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The Covenant in Moab
29 These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which He made with them at Horeb (Sinai).
2 [a]Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all his land; 3 the great trials [of Pharaoh] which your eyes have seen, the signs and those great wonders. 4 Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart and mind to understand, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear. 5 I have led you in the wilderness forty years; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn out on your feet. 6 You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink, so that you might know that I am the Lord your God [on whom you must depend]. 7 When you reached this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out to meet us in battle, but we defeated them; 8 and we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 9 So keep the words of this covenant and obey them, so that you may prosper and be successful in everything that you do.
10 “All of you stand today before the Lord your God—your chiefs, your tribes, your elders and your officers, even all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the stranger (resident alien, foreigner) who is in your camps, from [b]the one who chops and gathers your firewood to the one who draws your water— 12 so that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, and into His oath and agreement which the Lord your God is making with you today, 13 so that He may establish you today as His people and that He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
14 “It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant and this oath, 15 but with those [future Israelites] who are not here with us today, as well as with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God 16 (for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we passed through the nations along the way; 17 and you have seen their detestable acts and their [repulsive] idols of wood and stone, [lifeless images] of silver and gold, which they had with them), 18 so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the [false] gods of these nations; so that there will not be among you a root [of idolatry] bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood (bitterness). 19 It will happen that when he (a renegade) hears the words of this oath, and he [c]imagines himself as blessed, saying, ‘I will have peace and safety even though I walk within the stubbornness of my heart [rejecting God and His law], in order that the watered land dwindles away along with the dry [destroying everything],’ 20 the Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but then the anger of the Lord and His [d]jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him; the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 Then the Lord will single him out for disaster from all the tribes of Israel [making an example of him], according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law.
22 Now the next generation, your children who come after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, when they see the plagues of this land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it, will say, 23 ‘The whole land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and unproductive, and no grass grows in it; it is like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and wrath.’ 24 All the nations will say, ‘Why has the Lord done this thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned (broke) 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 For they went and served other gods and worshiped them, [false] gods whom they have not known and whom He had not allotted (given) to them. 27 So the anger of the Lord burned against this land, bringing on it every curse that is written in this book; 28 and the Lord uprooted them from their land in anger and in wrath and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.’
29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed and disclosed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may do all of the words of this law.
Restoration Promised
30 “So it shall be when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you [e]call them to mind in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, 2 and you have returned to the Lord your God and have listened to and obeyed His voice with all your heart and with all your soul, in accordance with everything that I am commanding you today, you and your children, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes [in your return from exile], and have compassion on you, and will gather you together again from all the peoples (nations) where He has scattered you. 4 Even if any of your dispersed are at the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you together from there, and from there He will bring you back. 5 The Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it; and He shall make you prosper and multiply—even more than your fathers.
6 “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants [that is, He will remove the desire to sin from your heart], so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live [as a recipient of His blessing]. 7 The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who have persecuted you. 8 And you shall again listen to and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all His commandments which I command you today. 9 Then the Lord your God shall make you abundantly prosperous in [f]everything that you do, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your land; for the Lord will again delight over you for good, just as He delighted over your fathers, 10 if you listen to and obey the voice of the Lord your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul (your entire being).
11 “For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it [g]out of reach. 12 It is not [a secret hidden] in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and obey it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.
Choose Life
15 “Listen closely, I have set before you today life and prosperity (good), and death and adversity (evil); 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments (precepts), so that you will live and multiply, and that the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away and you will not hear and obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you will certainly perish. You will not live long in the land which you cross the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore, you shall choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, 20 by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding closely to Him; for He is your life [your good life, your abundant life, your fulfillment] and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord promised (swore) to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Woes upon the Pharisees
37 Now after Jesus had spoken, a Pharisee asked Him to have lunch with him. He went in [the Pharisee’s home] and reclined at the table [without ceremonially washing His hands]. 38 The Pharisee noticed this and was surprised that Jesus did not first ceremonially wash before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate [as required by tradition]; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give that which is within as charity [that is, acts of mercy and compassion, not as a public display, but as an expression of your faithfulness to God], and then indeed all things are clean for you.
42 “But woe (judgment is coming) to you Pharisees, because you [self-righteously] [a]tithe mint and [b]rue and every [little] garden herb [tending to all the minutiae], and yet disregard and neglect justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done, without neglecting the others.(A) 43 Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the [c]best seats in the synagogues and to be respectfully greeted in the market places. 44 Woe to you! For you are like graves which are unmarked, and people walk over them without being aware of it [and are ceremonially unclean].”
