Why Do You Hide Yourself?

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 Crucifixion

^26 (A)And as they led him away, they seized one Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it behind Jesus. ²⁷ And there followed him a great multitude of the people and of women who were ^(B)mourning and lamenting for him. ²⁸ But turning to them Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, ^(C)the days are coming when they will say, ^(D)‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ ^30 (E)Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For ^(F)if they do these things when ^(G)the wood is green, what will happen ^(H)when it is dry?”

^32 (I)Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. ^33 (J)And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, ^(K)one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴ And Jesus said, “Father, ^(L)forgive them, ^(M)for they know not what they do.”^[a] And they cast lots ^(N)to divide his garments. ³⁵ And ^(O)the people stood by, watching, ^(P)but ^(Q)the rulers ^(R)scoffed at him, saying, ^(S)“He saved others; ^(T)let him save himself, ^(U)if he is ^(V)the Christ of God, ^(W)his Chosen One!” ³⁶ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and ^(X)offering him sour wine ³⁷ and saying, ^(Y)“If you are ^(Z)the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ^38 (AA)There was also an inscription over him,^[b] “This is ^(AB)the King of the Jews.”

^39 (AC)One of the criminals who were hanged ^(AD)railed at him,^[c] saying, “Are you not ^(AE)the Christ? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he said, “Jesus, remember me ^(AF)when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³ And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in ^(AG)paradise.”

The Death of Jesus

^44 (AH)It was now about the sixth hour,^[d] and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,^{[e] 45} while the sun's light failed. And ^(AI)the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Then Jesus, ^(AJ)calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, ^(AK)into your hands I ^(AL)commit my spirit!” And having said this ^(AM)he breathed his last. ⁴⁷ Now ^(AN)when the centurion saw what had taken place, ^(AO)he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home ^(AP)beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ And all ^(AQ)his acquaintances and ^(AR)the women who had followed him from Galilee ^(AS)stood at a distance watching these things.

Jesus Is Buried

^50 (AT)Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, ⁵¹ who had not consented to their decision and action; and he ^(AU)was looking for the kingdom of God. ⁵² This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and ^(AV)laid him in a tomb cut in stone, ^(AW)where no one had ever yet been laid. ⁵⁴ It was the day of ^(AX)Preparation, and the Sabbath was beginning.^{[f] 55 (AY)}The women ^(AZ)who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. ⁵⁶ Then they returned and ^(BA)prepared spices and ointments.

On the Sabbath they rested ^(BB)according to the commandment.