The Unmarried and the Widowed

²⁵ Now concerning^[a] the betrothed,^{[b] (A)}I have no command from the Lord, but I give my judgment as ^(B)one who by the Lord's mercy is ^(C)trustworthy. ²⁶ I think that in view of the present^[c] distress ^(D)it is good for a person to remain as he is. ²⁷ Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife. ²⁸ But if you do marry, you have not sinned, and if a betrothed woman^[d] marries, she has not sinned. Yet those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you that. ²⁹ This is what I mean, brothers: ^(E)the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, ³⁰ and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy ^(F)as though they had no goods, ³¹ and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For ^(G)the present form of this world is passing away.

³² I want you to be ^(H)free from anxieties. ^(I)The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord. ³³ But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, ³⁴ and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. ³⁵ I say this for your own benefit, ^(J)not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

³⁶ If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed,^[e] if his^[f] passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. ³⁷ But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. ³⁸ So then he who marries his betrothed ^(K)does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

^39 (L)A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only ^(M)in the Lord. ⁴⁰ Yet ^(N)in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think ^(O)that I too have the Spirit of God.

Food Offered to Idols

8 Now concerning^{[g] (P)}food offered to idols: we know that ^(Q)“all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” ^(R)puffs up, ^(S)but love builds up. ^2 (T)If anyone imagines that he knows something, ^(U)he does not yet know as he ought to know. ³ But if anyone loves God, ^(V)he is known by God.^[h]

⁴ Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ^(W)“an idol has no real existence,” and that ^(X)“there is no God but one.” ⁵ For although there may be ^(Y)so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”— ⁶ yet ^(Z)for us there is one God, the Father, ^(AA)from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and ^(AB)one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and ^(AC)through whom we exist.

⁷ However, not all possess this knowledge. But some, ^(AD)through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and ^(AE)their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ^8 (AF)Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. ⁹ But take care ^(AG)that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block ^(AH)to the weak. ¹⁰ For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating^[i] in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged,^[j] if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? ¹¹ And so by your knowledge this weak person is ^(AI)destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. ¹² Thus, sinning against your brothers^[k] and ^(AJ)wounding their conscience when it is weak, ^(AK)you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, ^(AL)if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Joshua to Succeed Moses

31 So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. ² And he said to them, “I am ^(A)120 years old today. I am no longer able to ^(B)go out and come in. The Lord has said to me, ^(C)‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ ³ The Lord your God ^(D)himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, ^(E)as the Lord has spoken. ⁴ And the Lord will do to them ^(F)as he did to Sihon ^(G)and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. ⁵ And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them ^(H)according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. ^6 (I)Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, ^(J)for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. ^(K)He will not leave you or forsake you.”

⁷ Then ^(L)Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ^(M)“Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. ⁸ It is the Lord ^(N)who goes before you. He will be with you; ^(O)he will not leave you or forsake you. ^(P)Do not fear or be dismayed.”

The Reading of the Law

⁹ Then Moses ^(Q)wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, ^(R)who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ And Moses commanded them, ^(S)“At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at ^(T)the Feast of Booths, ¹¹ when all Israel comes ^(U)to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, ^(V)you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. ^12 (W)Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, ¹³ and that their children, ^(X)who have not known it, ^(Y)may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, ^(Z)as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

¹⁴ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(AA)“Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that ^(AB)I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. ¹⁵ And ^(AC)the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.

¹⁶ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(AD)“Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and ^(AE)whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will ^(AF)forsake me and ^(AG)break my covenant that I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and ^(AH)I will forsake them and ^(AI)hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ^(AJ)‘Have not these evils come upon us because ^(AK)our God is not among us?’ ¹⁸ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because ^(AL)they have turned to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now therefore write ^(AM)this song and ^(AN)teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be ^(AO)a witness for me against the people of Israel. ²⁰ For when I have brought them into the land ^(AP)flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and ^(AQ)grown fat, ^(AR)they will turn to other gods and serve them, and ^(AS)despise me and ^(AT)break my covenant. ²¹ And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as ^(AU)a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For ^(AV)I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” ²² So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.

^23 (AW)And the Lord^[a] commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, ^(AX)“Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. ^(AY)I will be with you.”

²⁴ When Moses had finished ^(AZ)writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, ²⁵ Moses commanded ^(BA)the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, ²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law ^(BB)and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for ^(BC)a witness against you. ²⁷ For I know how rebellious and ^(BD)stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, ^(BE)you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death! ²⁸ Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak ^(BF)these words in their ears and ^(BG)call heaven and earth to witness against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death ^(BH)you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And ^(BI)in the days to come ^(BJ)evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, ^(BK)provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”

The Song of Moses

³⁰ Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:

The Lord Has Chosen Zion

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

Practical Warnings