May 3rd

Morning Readings

Merciful Orders

Deuteronomy 22:4

4 If you see your brother's donkey or his ox fallen on the road, do not ignore it. Help him get it to its feet.

Deuteronomy 22:6

6 If you come across a bird's nest beside the road, either in a tree or on the ground, and the mother is sitting on the young or on the eggs, do not take the mother with the young.

Deuteronomy 22:8

8 When you build a new house, make a parapet around your roof so that you may not bring the guilt of bloodshed on your house if someone falls from the roof.

Deuteronomy 22:9

9 Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard; if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled.

Deuteronomy 22:10

10 Do not plough with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
Deuteronomy 22:11

11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.

Deuteronomy 23:21

21 If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin.

Deuteronomy 24:6

6 Do not take a pair of millstones—not even the upper one—as security for a debt, because that would be taking a man's livelihood as security.

Deuteronomy 24:14-15

14 Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. 15 Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.

Deuteronomy 24:17

17 Do not deprive the alien or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.

Deuteronomy 24:19

19 When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

Deuteronomy 24:20

20 When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.

Deuteronomy 24:21

21 When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.

Evening Readings

Study the Bible

John 5:39-43

39 You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 41"I do not accept praise from men, 42but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

John 5:44-47

44How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?
45"But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"

Matthew 12:1-7

1At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and
began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath." 3He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? 6I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent.

Mark 2:27-28

27Then he said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28So the
Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."

Leaves for Plucking

Romans 5:20

20The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,

Romans 5:21

21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Grace taught my wandering feet
to tread the heavenly road;
And new supplies each hour I meet,
While pressing on to God.