Deuteronomy 1-2
New Living Translation
Introduction to Moses’ First Address
1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all the people of Israel while they were in the wilderness east of the Jordan River. They were camped in the Jordan Valley[a] near Suph, between Paran on one side and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab on the other.
2 Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai[b] to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. 3 But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month,[c] Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the Lord had commanded him to say. 4 This took place after he had defeated King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated King Og of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth.
5 While the Israelites were in the land of Moab east of the Jordan River, Moses carefully explained the Lord’s instructions as follows.
The Command to Leave Sinai
6 “When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. 7 It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills,[d] the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. 8 Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.’”
Moses Appoints Leaders from Each Tribe
9 Moses continued, “At that time I told you, ‘You are too great a burden for me to carry all by myself. 10 The Lord your God has increased your population, making you as numerous as the stars! 11 And may the Lord, the God of your ancestors, multiply you a thousand times more and bless you as he promised! 12 But you are such a heavy load to carry! How can I deal with all your problems and bickering? 13 Choose some well-respected men from each tribe who are known for their wisdom and understanding, and I will appoint them as your leaders.’
14 “Then you responded, ‘Your plan is a good one.’ 15 So I took the wise and respected men you had selected from your tribes and appointed them to serve as judges and officials over you. Some were responsible for a thousand people, some for a hundred, some for fifty, and some for ten.
16 “At that time I instructed the judges, ‘You must hear the cases of your fellow Israelites and the foreigners living among you. Be perfectly fair in your decisions 17 and impartial in your judgments. Hear the cases of those who are poor as well as those who are rich. Don’t be afraid of anyone’s anger, for the decision you make is God’s decision. Bring me any cases that are too difficult for you, and I will handle them.’
18 “At that time I gave you instructions about everything you were to do.
Scouts Explore the Land
19 “Then, just as the Lord our God commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness, as you yourselves remember, and headed toward the hill country of the Amorites. When we arrived at Kadesh-barnea, 20 I said to you, ‘You have now reached the hill country of the Amorites that the Lord our God is giving us. 21 Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged!’
22 “But you all came to me and said, ‘First, let’s send out scouts to explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best route to take and which towns we should enter.’
23 “This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose twelve scouts, one from each of your tribes. 24 They headed for the hill country and came to the valley of Eshcol and explored it. 25 They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us. And they reported, ‘The land the Lord our God has given us is indeed a good land.’
Israel’s Rebellion against the Lord
26 “But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God and refused to go in. 27 You complained in your tents and said, ‘The Lord must hate us. That’s why he has brought us here from Egypt—to hand us over to the Amorites to be slaughtered. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have demoralized us with their report. They tell us, “The people of the land are taller and more powerful than we are, and their towns are large, with walls rising high into the sky! We even saw giants there—the descendants of Anak!”’
29 “But I said to you, ‘Don’t be shocked or afraid of them! 30 The Lord your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt. 31 And you saw how the Lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.’
32 “But even after all he did, you refused to trust the Lord your God, 33 who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.
34 “When the Lord heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore, 35 ‘Not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the Lord completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.’
37 “And the Lord was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, ‘Moses, not even you will enter the Promised Land! 38 Instead, your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will lead the people into the land. Encourage him, for he will lead Israel as they take possession of it. 39 I will give the land to your little ones—your innocent children. You were afraid they would be captured, but they will be the ones who occupy it. 40 As for you, turn around now and go on back through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.[e]’
41 “Then you confessed, ‘We have sinned against the Lord! We will go into the land and fight for it, as the Lord our God has commanded us.’ So your men strapped on their weapons, thinking it would be easy to attack the hill country.
42 “But the Lord told me to tell you, ‘Do not attack, for I am not with you. If you go ahead on your own, you will be crushed by your enemies.’
