I had a lot of trouble getting the font even through these postings. Sorry!

Deuteronomy 19 - The land is to be divided into three regions and each region is to have a city of refuge so “that every [non-malicious or accidental] homicide will be able to find a refuge” (19:4). In the event the territory given is expanded, three…

Deuteronomy 17 – Sacrificial animals must be without “serious defect.” Death is to be the penalty for idolatry, but only on the testimony of more than one witness.  The witnesses must be among those who stone the perpetrator—the first to cast the stone (17: 7) [Here is where Jesus gets his saying when he saves the woman accused of adultery—perhaps they had gotten away from this rule] Complicated cases should go to the assigned judge or levitical priests in office. This is a…

Deuteronomy 15 – Every seven years the people shall have a “relaxation of debts” for kinsmen.” The NAB notes that we are not sure if this meant a suspension of interest or of payments on debt, or release from the full amount of any debt.  There should be no one of you in need.”  Kinsmen who sell themselves for debt shall be freed every 7^th year.  They are also to watch that they do not get resentful when the year of “release” approaches (15:9). You…

Deuteronomy 13 – Moses warns the people not to add to or take from the command he gives them. If “a prophet or dreamer” performs signs, don’t let that lead you to worship strange gods.  Yahweh tests us to see if we love him. “. . .his voice you shall obey, him shall you serve, to him shall you cling. . .”  (13:5). And if someone tries to turn you to away from the Lord, that person should be “put to death” (13:5). We tend to forget that God’s chosen in our long tradition once held to…

Deuteronomy 12 – The editor of the Schocken Bible  (1997) notes that Deuteronomy as a whole is similar to other Near Eastern “covenant” or “treaty” models, Assyrian and earlier Hittite texts. It presents an historical overview and exhortation (chapters 1 through 11) followed by the “terms of the covenant” (chapters 12 through 28) and a concluding exhortation (chapters 29 through 34).

Chapters 12 to 28 is the heart of Deuteronomy – it represents the terms of the covenant…

Deuteronomy 11 – The people must remember that these memories are theirs - the knowledge of the Lord’s “discipline” (Schocken 11:2 – what he did to the sons of Reuben during the rebellion of Korah) is theirs, not their children’s). I will add more about this rebellion, which for early Quakers, especially George Fox, had an importance that many do not understand.  So this is the challenge to the Jewish people is how to pass down the memory of what happened in the exodus and the…

Deuteronomy 10 –Moses recounts how God told him to bring two new stone tablets and an ark of wood to place them in.  Aaron dies in Moserah and his son Eleazar succeeds him.  The tribe of Levi is set aside to carry the ark, to stand in God’s presence and serve him.  They give up their share of the inheritance of land (10:12-13). Moses passed forty days on the mountain doing all this, convincing the Lord not to destroy them.

So now, what does the Lord ask of His people…

Deuteronomy 8 – The people are told that they must remember – always remember – all that the Lord has done for them. God led you in the wilderness to humble you, to test you, to know your inmost heart. “He made you go hungry, and then he gave you manna to eat, food that you and your ancestors had never eaten before. He did this to teach you that you must not depend on bread alone to sustain you, but on everything that the Lord says (8:3).  These words are very…

Deuteronomy 7 - Seven nations will fall before Israel.  They must all be placed “under the ban” – for they will turn your sons away from God.  Their altars must be torn down, the sacred pillars smashed, their idols destroyed. They are to be a people set apart.  “If Yahweh set his heart on you and chose you, it was not because you outnumber other peoples: you were the least of all peoples.  It was for love of you and to keep the oath he swore to your…

Deuteronomy 6 – Moses delivers to them the Great Commandment: “Israel, remember this! The Lord – and the Lord along – is our God. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (6:4). As He promised your ancestors, the Lord will give you a land with great cities that you did not build, houses full of things you did not put in them and wells you did not dig (6:10-13). I]m not sure this sounds as cool today as it may have once sounded…

Deuteronomy 5 – The Ten Commandments:  [Schocken version points out that the commandments were “for a time. . .part of Jewish liturgy, but were ultimately removed from the Prayer Book out of fear that it would be thought that ten rules were the limit of one’s obligations to God (874]. 

