Deuteronomy 30 Cross References - ISV

¹ Restoration after the Exile“When all these things happen to you—both the blessings and the curses that I’ve presented to you—and you take them seriously in all the nations where the LORD your God will deport you, ² and when you—you and your descendants, that is—will have returned to him and obeyed all the commands that I’m giving you today with all your heart and soul, ³ then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and will show compassion to you. He will gather you from among the peoples where he had scattered you. ⁴ Even if the LORD had banished you to the ends of the heavens, the LORD your God will gather you from there ⁵ and he’ll bring you to the land that your ancestors inherited. You’ll possess it, you’ll prosper, and you’ll greatly multiply more than your ancestors did. ⁶ Then the LORD your God will circumcise both your hearts and those of your descendants so that you can love him with your heart and with your soul and therefore live. ⁷ Then the LORD your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you.”
⁸ Prosperity in Obedience“So now, return and obey the LORD your God and observe all his commands that I’m giving you today, ⁹ and the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all that you do, along with your children, your livestock, and the produce of your fields, because the LORD your God will again be delighted with you for good, just as he was delighted with your ancestors, ¹⁰ if you obey him and keep his commands and statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, and if you return to him with all your heart and soul. ¹¹ Indeed, these commands that I’m giving you today are neither confusing nor unattainable for you. ¹² They aren’t in the heavens, so you have to ask, ‘Who’ll go up to the heavens for us and get it for us so we can hear it and act on it?’ ¹³ And they aren’t beyond the seas either, so you have to ask, ‘Who’ll cross the sea and get it for us so we can hear it and act on it?’ ¹⁴ No, the word is very near you—it’s within your mouth and heart for you to attain.”
¹⁵ Destruction in Disobedience“Look! Today I have set before you life and what is good, along with death and what is evil. ¹⁶ That’s why I’m commanding you today to love the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by observing his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live long, increase, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are about to enter to possess. ¹⁷ But if you turn your heart away, and do not obey, but instead if you stray away to worship and serve other gods, ¹⁸ I’m declaring to you today that you will surely be destroyed. You won’t live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan River to enter and possess. ¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to testify against you today! I’ve set life and death before you today: both blessings and curses. Choose life, that it may be well with you—you and your children. ²⁰ Love the LORD your God, obey his voice, and cling to him, because he is your life—even your long life—so that you may live in the land that the LORD promised to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

¹⁴ “You’re driving me from the soil today. I’ll be hidden from you, and I’ll wander throughout the earth as a fugitive. In the future, whoever finds me will kill me.”

¹ Rewards for Obedience“You are not to make worthless idols, images, or pillars for yourselves, nor set up for yourselves carved images to bow down to them in the land, because I am the LORD your God.
² “You are to keep my Sabbath and fear my sanctuary. I am the LORD.
³ “If you live by my statutes, obey my commands, and observe them, ⁴ then I’ll send your rain in its season so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will yield their fruit. ⁵ Threshing will extend to the time of vintage and the vintage will extend to the time of sowing, so that you’ll eat your bread to your satisfaction and live securely in your land. ⁶ I’ll give peace in the land so that you’ll lie down without fear. I’ll remove wild beasts from the land, and not even war will come to your land. ⁷ Instead, you’ll pursue your enemies and they’ll die by the sword before you. ⁸ Five of you will chase a hundred, a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.
⁹ “I’ll look after you, ensuring that you’ll be fruitful. I’ll increase your number and keep my covenant with you. ¹⁰ When you have consumed what was stored of the old, then you’ll take out the old and replace it with what’s new. ¹¹ I’ll set up my tent in your midst and I won’t loathe you. ¹² I’ll walk among you. I will be your God, and you’ll be my people. ¹³ I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you will no longer be their slaves, since I’ve broken their oppressive yoke upon you to make you walk upright.”
¹⁴ Cascading Consequences“But if you won’t listen to me and obey all these commands, ¹⁵ and if you refuse my statutes, loathe my ordinances, and fail to carry out all of my commands, thereby breaching my covenant, ¹⁶ then I will certainly do this to you: I’ll appoint sudden terror to infect you like tuberculosis and fever. Your eyes will fail and your life will waste away. You’ll plant in vain, because your enemies will consume what you plant. ¹⁷ I’ll set my face against you so that you’ll be defeated before your enemies. Those who hate you will have dominion over you and you’ll keep fleeing even when no one is pursuing you.
¹⁸ “If, despite all of this, you still don’t listen to me, then I’ll punish you seven times more on account of your sins. ¹⁹ I’ll break your mighty pride. I’ll make the heavens to be like iron and the ground like bronze. ²⁰ Your strength will be spent in vain, because your land won’t yield its produce and the trees of the land won’t yield their fruit.
²¹ “If you live life contrary to me and remain unwilling to listen to me, then I’ll add to your wounds seven times more on account of your sins. ²² I’ll send wild beasts against you from the open country to deprive you of your children, destroy your cattle, and decrease your number so that your roads become desolate.
²³ “If, despite these things, you still won’t return to me, but live life contrary to me, ²⁴ then I’ll certainly oppose you. I’ll take vengeance against you seven fold on account of your sins. ²⁵ I’ll bring the sword against you to execute the vengeance of my covenant. When you gather in your cities, I’ll send a pestilence. As a result, you’ll be delivered into the control of your enemies. ²⁶ When I destroy the source of your bread, ten women will bake bread in one oven. Then they’ll return back your bread by weight. You’ll eat but won’t be satisfied.
²⁷ “If, after all of this time, you don’t listen to me, but instead live life contrary to me, ²⁸ I’ll oppose you with vicious rage. Indeed, I myself will punish you seven fold on account of your sins. ²⁹ At that time, you’ll eat the flesh of your sons and you’ll eat the flesh of your daughters. ³⁰ I’ll destroy your high places and cut down your sun pillars. Then I’ll cast your dead bodies on top of the bodies of your idols. I’ll loathe you. ³¹ I’ll lay your cities to waste and destroy your sanctuaries so I don’t have to smell the scent of your soothing odors. ³² I’ll make the land so desolate that your enemies who live in it will be astonished.”
³³ Captivity among the Nations“I’ll scatter you among the nations and draw the sword after you so that your land becomes desolate and your towns become ruins. ³⁴ Then the land will finally be pleased with its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate while you are in the land of your enemies. At that time, the land will rest and take its Sabbaths. ³⁵ As long as it lies desolate, it will have rest that it will not have had during your Sabbaths when you were living in it.
³⁶ “As for the remnants among you, I’ll bring despair in their hearts in the land of their enemies so that even the sound of a blown leaf will chase them and they flee as though pursued by the sword and fall when no one is pursuing. ³⁷ They’ll stumble over each other as though fleeing before the sword, even though no one is pursuing.
“You won’t have power to resist your enemies. ³⁸ You’ll perish among the nations and the land of your enemies will consume you. ³⁹ The remnants among you will waste away in the land of your enemies due to their iniquity. Indeed, they’ll also waste away on account of the iniquities of their ancestors with them.”
⁴⁰ Return from Captivity“Nevertheless, when they confess their iniquity, the iniquity of their ancestors, and their unfaithfulness by which they acted unfaithfully against me by living life contrary to me— ⁴¹ causing me to oppose them and take them to the land of their enemies so that the uncircumcised foreskin of their hearts can be humbled and so that they accept the punishment of their iniquity— ⁴² then I’ll remember my covenant with Jacob, my covenant with Isaac, and my covenant with Abraham. I’ll also remember the land. ⁴³ They will leave the land so it can rest while it lies desolate without them. That’s when they’ll receive the punishment of their iniquity, because indeed they will have rejected my ordinances and despised my statutes. ⁴⁴ Yet, despite all of these things, when they’re in the land of their enemies, I won’t reject or despise them so as to completely destroy them and by doing so violate my covenant with them, because I am the LORD their God. ⁴⁵ Instead, on account of them, I’ll remember my covenant with their ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt right before the eyes of the nations, so that I could be their God. I am the LORD.”
⁴⁶ These are the statutes, ordinances, and laws that the LORD made between himself and the Israelis on Mount Sinai, as recorded by the hand of Moses.

