Moses' Final Words and Generosity's Joy

1. Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2. He said to them, “I am one hundred twenty years old today. I can no more go out and come in. Yahweh has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ 3. Yahweh your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua will go over before you, as Yahweh has spoken. 4. Yahweh will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land; whom he destroyed. 5. Yahweh will deliver them up before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you. 6. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or scared of them; for Yahweh your God himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.” 7. Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you shall cause them to inherit it. 8. Yahweh himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged.” 9. Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel. 10. Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tents, 11. when all Israel has come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12. Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and the foreigners who are within your gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear Yahweh your God, and observe to do all the words of this law; 13. and that their children, who have not known, may hear, and learn to fear Yahweh your God, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it.” 14. Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, your days approach that you must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, that I may commission him.” Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting. 15. Yahweh appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood over the Tent’s door. 16. Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, you shall sleep with your fathers. This people will rise up, and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land, where they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. 17. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them; so that they will say in that day, ‘Haven’t these evils come on us because our God is not among us?’ 18. I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods. 19. “Now therefore write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. 20. For when I have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat; then they will turn to other gods, and serve them, and despise me, and break my covenant. 21. It will happen, when many evils and troubles have come on them, that this song will testify before them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten out of the mouths of their descendants; for I know their ways and what they are doing today, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.” 22. So Moses wrote this song the same day, and taught it to the children of Israel. 23. He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “Be strong and courageous; for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them. I will be with you.” 24. When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, 25. Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of Yahweh’s covenant, saying, 26. “Take this book of the law, and put it by the side of the ark of Yahweh your God’s covenant, that it may be there for a witness against you. 27. For I know your rebellion, and your stiff neck. Behold, while I am yet alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Yahweh. How much more after my death? 28. Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29. For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn away from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will happen to you in the latter days; because you will do that which is evil in Yahweh’s sight, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands.” 30. Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished. 1. Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. 2. My doctrine will drop as the rain. My speech will condense as the dew, as the misty rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb. 3. For I will proclaim Yahweh’s name. Ascribe greatness to our God! 4. The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are just. A God of faithfulness who does no wrong, just and right is he. 5. They have dealt corruptly with him. They are not his children, because of their defect. They are a perverse and crooked generation. 6. Is this the way you repay Yahweh, foolish and unwise people? Isn’t he your father who has bought you? He has made you and established you. 7. Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father, and he will show you; your elders, and they will tell you. 8. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the children of men, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel. 9. For Yahweh’s portion is his people. Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. 10. He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He surrounded him. He cared for him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. 11. As an eagle that stirs up her nest, that flutters over her young, he spread abroad his wings, he took them, he bore them on his feathers. 12. Yahweh alone led him. There was no foreign god with him. 13. He made him ride on the high places of the earth. He ate the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock; 14. butter from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the finest of the wheat. From the blood of the grape, you drank wine. 15. But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation. 16. They moved him to jealousy with strange gods. They provoked him to anger with abominations. 17. They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t dread. 18. Of the Rock who became your father, you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth. 19. Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. 20. He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. 21. They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked me to anger with their vanities. I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. 22. For a fire is kindled in my anger, that burns to the lowest Sheol, devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire. 23. “I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them. 24. They shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction. I will send the teeth of animals on them, with the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. 25. Outside the sword will bereave, and in the rooms, terror; on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with the gray-haired man. 26. I said that I would scatter them afar. I would make their memory to cease from among men; 27. were it not that I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this.’” 28. For they are a nation void of counsel. There is no understanding in them. 29. Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! 30. How could one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, and Yahweh had delivered them up? 31. For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves concede. 32. For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poison grapes. Their clusters are bitter. 