Hebrews 10
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 10
A Unique Sacrifice[a]
The Law Was a Shadow. 1 The Law contains little more than a shadow of the good things to come and not the true image of them. These sacrifices that are offered year after year can never bring the worshipers to perfection. 2 If they could, those sacrifices would no longer be offered, for the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all and would no longer feel guilty for sins.
3 However, in these sacrifices sins are brought to mind year after year, 4 because sins cannot be taken away by the blood of bulls and goats.
One Sacrifice for Sins. 5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you have prepared for me.
6 You took no delight
in holocausts and sin offerings.
7 Then I said, ‘As it is written of me in the scroll,
behold, I have come to do your will, O God.’ ”
8 First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in,” even though they are offered according to the Law. 9 Then he adds, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He thus abolishes the first to establish the second. 10 And it was by this “will” that we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 [b]Day after day every priest stands to perform his ministry, offering over and over again the same sacrifices that can never remove sins. 12 But Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, and then took his seat at the right hand of God, 13 where he now waits until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 Therefore, by a single offering he has made perfect forever those who are being sanctified.
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For he first says,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord.
I will place my laws in their hearts
and inscribe them on their minds.”
17 Then he also asserts,
“Their sins and their lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
18 When these have been forgiven, there are no longer any offerings for sins.
Perseverance in Faith[c]
The Need To Stand Firm
19 Let Us Approach with Sincerity of Heart.[d] Therefore, brethren, the blood of Jesus has given us confidence to enter the sanctuary 20 by the new and living way that he has opened for us through the veil, that is, through his flesh. 21 Since we have a great priest over the household of God, 22 let us approach with sincerity of heart and the full assurance of faith, with hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and bodies washed in pure water.
23 Let us remain firm in the confession of our hope without wavering, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us consider how to spur one another to love and good works. 25 Do not neglect to attend your assemblies, as some do, but rather encourage one another, especially since you can see the Day[e] approaching.
26 Apostasy Remains Unforgiven.[f] If we deliberately persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, then there no longer remains any sacrifice for sins. 27 There is only a terrifying expectation of judgment and of a fierce fire that will consume the adversaries.
28 Anyone who violates the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more punishment do you think is deserved by the one who has contempt for the Son of God, profanes the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insults the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who said,
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay,”
and
“The Lord will judge his people.”
31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Do Not Abandon Your Assurance.[g] Remember the days gone by when, after you had been enlightened,[h] you endured a difficult struggle filled with suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes you were companions of those who were treated in the same way. 34 You not only had compassion upon those who were in prison but also cheerfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you realized that you possessed something better and more lasting.
35 Therefore, do not lose your confidence now, since your reward will be so great. 36 You need to be steadfast if you want to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.
37 “For, after a little while,
he who is to come will do so,
and he will not delay.
38 My righteous one shall live by faith,
but if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him.”
39 But we are not among those who draw back and are lost. Rather, we are among those who have faith and are saved.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 10:1 The great, endless act of self-giving that extends through the entire existence of Christ is the authentic priestly act, the authentic sacrifice of Christ. He takes away sin and restores the bond with God in his own person, in his own living experience. He founds the New Covenant, the new people who have access to God.
- Hebrews 10:11 Every priest stands to perform his ministry . . . Jesus . . . took his seat: members of the Levitical priesthood always “stood” because their work was never finished; Jesus “took his seat” because his work was completed.
- Hebrews 10:19 A definitive event has been realized for the world: the Death and Resurrection of Christ. The Letter to the Hebrews makes us aware of this by presenting it as the act of the authentic priesthood, the authentic sacrifice, while at the same time downgrading the status of the preceding religious regime, although that too had been established by God. So, too, faith in Christ is a decisive step forward in the life of a human being. The believer is henceforth engaged in a march toward the full encounter with the Lord. In the midst of temptations, fears, and risks, the Christian life is not a simple fidelity to a past but a thrust forward toward the future, toward God. These chapters are a pressing invitation not to let such perspectives be obscured.
- Hebrews 10:19 The path that leads to God is a person, Christ recognized under the characteristics of a high priest. Once baptized, Christians are associated with the Son of God. They must strengthen their conviction and the links of mutual love. May the signs of crises be a call for them to prepare for the return of the Lord.
- Hebrews 10:25 The Day: this refers to the Day of the Lord at the end of time.
- Hebrews 10:26 Once again the author repeats this somber warning (see Heb 6:1-8; Mt 12:31). Those who rebel against Christ exclude themselves from Christ’s forgiveness, from his life, and from his grace. Let them, therefore, meditate on the threats of God’s vengeance about which the Bible speaks, and especially the texts cited here (see Ex 24:8; Deut 17:6; 32:35f; Isa 26:11).
- Hebrews 10:32 As soon as they were baptized and enlightened, believers sacrificed everything for Christ and confronted all difficulties. Now is not the time for them to be discouraged. The Lord will come and he is the recompense for all who do not weaken. Faith is the courageous commitment to Christ.
