person, the murderer will be slain based on the mouth of witnesses; but one witness will not testify alone against any person so that he dies. 31 Moreover you will take no atonement for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death. He will surely be put to death. 32 You will take no atonement for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. 33 So you will not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it. 34 You will not defile the land which you inhabit, where I dwell; for I, YHWH, dwell among the sons of Israel.’ ”

Deuteronomy 4:41 Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, 42 that the murderer might flee there, who kills his neighbor without knowledge and didn’t hate him in time past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43 Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the ones of Reuben; and Ramoth in Gilead for the ones of Gad; and Golan in Bashan for the ones of Manasseh.

Joshua 20:1 YHWH spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses, 3 that the murderer who kills any person in error without knowledge may flee there. They will be to you for a refuge from the redeemer of the blood. 4 He will flee to one of those cities, and will stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his case in the ears of the elders of that city. They will take him into the city with them, and give him a place, that he may live among them. 5 If the redeemer of the blood pursues him, then they will not deliver up the murderer into his hand; because he struck his neighbor without knowledge, and didn’t hate him before. 6 He will dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that will be in those days. Then the murderer will return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city he fled from.’ ” 7 They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba, also called Hebron, in the hill country of Judah. 8 Beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel, and for the sojourner who lives among them, that whoever kills any person in error might flee there, and not die by the hand of the redeemer of the blood, until he stands trial before the congregation.

Proverbs 22:28; Job 24:2-3 (T)

Proverbs 22:28 Don’t move the ancient boundary stone, which your fathers have set up.

Job 24:2 There are people who remove the landmarks. They violently take away flocks, and feed them. 3They drive away the donkey of the fatherless, and they take the widow’s ox for a pledge.

Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; Matthew 18:16; John 7:51; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19-21; Hebrews 10:28 (T)

Numbers 35:30 Whoever kills any person, the murderer will be slain based on the mouth of witnesses; but one witness will not testify alone against any person so that he dies.

Deuteronomy 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, he who is to die will be put to death. At the mouth of one witness he will not be put to death.

Matthew 18:16 But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

John 7:51“Does our Torah judge a man, unless it first hears from him personally and knows what he does?”

2 Corinthians 13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. “At the mouth of two or three witnesses will every word be established.”

1 Timothy 5:19 Don’t receive an accusation against an elder, except at the word of two or three witnesses. 20 Those who sin, reprove in the sight of all, that the rest also may be in fear. 21 I command you in the sight of Elohim, and Messiah Yeshua, and the chosen angels, that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by partiality.

Hebrews 10:28 A man who disregards the Torah of Moses dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses.

Proverbs 19:5 (T)

19:5 A false witness will not be unpunished. He who pours out lies will not go free.

Deuteronomy 17:7-12; Deuteronomy 19:19; Deuteronomy 21:21; Deuteronomy 22:21; Deuteronomy 24:7; 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 (T)

Deuteronomy 17:7 The hands of the witnesses will be first on him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you will remove the evil from among you.

Deuteronomy 17:12 The man who acts in arrogance by not listening to the priest who stands to minister there before YHWH your Elohim, or to the judge, even that man will die. You will put away the evil from Israel.

1 Corinthians 5:12 For what do I have to do with also judging those who are outside? Don’t you judge those who are within? 13 But those who are outside, Elohim judges. “Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.” (cf. Deuteronomy 17:7; Deuteronomy 19:19; Deuteronomy 21:21; Deuteronomy 22:21; Deuteronomy 24:7)

Numbers 14:6-10 (T)

14:6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes. 7 They spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If YHWH delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us: a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 Only don’t rebel against YHWH, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and YHWH is with us. Don’t fear them.” 10 But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones. the glory of YHWH appeared in the Appointed Tent to all the sons of Israel.

