Choose Life

¹⁵ “See, ^(A)I have placed before you today life and ^[a]happiness, and death and ^[b]adversity, ¹⁶ in that I am commanding you today ^(B)to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, so that you ^(C)may live and become numerous, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to take possession of it. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but allow yourself to be led astray and you worship other gods and serve them, ¹⁸ I declare to you today that ^(D)you will certainly perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter ^[c]and take possession of it. ^19 (E)I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, ^(F)the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your ^[d]descendants, ^20 (G)by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and ^(H)by holding close to Him; ^(I)for ^[e]this is your life and the length of your days, ^[f]so that you may live in ^(J)the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Personal Relationships

²¹ “^(A)You have heard that ^[a]the ancients were told, ‘^(B)You shall not murder,’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be answerable to ^(C)the court.’ ²² But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be answerable to ^(D)the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘^[b]You good-for-nothing,’ shall be answerable to ^[c](E)the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the ^[d](F)fiery hell. ²³ Therefore, if you are ^(G)presenting your ^[e]offering at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your ^[f]offering there before the altar and go; first be ^(H)reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your ^[g]offering. ^25 [h](I)Come to good terms with your accuser quickly, while you are with him on the way to court, so that your accuser will not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you will not be thrown into prison. ²⁶ Truly I say to you, ^(J)you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last ^[i]quadrans.

²⁷ “^(K)You have heard that it was said, ‘^(L)You shall not commit adultery’; ²⁸ but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman ^(M)with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ Now ^(N)if your right eye is causing you to sin, tear it out and throw it away from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, ^[j]than for your whole body to be thrown into ^[k](O)hell. ³⁰ And ^(P)if your right hand is causing you to sin, cut it off and throw it away from you; for it is better for you ^[l]to lose one of the parts of your body, ^[m]than for your whole body to go into ^[n](Q)hell.

³¹ “Now it was said, ‘^(R)Whoever sends his wife away is to give her a certificate of divorce’; ^32 (S)but I say to you that everyone who ^[o]divorces his wife, except for the reason of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a ^[p]divorced woman commits adultery.

³³ “Again, ^(T)you have heard that ^[q]the ancients were told, ‘^[r](U)You shall not ^[s]make false vows, but shall fulfill your ^[t]vows to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, ^(V)take no oath at all, neither by heaven, for it is ^(W)the throne of God, ³⁵ nor by the earth, for it is the ^(X)footstool of His feet, nor ^[u]by Jerusalem, for it is ^(Y)the city of the great King. ³⁶ Nor shall you take an oath by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. ³⁷ But make sure your statement is, ‘^[v]Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is ^[w]of ^(Z)evil origin.