Old/New Testament
The Setting of the Covenant
1 These are the words that Moses spoke to the assembly of[a] Israel east[b] of the Jordan River,[c] in the Arabah desert, opposite Suph between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab. 2 It takes eleven days to travel[d] from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea via Mount Seir.[e] 3 On the first day of the eleventh month,[f] in the fortieth year, Moses spoke to the Israelis about everything that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. 4 This took place[g] after he defeated Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon and Og, king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth at Edrei.
Moses Reviews God’s Instructions
5 East of the Jordan River, in the land of Moab, Moses began to expound this Law: 6 “The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb. He said, ‘You have been at this mountain long enough. 7 Break camp,[h] get going, and proceed to the hill country of the Amorites and all the nearby places in the Arabah desert, the highlands, the foothills, the Negev,[i] the coastal plains, all of the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 Look! I’ve given you the land that lies ahead. Go in and possess the land that I, the Lord, promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as to their descendants.’”
Moses Reviews the Selected Officials
9 “I also told you at that time that I won’t be able to sustain you on my own. 10 The Lord your God greatly multiplied your numbers, and today you are like the stars in the sky. 11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase your numbers a thousand times more, and may he bless you, as he promised you. 12 How can I bear the burden of you and your bickering all by myself? 13 Choose for yourselves wise and discerning men, known to your tribes, and appoint them as your leaders. 14 You answered by saying that this plan is a good thing. 15 So I chose leaders from your tribes, wise and respected men, and I appointed them over you—commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. 16 I charged your judges at that time, ‘When you hold a hearing between brothers, judge fairly between a man and his brother or between foreigners. 17 When you hold a hearing, don’t be partial[j] in judgment toward the least important or toward the great. Never fear men, because judgment belongs to God. If the matter is difficult for you, bring it to me for a hearing.’ 18 I charged you at that time that you must do all of these things.”
Moses Reviews the Sending of the Scouts(A)
19 “Then we set out from Horeb and walked through that vast and dreadful desert, where you observed the road to the Amorite hill country. Just as the Lord our God ordained for us, we finally arrived at Kadesh-barnea. 20 I told you at that time, ‘You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is about to give us. 21 Look! The Lord your God has given the land that lies[k] before you. Go and possess it, just as the Lord God of your ancestors commanded you. Don’t be afraid or discouraged.’
22 “Then all of you approached me and said: ‘Let’s send out men in advance of us so they can survey the land and bring back a report to us on how we’ll go up to their cities.’ 23 Because this suggestion[l] seemed good to me, I chose twelve men from among you, one from each tribe. 24 Then these men set out,[m] went up to the hill county, reached the Eshcol Valley, and surveyed it. 25 They hand-picked some of the fruit of the land, brought it down to us, and gave a report that said, ‘The land which the Lord is about to give us is good.’”
Israel Rebels
26 “However, your ancestors didn’t go up. Instead, they rebelled against the command[n] of the Lord your God. 27 You murmured in your tents, ‘The Lord hates us. He brought us out of the land of Egypt in order to deliver us to[o] the Amorites so he could destroy us. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers discouraged us when they said that the people are bigger and taller than we are. Their cities are tall and fortified to the sky, and we also saw the Anakim[p] there.’
29 “Then I told you, ‘Don’t be terrified or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God is the One who will be going ahead of you. He’ll fight for you just as he did in Egypt before your eyes. 31 In the desert you saw that the Lord carried you like a man carries his son, on every road you traveled until you reached this place.’ 32 But despite this, you didn’t trust in the Lord your God, 33 who walked ahead of you along the way to scout a place for you to pitch camp—by fire at night and cloud by day—to lead you on the way you should go.”
Entrance is Denied
34 “When the Lord heard your complaints, he became angry and declared, 35 ‘I swear that not one man of this evil generation will see the good land that I promised to give to your ancestors, 36 except Jephunneh’s son Caleb. He will see it and I will give to him and to his descendants the land on which he has walked because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord.’
37 “The Lord was also furious with me because of you. He said: ‘You will not enter the land.[q] 38 However, Nun’s son Joshua, your assistant, will go there. Encourage him, for he will cause Israel to take possession of it. 39 Your little ones—whom you said would be taken captive—and your children who do not yet[r] know right from wrong will enter the land.[s] I will give it to them and they themselves will possess it. 40 But as for you, prepare to set out for the desert on the way to the Reed[t] Sea.’
41 “You responded to me and said, ‘We have sinned against the Lord. We will now go up and fight according to what the Lord our God commanded.’ So each man put on his weapon for battle and recklessly started out for the hill country.”
The Amorites Defeat Israel
42 “Then the Lord told me: ‘Tell them not to go up and fight because I will not be in their midst, or else you will be defeated before your enemies.’
43 “I spoke to you but you didn’t listen. Instead you rebelled against the command[u] of the Lord and went up to the hill country. 44 The Amorites who lived in the hill country came out to engage you in battle. They pursued you like bees do and crushed you from Seir to Hormah. 45 You returned and cried out in the Lord’s presence, but the Lord didn’t hear your voice or listen to you. 46 You remained in Kadesh for many days. It was a long time, indeed.”