Nehemiah 4:1-23 (T)

4:1 But it happened that when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they slaughter? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.” 4 “Hear, our Elohim; for we are despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, give them up for a spoil in a land of captivity; 5 don’t cover their iniquity, and don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.” 6 So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height: for the people had a mind to work. 7 But it happened that when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be filled, then they were very angry; 8 and they conspired all of them together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion therein. 9 But we made our prayer to our Elohim, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them. 10 Judah said, “The strength of the bearers of burdens is fading, and there is much rubbish; so that we are not able to build the wall.” 11 Our adversaries said, “They will not know, neither see, until we come into their midst, and kill them, and cause the work to cease.” 12 It happened that when the Jews who lived by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.” 13 Therefore set I in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places, I set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.” 15 It happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and Elohim had brought their counsel to nothing, that we returned all of us to the wall, everyone to his work. 16 It happened from that time forth, that half of my servants worked in the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah. 17 They all built the wall and those who bore burdens loaded themselves; everyone with one of his hands worked in the work, and with the other held his weapon; 18 and the builders, everyone wore his sword at his side, and so built. He who sounded the trumpet was by me. 19 I said to the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and large, and we are separated on the wall, one far from another. 20 Wherever you hear the voice of the shofar, rally there to us. Our Elohim will fight for us.” 21 So we worked in the work: and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared. 22 Likewise at the same time said I to the people, “Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labor in the day.” 23 So neither I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes. Everyone took his weapon to the water.

Deuteronomy 24:5 (T)

24:5 When a man takes a new woman, he will not go out in the army, neither will he be assigned any business: he will be free at home one year, and will cheer his wife whom he has taken.

Judges 7:1-3 (T)

7:1 Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people who were with him, rose up early, and encamped beside the spring of Harod: and the camp of Midian was on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley. 2 YHWH said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” Twenty – two thousand of the people returned, and ten thousand remained.

Jeremiah 29:1-32 (P)

29:1 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the residue of the elders of the captivity, and to the priests, to the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon, 2 (after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths had departed from Jerusalem), 3 by the hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, (whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent to Babylon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon). It said: 4 YHWH of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says to all the captives whom I have caused to be carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and dwell in them. Plant gardens and eat their fruit. 6 Take wives and father sons and daughters. Take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there, and don’t be diminished. 7 Seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to YHWH for it; for in its peace you will have peace.” 8 For YHWH of Armies, the Elohim of Israel says: “Don’t let your prophets who are among you and your diviners deceive you. Don’t listen to your dreams which you cause to be dreamed. 9 For they prophesy falsely to you in my name. I have not sent them,” says YHWH. 10 For YHWH says, “After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,” says YHWH, “thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future. 12 You will call on me, and you will go and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” says YHWH, “and I will turn again your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says YHWH. I will bring you again to the place from where I caused you to be carried away captive.” 15 Because you have said, “YHWH has raised us up prophets in Babylon,” 16 YHWH says concerning the king who sits on David’s throne, and concerning all the people who dwell in this city, your brothers who haven’t gone with you into captivity, 17 YHWH of Armies says: “Behold, I will send on them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like rotten figs that can’t be eaten, they are so bad. 18 I will pursue after them with the sword, with the famine, and with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be tossed back and forth among all the reigns of the land, to be an object of horror, an astonishment, a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, 19 because they have not listened to my words,” says YHWH, “with which I sent to them my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them; but you would not hear,” says YHWH. 20 Hear therefore the word of YHWH, all you captives whom I have sent away from Jerusalem to Babylon. 21 YHWH of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says concerning Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and concerning Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: “Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he will kill them before your eyes. 22 A curse will be taken up about them by all the captives of Judah who are in Babylon, saying, ‘YHWH make you like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;’ 23 because they have done foolish things in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn’t command them. I am he who knows, and am witness,” says YHWH. 24 Concerning Shemayah the Nehelamite you will speak, saying, 25 “YHWH of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says, ‘Because you have sent letters in your own name to all the people who are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, and to all the priests, saying, 26 “YHWH has made you priest in the place of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in the house of YHWH, for every man who is crazy and makes himself a prophet, that you should put him in the stocks and in shackles. 27 Now therefore, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth, who makes himself a prophet to you, 28 because he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, The captivity is long. Build houses, and dwell in them. Plant gardens, and eat their fruit?” ‘ ” 29 Zephaniah the priest read this letter in the hearing of Jeremiah the prophet. 30 Then the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah, saying, 31 “Send to all of the captives, saying, ‘YHWH says concerning Shemayah the Nehelamite: “Because Shemayah has prophesied to you, and I didn’t send him, and he has caused you to trust in a lie,” 32 therefore YHWH says, “Behold, I will punish Shemayah the Nehelamite and his seed. He will not have a man to dwell among this people. He won’t see the good that I will do to my people,” says YHWH, “because he has spoken rebellion against YHWH.” ‘ ”

Related Additional Readings​

The below excerpt is from Wise, Michael Owen, et al. The Dead Sea Scrolls: a New Translation. HarperSanFrancisco, 2005.