²⁹ If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul. ³⁰ In your distress, when all these things happen to you in days to come and you return to the LORD your God, then you will hear his voice.

²⁶ Look! I’m about to grant you a blessing and a curse— ²⁷ a blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I’m giving you today, ²⁸ or a curse if you don’t obey the commands of the LORD your God, by turning from the way that I’m commanding you today and following other gods whom you have not known.”

¹ Stone MemorialsMoses and the elders of Israel gave these orders to the people: “Observe all of the commandments that I’m giving you today. ² On the day you cross over the Jordan River to the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, set up large stones and coat them with plaster. ³ Then inscribe on them all the words of this law when you’ve crossed over into the land that the LORD your God is about to give you—a land flowing with milk and honey—just as the LORD God of your ancestors promised you.
⁴ “When you have crossed the Jordan River, set up these stones about which I’m commanding you today on Mount Ebal, and coat them with plaster. ⁵ Then build an altar there to the LORD your God, an altar of stones that hasn’t been worked with iron tools. ⁶ Build the altar to the LORD your God with uncut stones, then offer a burnt offering to him. ⁷ Offer a burnt offering there, then eat and rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God. ⁸ Inscribe on the stones plainly and distinctly all the words of this Law.”
⁹ Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to Israel. They said, “Be quiet and listen, Israel! Today you have become the people of the LORD your God. ¹⁰ Listen to his voice and carry out his commands and statutes that I’m giving you today.”
¹¹ Penalties for DisobedienceMoses gave the people these commands that day: ¹² “When you cross the Jordan River, these tribes are to stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people—Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³ The tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali are to stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce the curse. ¹⁴ The descendants of Levi are to declare in a loud voice to every Israeli: ¹⁵ “‘Cursed is the one who makes a sculptured or cast image—a detestable thing to the LORD, the work of a craftsman—and sets it up secretly.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁶ “Cursed is the one who treats his father and mother with dishonor.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁷ “‘Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁸ “‘Cursed is the one who misleads a blind person on the road.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ¹⁹ “‘Cursed is the one who perverts justice due the foreigner, the orphan, or the widow.’“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²⁰ “Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his father’s wife, because he has disgraced his father.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²¹ “‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with any animal.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²² “‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his sister, the daughter of his father or mother.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²³ “‘Cursed is the one who has sexual relations with his mother-in-law.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²⁴ “‘Cursed is one who strikes his neighbor secretly.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²⁵ “‘Cursed is one who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’ ²⁶ “‘Cursed is the one who doesn’t uphold the words of this Law and observe them.“Then all the people are to respond by saying, ‘Amen!’”

⁶⁴ Scattering among the Nations“He’ll scatter you among the peoples from one end of the earth to the other, and there you’ll serve other gods made of wood and stones, which neither you nor your ancestors have known.

¹⁸ Be alert so there is no man, woman, family, or a tribe whose heart is turning away from the LORD your God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Be alert so there will be no root among you that produces poisonous and bitter fruit, ¹⁹ because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he will bless himself and say: ‘I will have a peaceful life, even though I’m determined to be stubborn.’ By doing this he will be sweeping away both watered and parched ground alike.’
²⁰ “The LORD won’t forgive such a person. Instead, the zealous anger of the LORD will blaze against him. All the curses that were written in this book will fall on him. Then the LORD will wipe out his memory from under heaven. ²¹ The LORD will set him apart from all the tribes of Israel for destruction, according to the curses of the covenant that were written in this Book of the Law.”
²² A Reminder of Sodom and Gomorrah“Then the generation to come—your descendants after you and the foreigners who come from afar—will see plagues and illnesses infecting the land that the LORD will inflict on it. ²³ The whole land will be covered with salt pits and burning sulfur, with nothing planted, nothing sprouting, and producing no vegetation—overthrown like Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, when the LORD overthrew them in his raging fury.

²⁸ The LORD uprooted them from the land in his anger, wrath, and great fury, deporting them to another land, and that’s the way things are today.’

¹⁵ Destruction in Disobedience“Look! Today I have set before you life and what is good, along with death and what is evil.

¹⁹ I call heaven and earth to testify against you today! I’ve set life and death before you today: both blessings and curses. Choose life, that it may be well with you—you and your children.

⁴⁷ if they turn their hearts back to you in the land where they have been taken captive, repent, and pray to you—even if they do so in the land of their captivity—confessing, ‘We have sinned, we have committed abominations, and practiced wickedness,’ ⁴⁸ if they return to you with all of their heart and with all of their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, as they pray to you in the direction of their land that you have given to their ancestors and to the city that you have chosen, and to the Temple that I have built for your name,

⁸ “Remember this, and stand firm; take it again to heart, you rebels.

³ “In all the places where the people remain, where I’ve banished them, death will be chosen over life by all the remnant that remains of this evil family,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.

²⁸ Because he reconsidered his transgression and turned away from everything that he had been doing, he’ll certainly live and not die.

¹⁷ “Then he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more food than they can eat, and here I am starving to death!

²⁸ There you’ll serve gods made by human hands, serving trees and stones that cannot see, hear, eat, nor smell. ²⁹ If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul. ³⁰ In your distress, when all these things happen to you in days to come and you return to the LORD your God, then you will hear his voice. ³¹ For God is compassionate. The LORD your God won’t fail you. He won’t destroy you or forget the covenant that he confirmed with your ancestors.”

⁵ You are to love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

³ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or that diviner of dreams. For the LORD your God is testing you, to make known whether or not you’ll continue to love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.

⁹ Then the people rejoiced because they had given voluntarily, since with a devoted heart they had freely given to the LORD.
David’s Praise to GodKing David also rejoiced greatly.

¹⁷ And I know, God, that it is you who searches the heart and you who finds pleasure in righteousness. With a righteous heart I have freely given all these things, and now I have seen all of these people of yours giving freely and joyfully to you!

⁹ but if you return to me, keeping my commands and doing them, even if your exiled people are in the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place where I have chosen to establish my Name.’

¹² As for me, you will maintain my just cause, and you will cause me to stand in your presence forever.

⁸⁰ May my heart be blameless with respect to your statutes so that I may not become ashamed.