Israel Passes through Edomite Territory
2 “We turned and set out for the desert on the road to the Reed[v] Sea, just as the Lord had directed me. We traveled around Mount Seir for many days. 2 Then the Lord told me, 3 ‘You’ve walked around this mountain long enough. Turn northward 4 and command this people, “You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives, the descendants of Esau who live around Seir. They will be afraid of you so be very careful. 5 Don’t fight them, because I won’t give you any part of their land, not even the size of a footprint.[w] I have given Mount Seir to Esau as their property. 6 You may buy food to eat and water to drink from them, paying[x] with cash.”’ 7 Indeed, the Lord your God blessed all the works of your hands. He knows about your travels through this vast desert. The Lord your God was with you these past 40 years, so that you didn’t lack anything. 8 So we bypassed our relatives, the descendants of Esau who live in Seir. We turned through the Arabah desert from Elath, and from Ezion-geber we traveled the desert road to Moab.”
Israel Passes through Moabite Territory
9 “Then the Lord told me, ‘Don’t harass Moab or provoke them to war, because I won’t give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their property. 10 (The Emites, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakim,[y] lived there before. 11 Like the Anakim,[z] they were thought of as Rephaim,[aa] but the Moabites called them Emites. 12 The Horites used to live in Seir before the descendants of Esau dispossessed them, exterminated them, and settled there instead, just as Israel will do in the land of its possession, which the Lord gave them.) 13 Now get going and cross the Wadi[ab] Zered.’ And so we crossed the Wadi[ac] Zered. 14 Now from the time we left Kadesh-barnea until we crossed the Wadi[ad] Zered was 38 years. All of that generation, the soldiers in the camp, were destroyed just as the Lord swore they would be. 15 Indeed, the hand of the Lord was against them to root them out from the camp until they were utterly destroyed.”
Israel Passes through Ammonite Territory
16 “And so all the soldiers among the people died. 17 Then the Lord spoke to me, 18 ‘Today, you are about to cross the border of Moab at Ar. 19 When you come to the Ammonites, don’t harass or provoke them to war, for I won’t give any part of Ammonite land to you, since I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their property.
20 “‘(Indeed, it was considered Rephaim[ae] territory, since the Rephaim[af] used to lived there. The Ammonites called them Zamzummites, 21 a great people, numerous, and tall as the Anakim.[ag] But the Lord destroyed the Rephaim,[ah] so that the Ammonites dispossessed them and settled there instead. 22 This is what he did for the descendants of Esau who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them. So they dispossessed them and settled there in their place, where they live[ai] to this day. 23 It was the same for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza. The Caphtorites, who came from Crete,[aj] destroyed them and settled there in their place.) 24 Get ready and set out for the Wadi[ak] Arnon. Look! I’ve given into your control Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, along with his land. Prepare to take possession by provoking him to war. 25 Starting today I will begin to instill fear and terror of you on the part of every nation under heaven who hears reports about you. They’ll tremble in anguish before you.’”
Israel Defeats Sihon, King of Heshbon
26 “I sent messengers from the desert of Kedemoth to King Sihon of Heshbon with this message of peace: 27 ‘Let me pass through your territory. I’ll stay on the main road. I won’t turn to the right or left. 28 Sell me food for cash,[al] so I can eat and give me water for cash,[am] so I can drink. Just let me pass through on foot, 29 as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir did for me, as did the Moabites who live in Ar. I’ll pass through,[an] until I will have crossed the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is about to give us.’ 30 But King Sihon of Heshbon did not allow us to pass through, because the Lord your God had hardened his spirit and made him arrogant,[ao] in order to deliver him into your control today.
31 “Then the Lord told me, ‘See, I’ve begun to deliver Sihon and his territory over to you. Prepare to take possession of his land.’
32 “Sihon came out to meet us, including his entire army, at the battle of Jahaz. 33 The Lord our God delivered him to us, so we attacked him, his son, and his whole army. 34 We captured all his towns at that time. We utterly destroyed every town—the men, the women, and the children—leaving no survivors. 35 We only appropriated the livestock for our use, along with plunder from the cities that we captured. 36 From Aroer on the edge of Arnon Valley and from the town all the way to Gilead, there was no city that was too strong for us—the Lord our God delivered them all to us. 37 You did not encroach onto Ammonite land, the banks of the Wadi[ap] Jabbok, the towns in the hill country, and all the other places that were forbidden[aq] by the Lord our God.”
Israel Defeats the King of Bashan
3 “We set out and went up along the road to Bashan. Then King Og of Bashan came out to meet us—he and his whole army—for a battle at Edrei. 2 Then the Lord told me, ‘Don’t fear him, because I’ve delivered him, his army, and his territory into your control. Do to him just as you have done to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.’
