Deuteronomy 32

New American Standard Bible

The Song of Moses

32 “^(A)Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth!
²^(B)May my teaching drip as the rain,
My speech trickle as the dew,
^(C)As droplets on the fresh grass,
And as the showers on the vegetation.
³^(D)For I proclaim the name of the Lord;
^(E)Ascribe greatness to our God!
⁴^(F)The Rock! His work is perfect,
^(G)For all His ways are ^[a]just;
^(H)A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and just is He.
⁵^[b]^(I)They have acted corruptly against Him,
They are not His children, because of their defect;
^(J)But are a perverse and crooked generation.
⁶Is this what you ^(K)do to the Lord,
^(L)You foolish and unwise people?
^(M)Is He not your Father who has purchased you?
^(N)He has made you and established you.
⁷Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of all generations.
^(O)Ask your father and he will inform you,
Your elders, and they will tell you.
⁸^(P)When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
When He separated the sons of ^[c]mankind,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
^(Q)According to the number of the ^[d]sons of Israel.
⁹^(R)For the Lord’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
¹⁰^(S)He found him in a desert land,
And in the howling wasteland of a wilderness;
He encircled him, He cared for him,
He guarded him as ^(T)the ^[e]apple of His eye.
¹¹^(U)As an eagle stirs up its nest,
And hovers over its young,
^(V)He spread His wings, He caught them,
He carried them on His pinions.
¹²^(W)The Lord alone guided him,
^(X)And there was no foreign god with him.
¹³^(Y)He had him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he ate the produce of the field;
^(Z)And He had him suck honey from the rock,
And ^[f]^(AA)oil from the flinty rock,
¹⁴Curds of the herd, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs
And rams, the breed of Bashan, and of goats,
^(AB)With the best of the wheat;
And you drank wine of the ^(AC)blood of grapes.

¹⁵“^(AD)But ^[g]Jeshurun became fat and kicked—
You have become fat, thick, and obstinate—
^(AE)Then he abandoned God ^(AF)who made him,
And ^[h]rejected ^(AG)the Rock of his salvation.
¹⁶^(AH)They made Him jealous with strange gods;
^(AI)With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
¹⁷^(AJ)They sacrificed to demons, who were not God,
^(AK)To gods whom they have not known,
^(AL)New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers did not know.
¹⁸You forgot ^(AM)the Rock who fathered you,
^(AN)And forgot the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹“^(AO)The Lord saw this, and spurned them
^(AP)Because of the provocation by His sons and daughters.
²⁰Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them,
^(AQ)I will see what their end will be;
^(AR)For they are a perverse generation,
^(AS)Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.
²¹^(AT)They have made Me jealous with what is not God;
They have provoked Me to anger with their ^[i]^(AU)idols.
^(AV)So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,
²²^(AW)For a fire has flared in My anger,
And it burns to the lowest part of ^[j]Sheol,
^(AX)And devours the earth with its yield,
And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

²³‘^(AY)I will add misfortunes to them;
^(AZ)I will use up My arrows on them.
²⁴^(BA)They will be wasted by famine, and emaciated by ^[k]plague
^(BB)And a bitter epidemic;
^(BC)And the teeth of beasts I will send against them,
^(BD)With the venom of crawling things of the dust.
²⁵^(BE)Outside the sword will make them childless,
And inside, terror—
^(BF)Both young man and virgin,
The nursing child with the man of gray hair.
²⁶I would have said, “^(BG)I will wipe them out,
^(BH)I will remove the mention of ^[l]their name from humanity,”
²⁷Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,
That their adversaries would misjudge,
That they would say, “^(BI)Our hand is ^[m]triumphant,
And the Lord has not performed all this.”’

²⁸“^(BJ)For they are a nation ^[n]destitute of counsel,
And there is no understanding in them.
²⁹^(BK)If only they were wise and they understood this;
^(BL)If only they would discern their ^[o]future!
³⁰^(BM)How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their ^(BN)Rock had sold them,
And the Lord had given them up?
³¹Indeed, their rock is not like our Rock;
^(BO)Even our enemies ^[p]themselves judge this.
³²For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of ^(BP)poison,
Their clusters, bitter.
³³Their wine is the venom of ^[q]serpents,
And the ^[r]deadly poison of vipers.

