Israel’s Disobedience Predicted

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The time has come for you to die. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tabernacle,^[a] so that I may commission him there.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tabernacle.

¹³ After you have seen it, you will die like your brother, Aaron,

⁵ So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, just as the Lord had said.

²³ Then the Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun with these words: “Be strong and courageous, for you must bring the people of Israel into the land I swore to give them. I will be with you.”

A Prayer of Praise

²⁴ Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.

4 I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when he comes to set up his Kingdom: ² Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.

³ For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will reject the truth and chase after myths.

A Living Sacrifice to God

12 And so, dear brothers and sisters,^[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.^[b]

²⁸ “So guard yourselves and God’s people. Feed and shepherd God’s flock—his church, purchased with his own blood^[a]—over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as leaders.^{[b] 29} I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. ³⁰ Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following. ³¹ Watch out! Remember the three years I was with you—my constant watch and care over you night and day, and my many tears for you.

Hezekiah’s Sickness and Recovery

38 About that time Hezekiah became deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to visit him. He gave the king this message: “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You will not recover from this illness.’”

⁵ The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered.