Deuteronomy 19

• 1. "The LORD your God will soon destroy the nations whose land he is giving you, and you will displace them and settle in their towns and homes.
• 2. Then you must set apart three cities of refuge in the land the LORD your God is giving you to occupy.
• 3. Divide the land the LORD your God is giving you into three districts, with one of these cities in each district. Keep the roads to these cities in good repair so that anyone who has killed someone can flee there for safety.
• 4. "If someone accidentally kills a neighbor without harboring any previous hatred, the slayer may flee to any of these cities and be safe.
• 5. For example, suppose someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to cut wood. And suppose one of them swings an ax and the ax head flies off the handle, killing the other person. In such cases, the slayer could flee to one of the cities of refuge and be safe.
• 6. If the distance to the nearest city of refuge was too far, an enraged avenger might be able to chase down and kill the person who caused the death. The slayer would die, even though there was no death sentence and the first death had been an accident.
• 7. That is why I am commanding you to set aside three cities of refuge.
• 8. "If the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he solemnly promised your ancestors, and gives you all the land he promised them,
• 9. you must designate three additional cities of refuge. (He will give you this land if you obey all the commands I have given you--if you always love the LORD your God and walk in his ways.)
• 10. That way you will prevent the death of innocent people in the land the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession, and you will not be held responsible for murder.
• 11. "But suppose someone hates a neighbor and deliberately ambushes and murders that neighbor and then escapes to one of the cities of refuge.
• 12. In that case, the leaders of the murderer's hometown must have the murderer brought back from the city of refuge and handed over to the dead person's avenger to be killed.
• 13. Do not feel sorry for that murderer! Purge the guilt of murder from Israel so all may go well with you.
• 14. "When you arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you as a special possession, never steal someone's land by moving the boundary markers your ancestors set up to mark their property.
• 15. "Never convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of just one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
• 16. If a malicious witness comes forward and accuses someone of a crime,
• 17. then both the accuser and accused must appear before the priests and judges who are on duty before the LORD.
• 18. They must be closely questioned, and if the accuser is found to be lying,
• 19. the accuser will receive the punishment intended for the accused. In this way, you will cleanse such evil from among you.
• 20. Those who hear about it will be afraid to do such an evil thing again.
• 21. You must never show pity! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Psalms 106

• 1. Praise the LORD! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
• 2. Who can list the glorious miracles of the LORD? Who can ever praise him half enough?
• 3. Happy are those who deal justly with others and always do what is right.
• 4. Remember me, too, LORD, when you show favor to your people; come to me with your salvation.
• 5. Let me share in the prosperity of your chosen ones. Let me rejoice in the joy of your people; let me praise you with those who are your heritage.
• 6. Both we and our ancestors have sinned. We have done wrong! We have acted wickedly!
• 7. Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the LORD's miracles. They soon forgot his many acts of kindness to them. Instead, they rebelled against him at the Red Sea.
• 8. Even so, he saved them--to defend the honor of his name and to demonstrate his mighty power.
• 9. He commanded the Red Sea to divide, and a dry path appeared. He led Israel across the sea bottom that was as dry as a desert.
• 10. So he rescued them from their enemies and redeemed them from their foes.
• 11. Then the water returned and covered their enemies; not one of them survived.
• 12. Then at last his people believed his promises. Then they finally sang his praise.
• 13. Yet how quickly they forgot what he had done! They wouldn't wait for his counsel!
• 14. In the wilderness, their desires ran wild, testing God's patience in that dry land.
• 15. So he gave them what they asked for, but he sent a plague along with it.
• 16. The people in the camp were jealous of Moses and envious of Aaron, the LORD's holy priest.
• 17. Because of this, the earth opened up; it swallowed Dathan and buried Abiram and the other rebels.
• 18. Fire fell upon their followers; a flame consumed the wicked.
• 19. The people made a calf at Mount Sinai; they bowed before an image made of gold.
• 20. They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating ox!
• 21. They forgot God, their savior, who had done such great things in Egypt--
• 22. such wonderful things in that land, such awesome deeds at the Red Sea.
• 23. So he declared he would destroy them. But Moses, his chosen one, stepped between the LORD and the people. He begged him to turn from his anger and not destroy them.
• 24. The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn't believe his promise to care for them.
• 25. Instead, they grumbled in their tents and refused to obey the LORD.
• 26. Therefore, he swore that he would kill them in the wilderness,
• 27. that he would scatter their descendants among the nations, exiling them to distant lands.
• 28. Then our ancestors joined in the worship of Baal at Peor; they even ate sacrifices offered to the dead!
• 29. They angered the LORD with all these things, so a plague broke out among them.
• 30. But Phinehas had the courage to step in, and the plague was stopped.
• 31. So he has been regarded as a righteous man ever since that time.
• 32. At Meribah, too, they angered the LORD, causing Moses serious trouble.
• 33. They made Moses angry, and he spoke foolishly.
• 34. Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the LORD had told them to.
• 35. Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs.
• 36. They worshiped their idols, and this led to their downfall.
• 37. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons.
• 38. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder.
• 39. They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the LORD's sight.
• 40. That is why the LORD's anger burned against his people, and he abhorred his own special possession.
• 41. He handed them over to pagan nations, and those who hated them ruled over them.
• 42. Their enemies crushed them and brought them under their cruel power.
• 43. Again and again he delivered them, but they continued to rebel against him, and they were finally destroyed by their sin.
• 44. Even so, he pitied them in their distress and listened to their cries.
• 45. He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love.
• 46. He even caused their captors to treat them with kindness.
• 47. O LORD our God, save us! Gather us back from among the nations, so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you.
• 48. Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD!

Isaiah 46

• 1. The idols of Babylon, Bel and Nebo, are being hauled away on ox carts. But look! The beasts are staggering under the weight!
• 2. Both the idols and the ones carrying them are bowed down. The gods cannot protect the people, and the people cannot protect the gods. They go off into captivity together.
• 3. "Listen to me, all you who are left in Israel. I created you and have cared for you since before you were born.
• 4. I will be your God throughout your lifetime--until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.
• 5. "To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?
• 6. Some people pour out their silver and gold and hire a craftsman to make a god from it. Then they bow down and worship it!
• 7. They carry it around on their shoulders, and when they set it down, it stays there. It cannot even move! And when someone prays to it, there is no answer. It has no power to get anyone out of trouble.
• 8. "Do not forget this, you guilty ones.
• 9. And do not forget the things I have done throughout history. For I am God--I alone! I am God, and there is no one else like me.
• 10. Only I can tell you what is going to happen even before it happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.
• 11. I will call a swift bird of prey from the east--a leader from a distant land who will come and do my bidding. I have said I would do it, and I will.
• 12. Listen to me, you stubborn, evil people!
• 13. For I am ready to set things right, not in the distant future, but right now! I am ready to save Jerusalem and give my glory to Israel.

New Living Translation: 165 of 365 days.