Old/New Testament
Instructions Regarding the Tribal Nations
7 “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to possess, he will drive out many nations before you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites— seven nations who are more numerous and stronger than you. 2 So when the Lord your God delivers them to you and you have defeated them, then utterly destroy them. You are not to make any covenant with them nor be gracious to them. 3 You are not to intermarry with them. You are not to give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons, 4 because they will turn your children from me to serve other gods so that the Lord’s anger blazes against you and swiftly destroys you by fire. 5 This is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, break their pillars, cut down their ritual pillars, and burn their carved idols in fire, 6 because you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God chose you to be his people, his treasured possession from all the nations[a] on the face of the earth.”
The Lord Keeps His Covenant
7 “It wasn’t because you were more numerous than other nations[b] of the earth that the Lord committed himself to you and chose you. In fact, you were the least numerous of all the nations.[c] 8 But the Lord loved you and kept his oath that he made to your ancestors. The Lord brought you out with great power from slavery,[d] from the control of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9 Know that the Lord your God is God, the trusted God who faithfully keeps his covenant to the thousandth generation of those who love him and obey his commands. 10 But for the one who hates him, he will repay him by destroying him. He will not delay dealing with someone who hates him. 11 Therefore, keep the commands, decrees, and ordinances that I am instructing you to obey today.”
The Lord Blesses Obedience
12 “If you pay attention to these laws and obey them, then the Lord your God will continue his covenant of gracious love with you that he promised with an oath to your ancestors. 13 He’ll love you and increase your numbers. He’ll bless the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your land (the grain, new wine, and oil), the offspring of your herds, and the lambs of your flock in the land that the Lord promised your ancestors he would give you. 14 You’ll be blessed among all the nations. There’ll be no infertility among you, not even[e] among your herds. 15 The Lord will turn aside every disease from you. He won’t inflict on you the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but will inflict them instead on all who hate you. 16 You are to utterly destroy everyone whom the Lord your God will deliver to you. Don’t have pity on them nor serve their gods. Otherwise, they will become a snare for you.”
The Lord will Fight for You
17 “You may say to yourselves, ‘These nations are more numerous than we are. How can we dispossess them?’ 18 But you mustn’t fear them. Be sure to remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all of Egypt. 19 Your eyes saw the great trials, the signs and wonders, and the awesome power with which[f] the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the people whom you fear. 20 He’ll[g] send plagues against them until the survivors who hide from you have perished. 21 Don’t tremble before them, because the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. 22 He[h] slowly will dislodge these nations before you, but he won’t destroy them quickly, so the wild animals[i] won’t multiply around you. 23 But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24 He will deliver kings into your control and you are to wipe out the memory of them[j] from under heaven. No one will be able to stand before you. You are utterly to destroy them. 25 Burn the images of their gods in the fire. Desire neither the silver nor the gold that adorns them, nor take them for yourselves, so you won’t be ensnared by them, because the gold and silver[k] are detestable to the Lord your God. 26 Don’t bring any detestable thing to your house, because you yourself will be utterly destroyed along with these detestable things. You must absolutely abhor and detest all of[l] it, because it has been devoted to destruction.”
Remember the Lord’s Provisions
8 “Be careful to observe every command that I’m instructing you today, in order that you may live, increase, and enter and take possession of the land that the Lord promised by an oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way these 40 years in the desert to humble[m] and test you in order to make known what was in your heart—whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled[n] you, causing you to be hungry, yet he fed you with manna that neither you nor your ancestors had known, in order to teach you that human beings are not to live by food alone—instead human beings are to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.
4 “The clothes you wore[o] did not wear out, nor did your feet blister during these 40 years. 5 Be convinced in your heart that as a father disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 Observe the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing[p] him, 7 because the Lord your God is bringing you to a good land—a land with rivers and deep springs flowing to the valleys and hills. 8 It’s a land filled[q] with wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates. It’s a land filled[r] with olive oil and honey— 9 a land without scarcity. You’ll eat food in it and lack nothing. It’s a land where its rocks are iron and you can dig copper from its mountains.”
Remember the Source of Blessings
10 “When you have eaten and are satisfied, bless the Lord your God for the good land that he has given you. 11 Be careful! Otherwise, you will forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commands, ordinances, and statutes that I’m commanding you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you have built beautiful houses and lived in them, 13 when your cattle and oxen have multiplied, and when your silver and gold have increased, 14 then you will become arrogant. You’ll neglect the Lord your God, 15 who brought you out of the land of Egypt—from the house of slavery—and who led you through the vast and dangerous desert—that parched land without water—with its poisonous snakes and scorpions. He brought water out of solid rock for you 16 and fed you in the desert with manna that neither you nor your ancestors had known to humble and test you so that things may go well with you later. 17 You may say to yourselves, ‘I have become wealthy by my own strength and by my own ability.’[s] 18 But remember the Lord your God, because he is the one who gives you the ability to produce wealth, in order to confirm his covenant that he promised by an oath to your ancestors, as is the case today. 19 If you neglect the Lord your God, follow other gods, and serve and worship them, I testify to you today that you will certainly be destroyed. 20 Just like the nations whom the Lord destroyed before you, so will you be destroyed, because you did not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.”
