Call to Obedience

4 “Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances^(A) I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live,^(B) enter, and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors,^(C) is giving you. ² You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it,^(D) so that you may keep the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you. ³ Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed every one of you who followed Baal of Peor.^{(E) 4} But you who have remained faithful^[a] to the Lord your God are all alive today. ⁵ Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess. ⁶ Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’ ⁷ For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him?^{(F) 8} And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?^(G)

⁹ “Only be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves,^(H) so that you don’t forget^(I) the things your eyes have seen and so that they don’t slip from your mind^[b] as long as you live. Teach them to your children and your grandchildren.^{(J) 10} The day you stood before the Lord your God^(K) at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Assemble the people before me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me^(L) all the days they live on the earth and may instruct their children.’ ¹¹ You came near and stood at the base of the mountain,^(M) a mountain blazing with fire^(N) into the heavens and enveloped in a totally black cloud.^{(O) 12} Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire.^(P) You kept hearing the sound of the words, but didn’t see a form; there was only a voice.^{(Q) 13} He declared his covenant^(R) to you. He commanded you to follow the Ten Commandments,^(S) which he wrote on two stone tablets.^{(T) 14} At that time the Lord commanded me to teach you statutes and ordinances for you to follow in the land you are about to cross into and possess.

Worshiping the True God

¹⁵ “Diligently watch yourselves—because you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb— ¹⁶ so you don’t act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of any figure: a male or female form, ¹⁷ or the form of any animal on the earth, any winged creature that flies in the sky, ¹⁸ any creature that crawls on the ground, or any fish in the waters under the earth. ¹⁹ When you look to the heavens and see the sun, moon, and stars—all the stars in the sky—do not be led astray to bow in worship to them and serve them.^(U) The Lord your God has provided them for all people everywhere under heaven.^{(V) 20} But the Lord selected you and brought you out of Egypt’s iron furnace^(W) to be a people for his inheritance, as you are today.

²¹ “The Lord was angry with me on your account.^(X) He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land^(Y) the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.^{(Z) 22} I won’t be crossing the Jordan because I am going to die in this land.^(AA) But you are about to cross over and take possession of this good land. ²³ Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything he has forbidden you. ²⁴ For the Lord your God is a consuming fire,^(AB) a jealous God.^(AC)

²⁵ “When you have children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, and if you act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, angering him, ²⁶ I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that you will quickly perish^(AD) from the land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not live long there, but you will certainly be destroyed. ²⁷ The Lord will scatter you among the peoples,^(AE) and you will be reduced to a few survivors^[c] among the nations where the Lord your God will drive you. ²⁸ There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat, or smell. ²⁹ But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your soul.^{(AF) 30} When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, in the future you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. ³¹ He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant^(AG) with your ancestors that he swore to them by oath, because the Lord your God is a compassionate God.^(AH)

³² “Indeed, ask about the earlier days that preceded you, from the day God created mankind^[d] on the earth and from one end of the heavens to the other: Has anything like this great event ever happened, or has anything like it been heard of? ³³ Has a people heard God’s voice speaking from the fire as you have, and lived? ³⁴ Or has a god attempted to go and take a nation as his own out of another nation, by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵ You were shown these things so that you would know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him.^{(AI) 36} He let you hear his voice from heaven to instruct you.^(AJ) He showed you his great fire on earth, and you heard his words from the fire.^{(AK) 37} Because he loved^(AL) your ancestors, he chose their descendants after them and brought you out of Egypt by his presence and great power, ³⁸ to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you in and give you their land as an inheritance,^(AM) as is now taking place. ³⁹ Today, recognize and keep in mind that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other. ⁴⁰ Keep his statutes and commands, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper and so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

Cities of Refuge

⁴¹ Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east. ⁴² Someone could flee there who committed manslaughter, killing his neighbor accidentally without previously hating him. He could flee to one of these cities and stay alive: ⁴³ Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau land, belonging to the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead, belonging to the Gadites; or Golan in Bashan, belonging to the Manassites.^(AN)

Introduction to the Law

⁴⁴ This is the law Moses gave the Israelites. ⁴⁵ These are the decrees, statutes, and ordinances Moses proclaimed to them after they came out of Egypt, ⁴⁶ across the Jordan in the valley facing Beth-peor in the land of King Sihon of the Amorites. He lived in Heshbon, and Moses and the Israelites defeated him after they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷ They took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two Amorite kings who were across the Jordan to the east, ⁴⁸ from Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon) ⁴⁹ and all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as the Dead Sea below the slopes of Pisgah.