⁶ Steps to Reconciliation“Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous person his thoughts. Let him return to the LORD, So he’ll have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he’ll pardon abundantly.

¹⁰ Yet in all this her treacherous sister Judah didn’t return to me with her whole heart, but rather deceptively,” declares the LORD.

¹⁴ Jerusalem, wash your evil from your heart so that you may be delivered. How long will you harbor evil schemes within you?

¹³ You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

³² though he causes grief, his compassion abounds according to his gracious love.

⁴⁰ Let us examine our lifestyles, putting them to the test, and turn back to the LORD.

⁵ Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come in awe to the LORD and to his goodness in the last days.

¹ A Call for Israel to Repent “Come, let us return to the LORD; even though he has torn us, he will heal us. Even though he has wounded us, he will bind our wounds. ² After two days, he will restore us to life, on the third day he will raise us up, and we will live in his presence.

¹ A Call to Repentance “Return, Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have fallen due to your own iniquity. ² Bring a prepared speech with you as you return to the LORD. Say to him: ‘Take away all our iniquity, and accept what is good. Then we will present the fruit of our lips. ³ Assyria won’t save us; we won’t be riding on horses, Nor will we be saying anymore to the work of our hands, “You are our God.” Indeed, in you the orphan finds mercy.’

¹² Repentance and Restoration“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Turn back to me with your whole heart, with fasting, tears, and mourning. ¹³ Tear your hearts, not your garments; and turn back to the LORD your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to become angry, overflowing in gracious love, and grieves about this evil.

¹⁰ I will pour out on the house of David and on the residents of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and of supplications, and they will look to me—the one whom they pierced.’”
Mourning in JerusalemThen they will mourn for him, as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for him, as for a firstborn son.

¹⁶ But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

²⁴ May grace be with all who sincerely love the Lord Jesus, the Messiah!

⁹ If we make it our habit to confess our sins, in his faithful righteousness he forgives us for those sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

¹ An Edict to Rebuild the Temple
During the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in fulfillment of the message from the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD prompted Cyrus, king of Persia, to make this proclamation throughout his entire kingdom, which was also released in written form: ² AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM CYRUS, KING OF PERSIA All of the kingdoms of the earth have been given to me by the LORD God of Heaven, and he specifically charged me to build a temple for him in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ³ Therefore, who among the LORD’s people trusts in his God? Whoever among this group wishes to do so may travel to Jerusalem of Judah to rebuild the Temple of the LORD God of Israel, the God of Jerusalem. ⁴ Furthermore, everyone who wishes to repatriate from any territory where he now resides is to receive assistance from his fellow residents in the form of silver, gold, equipment, and pack animals, in addition to voluntary offerings for the Temple of the God of Jerusalem.

⁴⁵ he remembered his covenant with them, and so relented according to the greatness of his gracious love. ⁴⁶ He caused all their captors to show compassion toward them. ⁴⁷ Deliver us, LORD our God, gather us from among the nations so we may praise your holy name and rejoice in praising you.

¹ A Song of Ascents
The Exiles Restored When the LORD brought back Zion’s exiles, we were like dreamers. ² Then our mouths were filled with laughter, and our tongues formed joyful shouts. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” ³ The great things that the LORD has done for us gladden us. ⁴ Restore our exiles, LORD, like the streams of the Negev.

² The LORD rebuilds Jerusalem; he gathers together the outcasts of Israel.

⁸ A Rebuke to Israel’s GuardiansThis is what the Lord GOD says, the one who gathers the outcasts of Israel: “I’ll gather still others to them besides those already gathered.

¹⁴ I’ll be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I’ll restore your security and gather you from all the nations and all the places to which I’ve driven you,’ declares the LORD. ‘I’ll bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.’

¹⁰ Nations, listen to this message from the LORD, and declare it in the distant coastlands. Say, “The one who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”

³⁷ I’m about to gather my people from all the lands where I’ve driven them in my anger, wrath, and great indignation. I’ll bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. ³⁸ They’ll be my people, and I’ll be their God. ³⁹ I’ll give them one heart and one lifestyle so they’ll fear me always for their own good and for the good of their descendants after them. ⁴⁰ I’ll make an everlasting covenant with them that I won’t turn away from doing good for them. I’ll put the fear of me in their hearts so they won’t turn away from me. ⁴¹ I’ll rejoice over them to do good for them, and I’ll faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.’
⁴² “Indeed, this is what the LORD says: ‘Just as I’m bringing all this great disaster on this people, so I’ll bring on them all the good things that I’m promising concerning them. ⁴³ Fields will be bought in this land about which you will say, “It is a desolate place without people or animals. It is given into the hands of the Chaldeans.” ⁴⁴ People will buy fields for money, sign deeds, seal them, and call witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the areas around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah, the towns of the hill country, the towns of the Shephelah, and the towns of the Negev, for I’ll restore their fortunes,’ declares the LORD.”

²² Because of the LORD’s gracious love we are not consumed, since his compassions never end.

¹² Just as a shepherd looks after his flock during the day time while he is with them, so also I’m going to watch over my sheep, delivering them from every place where they’ve been scattered during the times of gloom and doom. ¹³ I’m going to bring them out from foreign nations and from foreign lands. Then I’ll bring them to their own land and feed them in Israel—on the mountains, in their valleys, and in all of their settlements throughout the land.

²⁴ I’m going to remove you from the nations, gather you from all of the territories, and bring you all back to your own land.

⁷ “This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘Look! After having saved my people from the land of the east and from the land of the west, ⁸ I will also bring them back to live in the midst of Jerusalem. They will be my people and I will truly be their righteous God.’”

²³ If the Jews do not persist in their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, because God is able to graft them in.

²⁶ In this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.

³¹ so they, too, have now disobeyed. As a result, they may receive mercy because of the mercy shown to you.

¹¹ At that time, the LORD will reach out his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. ¹² He will raise a banner for the nations and will assemble the dispersed of Israel; he will gather the scattered people of Judah from the corners of the earth.
¹³ Israel’s Victory over Its EnemiesEphraim’s jealousy will vanish, and those who are hostile to Judah will be eliminated; Ephraim will no longer be jealous of Judah, and Judah will not be hostile to Ephraim. ¹⁴ But they will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines to the west, and they will plunder the people to the east. They’ll lay their hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them. ¹⁵ The LORD will totally destroy the gulf of the Sea of Egypt. He will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River with a violent wind, breaking it up into seven streams, and making a way for people to cross on foot. ¹⁶ And there will be a highway for the remnant that is left of his people out of Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from the land of Egypt.

⁶ I’ll say to the north, ‘Give them up’! and to the south, ‘Don’t keep them back!’ Bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the ends of the earth—

²⁵ The Final Restoration of Israel“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD has to say: ‘I’m going to restore the resources of Jacob and show mercy to the entire house of Israel. I’ll be zealous for my own reputation and for my holiness. ²⁶ They’ll forget their shame and all of their unfaithfulness by which they behaved so unfaithfully toward me. They will live on their land in confidence, not in fear. ²⁷ When I bring them back from the nations and gather them together from the lands that belong to their enemies, I will demonstrate my holiness through them right in front of the eyes of the world, ²⁸ and they will learn that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into exile and who gathered them back to their land. I will not leave any of them remaining in exile. ²⁹ I’ll no longer hide my presence from them again when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

¹⁹ “Watch how I deal with everyone who oppresses you! At that time I will rescue the one who is lame, and I will draw to me the one who has been driven away. I will honor them with praise and with a good reputation in every land where they have been put to shame. ²⁰ At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. Indeed, I will give you a good reputation, making you praiseworthy among all of the people of the world, when I restore your prosperity before your eyes,” says the LORD.