43 “This is what I told you, but you would not listen. Instead, you again rebelled against the Lord’s command and arrogantly went into the hill country to fight. 44 But the Amorites who lived there came out against you like a swarm of bees. They chased and battered you all the way from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the Lord, but he refused to listen. 46 So you stayed there at Kadesh for a long time.
Remembering Israel’s Wanderings
2 “Then we turned around and headed back across the wilderness toward the Red Sea,[f] just as the Lord had instructed me, and we wandered around in the region of Mount Seir for a long time.
2 “Then at last the Lord said to me, 3 ‘You have been wandering around in this hill country long enough; turn to the north. 4 Give these orders to the people: “You will pass through the country belonging to your relatives the Edomites, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. The Edomites will feel threatened, so be careful. 5 Do not bother them, for I have given them all the hill country around Mount Seir as their property, and I will not give you even one square foot of their land. 6 If you need food to eat or water to drink, pay them for it. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the Lord your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”’
8 “So we bypassed the territory of our relatives, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We avoided the road through the Arabah Valley that comes up from Elath and Ezion-geber.
“Then as we turned north along the desert route through Moab, 9 the Lord warned us, ‘Do not bother the Moabites, the descendants of Lot, or start a war with them. I have given them Ar as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.’”
10 (A race of giants called the Emites had once lived in the area of Ar. They were as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites, another race of giants. 11 Both the Emites and the Anakites are also known as the Rephaites, though the Moabites call them Emites. 12 In earlier times the Horites had lived in Seir, but they were driven out and displaced by the descendants of Esau, just as Israel drove out the people of Canaan when the Lord gave Israel their land.)
13 Moses continued, “Then the Lord said to us, ‘Get moving. Cross the Zered Brook.’ So we crossed the brook.
14 “Thirty-eight years passed from the time we first left Kadesh-barnea until we finally crossed the Zered Brook! By then, all the men old enough to fight in battle had died in the wilderness, as the Lord had vowed would happen. 15 The Lord struck them down until they had all been eliminated from the community.
16 “When all the men of fighting age had died, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 ‘Today you will cross the border of Moab at Ar 19 and enter the land of the Ammonites, the descendants of Lot. But do not bother them or start a war with them. I have given the land of Ammon to them as their property, and I will not give you any of their land.’”
20 (That area was once considered the land of the Rephaites, who had lived there, though the Ammonites call them Zamzummites. 21 They were also as strong and numerous and tall as the Anakites. But the Lord destroyed them so the Ammonites could occupy their land. 22 He had done the same for the descendants of Esau who lived in Seir, for he destroyed the Horites so they could settle there in their place. The descendants of Esau live there to this day. 23 A similar thing happened when the Caphtorites from Crete[g] invaded and destroyed the Avvites, who had lived in villages in the area of Gaza.)
24 Moses continued, “Then the Lord said, ‘Now get moving! Cross the Arnon Gorge. Look, I will hand over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and I will give you his land. Attack him and begin to occupy the land. 25 Beginning today I will make people throughout the earth terrified because of you. When they hear reports about you, they will tremble with dread and fear.’”
Victory over Sihon of Heshbon
26 Moses continued, “From the wilderness of Kedemoth I sent ambassadors to King Sihon of Heshbon with this proposal of peace:
27 ‘Let us travel through your land. We will stay on the main road and won’t turn off into the fields on either side. 28 Sell us food to eat and water to drink, and we will pay for it. All we want is permission to pass through your land. 29 The descendants of Esau who live in Seir allowed us to go through their country, and so did the Moabites, who live in Ar. Let us pass through until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.’
30 “But King Sihon of Heshbon refused to allow us to pass through, because the Lord your God made Sihon stubborn and defiant so he could help you defeat him, as he has now done.
31 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Look, I have begun to hand King Sihon and his land over to you. Begin now to conquer and occupy his land.’
32 “Then King Sihon declared war on us and mobilized his forces at Jahaz. 33 But the Lord our God handed him over to us, and we crushed him, his sons, and all his people. 34 We conquered all his towns and completely destroyed[h] everyone—men, women, and children. Not a single person was spared. 35 We took all the livestock as plunder for ourselves, along with anything of value from the towns we ransacked.