The Ten Commandments

5 Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am proclaiming as you hear them today. Learn and follow them carefully. ² The Lord our God made a covenant^(AO) with us at Horeb. ³ He did not make this covenant with our ancestors,^(AP) but with all of us who are alive here today. ⁴ The Lord spoke to you face to face from the fire on the mountain. ⁵ At that time I was standing between the Lord and you to report the word^[e] of the Lord to you, because you were afraid of the fire and did not go up the mountain. And he said:

The People’s Response

²² “The Lord spoke these commands in a loud voice to your entire assembly from the fire, cloud, and total darkness on the mountain; he added nothing more. He wrote them on two stone tablets and gave them to me. ²³ All of you approached me with your tribal leaders and elders when you heard the voice from the darkness and while the mountain was blazing with fire. ²⁴ You said, ‘Look, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the fire. Today we have seen that God speaks with a person, yet he still lives. ²⁵ But now, why should we die? This great fire will consume us and we will die if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer. ²⁶ For who out of all humanity has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the fire, as we have, and lived? ²⁷ Go near and listen to everything the Lord our God says. Then you can tell us everything the Lord our God tells you; we will listen and obey.’^(BA)

²⁸ “The Lord heard your^[f] words when you spoke to me. He said to me, ‘I have heard the words that these people have spoken to you. Everything they have said is right. ²⁹ If only they had such a heart to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that they and their children would prosper forever. ³⁰ Go and tell them: Return to your tents. ³¹ But you stand here with me, and I will tell you every command—the statutes and ordinances—you are to teach them, so that they may follow them in the land I am giving them to possess.’

³² “Be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or the left. ³³ Follow the whole instruction the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live, prosper, and have a long life in the land you will possess.

Lord of the Sabbath

6 On a Sabbath, he passed through the grainfields.^(A) His disciples were picking heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating them. ² But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ^(B)

³ Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David and those who were with him did when he was hungry— ⁴ how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat?^(C) He even gave some to those who were with him.”^{(D) 5} Then he told them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

⁶ On another Sabbath^(E) he entered the synagogue and was teaching. A man was there whose right hand was shriveled. ⁷ The scribes and Pharisees were watching him closely,^(F) to see if he would heal on the Sabbath, so that they could find a charge against him.^{(G) 8} But he knew their thoughts^(H) and told the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand here.”^[a] So he got up and stood there. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you: Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”^{(I) 10} After looking around at them all,^(J) he told him, “Stretch out your hand.”^(K) He did, and his hand was restored.^{[b] 11} They, however, were filled with rage and started discussing with one another what they might do to Jesus.

The Twelve Apostles

¹² During those days he went out to the mountain to pray^(L) and spent all night in prayer to God. ¹³ When daylight came, he summoned his disciples,^(M) and he chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles:^{(N) 14} Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas;^(O) James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; ¹⁶ Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Teaching and Healing

¹⁷ After coming down with them, he stood on a level place with a large crowd of his disciples and a great number of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon.^{(P) 18} They came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those tormented by unclean spirits were made well. ¹⁹ The whole crowd was trying to touch him,^(Q) because power was coming out from him and healing them all.^(R)

The Beatitudes

²⁰ Then looking up at his disciples, he said:^(S)

²³ “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. Take note—your reward is great in heaven, for this is the way their ancestors used to treat the prophets.^(W)

Woe to the Self-Satisfied

Love Your Enemies

²⁷ “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.^{(Y) 29} If anyone hits you on the cheek,^(Z) offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and from someone who takes your things, don’t ask for them back. ³¹ Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.^{(AA) 32} If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.^{(AB) 33} If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you?^(AC) Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High.^(AD) For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.^(AE)

Do Not Judge

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.^(AF) Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.^{(AG) 38} Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap.^(AH) For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”^(AI)

³⁹ He also told them a parable: “Can the blind guide the blind? Won’t they both fall into a pit?^{(AJ) 40} A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.^(AK)

⁴¹ “Why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye, but don’t notice the beam of wood in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the splinter that is in your eye,’ when you yourself don’t see the beam of wood in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam of wood out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the splinter in your brother’s eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³ “A good tree doesn’t produce bad fruit; on the other hand, a bad tree doesn’t produce good fruit.^{[e](AL) 44} For each tree is known by its own fruit. Figs aren’t gathered from thornbushes, or grapes picked from a bramble bush. ⁴⁵ A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.

The Two Foundations

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say?^{(AM) 47} I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them:^{(AN) 48} He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The river crashed against it, and immediately it collapsed. And the destruction of that house was great.”^(AO)