The Greatest Command

“This is the command—the statutes and ordinances—the Lord your God has commanded me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess.(A) Do this so that you may fear(B) the Lord your God(C) all the days of your life(D) by keeping all his statutes and commands I am giving you, your son, and your grandson, and so that you may have a long life.(E) Listen, Israel, and be careful to follow them, so that you may prosper and multiply greatly, because the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey.(F)

“Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a](G) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.(H) These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.(I) Repeat them to your children.(J) Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol[b] on your forehead.[c](K) Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.

Remembering God through Obedience

10 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give you—a land with large and beautiful cities that you did not build, 11 houses full of every good thing that you did not fill them with, cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant(L)—and when you eat and are satisfied,(M) 12 be careful not to forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.(N) 13 Fear the Lord your God, worship him, and take your oaths in his name.(O) 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you, 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God.(P) Otherwise, the Lord your God will become angry with you and obliterate you from the face of the earth. 16 Do not test(Q) the Lord your God as you tested him at Massah.(R) 17 Carefully observe the commands of the Lord your God, the decrees and statutes he has commanded you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that you may prosper and so that you may enter and possess the good land(S) the Lord your God swore to give your ancestors,(T) 19 by driving out all your enemies before you, as the Lord has said.(U)

20 “When your son asks you in the future, ‘What is the meaning(V) of the decrees, statutes, and ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 tell him, ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.(W) 22 Before our eyes the Lord inflicted great and devastating signs and wonders on Egypt,(X) on Pharaoh, and on all his household, 23 but he brought us from there in order to lead us in and give us the land that he swore to our ancestors. 24 The Lord commanded us to follow all these statutes and to fear the Lord our God for our prosperity always and for our preservation, as it is today. 25 Righteousness will be ours if we are careful to follow every one of these commands before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’

Footnotes

  1. 6:4 Or the Lord is our God; the Lord is one, or The Lord is our God, the Lord alone, or The Lord our God is one Lord
  2. 6:8 Or phylactery; Mt 23:5
  3. 6:8 Lit symbol between your eyes

Psalm 19

The Witness of Creation and Scripture

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the expanse(A) proclaims the work of his hands.(B)
Day after day they pour out speech;
night after night they communicate knowledge.[a]
There is no speech; there are no words;
their voice is not heard.
Their message[b] has gone out to the whole earth,
and their words to the ends of the world.(C)
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun.(D)
It is like a bridegroom coming from his home;
it rejoices like an athlete running a course.
It rises from one end of the heavens
and circles to their other end;(E)
nothing is hidden from its heat.

The instruction of the Lord is perfect,
renewing one’s life;(F)
the testimony of the Lord is trustworthy,
making the inexperienced wise.(G)
The precepts of the Lord are right,
making the heart glad;(H)
the command of the Lord is radiant,
making the eyes light up.(I)
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;(J)
the ordinances of the Lord are reliable
and altogether righteous.(K)
10 They are more desirable than gold—
than an abundance of pure gold;(L)
and sweeter than honey
dripping from a honeycomb.(M)
11 In addition, your servant is warned by them,
and in keeping them there is an abundant reward.(N)

12 Who perceives his unintentional sins?
Cleanse me from my hidden faults.(O)
13 Moreover, keep your servant from willful sins;(P)
do not let them rule me.(Q)
Then I will be blameless
and cleansed from blatant rebellion.(R)
14 May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,(S)
Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.(T)

Footnotes

  1. 19:2 Or Day to day pours out speech, and night to night communicates knowledge
  2. 19:4 LXX, Sym, Syr, Vg; MT reads line

A Heavenly Priesthood

Now the main point of what is being said is this: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,(A) a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man.(B) For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts(C) and sacrifices; therefore, it was necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he wouldn’t be a priest, since there are those[a] offering the gifts prescribed by the law. These serve as a copy and shadow(D) of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.[b](E) But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator(F) of a better covenant,(G) which has been established on better promises.(H)

A Superior Covenant

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. But finding fault with his people,[c] he says:[d]

See, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah—
not like the covenant
that I made with their ancestors
on the day I took them by the hand
to lead them out of the land of Egypt.
I showed no concern for them, says the Lord,
because they did not continue in my covenant.
10 For this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws into their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.(I)
11 And each person will not teach his fellow citizen,[e]
and each his brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know me,
from the least to the greatest of them.(J)
12 For I will forgive their wrongdoing,
and I will never again remember their sins.[f][g] (K)

13 By saying a new covenant, he has declared that the first is obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.(L)

Footnotes

  1. 8:4 Other mss read priests
  2. 8:5 Ex 25:40
  3. 8:8 Lit with them
  4. 8:8 Other mss read finding fault, he says to them
  5. 8:11 Other mss read neighbor
  6. 8:12 Other mss add and their lawless deeds
  7. 8:8–12 Jr 31:31–34

26 A righteous person who yields to the wicked(A)
is like a muddied spring or a polluted well.(B)

27 It is not good to eat too much honey(C)
or to seek glory after glory.[a](D)

28 A person who does not control his temper(E)
is like a city whose wall is broken down.(F)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 25:27 Lit seek their glory, glory

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