Old/New Testament
Two New Tablets
10 “At that time Adonai said to me, ‘Carve for yourself two tablets of stone like the first ones and come up to Me on the mountain. Make yourself an ark of wood. 2 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you smashed, and you are to put them in the ark.’
3 “So I made an ark of acacia wood, cut two tablets of stone like the first ones, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. 4 Like the first inscription, Adonai wrote on the tablets the Ten Words He had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly, then gave them to me. 5 Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made—and there they are, just as Adonai commanded me.
6 “(Bnei-Yisrael traveled from the wells of the sons of Jaakan to Moserah—there Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar served as kohen in his place. 7 From there they journeyed to Gudgod, and from Gudgod to Jotbah—a land of wadis flowing with water. 8 At that time Adonai set the tribe of Levi apart to carry the Ark of the Covenant of Adonai, to stand before Adonai to serve Him and to pronounce blessings in His Name—as is the case to this day. 9 Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers—Adonai is his inheritance, just as Adonai your God had promised about him.)
10 “I stayed on the mountain like the first time—40 days and 40 nights. Adonai listened to me that time also and was not willing to destroy you. 11 Adonai said to me, ‘Rise up, go, journey ahead of the people so that they may go in and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them.’
12 “So now, O Israel, what does Adonai your God require of you, but to fear Adonai your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 to keep the mitzvot of Adonai and His statutes that I am commanding you today, for your own good? 14 Behold, to Adonai your God belong the heavens and the highest of heavens, the earth and all that is in it. 15 Only on your fathers did Adonai set His affection to love them, and He chose their descendants after them—you—from all the peoples, as is the case this day.
Circumcise Your Hearts
16 “Circumcise the foreskin of your heart therefore, and do not be stiff-necked anymore. 17 For Adonai your God is God of gods and Lord of lords[a]—the great, mighty and awesome God, who does not show partiality or take a bribe. 18 He enacts justice for the orphan and widow, and loves the outsider, giving him food and clothing. 19 Therefore love the outsider, for you were outsiders in the land of Egypt. 20 Adonai your God you will fear—Him will you serve. To Him will you cling, and by His Name will you swear. 21 He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your eyes have seen. 22 Your fathers went down to Egypt with 70 persons, and now Adonai your God has made you like the stars of the heavens in number.
Love and Obey with All Your Heart
11 “Therefore you are to love Adonai your God and keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances and His mitzvot at all times. 2 And you should know this day that it was not your children who knew or saw the discipline of Adonai your God—His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm; 3 His signs and the deeds He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to all his land; 4 and what He did to the army of Egypt, to its horses and chariots when He made the waters of the Sea of Reeds flow over them as they chased after you, and how Adonai has destroyed them to this day; 5 what He did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place; 6 and what He did to Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab son of Reuben—how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households and tents and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel— 7 Rather, it is your own eyes that have seen every mighty deed that Adonai has done.
8 “Therefore you are to keep the whole mitzvah that I am commanding you today, so that you may be strong and go in and possess the land that you are crossing over to possess, 9 and so that you may prolong your days on the land that Adonai swore to give to your fathers and to their descendants—a land flowing with milk and honey.
10 “For the land you are going in to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you came. There you planted your seed and watered it by foot, like a vegetable garden. 11 But the land you are crossing over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, drinking from the rain of the heavens it drinks in water. 12 It is a land that Adonai your God cares for—the eyes of Adonai your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year up to the end of the year.
13 “Now if you listen obediently to My mitzvot that I am commanding you today—to love Adonai your God and to serve Him with all your heart and soul— 14 then I will give rain for your land in its season—the early rain and the late rain[b]—so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. 15 I will give grass in your field for your livestock, and you will eat and be satisfied. 16 Watch yourselves, so your heart is not deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them. 17 Then the anger of Adonai will be kindled against you, so He will shut up the sky so that there will be no rain and the soil will not yield its produce. Then you will perish quickly from the good land Adonai is giving you.
18 “Therefore you are to set these words of Mine in your heart and in your soul. You are to bind them as a sign on your hand, and as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You are to teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. 20 You are to write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied on the land Adonai swore to give to your fathers, as long as the heavens are above the earth.
22 “For if you will diligently keep all this mitzvah that I am commanding you to do—to love Adonai your God, to walk in all His ways and to cling to Him— 23 then Adonai will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. 24 Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours—from the wilderness to the Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea will be your border. 25 No one will be able to stand against you—Adonai your God will put the fear and dread of you upon all the land where you tread, just as He has promised you.
Parashat Re’eh
Blessing or Curse Set Before You
26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— 27 the blessing, if you listen to the mitzvot of Adonai your God that I am commanding you today, 28 but the curse, if you do not listen to the mitzvot of Adonai your God, but turn from the way I am commanding you today, to go after other gods you have not known. 29 Now when Adonai your God brings you into the land you are going in to possess, you are to set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. 30 Are they not across the Jordan toward the west, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Arabah—opposite Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? 31 For you are about to cross over the Jordan to go in to possess the land Adonai your God is giving you—you will possess it and dwell in it, 32 and you will take care to do all the statutes and ordinances that I am setting before you today.
The Place He Chooses
12 “These are the statutes and ordinances that you are to make sure to do in the land that Adonai, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess—all the days that you live on the earth. 2 You must utterly destroy all the places where the nations that you will dispossess served their gods—on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 You are to tear down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their Asherah poles in the fire and cut down the carved images of their gods, and you are to obliterate their name from that place.
