DEUTERONOMY 14

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Clean and Unclean Animals  14:1 “You are the sons of the LORD your God; you shall not cut yourselves nor shave your forehead for the sake of the dead. 2 For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
    3 “You shall not eat any detestable thing. 4 These are the animals which you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. 6 Any animal that divides the hoof and has the hoof split in two and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat. 7 Nevertheless, you are not to eat of these among those which chew the cud, or among those that divide the hoof in two: the camel and the rabbit and the shaphan, for though they chew the cud, they do not divide the hoof; they are unclean for you. 8 The pig, because it divides the hoof but does not chew the cud, it is unclean for you. You shall not eat any of their flesh nor touch their carcasses.
    9 “These you may eat of all that are in water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat, 10 but anything that does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
    11 “You may eat any clean bird. 12 But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, 13 and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14 and every raven in its kind, 15 and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16 the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17 the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18 the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19 And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20 You may eat any clean bird.
    21 “You shall not eat anything which dies of itself. You may give it to the alien who is in your town, so that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner, for you are a holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
    22 “You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. 23 You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. 24 If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 26 You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.
    28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. 29 The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

PSALM 70

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Prayer for Help against Persecutors.For the choir director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.
70:1 O God, hasten to deliver me;

O LORD, hasten to my help!

2 Let those be ashamed and humiliated

Who seek my life;

Let those be turned back and dishonored

Who delight in my hurt.

3 Let those be turned back because of their shame

Who say, “Aha, aha!”

4 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;

And let those who love Your salvation say continually,

“Let God be magnified.”

5 But I am afflicted and needy;

Hasten to me, O God!

You are my help and my deliverer;

O LORD, do not delay.

PROVERBS 18

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Contrast the Upright and the Wicked18:1 He who separates himself seeks his own desire,

He quarrels against all sound wisdom.

2 A fool does not delight in understanding,

But only in revealing his own mind.

3 When a wicked man comes, contempt also comes,

And with dishonor comes scorn.

4 The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters;

The fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.

5 To show partiality to the wicked is not good,

Nor to thrust aside the righteous in judgment.

6 A fool’s lips bring strife,

And his mouth calls for blows.

7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin,

And his lips are the snare of his soul.

8 The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels,

And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.

9 He also who is slack in his work

Is brother to him who destroys.

10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower;

The righteous runs into it and is safe.

11 A rich man’s wealth is his strong city,

And like a high wall in his own imagination.

12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty,

But humility goes before honor.

13 He who gives an answer before he hears,

It is folly and shame to him.

14 The spirit of a man can endure his sickness,

But as for a broken spirit who can bear it?

15 The mind of the prudent acquires knowledge,

And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

16 A man’s gift makes room for him

And brings him before great men.

17 The first to plead his case seems right,

Until another comes and examines him.

18 The cast lot puts an end to strife

And decides between the mighty ones.

19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city,

And contentions are like the bars of a citadel.

20 With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach will be satisfied;

He will be satisfied with the product of his lips.

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

And those who love it will eat its fruit.

22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing

And obtains favor from the LORD.

23 The poor man utters supplications,

But the rich man answers roughly.

24 A man of too many friends comes to ruin,

But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.