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Moses’ Third Address
Chapter 29
Recalling Past Blessings. 1 Moses summoned all of the Israelites and said to them, You have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord did for you in Egypt, to Pharaoh and to his officials and to the entire land. 2 With your own eyes you have seen those great trials, the miraculous signs, and great wonders, 3 [a]but until now the Lord has not yet given you a heart that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear. 4 During the forty years that I led you in the desert, your clothes did nor tatter, nor did the sandals on your feet wear out. 5 You ate no bread and drank no wine or strong drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord, your God. 6 When you reached this place, Sihon, the king of Heshbon, and Og, the king of Bashan, came out to fight against us, but we defeated them. 7 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh.
Exhortation To Be Faithful. 8 Therefore, carefully heed the words of this covenant and observe them, so that you might prosper in all that you do. 9 Today all of you are standing before the Lord, your God: the leaders of your tribes and your elders, your chief men and all of the men of Israel 10 together with your little ones, your wives, as well as the foreigners who live in your camp and who cut your firewood and draw your water. 11 You are entering into a covenant with the Lord, your God, and into his oath that the Lord, your God, is making with you today. 12 Today he is making you his people so that he might be your God, as he promised you and swore under oath with your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 13 I am not making this covenant, this oath, only with you 14 who are standing here with us before the Lord, your God, but also with those who are not here today. 15 You know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we passed through various nations on the way here. 16 You saw their abominations in their midst, idols of wood and stone, silver and gold. 17 Make sure that there is no man, nor woman, nor clan, nor tribe whose heart turns away from the Lord, our God, today to go and serve the gods of these nations; make sure there is no root among you that bears bitterness or wormwood. 18 Let no one who hears this curse bless himself in his heart saying, “I have peace in my heart because of the cleverness of my thoughts,” as though he could sweep away both watered and dry soil.[b] 19 The Lord will not forgive, for his wrath and his zeal will burn out against that man. All the curses that are written in this book will descend upon him, and the Lord will blot his name from under the heavens. 20 The Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, all of the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law.
21 Punishment for Unfaithfulness. Your descendants in later generations and foreigners from distant lands will see all of the carnage that has come upon the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it. 22 The whole land will be a burning waste of brimstone and salt. Nothing will be planted there, nothing will sprout up, no vegetation will grow there. It will be like the destruction of Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim which the Lord destroyed in his anger and his wrath.
23 All the nations will ask, “Why has the Lord done these things to this land? Why this furious, terrible anger?” 24 The answer will be, “Because they have forsaken their covenant with the Lord, the God of their fathers, that he made with them when he brought them up out of the land of Egypt. 25 They went off and served other gods, worshiping gods that they did not know, gods that he had not given to them. 26 Therefore, the Lord’s anger raged against this land, bringing down upon it all the curses that are written in this book. 27 In anger and wrath the Lord uprooted them out of the land; with great indignation he cast them out into another land where they still are today.” 28 To the Lord, our God, belongs the mystery,[c] but these things have been revealed to us and to our children so that we may observe all of the words of this law.
Chapter 30
God’s Forgiveness and Blessing. 1 When all of these blessings and curses come upon you that I have set before you and you call them to mind wherever you are dispersed among all of the nations, 2 and you and your children return to the Lord, your God, and you obey his voice in all that I command you today with all your heart and all your soul, 3 then the Lord, your God, will have compassion on you in your captivity, and he will bring you back, gathering you from all the nations where the Lord, your God, has scattered you. 4 The Lord, your God, will gather and fetch you back, even if your exiles are in the outermost parts of the heavens. 5 The Lord, your God, will bring you into the land that your ancestors possessed so that you might possess it, and he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors. 6 The Lord, your God, will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your offspring so that you might love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, and that you might live. 7 The Lord, your God, will cause all of these curses to come upon your enemies and those who hated and persecuted you. 8 You shall once again obey the voice of the Lord and observe all of his commandments that I have given you today. 9 The Lord, your God, will make you bountiful in all of your undertakings, your offspring, your livestock, and the produce from your land; the Lord will take as much delight in bringing you prosperity as the Lord delighted in your fathers 10 if you obey the voice of the Lord and observe his commandments and his statutes that are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the Lord, your God, with your whole heart and your whole soul.
11 [d]This commandment that I give you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too distant from you. 12 It is not in the heavens that you should say, “Who will go up into the heavens to bring it down to us so that we might hear it and observe it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea that you should say, “Who will cross over the sea to bring it to us so that we might hear it and observe it?” 14 No, the word is very near to you, it is in your heart and in your mouth, so that you might do it.
15 Israel’s Choice. See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil. 16 If you obey the command that I give you today, to love the Lord, your God, and to walk in his ways, and to observe his commandments, statutes, and decrees, then you will live and multiply, and the Lord, your God, will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.
17 But if your hearts turn away so that you will not listen, and you are drawn away to worship other gods and to serve them, 18 then, as I swear to you today, you will surely perish. You will not live a long time in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to enter and to possess.