³⁴‘^(BQ)Is it not stored up with Me,
Sealed up in My treasuries?
³⁵^(BR)Vengeance is Mine, and retribution;
^(BS)In due time their foot will slip.
^(BT)For the day of their disaster is near,
And the impending things are hurrying to them.’
³⁶^(BU)For the Lord will vindicate His people,
^(BV)And will have compassion on His servants,
When He sees that their ^[s]strength is gone,
And there is none remaining, bond or free.
³⁷And He will say, ‘^(BW)Where are their gods,
The rock in which they took refuge?
³⁸^(BX)Those who ate the fat of their sacrifices,
And drank the wine of their drink offering?
^(BY)Let them rise up and help you,
Let them be your protection!
³⁹^(BZ)See now that I, I am He,
^(CA)And there is no god besides Me;
^(CB)It is I who put to death and give life.
^(CC)I have wounded and it is I who heal,
^(CD)And there is no one who can save anyone from My hand.
⁴⁰Indeed, ^(CE)I raise My hand to heaven,
And say, as I live forever,
⁴¹^(CF)If I have sharpened ^[t]My flashing sword,
And My hand has taken hold of justice,
^(CG)I will return vengeance on My adversaries,
And I will repay those who hate Me.
⁴²^(CH)I will make My arrows drunk with blood,
^(CI)And My sword will devour flesh,
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
From the long-haired ^[u]leaders of the enemy.’
⁴³^(CJ)Rejoice, you nations, with His people;
^(CK)For He will avenge the blood of His servants,
^(CL)And will return vengeance on His adversaries,
^(CM)And will atone for His land and His people.”

⁴⁴Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with ^[v]^(CN)Joshua the son of Nun. ⁴⁵When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, ⁴⁶he said to them, “^(CO)Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you will command ^(CP)your sons to ^[w]follow carefully, all the words of this Law. ⁴⁷For it is not a ^[x]trivial matter for you; indeed ^(CQ)it is your life. And ^(CR)by this word you will prolong your days in the land, ^[y]which you are about to cross the Jordan to ^[z]possess.”

⁴⁸Now ^(CS)the Lord spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, ⁴⁹“^(CT)Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab ^[aa]opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel as a possession. ⁵⁰Then you are to die on the mountain where you ascend, and be ^(CU)gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, ⁵¹^(CV)because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the ^(CW)wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. ⁵²^(CX)For you will see the land at a distance but ^(CY)you will not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 32:4 Or judgment
Deuteronomy 32:5 Lit It has
Deuteronomy 32:8 Or Adam
Deuteronomy 32:8 As in MT; DSS sons of God; LXX angels of God
Deuteronomy 32:10 Lit pupil
Deuteronomy 32:13 I.e., olive oil
Deuteronomy 32:15 I.e., Israel
Deuteronomy 32:15 Lit declared void
Deuteronomy 32:21 Lit nonexistent things
Deuteronomy 32:22 I.e., the netherworld
Deuteronomy 32:24 Lit burning heat
Deuteronomy 32:26 Lit them
Deuteronomy 32:27 Lit high
Deuteronomy 32:28 Lit perishing of
Deuteronomy 32:29 Or latter end
Deuteronomy 32:31 Lit are judges
Deuteronomy 32:33 Lit dragons
Deuteronomy 32:33 Lit cruel
Deuteronomy 32:36 Lit hand
Deuteronomy 32:41 Lit the lightning of My sword
Deuteronomy 32:42 Lit head
Deuteronomy 32:44 Lit Hoshea
Deuteronomy 32:46 Lit be careful to perform
Deuteronomy 32:47 Lit empty word
Deuteronomy 32:47 Lit where
Deuteronomy 32:47 Lit possess it
Deuteronomy 32:49 Lit which is opposite

