Deuteronomy 10-11

New International Version

Tablets Like the First Ones

10 At that time the Lord said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets^(A) like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden ark.^[a] ²I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the ark.”^(B)

³So I made the ark out of acacia wood^(C) and chiseled^(D) out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. ⁴The Lord wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments^(E) he had proclaimed^(F) to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly.^(G) And the Lord gave them to me. ⁵Then I came back down the mountain^(H) and put the tablets in the ark^(I) I had made,^(J) as the Lord commanded me, and they are there now.^(K)

⁶(The Israelites traveled from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah.^(L) There Aaron died^(M) and was buried, and Eleazar^(N) his son succeeded him as priest.^(O) ⁷From there they traveled to Gudgodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water.^(P) ⁸At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi^(Q) to carry the ark of the covenant^(R) of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister^(S) and to pronounce blessings^(T) in his name, as they still do today.^(U) ⁹That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their fellow Israelites; the Lord is their inheritance,^(V) as the Lord your God told them.)

¹⁰Now I had stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, as I did the first time, and the Lord listened to me at this time also. It was not his will to destroy you.^(W) ¹¹“Go,” the Lord said to me, “and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”

Fear the Lord

¹²And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you^(X) but to fear^(Y) the Lord your God, to walk^(Z) in obedience to him, to love him,^(AA) to serve the Lord^(AB) your God with all your heart^(AC) and with all your soul,^(AD) ¹³and to observe the Lord’s commands^(AE) and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?^(AF)

¹⁴To the Lord your God belong the heavens,^(AG) even the highest heavens,^(AH) the earth and everything in it.^(AI) ¹⁵Yet the Lord set his affection on your ancestors and loved^(AJ) them, and he chose you,^(AK) their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today.^(AL) ¹⁶Circumcise^(AM) your hearts,^(AN) therefore, and do not be stiff-necked^(AO) any longer. ¹⁷For the Lord your God is God of gods^(AP) and Lord of lords,^(AQ) the great God, mighty and awesome,^(AR) who shows no partiality^(AS) and accepts no bribes.^(AT) ¹⁸He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow,^(AU) and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.^(AV) ¹⁹And you are to love^(AW) those who are foreigners,^(AX) for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt.^(AY) ²⁰Fear the Lord your God and serve him.^(AZ) Hold fast^(BA) to him and take your oaths in his name.^(BB) ²¹He is the one you praise;^(BC) he is your God, who performed for you those great^(BD) and awesome wonders^(BE) you saw with your own eyes. ²²Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all,^(BF) and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.^(BG)

Love and Obey the Lord

11 Love^(BH) the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.^(BI) ²Remember today that your children^(BJ) were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God:^(BK) his majesty,^(BL) his mighty hand, his outstretched arm;^(BM) ³the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country;^(BN) ⁴what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots,^(BO) how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea^[b]^(BP) as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. ⁵It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, ⁶and what he did^(BQ) to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened^(BR) its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. ⁷But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.^(BS)

⁸Observe therefore all the commands^(BT) I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,^(BU) ⁹and so that you may live long^(BV) in the land the Lord swore^(BW) to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.^(BX) ¹⁰The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt,^(BY) from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. ¹¹But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys^(BZ) that drinks rain from heaven.^(CA) ¹²It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes^(CB) of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

¹³So if you faithfully obey^(CC) the commands I am giving you today—to love^(CD) the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul^(CE)— ¹⁴then I will send rain^(CF) on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains,^(CG) so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. ¹⁵I will provide grass^(CH) in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.^(CI)

¹⁶Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.^(CJ) ¹⁷Then the Lord’s anger^(CK) will burn against you, and he will shut up^(CL) the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce,^(CM) and you will soon perish^(CN) from the good land the Lord is giving you. ¹⁸Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.^(CO) ¹⁹Teach them to your children,^(CP) talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.^(CQ) ²⁰Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,^(CR) ²¹so that your days and the days of your children may be many^(CS) in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.^(CT)

²²If you carefully observe^(CU) all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love^(CV) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast^(CW) to him— ²³then the Lord will drive out^(CX) all these nations^(CY) before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.^(CZ) ²⁴Every place where you set your foot will be yours:^(DA) Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River^(DB) to the Mediterranean Sea. ²⁵No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror^(DC) and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.^(DD)

²⁶See, I am setting before you today a blessing^(DE) and a curse^(DF)— ²⁷the blessing^(DG) if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; ²⁸the curse if you disobey^(DH) the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,^(DI) which you have not known. ²⁹When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim^(DJ) the blessings, and on Mount Ebal^(DK) the curses.^(DL) ³⁰As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh,^(DM) in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.^(DN) ³¹You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession^(DO) of the land the Lord your God is giving^(DP) you. When you have taken it over and are living there, ³²be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

Footnotes

Deuteronomy 10:1 That is, a chest
Deuteronomy 11:4 Or the Sea of Reeds

Psalm 102

New International Version

Psalm 102^[a]

A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.

¹Hear my prayer,^(A) Lord;
    let my cry for help^(B) come to you.
²Do not hide your face^(C) from me
    when I am in distress.
Turn your ear^(D) to me;
    when I call, answer me quickly.

³For my days vanish like smoke;^(E)
    my bones^(F) burn like glowing embers.
⁴My heart is blighted and withered like grass;^(G)
    I forget to eat my food.^(H)
⁵In my distress I groan aloud^(I)
    and am reduced to skin and bones.
⁶I am like a desert owl,^(J)
    like an owl among the ruins.
⁷I lie awake;^(K) I have become
    like a bird alone^(L) on a roof.
⁸All day long my enemies^(M) taunt me;^(N)
    those who rail against me use my name as a curse.^(O)
⁹For I eat ashes^(P) as my food
    and mingle my drink with tears^(Q)
¹⁰because of your great wrath,^(R)
    for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
¹¹My days are like the evening shadow;^(S)
    I wither^(T) away like grass.

¹²But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;^(U)
    your renown endures^(V) through all generations.^(W)
¹³You will arise^(X) and have compassion^(Y) on Zion,
    for it is time^(Z) to show favor^(AA) to her;
    the appointed time^(AB) has come.
¹⁴For her stones are dear to your servants;
    her very dust moves them to pity.
¹⁵The nations will fear^(AC) the name of the Lord,
    all the kings^(AD) of the earth will revere your glory.
¹⁶For the Lord will rebuild Zion^(AE)
    and appear in his glory.^(AF)
¹⁷He will respond to the prayer^(AG) of the destitute;
    he will not despise their plea.

¹⁸Let this be written^(AH) for a future generation,
    that a people not yet created^(AI) may praise the Lord:
¹⁹“The Lord looked down^(AJ) from his sanctuary on high,
    from heaven he viewed the earth,
²⁰to hear the groans of the prisoners^(AK)
    and release those condemned to death.”
²¹So the name of the Lord will be declared^(AL) in Zion
    and his praise^(AM) in Jerusalem
²²when the peoples and the kingdoms
    assemble to worship^(AN) the Lord.

²³In the course of my life^[b] he broke my strength;
    he cut short my days.^(AO)
²⁴So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
    your years go on^(AP) through all generations.
²⁵In the beginning^(AQ) you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens^(AR) are the work of your hands.^(AS)
²⁶They will perish,^(AT) but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
    and they will be discarded.
²⁷But you remain the same,^(AU)
    and your years will never end.^(AV)
²⁸The children of your servants^(AW) will live in your presence;
    their descendants^(AX) will be established before you.”