Old/New Testament
The Israelites Will Return
30 All these blessings and curses I have said will happen to you. The Lord your God will send you away to other nations. There you will think about these things. 2 Then you and your children will return to the Lord your God. And you will obey him with your whole being. You will obey everything I command you today. 3 Then the Lord your God will give you back your riches. He will feel sorry for you. And he will bring you back again from the nations where he sent you. 4 He may send you to the ends of the earth. But he will gather you. He will bring you back from there. 5 He will bring you back to the land that belonged to your ancestors. It will be yours. He will give you success. And there will be more of you than there were of your ancestors. 6 The Lord your God will prepare you and your descendants to serve him. You will love him with your whole being. Then you will live. 7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies. They hate you and are cruel to you. 8 And you will again obey the Lord. You will keep all his commands that I give you today. 9 The Lord your God will make you successful in everything you do. You will have many children. Your cattle will have many calves. Your fields will produce good crops. He will again be happy with you, just as he was with your ancestors. 10 But you must obey the Lord your God. You must obey his commands and rules that are written in this Book of the Teachings. You must follow the Lord your God with your whole being.
Life or Death
11 This command I give you today is not too hard for you. It is not beyond what you can do. 12 It is not up in heaven. You do not have to ask, “Who will go up to heaven and get it for us? Then we can obey it and keep it.” 13 It is not on the other side of the sea. You do not have to ask, “Who will go across the sea and get it? Who will tell it to us? Then we can keep it.” 14 No, the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart. So, you may obey it.
15 Look, today I offer you life and success, death and destruction. 16 I command you today to love the Lord your God. Do what he wants you to do. Keep his commands, his rules and his laws. Then you will live and grow in number. And the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are going to take as your own.
17 But you might turn away from the Lord. You might not obey him. You might be led to bowing down and serving other gods. 18 I tell you today that you will be destroyed. And you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to enter and own.
19 Today I ask heaven and earth to be witnesses. I am offering you life or death, blessings or curses. Now, choose life! Then you and your children may live. 20 Love the Lord your God. Obey him. Stay close to him. He is your life. And he will let you live many years in the land. This is the land he promised to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Joshua Takes Moses’ Place
31 Then Moses went and spoke these words to all the Israelites: 2 “I am now 120 years old. I cannot lead you anymore. The Lord told me I would not cross the Jordan River. 3 The Lord your God will lead you across himself. He will destroy those nations for you. You will take over their land. Joshua will also lead you across. This is what the Lord has said. 4 The Lord will do to these nations what he did to Sihon and Og. They were the kings of the Amorites. He destroyed them and their land. 5 The Lord will give those nations to you. Do to them everything I told you. 6 Be strong and brave. Don’t be afraid of them. Don’t be frightened. The Lord your God will go with you. He will not leave you or forget you.”
7 Then Moses called Joshua and spoke to him in front of the people. Moses said, “Be strong and brave. Lead these people into the land the Lord promised to give their ancestors. Help the people take it as their own. 8 The Lord himself will go before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you or forget you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t worry.”
Moses Writes the Teachings
9 So Moses wrote down the teachings. He gave them to the priests and all the elders of Israel. The priests are the sons of Levi. They carried the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. 10-11 Then Moses commanded them: “Read these teachings for all Israel to hear. Do it at the end of every seven years. That is the year to forget what people owe. Do it during the Feast of Shelters. All the Israelites will come to appear before the Lord your God. They will stand at the place the Lord will choose. 12 Gather all the people: the men, women, children and foreigners living in your towns. Then they can listen and learn to respect the Lord your God. Then they can carefully obey everything in this law. 13 Their children do not know this law. They must hear it. They must learn to respect the Lord your God for as long as they live in the land. It is the land you are crossing the Jordan River to own.”
The Lord Calls Moses and Joshua
14 The Lord said to Moses, “Soon you will die. Get Joshua and come to the Meeting Tent. I will command him.” So Moses and Joshua went to the Meeting Tent.