36 “The Lord our God also helped us conquer Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Gorge, and the town in the gorge, and the whole area as far as Gilead. No town had walls too strong for us. 37 However, we avoided the land of the Ammonites all along the Jabbok River and the towns in the hill country—all the places the Lord our God had commanded us to leave alone.
Footnotes
- 1:1 Hebrew the Arabah; also in 1:7.
- 1:2 Hebrew Horeb, another name for Sinai; also in 1:6, 19.
- 1:3 Hebrew In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month. This day in the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar occurred in January or February.
- 1:7 Hebrew the Shephelah.
- 1:40 Hebrew sea of reeds.
- 2:1 Hebrew sea of reeds.
- 2:23 Hebrew from Caphtor.
- 2:34 The Hebrew term used here refers to the complete consecration of things or people to the Lord, either by destroying them or by giving them as an offering.
Deuteronomy 1-2
New American Standard Bible
Israel’s History after the Exodus
1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel (A)across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the (B)Arabah opposite [a]Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from (C)Horeb by way of Mount (D)Seir to (E)Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the (F)fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, (G)in accordance with everything that the Lord had commanded him to declare to them, 4 after he had [b](H)defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and (I)Og the king of Bashan, who lived in (J)Ashtaroth [c]and in Edrei. 5 Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this Law, saying,
6 “The Lord our God (K)spoke to us at Horeb, saying, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and set out on your journey, and go to (L)the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in (M)the [d]Negev, by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have placed the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which the Lord (N)swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and their [e]descendants after them.’
9 “And I spoke to you at that time, saying, ‘(O)I am not able to endure you alone. 10 The Lord your God has (P)multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number. 11 May the Lord, the God of your fathers increase you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you, (Q)just as He has [f]promised you! 12 How can I alone endure the burden and weight of you and your strife? 13 (R)Obtain for yourselves men who are wise, discerning, and informed from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have said to do is good.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and informed men, and [g]appointed them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, [h]hundreds, [i]fifties, and [j]tens, and officers for your tribes.
16 “Then I ordered your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your fellow countrymen and (S)judge righteously between a person and his fellow countryman, or the stranger who is with him. 17 (T)You are not to [k]show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You are (U)not to be afraid of any person, for the judgment is God’s. (V)The case that is too difficult for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 At that time (W)I commanded you all the things that you were to do.
19 “Then we set out from (X)Horeb, and went through all that (Y)great and terrible wilderness that you saw on the way to the (Z)hill country of the Amorites, just as the Lord our God had commanded us; and we came to (AA)Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is about to give us. 21 See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you; go up, take possession, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. (AB)Do not fear or be dismayed.’
22 “(AC)Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let us send men ahead of us, so that they may spy out the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we should go up, and the cities which we should enter.’ 23 The [l]plan pleased me, and I took twelve of your men, one man for each tribe. 24 Then (AD)they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25 And they took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us. They also brought us back a report and said, ‘The land that the Lord our God is about to give us is good.’
26 “(AE)Yet you were unwilling to go up; instead you (AF)rebelled against the [m]command of the Lord your God; 27 and (AG)you grumbled in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to hand us over to the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, by saying, “The people are bigger and taller than we; the cities are large and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we saw (AH)the sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 But I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, nor fear them. 30 The Lord your God, who goes before you, will (AI)Himself fight for you, [n]just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness where you saw how (AJ)the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, on all of the road which you have walked until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet [o](AK)in spite of all this, you did not trust the Lord your God, 33 (AL)who goes before you on your way, (AM)to seek out a place for you to make camp, in the fire by night to show you the way by which you should go, and in the cloud by day.
