The Law of the Lord Is Perfect

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Moses Commands Obedience

4 “And now, O Israel, listen to ^(A)the statutes and the rules^[a] that I am teaching you, and do them, ^(B)that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. ^2 (C)You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. ³ Your eyes have seen what the Lord did ^(D)at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. ⁴ But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. ⁵ See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. ^6 (E)Keep them and do them, for ^(F)that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ ⁷ For ^(G)what great nation is there that has ^(H)a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? ⁸ And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so ^(I)righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

^9 (J)“Only take care, and ^(K)keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. ^(L)Make them known to your children and your children's children— ¹⁰ how on ^(M)the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ^(N)‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, ^(O)so that they may learn to fear ^(P)me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ ¹¹ And ^(Q)you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while ^(R)the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. ¹² Then ^(S)the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, ^(T)but saw no form; ^(U)there was only a voice. ^13 (V)And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, ^(W)the Ten Commandments,^{[b] (X)}and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. ¹⁴ And ^(Y)the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.

Idolatry Forbidden

^15 (Z)“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since ^(AA)you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, ¹⁶ beware ^(AB)lest you act corruptly ^(AC)by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, ^(AD)the likeness of male or female, ¹⁷ the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸ the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. ¹⁹ And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see ^(AE)the sun and the moon and the stars, ^(AF)all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. ²⁰ But the Lord has taken you and ^(AG)brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, ^(AH)to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. ²¹ Furthermore, ^(AI)the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. ²² For I must die in this land; ^(AJ)I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of ^(AK)that good land. ^23 (AL)Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and ^(AM)make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. ²⁴ For ^(AN)the Lord your God is a consuming fire, ^(AO)a jealous God.

²⁵ “When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, ^(AP)if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and ^(AQ)by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, ²⁶ I ^(AR)call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. ²⁷ And the Lord ^(AS)will scatter you among the peoples, ^(AT)and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. ²⁸ And ^(AU)there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, ^(AV)that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. ^29 (AW)But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. ³⁰ When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you ^(AX)in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. ³¹ For the Lord your God is ^(AY)a merciful God. ^(AZ)He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

The Authority of the Son

¹⁹ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(A)the Son ^(B)can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father^[a] does, that the Son does likewise. ²⁰ For ^(C)the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And ^(D)greater works than these will he show him, so that ^(E)you may marvel. ²¹ For as the Father ^(F)raises the dead and ^(G)gives them life, so ^(H)also the Son gives life ^(I)to whom he will. ^22 (J)For the Father judges no one, but ^(K)has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son, just as they ^(L)honor the Father. ^(M)Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(N)whoever hears my word and ^(O)believes him who sent me has eternal life. He ^(P)does not come into judgment, but ^(Q)has passed from death to life.

²⁵ “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(R)an hour is coming, and is now here, when ^(S)the dead will hear ^(T)the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear ^(U)will live. ^26 (V)For as the Father has life in himself, ^(W)so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he ^(X)has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not marvel at this, for ^(Y)an hour is coming when ^(Z)all who are in the tombs will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out, ^(AA)those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Witnesses to Jesus

^30 (AB)“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and ^(AC)my judgment is just, because ^(AD)I seek not my own will ^(AE)but the will of him who sent me. ^31 (AF)If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. ³² There is ^(AG)another who bears witness about me, and ^(AH)I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. ^33 (AI)You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. ³⁴ Not that ^(AJ)the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. ³⁵ He was a burning and ^(AK)shining lamp, and ^(AL)you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. ³⁶ But ^(AM)the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For ^(AN)the works that the Father has given me ^(AO)to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, ^(AP)bear witness about me that ^(AQ)the Father has sent me. ³⁷ And the Father who sent me ^(AR)has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, ^(AS)his form you have never seen, ³⁸ and ^(AT)you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. ^39 (AU)You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and ^(AV)it is they that bear witness about me, ⁴⁰ yet ^(AW)you refuse to come to me that you may have life. ^41 (AX)I do not receive glory from people. ⁴² But ^(AY)I know that you do not have ^(AZ)the love of God within you. ⁴³ I have come ^(BA)in my Father's name, and ^(BB)you do not receive me. ^(BC)If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and ^(BD)do not seek the glory that comes from ^(BE)the only God? ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, ^(BF)on whom you have set your hope. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for ^(BG)he wrote of me. ⁴⁷ But ^(BH)if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”