Moses Commands Obedience

¹“And now, O Israel, listen to wthe statutes and the rules1 that I am teaching you, and do them, xthat you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. ²yYou shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. ³Your eyes have seen what the Lord did zat Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. ⁴But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. ⁵See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. ⁶aKeep them and do them, for bthat will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ ⁷For cwhat great nation is there that has da god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? ⁸And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so erighteous as all this law that I set before you today?

⁹f“Only take care, and gkeep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. hMake them known to your children and your children's children— ¹⁰how on ithe day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, j‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, kso that they may learn to fear lme all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ ¹¹And myou came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while nthe mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. ¹²Then othe Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, pbut saw no form; qthere was only a voice. ¹³rAnd he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, sthe Ten Commandments,2 tand he wrote them on two tablets of stone. ¹⁴And uthe Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.

Idolatry Forbidden

¹⁵v“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since wyou saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, ¹⁶beware xlest you act corruptly yby making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, zthe likeness of male or female, ¹⁷the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. ¹⁹And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see athe sun and the moon and the stars, ball the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. ²⁰But the Lord has taken you and cbrought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, dto be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. ²¹Furthermore, ethe Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. ²²For I must die in this land; fI must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of gthat good land. ²³hTake care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and imake a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. ²⁴For jthe Lord your God is a consuming fire, ka jealous God.

²⁵“When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, lif you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and mby doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, ²⁶I ncall heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. ²⁷And the Lord owill scatter you among the peoples, pand you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. ²⁸And qthere you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, rthat neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. ²⁹sBut from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. ³⁰When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you tin the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. ³¹For the Lord your God is ua merciful God. vHe will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

The Lord Alone Is God

³²“For wask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. ³³xDid any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? ³⁴Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, yby signs, by wonders, and zby war, aby a mighty hand and ban outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵To you it was shown, cthat you might know that the Lord is God; dthere is no other besides him. ³⁶eOut of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and xyou heard his words out of the midst of the fire. ³⁷And because fhe loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them3 and brought you out of Egypt gwith his own presence, by his great power, ³⁸hdriving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, ³⁹know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that ithe Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; jthere is no other. ⁴⁰kTherefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, lthat it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

Cities of Refuge

⁴¹Then Moses mset apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan, ⁴²that nthe manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life: ⁴³oBezer in the wilderness on the ptableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

Introduction to the Law

⁴⁴This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel. ⁴⁵These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt, ⁴⁶beyond the Jordan qin the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, rwhom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷And they took possession of his land and the land sof Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan; ⁴⁸tfrom Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount uSirion4 (that is, vHermon), ⁴⁹together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as wthe Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

Psalm 86

Great Is Your Steadfast Love

iA Prayer of David.

¹jIncline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,

for I am kpoor and needy.

²Preserve my life, for I am lgodly;

save your servant, who mtrusts in you—you are my God.

³nBe gracious to me, O Lord,

for to you do I cry all the day.

⁴Gladden the soul of your servant,

for oto you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.

⁵For you, O Lord, are good and pforgiving,

qabounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

⁶rGive ear, O Lord, to my prayer;

listen to my plea for grace.

⁷In sthe day of my trouble I call upon you,

tfor you answer me.

⁸There is unone like you among the gods, O Lord,

vnor are there any works like yours.

⁹wAll the nations you have made shall come

and worship before you, O Lord,

and shall glorify your name.

¹⁰For xyou are great and ydo wondrous things;

zyou alone are God.

¹¹aTeach me your way, O Lord,

that I may bwalk in your truth;

cunite my heart to fear your name.

¹²I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,

and I will glorify your name forever.

¹³dFor great is your steadfast love toward me;

you have edelivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

¹⁴O God, insolent men have frisen up against me;

a band of ruthless men seeks my life,

and they do not set you before them.

¹⁵But you, O Lord, are a God gmerciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

¹⁶hTurn to me and be gracious to me;

give your strength to iyour servant,

and save ithe son of your maidservant.

¹⁷jShow me a sign of your kfavor,

that those who hate me may see and be put to shame

because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Psalm 87

Glorious Things of You Are Spoken

A Psalm of lthe Sons of Korah. A Song.

¹On mthe holy mount nstands the city he founded;

²the Lord oloves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

³pGlorious things of you are spoken,

O qcity of God. Selah

⁴Among those who rknow me I mention sRahab and Babylon;

behold, Philistia and Tyre, with tCush1—

“This one was born there,” they say.

