The Command to Leave Sinai

¹The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you oand the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To pyour offspring I will give it.’ ²I will send an qangel before you, rand I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ³sGo up to a land flowing with milk and honey; tbut I will not go up among you, ulest I consume you on the way, for you are a vstiff-necked people.”

⁴When the people heard this disastrous word, they wmourned, and xno one put on his ornaments. ⁵For the Lord had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a vstiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would yconsume you. So now xtake off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” ⁶Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

The Tent of Meeting

⁷Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and zhe called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who asought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. ⁸Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and beach would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. ⁹When Moses entered the tent, the cpillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord1 would speak with Moses. ¹⁰And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. ¹¹Thus dthe Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his eassistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

Moses' Intercession

¹²Moses said to the Lord, “See, fyou say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, g‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ ¹³Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please hshow me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is iyour people.” ¹⁴And he said, j“My presence will go with you, and kI will give you rest.” ¹⁵And he said to him, l“If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? mIs it not in your going with us, nso that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?”

¹⁷And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, ofor you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” ¹⁸Moses said, “Please pshow me your glory.” ¹⁹And he said, q“I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And rI will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. ²⁰But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for sman shall not see me and live.” ²¹And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, ²²and while my glory passes by I will put you in a tcleft of the rock, and I will ucover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall vnot be seen.”

Mary Anoints Jesus at Bethany

¹Six days before ithe Passover, jJesus therefore came to Bethany, kwhere Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ²So they gave a dinner for him there. lMartha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. ³mMary therefore took a pound1 of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, ⁵“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii2 and ngiven to the poor?” ⁶He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and nhaving charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it3 for the day of my burial. ⁸For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”

The Plot to Kill Lazarus

⁹When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus4 was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, owhom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰pSo the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹because qon account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

The Triumphal Entry

¹²The next day rthe large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. ¹³So they took branches of spalm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, t“Hosanna! Blessed is uhe who comes in the name of the Lord, even vthe King of Israel!” ¹⁴And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,

¹⁵w“Fear not, daughter of Zion;

behold, your king is coming,

sitting on a donkey's colt!”

¹⁶xHis disciples did not understand these things at first, but ywhen Jesus was glorified, then zthey remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him. ¹⁷aThe crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness. ¹⁸The reason why the crowd went to meet him bwas that they heard he had done this sign. ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, c“You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, dthe world has gone after him.”

Some Greeks Seek Jesus

²⁰Now eamong those who went up to worship at the feast were some fGreeks. ²¹So these came to gPhilip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²²Philip went and told hAndrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³And Jesus answered them, i“The hour has come jfor the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴Truly, truly, I say to you, kunless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵lWhoever loves his life loses it, and mwhoever nhates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anyone serves me, he must ofollow me; and pwhere I am, there will my servant be also. qIf anyone serves me, rthe Father will honor him.

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

²⁷s“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, tsave me from uthis hour’? But vfor this purpose I have come to uthis hour. ²⁸Father, glorify your name.” Then wa voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” ²⁹The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, x“An angel has spoken to him.” ³⁰Jesus answered, y“This voice has come for your sake, not mine. ³¹zNow is the judgment of this world; now will athe ruler of this world bbe cast out. ³²And I, cwhen I am lifted up from the earth, dwill draw eall people to myself.” ³³He said this fto show by what kind of death he was going to die. ³⁴So the crowd answered him, “We have heard from the Law that gthe Christ remains forever. How can you say that hthe Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” ³⁵So Jesus said to them, i“The light is among you jfor a little while longer. kWalk while you have the light, lest darkness lovertake you. mThe one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. ³⁶While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become nsons of light.”

The Unbelief of the People

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, ³⁸oso that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

p“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹Therefore they qcould not believe. For again Isaiah said,

⁴⁰r“He has blinded their eyes

and shardened their heart,

lest they see with their eyes,

and understand with their heart, and turn,

and I would heal them.”

⁴¹Isaiah said these things because the saw his glory and uspoke of him. ⁴²Nevertheless, vmany even of the authorities believed in him, but wfor fear of the Pharisees they did not xconfess it, so that they would not be xput out of the synagogue; ⁴³yfor they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Jesus Came to Save the World

⁴⁴And Jesus cried out and said, z“Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but ain him who sent me. ⁴⁵And bwhoever csees me sees him who sent me. ⁴⁶dI have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. ⁴⁷If anyone ehears my words and does not keep them, fI do not judge him; for gI did not come to judge the world but to save the world. ⁴⁸hThe one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; ithe word that I have spoken will judge him jon the last day. ⁴⁹For kI have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father lwho sent me has himself given me ma commandment—what to say and what to speak. ⁵⁰And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

The Way of Wisdom

¹vWisdom has built her house;

she has hewn her wseven xpillars.

²She has yslaughtered her beasts; she has zmixed her wine;

she has also aset her table.

³She has bsent out her young women to ccall

from dthe highest places in the town,

⁴e“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

fTo him who lacks sense she says,

⁵“Come, geat of my bread

and hdrink of zthe wine I have mixed.

⁶Leave iyour simple ways,1 and jlive,

kand walk in the way of insight.”

⁷Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,

and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.

⁸lDo not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;

mreprove a wise man, and he will love you.

⁹Give instruction2 to a wise man, and he will be nstill wiser;

teach a righteous man, and he will oincrease in learning.

¹⁰pThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

and qthe knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

¹¹For by me ryour days will be multiplied,

and years will be added to your life.

¹²sIf you are wise, you are wise for yourself;

if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

The Way of Folly

¹³tThe woman Folly is uloud;

she is seductive3 and vknows nothing.

¹⁴She sits at the door of her house;

she takes a seat on wthe highest places of the town,

¹⁵calling to those who pass by,

who are xgoing straight on their way,

¹⁶y“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”

And to him who lacks sense she says,

¹⁷z“Stolen water is sweet,

and abread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

¹⁸But he does not know bthat the dead4 are there,

that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

By Grace Through Faith

¹jAnd you were kdead in the trespasses and sins ²lin which you once walked, following the course of this world, following mthe prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in nthe sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in othe passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body1 and the mind, and pwere by nature qchildren of wrath, like the rest of mankind.2 ⁴But3 God, being rrich in mercy, sbecause of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even twhen we were dead in our trespasses, umade us alive together with Christ—vby grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and wseated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable xriches of his grace in ykindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For zby grace you have been saved athrough faith. And this is bnot your own doing; cit is the gift of God, ⁹dnot a result of works, eso that no one may boast. ¹⁰For fwe are his workmanship, gcreated in Christ Jesus hfor good works, iwhich God prepared beforehand, jthat we should walk in them.

One in Christ

¹¹Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called kthe circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— ¹²remember lthat you were at that time separated from Christ, malienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to nthe covenants of promise, ohaving no hope and without God in the world. ¹³But now in Christ Jesus you who once were pfar off have been brought near qby the blood of Christ. ¹⁴For rhe himself is our peace, swho has made us both one and has broken down tin his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in uordinances, that he might create in himself one vnew man in place of the two, so making peace, ¹⁶and might wreconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. ¹⁷And he came and xpreached peace to you who were yfar off and peace to those who were znear. ¹⁸For athrough him we both have baccess in cone Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹So then you are no longer dstrangers and aliens,4 but you are efellow citizens with the saints and fmembers of the household of God, ²⁰gbuilt on the foundation of the hapostles and prophets, iChrist Jesus himself being jthe cornerstone, ²¹kin whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into la holy temple in the Lord. ²²In him myou also are being built together ninto a dwelling place for God by5 the Spirit.