Old/New Testament
Chapter 10
1 (A)At that time the Lord said to me, Cut two stone tablets like the first ones(B) and come up the mountain to me. Also make an ark out of wood. 2 I will write upon the tablets the words that were on the tablets that you broke, and you shall place them in the ark. 3 So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand.(C) 4 (D)The Lord then wrote on the tablets, as he had written before, the ten words[a] that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me. 5 Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and placed the tablets in the ark I had made.(E) There they have remained, as the Lord commanded me.
6 (F)The Israelites set out from Beeroth Bene-jaakan for Moserah; Aaron died there and was buried. His son Eleazar succeeded him as priest.(G) 7 From there they set out for Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah for Jotbathah, a region where there is water in the wadies. 8 At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord,(H) to stand before the Lord to minister to him, and to bless in his name, as they have done to this day. 9 For this reason, Levi has no hereditary portion with his relatives;(I) the Lord himself is his portion, as the Lord, your God, promised him.
10 Meanwhile I stayed on the mountain as I did before, forty days and forty nights, and once again the Lord listened to me. The Lord was unwilling to destroy you. 11 The Lord said to me, Go now and set out at the head of the people,(J) that they may enter in and possess the land that I swore to their ancestors I would give them.
The Lord’s Majesty and Compassion. 12 (K)Now, therefore, Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you but to fear the Lord, your God, to follow in all his ways, to love and serve the Lord, your God, with your whole heart and with your whole being,(L) 13 to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord that I am commanding you today for your own well-being?(M) 14 Look, the heavens, even the highest heavens, belong to the Lord, your God, as well as the earth and everything on it.(N) 15 Yet only on your ancestors did the Lord set his heart to love them. He chose you, their descendants, from all the peoples, as it is today.(O) 16 Circumcise therefore the foreskins of your hearts,[b] and be stiff-necked no longer. 17 For the Lord, your God, is the God of gods, the Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who has no favorites, accepts no bribes,(P) 18 who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and loves the resident alien, giving them food and clothing.(Q) 19 So you too should love the resident alien, for that is what you were in the land of Egypt.(R) 20 The Lord, your God, shall you fear, and him shall you serve; to him hold fast and by his name shall you swear.(S) 21 He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you those great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.(T) 22 Seventy strong your ancestors went down to Egypt,(U) and now the Lord, your God, has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.
Chapter 11
Recalling the Wonders of the Lord. 1 Love the Lord, your God, therefore, and keep his charge, statutes, ordinances, and commandments always.(V) 2 Recall today that it was not your children, who have neither known nor seen the discipline of the Lord, your God—his greatness, his strong hand and outstretched arm;(W) 3 the signs and deeds he wrought in the midst of Egypt, on Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and on all his land;(X) 4 what he did to the Egyptian army and to their horses and chariots, engulfing them in the waters of the Red Sea[c] as they pursued you,(Y) so that the Lord destroyed them even to this day; 5 what he did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place; 6 and what he did to the Reubenites Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up out of the midst of Israel, with their families and tents and every living thing that belonged to them—(Z) 7 but it was you who saw with your own eyes all these great deeds that the Lord has done.
The Gift of Rain. 8 (AA)So keep all the commandments I give you today, that you may be strong enough to enter in and take possession of the land that you are crossing over to possess, 9 and that you may have long life on the land which the Lord swore to your ancestors he would give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 The land you are to enter and possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you would sow your seed and then water it by hand,[d] as in a vegetable garden. 11 (AB)No, the land into which you are crossing to take possession is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks in rain from the heavens, 12 a land which the Lord, your God, looks after; the eyes of the Lord, your God, are upon it continually through the year, from beginning to end.
13 [e](AC)If, then, you truly listen to my commandments which I give you today, loving and serving the Lord, your God, with your whole heart and your whole being, 14 I will give the seasonal rain to your land, the early rain[f] and the late rain, that you may have your grain, wine and oil to gather in; 15 and I will bring forth grass in your fields for your animals. Thus you may eat and be satisfied. 16 (AD)But be careful lest your heart be so lured away that you serve other gods and bow down to them.(AE) 17 For then the anger of the Lord will flare up against you and he will close up the heavens, so that no rain will fall, and the soil will not yield its crops, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you.
Need for Fidelity. 18 (AF)Therefore, take these words of mine into your heart and soul. Bind them on your arm as a sign, and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. 19 Teach them to your children, speaking of them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up, 20 and write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates, 21 so that, as long as the heavens are above the earth, you and your children may live on in the land which the Lord swore to your ancestors he would give them.
22 (AG)For if you are careful to observe this entire commandment I am giving you, loving the Lord, your God, following his ways exactly, and holding fast to him, 23 the Lord will dispossess all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves. 24 (AH)Every place where you set foot shall be yours: from the wilderness and the Lebanon, from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea,[g] shall be your territory. 25 None shall stand up against you; the Lord, your God, will spread the fear and dread of you through any land where you set foot, as he promised you.(AI)
Blessing and Curse. 26 (AJ)See, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: 27 a blessing for obeying the commandments of the Lord, your God, which I give you today; 28 a curse if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord, your God, but turn aside from the way I command you today, to go after other gods, whom you do not know.(AK) 29 When the Lord, your God, brings you into the land which you are to enter and possess, then on Mount Gerizim you shall pronounce the blessing,(AL) on Mount Ebal, the curse.[h] 30 (These are beyond the Jordan, on the other side of the western road in the land of the Canaanites who live in the Arabah, opposite Gilgal beside the oak of Moreh.)(AM) 31 Now you are about to cross the Jordan to enter and possess the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you. When, therefore, you take possession of it and settle there, 32 be careful to observe all the statutes and ordinances that I set before you today.