When the Lord Fulfills His Promise
9 “Listen, Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and dispossess greater and mightier nations than you, who live in[t] large cities that are fortified to the sky. 2 The Anakim[u] are strong and tall, and you know them. You’ve heard it said, ‘Who can stand up against the Anakim?’[v] 3 But know today that the Lord your God is going ahead of you as a consuming fire. He will destroy and subdue them before you. He will dispossess and destroy them quickly, just as the Lord told you. 4 After the Lord has expelled them before you, you are not to say to yourselves, ‘The Lord caused me to enter and possess this land because of my righteousness.’ 5 On the contrary, it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you to confirm what the Lord promised by an oath to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 Know that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving to you this good land to inherit, since you are a stubborn people.”
Israel Broke the Covenant
7 “Remember—and don’t ever forget—how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert. From the day that you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebelling against the Lord. 8 At Horeb you continually rebelled against the Lord so that he[w] was angry enough to destroy you. 9 Then I went up to the mountain to receive the two stone Tablets of the Covenant that the Lord had established with you. I stayed on the mountain for 40 days and nights without eating food or drinking water. 10 Then the Lord gave me the two stone tablets on which God inscribed with his own finger all the words that the Lord spoke to you on the mountain from the middle of the fire that day when you were all assembled together. 11 At the end of 40 days and nights, the Lord gave to me the two stone Tablets of the Covenant.
12 “Then the Lord told me, ‘Get going! Go down from here at once! Your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned quickly from the way that I commanded them and have cast an idol for their use.’
13 “Then the Lord told me, ‘I have examined this people, and they[x] are stubborn indeed. 14 Let me alone! I will destroy them, blot out their name from heaven, and then I’ll make you into a nation that will be mighty and more numerous than they are.’
15 “So I turned and went down from the mountain while the mountain was on fire. The two Tablets of the Covenant were in both of my hands. 16 Then I saw how you had really sinned against the Lord your God! You had made for yourselves a calf—a cast idol. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord your God had commanded. 17 So I grabbed the two tablets and threw them out of my hands, breaking them before your eyes. 18 I fell down in the Lord’s presence, just as I had the first 40 days and nights. I didn’t eat food or drink water because of your sin. You had sinned by committing this evil in full view of the Lord, thereby provoking him to anger. 19 I feared the anger and wrath of the Lord against you, because he was irate enough to destroy you. But the Lord also listened to me at that time. 20 It was as had been the case with Aaron—the Lord was very angry and about to destroy him, but I prayed for Aaron at that time. 21 So when you made the calf that made you sin, I grabbed it, burned it with fire, crushed it, and ground it thoroughly until it was pulverized to powder. Then I threw the powder into the river that was flowing from the mountain.”
Moses Interceded for Israel
22 “You provoked the Lord again at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah. 23 When the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea and told you, ‘Go possess the land that I gave you,’ instead you disobeyed what the Lord your God said. You didn’t trust him or listen to his voice. 24 You have been rebelling against the Lord since the day I knew you. 25 I fell down in the Lord’s presence for 40 days and nights, because the Lord said he was ready to destroy you. 26 So I prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Oh Lord my God, don’t destroy your people and your inheritance whom you redeemed by your power.[y] You brought them out from Egypt in a powerful way. 27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Don’t pay attention to the stubbornness, wickedness, and sinfulness of this people. 28 Otherwise, the people of the land from which you brought us will say, “The Lord wasn’t able to bring them into the land that he had promised them. So he brought them out to kill them in the desert because he hated them.” 29 But they are your people and inheritance, whom you brought out by your mighty strength[z] and awesome power.’”
19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples[a] would leave the city.
The Lesson from the Dried Fig Tree(A)
20 While they were walking along early the next morning, they saw the fig tree dried up to its roots. 21 Remembering what Jesus had said,[b] Peter pointed out to him, “Rabbi,[c] look! The fig tree you cursed has dried up!”
22 Jesus told his disciples,[d] “Have faith in God! 23 I tell all of you[e] with certainty, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ if he doesn’t doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 That is why I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received[f] it and it will be yours.
25 “Whenever you stand up to pray, forgive whatever you have against anyone, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins. 26 But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.”[g]
Jesus’ Authority is Challenged(B)
27 Then they went into Jerusalem again. While Jesus[h] was walking in the Temple, the high priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him 28 and asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority to do them?”
29 Jesus told them, “I’ll ask you one question.[i] Answer me, and then I’ll tell you by what authority I’m doing these things. 30 Was John’s authority to baptize[j] from heaven or from humans? Answer me.”
31 They began discussing this among themselves. “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he’ll say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From humans’…?” They were afraid of the crowd, because everyone really thought John was a prophet.
33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Then Jesus told them, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I’m doing these things.”
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