A Collection of Messianic Proof Texts 4Q175, Column 1 (T)

Column 1 “And YHWH said to Moses, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you, they are right in all that they have spoken. If only they had such a mind as this, to fear Me and to keep all My commandments always, so that it might go well with them and with their children forever!” (Deut. 5:28-29).

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put My words in his mouth, and he will speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet will speak in my name, I Myself will hold accountable” (Deut. 18:18-19).

The War Scroll 1QM, Column 10 (T)

[…] Column 10 of our camps, and to keep ourselves from any shameful nakedness, and he (Moses) told us that You are in our midst, a great and awe some Elohim, plundering all of our enemies befo[re u]s. He taught us from of old through all our generations, saying, “When you approach the battle, the priest will stand and speak unto the people, saying, ‘Hear O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be afraid nor fainthearted. Do not trem[ble, no]r be terrified because of them, for your Elohim goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, and to save you” (Deut. 20:2-4). Our [of]ficers will speak to all those prepared for battle, those willing of heart, to strengthen them by the might of Elohim, to turn back all who have who have lost heart, and to strengthen all the valiant warriors together. They will recount that which You spoke] by the hand of Moses, saying: “And when there is a war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then yo[u] will sound an alarm with the trumpets that you might be remembered before your Elohim and be saved from your enemies” (Num. 10:9).

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

30:7 And if there is any man who wisheth in Israel to give his daughter or his sister to any man who is of the seed of the Nations he will surely die, and they will stone him with stones; for he hath wrought shame in Israel; and they will burn the woman with fire, because she hath dishonoured the name of the house of her father, and she will be rooted out of Israel. 8. And let not an adulteress and no uncleanness be found in Israel throughout all the days of the generations of the land; for Israel is holy unto the Lord, and every man who hath defiled (it) will surely die: they will stone him with stones. 9. For thus hath it been ordained and written in the heavenly tables regarding all the seed of Israel: he who defileth (it) will surely die, and he will be stoned with stones. 10. And to this law there is no limit of days, and no remission, nor any atonement: but the man who hath defiled his daughter will be rooted out in the midst of all Israel, because he hath given of his seed to Moloch, and wrought impiously so as to defile it.

Deuteronomy 18:1 – 20:9 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 18 The priests of the tribe of Levi will have no part or inheritance with their brethren: they will eat the oblations of the Lord as their portion, but an inheritance in field or vineyard they will not have among their brethren. The twenty and four gifts of the priesthood which the Lord will give to him are his heritage; as He said to him, And this will be the portion belonging to the priest from the people, from them who offer slaughters, whether bullock or lamb they will give to the priest the right shoulder, the lower jaw, the cheeks, and the maw; the firsts of your corn, wine, and oil, the first of the fleece of your sheep, as much as a girdle measureth will you give to him: because the Lord thy Elohim hath chosen him out of all thy tribes to stand and minister in the Name of the Lord, him, and his sons, all the days.

And when a Levite may come from one of your cities out of all Israel where he hath dwelt, and come with all the obligation of his soul’s desire to the place which the Lord will choose, then he will minister in the Name of the Lord his Elohim as all his brethren the Levites who minister there before the Lord. Portion for portion equally will they eat, besides the gifts of the oblations which the priests do eat, which Elazar and Ithamar your fathers have given them to inherit. [JERUSALEM. And the allowance of his sale which they sell to him according to the fathers.]