34 “Then the Lord heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and (AN)swore an oath, saying, 35 ‘(AO)Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and (AP)to him I will give the land on which he has set foot, and to his sons, because he has followed the Lord fully.’ 37 (AQ)The Lord was angry with me also on your account, saying, ‘(AR)Not even you shall enter there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, (AS)shall himself enter there; encourage him, for (AT)he will give it to Israel as an inheritance. 39 Moreover, (AU)your little ones who, you said, would become plunder, and your sons, who this day have (AV)no knowledge of good and evil, shall enter there, and I will give it to them and they shall take possession of it. 40 But as for you, (AW)turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way of the [p]Red Sea.’
41 “(AX)Then you replied to me, ‘We have sinned against the Lord; we ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every man of you strapped on his weapons of war, and you viewed it as easy to go up into the hill country. 42 (AY)But the Lord said to me, ‘Say to them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; otherwise you will be [q]defeated [r]by your enemies.”’ 43 So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead, (AZ)you rebelled against the [s]command of the Lord, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country. 44 (BA)And the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you (BB)as bees do, and they scattered you from Seir to Hormah. 45 Then you returned and wept before the Lord; but the (BC)Lord did not listen to your voice, nor pay attention to you. 46 So you remained at (BD)Kadesh for many days, [t]the days that you spent there.
Wanderings in the Wilderness
2 “(BE)Then we turned and set out for the wilderness by the way of the [u]Red Sea, as the Lord spoke to me, and we circled (BF)Mount Seir for many days. 2 And the Lord spoke to me, saying, 3 ‘You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn north, 4 (BG)and command the people, saying, “You are going to pass through the (BH)territory of your brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir; and (BI)they will be afraid of you. So be very careful; 5 do not [v]provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even as much as a [w]footprint, (BJ)because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 You are to buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all [x]that you have done; He has known your [y]wandering through this (BK)great wilderness. These (BL)forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have not lacked anything.”’
8 “So we passed beyond our brothers the sons of Esau, who live in Seir, away from the (BM)Arabah road, away from Elath and (BN)Ezion-geber. And we turned and passed through by the way of the wilderness of Moab. 9 Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not attack Moab, nor provoke them to war, for I will not give you any of [z]their land as a possession, because I have given (BO)Ar to (BP)the sons of Lot as a possession.’ 10 (The (BQ)Emim lived there previously, a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim, they too are regarded as (BR)Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 (BS)The Horites previously lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before [aa]them, and settled in their place; (BT)just as Israel did to the land of [ab]their possession which the Lord gave them.) 13 ‘Now arise and cross over the [ac]Wadi Zered yourselves.’ So we crossed over the [ad]Wadi Zered. 14 Now the [ae]time that it took for us to come from Kadesh-barnea until we crossed over the [af]Wadi Zered was (BU)thirty-eight years, until (BV)all the generation of the men of war perished from within the camp, just as (BW)the Lord had sworn to them. 15 (BX)Indeed, the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from within the camp until they all perished.
16 “So it came about, when (BY)all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, 17 that the Lord spoke to me, saying, 18 ‘Today you shall cross over (BZ)Ar, the border of Moab. 19 When you come opposite the (CA)sons of Ammon, do not attack them nor provoke them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to (CB)the sons of Lot as a possession.’ 20 (It is also regarded as the land of the (CC)Rephaim, because the Rephaim previously lived in it, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummin, 21 a people as great, numerous, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before [ag]them. And they dispossessed them and settled in their place, 22 just as He did for the sons of Esau, who (CD)live in Seir, when He destroyed (CE)the Horites from before them; they dispossessed them and settled in their place, where they remain even to this day. 23 And as for the (CF)Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the [ah](CG)Caphtorim, who came from [ai](CH)Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.) 24 ‘Arise, set out, and pass through the [aj](CI)Valley of Arnon. Look! I have handed over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; start taking possession and plunge into battle with him. 25 This day I will begin to put (CJ)the dread and fear of you upon the faces of [ak]people everywhere, [al]who, when they hear the news of you, (CK)will tremble and be in anguish because of you.’