⁶ but showing gracious love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.ג

¹⁶ Therefore, circumcise your heart and stop being stubborn.

⁴ Circumcise yourselves to the LORD and remove the foreskin of your heart, you men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem, or else my wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to put it out, because of your evil deeds.”

²⁶ Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of Ammon, Moab, all those who live in the desert and shave the corners of their beard; indeed all the other nations that are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel that is uncircumcised of heart.”

³⁹ I’ll give them one heart and one lifestyle so they’ll fear me always for their own good and for the good of their descendants after them.

¹⁹ then I’ll give them a united heart, placing a new spirit within them. I’ll remove their stubborn heart and give them a heart that’s sensitive to me. ²⁰ When they live by my statutes and keep my ordinances by observing them, then they’ll be my people and I will be their God.

²⁶ “‘“I’m going to give you a new heart, and I’m going to give you a new spirit within all of your deepest parts. I’ll remove that rock-hard heart of yours and replace it with one that’s sensitive to me. ²⁷ I’ll place my spirit within you, empowering you to live according to my regulations and to keep my just decrees.

³⁷ Jesus told him, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

³ Jesus replied to him, “Truly, I tell you emphatically, unless a person is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
⁴ Nicodemus asked him, “How can a person be born when he is old? He can’t go back into his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?”
⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, I tell you emphatically, unless a person is born of water and Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Don’t be astonished that I told you, ‘All of you must be born from above.’

²⁸ For a person is not a Jew because of his appearance, nor is circumcision something just external and physical. ²⁹ No, a person is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, brought about by the Spirit, not by a written law. That person’s praise will come from God, not from people.

²⁸ And we know that for those who love God, that is, for those who are called according to his purpose, all things are working together for good.

³ But anyone who loves God is known by him.

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in the Messiah, he is a new creation. Old things have disappeared, and—look!—all things have become new!

¹¹ In union with him you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without human hands by stripping off the corrupt nature by the circumcision performed by the Messiah.

¹² Trial and TemptationHow blessed is the man who endures temptation! When he has passed the test, he will receive the victor’s crown of life that God has promised to those who keep on loving him.

⁵ Listen, my dear brothers! God has chosen the poor in the world to become rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he promised to those who keep on loving him, has he not?

⁷ God’s Love Lives in UsDear friends, let us continuously love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God.

¹⁶ We have come to know and rely on the love that God has for us. God is love, and the person who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ This is how love has been perfected among us: we will have confidence on the day of judgment because, during our time in this world, we are just like him. ¹⁸ There is no fear where love exists. Rather, perfect love banishes fear, for fear involves punishment, and the person who lives in fear has not been perfected in love.
¹⁹ We love because God first loved us.

³ For this demonstrates our love for God: We keep his commandments, and his commandments are not difficult, ⁴ because everyone who is born from God has overcome the world. Our faith is the victory that overcomes the world.

¹⁴ Meanwhile, since I have to return to my people, come and listen while I tell you what this people will be doing to your people in the last days.”

¹⁵ The LORD will turn aside every disease from you. He won’t inflict on you the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but will inflict them instead on all who hate you.

⁷ Remember the day of Jerusalem’s fall, LORD, because of the Edomites, who kept saying, “Tear it down! Tear it right down to its foundations!” ⁸ Daughter of Babylon! You devastator! How blessed will be the one who pays you back for what you have done to us. ⁹ How blessed will be the one who seizes your young children and pulverizes them against the cliff!

¹² Assyria will be Judged“For the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and against Jerusalem; he will punish the speech that comes from that willful heart of Assyria’s king and the haughty look in his eyes.

¹ Israel Mocks Babylon’s KingHowever, the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and will once again choose Israel. He will settle them in their own land, and foreigners will join them, affiliating themselves with the house of Jacob. ² Many nations will take them and bring them to their land and their own place. The house of Israel will put those nations to conscripted labor in the LORD’s land. They will take captive those who were their captors, and will rule continually over those who oppressed them.
³ At the time, when the LORD gives you rest from your suffering, turmoil, and the cruel bondage which they forced you to serve, ⁴ you will lift up this song of mockery against the king of Babylon: “How the oppressor has come to an end! How the attacker has ceased! ⁵ The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of rulers, ⁶ that struck down peoples in anger with unceasing blows, that oppressed nations in fury with relentless persecution. ⁷ The entire earth is at rest and peace; its inhabitants break into song. ⁸ Even the cypresses rejoice over you, as do the cedars of Lebanon, saying, ‘Now that you’ve been laid low, no woodcutter comes up against us.’ ⁹ “The afterlife below is all astir to meet you when you arrive; it rouses up the spirits of the dead to greet you— everyone who used to be world leaders. It has raised up from their thrones all who used to be kings of the nations. ¹⁰ In answer, all of them will tell you, ‘You’ve also become as weak as we are! You have become just like us!’ ¹¹ Your pomp has been brought down to Sheol, along with the noise of your harps. Maggots are spread out beneath you, and worms are your covering.”
¹² The Fall of the Day Star“How you have fallen from heaven, Day Star, son of the Dawn! How you have been thrown down to earth, you who laid low the nation! ¹³ You said in your heart, ‘I’ll ascend to heaven, above the stars of God. I’ll erect my throne; I’ll sit on the Mount of Assembly in the far reaches of the north; ¹⁴ I’ll ascend above the tops of the clouds; I’ll make myself like the Most High.’ ¹⁵ But you are brought down to join the dead, to the far reaches of the Pit. ¹⁶ “Those who see you will stare at you. They will wonder about you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who made kingdoms quake, ¹⁷ who made the world like a desert, who destroyed its cities, who would not open the jails for his prisoners?’ ¹⁸ All the kings of the nations lie in state, each in his own tomb. ¹⁹ But you are cast away from your grave, like a repulsive branch, your clothing is the slain, those pierced by the sword; those who go down to the Pit. Like a dead body trampled underfoot, ²⁰ you will not be united with them in burial, for you have destroyed your land, you have slain your people. People will never mention the descendants of those who practice evil again! ²¹ Prepare a massacre for his sons because of the guilt of their forefathers! They are not to rise and inherit the earth, and cover the surface of the world with cities.”
²² Babylon’s Desolation“I will rise up against them,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies, “and I will eliminate from Babylon her name and survivors, her offspring and descendants,” declares the LORD. ²³ “And I’m going to make it a possession of the hedgehog—pools of water—and I’ll sweep with the broom of destruction,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies. ²⁴ The LORD of the Heavenly Armies has sworn: “Surely as I have planned, that’s what she will become; and just as I have determined, so will it remain— ²⁵ to crush the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains I will trample him down. His yoke will turn away from you, and his burden from your shoulders.” ²⁶ “This is what I’ve planned for the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. ²⁷ For the LORD of the Heavenly Armies has planned, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?”

