Old/New Testament
32 Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
2 My teaching will drop like the rain,
my sayings will distill as the dew,
as the droplets on the grass,
and as the showers on the herb.
3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord:
Ascribe greatness to our God!
4 He is the Rock; His work is perfect;
for all His ways are just.
He is a God of faithfulness and without injustice;
righteous and upright is He.
5 They have acted corruptly to Him;
they are not His children, but blemished;
they are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Is this how you repay the Lord,
you foolish and unwise people?
Is He not your father, who has bought you?
Has He not made you, and established you?
7 Remember the days of old,
consider the years of previous generations.
Ask your father, and he will show you;
your elders, and they will tell you:
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
when He separated the sons of man,[a]
He set the boundaries of the peoples
according to the number of the children of Israel.
9 For the Lord’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land
and in the howling waste of a wilderness;
He led him about, He instructed him,
He protected him like the pupil of His eye.
11 Like an eagle stirs up her nest,
that flutters over her young,
He spread out his wings and took him;
He lifted him on His pinions;
12 the Lord alone guided him,
and there was no foreign god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
and he ate of the produce of the fields;
He made him suck honey out of the rock
and oil out of the flinty rock,
14 butter from the herd,
and milk from the flock,
along with the fat of lambs,
and rams of the breed from Bashan,
and goats,
with the best of the kernels of wheat;
you drank the pure blood of the grape.
15 But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked;
you grew fat, you grew thick;
you are covered with fat.
Then he forsook God who made him,
and devalued the Rock of his salvation.
16 They made Him jealous with strange gods;
with abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
to gods whom they knew not,
to new gods that recently came along,
whom your fathers did not fear.
18 You have forgotten the Rock who begot you;
you are unmindful, and have forgotten the God who gave you birth.
19 When the Lord saw it, He despised them,
because of the provocation of His sons and daughters.
20 He said: I will hide My face from them;
I will see what their end will be,
for they are a very perverse generation,
children in whom there is no loyalty.
21 They have made Me jealous with that which is not God;
they have provoked Me to anger with their empty things.
And I will make them jealous of those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
22 For a fire has been inflamed by My anger,
and it will burn to the lowest part of Sheol,[b]
and shall consume the earth and its produce,
and ignite the foundations of the mountains.
23 I will heap misfortunes on them;
I will use My arrows on them.
24 They will be starved by famine,
and consumed by plague and bitter destruction;
I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them,
with the poison of crawling creatures in the dust.
25 The sword outside and terror within will destroy both the young man and the virgin,
the infant along with the man of gray hair.
26 I said, “I want to cut them into pieces,
I will cause the memory of them to disappear from among men,”
27 however, I feared the wrath of the enemy,
that their adversaries would misunderstand
and say, “Our hand is victorious,
and the Lord has not done all this.”
28 For they are a nation devoid of counsel;
there is no understanding in them.
29 Would that they were wise,
so that they understood this,
so that they would comprehend their future!
30 How should one chase a thousand,
and two put ten thousand to flight,
unless their Rock had sold them,
and the Lord had given them up?
31 For their rock is not as our Rock;
even our enemies themselves concede this.
32 For their vine is from the vine of Sodom
and from the fields of Gomorrah;
their grapes are grapes of poison;
their clusters are bitter.
33 Their wine is the poison of dragons
and the deadly venom of cobras.
34 Is not this laid up in store with Me
and sealed up among My treasures?
35 Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;
their foot will slip in due time;
for the day of their calamity is at hand,
and the things to come hasten upon them.
36 For the Lord will judge His people,
and relent in regard to His servants,
when He sees that their power is gone
and there is no one left, whether restrained or free.
37 He will say: Where are their gods,
their rock in whom they trusted,
38 which ate the fat of their sacrifices
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise up and help you
and be your protection.
39 See now that I, even I, am He,
and there is no god besides Me;
I kill, and I make alive;
I wound, and I heal;
there is no one who can deliver out of My hand.
40 For I lift up My hand to heaven,
and say: As I live forever,
41 if I sharpen My flashing sword
and My hand takes hold on judgment,
I will render vengeance on My enemies
and will repay those who hate Me.
42 I will make My arrows drunk with blood,
and My sword shall devour flesh,
with the blood of the slain and of the captives,
from the heads of the leaders of the enemies.
43 Rejoice, O you nations, with His people;
for He will avenge the blood of His servants
and will render vengeance on His adversaries
and will be merciful to His land and people.
44 Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with Joshua, the son of Nun. 45 When Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe, all the words of this law. 47 For it is no idle word for you, because it is your life, and by this word you will prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess.”
Moses to Die on Mount Nebo
48 The Lord spoke to Moses that same day, saying, 49 “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel for a possession. 50 Die on the mount where you go up, and be gathered to your people, just as Aaron, your brother, died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the children of Israel. 52 Nevertheless, you will see the land before you, but you may not go there, to the land which I am giving to the children of Israel.”
Moses Blesses Israel(A)
33 Now this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2 He said:
The Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Seir to them;
He shone forth from Mount Paran,
and He came with ten thousands of holy ones;
from His right hand went a fiery law[c] for them.
3 Surely, He loved the people;
all His holy ones are in Your hand,
and they sit down at Your feet;
everyone receives Your words.
4 Moses decreed to us a law,
the inheritance of the assembly of Jacob.
5 He was king over Jeshurun,
when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.
6 Let Reuben live, and not die,
and let not his men be few.
7 This is the blessing to Judah. He said:
Listen, O Lord, to the voice of Judah,
and bring him to his people;
may his hands contend for them,
and may You help him against his enemies.
8 Of Levi he said:
Let Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your godly one,
whom You tested at Massah,
and with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah,
9 who said to his father and to his mother,
“I have not seen him,”
and he did not acknowledge his brothers
or know his own children,
for they have kept Your word
and guarded Your covenant.
10 They will teach Jacob Your judgments
and Israel Your law.
They will put incense before You
and the whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
and accept the work of his hands;
run through the loins of them that rise against him
and of them that hate him,
so that they rise never again.
12 Of Benjamin he said:
The beloved of the Lord
will dwell in safety by Him,
and the Lord will protect him all day long;
he will dwell between His shoulders.
13 Of Joseph he said:
May his land be blessed of the Lord,
from the harvest of the heavens,
by the dew,
and by the deep crouching beneath,
14 by the precious fruits brought forth by the sun,
and by the choice things put forth by the moon,
15 by the finest things of the ancient mountains,
and by the choice things of the everlasting hills,
16 by the best things of the earth and its fullness,
and by the goodwill of Him who dwelt in the bush.
May the blessing rest on the head of Joseph,
on top of the head of him who was separated from his brothers.
17 His glory is like the firstborn of his bull,
and his horns are like the horns of a wild ox;
with them he will push the peoples together to the ends of the earth;
they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
18 Of Zebulun he said:
Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going outside,
and Issachar in your tents.
19 They will call the peoples to the mountain;
there they will offer sacrifices of righteousness,
for they will draw out the abundance of the seas
and the treasures hid in the sand.
20 Of Gad he said:
Blessed be he who enlarges Gad;
he dwells as a lion
and tears an arm and the crown of a head.
21 He provided the first part for himself,
because there, in a portion of the ruler, he was seated.
He came with the heads of the people.
He executed the justice of the Lord,
and His ordinances with Israel.
22 Of Dan he said:
Dan is a lion’s whelp;
he will leap forth from Bashan.
23 Of Naphtali he said:
O Naphtali, satisfied with favor
and full with the blessing of the Lord,
possess the west and the south.
24 Of Asher he said:
May Asher be blessed with children;
may he be acceptable to his brothers,
and may he dip his foot in oil.[d]
25 Your sandals will be iron and brass;
according to your days, so shall be your strength.
26 There is none like the God of Jeshurun,
who rides through the heavens to help you,
and in His majesty through the skies.
27 The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath you are the everlasting arms;
He will drive out the enemy before you,
and will say, “Destroy them.”
28 Israel dwells in safety;
the fountain of Jacob will be secluded
in a land of grain and new wine;
its heavens will rain down dew.
29 Blessed are you, O Israel!
Who is like you,
a people saved by the Lord,
the shield of your help,
who is the sword of your majesty!
Your enemies will cringe before you,
and you will tread upon their high places.
The Death of Moses
34 Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. Then the Lord showed him all the land—from Gilead to Dan, 2 and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the Mediterranean Sea, 3 and the Negev and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 The Lord said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over there.”
5 So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. 6 He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows of his burial place to this day. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eye was not dim, nor was his vitality diminished. 8 The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
9 Now Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. And the children of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord commanded Moses.
10 Since then there has not arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all his land, 12 and by all that mighty power and by all the great terror which Moses displayed in the sight of all Israel.
26 The inscription of His accusation was written above:
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 With Him they crucified two thieves, one on His right and the other on His left. 28 And the Scripture was fulfilled, which says, “He was numbered with the lawless ones.”[a] 29 Those who passed by blasphemed Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ah, You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 Likewise the chief priests mocked Him among themselves with the scribes and said, “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself! 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with Him also reviled Him.
The Death of Jesus(A)
33 When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”[b]
35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard it, said, “Listen, He is calling Elijah!”
36 One man ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, put it on a stick, and gave it to Him to drink, saying, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”
37 But Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the spirit.
38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion[c] who stood facing Him saw that He cried out and gave up the spirit, he said, “Truly, this Man was the Son of God.”
40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joseph, and Salome. 41 They also had followed Him and had ministered to Him when He was in Galilee. And many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem were there.
The Burial of Jesus(B)
42 When the evening had come, because it was the Day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable member of the Council, who also waited for the kingdom of God, came and went in boldly to Pilate, and requested the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate wondered if He were already dead. And calling for the centurion, he asked him whether He had been dead for a while. 45 When he learned about it from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 So he bought fine linen, and taking Him down, wrapped Him in the linen and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where He was laid.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.