Deuteronomy 25

• 1. "Suppose two people take a dispute to court, and the judges declare that one is right and the other is wrong.
• 2. If the person in the wrong is sentenced to be flogged, the judge will command him to lie down and be beaten in his presence with the number of lashes appropriate to the crime.
• 3. No more than forty lashes may ever be given; more than forty lashes would publicly humiliate your neighbor.
• 4. "Do not keep an ox from eating as it treads out the grain.
• 5. "If two brothers are living together on the same property and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Instead, her husband's brother must marry her and fulfill the duties of a brother-in-law.
• 6. The first son she bears to him will be counted as the son of the dead brother, so that his name will not be forgotten in Israel.
• 7. But if the dead man's brother refuses to marry the widow, she must go to the town gate and say to the leaders there, `My husband's brother refuses to preserve his brother's name in Israel--he refuses to marry me.'
• 8. The leaders of the town will then summon him and try to reason with him. If he still insists that he doesn't want to marry her,
• 9. the widow must walk over to him in the presence of the leaders, pull his sandal from his foot, and spit in his face. She will then say, `This is what happens to a man who refuses to raise up a son for his brother.'
• 10. Ever afterward his family will be referred to as `the family of the man whose sandal was pulled off'!
• 11. "If two Israelite men are fighting and the wife of one tries to rescue her husband by grabbing the testicles of the other man,
• 12. her hand must be cut off without pity.
• 13. "You must use accurate scales when you weigh out merchandise,
• 14. and you must use full and honest measures.
• 15. Yes, use honest weights and measures, so that you will enjoy a long life in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
• 16. Those who cheat with dishonest weights and measures are detestable to the LORD your God.
• 17. "Never forget what the Amalekites did to you as you came from Egypt.
• 18. They attacked you when you were exhausted and weary, and they struck down those who were lagging behind. They had no fear of God.
• 19. Therefore, when the LORD your God has given you rest from all your enemies in the land he is giving you as a special possession, you are to destroy the Amalekites and erase their memory from under heaven. Never forget this!

Psalms 116

• 1. I love the LORD because he hears and answers my prayers.
• 2. Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I have breath!
• 3. Death had its hands around my throat; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow.
• 4. Then I called on the name of the LORD: "Please, LORD, save me!"
• 5. How kind the LORD is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours!
• 6. The LORD protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and then he saved me.
• 7. Now I can rest again, for the LORD has been so good to me.
• 8. He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
• 9. And so I walk in the LORD's presence as I live here on earth!
• 10. I believed in you, so I prayed, "I am deeply troubled, LORD."
• 11. In my anxiety I cried out to you, "These people are all liars!"
• 12. What can I offer the LORD for all he has done for me?
• 13. I will lift up a cup symbolizing his salvation; I will praise the LORD's name for saving me.
• 14. I will keep my promises to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
• 15. The LORD's loved ones are precious to him; it grieves him when they die.
• 16. O LORD, I am your servant; yes, I am your servant, the son of your handmaid, and you have freed me from my bonds!
• 17. I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.
• 18. I will keep my promises to the LORD in the presence of all his people,
• 19. in the house of the LORD, in the heart of Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!

Isaiah 52

• 1. Wake up, wake up, O Zion! Clothe yourselves with strength. Put on your beautiful clothes, O holy city of Jerusalem, for unclean and godless people will no longer enter your gates.
• 2. Rise from the dust, O Jerusalem. Remove the slave bands from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
• 3. For this is what the LORD says: "When I sold you into exile, I received no payment. Now I can redeem you without paying for you."
• 4. This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "Long ago my people went to live as resident foreigners in Egypt. Now they have been oppressed without cause by Assyria.
• 5. And now, what is this?" asks the LORD. "Why are my people enslaved again? Those who rule them shout in exultation. My name is being blasphemed all day long.
• 6. But I will reveal my name to my people, and they will come to know its power. Then at last they will recognize that it is I who speaks to them."
• 7. How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!
• 8. The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for before their very eyes they see the LORD bringing his people home to Jerusalem.
• 9. Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyful song, for the LORD has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem.
• 10. The LORD will demonstrate his holy power before the eyes of all the nations. The ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
• 11. Go now, leave your bonds and slavery. Put Babylon behind you, with everything it represents, for it is unclean to you. You are the LORD's holy people. Purify yourselves, you who carry home the vessels of the LORD.
• 12. You will not leave in a hurry, running for your lives. For the LORD will go ahead of you, and the God of Israel will protect you from behind.
• 13. See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted.
• 14. Many were amazed when they saw him--beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person.
• 15. And he will again startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not previously been told about; they will understand what they had not heard about.

New Living Translation: 171 of 365 days.