26 “(CL)So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, 27 ‘Let me pass through your land; I will [am]travel only on the road. I will not turn aside to the right or to the left. 28 You will sell me food for money so that I may eat, and give me water for money so that I may drink, (CM)only let me pass through on [an]foot, 29 just as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in (CN)Ar did for me, until I cross over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving us.’ 30 But (CO)Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass [ao]through his land; for the (CP)Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to hand him over to you, as he is today. 31 And the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to turn Sihon and his land over [ap]to you. Begin taking possession, so that you may possess his land.’
32 “Then Sihon came out [aq]with all his people to meet us in battle at Jahaz. 33 And (CQ)the Lord our God turned him over [ar]to us, and we [as](CR)defeated him with his sons and all his people. 34 So we captured all his cities at that time and [at](CS)utterly destroyed [au]the men, women, and children of every city. We left no survivor. 35 We took (CT)only the animals as our plunder, and the spoils of the cities which we had captured. 36 From (CU)Aroer which is on the edge of the [av]Valley of Arnon and from the city which is in the [aw]valley, even to Gilead, there was no city that was too [ax]high for us; the Lord our God turned it all over [ay]to us. 37 (CV)Only you did not go near the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the [az]river (CW)Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever the Lord our God had commanded us to avoid.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 1:1 Perhaps the Red Sea
- Deuteronomy 1:4 Lit struck
- Deuteronomy 1:4 So ancient versions; MT omits and
- Deuteronomy 1:7 I.e., South country
- Deuteronomy 1:8 Lit seed
- Deuteronomy 1:11 Lit spoken to
- Deuteronomy 1:15 Lit gave them as
- Deuteronomy 1:15 Lit commanders of
- Deuteronomy 1:15 Lit commanders of
- Deuteronomy 1:15 Lit commanders of
- Deuteronomy 1:17 Lit recognize faces
- Deuteronomy 1:23 Lit word
- Deuteronomy 1:26 Lit mouth
- Deuteronomy 1:30 Lit according to all that
- Deuteronomy 1:32 Lit in this matter
- Deuteronomy 1:40 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Deuteronomy 1:42 Lit struck
- Deuteronomy 1:42 Lit before
- Deuteronomy 1:43 Lit mouth
- Deuteronomy 1:46 Lit as the days
- Deuteronomy 2:1 Lit Sea of Reeds
- Deuteronomy 2:5 Or engage in strife with
- Deuteronomy 2:5 Lit treading of a sole of a foot
- Deuteronomy 2:7 Lit the work of your hand
- Deuteronomy 2:7 Lit going
- Deuteronomy 2:9 Lit his
- Deuteronomy 2:12 I.e., the sons of Esau
- Deuteronomy 2:12 Lit his
- Deuteronomy 2:13 I.e., dry stream bed, except in the rainy season
- Deuteronomy 2:13 I.e., dry stream bed, except in the rainy season
- Deuteronomy 2:14 Lit days in which we went
- Deuteronomy 2:14 See note v 13
- Deuteronomy 2:21 I.e., the Ammonites
- Deuteronomy 2:23 I.e., Philistines
- Deuteronomy 2:23 I.e., Crete
- Deuteronomy 2:24 Or wadi
- Deuteronomy 2:25 Lit peoples under all the heavens
- Deuteronomy 2:25 Lit who will hear...and tremble
- Deuteronomy 2:27 Lit go on the road, on the road
- Deuteronomy 2:28 Lit my feet
- Deuteronomy 2:30 Lit by him
- Deuteronomy 2:31 Lit before you
- Deuteronomy 2:32 Lit he and
- Deuteronomy 2:33 Lit before us
- Deuteronomy 2:33 Lit struck
- Deuteronomy 2:34 Or put under the ban
- Deuteronomy 2:34 Lit every city of men...
