Deut 4, 19 Do not be led astray into adoring them

(Deut 4, 19) Do not be led astray into adoring them

[19] And when you look up to the heavens and behold the sun or the moon or any star among the heavenly hosts, do not be led astray into adoring them and serving them. These the LORD, your God, has let fall to the lot of all other nations under the heavens;

(CCC 57) This state of division into many nations is at once cosmic, social and religious. It is intended to limit the pride of fallen humanity (Cf. Acts 17:26-27), united only in its perverse ambition to forge its own unity as at Babel (Cf. Wis 10:5; Gen 11:4-6). But, because of sin, both polytheism and the idolatry of the nation and of its rulers constantly threaten this provisional economy with the perversion of paganism (Cf. Rom 1:18-25).

Deut 4, 15-16 You saw no form at all

(Deut 4, 15-16) You saw no form at all

[15] "You saw no form at all on the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire. Be strictly on your guard, therefore, [16] not to degrade yourselves by fashioning an idol to represent any figure, whether it be the form of a man or a woman,

(CCC 2129) The divine injunction included the prohibition of every representation of God by the hand of man. Deuteronomy explains: "Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure...." (Deut 4:15-16). It is the absolutely transcendent God who revealed himself to Israel. "He is the all," but at the same time "he is greater than all his works" (Sir 43:27-28). He is "the author of beauty" (Wis 13:3). (CCC 2130) Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim (Cf. Num 21:4-9; Wis 16:5-14; Jn 3:14-15; Ex 25:10-22; 1 Kings 6:23-28; 7:23-26).

Deut 4, 13 He proclaimed to you his covenant

Deuteronomy 4 (chosen pages)

(Deut 4, 13) He proclaimed to you his covenant

[13] He proclaimed to you his covenant, which he commanded you to keep: the ten commandments, which he wrote on two tablets of stone.

(CCC 2056) The word "Decalogue" means literally "ten words" (Rom Ex 34:28; Deut 4:13; 10:4). God revealed these "ten words" to his people on the holy mountain. They were written "with the finger of God" (Ex 31:18; Deut 5:22), unlike the other commandments written by Moses (Cf. Deut 31:9-24). They are pre-eminently the words of God. They are handed on to us in the books of Exodus (Cf. Ex 20:1-17) and Deuteronomy (Cf. Deut 5:6-22). Beginning with the Old Testament, the sacred books refer to the "ten words" (Cf. for example Hos 4:2; Jer 7:9; Ezek 18:5-9), but it is in the New Covenant in Jesus Christ that their full meaning will be revealed.

Deut 1, 10-11 May the LORD bless you as he promised!

Deuteronomy (chosen pages)

Deuteronomy 1 (chosen pages)

(Deut 1, 10-11) May the LORD bless you as he promised!

[10] The LORD, your God, has so multiplied you that you are now as numerous as the stars in the sky. [11] May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over, and bless you as he promised!

(CCC 706) Against all human hope, God promises descendants to Abraham, as the fruit of faith and of the power of the Holy Spirit (Cf. Gen 18:1-15; Lk 1:26-38. 54-55; Jn 1:12-13; Rom 4:16-21). In Abraham's progeny all the nations of the earth will be blessed. This progeny will be Christ himself (Cf. Gen 12:3; Gal 3:16), in whom the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will "gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad" (Cf. In 11:52). God commits himself by his own solemn oath to giving his beloved Son and "the promised Holy Spirit… [who is] the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it" (Eph 1:13-14; cf. Gen 22:17-19; Lk 1:73; Jn 3:16; Rom 8:32; Gal 3:14). (CCC 708) This divine pedagogy appears especially in the gift of the Law (Cf. Ex 19- 20; Deut 1-11; 29-30). God gave the Law as a "pedagogue" to lead his people towards Christ (Gal 3:24). But the Law's powerlessness to save man deprived of the divine "likeness," along with the growing awareness of sin that it imparts (Cf. Rom 3:20), enkindles a desire for the Holy Spirit. The lamentations of the Psalms bear witness to this.

Num 28, 9 On the sabbath day you shall offer two lambs

Numbers 28 (chosen pages)

(Num 28, 9) On the sabbath day you shall offer two lambs

[9] "On the sabbath day you shall offer two unblemished yearling lambs, with their cereal offering, two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, and with their libations.

(CCC 582) Going even further, Jesus perfects the dietary law, so important in Jewish daily life, by revealing its pedagogical meaning through a divine interpretation: "Whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him… (Thus he declared all foods clean.). What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts…" (Mk 7:18-21; cf. Gal 3:24). In presenting with divine authority the definitive interpretation of the Law, Jesus found himself confronted by certain teachers of the Law who did not accept his interpretation of the Law, guaranteed though it was by the divine signs that accompanied it (Cf. Jn 5:36; 10:25, 37-38; 12:37). This was the case especially with the sabbath laws, for he recalls, often with rabbinical arguments, that the sabbath rest is not violated by serving God and neighbor (Cf. Num 28:9; Mt 12:5; Mk 2:25-27; Lk 13:15-16; 14:3-4; Jn 7:22-24), which his own healings did.

