Instruction

because Abraham listened to My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”

The same law shall apply to both the native and the foreigner who resides among you.”

It shall be a sign for you on your hand and a reminder on your forehead that the Law of the LORD is to be on your lips. For with a mighty hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?

“Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me to judge between one man and another, and I make known to them the statutes and laws of God.”

Teach them the statutes and laws, and show them the way to live and the work they must do.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

“If someone sins and acts unfaithfully against the LORD by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit or security entrusted to him or stolen, or if he extorts his neighbor

In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the LORD, and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt.”

Any male among the sons of Aaron may eat it. This is a permanent portion from the food offerings to the LORD for the generations to come. Anything that touches them will become holy.”

“Now this is the law of the guilt offering, which is most holy:

The guilt offering is like the sin offering; the same law applies to both. It belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it.

Now this is the law of the peace offering that one may present to the LORD:

This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the ordination offering, and the peace offering,

This is the law regarding animals, birds, all living creatures that move in the water, and all creatures that crawl along the ground.

And the priest will present them before the LORD and make atonement for her; and she shall be ceremonially cleansed from her flow of blood. This is the law for a woman giving birth, whether to a male or to a female.

This is the law concerning a mildew contamination in wool or linen fabric, weave, or knit, or any leather article, for pronouncing it clean or unclean.”

“This is the law for the one afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing, when he is brought to the priest.

This is the law for someone who has a skin disease and cannot afford the cost of his cleansing.”

This is the law for any infectious skin disease, for a scaly outbreak,

to determine when something is clean or unclean. This is the law regarding skin diseases and mildew.”

This is the law of him who has a discharge, of the man who has an emission of semen whereby he is unclean,

These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws that the LORD established between Himself and the Israelites through Moses on Mount Sinai.

This is the law of jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority,

or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he suspects his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest is to apply to her this entire law.

Now this is the law of the Nazirite when his time of separation is complete: He must be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to the LORD for his separation, in addition to whatever else he can afford; he must fulfill whatever vow he makes, according to the law of his separation.”

The same law and the same ordinance will apply both to you and to the foreigner residing with you.”

You shall have the same law for the one who acts in error, whether he is a native-born Israelite or a foreigner residing among you.

“This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded: Instruct the Israelites to bring you an unblemished red heifer that has no defect and has never been placed under a yoke.

This is the law when a person dies in a tent: Everyone who enters the tent and everyone already in the tent will be unclean for seven days,

Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses:

On the east side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying:

And what nation is great enough to have righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites.

When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.

It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by carefully observing all the words of this instruction and these statutes.

Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you.

And you shall write distinctly upon these stones all the words of this law.”

‘Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name—the LORD your God—

The LORD will also bring upon you every sickness and plague not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.

The LORD will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The LORD will blot out his name from under heaven

The LORD uprooted them from their land in His anger, rage, and great wrath, and He cast them into another land, where they are today.’

if you obey the LORD your God by keeping His commandments and statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.

when all Israel comes before the LORD your God at the place He will choose, you are to read this law in the hearing of all Israel.

Assemble the people—men, women, children, and the foreigners within your gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and to follow carefully all the words of this law.

When Moses had finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end,

“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.

he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law.

the law that Moses gave us, the possession of the assembly of Jacob.

He will teach Your ordinances to Jacob and Your law to Israel; he will set incense before You and whole burnt offerings on Your altar.

Above all, be strong and very courageous. Be careful to observe all the law that My servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may prosper wherever you go.

This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in all you do.

just as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: “an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used.” And on it they offered burnt offerings to the LORD, and they sacrificed peace offerings.

And there in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua inscribed on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written.

Afterward, Joshua read aloud all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—according to all that is written in the Book of the Law.

But be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Be very strong, then, so that you can keep and obey all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, not turning aside from it to the right or to the left.

Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak that was near the sanctuary of the LORD.

And keep the charge of the LORD your God to walk in His ways and to keep His statutes, commandments, ordinances, and decrees, as written in the Law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you turn,

Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit.

Yet he did not put the sons of the murderers to death, but acted according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.”

Yet through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, “Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.”

To this day they are still practicing their former customs. None of them worship the LORD or observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments that the LORD gave the descendants of Jacob, whom He named Israel.

And you must always be careful to observe the statutes, ordinances, laws, and commandments He wrote for you. Do not worship other gods.

I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to wander from the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they are careful to do all I have commanded them—the whole Law that My servant Moses commanded them.”

Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD!” And he gave it to Shaphan, who read it.

