Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 29 January 2021

 Another brief and late.  

Not sure of our activity level over the next week.  Wife's nephew was told this morning that he's tested positive for the COVID  "Wuhan flu" thing.  We haven't been near him for  a couple weeks, so we shouldn't have been exposed.  But his wife is several weeks into the radiation treatments for an aggressive form of breast cancer.  Next door niece and husband have been "watching " their kids while mom is at treatments and dad had been sleeping after a 12 hour nightshift.  So is next-door niece at risk from exposure to those kids, and are those kids at risk?  They're under quarantine as a result, and we may be precluded from helping out.  LOTS of what I call "splash effect" on this.

And I'm not going to be getting real close to people myself.  But we shall see.

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EXODUS 19

Israel at Sinai

1In the third month, on the same day of the month that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai. 2After they departed from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain. 

3Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called  to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob, and explain to the Israelites: 4‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me.  5Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant,  you will be My own possession  out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine, 6and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.’  These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”

7After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. 8Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken.”  So Moses brought the people’s words back to the Lord.

9The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud,  so that the people will hear when I speak  with you and will always believe you.” Then Moses reported the people’s words to the Lord. 10And the Lord told Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes  11and be prepared by the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.  12Put boundaries for the people all around the mountain and say: Be careful that you don’t go up on the mountain or touch its base. Anyone who touches the mountain will be put to death.  13No hand may touch him; instead he will be stoned or shot with arrows. No animal or man will live. When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they may go up the mountain.”

14Then Moses came down from the mountain to the people and consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. 15He said to the people, “Be prepared by the third day. Do not have sexual relations with women.”

16On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a loud trumpet sound, so that all the people in the camp shuddered. 17Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire.  Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace,  and the whole mountain shook violently.  19As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder. 

20The Lord came down on Mount Sinai at the top of the mountain. Then the Lord summoned Moses to the top of the mountain, and he went up. 21The Lord directed Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to break through to see the Lord; otherwise many of them will die.  22Even the priests who come near the Lord must purify themselves or the Lord will break out in anger against them.” 

23But Moses responded to the Lord, “The people cannot come up Mount Sinai, since You warned us: Put a boundary around the mountain and consider it holy.” 24And the Lord replied to him, “Go down and come back with Aaron. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break out in anger against them.” 25So Moses went down to the people and told them.

EXODUS 20

The Ten Commandments

1Then God spoke all these words:

2I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. 

3Do not have other gods besides Me. 

4Do not make an idol  for yourself, whether in the shape of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. 5You must not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,  punishing the children for the fathers’ sin, to the third and fourth generations  of those who hate Me, 6but showing faithful love to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commands. 

7Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses His name. 

8Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy:  9You are to labor six days and do all your work,  10but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work — you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the foreigner who is within your gates.  11For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.

12Honor your father and your mother  so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

13Do not murder. 

14Do not commit adultery. 

15Do not steal. 

16Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. 

17Do not covet your neighbor’s house. Do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. 

The People’s Reaction

18All the people witnessed  the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain surrounded by smoke. When the people saw it  they trembled and stood at a distance.  19“You speak to us, and we will listen,” they said to Moses, “but don’t let God speak to us, or we will die.” 

20Moses responded to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear Him and will not  sin.”  21And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. 

Moses Receives Additional Laws

22Then the Lord told Moses, “This is what you are to say to the Israelites: You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.  23You must not make gods of silver to rival Me; you must not make gods of gold for yourselves.  

24“You must make an earthen altar for Me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats, as well as your cattle. I will come to you and bless you in every place where I cause My name to be remembered.  25If you make a stone altar for Me, you must not build it out of cut stones. If you use your chisel on it, you will defile it.  26You must not go up to My altar on steps, so that your nakedness is not exposed on it.

EXODUS 21

1“These are the ordinances that you must set before them:

Laws about Slaves

2“When you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for six years; then in the seventh he is to leave as a free man  without paying anything.  3If he arrives alone, he is to leave alone; if he arrives with  a wife, his wife is to leave with him. 4If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong to her master, and the man must leave alone.

5“But if the slave declares: ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I do not want to leave as a free man,’  6his master is to bring him to the judges  and then bring him to the door or doorpost. His master must pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve his master for life.

7“When a man sells his daughter as a slave,  she is not to leave as the male slaves do.  8If she is displeasing to her master, who chose her for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners because he has acted treacherously toward her. 9Or if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her according to the customary treatment of daughters. 10If he takes an additional wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of the first wife.  11And if he does not do these three things for her, she may leave free of charge, without any exchange of money. 

Laws about Personal Injury

12“Whoever strikes a person so that he dies must be put to death.  13But if he didn’t intend any harm,  and yet God caused it to happen by his hand, I will appoint a place for you where he may flee.  14If a person schemes and willfully  acts against his neighbor to murder him, you must take him from My altar to be put to death. 

15“Whoever strikes his father or his mother must be put to death.

16“Whoever kidnaps a person must be put to death, whether he sells him or the person is found in his possession. 

17“Whoever curses his father or his mother must be put to death. 

18“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or his fist, and the injured man does not die but is confined to bed, 19if he can later get up and walk around outside leaning on his staff, then the one who struck him will be exempt from punishment. Nevertheless, he must pay for his lost work time  and provide for his complete recovery.

20“When a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod, and the slave dies under his abuse,  the owner must be punished.  21However, if the slave can stand up after a day or two, the owner should not be punished  because he is his owner’s property.  

22“When men get in a fight and hit a pregnant woman so that her children are born prematurely  but there is no injury, the one who hit her must be fined as the woman’s husband demands  from him, and he must pay according to judicial assessment. 23If there is an injury, then you must give life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth,  hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.

26“When a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave and destroys it, he must let the slave go free in compensation for his eye. 27If he knocks out the tooth of his male or female slave, he must let the slave go free in compensation for his tooth.

28“When an ox  gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned,  and its meat may not be eaten, but the ox’s owner is innocent. 29However, if the ox was in the habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned, and its owner must also be put to death. 30If instead a ransom  is demanded of him, he can pay a redemption price for his life in the full amount demanded from him. 31If it gores a son or a daughter, he is to be dealt with according to this same law. 32If the ox gores a male or female slave, he must give 30 shekels  of silver  to the slave’s master, and the ox must be stoned.

33“When a man uncovers a pit or digs a pit, and does not cover it, and an ox or a donkey falls into it, 34the owner of the pit must give compensation; he must pay money to its owner, but the dead animal will become his.

35“When a man’s ox injures his neighbor’s ox and it dies, they must sell the live ox and divide its proceeds; they must also divide the dead animal. 36If, however, it is known that the ox was in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not restrained it, he must compensate fully, ox for ox; the dead animal will become his.

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MATTHEW 20

The Parable of the Vineyard Workers

1“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.  2After agreeing with the workers on one denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3When he went out about nine in the morning,  he saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4To those men he said, ‘You also go to my vineyard, and I’ll give you whatever is right.’ So off they went. 5About noon and at three,  he went out again and did the same thing. 6Then about five  he went and found others standing around,  and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing? ’

7“ ‘Because no one hired us,’ they said to him.

“ ‘You also go to my vineyard,’ he told them.  8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his foreman, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay,  starting with the last and ending with the first.’ 

9“When those who were hired about five  came, they each received one denarius. 10So when the first ones came, they assumed they would get more, but they also received a denarius each. 11When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner: 12‘These last men put in one hour, and you made them equal to us who bore the burden of the day and the burning heat! ’ 

13“He replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius?  14Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. 15Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my business?  Are you jealous  because I’m generous? ’  

16“So the last will be first, and the first last.”