Num 24, 17-19 A star shall advance from Jacob

Numbers 24 (chosen pages)

(Num 24, 17-19) A star shall advance from Jacob

[17] I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel, That shall smite the brows of Moab, and the skulls of all the Shuthites, [18] Till Edom is dispossessed, and no fugitive is left in Seir. Israel shall do valiantly, [19] and Jacob shall overcome his foes.

(CCC 528) The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world. The great feast of Epiphany celebrates the adoration of Jesus by the wise men (magi) from the East, together with his baptism in the Jordan and the wedding feast at Cana in Galilee (Mt 2:1; cf. LH, Epiphany, Evening Prayer II, antiphon at the Canticle of Mary). In the magi, representatives of the neighboring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation. The magi's coming to Jerusalem in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be king of the nations (Cf. Mt 2:2; Num 24:17-19; Rev 22:16). Their coming means that pagans can discover Jesus and worship him as Son of God and Savior of the world only by turning towards the Jews and receiving from them the messianic promise as contained in the Old Testament (Cf. Jn 4 22; Mt 2:4-6). The Epiphany shows that "the full number of the nations" now takes its "place in the family of the patriarchs", and acquires Israelitica dignitas (St. Leo the Great, Sermo 3 in epiphania Domini 1-3, 5: PL 54, 242; LH, Epiphany, OR; Roman Missal, Easter Vigil 26, Prayer after the third Reading) (are made "worthy of the heritage of Israel").

Num 21, 4-9 We have sinned in complaining against the LORD

Numbers 21 (chosen pages)

(Num 21, 4-9) We have sinned in complaining against the LORD

[4] From Mount Hor they set out on the Red Sea road, to by-pass the land of Edom. But with their patience worn out by the journey, [5] the people complained against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We are disgusted with this wretched food!" [6] In punishment the LORD sent among the people saraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of them died. [7] Then the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned in complaining against the LORD and you. Pray the LORD to take the serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people, [8] and the LORD said to Moses, "Make a saraph and mount it on a pole, and if anyone who has been bitten looks at it, he will recover." [9] Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he recovered.

(CCC 2129) The divine injunction included the prohibition of every representation of God by the hand of man. Deuteronomy explains: "Since you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure...." (Deut 4:15-16). It is the absolutely transcendent God who revealed himself to Israel. "He is the all," but at the same time "he is greater than all his works" (Sir 43:27-28). He is "the author of beauty" (Wis 13:3). (CCC 2130) Nevertheless, already in the Old Testament, God ordained or permitted the making of images that pointed symbolically toward salvation by the incarnate Word: so it was with the bronze serpent, the ark of the covenant, and the cherubim (Cf. Num 21:4-9; Wis 16:5-14; Jn 3:14-15; Ex 25:10-22; 1 Kings 6:23-28; 7:23-26).

Num 12, 13-14 "Please, not this! Pray, heal her!"

(Num 12, 13-14) "Please, not this! Pray, heal her!"

[13] Then Moses cried to the LORD, "Please, not this! Pray, heal her!" [14] But the LORD answered Moses, "Suppose her father had spit in her face, would she not hide in shame for seven days? Let her be confined outside the camp for seven days; only then may she be brought back."

(CCC 2577) From this intimacy with the faithful God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love (Cf. Ex 34:6), Moses drew strength and determination for his intercession. He does not pray for himself but for the people whom God made his own. Moses already intercedes for them during the battle with the Amalekites and prays to obtain healing for Miriam (Cf. Ex 17:8-12; Num 12:13-14). But it is chiefly after their apostasy that Moses "stands in the breach" before God in order to save the people (Ps 106:23; cf. Ex 32:1-34:9). The arguments of his prayer - for intercession is also a mysterious battle - will inspire the boldness of the great intercessors among the Jewish people and in the Church: God is love; he is therefore righteous and faithful; he cannot contradict himself; he must remember his marvellous deeds, since his glory is at stake, and he cannot forsake this people that bears his name.

Num 12, 3; 7-8 Throughout my house he bears my trust

Numbers 12 (chosen pages)

(Num 12, 3; 7-8) Throughout my house he bears my trust

[3] Now, Moses himself was by far the meekest man on the face of the earth. - [7] Not so with my servant Moses! Throughout my house he bears my trust: [8] face to face I speak to him, plainly and not in riddles. The presence of the LORD he beholds. Why, then, did you not fear to speak against my servant Moses?"

(CCC 2576) "Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend" (Ex 33:11). Moses' prayer is characteristic of contemplative prayer by which God's servant remains faithful to his mission. Moses converses with God often and at length, climbing the mountain to hear and entreat him and coming down to the people to repeat the words of his God for their guidance. Moses "is entrusted with all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly, not in riddles," for "Moses was very humble, more so than anyone else on the face of the earth" (Num 12:3,7-8).

Num 11, 24-25 The LORD then came down in the cloud

Numbers 11 (chosen pages)

(Num 11, 24-25) The LORD then came down in the cloud

[24] So Moses went out and told the people what the LORD had said. Gathering seventy elders of the people, he had them stand around the tent. [25] The LORD then came down in the cloud and spoke to him. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, he bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied.