- Hebrews 10:32 Been enlightened: an ancient phrase for “been baptized”; “enlightenment” or “illumination” was an ancient term for Baptism (see Heb 6:4; Eph 5:14).
Psalm 40
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 40[a]
Thanksgiving and Prayer for Help
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]I waited patiently for the Lord;
then he stooped down and heard my cry.
3 He raised me up from the desolate pit,
out of the mire of the swamp;
he set my feet upon a rock,
giving me a firm footing.
4 He put a new song[d] in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will look on and be awestruck,
and they will place their trust in the Lord.
5 Blessed[e] is the man
who places his trust in the Lord,
who does not follow the arrogant
or those who go astray after falsehoods.
6 How innumerable, O Lord, my God,
are the wonders you have worked;
no one can compare with you
in the plans you have made for us.
I would proclaim them and recount them,
but there are far too many to enumerate.
7 [f]Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but you have made my ears receptive.[g]
Burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not demand.
8 [h]Then I said, “Behold I come;
it is written of me in the scroll of the book.
9 To do your will, O God, is my delight;
your law is in my heart.”[i]
10 I have proclaimed your righteousness in the great assembly;
I did not seal my lips,
as you well know, O Lord.
11 I have not concealed your righteousness within the depths of my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and salvation.
I have not concealed your kindness and your truth
in the great assembly.
12 O Lord, do not withhold your mercy from me;
may your kindness[j] and your truth keep me safe forever.
13 I am surrounded by evils without number;
my sins have so engulfed me that I cannot see.
They outnumber the hairs on my head,
and my heart sinks within me.[k]
14 [l]Be pleased, O Lord, to rescue me
O Lord, come quickly to my aid.
15 [m]May all those who seek to take my life
endure shame and confusion.
May all those who desire my ruin
be turned back and humiliated.
16 May those who cry out to me, “Aha, aha!”[n]
be overcome with shame and dismay.
17 But may all who seek you
rejoice in you and be jubilant.
May those who love your salvation
cry out forever, “The Lord be magnified.”
18 Even though I am poor and needy,[o]
the Lord keeps me in his thoughts.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.
Footnotes
- Psalm 40:1 This psalm, one of the most engaging of the entire Psalter, is divided into two parts. The first (vv. 2-13) is a thanksgiving reminiscent of Jeremiah (Jer 7:22; 17:7; 31:33). The second (vv. 14-18) is a lament that appears also as Ps 70.
Every Christian (and the whole Church) can naturally recite this beautiful psalm in his or her own right as one really (though not yet completely) saved. - Psalm 40:1 For the director: these words are thought to be a musical or liturgical notation.
- Psalm 40:2 The psalmist expresses a great hope in the Lord. No one knows God’s goodness better than one who has experienced abandonment. Purified by trial, the psalmist welcomes God into the depths of his being, his life becomes a kind of inner offering, the only true sacrifice, and he joyfully bears witness to the Lord’s righteousness, love, and truth. In reading this psalm, we get the impression of entering into the confidence of Christ himself, of divining his inner attitude toward the course of his action and above all toward his Passion. A few Greek translations have accentuated this resemblance even more; thus, the Letter to the Hebrews cites this psalm to make us understand the profound decision of Christ (Heb 10:5-10).
The best praise of God and the best sacrifice are the gift of one’s heart and life. The Prophets often opposed ritual formalism and replaced it with the true religion that is internal (Isa 1:11; Jer 6:20; 31:33; Am 5:22; Hos 6:6). It is this experience to which the songs of the Suffering Servant bear witness (Isa 50:5; 53:10), which was also the experience of Christ. - Psalm 40:4 New song: see note on Ps 33:3. Many will look on: see note on Ps 9:2.
- Psalm 40:5 Blessed: see note on Ps 1:1.
- Psalm 40:7 These verses are applied to Christ by Heb 10:5-10.
- Psalm 40:7 Obedience is better than sacrifice (see Pss 50:7-15; 51:18f; 69:32f; 1 Sam 15:22; Isa 1:10-20; Jer 7:22; Hos 6:6; Am 5:22-25; Mic 6:6-8; Acts 7:42f). But you have made my ears receptive: a variant reading from the Greek versions has: “but a body you have prepared for me,” which was interpreted in a Messianic sense and applied to Christ (see Heb 10:5ff).
- Psalm 40:8 The psalmist presents himself to the Lord, submitting himself to whatever his Master may require (Heb 10:9). He presents himself as an offering to the Lord (see Rom 12:1f). It is written of me in the scroll: the scroll is the Torah or the Mosaic Law, transcribed on parchment scrolls. The alternative Greek reading is “with the scroll written for me,” which suggests a Messianic sense.
- Psalm 40:9 Heart: see note on Ps 4:8.
- Psalm 40:12 Kindness: see note on Ps 6:5.
- Psalm 40:13 Hyperbolic statements expressing the intense nature of the sinner’s sufferings (see Pss 6:8; 38:4f, 11; 69:5), which serve as a transition to the second part of the psalm.
