Remember and Obey

11 “Therefore, love the Lord your God and always keep his mandate and his statutes, ordinances, and commands. ² Understand today that it is not your children who experienced or saw the discipline of the Lord your God:

His greatness, strong hand, and outstretched arm;^{(A) 3} his signs and the works he did in Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and all his land;^{(B) 4} what he did to Egypt’s army, its horses and chariots, when he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued you, and he destroyed them^(C) completely;^{[a] 5} what he did to you in the wilderness until you reached this place; ⁶ and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when in the middle of the whole Israelite camp the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing with them.^(D)

⁷ Your own eyes have seen^(E) every great work the Lord has done.

⁸ “Keep every command I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to cross into and possess the land you are to inherit, ⁹ and so that you may live long^(F) in the land the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.^{(G) 10} For the land you are entering to possess is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated by hand^[b] as in a vegetable garden. ¹¹ But the land you are entering to possess is a land of mountains and valleys, watered by rain from the sky. ¹² It is a land the Lord your God cares for. He is always watching over it^(H) from the beginning to the end of the year.

¹³ “If you carefully obey my commands I am giving you today, to love the Lord your God and worship him with all your heart and all your soul, ¹⁴ I^[c] will provide rain for your land in the proper time, the autumn and spring rains,^(I) and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and fresh oil.^{(J) 15} I^[d] will provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied.^{(K) 16} Be careful^(L) that you are not enticed to turn aside, serve, and bow in worship to other gods.^{(M) 17} Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you.^(N) He will shut the sky, and there will be no rain;^(O) the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land^(P) the Lord is giving you.

¹⁸ “Imprint these words of mine on your hearts and minds, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol^[e] on your foreheads.^{[f] 19} Teach them to your children,^(Q) talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates,^{(R) 21} so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.^{(S) 22} For if you carefully observe every one of these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the Lord your God, walk in all his ways, and remain faithful^[g] to him— ²³ the Lord will drive out all these nations before you, and you will drive out nations greater and stronger than you are.^{(T) 24} Every place the sole of your foot treads will be yours.^(U) Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon and from the Euphrates River^[h] to the Mediterranean Sea.^{(V) 25} No one will be able to stand against you; the Lord your God will put fear and dread of you in all the land where you set foot, as he has promised you.^(W)

A Blessing and a Curse

²⁶ “Look, today I set before you a blessing and a curse:^{(X) 27} there will be a blessing, if you obey the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you today, ²⁸ and a curse, if you do not obey the commands of the Lord your God and you turn aside from the path I command you today by following other gods you have not known. ²⁹ When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal. ³⁰ Aren’t these mountains across the Jordan, beyond the western road in the land of the Canaanites, who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal, near the oaks^[i] of Moreh? ³¹ For you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you possess it and settle in it, ³² be careful to follow all the statutes and ordinances I set before you today.

The Chosen Place of Worship

12 “Be careful to follow these statutes and ordinances in the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors,^(Y) has given you to possess all the days you live on the earth. ² Destroy completely all the places where the nations that you are driving out worship their gods^(Z)—on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.^{(AA) 3} Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn their Asherah poles, cut down the carved images of their gods, and wipe out their names from every^[j] place.^{(AB) 4} Don’t worship the Lord your God this way. ⁵ Instead, turn to the place the Lord your God chooses^(AC) from all your tribes to put his name for his dwelling and go there. ⁶ You are to bring there your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tenths and personal contributions,^[k] your vow offerings and freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. ⁷ You will eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice with your household in everything you do,^[l] because the Lord your God has blessed you.

⁸ “You are not to do as we are doing here today; everyone is doing whatever seems right in his own sight.^{(AD) 9} Indeed, you have not yet come into the resting place^(AE) and the inheritance^(AF) the Lord your God is giving you. ¹⁰ When you cross the Jordan and live in the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit,^(AG) and he gives you rest from all the enemies around you and you live in security, ¹¹ then the Lord your God will choose the place to have his name dwell.^(AH) Bring there everything I command you: your burnt offerings, sacrifices, offerings of the tenth, personal contributions,^[m] and all your choice offerings you vow to the Lord. ¹² You will rejoice^(AI) before the Lord your God—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, and the Levite who is within your city gates, since he has no portion or inheritance among you.^{(AJ) 13} Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in all the sacred places you see. ¹⁴ You must offer your burnt offerings only in the place the Lord chooses in one of your tribes, and there you must do everything I command you.