4 “You are not to act like this toward Adonai your God. 5 Rather you are to seek only the place Adonai your God chooses from all your tribes to put His Name to dwell—there you will come. 6 There you are to bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes, the offering of your hand, your vow and freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7 There you and your households will eat before Adonai your God and rejoice in every undertaking of your hand, as Adonai your God has blessed you. 8 You will not do all the things as we are doing here today—everyone doing what is right in his own eyes. 9 For you have not yet come to the resting place and the inheritance that Adonai your God is giving you. 10 But when you cross over the Jordan and settle in the land that Adonai your God enables you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies around you, you will dwell in safety.
11 “Then the place Adonai your God chooses to make His Name dwell, there you are to bring all that I command you—your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes, the offering of your hand, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to Adonai. 12 Then you will rejoice before Adonai your God—you and your sons and daughters, your slaves and maids, and the Levite in your towns, for he has no portion or inheritance among you. 13 Be careful that you do not offer your burnt offerings in any place you see. 14 Rather do so only in the place Adonai chooses in one of your tribes—there you are to offer your burnt offerings, and there you are to do all I am commanding you.
15 “However, you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates—whatever your soul’s desire, according to the blessing Adonai your God has given you. Either the unclean or clean may eat of it, as they would a gazelle and or deer. 16 But you are not to eat the blood—you are to pour it out on the ground like water. 17 You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your grain or new wine or oil, or the firstborn of your herd or of your flock, or any of your vow offerings that you vow, or your freewill offerings, or the offering of your hand. 18 Rather you are to eat them before Adonai your God in the place Adonai your God chooses—you, your son and daughter, your slave and maid, and the Levite within your gates—and you will rejoice before Adonai your God in every undertaking of your hand. 19 Be careful that you do not neglect the Levite as long as you live on the earth.
20 “When Adonai your God enlarges your territory as He has promised you, and you say, ‘I want to eat meat,’ because your soul craves meat, then you may eat meat—all your soul’s desire. 21 If the place Adonai your God chooses to put His Name is too far from you, then you may slaughter any of your herd and flock that Adonai has given you—as I have commanded you—and you may eat within your gates, all your soul’s desire. 22 Just as the gazelle or hart is eaten, so you may eat it—the unclean and clean alike may eat it. 23 Only be sure that you do not eat the blood—for the blood is the life,[c] and you are not to eat the life with the meat. 24 You are not to eat it—you are to pour it out on the ground like water. 25 You are not to eat it, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you do what is right in Adonai’s eyes.
26 “Only the holy things and vow offerings that are yours are you to take and go to the place that Adonai chooses. 27 You are to offer your burnt offerings—the flesh and the blood—on the altar of Adonai your God. The blood of your sacrifices is to be poured out on the altar of Adonai your God, but the meat you are to eat. 28 Take care and listen to all these words that I am commanding you, so that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the eyes of Adonai your God.
29 “When Adonai your God cuts off before you the nations that you are going in to dispossess, when you have dispossessed them and settled in their land, 30 be careful not to be trapped into imitating them after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods? I will do the same.’ 31 You are not to act like this toward Adonai your God! For every abomination of Adonai, which He hates, they have done to their gods—they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.
Taking the Kingdom by Force
12 Yeshua began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a tower. He leased it to some tenant farmers and went on a journey. 2 And at the season, he sent a servant to collect from the tenants part of the vineyard’s fruit. 3 But grabbing him, they beat him up and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again the man sent another servant to them, and they wounded his head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent another, and that one they killed; and so on with many others, beating some and killing some. 6 He had yet one, a well-loved son. He sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 “But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir! Come on, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’ 8 So grabbing the son, they killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 “What then will the master of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this Scripture?
‘The stone which the builders rejected,
this has become the chief cornerstone.
11 This came from Adonai,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.’”[a]
12 They were trying to seize Yeshua, because they realized that He spoke the parable against them. But they feared the crowd, so they left Him and went away.
A Test of Loyalty
13 Then they send some of the Pharisees and Herodians to Yeshua in order to trap Him with a word. 14 They come and say to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are honest, and what others think doesn’t concern You. You don’t look at men’s appearance, but teach the way of God according to the truth. Is it permitted to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15 Should we pay, or shouldn’t we?”
But Yeshua saw through their hypocrisy and said to them, “Why are you testing Me? Bring Me a denarius so I may see it.”
16 They brought one. And He said to them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”
“Caesar’s,” they said to Him.
17 Then Yeshua said to them, “Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were completely amazed at Him.
The Challenge of the Sadducees
18 Then Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came and began questioning Yeshua, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that ‘if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, then his brother should take the widow and father children for his brother.’ [b] 20 There were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and, when he died, left no offspring. 21 And the second took her and died, leaving no offspring, and the third likewise. 22 Now the seven left no offspring. Last of all, the woman died, too. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise up, whose wife will she be? For all seven had married her.”
24 Yeshua said to them, “Isn’t this the reason you’ve gone astray, because you don’t understand the Scriptures or the power of God? 25 For when they rise up from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 But concerning the dead being raised, haven’t you read in the book of Moses about the burning bush? How God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? [c] 27 He’s not the God of the dead, but of the living. You have gone far astray!”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.