- Psalm 40:14 Distress can remind a person of his attachment to sin. Is there any reason why people should vilify the person who acknowledges his faults? Realizing his attraction toward evil, the psalmist cries out to God, and the poor man rediscovers the joyous assurance that God thinks about him.
- Psalm 40:15 See notes on Pss 5:11; 35.
- Psalm 40:16 Aha, aha!: the mocking words of the psalmist’s adversaries.
- Psalm 40:18 Poor and needy: see note on Ps 34:7. My help and my deliverer: the salvation promised to the faithful (see Isa 25:9), first conceived as natural with reference to the Exodus or the return from the Exile, was later conceived as spiritual without restriction of space or time (see, e.g., Pss 18:1; 19:15).
Jeremiah 31
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 31
Restoration of Israel
1 At that time, says the Lord:
I will be the God of all the families of Israel,
and they will be my people.
2 Thus says the Lord:
The people who survived the sword
found favor in the wilderness.
When the people of Israel sought for rest,
3 the Lord appeared to them from afar, saying,
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore, I have continued to be merciful to you.
4 I will build you up again,
and you will be rebuilt,
O virgin Israel.
You will once again carry your tambourines
and go forth to dance with the merry throng.
5 You will once again plant vineyards
on the mountains of Samaria,
and those who plant them will enjoy their fruit.
6 Yes, a day will come when the watchmen
will cry out on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Zion,
to the Lord, our God.’ ”
The Glorious Return
7 For thus says the Lord:
Raise shouts of joy for Jacob;
sing your praises for the chief of the nations.
Proclaim your praises as you say,
“The Lord has delivered his people,
the remnant of Israel.”
8 Behold, I will bring them back
from the land of the north,
and I will gather them together
from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind and the lame,
expectant mothers and women in labor;
they will return as a vast throng.
9 They will return, weeping uncontrollably,
but I will console them as I lead them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water
along a level path where they will not stumble.
For I am a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn son.
10 Pay heed, you nations, to the word of the Lord;
proclaim it even on the distant coastlands and say:
He who scattered Israel will now gather them together
and watch over his flock like a shepherd.
11 For the Lord has ransomed Jacob
and redeemed him from the hands of a foe
far too strong for him.
12 The people will come forth
and shout for joy on the heights of Zion
as they behold the bounty of the Lord:
the grain, the new wine, and the oil,
the young of the flocks and herds.
They themselves will be like a well-watered garden,
and never again will sorrow afflict them.
13 Then the young girls will dance in their happiness,
and the old and the young men will rejoice.
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
I will comfort them
and replace their sorrow with joy.
14 I will strengthen my priests with choice food,
and my people will be overwhelmed with my lavish gifts,
says the Lord.
No More Mourning
15 Thus says the Lord:
A voice is heard in Ramah
marked by lamentation and bitter weeping.
Rachel is mourning for her children,
and she refuses to be consoled
because they are no more.[a]
16 Thus says the Lord to her:
Cease your cries of lamentation
and wipe the tears from your eyes.
For your labors will be rewarded, says the Lord,
and your children will return from the land of mercy.
17 Thus there is hope for your future, says the Lord;
your children will return to their homeland.
18 I have indeed heard Ephraim pleading,
“You chastised me, and I accepted your discipline,
I was like an untamed calf.
Bring me back! Allow me to return,
for you are the Lord, my God.
19 After I turned away, I repented;
once I began to understand, I beat my breast.
I was ashamed and humiliated,
and I reproach myself for the sins of my youth.”
20 Thus says the Lord:
Is not Ephraim still my dear son,
the child in whom I delight?
No matter how often I speak against him,
I still remember him lovingly.
Therefore, my heart yearns for him,
and I have great compassion for him.
Blessing and Restoration
21 Set up road markers for yourself;
make yourself guideposts.
Concentrate your thoughts on the road,
the route along which you traveled.
Return, O virgin Israel;
come back to these towns of yours.
22 How long will you wander aimlessly,
O rebellious daughter?
For the Lord has created something new on the earth:
a woman must strengthen a man.[b]
23 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: In the land of Judah and in its towns, they will once again use these words when I restore their fortunes,
“May the Lord bless you,
O holy mountain,
abode of righteousness.”
24 And in the land of Judah and all its towns, the farmers and those who care for the flocks will dwell together. 25 For I will provide the weary with all they need, and I will restore the strength of all those who have grown faint with hunger.
26 At this moment I awakened and looked around, and I realized that my sleep had been pleasant.[c]
27 The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of men and the seed of animals. 28 And as I once watched over them to uproot and pull down, to demolish, destroy, and inflict disaster, so now I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the Lord. 29 In those days they will no longer say,
“The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
30 For each one will die for his own sins. The teeth of everyone who eats sour grapes will be set on edge.
31 The New Covenant. The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.[d] 32 However, it will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt, a covenant that they broke even though I was their master.
33 However, this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will establish my law in their minds and inscribe it in their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will there be any need for them to teach one another, or to say to one another, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, says the Lord, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their iniquity and no longer remember their sin.
