11th February

¹ Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.² If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.³ If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him.⁴ If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.⁵ And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:⁶ Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever.⁷ And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do.⁸ If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her.⁹ And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.¹⁰ If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish.¹¹ And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money.¹² He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death.¹³ And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.¹⁴ But if a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.¹⁵ And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death.¹⁶ And he that stealeth a man, and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death.¹⁷ And he that curseth his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.¹⁸ And if men strive together, and one smite another with a stone, or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:¹⁹ If he rise again, and walk abroad upon his staff, then shall he that smote him be quit: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.²⁰ And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.²¹ Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.²² If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.²³ And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life,²⁴ Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,²⁵ Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.²⁶ And if a man smite the eye of his servant, or the eye of his maid, that it perish; he shall let him go free for his eye's sake.²⁷ And if he smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's tooth; he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.²⁸ If an ox gore a man or a woman, that they die: then the ox shall be surely stoned, and his flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be quit.²⁹ But if the ox were wont to push with his horn in time past, and it hath been testified to his owner, and he hath not kept him in, but that he hath killed a man or a woman; the ox shall be stoned, and his owner also shall be put to death.³⁰ If there be laid on him a sum of money, then he shall give for the ransom of his life whatsoever is laid upon him.³¹ Whether he have gored a son, or have gored a daughter, according to this judgment shall it be done unto him.³² If the ox shall push a manservant or a maidservant; he shall give unto their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.³³ And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass fall therein;³⁴ The owner of the pit shall make it good, and give money unto the owner of them; and the dead beast shall be his.³⁵ And if one man's ox hurt another's, that he die; then they shall sell the live ox, and divide the money of it; and the dead ox also they shall divide.³⁶ Or if it be known that the ox hath used to push in time past, and his owner hath not kept him in; he shall surely pay ox for ox; and the dead shall be his own.

¹ O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?² Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.³ Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.⁴ Thine enemies roar in the midst of thy congregations; they set up their ensigns for signs.⁵ A man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees.⁶ But now they break down the carved work thereof at once with axes and hammers.⁷ They have cast fire into thy sanctuary, they have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to the ground.⁸ They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all the synagogues of God in the land.⁹ We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.¹⁰ O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?¹¹ Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom.¹² For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.¹³ Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters.¹⁴ Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.¹⁵ Thou didst cleave the fountain and the flood: thou driedst up mighty rivers.¹⁶ The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light and the sun.¹⁷ Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.¹⁸ Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name.¹⁹ O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove unto the multitude of the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.²⁰ Have respect unto the covenant: for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.²¹ O let not the oppressed return ashamed: let the poor and needy praise thy name.²² Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.²³ Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.

¹ Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem.² And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.³ For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.⁴ And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.⁵ Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands?⁶ He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.⁷ Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.⁸ For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.⁹ And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.¹⁰ For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:¹¹ But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.¹² And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;¹³ Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.¹⁴ And when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:¹⁵ There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.¹⁶ If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.¹⁷ And when he was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.¹⁸ And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;¹⁹ Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?²⁰ And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.²¹ For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,²² Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:²³ All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.²⁴ And from thence he arose, and went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an house, and would have no man know it: but he could not be hid.²⁵ For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet:²⁶ The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter.²⁷ But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.²⁸ And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.²⁹ And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.³⁰ And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.³¹ And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.³² And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.³³ And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;³⁴ And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened.³⁵ And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.³⁶ And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;³⁷ And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.