⁵And of Zion it shall be said,

“This one and that one were born in her”;

for the Most High himself will uestablish her.

⁶The Lord records as he vregisters the peoples,

“This one was born there.” Selah

⁷wSingers and xdancers alike say,

“All my ysprings are in you.”

A King Will Reign in Righteousness

¹Behold, oa king will reign in righteousness,

and princes will rule in justice.

²pEach will be like a hiding place from the wind,

a shelter from the storm,

qlike streams of water in a dry place,

like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.

³rThen the eyes of those who see will not be closed,

and the ears of those who hear will give attention.

⁴The heart of the hasty will understand and know,

sand the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.

⁵tThe fool will no more be called noble,

nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.

⁶For uthe fool speaks folly,

and his heart is busy with iniquity,

to practice ungodliness,

to utter error concerning the Lord,

vto leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,

and to deprive the thirsty of drink.

⁷As for the scoundrel—whis devices are evil;

he plans wicked schemes

to ruin the poor with lying words,

even when the plea of the needy is right.

⁸But he who is noble plans noble things,

and on noble things he stands.

Complacent Women Warned of Disaster

⁹xRise up, you women ywho are at ease, hear my voice;

you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.

¹⁰In little more than a year

you will shudder, you complacent women;

for the grape harvest fails,

the fruit harvest will not come.

¹¹Tremble, you women ywho are at ease,

shudder, you complacent ones;

zstrip, and make yourselves bare,

aand tie sackcloth around your waist.

¹²bBeat your breasts for the pleasant fields,

for the fruitful vine,

¹³cfor the soil of my people

growing up in thorns and briers,

dyes, for all the joyous houses

in the exultant city.

¹⁴For the palace is forsaken,

the populous city deserted;

the hill and the watchtower

will become dens forever,

ea joy of wild donkeys,

a pasture of flocks;

¹⁵until fthe Spirit is poured upon us from on high,

and gthe wilderness becomes a fruitful field,

and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.

¹⁶Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,

and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.

¹⁷hAnd the effect of righteousness will be peace,

and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust1 forever.

¹⁸My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,

in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.

¹⁹iAnd it will hail when the forest falls down,

jand the city will be utterly laid low.

²⁰kHappy are you who sow beside all waters,

who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.

To the Church in Ephesus

¹“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of ehim who holds the seven stars in his right hand, fwho walks among the seven golden lampstands.

²g“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but hhave tested those iwho call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. ³I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up jfor my name's sake, and you khave not grown weary. ⁴But I have this against you, that you have abandoned lthe love you had at first. ⁵Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do mthe works you did at first. If not, nI will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. ⁶Yet this you have: you hate the works of othe Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. qTo the one who conquers I will grant to eat of rthe tree of life, which is in sthe paradise of God.’

To the Church in Smyrna

⁸“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of tthe first and the last, uwho died and came to life.

⁹“‘I know your tribulation and vyour poverty (vbut you are rich) and the slander1 of wthose who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, wthat you may be tested, and for xten days yyou will have tribulation. zBe faithful aunto death, and I will give you bthe crown of life. ¹¹cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. cThe one who conquers will not be hurt by dthe second death.’

To the Church in Pergamum

¹²“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has ethe sharp two-edged sword.

¹³“‘I know where you dwell, fwhere Satan's throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not gdeny my faith2 even in the days of Antipas hmy faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of iBalaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might jeat food sacrificed to idols and kpractice sexual immorality. ¹⁵So also you have some who hold the teaching of lthe Nicolaitans. ¹⁶Therefore repent. If not, mI will come to you soon and nwar against them with ethe sword of my mouth. ¹⁷cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. cTo the one who conquers I will give some of othe hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with pa new name written on the stone qthat no one knows except the one who receives it.’

To the Church in Thyatira

¹⁸“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, rwho has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

¹⁹s“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. ²⁰But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman tJezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants uto practice sexual immorality and uto eat food sacrificed to idols. ²¹I gave her time to repent, but vshe refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. ²²Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, ²³and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he wwho searches mind and heart, and xI will give to each of you according to your works. ²⁴But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ythe deep things of Satan, to you I say, I zdo not lay on you any other burden. ²⁵Only hold fast awhat you have until I come. ²⁶bThe one who conquers and who keeps my works cuntil the end, dto him I will give authority over the nations, ²⁷and ehe will frule3 them with a rod of iron, gas when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. ²⁸And I will give him hthe morning star. ²⁹pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’