Assurance of God’s Promise
35 Thus says the Lord:
who provides us with the sun to light our day
and the moon and the stars to shine at night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar,
and whose name is the Lord of hosts:
36 If this established order were ever to cease
in my presence, says the Lord,
then the race of Israel would cease forever
to be a nation before me.
37 Thus says the Lord:
Only if the heavens above can be measured
and the foundations of the earth below can be fathomed
will I reject the entire race of Israel
because of all they have done, says the Lord.
38 Jerusalem Rebuilt. The days are coming, says the Lord, when this city will be rebuilt for the Lord, from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 [e]The measuring line will then be stretched from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40 The entire valley, with its corpses and ashes, and all the fields sloping toward the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be sacred to the Lord. Never again will that city be uprooted or destroyed.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 31:15 In Ramah, which lay between Benjamin and Ephraim, that is, in the land of the descendants of Rachel, Jacob’s wife (Gen 35:24; 41:51), a caravan of deportees to Babylon will be formed (Jer 40:1), a moving image of the common mother who mourns for the children snatched from her. Matthew the evangelist would later use it in reference to the children slain at Bethlehem (Mt 2:17-18).
- Jeremiah 31:22 The verse is obscure. The same Hebrew verb is used in Deut 32:10 and Ps 32:10 of God’s solicitous care for humanity. The usual interpretation of the present verse is that Israel, formerly so faithless, will show the greatest love and attachment to her husband.
- Jeremiah 31:26 “During this vision, I seemed to be dreaming.”
- Jeremiah 31:31 Like a sudden gush of water comes this beautiful insight of Jeremiah, one of the high points of Old Testament thought; it is a verse that should be committed to memory and constantly meditated on. The former law with its exterior demands will become God’s gift and an interior impulse, because God will awaken in souls a love for him and the strength to be faithful. Jesus will bring the gift of it in the Gospel when he announces “the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you” (Lk 22:20; see Heb 8:7-13).
- Jeremiah 31:39 Gareb and Goah are places unknown to us. The boundaries of the new city will include even places formerly unholy: the valley of dead bodies and ashes, that is, the Valley of Gehenna and of the Kidron, which were formerly places of idolatrous practices (see Jer 2:23; 7:31). For the Tower of Hananel and the Horse Gate, see Neh 3:1, 28.
Deuteronomy 32
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 32
1 [a]Give ear, O heavens, while I speak;
Listen, O earth, to the words of my mouth.
2 Let my teaching fall down like rain,
and my words descend like the dew.
Like rain upon the sprouts,
and like showers upon the grass.
3 I will proclaim the name of the Lord,
Oh, praise the greatness of our God.
4 He is a rock, his deeds are perfect,
and all of his ways are just.
He is a God of truth who does no wrong;
he is just and upright.
5 They have corrupted themselves,
on account of their defect they are no longer his children,
they are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Is this the way to repay the Lord,
O foolish and stupid people?
Is he not your father, who created you?
Has he not made you and established you?
7 Remember the days of old,
consider the years of past generations,
Ask your fathers, they will tell you,
your elders, they will inform you.
8 When the Most High divided the inheritance among the nations,
when he separated the sons of men,
he established the boundaries of the nations
according to the number of the sons of God.
9 The Lord’s own portion was his people,
Jacob his allotted inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land,
a waste and howling wilderness.
He shielded him, he instructed him;
He guarded him as the apple of his eye.
11 Like an eagle that awakens its nest,
and hovers over its young,
he spread his wings and snatched him,
bearing him up on his pinions.
12 The Lord alone led him,
there was no foreign god with him.
13 He made him ride on the heights of the earth,
he ate from the produce of the fields;
he had him suck honey from the rock,
and oil from the flinty rock,
14 curds from the herds and milk from the flocks,
fat lambs and rams,
herds of bulls of Bashan and goats,
the finest of the wheat,
from the blood of the grapes you drank wine.
15 But Jeshurun[b] grew fat and desirous,
sated with food; he became heavy and obese.
He abandoned God who had made him,
and rejected the rock of his salvation.
16 They provoked him with foreign gods,
and angered him with abominations.
17 They sacrificed to demons that are not really gods,
to foreign gods that they had not known,
newly invented gods,
gods whom your fathers did not fear.
18 You deserted the rock who formed you;
you forgot God, who fathered you.
19 When the Lord saw it, he despised them;
his sons and his daughters frustrated him.
20 He said, “I will hide my face from them
and watch to see how they end,
for they are a perverse generation,
children who are unfaithful.
21 They have made me jealous by what is not a god,
angered me with their worthless things;
I will make them jealous of those who are not a people,
I will anger them with a foolish nation.
22 My anger has kindled fire to flame,
it burns down to the lowest level of Sheol,[c]
it devours the earth and its produce,
it ignites the foundation of the mountains.
23 I will pile disasters upon them,
and use up my arrows against them.
24 I will send a wasting famine against them,
consuming pestilence and bitter destruction;
I will send the fangs of wild beasts
and the venom of the serpents that crawl in the dust.
25 Outside the sword will leave them childless,
inside there will be only terror.
