Book Four

From Everlasting to Everlasting

A ^(A)Prayer of Moses, the ^(B)man of God.

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

¹⁴ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(A)“Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that ^(B)I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. ¹⁵ And ^(C)the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.

¹⁶ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(D)“Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and ^(E)whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will ^(F)forsake me and ^(G)break my covenant that I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and ^(H)I will forsake them and ^(I)hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ^(J)‘Have not these evils come upon us because ^(K)our God is not among us?’ ¹⁸ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because ^(L)they have turned to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now therefore write ^(M)this song and ^(N)teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be ^(O)a witness for me against the people of Israel. ²⁰ For when I have brought them into the land ^(P)flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and ^(Q)grown fat, ^(R)they will turn to other gods and serve them, and ^(S)despise me and ^(T)break my covenant. ²¹ And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as ^(U)a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For ^(V)I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” ²² So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.

Qualifications for Elders

^5 (A)This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^(B)appoint elders in every town as I directed you— ^6 (C)if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,^[a] and his children are believers^[b] and not open to the charge of ^(D)debauchery or insubordination. ⁷ For an overseer,^{[c] (E)}as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^(F)be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^(G)or greedy for gain, ⁸ but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^(H)and disciplined. ⁹ He must ^(I)hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^(J)sound^[d] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

¹⁰ For there are many who are insubordinate, ^(K)empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^(L)the circumcision party.^{[e] 11} They must be silenced, since ^(M)they are upsetting whole families by teaching ^(N)for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. ^12 (O)One of the Cretans,^[f] a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”^{[g] 13} This testimony is true. Therefore ^(P)rebuke them ^(Q)sharply, that they ^(R)may be sound in the faith, ^14 (S)not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^(T)the commands of people ^(U)who turn away from the truth. ^15 (V)To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^(W)unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^(X)their minds and their consciences are defiled. ^16 (Y)They profess to know God, but they ^(Z)deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^(AA)unfit for any good work.