- Deuteronomy 2:36 Or wadi
- Deuteronomy 2:36 Or wadi
- Deuteronomy 2:36 Or strong
- Deuteronomy 2:36 Lit before us
- Deuteronomy 2:37 Or wadi
Mark 12
New Living Translation
Parable of the Evil Farmers
12 Then Jesus began teaching them with stories: “A man planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. 2 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent one of his servants to collect his share of the crop. 3 But the farmers grabbed the servant, beat him up, and sent him back empty-handed. 4 The owner then sent another servant, but they insulted him and beat him over the head. 5 The next servant he sent was killed. Others he sent were either beaten or killed, 6 until there was only one left—his son whom he loved dearly. The owner finally sent him, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’
7 “But the tenant farmers said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ 8 So they grabbed him and murdered him and threw his body out of the vineyard.
9 “What do you suppose the owner of the vineyard will do?” Jesus asked. “I’ll tell you—he will come and kill those farmers and lease the vineyard to others. 10 Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.
11 This is the Lord’s doing,
and it is wonderful to see.’[a]”
12 The religious leaders[b] wanted to arrest Jesus because they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.
Taxes for Caesar
13 Later the leaders sent some Pharisees and supporters of Herod to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested. 14 “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest you are. You are impartial and don’t play favorites. You teach the way of God truthfully. Now tell us—is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not? 15 Should we pay them, or shouldn’t we?”
Jesus saw through their hypocrisy and said, “Why are you trying to trap me? Show me a Roman coin,[c] and I’ll tell you.” 16 When they handed it to him, he asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”
“Caesar’s,” they replied.
17 “Well, then,” Jesus said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”
His reply completely amazed them.
Discussion about Resurrection
18 Then Jesus was approached by some Sadducees—religious leaders who say there is no resurrection from the dead. They posed this question: 19 “Teacher, Moses gave us a law that if a man dies, leaving a wife without children, his brother should marry the widow and have a child who will carry on the brother’s name.[d] 20 Well, suppose there were seven brothers. The oldest one married and then died without children. 21 So the second brother married the widow, but he also died without children. Then the third brother married her. 22 This continued with all seven of them, and still there were no children. Last of all, the woman also died. 23 So tell us, whose wife will she be in the resurrection? For all seven were married to her.”
24 Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God. 25 For when the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage. In this respect they will be like the angels in heaven.
26 “But now, as to whether the dead will be raised—haven’t you ever read about this in the writings of Moses, in the story of the burning bush? Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died, God said to Moses,[e] ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[f] 27 So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error.”
The Most Important Commandment
28 One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’[g] 31 The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[h] No other commandment is greater than these.”
32 The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. 33 And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”
34 Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Whose Son Is the Messiah?
35 Later, as Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple, he asked, “Why do the teachers of religious law claim that the Messiah is the son of David? 36 For David himself, speaking under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, said,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’[i]
37 Since David himself called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with great delight.
38 Jesus also taught: “Beware of these teachers of religious law! For they like to parade around in flowing robes and receive respectful greetings as they walk in the marketplaces. 39 And how they love the seats of honor in the synagogues and the head table at banquets. 40 Yet they shamelessly cheat widows out of their property and then pretend to be pious by making long prayers in public. Because of this, they will be more severely punished.”
The Widow’s Offering
41 Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. 42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins.[j]
43 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions. 44 For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”
Mark 12
New American Standard Bible
Parable of the Vine-growers
12 (A)And He began to speak to them in parables: “(B)A man (C)planted a vineyard and put a [a]fence around it, and dug a vat under the wine press and built a tower, and leased it to [b]vine-growers and went on a journey. 2 And at the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, in order to receive his share of the produce of the vineyard from the vine-growers. 3 And they took him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again he sent them another slave, and they wounded him in the head, and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and that one they killed; and so with many others, beating some and killing others. 6 He had one more man to send, a beloved son; he sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those vine-growers said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ 8 And they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the [c]owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put the vine-growers to death, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not even read this Scripture:
‘(D)A stone which the builders rejected,
This has become the [d]chief cornerstone;
11 (E)This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
12 (F)And they were seeking to seize Him, and yet they feared the [e]people, for they understood that He told the parable against them. And so (G)they left Him and went away.
