Remember the Lord Your God

8 “The whole commandment that I command you today ^(A)you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers. ² And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you ^(B)these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, ^(C)testing you ^(D)to know what was in your heart, ^(E)whether you would keep his commandments or not. ³ And he humbled you and ^(F)let you hunger and ^(G)fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that ^(H)man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word^[a] that comes from the mouth of the Lord. ^4 (I)Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. ⁵ Know then in your heart that, ^(J)as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. ⁶ So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. ⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, ^(K)a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, ⁸ a land of wheat and barley, ^(L)of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, ⁹ a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. ¹⁰ And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

¹¹ “Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, ^12 (M)lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, ^14 (N)then your heart be lifted up, and you ^(O)forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, ¹⁵ who ^(P)led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, ^(Q)with its fiery serpents and scorpions ^(R)and thirsty ground where there was no water, ^(S)who brought you water out of the flinty rock, ¹⁶ who fed you in the wilderness with ^(T)manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, ^(U)to do you good in the end. ¹⁷ Beware ^(V)lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ ¹⁸ You shall remember the Lord your God, for ^(W)it is he who gives you power to get wealth, ^(X)that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. ¹⁹ And if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, ^(Y)I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. ²⁰ Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, ^(Z)so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Not Because of Righteousness

9 “Hear, O Israel: you are ^(AA)to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations ^(AB)greater and mightier than you, cities great and fortified up to heaven, ² a people great and tall, ^(AC)the sons of the Anakim, ^(AD)whom you know, and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’ ³ Know therefore today that he who ^(AE)goes over before you ^(AF)as a consuming fire is the Lord your God. He will destroy them and subdue them before you. ^(AG)So you shall drive them out and make them perish quickly, as the Lord has promised you.

^4 (AH)“Do not say in your heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is ^(AI)because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out before you. ^5 (AJ)Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm ^(AK)the word that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

⁶ “Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are ^(AL)a stubborn people. ⁷ Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. ^(AM)From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. ⁸ Even ^(AN)at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you. ^9 (AO)When I went up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained on the mountain ^(AP)forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. ¹⁰ And ^(AQ)the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire ^(AR)on the day of the assembly. ¹¹ And at the end of forty days and forty nights the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. ¹² Then the Lord said to me, ^(AS)‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly. They have ^(AT)turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them; they have made themselves a metal image.’

The Golden Calf

^13 (AU)“Furthermore, the Lord said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, it is ^(AV)a stubborn people. ^14 (AW)Let me alone, that I may destroy them and ^(AX)blot out their name from under heaven. And ^(AY)I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’ ^15 (AZ)So I turned and came down from the mountain, and ^(BA)the mountain was burning with fire. And the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. ¹⁶ And ^(BB)I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God. You had made yourselves a golden^[b] calf. ^(BC)You had turned aside quickly from the way that the Lord had commanded you. ¹⁷ So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. ¹⁸ Then I ^(BD)lay prostrate before the Lord ^(BE)as before, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin that you had committed, ^(BF)in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. ¹⁹ For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the Lord bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. ^(BG)But the Lord listened to me that time also. ²⁰ And the Lord was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him. And I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. ²¹ Then ^(BH)I took the sinful thing, the calf that you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust. And I threw the dust of it into the brook that ran down from the mountain.

²² “At ^(BI)Taberah also, and at ^(BJ)Massah and at ^(BK)Kibroth-hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath. ²³ And ^(BL)when the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, ‘Go up and take possession of the land that I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God and ^(BM)did not believe him or obey his voice. ^24 (BN)You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.

^25 (BO)“So I lay prostrate before the Lord for these forty days and forty nights, because the Lord had said he would destroy you. ^26 (BP)And I prayed to the Lord, ‘O Lord God, do not destroy your people and your heritage, whom you have redeemed through your greatness, whom you have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²⁷ Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not regard the stubbornness of this people, or their wickedness or their sin, ²⁸ lest the land from which you brought us say, ^(BQ)“Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land that he promised them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to put them to death in the wilderness.” ^29 (BR)For they are your people and your heritage, whom you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’

New Tablets of Stone

10 “At that time the Lord said to me, ^(BS)‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain and ^(BT)make an ark of wood. ² And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and ^(BU)you shall put them in the ark.’ ³ So I made an ark ^(BV)of acacia wood, and ^(BW)cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. ⁴ And ^(BX)he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the Ten Commandments^{[c] (BY)}that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire ^(BZ)on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. ⁵ Then I turned and ^(CA)came down from the mountain and ^(CB)put the tablets in the ark that I had made. ^(CC)And there they are, as the Lord commanded me.”