Psalm 119:121-144

New American Standard Bible

Ayin

¹²¹I have ^(A)done justice and righteousness;
Do not leave me to my oppressors.
¹²²Be ^(B)a guarantor for Your servant for good;
Do not let the arrogant ^(C)oppress me.
¹²³My ^(D)eyes fail with longing for Your salvation,
And for Your righteous ^[a]word.
¹²⁴Deal with Your servant ^(E)according to Your graciousness,
And ^(F)teach me Your statutes.
¹²⁵^(G)I am Your servant; ^(H)give me understanding,
So that I may know Your testimonies.
¹²⁶It is time for the Lord to ^(I)act,
For they have broken Your Law.
¹²⁷Therefore I ^(J)love Your commandments
Above gold, yes, above pure gold.
¹²⁸Therefore I carefully follow all Your ^(K)precepts concerning everything,
I ^(L)hate every false way.

Pe

¹²⁹Your testimonies are ^(M)wonderful;
Therefore my soul ^(N)complies with them.
¹³⁰The ^(O)unfolding of Your words gives light;
It gives ^(P)understanding to the simple.
¹³¹I ^(Q)opened my mouth wide and ^(R)panted,
For I ^(S)longed for Your commandments.
¹³²^(T)Turn to me and be gracious to me,
As is right for those who love Your name.
¹³³Establish my ^(U)footsteps in Your ^[b]word,
And do not let any ^[c]wrongdoing ^(V)have power over me.
¹³⁴^(W)Redeem me from oppression by man,
So that I may keep Your precepts.
¹³⁵^(X)Make Your face shine upon Your servant,
And ^(Y)teach me Your statutes.
¹³⁶My eyes ^[d]shed ^(Z)streams of water,
Because they ^(AA)do not keep Your Law.

Tsadhe

¹³⁷^(AB)You are righteous, Lord,
And Your judgments are right.
¹³⁸You have commanded Your testimonies in ^(AC)righteousness
And great ^(AD)faithfulness.
¹³⁹My ^(AE)zeal has ^[e]consumed me,
Because my enemies have forgotten Your words.
¹⁴⁰Your ^(AF)word is very ^[f]pure,
Therefore Your servant ^(AG)loves it.
¹⁴¹I am small and ^(AH)despised,
Yet I do not ^(AI)forget Your precepts.
¹⁴²Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And ^(AJ)Your Law is truth.
¹⁴³Trouble and anguish have ^[g]come upon me,
Yet Your commandments are my ^(AK)delight.
¹⁴⁴Your ^(AL)testimonies are righteous forever;
^(AM)Give me understanding that I may live.

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Footnotes

Psalm 119:123 Or promise
Psalm 119:133 Or promise
Psalm 119:133 Or injustice
Psalm 119:136 Lit run down
Psalm 119:139 Lit put an end to
Psalm 119:140 Lit refined
Psalm 119:143 Lit found me

Isaiah 59

New American Standard Bible

Separation from God

59 Behold, ^(A)the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
^(B)Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.
²But your ^(C)wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His ^[a]face from you so that He does ^(D)not hear.
³For your ^(E)hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with wrongdoing;
Your lips have spoken ^(F)deceit,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.
⁴^(G)No one sues righteously and ^(H)no one pleads ^[b]honestly.
They ^(I)trust in confusion and speak lies;
They ^(J)conceive trouble and give birth to disaster.
⁵They hatch vipers’ eggs and ^(K)weave the spider’s web;
The one who eats of their eggs dies,
And from what is crushed, a snake breaks out.
⁶Their webs will not become clothing,
Nor will they ^(L)cover themselves with their works;
Their ^(M)works are works of wrongdoing,
And an ^(N)act of violence is in their ^[c]hands.
⁷^(O)Their feet run to evil,
And they hurry to shed innocent blood;
^(P)Their thoughts are thoughts of wrongdoing,
Devastation and destruction are in their paths.
⁸They do not know the ^(Q)way of peace,
And there is ^(R)no justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked,
^(S)Whoever walks on ^[d]them does not know peace.