(CCC 1541) The liturgy of the Church, however, sees in the priesthood of Aaron and the service of the Levites, as in the institution of the seventy elders (Cf. Num 11:24-25), a prefiguring of the ordained ministry of the New Covenant. Thus in the Latin Rite the Church prays in the consecratory preface of the ordination of bishops: God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,… by your gracious word you have established the plan of your Church. From the beginning, you chose the descendants of Abraham to be your holy nation. You established rulers and priests and did not leave your sanctuary without ministers to serve you.... (Roman Pontifical, Ordination of Bishops 26, Prayer of Consecration).

Num 7, 89 Moses heard the voice addressing him

Numbers 7 (chosen pages)

(Num 7, 89) Moses heard the voice addressing him

[89] When Moses entered the meeting tent to speak with him, he heard the voice addressing him from above the propitiatory on the ark of the commandments, from between the two cherubim; and it spoke to him.

(CCC 433) The name of the Savior God was invoked only once in the year by the high priest in atonement for the sins of Israel, after he had sprinkled the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies with the sacrificial blood. The mercy seat was the place of God's presence (Cf. Ex 25:22; Lev 16:2,15-16; Num 7:89; Sir 50:20; Heb 9:5,7). When St. Paul speaks of Jesus whom "God put forward as an expiation by his blood", he means that in Christ's humanity "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" (Rom 3:25; 2 Cor 5:19).

Num 1, 48-53 The Levites shall have charge of the Dwelling

Numbers (chosen pages)

Numbers 1 (chosen pages)

(Num 1, 48-53) The Levites shall have charge of the Dwelling

[48] For the LORD had told Moses, [49] "The tribe of Levi alone you shall not enroll nor include in the census along with the other Israelites. [50] You are to give the Levites charge of the Dwelling of the commandments with all its equipment and all that belongs to it. It is they who shall carry the Dwelling with all its equipment and who shall be its ministers. They shall therefore camp around the Dwelling. [51] When the Dwelling is to move on, the Levites shall take it down; when the Dwelling is to be pitched, it is the Levites who shall set it up. Any layman who comes near it shall be put to death. [52] While the other Israelites shall camp by companies, each in his own division of the camp, [53] the Levites shall camp around the Dwelling of the commandments. Otherwise God's wrath will strike the Israelite community. The Levites, then, shall have charge of the Dwelling of the commandments."

(CCC 1539) The chosen people was constituted by God as "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Ex 19:6; cf. Isa 61:6). But within the people of Israel, God chose one of the twelve tribes, that of Levi, and set it apart for liturgical service; God himself is its inheritance (Cf. Num 1:48-53; Josh 13:33). A special rite consecrated the beginnings of the priesthood of the Old Covenant. The priests are "appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins." (Heb 5:1; cf. Ex 29:1-30; Lev 8).

Lev 26, 11-12 I’ll be your God, and you’ll be my people

Leviticus 26 (chosen pages)

(Lev 26, 11-12) I’ll be your God, and you’ll be my people

[11] I will set my Dwelling among you, and will not disdain you. [12] Ever present in your midst, I will be your God, and you will be my people;

(CCC 2550) On this way of perfection, the Spirit and the Bride call whoever hears them (Cf. Rev 22:17) to perfect communion with God: There will true glory be, where no one will be praised by mistake or flattery; true honor will not be refused to the worthy, nor granted to the unworthy; likewise, no one unworthy will pretend to be worthy, where only those who are worthy will be admitted. There true peace will reign, where no one will experience opposition either from self or others. God himself will be virtue's reward; he gives virtue and has promised to give himself as the best and greatest reward that could exist.... "I shall be their God and they will be my people...." This is also the meaning of the Apostle's words: "So that God may be all in all." God himself will be the goal of our desires; we shall contemplate him without end, love him without surfeit, praise him without weariness. This gift, this state, this act, like eternal life itself, will assuredly be common to all (St. Augustine, De civ. Dei, 22, 30: PL 41, 801-802; cf. Lev 26:12; cf. 1 Cor 15:28).

Lev 19, 18 You shall love your neighbor as yourself

(Lev 19, 18) You shall love your neighbor as yourself

[18] Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

(CCC 2055) When someone asks him, "Which commandment in the Law is the greatest?" (Mt 22:36) Jesus replies: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets" (Mt 22:37-40; cf. Deut 6:5; Lev 19:18). The Decalogue must be interpreted in light of this twofold yet single commandment of love, the fullness of the Law: The commandments: "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this sentence: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom 13:9-10).

Lev 19, 15 Judge your fellow men justly

(Lev 19, 15) Judge your fellow men justly

[15] "You shall not act dishonestly in rendering judgment. Show neither partiality to the weak nor deference to the mighty, but judge your fellow men justly.

(CCC 1807) Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the "virtue of religion." Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. The just man, often mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbor. "You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor" (Lev 19:15). "Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven" (Col 4:1).