Slaughtering Animals to Eat

¹⁵ “But whenever you want, you may slaughter and eat meat within any of your city gates,^(AK) according to the blessing the Lord your God has given you. Those who are clean or unclean may eat it, as they would a gazelle or deer, ¹⁶ but you must not eat the blood; pour it on the ground like water.^{(AL) 17} Within your city gates you may not eat the tenth of your grain, new wine, or fresh oil; the firstborn of your herd or flock; any of your vow offerings that you pledge; your freewill offerings; or your personal contributions.^{[n] 18} You are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place the Lord your God chooses—you, your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite who is within your city gates. Rejoice before the Lord your God in everything you do, ¹⁹ and be careful not to neglect the Levite, as long as you live in your land.

²⁰ “When the Lord your God enlarges your territory as he has promised you,^(AM) and you say, ‘I want to eat meat’ because you have a strong desire to eat meat, you may eat it whenever you want. ²¹ If the place where the Lord your God chooses to put his name is too far from you, you may slaughter any of your herd or flock he has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat it within your city gates whenever you want. ²² Indeed, you may eat it as the gazelle and deer are eaten; both the clean and the unclean may eat it. ²³ But don’t eat the blood, since the blood is the life, and you must not eat the life with the meat.^{(AN) 24} Do not eat blood; pour it on the ground like water.^{(AO) 25} Do not eat it, so that you and your children after you will prosper, because you will be doing what is right in the Lord’s sight.

²⁶ “But you are to take the holy offerings you have and your vow offerings and go to the place the Lord chooses. ²⁷ Present the meat and blood of your burnt offerings on the altar of the Lord your God. The blood of your other sacrifices is to be poured out beside the altar of the Lord your God, but you may eat the meat. ²⁸ Be careful to obey all these things I command you, so that you and your children after you may prosper forever, because you will be doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

²⁹ “When the Lord your God annihilates the nations before you,^(AP) which you are entering to take possession of,^(AQ) and you drive them out and live in their land, ³⁰ be careful not to be ensnared by their ways^(AR) after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, asking, ‘How did these nations worship their gods? I’ll also do the same.’ ³¹ You must not do the same to the Lord your God, because they practice every detestable act, which the Lord hates, for their gods. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. ³² Be careful to do everything I command you; do not add anything to it or take anything away from it.^(AS)

²⁶ After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.^(A)

Peter’s Denial Predicted

²⁷ Then^(B) Jesus said to them, “All of you will fall away,^[a] because it is written:^(C)

²⁸ But after I have risen,^(F) I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”^(G)

²⁹ Peter^(H) told him, “Even if everyone falls away, I will not.”

³⁰ “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to him, “today, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”^(I)

³¹ But he kept insisting, “If I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” And they all said the same thing.

The Prayer in the Garden

³² Then^(J) they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he told his disciples,^(K) “Sit here while I pray.”^{(L) 33} He took Peter,^(M) James,^(N) and John^(O) with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ³⁴ He said to them, “I am deeply grieved^[c] to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake.”^{(P) 35} He went a little farther, fell to the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour^(Q) might pass from him. ³⁶ And he said, “Abba,^[d] Father!^(R) All things are possible^(S) for you. Take this cup^(T) away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.” ³⁷ Then he came and found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon,^(U) are you sleeping?^(V) Couldn’t you stay awake one hour? ³⁸ Stay awake and pray^(W) so that you won’t enter into temptation.^[e](X) The spirit^(Y) is willing, but the flesh^(Z) is weak.” ³⁹ Once again he went away and prayed, saying the same thing. ⁴⁰ And again he came and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open. They did not know what to say to him.^{(AA) 41} Then he came a third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The time has come. See, the Son of Man^(AB) is betrayed into the hands of sinners.^{(AC) 42} Get up; ^(AD) let’s go. See, my betrayer is near.”

Judas’s Betrayal of Jesus

⁴³ While^(AE) he was still speaking, Judas,^(AF) one of the Twelve,^(AG) suddenly arrived. With him was a mob, with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes,^(AH) and the elders.^{(AI) 44} His betrayer had given them a signal. “The one I kiss,” he said, “he’s the one; arrest him and take him away under guard.” ⁴⁵ So when he came, immediately he went up to Jesus and said, “Rabbi!” ^(AJ) and kissed him. ⁴⁶ They took hold of him and arrested him. ⁴⁷ One of those who stood by drew his sword, struck the high priest’s servant, and cut off his ear.

⁴⁸ Jesus said to them, “Have you come out with swords and clubs, as if I were a criminal,^[f] to capture me? ⁴⁹ Every day I was among you, teaching in the temple,^(AK) and you didn’t arrest me. But the Scriptures^(AL) must be fulfilled.”^(AM)

⁵⁰ Then they all deserted him and ran away.^(AN)

Psalm 36

Human Wickedness and God’s Love

For the choir director. Of David, the Lord’s servant.