Prosperity After Turning to the Lord

30 When all these blessings and curses^(A) I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord your God disperses you among the nations,^{(B) 2} and when you and your children return^(C) to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart^(D) and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, ³ then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes^[a](E) and have compassion^(F) on you and gather^(G) you again from all the nations where he scattered^(H) you.^{(I) 4} Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens,^(J) from there the Lord your God will gather^(K) you and bring you back.^{(L) 5} He will bring^(M) you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous^(N) than your ancestors. ⁶ The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants,^(O) so that you may love^(P) him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. ⁷ The Lord your God will put all these curses^(Q) on your enemies who hate and persecute you.^{(R) 8} You will again obey the Lord and follow all his commands I am giving you today. ⁹ Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land.^(S) The Lord will again delight^(T) in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, ¹⁰ if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law^(U) and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.^(V)

The Offer of Life or Death

¹¹ Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.^{(W) 12} It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven^(X) to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”^{(Y) 13} Nor is it beyond the sea,^(Z) so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”^{(AA) 14} No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.^(AB)

¹⁵ See, I set before you today life^(AC) and prosperity,^(AD) death^(AE) and destruction.^{(AF) 16} For I command you today to love^(AG) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live^(AH) and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

¹⁷ But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, ¹⁸ I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed.^(AI) You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

¹⁹ This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you^(AJ) that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.^(AK) Now choose life, so that you and your children may live ²⁰ and that you may love^(AL) the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life,^(AM) and he will give^(AN) you many years in the land^(AO) he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Joshua to Succeed Moses

31 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: ² “I am now a hundred and twenty years old^(AP) and I am no longer able to lead you.^(AQ) The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’^{(AR) 3} The Lord your God himself will cross^(AS) over ahead of you.^(AT) He will destroy these nations^(AU) before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross^(AV) over ahead of you, as the Lord said. ⁴ And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og,^(AW) the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. ⁵ The Lord will deliver^(AX) them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous.^(AY) Do not be afraid or terrified^(AZ) because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you;^(BA) he will never leave you^(BB) nor forsake^(BC) you.”

⁷ Then Moses summoned Joshua and said^(BD) to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them,^(BE) and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. ⁸ The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;^(BF) he will never leave you nor forsake you.^(BG) Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Public Reading of the Law

⁹ So Moses wrote^(BH) down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried^(BI) the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts,^(BJ) during the Festival of Tabernacles,^{(BK) 11} when all Israel comes to appear^(BL) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose,^(BM) you shall read this law^(BN) before them in their hearing. ¹² Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn^(BO) to fear^(BP) the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. ¹³ Their children,^(BQ) who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Israel’s Rebellion Predicted

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, “Now the day of your death^(BR) is near. Call Joshua^(BS) and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.^(BT)” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.^(BU)

¹⁵ Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.^{(BV) 16} And the Lord said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors,^(BW) and these people will soon prostitute^(BX) themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake^(BY) me and break the covenant I made with them. ¹⁷ And in that day I will become angry^(BZ) with them and forsake^(CA) them; I will hide^(CB) my face^(CC) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters^(CD) and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’^{(CE) 18} And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now write^(CF) down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness^(CG) for me against them. ²⁰ When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,^(CH) and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods^(CI) and worship them,^(CJ) rejecting me and breaking my covenant.^{(CK) 21} And when many disasters and calamities come on them,^(CL) this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,^(CM) even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.” ²² So Moses wrote^(CN) down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.

²³ The Lord gave this command^(CO) to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous,^(CP) for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”

²⁴ After Moses finished writing^(CQ) in a book the words of this law^(CR) from beginning to end, ²⁵ he gave this command to the Levites who carried^(CS) the ark of the covenant of the Lord: ²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.^{(CT) 27} For I know how rebellious^(CU) and stiff-necked^(CV) you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! ²⁸ Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.^{(CW) 29} For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt^(CX) and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster^(CY) will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”

The Song of Moses

³⁰ And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

Psalm 40^[a](A)

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

1 Paul, called to be an apostle^(A) of Christ Jesus by the will of God,^(B) and our brother Sosthenes,^(C)

² To the church of God^(D) in Corinth,^(E) to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called^(F) to be his holy people, together with all those everywhere who call on the name^(G) of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours:

³ Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.^(H)

Thanksgiving

⁴ I always thank my God for you^(I) because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. ⁵ For in him you have been enriched^(J) in every way—with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge^(K)— ⁶ God thus confirming our testimony^(L) about Christ among you. ⁷ Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift^(M) as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.^{(N) 8} He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless^(O) on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.^{(P) 9} God is faithful,^(Q) who has called you^(R) into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.^(S)

A Church Divided Over Leaders

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,^[a](T) in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you,^(U) but that you be perfectly united^(V) in mind and thought. ¹¹ My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household^(W) have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹² What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”;^(X) another, “I follow Apollos”;^(Y) another, “I follow Cephas^[b]”;^(Z) still another, “I follow Christ.”

¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?^{(AA) 14} I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus^(AB) and Gaius,^{(AC) 15} so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. ¹⁶ (Yes, I also baptized the household^(AD) of Stephanas;^(AE) beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) ¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize,^(AF) but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom^(AG) and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

Christ Crucified Is God’s Power and Wisdom

¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness^(AH) to those who are perishing,^(AI) but to us who are being saved^(AJ) it is the power of God.^{(AK) 19} For it is written:

²⁰ Where is the wise person?^(AM) Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age?^(AN) Has not God made foolish^(AO) the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world^(AP) through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save^(AQ) those who believe.^{(AR) 22} Jews demand signs^(AS) and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified:^(AT) a stumbling block^(AU) to Jews and foolishness^(AV) to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called,^(AW) both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God^(AX) and the wisdom of God.^{(AY) 25} For the foolishness^(AZ) of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness^(BA) of God is stronger than human strength.

²⁶ Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.^(BB) Not many of you were wise^(BC) by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose^(BD) the foolish^(BE) things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not^(BF)—to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him.^{(BG) 30} It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus,^(BH) who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness,^(BI) holiness^(BJ) and redemption.^{(BK) 31} Therefore, as it is written: “Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.”^[d](BL)