Upon the young man and the virgin,
the infant and the old gray-haired man.
26 I said, ‘I will scatter them
and wipe out remembrance of them from among humans,’
27 except that I dreaded the taunt of the enemy,
lest the foe misunderstand and say,
‘Our hand has triumphed;
the Lord has not done this!’ ”
28 They are a nation without sense,
there is no understanding in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this,
and consider how they will end.
30 How could one man put a thousand to flight,
or two drive away ten thousand,
unless the rock had delivered them,
and the Lord given them up?
31 For their rock is not like our rock,
even our enemies would judge it so.
32 Their vine comes from the vine stock of Sodom,[d]
and from the fields of Gomorrah.
Their grapes are filled with poison,
their clusters with bitterness.
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
the cruel venom of cobras.
34 Is this not stored away with me,
sealed up in my treasury?
35 Vengeance is mine, and recompense.
Their foot will slip in due time,
for the day of destruction is at hand,
and their doom hastens upon them.
36 The Lord will judge his people,
he will have compassion on his servants
when he sees that their power is spent
and there are none who remain, slave or free.
37 He will say, “Where are their gods,
the rock in whom they trusted?
38 Who ate the fat of their offerings,
and drank their wine libations?
Let them arise and help you
and be your protection.
39 See now that I, I am he,
there is no other god besides me.
It is I who put to death and give life,
it is I who wound and heal.
No one can deliver you from out of my hand.
40 I lift my hand up to the heavens,
and I swear, as I live forever,
41 I will sharpen my glistening sword;
my hand will seize onto justice.
I will render vengeance on my enemies;
I will repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,
and my sword will devour flesh,
the blood of the slain and the captives,
the heads of the enemy leaders.”
43 Rejoice, O nations, with his people,
bow to him, all you gods
for he will avenge the blood of his servants
and take vengeance upon his foes,
but he will be merciful to his land and his people.
44 Then Moses came and proclaimed all of the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua, the son of Nun.
45 Moses’ Last Appeal.[e]When Moses finished saying all these things to all of the Israelites, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all of the words that I bear witness to in your midst today and that I command your children to obey, observing all of the words of this law. 47 This is not a light matter for you; it is your very life. This will prolong your days in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess.”
48 Moses Dies on Mount Nebo. That same day the Lord said to Moses, 49 “Climb up Mount Abarim, Mount Nebo, that is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look out over the land that I am giving to the Israelites as a possession. 50 Then you will die on the mountain that you have ascended, and you will be gathered home to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered home to his people 51 because you broke faith with me before the Israelites at the waters of Meribath-kadesh in the Desert of Zin; you did not uphold my holiness in the midst of the Israelites. 52 Therefore, you shall only behold the land from a distance, you shall not enter into the land that I am giving to the Israelites.”
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 32:1 In order to make clear the sins that imperil the covenant, this song puts Israel through the mill in proper order. It is a hymn to the greatness of God, who is the strength of his people. It repeats the solemn admonitions of Moses and his successors.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 Jeshurun: i.e., Israel.
- Deuteronomy 32:22 Burns . . . to the lowest level of Sheol: Sheol is the abode of all the dead and known in the New Testament as Hades where only the wicked dead repose.
- Deuteronomy 32:32 The vine stock of Sodom: Israel’s enemies had come from sinful ancestors and their actions were evil (i.e., “filled with poison”).
- Deuteronomy 32:45 After a final appeal for fidelity, Moses hears repeated the prohibition against his entering the Promised Land (3:26-28). We do not know for sure what the fault of Moses and Aaron was; perhaps it was that they seemed to attribute a miracle to themselves (Num 20:12).
Psalm 135
New Catholic Bible
Psalm 135[a]
Praise of God, Benefactor of His People
1 [b]Alleluia.
Praise the name of the Lord;
offer him praise, you servants of the Lord,[c]
2 you who minister in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.[d]
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing to honor his name, for he is gracious.[e]
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his treasured possession.[f]
5 [g]I know that the Lord is great,
that our Lord is superior to all gods.[h]
6 The Lord does whatever he pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and in all their depths.[i]
7 He causes clouds to rise
from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning[j] with the rain
and brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
8 [k]He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,[l]
those of humans as well as of animals.
9 He sent signs and portents into your midst, O Egypt,[m]
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck down many nations
and slew mighty kings:
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kings of Canaan.[n]
12 He then gave their lands as a heritage,
a heritage to his people Israel.[o]
13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
your renown, O Lord, lasts throughout the ages.[p]
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people
and show compassion to his servants.[q]
15 [r]The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths but they cannot speak;
they have eyes but they cannot see.
17 They have ears but they cannot hear,
and there is no breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them end up like them,
as do all who place their trust in them.
19 [s]O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed from Zion be the Lord,
he who dwells in Jerusalem.