¹² ‘Then when the seventy years have passed, I’ll judge the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the LORD, I’ll judge the land of the Chaldeans for their iniquity and I’ll make it a desolation forever. ¹³ I’ll bring on that land all the things I spoke against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied about the nations. ¹⁴ Indeed many nations and great kings will make slaves even of them, and I’ll repay them according to their deeds, according to what they have done.’”
¹⁵ Judgment on the NationsFor this is what the LORD God of Israel says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of burning anger from my hand and make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. ¹⁶ They’ll drink, stagger, and act like madmen because of the sword I’m sending among them.”

²⁹ Look, I’m beginning to bring disaster on the city that is called by my name, and do you actually think you will avoid punishment? You won’t avoid punishment because I’m summoning the sword against all those who live in the land,” declares the LORD of the Heavenly Armies.’”

³³ This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: “The people of Israel are oppressed, along with the people of Judah. All their captors have held on to them and refused to let them go. ³⁴ Their Redeemer is strong, the LORD of the Heavenly Armies is his name. He will vigorously plead their case in order to bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to the inhabitants of Babylon.

²⁴ “Before your eyes I’ll repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all the evil that they did in Zion,” declares the LORD. ²⁵ “Look, I’m against you, destroying mountain, who destroys the whole earth,” declares the LORD. “I’ll stretch out my hand against you and roll you down from the crags. And I’ll make you a burned-out mountain. ²⁶ They won’t get a cornerstone or a foundation stone from you, because you will be a wasteland forever,” declares the LORD.

³⁴ Judah’s Complaint against Babylon“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me and crushed me. He set me down like an empty vessel. He swallowed me like a monster, and filled his belly with my delicacies. Then he washed me away. ³⁵ May the violence done to me and my flesh be on Babylon,” says the inhabitant of Zion. “May my blood be on the inhabitants of Chaldea,” says Jerusalem. ³⁶ Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Look, I’m going to argue your case and take vengeance for you. I’ll dry up her sea and make her fountain dry. ³⁷ Babylon will become a heap of ruins, a refuge for jackals, a desolate place and an object of scorn.

⁵⁴ Water closed over my head, and I said, “I’m a dead man.” ⁵⁵ I called on your name, LORD, from the depths of the Pit, ⁵⁶ You heard my voice— don’t close your ear to my sighs and cries. ⁵⁷ You drew near when I called out to you. You said, “Stop being afraid” ⁵⁸ Lord, you have defended my cause; you have redeemed my life. ⁵⁹ LORD, you observed how I have been wronged; now make your ruling in my case. ⁶⁰ You examined their plans for vengeance, all of their plots against me. ⁶¹ LORD, you listened to their insults— all their plots against me, ⁶² the whisperings of my opponents, their scheming against me all day long. ⁶³ Watch! Whether they sit down or stand up, they mock me with their songs. ⁶⁴ Pay them back, LORD, according to their actions. ⁶⁵ Give them an anguished heart; may your curse be upon them! ⁶⁶ Pursue them in your anger and destroy them from under the LORD’s heaven.

²¹ Celebrate and rejoice, you women of Edom, who live in the land of Uz. But to you the cup also will pass— you will become drunk and stripped naked. ²² The punishment for your sin is complete, you women of Zion, and God will no longer exile you. He will punish your iniquity, you women of Edom, and he will expose your sins.

³ Tell the Ammonites: ‘Listen to a message from the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says: “Because you have said, ‘Aha!’ about my sanctuary when it was desecrated, about the land of Israel when it became desolate, and about the households of Judah when they went into exile,

⁶ Why God Condemned Ammon“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you’ve applauded, stamped your feet, and rejoiced with all sorts of malice in your heart against the land of Israel,

⁸ A Message Rebuking Moab and Seir“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Moab and Seir are claiming, “Judah’s citizens are just like every other nation,”

¹² The Coming Destruction of Edom“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Edom has made it their practice to seek extraordinary vengeance against Judah’s citizens, and by doing so has incurred extraordinary guilt by taking revenge against them,’

¹⁵ A Message Condemning Philistia“This is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because Philistia has made it their practice to carry out retribution, accompanied by extraordinary malice in their personal vendettas—vendettas that spring from their everlasting hostility—

³ A Warning to DamascusThis is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus —and now for a fourth— I will not turn away; because they have trampled down Gilead with ironclad threshing sleds.

⁶ A Warning to GazaThis is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Gaza —and now for a fourth— I will not turn away; because they exiled the entire population, delivering them to Edom.

⁹ A Warning to TyreThis is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Tyre —and now for a fourth— I will not turn away; because they delivered the entire population to Edom, and did not remember their covenant with their relatives.

¹¹ A Warning to EdomThis is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Edom —and now for a fourth— I will not turn away; because he pursued his brother with a sword, refusing to be compassionate. His anger was raging continuously; he kept up his unending wrath.

¹³ A Warning to AmmonThis is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of the Ammonites —and now for a fourth— I will not turn away; because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their national borders.

¹⁰ “Shame will overwhelm you because of the violence you inflicted on your brother Jacob, and you will be excluded forever.

³ It will come about at that time that I will make Jerusalem a heavy weight; so everyone who burdens themselves with it will be crushed, even though all of the nations of the earth gather themselves against it.

² and when you—you and your descendants, that is—will have returned to him and obeyed all the commands that I’m giving you today with all your heart and soul,

¹ Wisdom’s Blessings People do the planning, but the end result is from the LORD.

²⁵ When I turn my attention to you, I’ll refine your dross as in a furnace. I’ll remove all your alloy. ²⁶ Let me restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you’ll be called ‘The Righteous City’ and ‘The Faithful City of Zion’.

³³ “Rather, this is the covenant that I’ll make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD. “I’ll put my Law within them and will write it on their hearts. I’ll be their God and they will be my people.

³⁹ I’ll give them one heart and one lifestyle so they’ll fear me always for their own good and for the good of their descendants after them. ⁴⁰ I’ll make an everlasting covenant with them that I won’t turn away from doing good for them. I’ll put the fear of me in their hearts so they won’t turn away from me.

²⁷ I’ll place my spirit within you, empowering you to live according to my regulations and to keep my just decrees.

²⁴ David’s Rule as King“‘“My servant King David will be there for them, and one shepherd will be appointed for them. They will live according to my decrees, keep my regulations, and practice them.

²⁶ In this way, all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion; he will remove ungodliness from Jacob. ²⁷ This is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”

¹⁶ and reconciling both groups to God in one body through the cross, on which he eliminated the hostility.

¹³ For it is God who is producing in you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases him.

⁴ then I’ll send your rain in its season so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will yield their fruit.

⁶ I’ll give peace in the land so that you’ll lie down without fear. I’ll remove wild beasts from the land, and not even war will come to your land.

⁹ “I’ll look after you, ensuring that you’ll be fruitful. I’ll increase your number and keep my covenant with you. ¹⁰ When you have consumed what was stored of the old, then you’ll take out the old and replace it with what’s new.

⁴ “Blessed will your children be, as well as the produce of your land, the offspring of your beasts and cattle, and the offspring of your flock.

