5 (A: iv, S: iii) Then Moshe called to all Isra’el and said to them, “Listen, Isra’el, to the laws and rulings which I am announcing in your hearing today, so that you will learn them and take care to obey them. ² Adonai our God made a covenant with us at Horev. ³ Adonai did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us — with us, who are all of us here alive today. ⁴ Adonai spoke with you face to face from the fire on the mountain. ⁵ At that time I stood between Adonai and you in order to tell you what Adonai was saying; because, on account of the fire, you were afraid and wouldn’t go up onto the mountain. He said,

א ⁶ “‘I am Adonai your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you lived as slaves.

ב ⁷ “‘You are to have no other gods before me. ⁸ You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline — ⁹ you are not to bow down to them or serve them; for I, Adonai your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents, also the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ¹⁰ but displaying grace to the thousandth generation of those who love me and obey my mitzvot.

ג ¹¹ “‘You are not to misuse the name of Adonai your God, because Adonai will not leave unpunished someone who misuses his name.

ד ¹² “‘Observe the day of Shabbat, to set it apart as holy, as Adonai your God ordered you to do. ¹³ You have six days to labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is a Shabbat for Adonai your God. On it you are not to do any kind of work — not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your ox, your donkey or any of your other livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property — so that your male and female servants can rest just as you do. ¹⁵ You are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Adonai your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore Adonai your God has ordered you to keep the day of Shabbat.

ה ¹⁶ “‘Honor your father and mother, as Adonai your God ordered you to do, so that you will live long and have things go well with you in the land Adonai your God is giving you.

ו ¹⁷ “‘Do not murder.

ז ⁽¹⁸⁾ “‘Do not commit adultery.

ח ⁽¹⁹⁾ “‘Do not steal.

ט ⁽²⁰⁾ “‘Do not give false evidence against your neighbor.

י ^18 (21) “‘Do not covet your neighbor’s wife; do not covet your neighbor’s house, his field, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

(A: v, S: iv) ^19 (22) “These words Adonai spoke to your entire gathering at the mountain from fire, cloud and thick mist, in a loud voice; then it ceased. But he wrote them on two stone tablets, which he gave to me. ^20 (23) When you heard the voice coming out of the darkness, as the mountain blazed with fire, you came to me, all the heads of your tribes and your leaders, ^21 (24) and said, ‘Here, Adonai our God has shown us his glory and his greatness! We have heard his voice coming from the fire, and we have seen today that God does speak with human beings, and they stay alive. ^22 (25) But why should we keep risking death? This great fire will consume us! If we hear the voice of Adonai our God any more, we will die! ^23 (26) For who is there of all humanity that has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have, and stayed alive? ^24 (27) You, go near; and hear everything Adonai our God says. Then you will tell us everything Adonai our God says to you; and we will listen to it and do it.’

^25 (28) “Adonai heard what you were saying when you spoke to me, and Adonai said to me, ‘I have heard what this people has said when speaking to you, and everything they have said is good. ^26 (29) Oh, how I wish their hearts would stay like this always, that they would fear me and obey all my mitzvot; so that it would go well with them and their children forever. ^27 (30) Go, tell them to return to their tents. ^28 (31) But you, stand here by me; and I will tell you all the mitzvot, laws and rulings which you are to teach them, so that they can obey them in the land I am giving them as their possession.’

^29 (32) “Therefore you are to be careful to do as Adonai your God has ordered you; you are not to deviate either to the right or the left. ^30 (33) You are to follow the entire way which Adonai your God has ordered you; so that you will live, things will go well with you, and you will live long in the land you are about to possess.

6 “Now this is the mitzvah, the laws and rulings which Adonai your God ordered me to teach you for you to obey in the land you are crossing over to possess, ² so that you will fear Adonai your God and observe all his regulations and mitzvot that I am giving you — you, your child and your grandchild — as long as you live, and so that you will have long life. ³ Therefore listen, Isra’el, and take care to obey, so that things will go well with you, and so that you will increase greatly, as Adonai, the God of your ancestors, promised you by giving you a land flowing with milk and honey.

(A:vi, S: v) ⁴ “Sh’ma, Yisra’el! Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai echad [Hear, Isra’el! Adonai our God, Adonai is one]; ⁵ and you are to love Adonai your God with all your heart, all your being and all your resources. ⁶ These words, which I am ordering you today, are to be on your heart; ⁷ and you are to teach them carefully to your children. You are to talk about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them on your hand as a sign, put them at the front of a headband around your forehead, ⁹ and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates.