Alleluia.[t]
Footnotes
- Psalm 135:1 Composed of fragments taken from other psalms (Pss 113; 115; 134; 136), this hymn sings the praises of the true God. The psalmist acclaims the one who holds the whole universe in his hands; he glorifies the one who chose the people of Israel and guided them to their destiny from the liberation from Egypt up to their establishment in Canaan. The entire people—priests, Levites, faithful, and God-fearers (vv. 19-20)—is convoked to this praise, which celebrates the Creator of the world and the Redeemer of Israel. In the face of such solid faith, all mention of false gods becomes a caricature. Are our hymns to God true enough to cast scorn on all the new idols that we ceaselessly create for ourselves?
We can use this psalm to praise the heavenly Father for his wonders in favor of Israel (with whom we are spiritually united) and in favor of his Son Jesus, King of Israel. We can also use it to praise the Lord Jesus, Master of nature for the service of the new Israel, Savior of his Church, the only true God in the unity of the Father and the Holy Spirit. - Psalm 135:1 An exhortation to praise God, who is good and who has love for his own.
- Psalm 135:1 Taken from Ps 113:1; see Jud 4:14. The praise of God included a recitation of his wonders in creation (Ps 135:5-7) and in redemptive history (vv. 8-12). Servants of the Lord: although the identity of the “servants” is debated, the general consensus, based on the text itself, is that the word denotes the priests and Levites, who praised the Lord day and night (see 1 Chr 9:33; 23:26, 30).
- Psalm 135:2 Taken from Ps 134:1; see Ps 92:14.
- Psalm 135:3 Praise is due because the Lord himself is good and gracious (or beautiful; see Ps 27:4). The second part of the verse is close to Ps 147:1. He is gracious: another possible translation is: “it is pleasant.”
- Psalm 135:4 Although all the nations are the Lord’s, he has chosen Israel as his own in a special way. Treasured possession: this phrase is found in Ex 19:5; Deut 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; see also Ps 33:12.
- Psalm 135:5 The psalmist spells out the greatness of the Creator, who rules over all creation and is above all gods.
- Psalm 135:5 Our Lord is superior to all gods: taken from Ex 18:11; see Ps 95:3.
- Psalm 135:6 The Lord does whatever he pleases (see Ps 115:3) in his acts in heaven, on the earth, in the seas, and in the subterranean waters (all their depths).
- Psalm 135:7 The Lord’s greatness extends to the elements and powers of nature: lightning (see Ps 148:8), rain (see Ps 29), wind (see Ps 104:4), and the storehouses from which any of the elements could be brought forth (see Pss 33:7; 65:10f).
- Psalm 135:8 The psalmist indicates the greatness of the Lord’s redemption of Israel through the Exodus and the Conquest by using climactic strokes. Most of the phrases in these verses reappear in Ps 136:10, 18-22.
- Psalm 135:8 Struck . . . of Egypt: the tenth plague (see Pss 78:51; 105:36; Ex 12:29).
- Psalm 135:9 Into your midst, O Egypt: similar in form to Ps 116:19, this phrase recalls Ps 136:11 (see Ps 78:43).
- Psalm 135:11 Sihon . . . Og . . . and all the kings of Canaan: see Ps 136:19f; Num 21:21-26, 33-35; Deut 2:30-33; 3:1-6; Jos 12:2-24.
- Psalm 135:12 Recalls Ps 136:17-22.
- Psalm 135:13 Extract from Ex 3:15; see Ps 102:12; Isa 63:12. The name God revealed to Moses was to increase in significance as the Lord increased his activities in redemptive history.
- Psalm 135:14 Show compassion to his servants: taken from Deut 32:36.
- Psalm 135:15 The psalmist reproduces Ps 115:4-6, 8 almost exactly. His point is that idols, unlike the God of Israel, do not speak, reveal, promise, or utter any spoken word. Ultimately, divine revelation is the difference between the religions made by humans and the true religion of the Lord (see Ps 115:4-8; Deut 4:16; Isa 44:9ff; Jer 10:1ff; Bar 6:7ff).
- Psalm 135:19 Employing the language of Pss 115:9-11; 118:2-4 (with the addition of “O house of Levi”), the psalmist calls upon all to praise the Lord present in Zion.
- Psalm 135:21 Alleluia: i.e., “Hallelujah” or “Bless [or praise] the Lord”; some regard this line as belonging to the beginning of Ps 136.
Isaiah 26
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 26
A Song of Victory. 1 On that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
We have a strongly fortified city,
with walls and ramparts established to protect us.
2 Open the gates
to allow the upright nation to enter,
the nation that keeps faith.
3 O Lord, you grant peace to those who are steadfast
because of their trust in you.
4 Trust in the Lord forever,
for the Lord is an eternal rock.
5 He has brought low those in high places
and leveled their citadel,
casting it down to the ground
and flinging it down to the dust,
6 to be trampled underfoot
by the feet of the poor and the oppressed.
7 The path of the righteous is smooth,
for you make level the way of the just.
8 As we proceed in the path of your judgments,
we wait for you, O Lord;
your name and your renown
are all that our heart desires.
9 My soul longs for you throughout the night,
and my spirit within me seeks your presence.
For when your judgments are revealed to the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn to practice justice.
10 If favor is granted to the wicked,
they will never learn justice.