⁶ (The people of Israel ^(CD)journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan^[d] to Moserah. ^(CE)There Aaron died, and there he was buried. And his son Eleazar ministered as priest in his place. ^7 (CF)From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with brooks of water. ⁸ At that time ^(CG)the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi ^(CH)to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(CI)to stand before the Lord to minister to him and ^(CJ)to bless in his name, to this day. ^9 (CK)Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God said to him.)

^10 (CL)“I myself stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, ^(CM)and the Lord listened to me that time also. The Lord was unwilling to destroy you. ^11 (CN)And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, so that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them.’

Circumcise Your Heart

¹² “And now, Israel, ^(CO)what does the Lord your God require of you, but ^(CP)to fear the Lord your God, ^(CQ)to walk in all his ways, ^(CR)to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and ^(CS)to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today ^(CT)for your good? ¹⁴ Behold, ^(CU)to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, ^(CV)the earth with all that is in it. ¹⁵ Yet ^(CW)the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. ¹⁶ Circumcise therefore ^(CX)the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer ^(CY)stubborn. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is ^(CZ)God of gods and ^(DA)Lord of lords, ^(DB)the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is ^(DC)not partial and takes no bribe. ^18 (DD)He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. ^19 (DE)Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ^20 (DF)You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and ^(DG)hold fast to him, and ^(DH)by his name you shall swear. ^21 (DI)He is your praise. He is your God, ^(DJ)who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. ²² Your fathers went down to Egypt ^(DK)seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you ^(DL)as numerous as the stars of heaven.

The Widow's Offering

21 ^(A)Jesus^[a] looked up and saw the rich ^(B)putting their gifts into ^(C)the offering box, ² and he saw a poor widow put in two ^(D)small copper coins.^{[b] 3} And he said, “Truly, I tell you, ^(E)this poor widow has put in more than all of them. ⁴ For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her ^(F)poverty put in all ^(G)she had to live on.”

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

^5 (H)And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, ⁶ “As for these things that you see, ^(I)the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” ⁷ And they asked him, “Teacher, ^(J)when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” ⁸ And he said, ^(K)“See that you are not led astray. For ^(L)many will come in my name, saying, ^(M)‘I am he!’ and, ^(N)‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. ⁹ And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be ^(O)terrified, for these things ^(P)must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

Jesus Foretells Wars and Persecution

¹⁰ Then he said to them, ^(Q)“Nation will rise against nation, and ^(R)kingdom against kingdom. ¹¹ There will be great ^(S)earthquakes, and in various places ^(T)famines and pestilences. And there will be ^(U)terrors and great ^(V)signs from heaven. ¹² But before all this ^(W)they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to ^(X)the synagogues and ^(Y)prisons, and you ^(Z)will be brought before ^(AA)kings and ^(AB)governors for my name's sake. ^13 (AC)This will be your opportunity to bear witness. ¹⁴ Settle it therefore in your minds ^(AD)not to meditate beforehand how to answer, ¹⁵ for ^(AE)I will give you a mouth and ^(AF)wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or ^(AG)contradict. ¹⁶ You will be delivered up ^(AH)even by parents and brothers^[c] and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. ^17 (AI)You will be hated by all for my name's sake. ¹⁸ But ^(AJ)not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹ By your ^(AK)endurance you will gain your lives.

Jesus Foretells Destruction of Jerusalem

²⁰ “But ^(AL)when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that ^(AM)its desolation has come near. ²¹ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, ²² for these are ^(AN)days of ^(AO)vengeance, to fulfill ^(AP)all that is written. ^23 (AQ)Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and ^(AR)wrath against this people. ²⁴ They will fall by the edge of the sword and ^(AS)be led captive among all nations, and ^(AT)Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, ^(AU)until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁵ “And ^(AV)there will be signs in sun and moon ^(AW)and stars, and on the earth ^(AX)distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶ people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For ^(AY)the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ And then they will see ^(AZ)the Son of Man coming in a cloud ^(BA)with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and ^(BB)raise your heads, because ^(BC)your redemption is drawing near.”

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

²⁹ And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. ³⁰ As soon as they come out in leaf, you see ^(BD)for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. ³¹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ^32 (BE)Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. ^33 (BF)Heaven and earth will pass away, but ^(BG)my words will not pass away.

Watch Yourselves

³⁴ “But watch yourselves ^(BH)lest ^(BI)your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and ^(BJ)cares of this life, and ^(BK)that day come upon you suddenly ^(BL)like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ But ^(BM)stay awake at all times, ^(BN)praying that you may ^(BO)have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and ^(BP)to stand before the Son of Man.”

³⁷ And ^(BQ)every day he was teaching in the temple, but ^(BR)at night he went out and lodged on ^(BS)the mount called Olivet. ³⁸ And early in the morning ^(BT)all the people came to him in the temple to hear him.