45 One of the lawyers [an expert in the Mosaic Law] answered Him, “Teacher, by saying this, You insult us too!” 46 But He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well, because you weigh men down with burdens [man-made rules, unreasonable requirements] which are hard to bear, and you yourselves will not even touch the burdens with one of your fingers [to lighten the load]. 47 Woe to you! For you repair or build [d]tombs for the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. 48 So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers, because they [actually] killed them, and you repair or build their tombs. 49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said [in the Scriptures], ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will put to death and some they will persecute, 50 so that charges may be brought against this generation [holding them responsible] for the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah [the priest], who was murdered between the altar and the house of God. Yes, I tell you, charges will be brought against this generation.’(B) 52 Woe to you lawyers, because you have taken away the key to knowledge (scriptural truth). You yourselves did not enter, and you held back those who were entering [by your flawed interpretation of God’s word and your man-made tradition].”(C)
53 When He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile [toward Him] and to interrogate Him on many subjects, 54 plotting against Him to catch Him in something He might say.
God Knows and Cares
12 In the meantime, after so many thousands of the people had gathered that they were stepping on one another, Jesus began speaking first of all to His disciples, “Be continually on your guard against the [e]leaven of the Pharisees [that is, their pervasive, corrupting influence and teaching], which is hypocrisy [producing self-righteousness]. 2 But there is nothing [so carefully] concealed that it will not be revealed, nor so hidden that it will not be made known.(D) 3 For that reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.
4 “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will point out to you whom you should fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority and power to hurl [you] into [f]hell; yes, I say to you, [stand in great awe of God and] fear Him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two [g]copper coins? Yet not one of them has [ever] been forgotten in the presence of God. 7 Indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not be afraid; you are far more valuable than many sparrows.
God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Asaph.
78 Listen, O my people, to my teaching;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth [and be willing to learn].
2
I will open my mouth in a parable [to instruct using examples];
I will utter dark and puzzling sayings of old [that contain important truth]—(A)
3
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4
We will not hide them from their children,
But [we will] tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
And [tell of] His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done.
5
For He established a testimony (a specific precept) in Jacob
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers
That they should teach to their children [the great facts of God’s transactions with Israel],
6
That the generation to come might know them, that the children still to be born
May arise and recount them to their children,
7
That they should place their confidence in God
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments,
8
And not be like their fathers—
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9
The sons of Ephraim were armed as archers and carrying bows,
Yet they turned back in the day of battle.
10
They did not keep the covenant of God
And refused to walk according to His law;
11
And they forgot His [incredible] works
And His miraculous wonders that He had shown them.
12
He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided].
13
He divided the [Red] Sea and allowed them to pass through it,
And He made the waters stand up like [water behind] a dam.(B)
14
In the daytime He led them with a cloud
And all the night with a light of fire.(C)
15
He split rocks in the wilderness
And gave them abundant [water to] drink like the ocean depths.
16
He brought streams also from the rock [at Rephidim and Kadesh]
And caused waters to run down like rivers.(D)
17
Yet they still continued to sin against Him
By rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18
And in their hearts they put God to the test
By asking for food according to their [selfish] appetite.
19
Then they spoke against God;
They said, “Can God prepare [food for] a table in the wilderness?
20
“Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out
And the streams overflowed;
Can He give bread also?
Or will He provide meat for His people?”
21
Therefore, when the Lord heard, He was full of wrath;
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
And His anger mounted up against Israel,
22
Because they did not believe in God [they did not rely on Him, they did not adhere to Him],
And they did not trust in His salvation (His power to save).
23
Yet He commanded the clouds from above
And opened the doors of heaven;
24
And He rained down manna upon them to eat
And gave them the grain of heaven.(E)
25
Man ate the bread of angels;
God sent them provision in abundance.
26
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens
And by His [unlimited] power He guided the south wind.
27
He rained meat upon them like the dust,
And winged birds (quail) like the sand of the seas.(F)
28
And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
Around their tents.
29
So they ate and were well filled,
He gave them what they craved.
30
Before they had satisfied their desire,
And while their food was in their mouths,(G)
31
The wrath of God rose against them
And killed some of the strongest of them,
And subdued the choice young men of Israel.
19
Truthful lips will be established forever,
But a lying tongue is [credited] only for a moment.
20
Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil,
But counselors of peace have joy.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.