In the presence of the upright they will act perversely
and fail to behold the majesty of the Lord.
11 O Lord, your hand is raised high
but they fail to see it.
Let them be ashamed
when they behold your zeal for your people;
let the fire reserved for your enemies consume them.
12 O Lord, you will grant us peace;
everything we have accomplished you have done for us.
13 O Lord, our God,
other lords besides you have ruled us,
but we acknowledge only your name.
14 The dead will not come back to life;
their departed spirits will not rise again.
For you have punished and destroyed them
and eradicated all memory of them.
15 O Lord, you have enlarged the nation,
and in enlarging it you have been glorified;
you have extended all the frontiers of the country.
16 O Lord, in our distress we cried out to you,
pouring forth our prayers
as we suffered your chastisement.
17 As a woman who is pregnant
writhes and cries out in her agony
when her time of delivery is near,
so were we because of you, O Lord.
18 We were with child and writhed with pain,
but we gave birth only to wind.
We have achieved no salvation for the earth,
and no one has been born to inhabit the world.
19 But your dead will live
and their bodies will rise again.
Awake and sing for joy,
you who sleep in the dust.
For your dew will be radiant,
and the earth will give birth again
to those who have long been dead.
The Lord’s Vindication
20 Go forth, my people, enter your chambers,
and shut your doors behind you.
Withdraw for a short while
until the wrath has subsided.
21 For the Lord emerges from his dwelling place
to punish the inhabitants of the earth
for their wickedness.
The earth will reveal the blood shed upon it
and will no longer hide its slain.
Habakkuk 2
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 2
1 I will stand at my post
and take up my position on the rampart,
and keep watch to see what he will say to me
and what answer he will offer to my complaints.”
2 Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write down the vision,
inscribe it clearly on tablets
so that it can be read easily.
3 For the vision is for the appointed time;
it will speak of the end,
and it will not lie.
If it delays in coming, wait for it,
for it will surely come before too long.
4 The proud man’s heart is not upright,
but the righteous man will live
because of his faith.[a]
Warning to the Arrogant
5 Moreover, wealth is treacherous;
those who are arrogant do not endure.
They open their throats as wide as Sheol
and are as unstable as death.
They gather to themselves all the nations
and make a harvest of all the peoples.
6 Everyone should taunt such people
and turn on them with mockery and say,
“Woe to you who store up
what is not your own.
Woe to you who enrich yourself
with goods taken in pledge.
7 Will not your creditors rise up suddenly?
Will not those who make you tremble wake up?
Will you not become a victim to them?
8 Since you have plundered many nations,
all the nations that survive will plunder you
because of the bloodshed and the violence
you have inflicted on cities
and all their inhabitants.
9 “Woe to the one who amasses
ill-gotten gains for his household
so as to set his nest on high
and thereby evade the reach of misfortune.
10 You have managed to bring shame upon your house
by cutting off many peoples;
you have placed your own life in jeopardy.
11 The very stones will cry out from the wall,
and the beam will respond from the woodwork.
12 “Woe to the man who builds a city
by means of bloodshed
and founds a town on the basis of iniquity.
13 Is it not in the eternal design
of the Lord of hosts
that what the people labor for
is destined for the flames,
and that everything the nations
exhaust themselves to achieve
will come to naught.
14 However, the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory
just as the waters cover the sea.
15 [b]“Woe to you who encourage your neighbors to drink,
pouring it abundantly until they are drunk,
so that you can gaze upon their nakedness.
16 You will be filled with shame instead of glory
as you stagger in your drunkenness.
The cup in the Lord’s right hand
will be passed on to you,
and shame will overshadow your glory.
17 For the violence done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
and the massacre of the animals will terrify you,
all as a result of the bloodshed and violence you inflicted
on cities and all who dwell in them.
18 “Of what use is an idol
after its maker has shaped it?
It is only a presentation, a source of lies.
And why should its sculptor place his faith in it,
a dumb idol that he has made?
19 Woe to anyone who says,
‘Wake up!’ to a block of wood,
‘Rouse yourself!’ to a lifeless stone.
Can such a thing offer guidance?
It may be overlaid with gold and silver,
but there is no breath of life within it.
20 However, the Lord is in his holy temple.
Let all the earth be silent before him.”
Footnotes
- Habakkuk 2:4 St. Paul takes this promise and gives it a new application: it is faith that “justifies,” that is, saves human beings from sin and gives them the life of God (Gal 3:11; Rom 1:17).
- Habakkuk 2:15 The armies of Nebuchadnezzar have devastated the cedars of Lebanon and slaughtered the flocks of the conquered. In the Bible, cedars and flocks also symbolize leaders and their subjects. Lebanon was often ravaged, because it was a place of passage for invading armies.
Hebrews 10
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 10
A Unique Sacrifice[a]
The Law Was a Shadow. 1 The Law contains little more than a shadow of the good things to come and not the true image of them. These sacrifices that are offered year after year can never bring the worshipers to perfection. 2 If they could, those sacrifices would no longer be offered, for the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all and would no longer feel guilty for sins.