When you have entered the land which the Lord your Elohim giveth you, ye will not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. None will be found among you to make his sons or daughters pass through the fire, nor who enchant with enchantments, or inspect serpents, nor observe divinations and auguries, or make (magical) knots and bindings of serpents and scorpions or any kind of reptile, or who consult the oba, the bones of the dead or the bone Jadua, or who inquire of the manes. [JERUSALEM. No one will be found among you to make his son or daughter pass through the fire, to enchant with enchantments, to inspect serpents, or to observe divinations and auguries; or any who use, (magical) knots, or are binders of snakes, scorpions, or any kinds of reptiles, or are consulters of oba, or who bring up the manes, or seek to learn from the dead.] For every one who doeth these is an abomination before the Lord; and because of these abominations the Lord driveth them out before you. Ye will be perfect in the fear of the Lord your Elohim. For these nations which thou art about to dispossess have listened to inspectors of serpents and enchanters. [JERUSALEM. To inspectors of serpents and to users of enchantments have they hearkened.] But you are not to be like them the priests will inquire by Urim and Tummim and a Right Prophet will the Lord your Elohim give you; a Prophet from among you of your brethren like unto me, with the Holy Spirit will the Lord your Elohim raise up unto you; to Him will you be obedient. According to all that you begged before the Lord your Elohim in Horeb on the day of the assembling of the tribes to receive the law, saying, Let us not again bear the Great Voice from before the Lord our Elohim, nor behold again that great fire, lest we die: and the Lord said to me, That which they have spoken is right; I will raise up unto them a Prophet from, among their brethren in whom will be the Holy Spirit, as in thee; and I will put My Word of prophecy in his mouth, and he will speak with them whatsoever I command him; and the man who will not hearken to the words of My prophecy which will be spoken in My Name, My Word will take vengeance upon him. But the false prophet who doeth wickedly in speaking a thing in My Name, when I have not commanded him to speak, or who will speak in the name of the elohim of the Nations, that prophet will be slain with the sword. And if thou shalt say in your thoughts, How will we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a false prophet speaketh in the Name of the Lord, and the thing doth not come to pass, or be not confirmed, it is a word which the Lord hath not spoken; the false prophet spake it in presumption; fear him not.

Chapter 19 When the Lord your Elohim will have destroyed the nations whose land the Lord your Elohim giveth you, and you possess them, and dwell in their cities and houses, three cities will you set apart within your land which the Lord your Elohim giveth you to inherit. You will prepare a high road, and divide your limit which the Lord your Elohim bestoweth upon you, that any manslayer may flee thither. And this is the regulation for the manslayer who fleeth thither that he may live: Whoever will have killed his brother without intention, he not having kept enmity against him yesterday, or the day before, (as for example) if any one goeth with his neighbour into the thicket to cut wood, and he driveth his hand with the axe to cut wood, and the iron flieth apart from the haft and lighteth on his neighbour that be die, he may flee to one of those appointed cities, and. save his life. [JERUSALEM. He who may go with his neighbour into the thicket to cut wood, and exerting himself with the axe to cut the wood, the iron separate from the handle, and fall upon his neighbour that he die, be may flee into one of those cities, and live.] Lest the avenger of blood follow after him his heart boiling within him on account of his grief, and apprehend him, if the way be long, and take his life, though he is not guilty of the judgment of death, because he had not enmity against him in time past. [JERUSALEM. Because his heart is boiling and be meeteth.] Therefore I command you to-day that you set apart for you three cities.

And if the Lord your Elohim enlarge your border, as He hath sworn to your fathers, and give you all the land which He Hath sworn to your fathers to give, then will you keep all this commandment which to-day I command you to do, that thou mayest love the Lord thy Elohim, and walk in the ways which are right before Him all days; and you will add yet three cities to those three ; that innocent blood may not be shed in your land which the Lord your Elohim giveth you to inherit, and the guilt of the judgment of death may not be upon you.

But if a man with enmity against his neighbour will lay wait for him in secret, to destroy his life, and he die, then should he flee into one of those cities, the sages of his cities will send and take him thence, and give him up into the band of the pursuer for blood, and he will be put to death. Your eye will not spare him, but you will put away shedders of innocent blood from Israel, that it may be well with you.

You will not remove the boundary mark of your neighbours which the predecessors did set for the limit in your possession of inheritance in the land which the Lord your Elohim giveth you to inherit.

The witness of one (witness) will not be valid against a man for any crime (regarding the taking) of life, or guilt concerning money, or any sin with which one may be charged with sinning; but, by the Word of the Lord, (to insure) retribution upon secret crimes, (while) one witness may swear to deny what hath been attested against him, the sentence will be confirmed upon the mouth of two witnesses, or of three.