B. The Deuteronomic Code
Chapter 12
One Center of Worship. 1 These are the statutes and ordinances which you must be careful to observe in the land which the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess, throughout the time you live on its soil.(AN) 2 (AO)Destroy entirely all the places where the nations you are to dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.(AP) 3 Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their asherahs, and chop down the idols of their gods, that you may destroy the very name of them from that place.
4 That is not how you are to act toward the Lord, your God. 5 Instead,(AQ) you shall seek out the place which the Lord, your God, chooses out of all your tribes and designates as his dwelling to put his name there.[i](AR) There you shall go, 6 bringing your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and personal contributions, your votive and voluntary offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks.(AS) 7 There, too, in the presence of the Lord, your God, you and your families shall eat and rejoice in all your undertakings, in which the Lord, your God, has blessed you.(AT)
8 You shall not do as we are doing here today, everyone doing what is right in their own sight,(AU) 9 since you have not yet reached your resting place, the heritage which the Lord, your God, is giving you. 10 But after you have crossed the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you as a heritage, when he has given you rest from all your enemies round about and you live there in security,(AV) 11 [j](AW)then to the place which the Lord, your God, chooses as the dwelling place for his name you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and personal contributions, and every special offering you have vowed to the Lord. 12 You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord, your God, with your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, as well as with the Levite within your gates, who has no hereditary portion with you.
13 (AX)Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings in any place you like, 14 but offer them in the place which the Lord chooses in one of your tribal territories; there you shall do what I command you.
Profane and Sacred Slaughter. 15 [k]However, in any of your communities you may slaughter and eat meat freely, according to the blessing that the Lord, your God, has given you; the unclean as well as the clean may eat it, as they do the gazelle or the deer.(AY) 16 [l]Only, you shall not eat of the blood, but must pour it out on the ground like water.(AZ) 17 Moreover, you may not, in your own communities, partake of your tithe of grain or wine or oil, of the firstborn of your herd or flock, of any offering you have vowed, of your voluntary offerings, or of your personal contributions. 18 These you must eat in the presence of the Lord, your God, in the place that the Lord, your God, chooses, along with your son and daughter, your male and female slave, and the Levite within your gates; and there, in the presence of the Lord, you shall rejoice in all your undertakings. 19 Be careful, also, that you do not neglect the Levite as long as you live in your land.(BA)
20 (BB)After the Lord, your God, has enlarged your territory, as he promised you,(BC) and you think, “I will eat meat,” as it is your desire to eat meat, you may eat it freely; 21 and if the place where the Lord, your God, chooses to put his name is too far, you may slaughter in the manner I have commanded you any of your herd or flock that the Lord has given you, and eat it freely in your own community. 22 You may eat it as you would the gazelle or the deer: the unclean and the clean eating it together. 23 (BD)But make sure that you do not eat of the blood; for blood is life; you shall not eat that life with the flesh. 24 Do not eat of the blood, therefore, but pour it out on the ground like water. 25 Do not eat of it, that you and your children after you may prosper for doing what is right in the sight of the Lord. 26 However, any sacred gifts or votive offerings that you may have, you shall bring with you to the place which the Lord chooses, 27 and there you must sacrifice your burnt offerings, both the flesh and the blood, on the altar of the Lord, your God; of your other sacrifices the blood indeed must be poured out against the altar of the Lord, your God,(BE) but their flesh you may eat.
28 Be careful to heed all these words I command you today, that you and your descendants after you may forever prosper for doing what is good and right in the sight of the Lord, your God.(BF)
Warning Against Abominable Practices. 29 (BG)When the Lord, your God, cuts down from before you the nations you are going in to dispossess, and you have dispossessed them and are settled in their land, 30 be careful that you not be trapped into following them after they have been destroyed before you. Do not inquire regarding their gods, “How did these nations serve their gods, so I might do the same.” 31 You shall not worship the Lord, your God, that way, because they offered to their gods every abomination that the Lord detests, even burning their sons and daughters to their gods.(BH)
Chapter 12
Parable of the Tenants.[a] 1 He began to speak to them in parables.(A) “A man planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and left on a journey.(B) 2 At the proper time he sent a servant to the tenants to obtain from them some of the produce of the vineyard. 3 But they seized him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent them another servant. And that one they beat over the head and treated shamefully. 5 He sent yet another whom they killed. So, too, many others; some they beat, others they killed. 6 He had one other to send, a beloved son. He sent him to them last of all, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they seized him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What [then] will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, put the tenants to death, and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this scripture passage:(C)
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11 by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes’?”
12 They were seeking to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, for they realized that he had addressed the parable to them. So they left him and went away.
Paying Taxes to the Emperor. 13 [b]They sent some Pharisees(D) and Herodians to him to ensnare him(E) in his speech.[c] 14 They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion. You do not regard a person’s status but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or should we not pay?” 15 Knowing their hypocrisy he said to them, “Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.” 16 They brought one to him and he said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They replied to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 So Jesus said to them, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” They were utterly amazed at him.(F)
The Question About the Resurrection.[d] 18 Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and put this question to him, 19 saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If someone’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.’(G) 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants. 21 So the second married her and died, leaving no descendants, and the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died. 23 At the resurrection [when they arise] whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her.” 24 Jesus said to them, “Are you not misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God? 25 When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven. 26 As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, [the] God of Isaac, and [the] God of Jacob’?(H) 27 He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled.”
The Greatest Commandment.[e]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.