(S: vi) ¹⁰ “When Adonai your God has brought you into the land he swore to your ancestors Avraham, Yitz’chak and Ya‘akov that he would give you — cities great and prosperous, which you didn’t build; ¹¹ houses full of all sorts of good things, which you didn’t fill; water cisterns dug out, which you didn’t dig; vineyards and olive trees, which you didn’t plant — and you have eaten your fill; ¹² then be careful not to forget Adonai, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you lived as slaves. ¹³ You are to fear Adonai your God, serve him and swear by his name. ¹⁴ You are not to follow other gods, chosen from the gods of the peoples around you; ¹⁵ because Adonai, your God, who is here with you, is a jealous God. If you do, the anger of Adonai your God will flare up against you and he will destroy you from the face of the earth. ¹⁶ Do not put Adonai your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah [testing]. ¹⁷ Observe diligently the mitzvot of Adonai your God, and his instructions and laws which he has given you. ¹⁸ You are to do what is right and good in the sight of Adonai, so that things will go well with you, and you will enter and possess the good land Adonai swore to your ancestors, ¹⁹ expelling all your enemies ahead of you, as Adonai said.

²⁰ “Some day your child will ask you, ‘What is the meaning of the instructions, laws and rulings which Adonai our God has laid down for you?’ ²¹ Then you will tell your child, ‘We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Adonai brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand. ²² Adonai worked great and terrible signs and wonders against Egypt, Pharaoh and all his household, before our very eyes. ²³ He brought us out from there in order to bring us to the land he had sworn to our ancestors that he would give us. ²⁴ Adonai ordered us to observe all these laws, to fear Adonai our God, always for our own good, so that he might keep us alive, as we are today. ²⁵ It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to obey all these mitzvot before Adonai our God, just as he ordered us to do.’”

14 It was now two days before Pesach (that is, the festival of Matzah), and the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers were trying to find some way to arrest Yeshua surreptitiously and have him put to death; ² for they said, “Not during the festival, or the people will riot.”

³ While he was in Beit-Anyah in the home of Shim‘on (a man who had had tzara‘at), and as he was eating, a woman came with an alabaster jar of perfume, pure oil of nard, very costly. She broke the jar and poured the perfume over Yeshua’s head. ⁴ But some there angrily said to themselves, “Why this waste of perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for a year’s wages and given to the poor!” And they scolded her. ⁶ But he said, “Let her be. Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me. ⁷ For you will always have the poor with you; and whenever you want to, you can help them. But you will not always have me. ⁸ What she could do, she did do — in advance she poured perfume on my body to prepare it for burial. ⁹ Yes! I tell you that wherever in the whole world this Good News is proclaimed, what she has done will be told in her memory.”

¹⁰ Then Y’hudah from K’riot, who was one of the Twelve, went to the head cohanim in order to betray Yeshua to them. ¹¹ They were pleased to hear this and promised to give him money. And he began looking for a good opportunity to betray Yeshua.

¹² On the first day for matzah, when they slaughtered the lamb for Pesach, Yeshua’s talmidim asked him, “Where do you want us to go and prepare your Seder?” ¹³ He sent two of his talmidim with these instructions: “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him; ¹⁴ and whichever house he enters, tell him that the Rabbi says, ‘Where is the guest room for me, where I am to eat the Pesach meal with my talmidim?’ ¹⁵ He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make the preparations there.” ¹⁶ The talmidim went off, came to the city and found things just as he had told them they would be; and they prepared the Seder.

¹⁷ When evening came, Yeshua arrived with the Twelve. ¹⁸ As they were reclining and eating, Yeshua said, “Yes! I tell you that one of you is going to betray me.” ¹⁹ They became upset and began asking him, one after the other, “You don’t mean me, do you?” ²⁰ “It’s one of the Twelve,” he said to them, “someone dipping matzah in the dish with me. ²¹ For the Son of Man will die, just as the Tanakh says he will; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for him had he never been born!”

²² While they were eating, Yeshua took a piece of matzah, made the b’rakhah, broke it, gave it to them and said, “Take it! This is my body.” ²³ Also he took a cup of wine, made the b’rakhah, and gave it to them; and they all drank. ²⁴ He said to them, “This is my blood, which ratifies the New Covenant, my blood shed on behalf of many people. ²⁵ Yes! I tell you, I will not drink this ‘fruit of the vine’ again until the day I drink new wine in the Kingdom of God.”

²⁶ After singing the Hallel, they went out to the Mount of Olives. ²⁷ Yeshua said to them, “You will all lose faith in me, for the Tanakh says,

²⁸ But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you into the Galil.” ²⁹ Kefa said to him, “Even if everyone else loses faith in you, I won’t.” ³⁰ Yeshua replied, “Yes! I tell you that this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will disown me three times!” ³¹ But Kefa kept insisting, “Even if I must die with you, I will never disown you!” And they all said the same thing.