3 However, in these sacrifices sins are brought to mind year after year, 4 because sins cannot be taken away by the blood of bulls and goats.
One Sacrifice for Sins. 5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you have prepared for me.
6 You took no delight
in holocausts and sin offerings.
7 Then I said, ‘As it is written of me in the scroll,
behold, I have come to do your will, O God.’ ”
8 First he says, “Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in,” even though they are offered according to the Law. 9 Then he adds, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He thus abolishes the first to establish the second. 10 And it was by this “will” that we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 [b]Day after day every priest stands to perform his ministry, offering over and over again the same sacrifices that can never remove sins. 12 But Jesus offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, and then took his seat at the right hand of God, 13 where he now waits until his enemies are made his footstool. 14 Therefore, by a single offering he has made perfect forever those who are being sanctified.
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For he first says,
16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord.
I will place my laws in their hearts
and inscribe them on their minds.”
17 Then he also asserts,
“Their sins and their lawless acts
I will remember no more.”
18 When these have been forgiven, there are no longer any offerings for sins.
Perseverance in Faith[c]
The Need To Stand Firm
19 Let Us Approach with Sincerity of Heart.[d] Therefore, brethren, the blood of Jesus has given us confidence to enter the sanctuary 20 by the new and living way that he has opened for us through the veil, that is, through his flesh. 21 Since we have a great priest over the household of God, 22 let us approach with sincerity of heart and the full assurance of faith, with hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and bodies washed in pure water.
23 Let us remain firm in the confession of our hope without wavering, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us consider how to spur one another to love and good works. 25 Do not neglect to attend your assemblies, as some do, but rather encourage one another, especially since you can see the Day[e] approaching.
26 Apostasy Remains Unforgiven.[f] If we deliberately persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, then there no longer remains any sacrifice for sins. 27 There is only a terrifying expectation of judgment and of a fierce fire that will consume the adversaries.
28 Anyone who violates the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more punishment do you think is deserved by the one who has contempt for the Son of God, profanes the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insults the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the one who said,
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay,”
and
“The Lord will judge his people.”
31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
32 Do Not Abandon Your Assurance.[g] Remember the days gone by when, after you had been enlightened,[h] you endured a difficult struggle filled with suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes you were companions of those who were treated in the same way. 34 You not only had compassion upon those who were in prison but also cheerfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you realized that you possessed something better and more lasting.
35 Therefore, do not lose your confidence now, since your reward will be so great. 36 You need to be steadfast if you want to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.
37 “For, after a little while,
he who is to come will do so,
and he will not delay.
38 My righteous one shall live by faith,
but if he shrinks back,
I will not be pleased with him.”
39 But we are not among those who draw back and are lost. Rather, we are among those who have faith and are saved.
Footnotes
- Hebrews 10:1 The great, endless act of self-giving that extends through the entire existence of Christ is the authentic priestly act, the authentic sacrifice of Christ. He takes away sin and restores the bond with God in his own person, in his own living experience. He founds the New Covenant, the new people who have access to God.
- Hebrews 10:11 Every priest stands to perform his ministry . . . Jesus . . . took his seat: members of the Levitical priesthood always “stood” because their work was never finished; Jesus “took his seat” because his work was completed.
- Hebrews 10:19 A definitive event has been realized for the world: the Death and Resurrection of Christ. The Letter to the Hebrews makes us aware of this by presenting it as the act of the authentic priesthood, the authentic sacrifice, while at the same time downgrading the status of the preceding religious regime, although that too had been established by God. So, too, faith in Christ is a decisive step forward in the life of a human being. The believer is henceforth engaged in a march toward the full encounter with the Lord. In the midst of temptations, fears, and risks, the Christian life is not a simple fidelity to a past but a thrust forward toward the future, toward God. These chapters are a pressing invitation not to let such perspectives be obscured.
- Hebrews 10:19 The path that leads to God is a person, Christ recognized under the characteristics of a high priest. Once baptized, Christians are associated with the Son of God. They must strengthen their conviction and the links of mutual love. May the signs of crises be a call for them to prepare for the return of the Lord.
- Hebrews 10:25 The Day: this refers to the Day of the Lord at the end of time.
- Hebrews 10:26 Once again the author repeats this somber warning (see Heb 6:1-8; Mt 12:31). Those who rebel against Christ exclude themselves from Christ’s forgiveness, from his life, and from his grace. Let them, therefore, meditate on the threats of God’s vengeance about which the Bible speaks, and especially the texts cited here (see Ex 24:8; Deut 17:6; 32:35f; Isa 26:11).
- Hebrews 10:32 As soon as they were baptized and enlightened, believers sacrificed everything for Christ and confronted all difficulties. Now is not the time for them to be discouraged. The Lord will come and he is the recompense for all who do not weaken. Faith is the courageous commitment to Christ.
- Hebrews 10:32 Been enlightened: an ancient phrase for “been baptized”; “enlightenment” or “illumination” was an ancient term for Baptism (see Heb 6:4; Eph 5:14).