¹¹ “The LORD will show his abundant goodness with respect to your children, the offspring of your animals, and the produce of your farmland that he promised your ancestors he would give you.
¹² “The LORD will open his rich treasury, the heavens, to release rain upon your land in season and bless everything you undertake so that you’ll lend to many nations but won’t borrow.
¹³ “The LORD your God will make you the head and not the tail—placing you above and not beneath—if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I’m giving you today to keep and observe. ¹⁴ Do not deviate from any of his commands that I’m giving you today—neither to the right nor the left—to follow and serve other gods.”

⁶³ Just as the LORD delighted to prosper and increase you, so now the LORD will delight to destroy, exterminate, and banish you from the land that you are about to enter to possess.”

⁵ “For just as a young man marries a maiden, so your sons will marry you; and just as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.

¹⁹ I’ll rejoice over Jerusalem, and take delight in my people; no longer will the sound of weeping be heard in it, nor the cry of distress.

²⁸ Just as I’ve watched over them to pull up, tear down, overthrow, destroy, and bring disaster, so I’ll watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD.

⁴¹ I’ll rejoice over them to do good for them, and I’ll faithfully plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.’

⁹ Jerusalem will be for me a name of joy, praise, and glory to all the nations of the earth that hear about all the good that I’m doing for them. They’ll fear and tremble because of all the good and because of all the peace that I’m bringing to Jerusalem.’

¹⁷ The LORD your God among you is powerful— he will save and he will take joyful delight in you. In his love he will renew you with his love; he will celebrate with singing because of you.

⁶ Then he goes home, calls his friends and neighbors together, and says to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I’ve found my lost sheep!’ ⁷ In the same way, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need to repent.”
⁸ The Story of the Diligent Housewife“Or suppose a woman has ten coins and loses one of them. She lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully until she finds it, doesn’t she? ⁹ When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the coin that I lost!’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you that there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come back to life. He was lost and has been found.’”

¹¹ I’ve told you this, so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

²⁹ If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul.

⁸ Prosperity in Obedience“So now, return and obey the LORD your God and observe all his commands that I’m giving you today,

² Why spend your money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in rich food. ³ Pay attention to me, come to me; and listen, so that you may live; then I’ll make an everlasting covenant with you, as promised by my faithful, sure love for David.

⁴⁰ Let us examine our lifestyles, putting them to the test, and turn back to the LORD. ⁴¹ Let us lift up our hearts and our hands to God in heaven.

²¹ But if the wicked person turns from all his sins, which he did and keeps my statutes, then he’ll live. He won’t die.

¹¹ “Tell them, ‘As certainly as I’m alive and living,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I receive no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Instead, my pleasure is that the wicked repent from their behavior and live. Turn back! Turn back, all of you, from your wicked behavior! Why do you have to die, you house of Israel?’”

¹⁴ “If I tell the wicked person that he will certainly die, if he turns from his sin and acts with justice and righteousness,

¹⁹ and when the wicked turn away from their wickedness and do what is just and right, he will certainly live because of that.

¹⁹ Therefore, repent and turn to him to have your sins blotted out,

²⁰ Instead, I first told the people in Damascus and Jerusalem, then all the people in Judea—and after that the gentiles—to repent, turn to God, and perform deeds that are consistent with such repentance.

¹⁹ Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but obeying God’s commandments is everything.

¹⁹ He declares his words to Jacob, his statutes and decrees to Israel. ²⁰ He has not dealt with any other nation like this; they never knew his decrees. Hallelujah!

¹⁹ I didn’t speak in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I didn’t say to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in chaos.’ I, the LORD, speak truth, declaring what is right.

²⁵ Final DoxologyNow to the one who is able to strengthen you with my gospel and the message that I preach about Jesus, the Messiah, by revealing the secret that was kept hidden from long ago ²⁶ but now has been made known through the prophets to all the gentiles, in keeping with the decree of the eternal God to bring them to the obedience that springs from faith—

²⁶ This secret was hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints, ²⁷ to whom God wanted to make known the glorious riches of this secret among the gentiles—which is the Messiah in you, our glorious hope.

⁴ Who has ascended to heaven, and then descended? Who has collected the wind in his hands? Who has wrapped up waters in a garment? Who has established all the farthest points of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name? Surely you know!

¹³ “No one has gone up to heaven except the one who came down from heaven, the Son of Man who is in heaven.

⁶ But the righteousness that comes from faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (that is, to bring the Messiah down), ⁷ or ‘Who will go down into the depths?’ (that is, to bring the Messiah back from the dead).”
⁸ But what does it say? “The message is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart.” This is the message about faith that we are proclaiming:

¹ The Benefits of Embracing Wisdom My son, if you accept my words, and treasure my instructions— ² making your ear attentive to wisdom, and turning your heart to understanding— ³ if, indeed, you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, ⁴ if you seek it like silver and search for it like hidden treasure, ⁵ then you will understand the fear of the LORD and learn to know God.

¹³ Wisdom More Valuable than RichesHow joyful is the man who finds wisdom, and the man who gains understanding, ¹⁴ because her profit is better than the profit of silver, and her yield than fine gold. ¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her. ¹⁶ Long life is in her right hand, and in her left are riches and honor. ¹⁷ Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peaceful. ¹⁸ She is a tree of life for those who embrace her, and whoever clutches her tightly will be joyful.

¹¹ because wisdom is better than precious gems and nothing you desire can compare to it.”

⁶ Iniquity is atoned for by gracious love and truth, and through fear of the LORD people turn from evil.

⁴² The queen of the south will stand up and condemn the people living today, because she came from so far away to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But look! Something greater than Solomon is here!”

²⁷ Do not work for food that perishes but for food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him.”

²⁷ So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, who was a member of the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was in charge of all her treasures and had come up to Jerusalem to worship. ²⁸ Now he was returning home, seated in his chariot, and reading from the prophet Isaiah.
²⁹ The Spirit told Philip, “Approach that chariot and stay near it.” ³⁰ So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah out loud.
Philip asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”
³¹ The man replied, “How can I unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him. ³² This was the passage of Scripture he was reading: “Like a sheep he was led away to be slaughtered, and like a lamb is silent before its shearer, so he does not open his mouth. ³³ In his humiliation, justice was denied him. Who can describe his descendants? For his life is taken away from the earth.”
³⁴ The eunuch asked Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet talking about? Himself? Or someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip began to speak, and, starting from this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.
³⁶ As they were going along the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s some water. What keeps me from being baptized?” ^{37 38} So he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch went on his way rejoicing and did not see Philip again. ⁴⁰ But Philip found himself at Azotus. As he was passing through that region, he kept proclaiming the good news in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

²² The men replied, “Cornelius, a centurion and an upright and God-fearing man who is respected by the whole Jewish nation, was instructed by a holy angel to send for you to come to his home to hear what you have to say.”

³³ So I sent for you immediately, and it was good of you to come. All of us are here now in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has ordered you to say.”

⁹ During the night Paul had a vision. A man from Macedonia was standing there and pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”

¹⁴ How, then, can people call on someone they have not believed? And how can they believe in someone they have not heard about? And how can they hear without someone preaching? ¹⁵ And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are those who bring the good news!”

