A New Prophet like Moses

^15 (A)“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— ¹⁶ just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb ^(B)on the day of the assembly, when you said, ^(C)‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ¹⁷ And the Lord said to me, ^(D)‘They are right in what they have spoken. ^18 (E)I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. ^(F)And I will put my words in his mouth, and ^(G)he shall speak to them all that I command him. ^19 (H)And whoever will ^(I)not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

The Death of Moses

34 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab ^(A)to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, ² all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah ^(B)as far as the western sea, ^3 (C)the Negeb, and ^(D)the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho ^(E)the city of palm trees, as far as ^(F)Zoar. ⁴ And the Lord said to him, ^(G)“This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ ^(H)I have let you see it with your eyes, but ^(I)you shall not go over there.” ⁵ So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord,

God Commissions Joshua

1 After the death of Moses the ^(A)servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' ^(B)assistant, ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.

Comfort for God's People

3 ^(A)“Behold, I send ^(B)my messenger, and ^(C)he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord ^(D)whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and ^(E)the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ² But ^(F)who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For ^(G)he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. ³ He will sit ^(H)as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring ^(I)offerings in righteousness to the Lord.^{[a] 4 (J)}Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.

The Great Day of the Lord

4 ^[a] “For behold, ^(A)the day is coming, ^(B)burning like an oven, when ^(C)all the arrogant and ^(D)all evildoers ^(E)will be stubble. The day that is coming ^(F)shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. ² But for you ^(G)who fear my name, ^(H)the sun ^(I)of righteousness shall rise ^(J)with healing in its wings. You shall go out ^(K)leaping like calves from the stall. ³ And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, ^(L)on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

^4 (M)“Remember ^(N)the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules^[b] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

^5 (O)“Behold, I will send you ^(P)Elijah the prophet ^(Q)before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ⁶ And he will ^(R)turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and ^(S)strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”^[c]

The Testimony of John the Baptist

¹⁹ And this is the ^(A)testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ^(B)“Who are you?” ^20 (C)He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” ²¹ And they asked him, “What then? ^(D)Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you ^(E)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” ²² So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³ He said, “I am ^(F)the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight^[a] the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

²⁴ (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) ²⁵ They asked him, ^(G)“Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” ²⁶ John answered them, ^(H)“I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, ²⁷ even ^(I)he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” ²⁸ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.