A Confession of Wickedness

⁹Therefore ^(T)justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not reach us;
We ^(U)hope for light, but there is darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
¹⁰We ^(V)grope for the wall like people who are blind,
We grope like those who have no eyes.
We ^(W)stumble at midday as in the twilight;
Among those who are healthy we are ^(X)like the dead.
¹¹All of us growl like bears,
And ^(Y)moan sadly like doves;
We hope for ^(Z)justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
¹²For our ^(AA)wrongful acts have multiplied before You,
And our ^(AB)sins have testified against us;
For our wrongful acts are with us,
And ^[e]we know our wrongdoings:
¹³^[f]Offending and ^(AC)denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking ^(AD)oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and ^(AE)uttering lying words from the heart.
¹⁴^(AF)Justice is turned back,
And ^(AG)righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.
¹⁵Truth is lacking,
And one who turns aside from evil ^(AH)makes himself a prey.
Now the Lord saw,
And it was ^[g]displeasing in His sight ^(AI)that there was no justice.
¹⁶And He saw that there was ^(AJ)no one,
And was amazed that there was not one to intercede;
Then His ^(AK)own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
¹⁷He put on ^(AL)righteousness like a breastplate,
And a ^(AM)helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on ^(AN)garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with ^(AO)zeal as a cloak.
¹⁸^(AP)According to their deeds, ^[h]so will He repay:
Wrath to His adversaries, ^[i]retribution to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will ^[j]deal ^[k]retribution.
¹⁹So they will fear the name of the Lord from the ^(AQ)west
And His glory from the ^(AR)rising of the sun,
For He will ^(AS)come like a ^[l]rushing stream
Which the wind of the Lord drives.
²⁰“A ^(AT)Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those in Jacob who ^(AU)turn from wrongdoing,” declares the Lord.

²¹“As for Me, this is My ^(AV)covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My ^(AW)Spirit who is upon you, and My ^(AX)words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your ^[m]offspring, nor from the mouth of your ^[n]offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 59:2 As in ancient versions; MT faces
Isaiah 59:4 Lit in truth
Isaiah 59:6 Lit palms
Isaiah 59:8 Lit it
Isaiah 59:12 Lit our wrongdoings we know them
Isaiah 59:13 Or Revolting against and
Isaiah 59:15 Or evil
Isaiah 59:18 Lit accordingly
Isaiah 59:18 Lit requital
Isaiah 59:18 Lit repay
Isaiah 59:18 Lit requital
Isaiah 59:19 Lit narrow
Isaiah 59:21 Lit seed
Isaiah 59:21 Lit seed

Matthew 7

New American Standard Bible

Judging Others

7 “^(A)Do not ^[a]judge, so that you will not be judged. ²For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and ^[b]^(B)by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. ³Why do you ^(C)look at the ^[c]speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴^(D)Or how ^[d]can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the ^[e]speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the ^[f]speck out of your brother’s eye!

⁶“^(E)Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Prayer and the Golden Rule

⁷“^[g]^(F)Ask, and ^(G)it will be given to you; ^[h]seek, and you will find; ^[i]knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ⁹Or what person is there among you ^[j]who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, ^[k]will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or ^[l]if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? ¹¹So if you, despite being ^[m]evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, ^(H)how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

¹²“In everything, ^(I)therefore, ^[n]treat people the same way you want ^[o]them to treat you, for ^(J)this is the Law and the Prophets.

The Narrow and Wide Gates

¹³“^(K)Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

A Tree and Its Fruit

¹⁵“Beware of the ^(L)false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ^(M)ravenous wolves. ¹⁶You will ^[p]^(N)know them by their fruits. ^[q]Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? ¹⁷So ^(O)every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹^(P)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰So then, you will ^[r]know them ^(Q)by their fruits.

²¹“^(R)Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ²²^(S)Many will say to Me on ^(T)that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many ^[s]miracles?’ ²³And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; ^(U)leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

The Two Foundations

²⁴“Therefore, ^(V)everyone who hears these words of Mine, and ^[t]acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵And the rain fell and the ^[u]floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not ^[v]act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷And the rain fell and the ^[w]floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.”

²⁸^[x]^(W)When Jesus had finished these words, ^(X)the crowds were amazed at His teaching; ²⁹for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.