² You plant them and they take root, they grow and bear fruit. “You are near to us,” they say with their mouths, but the truth is that you’re far from their hearts.

⁵ Whether this rebellious group listens to you or not, at least they’ll realize that a prophet had appeared in their midst!

³¹ Then they come to you as a group, sit down right in front of you as if they were my people, hear your words—and then they don’t do what you say— because they’re seeking only their own desires, they pursue ill-gotten profits, and they keep following their own self-interests.

³³ When all of this comes about—and you can be sure that it will!—they’ll learn that a prophet has been in their midst.”

²¹ I Never Knew You
“Not everyone who keeps saying to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will get into the kingdom from heaven, but only the person who keeps doing the will of my Father in heaven.

¹¹ ‘We’re wiping off your town’s dust that clings to our feet in protest against you! But realize this: the kingdom of God is near!’ ¹² I tell you, on the last day it will be easier for Sodom than for that town!”

⁴⁶ because if you believed Moses, you would believe me, since he wrote about me.

²⁶ “My brothers, descendants of Abraham’s family, and those among you who fear God, it is to us that the message of this salvation has been sent.

³⁸ “Therefore, brothers, you must understand that through him the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, ³⁹ and that everyone who believes in him is justified and freed from everything that kept you from being justified by the Law of Moses. ⁴⁰ So be careful that what the prophets said doesn’t happen to you: ⁴¹ ‘Look, you mockers! Be amazed and die! Since I am performing an action in your days, one that you would not believe even if someone told you!’”

²³ So they set a day to meet with Paul and came out in large numbers to see him where he was staying.
From morning until evening, he continued to explain the kingdom of God to them, trying to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets. ²⁴ Some of them were convinced by what he said, but others wouldn’t believe. ²⁵ They disagreed with one another as they were leaving, so Paul added this statement: “The Holy Spirit was so right when he spoke to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah! ²⁶ He said, ‘Go to this people and say, “You will listen and listen but never understand, and you will look and look but never see! ²⁷ For this people’s minds have become stupid, and their ears can barely hear, and they have shut their eyes so that they may never see with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart and turn and let me heal them.”’
²⁸ You must understand that this message about God’s salvation has been sent to the gentiles, and they will listen.”

⁸ But what does it say? “The message is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart.” This is the message about faith that we are proclaiming: ⁹ If you declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For one believes with his heart and is justified, and declares with his mouth and is saved.

¹ We Must Not Neglect Our SalvationFor this reason we must pay closer attention to the things we have heard, or we may drift away, ² because if the message spoken by angels was reliable, and every violation and act of disobedience received its just punishment, ³ how will we escape if we neglect a salvation as great as this? It was first proclaimed by the Lord himself, and then it was confirmed to us by those who heard him,

²⁶ Look! I’m about to grant you a blessing and a curse—

¹ Rewards for Obedience“Indeed, if you diligently obey the LORD your God to carry out all his commands that I’m giving you today, then the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. ² Moreover, all these blessings will come upon you in abundance, if you obey the LORD your God:
³ “Blessed will you be in the city and blessed will you be in the country.
⁴ “Blessed will your children be, as well as the produce of your land, the offspring of your beasts and cattle, and the offspring of your flock.
⁵ “Blessed will be your grain basket and your kneading bowl.
⁶ “Blessed will you be in your comings and goings.”
⁷ “The LORD will make your enemies, who rise against you and attack from one direction, to flee from you in seven directions.
⁸ “The LORD will send blessings for you with regard to your barns and everything you undertake. Indeed, he will bless you in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you.
⁹ “The LORD will assign you to be a holy people for himself, just as he promised you, as long as you keep his commands and walk in his ways.
¹⁰ “Then all the people of the earth will observe that the name of the LORD is proclaimed among you, and they will fear you.

¹ Restoration after the Exile“When all these things happen to you—both the blessings and the curses that I’ve presented to you—and you take them seriously in all the nations where the LORD your God will deport you,

⁴⁷ because they’re not just empty words for you—they are your very life. Through these instructions you will live long in the land that you are about to cross over the Jordan River to possess.”

¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever doesn’t believe will be condemned.

¹⁶ “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his unique Son so that everyone who believes in him might not be lost but have eternal life.

¹³ The Messiah redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, “A curse on everyone who is hung on a tree!” ¹⁴ This happened in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the gentiles through the Messiah Jesus, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

⁶ for in union with the Messiah Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters. What matters is faith expressed through love.

²³ And this is his commandment: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus the Messiah, and to love one another as he commanded us.

¹¹ This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is found in his Son. ¹² The person who has the Son has this life. The person who does not have the Son of God does not have this life.

⁶ Then the LORD your God will circumcise both your hearts and those of your descendants so that you can love him with your heart and with your soul and therefore live.

³⁷ Jesus told him, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the greatest and most important commandment.

²¹ The person who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, too, will love him and reveal myself to him.”

² This is how we know that we love God’s children: we love God and keep his commandments. ³ For this demonstrates our love for God: We keep his commandments, and his commandments are not difficult,

¹⁷ Also, he must not accumulate wives for himself (otherwise, his affection will become diverted), nor accumulate for himself excessive quantities of silver and gold.

¹⁸ Be alert so there is no man, woman, family, or a tribe whose heart is turning away from the LORD your God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Be alert so there will be no root among you that produces poisonous and bitter fruit, ¹⁹ because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he will bless himself and say: ‘I will have a peaceful life, even though I’m determined to be stubborn.’ By doing this he will be sweeping away both watered and parched ground alike.’
²⁰ “The LORD won’t forgive such a person. Instead, the zealous anger of the LORD will blaze against him. All the curses that were written in this book will fall on him. Then the LORD will wipe out his memory from under heaven. ²¹ The LORD will set him apart from all the tribes of Israel for destruction, according to the curses of the covenant that were written in this Book of the Law.”
²² A Reminder of Sodom and Gomorrah“Then the generation to come—your descendants after you and the foreigners who come from afar—will see plagues and illnesses infecting the land that the LORD will inflict on it. ²³ The whole land will be covered with salt pits and burning sulfur, with nothing planted, nothing sprouting, and producing no vegetation—overthrown like Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, when the LORD overthrew them in his raging fury. ²⁴ All the nations will ask, ‘Why did the LORD do this to this land? What is the meaning of this fierce and great anger?’ ²⁵ Then they will answer themselves, ‘Because they’ve abandoned the covenant of their LORD, the God of their ancestors that he had made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. ²⁶ They followed and worshipped other gods whom they had not known and whom he did not assign to them. ²⁷ For this reason, the anger of the LORD raged against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that were written in this book. ²⁸ The LORD uprooted them from the land in his anger, wrath, and great fury, deporting them to another land, and that’s the way things are today.’

²⁵ But if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”

² all of them from nations that the LORD had ordered the Israelis, “You are not to associate with them and they are not to associate with you, because they will most certainly turn your affections away to follow their gods.” Solomon became deeply attached to them by falling in love.

³² Indeed, the waywardness of the naïve will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

¹⁴ The faithless one will pay for his behavior, but a good man will be rewarded for his.