15 The Lord appeared at the Meeting Tent in a cloud. The cloud stood over the entrance of the Tent. 16 And the Lord said to Moses, “You will soon die. Then these people will not be loyal to me. They will worship the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will leave me. And they will break the agreement I made with them. 17 Then I will become very angry at them. I will leave them. I will turn away from them. And they will be destroyed. Many terrible things will happen to them. Then they will say, ‘God is not with us. That is why these terrible things are happening.’ 18 I will turn away from them then. They have done wrong. They have turned to other gods.
19 “Now write down this song. And teach it to the Israelites. Then have them sing it. It will testify against them. 20 I will bring them into the land I promised to their ancestors. It is a land where much food grows. They will eat as much as they want and get fat. But then they will turn to other gods and serve them. They will reject me and break my agreement. 21 Then many troubles and terrible things will happen to them. And this song will testify against them. The song will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they plan to do, even before I take them into the land I promised them.” 22 So Moses wrote down the song that day. And he taught it to the Israelites.
23 Then the Lord gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and brave. Lead the people of Israel to the land I promised them. And I will be with you.”
24 Moses wrote all the words of the teachings in a book. 25 Then he gave a command to the Levites. They carried the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord. 26 He said, “Take this Book of the Teachings. Put it beside the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord your God. It must stay there as a witness against you. 27 I know how stubborn and disobedient you are. You have disobeyed the Lord while I am alive and with you. You will disobey even more after I die! 28 Gather all the older leaders of your tribes and all your officers. I will say these things for them to hear. And I will ask heaven and earth to testify against them. 29 I know that after I die you will become completely evil. You will turn away from the commands I have given you. Then terrible things will happen to you in the future. You will do what the Lord says is evil. You will make him angry with the idols you have made.”
Moses’ Song
30 And Moses spoke this whole song for all the people of Israel to hear:
Pilate Questions Jesus
15 Very early in the morning, the leading priests, the Jewish elders, the teachers of the law, and all the Jewish council decided what to do with Jesus. They tied him, led him away, and turned him over to Pilate, the governor.
2 Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
Jesus answered, “Yes, I am.”
3 The leading priests accused Jesus of many things. 4 So Pilate asked Jesus another question. He said, “You can see that these people are accusing you of many things. Why don’t you answer?”
5 But Jesus still said nothing. Pilate was very surprised at this.
Pilate Tries to Free Jesus
6 Every year at the Passover time the governor would free one person from prison. He would free any person the people wanted him to free. 7 At that time, there was a man named Barabbas in prison. He was a rebel and had committed murder during a riot. 8 The crowd came to Pilate and asked him to free a prisoner as he always did.
9 Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to free the king of the Jews?” 10 Pilate knew that the leading priests had given Jesus to him because they were jealous of Jesus. 11 And the leading priests had persuaded the people to ask Pilate to free Barabbas, not Jesus.
12 Pilate asked the crowd again, “So what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”
13 They shouted, “Kill him on a cross!”
14 Pilate asked, “Why? What wrong has he done?”
But they shouted louder and louder, “Kill him on a cross!”
15 Pilate wanted to please the crowd. So he freed Barabbas for them. And Pilate told the soldiers to beat Jesus with whips. Then he gave Jesus to the soldiers to be killed on a cross.
16 Pilate’s soldiers took Jesus into the governor’s palace (called the Praetorium). They called all the other soldiers together. 17 They put a purple robe on Jesus. Then they used thorny branches to make a crown. They put it on his head. 18 Then they called out to him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 The soldiers beat Jesus on the head many times with a stick. They also spit on him. Then they made fun of him by bowing on their knees and worshiping him. 20 After they finished making fun of him, the soldiers took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led Jesus out of the palace to be killed on a cross.
Jesus Is Killed on a Cross
21 There was a man from Cyrene coming from the fields to the city. The man was Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus. The soldiers forced Simon to carry the cross for Jesus. 22 They led Jesus to the place called Golgotha. (Golgotha means the Place of the Skull.) 23 At Golgotha the soldiers tried to give Jesus wine to drink. This wine was mixed with myrrh. But he refused to drink it. 24 The soldiers nailed Jesus to a cross. Then they divided his clothes among themselves. They threw lots to decide which clothes each soldier would get.
25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they nailed Jesus to the cross.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.