DEUTERONOMY 33

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Moses’ Final Blessing on Israel  33:1 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,

“The Lord came from Sinai

and dawned from Seir upon us;

he shone forth from Mount Paran;

he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,

with flaming fire at his right hand. 3

Yes, he loved his people,

all his holy ones were in his hand;

so they followed in your steps,

receiving direction from you, 4

when Moses commanded us a law,

as a possession for the assembly of Jacob. 5

Thus the Lord became king in Jeshurun,

when the heads of the people were gathered,

all the tribes of Israel together.
6

“Let Reuben live, and not die,

but let his men be few.” 7 And this he said of Judah:

“Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,

and bring him in to his people.

With your hands contend for him,

and be a help against his adversaries.” 8 And of Levi he said,

“Give to Levi your Thummim,

and your Urim to your godly one,

whom you tested at Massah,

with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah; 9

who said of his father and mother,

‘I regard them not’;

he disowned his brothers

and ignored his children.

For they observed your word

and kept your covenant. 10

They shall teach Jacob your rules

and Israel your law;

they shall put incense before you

and whole burnt offerings on your altar. 11

Bless, O Lord, his substance,

and accept the work of his hands;

crush the loins of his adversaries,

of those who hate him, that they rise not again.” 12 Of Benjamin he said,

“The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety.

The High God surrounds him all day long,

and dwells between his shoulders.” 13 And of Joseph he said,

“Blessed by the Lord be his land,

with the choicest gifts of heaven above,

and of the deep that crouches beneath, 14

with the choicest fruits of the sun

and the rich yield of the months, 15

with the finest produce of the ancient mountains

and the abundance of the everlasting hills, 16

with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness

and the favor of him who dwells in the bush.

May these rest on the head of Joseph,

on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers. 17

A firstborn bull—he has majesty,

and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;

with them he shall gore the peoples,

all of them, to the ends of the earth;

they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,

and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” 18 And of Zebulun he said,

“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,

and Issachar, in your tents. 19

They shall call peoples to their mountain;

there they offer right sacrifices;

for they draw from the abundance of the seas

and the hidden treasures of the sand.” 20 And of Gad he said,

“Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!

Gad crouches like a lion;

he tears off arm and scalp. 21

He chose the best of the land for himself,

for there a commander’s portion was reserved;

and he came with the heads of the people,

with Israel he executed the justice of the Lord,

and his judgments for Israel.” 22 And of Dan he said,

“Dan is a lion’s cub

that leaps from Bashan.” 23 And of Naphtali he said,

“O Naphtali, sated with favor,

and full of the blessing of the Lord,

possess the lake and the south.” 24 And of Asher he said,

“Most blessed of sons be Asher;

let him be the favorite of his brothers,

and let him dip his foot in oil. 25

Your bars shall be iron and bronze,

and as your days, so shall your strength be.
26

“There is none like God, O Jeshurun,

who rides through the heavens to your help,

through the skies in his majesty. 27

The eternal God is your dwelling place,

and underneath are the everlasting arms.

And he thrust out the enemy before you

and said, ‘Destroy.’ 28

So Israel lived in safety,

Jacob lived alone,

in a land of grain and wine,

whose heavens drop down dew. 29

Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,

a people saved by the Lord,

the shield of your help,

and the sword of your triumph!

Your enemies shall come fawning to you,

and you shall tread upon their backs.”

DEUTERONOMY 34

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The Death of Moses  34:1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go 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 and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
    9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

PROVERBS 1

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The Beginning of Knowledge  1:1 The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
2

To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight, 3

to receive instruction in wise dealing,

in righteousness, justice, and equity; 4

to give prudence to the simple,

knowledge and discretion to the youth— 5

Let the wise hear and increase in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance, 6

to understand a proverb and a saying,

the words of the wise and their riddles.
7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction. The Enticement of Sinners8

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction,

and forsake not your mother’s teaching, 9

for they are a graceful garland for your head

and pendants for your neck. 10

My son, if sinners entice you,

do not consent. 11

If they say, “Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood;

let us ambush the innocent without reason; 12

like Sheol let us swallow them alive,

and whole, like those who go down to the pit; 13

we shall find all precious goods,

we shall fill our houses with plunder; 14

throw in your lot among us;

we will all have one purse”— 15

my son, do not walk in the way with them;

hold back your foot from their paths, 16

for their feet run to evil,

and they make haste to shed blood. 17

For in vain is a net spread

in the sight of any bird, 18

but these men lie in wait for their own blood;

they set an ambush for their own lives. 19

Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain;

it takes away the life of its possessors. The Call of Wisdom20

Wisdom cries aloud in the street,

in the markets she raises her voice; 21

at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

at the entrance of the city gates she speaks: 22

“How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools hate knowledge? 23

If you turn at my reproof,

behold, I will pour out my spirit to you;

I will make my words known to you. 24

Because I have called and you refused to listen,

have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, 25

because you have ignored all my counsel

and would have none of my reproof, 26

I also will laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when terror strikes you, 27

when terror strikes you like a storm

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you. 28

Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently but will not find me. 29

Because they hated knowledge

and did not choose the fear of the Lord, 30

would have none of my counsel

and despised all my reproof, 31

therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way,

and have their fill of their own devices. 32

For the simple are killed by their turning away,

and the complacency of fools destroys them; 33

but whoever listens to me will dwell secure

and will be at ease, without dread of disaster.”

MARK 12

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The Parable of the Tenants  12:1 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed. 6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone; 11

this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”
    12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away. Paying Taxes to Caesar13 And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians, to trap him in his talk. 14 And they came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone’s opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?” 15 But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” 16 And they brought one. And he said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said to him, “Caesar’s.” 17 Jesus said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they marveled at him. The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection18 And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”
    24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.” The Great Commandment28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions. Whose Son Is the Christ?35 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, “How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David? 36 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ 37 David himself calls him Lord. So how is he his son?” And the great throng heard him gladly. Beware of the Scribes38 And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces 39 and have the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 40 who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” The Widow’s Offering41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”