¹⁹ And this is the basis for judgment: The light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light because their actions were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who practices wickedness hates the light and does not come to the light, so that his actions may not be exposed. ²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may become evident that his actions have God’s approval.”

⁴ They will refuse to listen to the truth and will turn to myths.

¹² See to it, my brothers, that no evil, unbelieving heart is found in any of you, as shown by your turning away from the living God.

²⁵ See to it that you do not ignore the one who is speaking. For if the hearers did not escape when they ignored the one who warned them on earth, how much less will we escape if we turn away from the one who is from heaven!

²⁶ Heaven and earth will testify against what has occurred today: you’ll surely and swiftly be destroyed from the land that you are about to possess by crossing the Jordan River. You won’t live long in it, because you’ll certainly be exterminated.

¹⁹ If you neglect the LORD your God, follow other gods, and serve and worship them, I testify to you today that you will certainly be destroyed. ²⁰ Just like the nations whom the LORD destroyed before you, so will you be destroyed, because you did not listen to the voice of the LORD your God.”

²⁹ because I know that after my death, you’ll surely act wickedly and turn from the road that I’ve instructed you. As a result, evil will fall on you in days to come, because you’ll act wickedly in the sight of the LORD, causing him to become angry due to your behavior.”

¹⁵ However, just as all of the good things have come about that the LORD your God promised, so also the LORD will bring upon you all of the threats until he has destroyed you from possessing this good land that he has given you. ¹⁶ When you break the covenant of the LORD your God that he commanded you to obey by going to serve other gods and worship them, then the anger of the LORD will blaze against you, and you will perish quickly from this good land that he gave you.”

¹⁷ Why, LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts, so that we do not fear you? Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage. ¹⁸ Your holy people took possession for a little while, but now our enemies have trampled down your sanctuary.

²⁸ Gather together the leaders of your tribes and your foremen so I can speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and the earth as witnesses against them,

¹ The Song of Moses Hear, heavens, and I will speak! Listen, earth, to the words of my mouth!

¹⁵ If you think it’s the wrong thing for you to serve the LORD, then choose for yourselves today whom you will serve—the gods whom your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose territories you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
¹⁶ The Response of the PeopleIn response, the people said, “Far be it from us that we should abandon the LORD to serve other gods, ¹⁷ since the LORD our God is the one who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, from a life of slavery. He did those great things right in front of us, preserving us along the way that we traveled and among all the peoples through whose territory we passed. ¹⁸ The LORD expelled all the people before us, including the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore, we also will serve the LORD, since he is our God.”
¹⁹ So Joshua told the people, “You will not be able to serve the LORD, because he is a God of Holiness. He is a jealous God, and he will forgive neither your transgressions nor your sins. ²⁰ If you abandon the LORD and serve foreign deities, then he will turn and do you harm, consuming you after all the good he has done for you.”
²¹ “No,” the people replied to Joshua. “We will serve the LORD.”
²² Joshua responded, “You are giving testimony against yourselves, that you have chosen to serve the LORD.”
They replied, “We are witnesses!”

³⁰ I have chosen the faithful way; I have firmly placed your ordinances before me.

¹¹¹ I have inherited your decrees forever, because they are the joy of my heart.

¹⁷³ May your hand stand ready to assist me, for I have chosen your precepts.

²⁹ “Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD;

³⁶ But whoever sins against me destroys himself; everyone who hates me loves death.”

² Rebellious JudahListen, you heavens, and let the earth pay attention, because the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them to adulthood, but then they rebelled against me.

⁴ For this is what the LORD says: “To the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me, and who hold fast my covenant—

¹² Heavens, be appalled at this, be shocked, be utterly devastated,” declares the LORD. ¹³ “Indeed, my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

²⁹ Land, land, land, listen to this message from the LORD! ³⁰ This is what the LORD says: ‘Write this man off as childless, a man who does not prosper in his lifetime. None of his descendants will succeed in sitting on the throne of David, or ever ruling in Judah again.’”

¹ The LORD’s Indictment against IsraelPlease hear what the LORD says: “Get up and make your case before the mountains, and let the hills listen to your voice. ² Listen, you mountains, to the LORD’s argument! Listen, you strong foundations of the earth, because the LORD has a dispute with his people, and he will set out his case before Israel.

⁴² But there’s only one thing you need. Mary has chosen what is better, and it is not to be taken away from her.”

³⁹ For this promise belongs to you and your children, as well as to all those who are distant, whom the Lord our God may call to himself.”

²¹ With God as my witness, as well as the Messiah Jesus and the chosen angels, I solemnly call on you to carry out these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing on the basis of partiality.

⁴ But all of you who are clinging to the LORD your God are alive today.

⁴⁰ May you observe his statutes and keep his commands that I’m giving you today, so that life may go well for you and for your descendants after you. That way, you’ll live a long life in the land that the LORD your God is about to give you permanently.”

¹⁶ “‘You are to honor your father and your mother, just as the LORD your God commanded you, so that your life will be long and things will go well for you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.ו

¹² Love the LORD“Now Israel, what does the LORD your God desire from you? Only this: fear him, walk in all his ways, love him, serve him with all your heart and in all your life,

²⁰ You are to fear the LORD your God and serve him. Cling to him and swear by his name.

⁹ and so you’ll live long in the land that the LORD your God promised by an oath to give your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

²² Boundaries of the Land“If you carefully observe all of these commands that I’m giving you to do—to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cling to him,

¹⁰ But after you have crossed the Jordan River and settled in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and after you have received relief from the enemies around you and are living securely,

¹⁶ That’s why I’m commanding you today to love the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by observing his commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live long, increase, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in the land that you are about to enter to possess.

⁸ Instead, you are to hold fast to the LORD your God, as you have done today,

¹ Davidic
Confidence in the LORD The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom will I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom will I be afraid?

⁵ For his wrath is only momentary; yet his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may lodge for the night, but shouts of joy will come in the morning.

⁹ For with you is a fountain of life, and in your light we will see light.

⁹ He gives us life and does not permit our feet to slip.

²⁵ Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live. ²⁶ Indeed, everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?”

⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

³ And this is eternal life: to know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent—Jesus the Messiah.

²³ When he arrived, he rejoiced to see what the grace of God had done, and with hearty determination he kept encouraging all of them to remain faithful to the Lord,

²⁵ and he isn’t served by people as if he needed anything. He himself gives everyone life, breath, and everything else.

²⁸ For we live, move, and exist because of him, as some of your own poets have said: ‘…Since we are his children, too.’

⁹ Your love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

²⁰ I no longer live, but the Messiah lives in me, and the life that I am now living in this body I live by the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

³ For you have died, and your life has been safely guarded by the Messiah in God. ⁴ When the Messiah, who is your life, is revealed, then you, too, will be revealed with him in glory.

⁶ Then he told me, “It has happened! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give a drink from the spring of the water of life to the one who is thirsty.

¹ The Vision of the River of the Water of LifeThen the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal. It was flowing from the throne of God and the lamb.

¹⁷ Concluding InvitationThe Spirit and the bride say, “Come!”
Let everyone who hears this say, “Come!”
Let everyone who is thirsty come!
Let anyone who wants the water of life take it as a gift!