The Command to Leave Horeb

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in ^(A)the Arabah opposite ^(B)Suph, between ^(C)Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ² It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to ^(D)Kadesh-barnea. ^3 (E)In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them, ⁴ after ^(F)he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ^(G)Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in ^(H)Edrei. ⁵ Beyond the Jordan, ^(I)in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, ⁶ “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ^(J)‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. ⁷ Turn and take your journey, and go to ^(K)the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in ^(L)the Arabah, ^(M)in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and ^(N)by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. ⁸ See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, ^(O)to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

Leaders Appointed

⁹ “At that time ^(P)I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. ¹⁰ The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, ^(Q)you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. ^11 (R)May the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, ^(S)as he has promised you! ^12 (T)How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? ^13 (U)Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ ¹⁴ And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ ¹⁵ So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, ^(V)and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. ¹⁶ And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and ^(W)judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. ^17 (X)You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for ^(Y)the judgment is God's. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall ^(Z)bring to me, and I will hear it.’ ¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

God's Sovereign Choice

9 ^(A)I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For ^(B)I could wish that I myself were ^(C)accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,^[a] my kinsmen ^(D)according to the flesh. ⁴ They are ^(E)Israelites, and to them belong ^(F)the adoption, ^(G)the glory, ^(H)the covenants, ^(I)the giving of the law, ^(J)the worship, and ^(K)the promises. ⁵ To them belong ^(L)the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, ^(M)who is God over all, ^(N)blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷ and not all are children of Abraham ^(O)because they are his offspring, but ^(P)“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but ^(Q)the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: ^(R)“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰ And not only so, but ^(S)also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of ^(T)him who calls— ¹² she was told, ^(U)“The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, ^(V)“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(W)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, ^(X)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion,^[b] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^(Y)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

^27 (A)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like ^(B)whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and ^(C)all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also ^(D)outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of ^(E)hypocrisy and lawlessness.

^29 (F)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are ^(G)sons of those who murdered the prophets. ^32 (H)Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. ³³ You serpents, ^(I)you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to ^(J)hell? ^34 (K)Therefore ^(L)I send you ^(M)prophets and wise men and ^(N)scribes, ^(O)some of whom you will kill and crucify, and ^(P)some you will ^(Q)flog in your synagogues and ^(R)persecute from town to town, ³⁵ so that on you may come all ^(S)the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^(T)Abel to the blood of ^(U)Zechariah the son of Barachiah,^[a] whom you murdered between ^(V)the sanctuary and ^(W)the altar. ³⁶ Truly, I say to you, ^(X)all these things will come upon this generation.

Lament over Jerusalem

^37 (Y)“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that ^(Z)kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have ^(AA)gathered ^(AB)your children together ^(AC)as a hen gathers her brood ^(AD)under her wings, and ^(AE)you were not willing! ³⁸ See, ^(AF)your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹ For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ^(AG)‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”