Moses was the mediator between God and his people, mostly because they wanted it that way. They feared encountering God directly.

It is interesting that Jews, Catholics and Protestants all…

Deuteronomy. 4 – Moses reminds the people of the commands he was given by God.”. . .that you may have life and may enter and take possession of the land.”  They are told not to add anything to these laws, interestingly—especially in light of the fact that Deuteronomy does add onto and change things given earlier in the Torah, but Schocken editors think these things are worked in here under a bringing together of the tradition, just at the…

Deuteronomy 3 – They move on to the region of Bashan. I think the entire region discussed in these early chapters of Deuteronomy is along the eastern side of the Jordan River. They are moving North of the Arnon River. Og, King of Bashan, marches against them and loses. They take 60 towns and again do a lot of killing – men, women and children. And there seems no shame in Moses or in the writer of this book in stating this very matter-of-factly. Moses divides Gilead between the…

Deuteronomy 2 - Moses and his people return to the wilderness in the highlands of Seir for a while; but soon they are ordered north again. The Lord makes clear to Moses the people who are to be left in peace and those he intends to displace, so that the Hebrews can take some of the land.  The Edomites (descended from Esau) are to be left alone; the Moabites and Ammonites (descended from Lot, nephew of Abraham), and are  also to be by-passed. It is the Amorites who are  to lose their…

Deuteronomy (Introduction) -  The ancient name for this book was “mishne tora” or “copy of the Torah.  But it goes beyond that according to editors of the Schocken Bible [modern English translation]. The whole mission and destiny of Israel is “recast” here.  Here the man who thought of himself as halting of speech gives a series of eloquent speeches.  Though Moses died on the steppes overlooking Jericho, its outlook seems to entail a knowledge and reverence for the…

Psalm 144 – My Lord protects me, trains me for battle and is my shelter. “Lord, what are mortals, that you notice them; mere mortals, that you pay attention to us? We are like a puff of wind; our days are like a passing shadow” (144:3-4).

Tear open the sky, Lord, and come down to us. “Reach down from above, pull me out of the deep water, and rescue me; save me from the power of foreigners, who never tell the truth and lie even under oath” (144:7-8).

I…

Psalm 142 – A prayer for God’s help. To Him I bring all my complaints, all my despair. No one seems to care for me, so I cry to God, “you are all I want in this life” (142:5). I hear David's cry for help from his enemies, but it is his cry for freedom from distress that can relate to more.

Psalm 143 – Do not put me on trial, Lord, “for no one is innocent in your sight” (143:2).

He has suffered a defeat from his enemies and is in a dark prison. He…

Psalm 137 – “By the rivers of Babylon we sat down; there we wept when we remembered Zion” (137:1). How many times have I sung these words? In Zion, the Babylonians forced the Jews to sing, to entertain them. And then the psalm ends with a horrendous plea for vengeance – “Happy are those who pay you [Babylon] back for what you have done to us – who take your babies and smash them against a rock” (137:8-9). It is very hard to read these words and know how truly they…

Psalm 135 – Praise the Lord for He is good; He is kind and greater than all the gods. He move the clouds, makes the lightning flash and the wind blow. In Egypt, God “performed miracles and wonders.” It is God who brings down nations and opens space for His people. The God of the Jews, creator of nature and the power behind all history is not like the “gods of the nations,” gods made of silver or gold. Those who worship such gods – may they all become like these gods - ineffectual.…

Sticking to a fairly demanding schedule of scripture readings can seem a bit challenging. I am trying to stick to a schedule that has worked for me over the years since I discovered it. It was first published in 1952 and is published by the Liturgical Press of St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. I am not a scripture literalist, but I have found over the years that the advice given by the "cloud of witnesses" that have gone before us - from the earliest years to the present day - is…