February 8 (Exodus 22–23; Psalm 36; Mark 15)

A reading from the Book of Exodus. If a man stills an ox or sheep and kills it or sells it, he shall repay five ox and four ox and four sheep, four sheep. If a thief is found breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no blood guilt for him. But if the sun has risen on him, there shall be blood guilt for him. He shall surely pay. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. If the stolen beast is found alive in his possession, whether it is an ox or a donkey or a sheep, he shall pay double. If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed over, or lets his beast loose, and it feeds in another man's field, he shall make restitution from the best in his own field and in his own vineyard. If fire breaks out and catches and thorns so that the stacked grain or the standing grain or the field is consumed, he who started the fire shall make full restitution. If a man gives to his neighbor money or goods to keep safe, and it is stolen from the man's house, then if the thief is found, he shall pay double. If the thief is not found, the owner of the house shall come near to God to show whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. For every breach of trust, whether it is for an ox, for a donkey, for a sheep, for a cloak, or for any kind of lost thing of which one says, this is it. The case of both parties shall come before God, the one whom God condemns shall pay double to his neighbor. If a man gives to his neighbor a donkey or an ox, or a sheep, or any beast to keep safe, and it dies or is injured or is driven away without anyone seeing it, and oath by the Lord shall be between them both to see whether or not he has put his hand to his neighbor's property. The owner shall accept the oath, and he shall not make restitution, but if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner. If it is torn by beasts, let him bring it as evidence. He shall not make restitution for what has been torn. If a man burrows anything of his neighbor, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution. If the owner was with it, he shall not make restitution, if it was hired, it came for retiring fee. If a man seduces a virgin who was not betrothed and lies with her, he shall give the bride price for her and make her his wife. If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the bride price for virgins. You shall not permit a sorceress to live, whoever lies with an animal shall be put to death, whoever sacrifices to any God, other than the Lord alone shall be devoted to destruction. You shall not wrong the solejourner or oppress him, for you were solejourners in the land of Egypt. You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, and my wrath will burn and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless. If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be like a money lender to him. You shall not exact interests from him. If ever you take your neighbor's cloak and pledge, you shall return it to him before the sun goes down, for that is his only covering, and it is his cloak for his body, and what else shall he sleep? And if he cries to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate. You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest, and from the outflow of your presses. The first born of your sons, you shall give to me. You shall do the same with your oxen and with your sheep. Seven days it shall be with its mother. On the eighth day you shall give it to me. You shall be consecrated to me. Therefore you shall not eat any flesh that is torn by beasts in the field. You shall throw it to the dogs. You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with the wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit. Siding with the many so as to pervert justice, nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his lawsuit. If you meet your enemy's ox or his donkey goes astray, you shall bring it back to him. If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying down under its burden, you shall refrain from leaving him with it. You shall rescue it with him. You shall not pervert the justice due to your poor in his lawsuit. Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent and righteous, for I will not acquit the wicked, and you shall take no bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear sighted, and subverts the calls of those who are in the right. You shall not oppress a solejourner. You know the heart of a solejourner, for you are solejourners in the land of Egypt. For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, but the seventh year you shall let it rest in life-allow. That the poor of your people may eat, and what they leave the beast of the field may eat, you shall do likewise with your vineyard, and with your olive orchard. Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, that your ox and your donkey may have rest, and the son of your servant woman and the alien may be refreshed. Pay attention to all that I have said to you, and make no mention of the names of other gods, nor let it be heard on your lips. Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. You shall keep the feast of unleavened bread, as I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of a beep. For in it you came out of Egypt, none shall appear before me in the handed. You shall keep the feast of harvest, of the first fruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the feast of in-gathering at the end of the year, when you gather in from the field the fruit of your labor. Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God. You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning. The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk. Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him. But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. When my angel goes before you and brings you to the amourites and the hit-tites and the parasites and the canonites, the hivites and the jabucites, and I bloth them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars and pieces. You shall serve the Lord your God and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. None shall miscarry or be barren in your land. I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you, and I will send hornets before you, which I'll drive out the hivites, canonites, and the hit-tites from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate, and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land. And I will set your border from the red sea to the sea of the Philistines and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land lest they make you sin against me, for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you. A reading from the Book of Psalms to the choir master of David, the servant of the Lord. Transgression speaks to the wicked, deep in his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes, for he flatters himself in his own eyes, that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated. The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit. He has ceased to act wisely and do good. He plots trouble while on his bed. He sets himself in a way that is not good. He does not reject evil. Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens. Your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God. Your judgments are like the great deep. Man and beast, you save, O Lord. How precious is your steadfast love, O God? The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life. In your light do we see light. We will continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart. But not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. They are the evildoers life fallen. They are thrust down, unable to rise. A reading of the gospel according to Mark. And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes in the whole council, and they bound Jesus and let him away and delivered him over to Pilate and Pilate asked him, are you the king of the Jews? And he answered him, you have said so. And the chief priests accused him of many things and Pilate again asked him, have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you. But Jesus made no further answer so that Pilate was amazed. Now at the feast, he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. And he answered them, saying, do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews? Where he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests started up the crowd to have him released for them. Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, then what shall I do with the man you call the king of the Jews? And they cried out again, crucify him. And Pilate said to them, why, what evil has he done? If they shouted all the more, crucify him. So Pilate wishing to satisfy the crowd, release for them. Barabbas. And having scorched Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. And the soldiers let him away inside the palace. That is the governor's headquarters. And they called together the whole battalion. And they clothed him in a purple cloak and twisting together a crown of thorns they put it on him. And they began to salute him. Hail king of the Jews. And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down and homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on him. And they let him out to crucify him. And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha, which means place of a skull. And they offered him wine mixed with mer. And he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read the king of the Jews. And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, aha, you who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross. So also the chief priest with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, he saved others. He cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the king of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe. Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. And when the six hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, Lima, Subok, the night, which means my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And some of the bystanders hearing it said behold, he is calling Elijah and someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a read and gave it to him to drink, saying, wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down. And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn into from top to bottom. And when the centurion who stood facing him saw that in this way he breathed his last he said, truly, this man was the son of God. There were also women looking on from a distance among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him. And there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. And when evening had come since it was the day of preparation, that is the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Eare, Mithia, a respected member of the council who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to pilot and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilot was surprised to hear that he should have already died and summoning the centurion. He asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph brought a linen shroud and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.