When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes

Furthermore, Josiah removed the mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem. He did this to carry out the words of the law written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of the LORD.

Neither before nor after Josiah was there any king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, according to all the Law of Moses.

to regularly present burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offerings, morning and evening, according to all that was written in the Law of the LORD, which He had commanded Israel to keep.

Above all, may the LORD give you insight and understanding when He puts you in command over Israel, so that you may keep the Law of the LORD your God.

Therefore now, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for Your servant, my father David, what You promised when You said: ‘You will never fail to have a man to sit before Me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants guard their way to walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’

After Rehoboam had established his sovereignty and royal power, he and all Israel with him forsook the Law of the LORD.

He removed the foreign altars and high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and chopped down the Asherah poles.

For many years Israel has been without the true God, without a priest to instruct them, and without the law.

They taught throughout Judah, taking with them the Book of the Law of the LORD. They went throughout the towns of Judah and taught the people.

For every dispute that comes before you from your brothers who dwell in their cities—whether it regards bloodshed or some other violation of law, commandments, statutes, or ordinances—you are to warn them, so that they will not incur guilt before the LORD and wrath will not come upon you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not incur guilt.

Moreover, Jehoiada put the oversight of the house of the LORD into the hands of the Levitical priests, whom David had appointed over the house of the LORD, to offer burnt offerings to the LORD as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and song, as ordained by David.

Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted according to what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers must not be put to death for their children, and children must not be put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.”

They stood at their prescribed posts, according to the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests splattered the blood, which they received from the hand of the Levites.

The king contributed from his own possessions for the regular morning and evening burnt offerings and for the burnt offerings on the Sabbaths, New Moons, and appointed feasts, as written in the Law of the LORD.

Moreover, he commanded the people living in Jerusalem to make a contribution for the priests and Levites so that they could devote themselves to the Law of the LORD.

He acted with all his heart in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law and the commandments, in order to seek his God. And so he prospered.

I will never again cause the feet of the Israelites to leave the land that I assigned to your fathers, if only they are careful to do all that I have commanded them through Moses—all the laws, statutes, and judgments.”

While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses.

And Hilkiah said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the LORD!” And he gave it to Shaphan.

When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his clothes

As for the rest of the acts of Josiah and his deeds of loving devotion according to what is written in the Law of the LORD—

Then Jeshua son of Jozadak and his fellow priests, along with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his associates, began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, as it is written in the Law of Moses the man of God.

this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted Ezra all his requests, for the hand of the LORD his God was upon him.

For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the LORD, to practice it, and to teach its statutes and ordinances in Israel.

So now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all the foreign wives and their children, according to the counsel of my lord and of those who tremble at the command of our God. Let it be done according to the Law.

At that time all the people gathered together in the square before the Water Gate, and they asked Ezra the scribe to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded for Israel.

On the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly of men and women and all who could listen and understand.

So Ezra read it aloud from daybreak until noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate, in front of the men and women and those who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law as they stood in their places.

So they read from the Book of the Law of God, explaining it and giving insight, so that the people could understand what was being read.

Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law.

On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and Levites, gathered around Ezra the scribe to study the words of the Law.

And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month,

Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. The Israelites kept the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day they held an assembly, according to the ordinance.

While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.

You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them just ordinances, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.

You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath and gave them commandments and statutes and laws through Your servant Moses.

But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They turned a stubborn shoulder; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.

Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers did not obey Your law or listen to Your commandments and warnings that You gave them.

hereby join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the Law of God given through His servant Moses and to obey carefully all the commandments, ordinances, and statutes of the LORD our Lord.

We will not give our daughters in marriage to the people of the land, and we will not take their daughters for our sons.

We will also bring the firstfruits of our land and of every fruit tree to the house of the LORD year by year.

Moreover, we will bring to the priests at the storerooms of the house of our God the firstfruits of our dough, of our grain offerings, of the fruit of all our trees, and of our new wine and oil. A tenth of our produce belongs to the Levites, so that they shall receive tithes in all the towns where we labor.

And on that same day men were appointed over the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tithes. The portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites were gathered into these storerooms from the fields of the villages, because Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who were serving.

As soon as the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all of foreign descent.

Receive instruction from His mouth, and lay up His words in your heart.

But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.

The precepts of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart; the commandments of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not falter.

I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; behold, I do not seal my lips, as You, O LORD, do know.

Give ear, O my people, to my instruction; listen to the words of my mouth.

For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers to teach to their children,

They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.

if they violate My statutes and fail to keep My commandments,

Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD, and teach from Your law,

that they might keep His statutes and obey His laws. Hallelujah!

Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the Law of the LORD.

Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your law.

Remove me from the path of deceit and graciously grant me Your law.

Give me understanding that I may obey Your law, and follow it with all my heart.

I will always obey Your law, forever and ever.

The arrogant utterly deride me, but I do not turn from Your law.

Rage has taken hold of me because of the wicked who reject Your law.

In the night, O LORD, I remember Your name, that I may keep Your law.

Though the ropes of the wicked bind me, I do not forget Your law.

Their hearts are callous and insensitive, but I delight in Your law.

The law from Your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.

May Your compassion come to me, that I may live, for Your law is my delight.

The arrogant have dug pits for me in violation of Your law.

If Your law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction.

Oh, how I love Your law! All day long it is my meditation.

I constantly take my life in my hands, yet I do not forget Your law.

The double-minded I despise, but Your law I love.

It is time for the LORD to act, for they have broken Your law.

My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.

Your righteousness is everlasting and Your law is true.

Those who follow after wickedness draw near; they are far from Your law.

Look upon my affliction and rescue me, for I have not forgotten Your law.

I hate and abhor falsehood, but Your law I love.

Abundant peace belongs to those who love Your law; nothing can make them stumble.

I long for Your salvation, O LORD, and Your law is my delight.

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and do not forsake the teaching of your mother.

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;

For I give you sound teaching; do not abandon my directive.

My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

For this commandment is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way to life,

Keep my commandments and live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning one from the snares of death.

Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them.

A discerning son keeps the law, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.

Whoever turns his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer is detestable.

Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the Law.

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!

And many peoples will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.

These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction.

He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”

The LORD was pleased, for the sake of His righteousness, to magnify His law and make it glorious.

Who gave Jacob up for spoil, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned? They were unwilling to walk in His ways, and they would not obey His law.

Pay attention to Me, My people, and listen to Me, My nation; for a law will go out from Me, and My justice will become a light to the nations; I will bring it about quickly.

Listen to Me, you who know what is right, you people with My law in your hearts: Do not fear the scorn of men; do not be broken by their insults.

The priests did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD?’ The experts in the law no longer knew Me, and the leaders rebelled against Me. The prophets prophesied by Baal and followed useless idols.

Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction.

How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the Law of the LORD is with us,’ when in fact the lying pen of the scribes has produced a deception?

Who is the man wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken, that he may explain it? Why is the land destroyed and scorched like a desert, so no one can pass through it?

Then you are to answer them: ‘It is because your fathers have forsaken Me, declares the LORD, and followed other gods, and served and worshiped them. They abandoned Me and did not keep My instruction.

Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”

And you are to tell them that this is what the LORD says: ‘If you do not listen to Me and walk in My law, which I have set before you,

“But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.

They came in and possessed it, but they did not obey Your voice or walk in Your law. They failed to perform all that You commanded them to do, and so You have brought upon them all this disaster.

To this day they have not humbled themselves or shown reverence, nor have they followed My instruction or the statutes that I set before you and your fathers.

Because you burned incense and sinned against the LORD and did not obey the voice of the LORD or walk in His instruction, His statutes, and His testimonies, this disaster has befallen you, as you see today.”

Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and shattered their bars. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and even her prophets find no vision from the LORD.

Disaster upon disaster will come, and rumor after rumor. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet, but instruction from the priests will perish, as will counsel from the elders.

Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

and if they are ashamed of all they have done, then make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement and its exits and entrances—its whole design along with all its statutes, forms, and laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they may keep its complete design and all its statutes and may carry them out.

This is the law of the temple: All its surrounding territory on top of the mountain will be most holy. Yes, this is the law of the temple.

The LORD said to me: “Son of man, pay attention; look carefully with your eyes and listen closely with your ears to everything I tell you concerning all the statutes and laws of the house of the LORD. Take careful note of the entrance to the temple, along with all the exits of the sanctuary.

In any dispute, they shall officiate as judges and judge according to My ordinances. They must keep My laws and statutes regarding all My appointed feasts, and they must keep My Sabbaths holy.

and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us through His servants the prophets.

All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You.

Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and giving attention to Your truth.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.

Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange.

This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked.

And many nations will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways, so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.

Her prophets are reckless, faithless men. Her priests profane the sanctuary; they do violence to the law.

“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Ask the priests for a ruling.

They made their hearts like flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD of Hosts had sent by His Spirit through the earlier prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of Hosts.

True instruction was in his mouth, and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.

For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.

But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the LORD of Hosts.

“So I in turn have made you despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not kept My ways, but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”