Love God, Keep His Commands, Live His Story

1. Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances, which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, gives you. 2. You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you. 3. Your eyes have seen what Yahweh did because of Baal Peor; for all the men who followed Baal Peor, Yahweh your God has destroyed them from among you. 4. But you who were faithful to Yahweh your God are all alive today. 5. Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do so in the middle of the land where you go in to possess it. 6. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who shall hear all these statutes and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” 7. For what great nation is there, that has a god so near to them, as Yahweh our God is whenever we call on him? 8. What great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law, which I set before you today? 9. Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children; 10. the day that you stood before Yahweh your God in Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, “Assemble the people to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” 11. You came near and stood under the mountain. The mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness. 12. Yahweh spoke to you out of the middle of the fire: you heard the voice of words, but you saw no form; you only heard a voice. 13. He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even the ten commandments. He wrote them on two stone tablets. 14. Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it. 15. Be very careful, for you saw no kind of form on the day that Yahweh spoke to you in Horeb out of the middle of the fire, 16. lest you corrupt yourselves, and make yourself a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17. the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18. the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth; 19. and lest you lift up your eyes to the sky, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, even all the army of the sky, you are drawn away and worship them, and serve them, which Yahweh your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole sky. 20. But Yahweh has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be to him a people of inheritance, as it is today. 21. Furthermore Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not go over the Jordan, and that I should not go in to that good land, which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance; 22. but I must die in this land. I must not go over the Jordan; but you shall go over, and possess that good land. 23. Be careful, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he made with you, and make yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which Yahweh your God has forbidden you. 24. For Yahweh your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. 25. When you shall father children, and children’s children, and you shall have been long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a carved image in the form of anything, and shall do that which is evil in Yahweh your God’s sight, to provoke him to anger; 26. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from off the land which you go over the Jordan to possess it. You will not prolong your days on it, but will utterly be destroyed. 27. Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations, where Yahweh will lead you away. 28. There you shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. 29. But from there you shall seek Yahweh your God, and you shall find him, when you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30. When you are in oppression, and all these things have come on you, in the latter days you shall return to Yahweh your God, and listen to his voice. 31. For Yahweh your God is a merciful God. He will not fail you, neither destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which he swore to them. 32. For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and from the one end of the sky to the other, whether there has been anything as this great thing is, or has been heard like it? 33. Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34. Or has God tried to go and take a nation for himself from among another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand, by an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35. It was shown to you so that you might know that Yahweh is God. There is no one else besides him. 36. Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you. On earth he made you to see his great fire; and you heard his words out of the middle of the fire. 37. Because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their offspring after them, and brought you out with his presence, with his great power, out of Egypt; 38. to drive out nations from before you greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. 39. Know therefore today, and take it to heart, that Yahweh himself is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath. There is no one else. 40. You shall keep his statutes, and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you, and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh your God gives you, forever. 41. Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise; 42. that the man slayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unawares, and didn’t hate him in time past; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43. Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites. 44. This is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. 45. These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt, 46. beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel struck, when they came out of Egypt. 47. They took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise; 48. from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to Mount Sion (also called Hermon), 49. and all the Arabah beyond the Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah. 1. Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, “Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears today, that you may learn them, and observe to do them.” 2. Yahweh our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3. Yahweh didn’t make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive today. 4. Yahweh spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, 5. (I stood between Yahweh and you at that time, to show you Yahweh’s word: for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn’t go up onto the mountain;) saying, 6. “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 7. “You shall have no other gods before me. 8. “You shall not make a carved image for yourself, any likeness of what is in heaven above, or what is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 9. You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them; for I, Yahweh, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me; 10. and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 11. “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain: for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. 12. “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you. 13. You shall labor six days, and do all your work; 14. but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God, in which you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. 15. You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm. Therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day. 16. “Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you; that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 17. “You shall not murder. 18. “You shall not commit adultery. 19. “You shall not steal. 20. “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 21. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. Neither shall you desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.” 22. Yahweh spoke these words to all your assembly on the mountain out of the middle of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice. He added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to me. 23. When you heard the voice out of the middle of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; 24. and you said, “Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the middle of the fire. We have seen today that God does speak with man, and he lives. 25. Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear Yahweh our God’s voice any more, then we shall die. 26. For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the middle of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27. Go near, and hear all that Yahweh our God shall say, and tell us all that Yahweh our God tells you; and we will hear it, and do it.” 28. Yahweh heard the voice of your words, when you spoke to me; and Yahweh said to me, “I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They have well said all that they have spoken. 29. Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever! 30. “Go tell them, ‘Return to your tents.’ 31. But as for you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.” 32. You shall observe to do therefore as Yahweh your God has commanded you. You shall not turn away to the right hand or to the left. 33. You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess. 1. Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it; 2. that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you; you, and your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged. 3. Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey. 4. Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God. Yahweh is one. 5. You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. 6. These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart; 7. and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. 9. You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates. 10. It shall be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities, which you didn’t build, 11. and houses full of all good things, which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out, which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you didn’t plant, and you shall eat and be full; 12. then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 13. You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name. 14. You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you; 15. for Yahweh your God among you is a jealous God; lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth. 16. You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah. 17. You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you. 18. You shall do that which is right and good in Yahweh’s sight; that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, 19. to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken. 20. When your son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh our God has commanded you mean?” 21. then you shall tell your son, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; 22. and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes; 23. and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers. 24. Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are today. 25. It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all this commandment before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.”