19 I call upon the heavens and the earth to witness today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life, so that you and your descendants might live 20 loving the Lord, your God, obeying his voice, and holding on to him, for he is life and length of days to you, and so that you might dwell in the land that the Lord promised to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
37 Woe to the Scribes and Pharisees.[a] When he had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to dine at his house. He went in and took his place at table. 38 The Pharisee was surprised to see that he had not first washed[b] before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees cleanse the outside of a cup and dish, but you leave the inside full of greed and wickedness. 40 You fools! Did not the one who made the outside also make the inside? 41 Let what is inside be given as alms to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.
42 “Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes[c] of mint and rue and every garden herb, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced these without neglecting the others.
43 “Woe to you Pharisees! You love to have the best seats in synagogues and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces.
44 “Woe to you! For you are like unmarked graves[d] upon which people tread without realizing it.”
45 On hearing this, one of the lawyers said, “Teacher when you say such things you are insulting us too.” 46 He replied, “Woe also to you lawyers! For you impose burdens on people that are difficult to bear, but you yourselves do not lift a finger to be of assistance.
47 “Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the Prophets whom your ancestors murdered. 48 By acting in this way you bear witness to and approve of what your ancestors did. They killed the Prophets, and you build their tombs.
49 “That is why the Wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them Prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that this generation may be charged with the responsibility 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[e] who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, this generation will have to answer for it all.
52 “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter, and you blocked those from entering who were trying to go in.”
53 When he left the house, the scribes and the Pharisees were extremely hostile and they began to interrogate him about many things, 54 hoping to trap him in something he might say in reply.
Chapter 12
The Yeast of the Pharisees.[f] 1 Meanwhile a crowd of many thousands of people had gathered, and they were so tightly packed together that they were trampling on each other. Then Jesus began to speak, saying first to his disciples: “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees—which is their hypocrisy. 2 There is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing secret that will not become known. 3 Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops.
Courage in Time of Persecution. 4 “I tell you, my friends, have no fear of those who kill the body and after that can do nothing further. 5 But I will tell you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who, after he has killed, has the authority to cast into Gehenna. I tell you, fear him!
6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And yet not one of them is forgotten in God’s sight. 7 Even the hairs on your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth far more than any number of sparrows.
Psalm 78[a]
God’s Goodness in the Face of Ingratitude
1 A maskil[b] of Asaph.
[c]Give ear, my people, to my teaching;
pay attention to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in parables[d]
and expound the mysteries of the past.
3 [e]These things we have heard and know,
for our ancestors have related them to us.
4 We will not conceal them from our children;
we will relate them to the next generation,
the glorious and powerful deeds of the Lord
and the wonders he has performed.
5 He instituted a decree in Jacob
and established a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to make known to their descendants,
6 so that they would be known to future generations,
to children yet to be born.
In turn they were to tell their children,
7 so that they would place their trust in God,
and never forget his works
but keep his commandments.
8 Nor were they to imitate their ancestors,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart[f] was not steadfast
and whose spirit was unfaithful to God.
9 [g]The Ephraimites, who were skilled archers,
fled in terror on the day of battle.[h]
10 They failed to keep God’s covenant
and refused to live in accord with his law.
11 They forgot the works he had done,
the wonders he had performed for them.
12 He worked marvels in the sight of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt, in the Plain of Zoan.[i]
13 He divided the sea so that they could pass,
heaping up the waters as a mound.
14 He led them with a cloud by day,
and with the light of a fire by night.
15 He split open rocks in the wilderness
and gave them water to drink from limitless depths.
16 He brought forth streams from a rocky crag
and caused water to flow down in torrents.
17 [j]But they still sinned[k] against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
18 They tested God’s patience
by demanding the food they craved.[l]
19 They railed against God, saying:
“Can God provide a banquet in the wilderness?
20 Certainly when he struck the rock,
water gushed forth and the streams overflowed.
But can he also give us bread
or provide meat for his people?”[m]
21 When the Lord heard this, he was filled with anger;
his fire blazed forth against Jacob,
and his wrath mounted against Israel,
22 because they had no faith in God
and put no trust in his saving might.
23 Yet he issued a command to the skies above
and opened the doors of the heavens.
24 He rained down manna for them to eat,
giving them the grain of heaven.
25 Mere mortals ate the bread of angels;[n]
he sent them an abundance of provisions.
26 He made the east wind blow in the heavens
and brought forth the south wind in force.
27 He rained down meat upon them like dust,
winged birds like the sands on the seashore.
28 He let them fall within the camp,
all around their tents.
29 They ate and were completely satisfied,
for he had given them what they desired.
30 But when they did not curb their cravings,
even while the food was in their mouths,
31 the anger of God blazed up against them;
he slew their strongest warriors
and laid low the chosen of Israel.
19 Truthful speech endures forever,
but deceitful lies last only for a moment.[a]
20 Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil,
but those who counsel peace have joy.
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