When false witnesses stand up against a man to testify wrong things against him, then the two men between whom lies the subject of contention will stand in the face of the Lord, before the priests and judges who will be in those days: and the judges will question the witnesses of their times fairly; and, behold, false witness is in the mouth of the witnesses; they have borne false witness against their brother. And so will you do unto them as they had devised to do against their brother, and you will put down the doers of evil from among you. And the wicked who remain will hear and be afraid, and not add to repeat an evil thing like this among you. Your eye will not spare; life for life, the value of an eye for an eye, the value of a tooth for a tooth, the value of a hand for a hand, the value of a foot for a foot.

Chapter 20 When you go forth to battle against your enemies, and see horses and chariots, and peoples proud, overbearing, and stronger than you, fear them not; for all of them are accounted as a single horse and a single chariot before the Lord your Elohim, whose Word will be your Helper; for He brought you free out of the land of Mizraim. And at the time that you draw nigh to do battle, the priest will approach and speak with the people, and say to them, Hear, Israel, you draw near this day to fight against your adversaries; let not your heart be moved, be not afraid, tremble not, nor be broken down before them: for the Shekinah of the Lord your Elohim goeth before you to fight for you against your enemies, and to save you.

And the officers will speak with the people, saying: Who is the man who hath builded a new house, and hath not set fast its door-posts to complete it? let him go and return to his house, lest through sin he be slain in the battle, and another man complete it. Or, what man hath planted a vineyard, and hath not redeemed it from the priest [JERUSALEM. And hath not redeemed it] to make it common? let him go and return to his house, lest sin be the occasion of his not redeeming it, but he be slain in the battle, and another make it common. And what man hath betrothed a woman, but not taken her? let him go and return to his house, lest sin prevent him from rejoicing with his wife and he be slain in the battle, and another take her. Yet more will the officers speak to the people, and say, Who is the man who is afraid on account of his sin and whose heart is broken? let him go and return to his house, that his brethren be not implicated in his sins, and their heart be broken like his. And when the officers will have finished to speak with the people, they will appoint the captains of the host at the head of the people.

Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 4.8.33-37 (T)

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

4.8.33. If men strive together, and there be no instrument of iron, let him that is smitten be avenged immediately, by inflicting the same punishment on him that smote him: but if when he is carried home he lie sick many days, and then die, let him that smote him not escape punishment; but if he that is smitten escape death, and yet be at great expense for his cure, the smiter will pay for all that has been expended during the time of his sickness, and for all that he has paid the physician. He that kicks a woman with child, so that the woman miscarry, let him pay a fine in money, as the judges will determine, as having diminished the multitude by the destruction of what was in her womb; and let money also be given the woman’s husband by him that kicked her; but if she die of the plague, let him also be put to death, the law judging it equitable that life should go for life.

4.8.34. Let no one of the Israelites keep any poison that may cause death, or any other harm; but if he be caught with it, let him be put to death, and suffer the very same mischief that he would have brought upon them for whom the poison was prepared.

4.8.35. He that maimeth any one, let him undergo the like himself, and be deprived of the same member of which he hath deprived the other, unless he that is maimed will accept of money instead of it for the law makes the sufferer the judge of the value of what he hath suffered, and permits him to estimate it, unless he will be more severe.

4.8.36. Let him that is the owner of an ox which pusheth with his horn, kill him: but if he pushes and gores any one in the thrashing-floor, let him be put to death by stoning, and let him not be thought fit for food: but if his owner be convicted as having known what his nature was, and hath not kept him up, let him also be put to death, as being the occasion of the ox’s having killed a man. But if the ox have killed a man-servant, or a maid-servant, let him be stoned; and let the owner of the ox pay thirty shekels to the master of him that was slain; but if it be an ox that is thus smitten and killed, let both the oxen, that which smote the other and that which was killed, be sold, and let the owners of them divide their price between them.

4.8.37. Let those that dig a well or a pit be careful to lay planks over them, and so guard them shut up, not in order to hinder any persons from drawing water, but that there may be no danger of falling into them. But if any one’s beast fall into such a well or pit thus dug, and not shut up, and perish, let the owner pay its price to the owner of the beast. Let there be a battlement round the tops of your houses instead of a wall, that may prevent any persons from rolling down and perishing.