Psalm 41; Deuteronomy 14

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Psalm 41

O Lord, Be Gracious to Me

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

eBlessed is the one who considers the poor!1

fIn the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;

the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;

he is called blessed in the land;

you gdo not give him up to the will of his enemies.

The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;

in his illness you restore him to full health.2

As for me, I said, O Lord, hbe gracious to me;

iheal me,3 for I have sinned against you!

My enemies say of me in malice,

When will he die, and his name perish?

And when one comes to see me, jhe utters empty words,

while his heart gathers iniquity;

when he goes out, he tells it abroad.

All who hate me whisper together about me;

they imagine the worst for me.4

They say, A deadly thing is poured out5 on him;

he will not rise again from where he lies.

Even my kclose friend in whom I trusted,

who late my bread, has lifted his heel against me.

10  But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,

and raise me up, that I may repay them!

11  By this I know that myou delight in me:

my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.

12  But nyou have upheld me because of omy integrity,

and pset me in your presence qforever.

13  rBlessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,

from everlasting to everlasting!

Amen and Amen.


Deuteronomy 14

Clean and Unclean Food

You are pthe sons of the Lord your God. qYou shall not cut yourselves or make any rbaldness on your foreheads for the dead. For syou are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

tYou shall not eat any abomination. uThese are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex,1 the antelope, and the mountain sheep. Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. Yet of those that chew the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the vrock badger, because they chew the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you. And the pig, because it parts the hoof but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Their flesh you shall not eat, and wtheir carcasses you shall not touch.

Of all that are in the waters you may eat these: whatever has fins and scales you may eat. 10 And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

11 You may eat all clean birds. 12 But these are the ones that you shall not eat: the eagle,2 the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 13 the kite, the falcon of any kind; 14 every raven of any kind; 15 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; 16 the little owl and the short-eared owl, the barn owl 17 and the tawny owl, the carrion vulture and the cormorant, 18 the stork, the heron of any kind; the hoopoe and the bat. 19 And all winged insects are unclean for you; they shall not be eaten. 20 All clean winged things you may eat.

21 xYou shall not eat anything that has died naturally. You may give it to the sojourner who is within your towns, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For yyou are a people holy to the Lord your God.

zYou shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Tithes

22 aYou shall tithe all the yield of your seed that comes from the field year by year. 23 And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, byou shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, cand the firstborn of your herd and flock, dthat you may learn to fear the Lord your God always. 24 And if the way is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, when the Lord your God blesses you, because ethe place is too far from you, which the Lord your God chooses, to set his name there, 25 then you shall turn it into money and bind up the money in your hand and go to the place that the Lord your God chooses 26 and spend the money for whatever you desireoxen or sheep or wine or strong drink, whatever your appetite craves. And byou shall eat there before the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 And you shall not neglect fthe Levite who is within your towns, for ghe has no portion or inheritance with you.

28 hAt the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. 29 And the Levite, because ghe has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that ithe Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.