Old/New Testament

Good Comes to Those Who Return to the Lord

30 “When all these things have come upon you, the good things and the curses which I have told you about, you will remember them in all the nations where the Lord your God has sent you. ² When you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul by all I have told you today, ³ then the Lord your God will have you return from where you were held. He will have loving-pity for you. He will gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has sent you. ⁴ Even if you are driven to the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. ⁵ The Lord your God will bring you into the land your fathers lived in and it will be yours. He will bring good to you and make you more in number than your fathers. ⁶ The Lord your God will take away the sin from your heart and from the heart of your children. You will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so you may live. ⁷ Then the Lord your God will send all these curses upon those who hate you and upon those who made it hard for you. ⁸ You will obey the Lord again, and keep all His Laws which I tell you today. ⁹ And the Lord your God will bring much good upon all the work you do, and upon your children, and the young of your cattle, and the food of your field. For the Lord will again be happy to bring good to you, just as He was happy with your fathers. ¹⁰ But you must obey the Lord your God to keep His Laws which are written in this book of the Law. You must turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.

Life or Death

¹¹ “For this Law I give you today is not too hard for you, or too far from you. ¹² It is not in heaven. You do not need to say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and bring it down to make us hear it, so we may obey it?’ ¹³ It is not farther than the sea. You do not need to say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and bring it to us to make us hear it, so we may obey it?’ ¹⁴ But the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.

¹⁵ “See, I have put in front of you today life and what is good, and death and what is bad. ¹⁶ I tell you today to love the Lord your God. Walk in His ways. Keep all His Laws and all that He has decided. Then you will live and become many. And the Lord your God will bring good to you in the land you are going in to take. ¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but leave to worship other gods and serve them, ¹⁸ I tell you today that you will die for sure. You will not live long in that land across the Jordan which you are about to take for your own. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to speak against you today. I have put in front of you life and death, the good and the curse. So choose life so you and your children after you may live. ²⁰ Love the Lord your God and obey His voice. Hold on to Him. For He is your life, and by Him your days will be long. You will be allowed to live in the land the Lord promised to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

Joshua Is the New Leader

31 Then Moses spoke these words to all Israel. ² He said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to come and go. And the Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross this Jordan.’ ³ The Lord your God Himself will cross before you. He will destroy these nations in front of you. And you will take their place. Joshua will cross before you also, as the Lord has said. ⁴ The Lord will do the same to them that He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land when He destroyed them. ⁵ The Lord will give them to you. Then you will do to them as I have told you. ⁶ Be strong and have strength of heart. Do not be afraid or shake with fear because of them. For the Lord your God is the One Who goes with you. He will be faithful to you. He will not leave you alone.”

⁷ Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in front of all Israel, “Be strong and have strength of heart. For you will go with this people into the land the Lord has promised to their fathers to give them. And you will bring them in to take it. ⁸ The Lord is the One Who goes before you. He will be with you. He will be faithful to you and will not leave you alone. Do not be afraid or troubled.”

Reading of the Law Every Seven Years

⁹ So Moses wrote this Law and gave it to the religious leaders, the sons of Levi who carried the special box of the Law of the Lord, and to all the leaders of Israel. ¹⁰ Then Moses told them, “At the end of every seven years, at the time when money owed is done away with at the Special Supper of Tents, ¹¹ when all Israel comes to stand before the Lord your God at the place He will choose, you must read this Law so all Israel will hear it. ¹² Gather together the people in your town, the men and the women, the children, and the stranger. So they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God. Be careful to obey all the words of this Law. ¹³ Then their children, who have not known it, will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to take.”

