How Precious Is Your Steadfast Love

To the choirmaster. Of David, the ^(A)servant of the Lord.

The Covenant Renewed in Moab

29 ^[a] These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel ^(A)in the land of Moab, besides ^(B)the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb.

^2 [b] And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: ^(C)“You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, ³ the great ^(D)trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. ⁴ But to this day ^(E)the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. ^5 (F)I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet. ^6 (G)You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. ⁷ And when you came to this place, ^(H)Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them. ⁸ We took their land and ^(I)gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites. ^9 (J)Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper^[c] in all that you do.

¹⁰ “You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God: the heads of your tribes,^[d] your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, ¹¹ your little ones, your wives, and the ^(K)sojourner who is in your camp, from ^(L)the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, ¹² so that you may enter into the ^(M)sworn covenant of the Lord your God, which the Lord your God is making with you today, ¹³ that he may ^(N)establish you today as his people, and that ^(O)he may be your God, as he promised you, and ^(P)as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. ¹⁴ It is not with you alone ^(Q)that I am making this sworn covenant, ¹⁵ but with whoever is standing here with us today before the Lord our God, ^(R)and with whoever is not here with us today.

¹⁶ “You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed. ¹⁷ And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them. ¹⁸ Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you ^(S)a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, ¹⁹ one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. ²⁰ The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather ^(T)the anger of the Lord and ^(U)his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the Lord ^(V)will blot out his name from under heaven. ²¹ And the Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. ²² And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, ^(W)will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the Lord has made it sick— ²³ the whole land burned out with brimstone and ^(X)salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, ^(Y)an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, ^(Z)Admah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and wrath— ²⁴ all the nations ^(AA)will say, ^(AB)‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ ²⁵ Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, ²⁶ and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. ²⁷ Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, ^(AC)bringing upon it all the curses written in this book, ²⁸ and the Lord ^(AD)uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and ^(AE)cast them into another land, as they are this day.’

²⁹ “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

The Jerusalem Council

15 ^(A)But some men came down from Judea and were teaching ^(B)the brothers, “Unless you are ^(C)circumcised ^(D)according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ² And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and ^(E)debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and ^(F)some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to ^(G)the apostles and the elders about this question. ³ So, ^(H)being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, ^(I)describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and ^(J)brought great joy to all ^(K)the brothers.^{[a] 4 (L)}When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and ^(M)the apostles and the elders, and ^(N)they declared all that God had done with them. ⁵ But some believers who belonged to ^(O)the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ^(P)“It is necessary ^(Q)to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.”

^6 (R)The ^(S)apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. ⁷ And after there had been much ^(T)debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, ^(U)that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear ^(V)the word of ^(W)the gospel and believe. ⁸ And God, ^(X)who knows the heart, ^(Y)bore witness to them, ^(Z)by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, ⁹ and ^(AA)he made no distinction between us and them, ^(AB)having cleansed their hearts ^(AC)by faith. ¹⁰ Now, therefore, why ^(AD)are you putting God to the test ^(AE)by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples ^(AF)that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹ But we ^(AG)believe that we will be ^(AH)saved through ^(AI)the grace of the Lord Jesus, ^(AJ)just as they will.”

¹² And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul ^(AK)as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. ¹³ After they finished speaking, ^(AL)James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. ^14 (AM)Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them ^(AN)a people for his name. ¹⁵ And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁹ Therefore ^(AS)my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who ^(AT)turn to God, ²⁰ but should write to them ^(AU)to abstain from ^(AV)the things polluted by idols, and from ^(AW)sexual immorality, and from ^(AX)what has been strangled, and from ^(AY)blood. ²¹ For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, ^(AZ)for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

The Council's Letter to Gentile Believers

²² Then it seemed good to ^(BA)the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called ^(BB)Barsabbas, and ^(BC)Silas, leading men among ^(BD)the brothers, ²³ with the following letter: ^(BE)“The brothers, both ^(BF)the apostles and the elders, to the brothers^[c] who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, ^(BG)greetings. ²⁴ Since we have heard that ^(BH)some persons have gone out from us and ^(BI)troubled you^[d] with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions, ²⁵ it has seemed good to us, having come ^(BJ)to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our ^(BK)beloved Barnabas and Paul, ^26 (BL)men who have ^(BM)risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷ We have therefore sent ^(BN)Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. ²⁸ For it has seemed good ^(BO)to the Holy Spirit and ^(BP)to us ^(BQ)to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: ^29 (BR)that you abstain from ^(BS)what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰ So when they were sent off, they went down to Antioch, and having gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. ³¹ And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement. ³² And Judas and Silas, who were themselves ^(BT)prophets, encouraged and ^(BU)strengthened ^(BV)the brothers with many words. ³³ And after they had spent some time, they were sent off ^(BW)in peace by ^(BX)the brothers to those who had sent them.^{[e] 35} But ^(BY)Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also.