Old/New Testament

10 (iv) “At that time Adonai said to me, ‘Cut yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, come up to me on the mountain, and make yourself an ark of wood. ² I will inscribe on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to put them in the ark.’ ³ So I made an ark of acacia-wood and cut two stone tablets like the first, then climbed the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. ⁴ He inscribed the tablets with the same inscription as before, the Ten Words which Adonai proclaimed to you from the fire on the mountain the day of the assembly; and Adonai gave them to me. ⁵ I turned, came down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made; and there they remain; as Adonai ordered me.

⁶ “The people of Isra’el traveled from the wells of B’nei-Ya‘akan to Moserah, where Aharon died and was buried; and El‘azar his son took his place, serving in the office of cohen. ⁷ From there they traveled to Gudgod, and from Gudgod to Yotvatah, a region with running streams. ⁸ At that time Adonai set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark for the covenant of Adonai and to stand before Adonai to serve him and to bless in his name, as they still do today. ⁹ This is why Levi has no share or inheritance with his brothers; Adonai is his inheritance, as Adonai your God had said to him.

¹⁰ “I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as previously; and Adonai listened to me that time too — Adonai would not destroy you. ¹¹ Then Adonai said to me, ‘Get up, and go on your way at the head of the people, so that they can enter and take possession of the land I swore to their ancestors that I would give them.’

(v) ¹² “So now, Isra’el, all that Adonai your God asks from you is to fear Adonai your God, follow all his ways, love him and serve Adonai your God with all your heart and all your being; ¹³ to obey, for your own good, the mitzvot and regulations of Adonai which I am giving you today. ¹⁴ See, the sky, the heaven beyond the sky, the earth and everything on it all belong to Adonai your God. ¹⁵ Only Adonai took enough pleasure in your ancestors to love them and choose their descendants after them — yourselves — above all peoples, as he still does today. ¹⁶ Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart; and don’t be stiffnecked any longer! ¹⁷ For Adonai your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty and awesome God, who has no favorites and accepts no bribes. ¹⁸ He secures justice for the orphan and the widow; he loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. ¹⁹ Therefore you are to love the foreigner, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. ²⁰ You are to fear Adonai your God, serve him, cling to him and swear by his name. ²¹ He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things, which you have seen with your own eyes. ²² Your ancestors went down into Egypt with only seventy people, but now Adonai your God has made your numbers as many as the stars in the sky!

11 “Therefore, you are to love Adonai your God and always obey his commission, regulations, rulings and mitzvot. ² Today it is you I am addressing — not your children, who haven’t known or experienced the discipline of Adonai your God, his greatness, his strong hand, his outstretched arm, ³ his signs and his actions which he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to his entire country. ⁴ They didn’t experience what he did to Egypt’s army, horses and chariots — how Adonai overwhelmed them with the water of the Sea of Suf as they were pursuing you, so that they remain destroyed to this day. ⁵ They didn’t experience what he kept doing for you in the desert until you arrived at this place; ⁶ or what he did to Datan and Aviram, the sons of Eli’av the descendant of Re’uven — how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, along with their households, tents and every living thing in their company, there in front of all Isra’el. ⁷ But you have seen with your own eyes all these great deeds of Adonai. ⁸ Therefore, you are to keep every mitzvah I am giving you today; so that you will be strong enough to go in and take possession of the land you are crossing over to conquer; ⁹ and so that you will live long in the land Adonai swore to give to your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

(vi) ¹⁰ “For the land you are entering in order to take possession of it isn’t like the land of Egypt. There you would sow your seed and had to use your feet to operate its irrigation system, as in a vegetable garden. ¹¹ But the land you are crossing over to take possession of is a land of hills and valleys, which soaks up water when rain falls from the sky. ¹² It is a land Adonai your God cares for. The eyes of Adonai your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

¹³ “So if you listen carefully to my mitzvot which I am giving you today, to love Adonai your God and serve him with all your heart and all your being; ¹⁴ then, [says Adonai,] ‘I will give your land its rain at the right seasons, including the early fall rains and the late spring rains; so that you can gather in your wheat, new wine and olive oil; ¹⁵ and I will give your fields grass for your livestock; with the result that you will eat and be satisfied.’ ¹⁶ But be careful not to let yourselves be seduced, so that you turn aside, serving other gods and worshipping them. ¹⁷ If you do, the anger of Adonai will blaze up against you. He will shut up the sky, so that there will be no rain. The ground will not yield its produce, and you will quickly pass away from the good land Adonai is giving you. ¹⁸ Therefore, you are to store up these words of mine in your heart and in all your being; tie them on your hand as a sign; put them at the front of a headband around your forehead; ¹⁹ teach them carefully to your children, talking about them when you sit at home, when you are traveling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up; ²⁰ and write them on the door-frames of your house and on your gates — ²¹ so that you and your children will live long on the land Adonai swore to your ancestors that he would give them for as long as there is sky above the earth.

(vii & Maftir) ²² “For if you will take care to obey all these mitzvot I am giving you, to do them, to love Adonai your God, to follow all his ways and to cling to him, ²³ then Adonai will expel all these nations ahead of you; and you will dispossess nations bigger and stronger than you are. ²⁴ Wherever the sole of your foot steps will be yours; your territory will extend from the desert to the L’vanon and from the River, the Euphrates River, to the Western Sea. ²⁵ No one will be able to withstand you; Adonai your God will place the fear and dread of you on all the land you step on, as he told you.