The Lord’s Last Words to Moses

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “See, the time for you to die is near. Call Joshua, and go to the meeting tent, so I may tell him what to do.” So Moses and Joshua went to the meeting tent. ¹⁵ The Lord showed Himself in a pillar of cloud which stayed at the door of the tent. ¹⁶ And the Lord said to Moses, “See, you will soon die and be with your fathers. Then these people will soon act like a woman who sells the use of her body. They will follow the strange gods of the land where they are going. They will turn away from Me and break My agreement which I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then My anger will burn against them. I will leave them alone and hide My face from them and they will be destroyed. Many hard things and big troubles will come upon them. So they will say in that day, ‘Have not these troubles come upon us because our God is not with us?’ ¹⁸ But I will hide My face in that day because of all the sinful things they will do, for they will turn to other gods. ¹⁹ So write this song for yourselves. Teach it to the people of Israel. Put it on their lips, so this song may speak for Me against all the people of Israel. ²⁰ For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I promised to their fathers, and they eat and are filled and have become rich, they will turn to other gods and serve them. They will turn against Me and break My agreement. ²¹ When many hard things and big troubles come upon them, this song will speak for Me against them. It will not be forgotten from the lips of their children and their children’s children. I know the plans they are making today, before I have brought them into the land I promised them.” ²² So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the people of Israel.

²³ Then the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, “Be strong and have strength of heart. For you will bring the people of Israel into the land I promised them. And I will be with you.”

²⁴ Moses wrote the words of this Law in a book from beginning to the end. ²⁵ Then Moses said to the Levites who carried the special box of the Law of the Lord, ²⁶ “Take this book of the Law and put it beside the special box of the Law of the Lord your God. It will be there to speak against you. ²⁷ For I know how strong your will is and that you do not want to obey. See, while I am still alive with you today, you have gone against the Lord. How much worse it will be after my death! ²⁸ Gather together and bring to me all the leaders and heads of your families. I will speak these words to them and call heaven and earth to speak against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will sin and turn from the way I have told you. Much trouble will come to you in the days to come. For you will do what is sinful in the eyes of the Lord. You will make Him angry through the work of your hands.”

³⁰ Then Moses spoke all the words of this song to all the people of Israel.

Jesus Before Pilate ^(A)

15 Early in the morning the head religious leaders of the Jews and other leaders and the teachers of the Law and all the court gathered together to talk about Jesus. Then they tied up Jesus and led Him away. They handed Him over to Pilate. ² Pilate asked Jesus, “Are You the King of the Jews?” He said to Pilate, “What you say is true.”

³ The religious leaders spoke many things against Him. Jesus did not say a word. ⁴ Pilate asked Him again, “Have You nothing to say? Listen to the things they are saying against You!” ⁵ Jesus did not say a word. Pilate was much surprised and wondered about it.

Jesus or Barabbas Is to Go Free ^(B)

⁶ Each year at the special supper Pilate would let one person who was in prison go free. It would be the one the people asked for. ⁷ The name of one of those in prison was Barabbas. He, together with others, had killed people while working against the leaders of the country. ⁸ All the people went to Pilate and asked him to do as he had done before. ⁹ Pilate said, “Do you want me to let the King of the Jews go free?” ¹⁰ He knew the religious leaders had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous. ¹¹ The religious leaders talked the people into thinking that Pilate should let Barabbas go free. ¹² Pilate said to them again, “What do you want me to do with the Man you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ They spoke with loud voices again, “Nail Him to a cross.” ¹⁴ Then Pilate said to them, “Why? What bad thing has He done?” They spoke with loud voices all the more, “Nail Him to a cross!”

The Crown of Thorns ^(C)

¹⁵ Pilate wanted to please the people. He gave Barabbas to them and had Jesus beaten. Then he handed Him over to be nailed to a cross. ¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away to a large room in the court. They called all the soldiers together. ¹⁷ The soldiers put a purple coat on Him. They put a crown of thorns on His head, ¹⁸ and said to Him, “Hello, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ They hit Him on the head with a stick and spit on Him. They got down on their knees and worshiped Him. ²⁰ After they had made fun of Him, they took the purple coat off of Him and put His own clothes back on Him. Then they led Him away to be nailed to a cross.

²¹ They came to a man called Simon who was coming from the country of Cyrene. He was the father of Alexander and Rufus. They made Simon carry the cross of Jesus.

Jesus on the Cross ^(D)

²² They led Jesus to a place called Golgotha. This name means the place of the skull. ²³ They gave Him wine with something in it to take away the pain, but He would not drink it. ²⁴ When they had nailed Jesus to the cross, they divided His clothes by drawing names to see what each man should take. ²⁵ It was about nine o’clock in the morning when they nailed Him to the cross.