33. Their wine is the poison of serpents, the cruel venom of asps. 34. “Isn’t this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures? 35. Vengeance is mine, and recompense, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. Their doom rushes at them.” 36. For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone; that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large. 37. He will say, “Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge; 38. which ate the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection. 39. “See now that I myself am he. There is no god with me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of my hand. 40. For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever, 41. if I sharpen my glittering sword, my hand grasps it in judgment; I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will repay those who hate me. 42. I will make my arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy.” 43. Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries, and will make atonement for his land and for his people. 44. Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. 45. Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel. 46. He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law. 47. For it is no vain thing for you; because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it.” 48. Yahweh spoke to Moses that same day, saying, 49. “Go up into this mountain of Abarim, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is across from Jericho; and see the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel for a possession. 50. Die on the mountain where you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor, and was gathered to his people; 51. because you trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you didn’t uphold my holiness among the children of Israel. 52. For you shall see the land from a distance; but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel.” 1. This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2. He said, “Yahweh came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them. He shone from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones. At his right hand was a fiery law for them. 3. Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sat down at your feet. Each receives your words. 4. Moses commanded us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob. 5. He was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together. 6. “Let Reuben live, and not die; Nor let his men be few.” 7. This is for Judah. He said, “Hear, Yahweh, the voice of Judah. Bring him in to his people. With his hands he contended for himself. You shall be a help against his adversaries.” 8. About Levi he said, “Your Thummim and your Urim are with your godly one, whom you proved at Massah, with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah. 9. He said of his father, and of his mother, ‘I have not seen him.’ He didn’t acknowledge his brothers, nor did he know his own children; for they have observed your word, and keep your covenant. 10. They shall teach Jacob your ordinances, and Israel your law. They shall put incense before you, and whole burnt offering on your altar. 11. Yahweh, bless his skills. Accept the work of his hands. Strike through the hips of those who rise up against him, of those who hate him, that they not rise again.” 12. About Benjamin he said, “The beloved of Yahweh will dwell in safety by him. He covers him all day long. He dwells between his shoulders.” 13. About Joseph he said, “His land is blessed by Yahweh, for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches beneath, 14. for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, for the precious things that the moon can yield, 15. for the best things of the ancient mountains, for the precious things of the everlasting hills, 16. for the precious things of the earth and its fullness, the good will of him who lived in the bush. Let this come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who was separated from his brothers. 17. The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his. His horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he will push all the peoples, to the ends of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim. They are the thousands of Manasseh.” 18. About Zebulun he said, “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out; and Issachar, in your tents. 19. They will call the peoples to the mountain. There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they will draw out the abundance of the seas, the hidden treasures of the sand.” 20. About Gad he said, “He who enlarges Gad is blessed. He dwells as a lioness, and tears the arm, yes, the crown of the head. 21. He provided the first part for himself, for the lawgiver’s portion reserved was reserved for him. He came with the heads of the people. He executed the righteousness of Yahweh, His ordinances with Israel.” 22. About Dan he said, “Dan is a lion’s cub that leaps out of Bashan.” 23. About Naphtali he said, “Naphtali, satisfied with favor, full of Yahweh’s blessing, Possess the west and the south.” 24. About Asher he said, “Asher is blessed with children. Let him be acceptable to his brothers. Let him dip his foot in oil. 25. Your bars will be iron and brass. As your days, so your strength will be. 26. “There is no one like God, Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens for your help, in his excellency on the skies. 27. The eternal God is your dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you, and said, ‘Destroy!’ 28. Israel dwells in safety; the fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down dew. 29. You are happy, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellency? Your enemies will submit themselves to you. You will tread on their high places.” 1. Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. Yahweh showed him all the land of Gilead, to Dan, 2. and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the western sea, 3. and the south, and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, to Zoar. 4. Yahweh said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” 5. So Moses the servant of Yahweh died there in the land of Moab, according to Yahweh’s word. 6. He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows where his tomb is to this day. 7. Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died. His eye was not dim, nor his strength gone. 8. The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses were ended. 9. Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands on him. The children of Israel listened to him, and did as Yahweh commanded Moses. 10. Since then, there has not arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face, 11. in all the signs and the wonders, which Yahweh sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, 12. and in all the mighty hand, and in all the awesome deeds, which Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

1. Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2. Open your hearts to us. We wronged no one. We corrupted no one. We took advantage of no one. 3. I say this not to condemn you, for I have said before, that you are in our hearts to die together and live together. 4. Great is my boldness of speech toward you. Great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I overflow with joy in all our affliction. 5. For even when we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every side. Fightings were outside. Fear was inside. 6. Nevertheless, he who comforts the lowly, God, comforted us by the coming of Titus; 7. and not by his coming only, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, while he told us of your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me; so that I rejoiced still more. 8. For though I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it. For I see that my letter made you sorry, though just for a while. 9. I now rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that you were made sorry to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly way, that you might suffer loss by us in nothing. 10. For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death. 11. For behold, this same thing, that you were made sorry in a godly way, what earnest care it worked in you. Yes, what defense, indignation, fear, longing, zeal, and vengeance! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be pure in the matter. 12. So although I wrote to you, I wrote not for his cause that did the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered the wrong, but that your earnest care for us might be revealed in you in the sight of God. 13. Therefore we have been comforted. In our comfort we rejoiced the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 14. For if in anything I have boasted to him on your behalf, I was not disappointed. But as we spoke all things to you in truth, so our glorying also which I made before Titus was found to be truth. 15. His affection is more abundantly toward you, while he remembers all of your obedience, how with fear and trembling you received him. 16. I rejoice that in everything I am confident concerning you. 1. Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia; 2. how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their generosity. 3. For according to their power, I testify, yes and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord, 4. begging us with much entreaty to receive this grace and the fellowship in the service to the saints. 5. This was not as we had expected, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God. 6. So we urged Titus, that as he had made a beginning before, so he would also complete in you this grace. 7. But as you abound in everything, in faith, utterance, knowledge, all earnestness, and in your love to us, see that you also abound in this grace. 8. I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love. 9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich. 10. I give a judgment in this: for this is expedient for you, who were the first to start a year ago, not only to do, but also to be willing. 11. But now complete the doing also, that as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability. 12. For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don’t have. 13. For this is not that others may be eased and you distressed, 14. but for equality. Your abundance at this present time supplies their lack, that their abundance also may become a supply for your lack; that there may be equality. 15. As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.” 16. But thanks be to God, who puts the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus. 17. For he indeed accepted our exhortation, but being himself very earnest, he went out to you of his own accord. 18. We have sent together with him the brother whose praise in the Good News is known throughout all the assemblies. 19. Not only so, but he was also appointed by the assemblies to travel with us in this grace, which is served by us to the glory of the Lord himself, and to show our readiness. 20. We are avoiding this, that any man should blame us concerning this abundance which is administered by us. 21. Having regard for honorable things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. 22. We have sent with them our brother, whom we have many times proved earnest in many things, but now much more earnest, by reason of the great confidence which he has in you. 23. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker for you. As for our brothers, they are the apostles of the assemblies, the glory of Christ. 24. Therefore show the proof of your love to them before the assemblies, and of our boasting on your behalf. 1. It is indeed unnecessary for me to write to you concerning the service to the saints, 2. for I know your readiness, of which I boast on your behalf to them of Macedonia, that Achaia has been prepared for a year past. Your zeal has stirred up very many of them. 3. But I have sent the brothers that our boasting on your behalf may not be in vain in this respect, that, just as I said, you may be prepared, 4. lest by any means, if anyone from Macedonia comes there with me and finds you unprepared, we (to say nothing of you) would be disappointed in this confident boasting. 5. I thought it necessary therefore to entreat the brothers that they would go before to you, and arrange ahead of time the generous gift that you promised before, that the same might be ready as a matter of generosity, and not of greediness. 6. Remember this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7. Let each man give according as he has determined in his heart; not grudgingly, or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work. 9. As it is written, “He has scattered abroad, he has given to the poor. His righteousness remains forever.” 10. Now may he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food, supply and multiply your seed for sowing, and increase the fruits of your righteousness; 11. you being enriched in everything to all generosity, which produces through us thanksgiving to God. 12. For this service of giving that you perform not only makes up for lack among the saints, but abounds also through much giving of thanks to God; 13. seeing that through the proof given by this service, they glorify God for the obedience of your confession to the Good News of Christ, and for the generosity of your contribution to them and to all; 14. while they themselves also, with supplication on your behalf, yearn for you by reason of the exceeding grace of God in you. 15. Now thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!

1. Be merciful to me, God, for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me. 2. My enemies want to swallow me up all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me. 3. When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you. 4. In God, I praise his word. In God, I put my trust. I will not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? 5. All day long they twist my words. All their thoughts are against me for evil. 6. They conspire and lurk, watching my steps, they are eager to take my life. 7. Shall they escape by iniquity? In anger cast down the peoples, God. 8. You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your bottle. Aren’t they in your book? 9. Then my enemies shall turn back in the day that I call. I know this, that God is for me. 10. In God, I will praise his word. In Yahweh, I will praise his word. 11. I have put my trust in God. I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 12. Your vows are on me, God. I will give thank offerings to you. 13. For you have delivered my soul from death, and prevented my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living.