The Previous Command to Enter Canaan

1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel ^(A)on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the ^[a]plain opposite ^[b]Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ² It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir ^(B)to Kadesh Barnea. ³ Now it came to pass ^(C)in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him as commandments to them, ^4 (D)after he had killed Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth ^(E)in^[c] Edrei.

⁵ On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying, ⁶ “The Lord our God spoke to us ^(F)in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long ^(G)enough at this mountain. ⁷ Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the ^[d]plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. ⁸ See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord ^[e]swore to your fathers—to ^(H)Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’

Tribal Leaders Appointed^(I)

⁹ “And ^(J)I spoke to you at that time, saying: ‘I ^[f]alone am not able to bear you. ¹⁰ The Lord your God has multiplied you, ^(K)and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude. ^11 (L)May the Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you ^(M)as He has promised you! ^12 (N)How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints? ¹³ Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them ^[g]heads over you.’ ¹⁴ And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have told us to do is good.’ ¹⁵ So I took ^(O)the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and ^[h]made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes.

¹⁶ “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and ^(P)judge righteously between a man and his ^(Q)brother or the stranger who is with him. ^17 (R)You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for ^(S)the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, ^(T)bring to me, and I will hear it.’ ¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.

Proclamation Against Tyre

26 And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, ^(A)because Tyre has said against Jerusalem, ^(B)‘Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now she is turned over to me; I shall be filled; she is laid waste.’

³ “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come up. ⁴ And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will also scrape her dust from her, and ^(C)make her like the top of a rock. ⁵ It shall be a place for spreading nets ^(D)in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ says the Lord God; ‘it shall become plunder for the nations. ⁶ Also her daughter villages which are in the fields shall be slain by the sword. ^(E)Then they shall know that I am the Lord.’

⁷ “For thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north ^(F)Nebuchadnezzar^[a] king of Babylon, ^(G)king of kings, with horses, with chariots, and with horsemen, and an army with many people. ⁸ He will slay with the sword your daughter villages in the fields; he will ^(H)heap up a siege mound against you, build a wall against you, and raise a ^[b]defense against you. ⁹ He will direct his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. ¹⁰ Because of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen, the wagons, and the chariots, when he enters your gates, as men enter a city that has been breached. ¹¹ With the hooves of his ^(I)horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people by the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground. ¹² They will plunder your riches and pillage your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; they will lay your stones, your timber, and your soil in the ^(J)midst of the water. ^13 (K)I will put an end to the sound of ^(L)your songs, and the sound of your harps shall be heard no more. ^14 (M)I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall be a place for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the Lord have spoken,’ says the Lord God.

Qualities of a Sound Church

2 But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine: ² that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; ³ the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— ⁴ that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be discreet, chaste, ^(A)homemakers, good, ^(B)obedient to their own husbands, ^(C)that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

⁶ Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, ⁷ in all things showing yourself to be ^(D)a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, ^(E)incorruptibility,^{[a] 8} sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of ^[b]you.

⁹ Exhort ^(F)bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well pleasing in all things, not answering back, ¹⁰ not ^[c]pilfering, but showing all good ^[d]fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things.

Trained by Saving Grace

¹¹ For ^(G)the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, ¹² teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, ^13 (H)looking for the blessed ^(I)hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ^14 (J)who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed ^(K)and purify for Himself ^(L)His own special people, zealous for good works.

¹⁵ Speak these things, ^(M)exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.