3 “So the Lord our God also delivered into our control King Og of Bashan, along with his whole army. We attacked him until there were no survivors.[ar] 4 Then we captured all his cities at that time. There was not a city left that we didn’t capture from them—60 cities in all from the region of Argob, which is part of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All of these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars. Furthermore, there were very many unwalled regions. 6 We utterly destroyed them, just as we did King Sihon of Heshbon, attacking them in every city—the men, women, and children. 7 But we kept for ourselves all of the livestock and plunder from the towns.
8 “So at that time, we took control from the two Amorite kings the territory east of the Jordan from Wadi[as] Arnon to Mount Hermon. 9 (The Sidonians called Hermon Sirion, but the Amorites called it Senir.) 10 We took control of[at] all the cities of the plain, all of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 Only King Og of Bashan remained from the remnants of the Rephaim.[au] In fact, his bed was made of iron. It’s in Rabbah of the Ammonites, isn’t it? It was nine cubits[av] long and four cubits[aw] wide.”
Moses Allots Land East of the Jordan(B)
12 “Of the land that we captured at that time, I’ve given its towns to the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad from Aroer near the Wadi[ax] Arnon to half of the hill country of Gilead. 13 The remainder of Gilead and Bashan of the kingdom of Og, I’ve given to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob—that is, all of Bashan—is called the land of the Rephaim.) 14 Manasseh’s son Jair captured all the Argob region as far as the territory of the descendants of Geshur and the descendants of Maacath. Bashan was named after him; that’s why it is called Havvoth-jair to this day. 15 Furthermore, I’ve given Gilead to Machir. 16 And I’ve given Gilead to the descendants of Reuben and the descendants of Gad as far as the Arnon Valley, designating the middle of the valley as its boundary, including up to the Jabbok River as a boundary with the Ammonites. 17 The Arabah and the Jordan River are also a boundary from Chinnereth[ay] to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Salt Sea),[az] below the slopes of Pisgah on the east.”
Moses Instructs the Men of War
18 “Then I commanded you at that time, ‘The Lord your God gave you this land as a possession. Those equipped for battle—every man a warrior—will cross before your fellow Israelis. 19 However, your women, children, and livestock—and I know you have many—may reside in your towns that I gave you 20 until the Lord grants rest to your fellow Israelis like you. When they take possession of the territory that the Lord your God is about to give them on the other side of the Jordan River, then each of you may return to the territory that I’ve allotted for you.’
21 “I also charged Joshua at that time, ‘You witnessed everything that the Lord your God did to the two kings. Indeed, the Lord will do this to all the kingdoms which you are about to enter. 22 You are not to fear them, because the Lord your God will fight for you.’”
Moses Pleads with God
23 “I pleaded with the Lord at that time, 24 ‘Lord God, you’ve begun to show your greatness and your strong power to your servant. For what god in heaven or on earth can equal your works and mighty deeds? 25 Let me cross over that I may see the good land on the other side of the Jordan River—the good hill country—as well as Lebanon.’
26 “However, the Lord was furious with me because of you. He did not listen to me. Instead, the Lord said, ‘You are not to speak to me about this matter again! 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift your eyes toward the west, north, south, and east. Look with your own eyes, since you won’t be able to cross this Jordan River. 28 Therefore charge Joshua to be doubly strong, because he will lead this people[ba] and cause them to inherit the land that you’ll see.’ 29 We then encamped in the valley opposite Beth-peor.”
32 Now Jesus and his disciples[a] had been on the road going up to Jerusalem, with Jesus walking ahead of them. They were astonished, and the others who followed were afraid.
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time(A)
Once again, Jesus[b] took the Twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. 33 “Pay attention! We’re going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and the scribes, and they’ll condemn him to death. Then they’ll hand him over to the unbelievers,[c] 34 and they’ll make fun of him, spit on him, whip him, and kill him. But after three days he’ll be raised.”
The Request of James and John(B)
35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, went to Jesus[d] and told him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask you.”
36 He asked them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37 They asked him, “Let us sit in your glory, one on your right and one on your left.”
38 But Jesus told them, “You don’t realize what you’re asking. Can you drink from the cup that I’m going to drink from or be baptized with the baptism with which I’m going to be baptized?”
39 They told him, “We can.”
Jesus told them, “You will drink from the cup that I’m going to drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I’m going to be baptized. 40 But it’s not up to me to grant you a seat at my right or my left. Those positions have already been prepared for others.”
41 When the ten other disciples[e] heard this, they began to be furious with James and John. 42 Jesus called his disciples[f] and told them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers among the unbelievers[g] lord it over them, and their superiors act like tyrants over them. 43 That’s not the way it should be among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be a slave to everyone, 45 because even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”
Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus(C)
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus,[h] his disciples, and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus (that is, the son of Timaeus) was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many people sternly told him to be quiet, but he started shouting even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 So Jesus stopped and said, “Call him!”
So they called the blind man and told him, “Have courage! Get up. He’s calling you.” 50 He threw off his coat, jumped up, and went to Jesus.
51 Then Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man told him, “Rabbouni,[i] I want to see again.”
52 Jesus told him, “Go. Your faith has made you well.” At once the man[j] could see again, and he began to follow Jesus[k] down the road.
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.