1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2. according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4. to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you, 5. who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6. Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials, 7. that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ— 8. whom not having known you love; in whom, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory— 9. receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10. Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, 11. searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them. 12. To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, they ministered these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into. 13. Therefore prepare your minds for action, be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ— 14. as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, 15. but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; 16. because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.” 17. If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear: 18. knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, 19. but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ; 20. who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake, 21. who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God. 22. Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently: 23. having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever. 24. For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls; 25. but the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of Good News which was preached to you. 1. Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking, 2. as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, that with it you may grow, 3. if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious: 4. coming to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious. 5. You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6. Because it is contained in Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, chosen, and precious: He who believes in him will not be disappointed.” 7. For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected, has become the chief cornerstone,” 8. and, “a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense.” For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed. 9. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light: 10. who in time past were no people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 11. Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; 12. having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they see, glorify God in the day of visitation. 13. Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; 14. or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do well. 15. For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: 16. as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God. 17. Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. 18. Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the wicked. 19. For it is commendable if someone endures pain, suffering unjustly, because of conscience toward God. 20. For what glory is it if, when you sin, you patiently endure beating? But if, when you do well, you patiently endure suffering, this is commendable with God. 21. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps, 22. who did not sin, “neither was deceit found in his mouth.” 23. Who, when he was cursed, didn’t curse back. When he suffered, didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. 24. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed. 25. For you were going astray like sheep; but now have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. 1. In the same way, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; so that, even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives without a word; 2. seeing your pure behavior in fear. 3. Let your beauty be not just the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on fine clothing; 4. but in the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God very precious. 5. For this is how the holy women before, who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands: 6. as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are, if you do well, and are not put in fear by any terror. 7. You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as being also joint heirs of the grace of life; that your prayers may not be hindered. 8. Finally, be all like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tender hearted, courteous, 9. not rendering evil for evil, or insult for insult; but instead blessing; knowing that to this were you called, that you may inherit a blessing. 10. For, “He who would love life, and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. 11. Let him turn away from evil, and do good. Let him seek peace, and pursue it. 12. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears open to their prayer; but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” 13. Now who is he who will harm you, if you become imitators of that which is good? 14. But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “Don’t fear what they fear, neither be troubled.” 15. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear: 16. having a good conscience; that, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good way of life in Christ. 17. For it is better, if it is God’s will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil. 18. Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 19. in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20. who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21. This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22. who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.

1. Sing to Yahweh a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand, and his holy arm, have worked salvation for him. 2. Yahweh has made known his salvation. He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations. 3. He has remembered his loving kindness and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 4. Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises! 5. Sing praises to Yahweh with the harp, with the harp and the voice of melody. 6. With trumpets and sound of the ram’s horn, make a joyful noise before the King, Yahweh. 7. Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein. 8. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together. 9. Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.