Remembering God's Faithfulness Across Generations

1. These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suf, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2. It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. 3. In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that Yahweh had given him in commandment to them; 4. after he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. 5. Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying, 6. “Yahweh our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, ‘You have lived long enough at this mountain. 7. Turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all the places near there, in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the South, by the seashore, in the land of the Canaanites, and in Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8. Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’” 9. I spoke to you at that time, saying, “I am not able to bear you myself alone. 10. Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the sky for multitude. 11. Yahweh, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you! 12. How can I myself alone bear your problems, your burdens, and your strife? 13. Take wise men of understanding and well known according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.” 14. You answered me, and said, “The thing which you have spoken is good to do.” 15. So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. 16. I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him. 17. You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.” 18. I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do. 19. We traveled from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20. I said to you, “You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God gives to us. 21. Behold, Yahweh your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed.” 22. You came near to me, everyone of you, and said, “Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come.” 23. The thing pleased me well. I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe. 24. They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25. They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, “It is a good land which Yahweh our God gives to us.” 26. Yet you wouldn’t go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God. 27. You murmured in your tents, and said, “Because Yahweh hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28. Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart melt, saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to the sky. Moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there!’” 29. Then I said to you, “Don’t dread, neither be afraid of them. 30. Yahweh your God who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31. and in the wilderness, where you have seen how that Yahweh your God bore you, as a man does bear his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.” 32. Yet in this thing you didn’t believe Yahweh your God, 33. who went before you on the way, to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day. 34. Yahweh heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying, 35. “Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land, which I swore to give to your fathers, 36. except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it. I will give the land that he has trodden on to him, and to his children, because he has wholly followed Yahweh.” 37. Also Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, saying, “You also shall not go in there. 38. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39. Moreover your little ones, whom you said would be captured or killed, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, shall go in there. I will give it to them, and they shall possess it. 40. But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.” 41. Then you answered and said to me, “We have sinned against Yahweh, we will go up and fight, according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us.” Every man of you put on his weapons of war, and presumed to go up into the hill country. 42. Yahweh said to me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t go up and don’t fight; for I am not among you; lest you be struck before your enemies.’” 43. So I spoke to you, and you didn’t listen; but you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill country. 44. The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah. 45. You returned and wept before Yahweh; but Yahweh didn’t listen to your voice, nor turn his ear to you. 46. So you stayed in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you remained. 1. Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Yahweh spoke to me; and we encircled Mount Seir many days. 2. Yahweh spoke to me, saying, 3. “You have encircled this mountain long enough. Turn northward. 4. Command the people, saying, ‘You are to pass through the border of your brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore be careful. 5. Don’t contend with them; for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on; because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession. 6. You shall purchase food from them for money, that you may eat. You shall also buy water from them for money, that you may drink.’” 7. For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He has known your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years, Yahweh your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing. 8. So we passed by from our brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion Geber. We turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. 9. Yahweh said to me, “Don’t bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give you any of his land for a possession; because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.” 10. (The Emim lived therein before, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim. 11. These also are considered to be Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim. 12. The Horites also lived in Seir before, but the children of Esau succeeded them. They destroyed them from before them, and lived in their place; as Israel did to the land of his possession, which Yahweh gave to them.) 13. “Now rise up, and cross over the brook Zered.” We went over the brook Zered. 14. The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea, until we had come over the brook Zered, were thirty-eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the middle of the camp, as Yahweh swore to them. 15. Moreover Yahweh’s hand was against them, to destroy them from the middle of the camp, until they were consumed. 16. So, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, 17. Yahweh spoke to me, saying, 18. “You are to pass over Ar, the border of Moab, today. 19. When you come near the border of the children of Ammon, don’t bother them, nor contend with them; for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession; because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.” 20. (That also is considered a land of Rephaim: Rephaim lived there before; but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, 21. a great people, many, and tall, as the Anakim; but Yahweh destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place; 22. as he did for the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place even to this day: 23. and the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and lived in their place.) 24. “Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon: behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. 25. Today I will begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole sky, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of you.” 26. I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, 27. “Let me pass through your land. I will go along by the highway, I will turn neither to the right hand nor to the left. 28. You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink. Just let me pass through on my feet, 29. as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me; until I pass over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God gives us.” 30. But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as it is today. 31. Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before you. Begin to possess, that you may inherit his land.” 32. Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. 33. Yahweh our God delivered him up before us; and we struck him, his sons, and all his people. 34. We took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. We left no one remaining. 35. Only the livestock we took for plunder for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities which we had taken. 36. From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. Yahweh our God delivered up all before us. 37. Only to the land of the children of Ammon you didn’t come near; all the banks of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Yahweh our God forbade us. 1. Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan. Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 2. Yahweh said to me, “Don’t fear him; for I have delivered him, with all his people, and his land, into your hand. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 3. So Yahweh our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people. We struck him until no one was left to him remaining. 4. We took all his cities at that time. There was not a city which we didn’t take from them; sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5. All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars; besides a great many villages without walls. 6. We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. 7. But all the livestock, and the plunder of the cities, we took for plunder for ourselves. 8. We took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon. 9. (The Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir.) 10. We took all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, to Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11. (For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron. Isn’t it in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its width, after the cubit of a man.) 12. This land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead, and its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites: 13. and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim. 14. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth Jair, to this day.) 15. I gave Gilead to Machir. 16. To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and its border, even to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; 17. the Arabah also, and the Jordan and its border, from Chinnereth even to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward. 18. I commanded you at that time, saying, “Yahweh your God has given you this land to possess it. You shall pass over armed before your brothers the children of Israel, all the men of valor. 19. But your wives, and your little ones, and your livestock, (I know that you have much livestock), shall live in your cities which I have given you, 20. until Yahweh gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also possess the land which Yahweh your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then you shall each return to his own possession, which I have given you.” 21. I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, “Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings. So shall Yahweh do to all the kingdoms where you go over. 22. You shall not fear them; for Yahweh your God himself fights for you.” 23. I begged Yahweh at that time, saying, 24. “Lord Yahweh, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or in earth that can do works like yours, and mighty acts like yours? 25. Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that fine mountain, and Lebanon.” 26. But Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and didn’t listen to me. Yahweh said to me, “Let this satisfy you. Speak no more to me of this matter. 27. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan. 28. But commission Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.” 29. So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.

1. Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2. Let each one of us please his neighbor for that which is good, to be building him up. 3. For even Christ didn’t please himself. But, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” 4. For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through perseverance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5. Now the God of perseverance and of encouragement grant you to be of the same mind one with another according to Christ Jesus, 6. that with one accord you may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7. Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God. 8. Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the fathers, 9. and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore will I give praise to you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” 10. Again he says, “Rejoice, you Gentiles, with his people.” 11. Again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Let all the peoples praise him.” 12. Again, Isaiah says, “There will be the root of Jesse, he who arises to rule over the Gentiles; in him the Gentiles will hope.” 13. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit. 14. I myself am also persuaded about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish others. 15. But I write the more boldly to you in part, as reminding you, because of the grace that was given to me by God, 16. that I should be a servant of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, serving as a priest of the Good News of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be made acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17. I have therefore my boasting in Christ Jesus in things pertaining to God. 18. For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19. in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of God’s Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and around as far as to Illyricum, I have fully preached the Good News of Christ; 20. yes, making it my aim to preach the Good News, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build on another’s foundation. 21. But, as it is written, “They will see, to whom no news of him came. They who haven’t heard will understand.” 22. Therefore also I was hindered these many times from coming to you, 23. but now, no longer having any place in these regions, and having these many years a longing to come to you, 24. whenever I travel to Spain, I will come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. 25. But now, I say, I am going to Jerusalem, serving the saints. 26. For it has been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are at Jerusalem. 27. Yes, it has been their good pleasure, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to serve them in fleshly things. 28. When therefore I have accomplished this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will go on by way of you to Spain. 29. I know that, when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of the Good News of Christ. 30. Now I beg you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, 31. that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints; 32. that I may come to you in joy through the will of God, and together with you, find rest. 33. Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen. 1. I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the assembly that is at Cenchreae, 2. that you receive her in the Lord, in a way worthy of the saints, and that you assist her in whatever matter she may need from you, for she herself also has been a helper of many, and of my own self. 3. Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4. who for my life, laid down their own necks; to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the Gentiles. 5. Greet the assembly that is in their house. Greet Epaenetus, my beloved, who is the first fruits of Achaia to Christ. 6. Greet Mary, who labored much for us. 7. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my relatives and my fellow prisoners, who are notable among the apostles, who were also in Christ before me. 8. Greet Amplias, my beloved in the Lord. 9. Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and Stachys, my beloved. 10. Greet Apelles, the approved in Christ. Greet those who are of the household of Aristobulus. 11. Greet Herodion, my kinsman. Greet them of the household of Narcissus, who are in the Lord. 12. Greet Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord. Greet Persis, the beloved, who labored much in the Lord. 13. Greet Rufus, the chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine. 14. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers who are with them. 15. Greet Philologus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16. Greet one another with a holy kiss. The assemblies of Christ greet you. 17. Now I beg you, brothers, look out for those who are causing the divisions and occasions of stumbling, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them. 18. For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent. 19. For your obedience has become known to all. I rejoice therefore over you. But I desire to have you wise in that which is good, but innocent in that which is evil. 20. And the God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. 21. Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you, as do Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my relatives. 22. I, Tertius, who write the letter, greet you in the Lord. 23. Gaius, my host and host of the whole assembly, greets you. Erastus, the treasurer of the city, greets you, as does Quartus, the brother. 24. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! Amen. 25.

1. Oh clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with the voice of triumph! 2. For Yahweh Most High is awesome. He is a great King over all the earth. 3. He subdues nations under us, and peoples under our feet. 4. He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom he loved. Selah. 5. God has gone up with a shout, Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet. 6. Sing praises to God, sing praises. Sing praises to our King, sing praises. 7. For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding. 8. God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne. 9. The princes of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God. He is greatly exalted!