The ninth and tenth portions of the book of Vayikra/Leviticus are Behar and Bechukotai, which means “On the Mountain” and “By My Regulations.” These are the 32nd and 33rd Torah Portions.
Torah: Leviticus 25:1-27:34
Haftarah: Jeremiah 16:19-17:14
Apostolic: John 15:1-17
You can read or listen to the portions below:
Haftarah
Jeremiah 16:19-17:14
HaShem, my strength, my fortress,
my refuge in time of trouble,
the nations will come to you
from the ends of the earth, saying,
“Our ancestors inherited nothing but lies,
futile idols, completely useless.”
Can a person make himself gods?
(In fact they aren’t gods at all.)
“Therefore, I will make them know,
once and for all, I will make them know
my power and my might.
Then they will know that my name is HaShem.
“Y’hudah’s sin is written with an iron pen;
with a diamond point it is engraved
on the tablet of their hearts
and on the horns of your altars.
As they remember their children,
so they remember their altars
and their sacred poles by the green trees
on the high hills.
My mountain in the field, your wealth
and all your treasures will be plundered;
because of the sin of your high places
throughout your territory.
You will relinquish your hold
on your heritage which I gave you.
I will make you serve your enemies
in a land you do not know.
For you have kindled my fiery anger,
and it will burn forever.”
Here is what HaShem says:
“A curse on the person who trusts in humans,
who relies on merely human strength,
whose heart turns away from HaShem.
He will be like a tamarisk in the ‘Aravah —
when relief comes, it is unaffected;
for it lives in the sun-baked desert,
in salty, uninhabited land.
Blessed is the man who trusts in HaShem;
HaShem will be his security.
He will be like a tree planted near water;
it spreads out its roots by the river;
it does not notice when heat comes;
and its foliage is luxuriant;
it is not anxious in a year of drought
but keeps on yielding fruit.
“The heart is more deceitful than anything else
and mortally sick. Who can fathom it?
I, HaShem, search the heart;
I test inner motivations;
in order to give to everyone
what his actions and conduct deserve.”
A partridge hatches eggs it did not lay;
like this are those who get rich unjustly:
in the prime of life their wealth will desert them;
in the end they will prove to be fools.
Throne of Glory,
exalted from the beginning!
Our Holy Sanctuary,
Hope of Isra’el, HaShem!
All who abandon you will be ashamed,
those who leave you will be inscribed in the dust,
because they have abandoned HaShem,
the source of living water.
Heal me, HaShem, and I will be healed;
save me, and I will be saved,
for you are my praise.
Apostolic Writings
John 15:1-17
“I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. Every branch which is part of me but fails to bear fruit, he cuts off; and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, so that it may bear more fruit. Right now, because of the word which I have spoken to you, you are pruned. Stay united with me, as I will with you — for just as the branch can’t put forth fruit by itself apart from the vine, so you can’t bear fruit apart from me.”
“I am the vine and you are the branches. Those who stay united with me, and I with them, are the ones who bear much fruit; because apart from me you can’t do a thing. Unless a person remains united with me, he is thrown away like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire, where they are burned up.”
“If you remain united with me, and my words with you, then ask whatever you want, and it will happen for you. This is how my Father is glorified — in your bearing much fruit; this is how you will prove to be my talmidim. Just as my Father has loved me, I too have loved you; so stay in my love. If you keep my commands, you will stay in my love — just as I have kept my Father’s commands and stay in his love. I have said this to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy be complete. “This is my command: that you keep on loving each other just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than a person who lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave doesn’t know what his master is about; but I have called you friends, because everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, I chose you; and I have commissioned you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last; so that whatever you ask from the Father in my name he may give you. This is what I command you: keep loving each other!”