³² They went to a place called Gat Sh’manim; and Yeshua said to his talmidim, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ He took with him Kefa, Ya‘akov and Yochanan. Great distress and anguish came over him; ³⁴ and he said to them, “My heart is so filled with sadness that I could die! Remain here and stay awake.” ³⁵ Going on a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that if possible, the hour might pass from him: ³⁶ “Abba!” (that is, “Dear Father!”) “All things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me! Still, not what I want, but what you want.” ³⁷ He came and found them sleeping; and he said to Kefa, “Shim‘on, are you asleep? Couldn’t you stay awake one hour? ³⁸ Stay awake, and pray that you will not be put to the test — the spirit indeed is eager, but human nature is weak.”

³⁹ Again he went away and prayed, saying the same words; ⁴⁰ and again he came and found them sleeping, their eyes were so very heavy; and they didn’t know what to answer him.

⁴¹ The third time, he came and said to them, “For now, go on sleeping, take your rest. . . .There, that’s enough! The time has come! Look! The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners! ⁴² Get up! Let’s go! Here comes my betrayer!”

⁴³ While Yeshua was still speaking, Y’hudah (one of the Twelve!) came, and with him a crowd carrying swords and clubs, from the head cohanim, the Torah-teachers and the elders. ⁴⁴ The betrayer had arranged to give them a signal: “The man I kiss is the one you want. Grab him, and take him away under guard.” ⁴⁵ As he arrived, he went right up to Yeshua, said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. ⁴⁶ Then they laid hold of Yeshua and arrested him; ⁴⁷ but one of the people standing nearby drew his sword and struck at the servant of the cohen hagadol, cutting off his ear.

⁴⁸ Yeshua addressed them: “So you came out to take me with swords and clubs, the way you would the leader of a rebellion? ⁴⁹ Every day I was with you in the Temple court, teaching, and you didn’t seize me then! But let the Tanakh be fulfilled.” ⁵⁰ And they all deserted him and ran away. ⁵¹ There was one young man who did try to follow him; but he was wearing only a nightshirt; and when they tried to seize him, ⁵² he slipped out of the nightshirt and ran away naked.

⁵³ They led Yeshua to the cohen hagadol, with whom all the head cohanim, elders and Torah-teachers were assembling. ⁵⁴ Kefa followed him at a distance right into the courtyard of the cohen hagadol, where he sat down with the guards and warmed himself by the fire.

⁵⁵ The head cohanim and the whole Sanhedrin tried to find evidence against Yeshua, so that they might have him put to death, but they couldn’t find any. ⁵⁶ For many people gave false evidence against him, but their testimonies didn’t agree. ⁵⁷ Some stood up and gave this false testimony: ⁵⁸ “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this Temple made with hands; and in three days I will build another one, not made with hands.’” ⁵⁹ Even so, their testimonies didn’t agree.

⁶⁰ The cohen hagadol stood up in the front and asked Yeshua, “Have you nothing to say to the accusations these men are making?” ⁶¹ But he remained silent and made no reply. Again the cohen hagadol questioned him: “Are you the Mashiach, Ben-HaM’vorakh?” ⁶² “I AM,” answered Yeshua. “Moreover, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of HaG’vurah and coming on the clouds of heaven.”^{[b] 63} At this, the cohen hagadol tore his clothes and said, “Why do we still need witnesses? ⁶⁴ You heard him blaspheme! What is your decision?” And they all declared him guilty and subject to the death penalty.

⁶⁵ Then some began spitting at him; and after blindfolding him, they started pounding him with their fists and saying to him, “Let’s see you prophesy!” And as the guards took him, they beat him too.

⁶⁶ Meanwhile, Kefa was still in the courtyard below. One of the serving-girls of the cohen hagadol ⁶⁷ saw Kefa warming himself, took a look at him, and said, “You were with the man from Natzeret, Yeshua!” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about!” He went outside into the entryway, and a rooster crowed. ⁶⁹ The girl saw him there and started telling the bystanders, “This fellow is one of them.” ⁷⁰ Again he denied it. A little later, the bystanders themselves said to Kefa, “You must be one of them, because you’re from the Galil.” ⁷¹ At this he began to invoke a curse on himself as he swore, “I do not know this man you are telling me about!” — ⁷² and immediately the rooster crowed a second time. Then Kefa remembered what Yeshua had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will disown me three times.” And throwing himself down, he burst into tears.