Jesus Answers the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes
13 (H)Then they *sent some of the Pharisees and (I)Herodians to Him in order to (J)trap Him in a statement. 14 They came and *said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are truthful and [f]do not care what anyone thinks; for You [g]are not partial to anyone, but You teach the way of God in truth. Is it [h]permissible to pay a [i]poll-tax to Caesar, or not? 15 Are we to pay, or not pay?” But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a [j]denarius to look at.” 16 And they brought one. And He *said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” And they said to Him, “Caesar’s.” 17 And Jesus said to them, “(K)Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at Him.
18 (L)Some Sadducees (who say that there is no resurrection) *came to [k]Jesus, and began questioning Him, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that (M)if a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife and does not leave a child, his brother is to [l]marry the wife and raise up [m]children for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife, and died leaving no children. 21 The second one [n]married her, and died leaving behind no children; and the third likewise; 22 and so the seven together left no children. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, which one’s wife will she be? For each of the seven had her as his wife.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not [o]understand the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 But [p]regarding the fact that the dead rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, (N)in the passage about the burning bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘(O)I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 (P)He is not the God [q]of the dead, but of the living; you are greatly mistaken.”
28 (Q)One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and (R)recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the [r]foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The [s]foremost is, ‘(S)Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; 30 (T)and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘(U)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher; You have truly stated that (V)He is One, and there is no other besides Him; 33 (W)and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, (X)is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (Y)And then, no one dared any longer to question Him.
35 (Z)And Jesus responded and began saying, as He (AA)taught in the temple area, “How is it that the scribes say that the [t]Christ is the (AB)son of David? 36 David himself said [u]in the Holy Spirit,
‘(AC)The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’
37 David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And (AD)the large crowd [v]enjoyed listening to Him.
38 (AE)And in His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like (AF)personal greetings in the marketplaces, 39 and seats of honor in the synagogues, and places of honor at banquets, 40 (AG)who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers. These will receive all the more condemnation.”
The Widow’s Coins
41 (AH)And Jesus sat down opposite (AI)the treasury, and began watching how the [w]people were (AJ)putting [x]money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large amounts. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two [y]lepta coins, which amount to a [z]quadrans. 43 Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all [aa]the contributors to the treasury; 44 for they all put in out of their [ab]surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, [ac]all she had (AK)to live on.”
Footnotes
- Mark 12:1 Or hedge
- Mark 12:1 Or tenant farmers, also vv 2, 7, 9
- Mark 12:9 Lit lord
- Mark 12:10 Lit head of the corner
- Mark 12:12 Lit crowd
- Mark 12:14 Lit it is not a concern to You about anyone
- Mark 12:14 Lit do not look at the face of people
- Mark 12:14 I.e., by Jewish law and tradition
- Mark 12:14 I.e., a tax on each person in the census
- Mark 12:15 The denarius was a day’s wages for a laborer
- Mark 12:18 Lit Him
- Mark 12:19 Lit take
- Mark 12:19 Lit seed, also vv 20-22
- Mark 12:21 Lit took
- Mark 12:24 Or know
- Mark 12:26 Lit concerning the dead, that they rise
- Mark 12:27 Or of corpses
- Mark 12:28 Or first
- Mark 12:29 Or first
- Mark 12:35 I.e., Messiah
- Mark 12:36 Or by
- Mark 12:37 Lit was gladly hearing Him
- Mark 12:41 Lit crowd was
- Mark 12:41 I.e., copper coins
- Mark 12:42 The smallest Greek copper coin, about 1/128 of a laborer’s daily wage
- Mark 12:42 A small Roman copper coin, worth about 1/64 of a laborer’s daily wage
- Mark 12:43 Lit those who were putting in
- Mark 12:44 Or abundance
- Mark 12:44 Lit her whole livelihood
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