Haftarah ‘Ekev: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 49:14–51:3

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah ‘Ekev: Mattityahu (Matthew) 4:1–11; Luke 4:1–13; Ya‘akov (James) 5:7–11

Parashah 47: Re’eh (See) 11:26 –16:17

²⁶ “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse — ²⁷ the blessing, if you listen to the mitzvot of Adonai your God that I am giving you today; ²⁸ and the curse, if you don’t listen to the mitzvot of Adonai your God, but turn aside from the way I am ordering you today and follow other gods that you have not known.

²⁹ “When Adonai your God brings you into the land you are entering in order to take possession of it, you are to put the blessing on Mount G’rizim and the curse on Mount ‘Eival. ³⁰ Both are west of the Yarden, in the direction of the sunset, in the land of the Kena‘ani living in the ‘Aravah, across from Gilgal, near the pistachio trees of Moreh. ³¹ For you are to cross the Yarden to enter and take possession of the land Adonai your God is giving you; you are to own it and live in it. ³² And you are to take care to follow all the laws and rulings I am setting before you today.

12 Here are the laws and rulings you are to observe and obey in the land Adonai, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess as long as you live on earth. ² You must destroy all the places where the nations you are dispossessing served their gods, whether on high mountains, on hills, or under some leafy tree. ³ Break down their altars, smash their standing-stones to pieces, burn up their sacred poles completely and cut down the carved images of their gods. Exterminate their name from that place.

⁴ “But you are not to treat Adonai your God this way. ⁵ Rather, you are to come to the place where Adonai your God will put his name. He will choose it from all your tribes; and you will seek out that place, which is where he will live, and go there. ⁶ You will bring there your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tenths [that you set aside for Adonai], the offerings that you give, the offerings you have vowed, your voluntary offerings, and the firstborn of your cattle and sheep. ⁷ There you will eat in the presence of Adonai your God; and you will rejoice over everything you set out to do, you and your households, in which Adonai your God has blessed you. ⁸ You will not do things the way we do them here today, where everyone does whatever in his own opinion seems right; ⁹ because you haven’t yet arrived at the rest and inheritance which Adonai your God is giving you. ¹⁰ But when you cross the Yarden and live in the land Adonai your God is having you inherit, and he gives you rest from all your surrounding enemies, so that you are living in safety; (ii) ¹¹ then you will bring all that I am ordering you to the place Adonai your God chooses to have his name live — your burnt offerings, sacrifices, tenths, the offering from your hand, and all your best possessions that you dedicate to Adonai; ¹² and you will rejoice in the presence of Adonai your God — you, your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves and the Levi staying with you, inasmuch as he has no share or inheritance with you.

¹³ “Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings just anywhere you see, ¹⁴ but do it in the place Adonai will choose in one of your tribal territories; there is where you are to offer your burnt offerings and do everything I order you to do. ¹⁵ However, you may slaughter and eat meat wherever you live and whenever you want, in keeping with the degree to which Adonai your God has blessed you. The unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer. ¹⁶ But don’t eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.

¹⁷ “You are not to eat on your own property the tenth of your grain, new wine or olive oil [that you set aside for Adonai], or the firstborn of your cattle or sheep, or any offering you have vowed, or your voluntary offering, or the offering from your hand. ¹⁸ No, you are to eat these in the presence of Adonai your God in the place Adonai your God will choose — you and your sons, daughters, male and female slaves, and the Levi who is your guest; and you are to rejoice before Adonai your God in everything you undertake to do. ¹⁹ As long as you are living on your property, take care not to abandon the Levi.

²⁰ “When Adonai your God expands your territory, as he has promised you, and you say, ‘I want to eat meat,’ simply because you want to eat meat, then you may eat meat, as much as you want. ²¹ If the place which Adonai your God chooses to place his name is too far away from you; then you are to slaughter animals from your cattle or sheep, which Adonai has given you; and eat on your own property, as much as you want. ²² Eat it as you would gazelle or deer; the unclean and clean alike may eat it. ²³ Just take care not to eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you are not to eat the life with the meat. ²⁴ Don’t eat it, but pour it out on the ground like water. ²⁵ Do not eat it, so that things will go well with you and with your children after you, as you do what Adonai sees as right. ²⁶ Only the things set aside for God which you have, and the vows you have vowed to make, you must take and go to the place which Adonai will choose. ²⁷ There you will offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of Adonai your God. The blood of your sacrifices is to be poured out on the altar of Adonai your God, and you will eat the meat. ²⁸ Obey and pay attention to everything I am ordering you to do, so that things will go well with you and with your descendants after you forever, as you do what Adonai sees as good and right.

(iii) ²⁹ “When Adonai your God has cut off ahead of you the nations you are entering in order to dispossess, and when you have dispossessed them and are living in their land; ³⁰ be careful, after they have been destroyed ahead of you, not to be trapped into following them; so that you inquire after their gods and ask, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I want to do the same.’ ³¹ You must not do this to Adonai your God! For they have done to their gods all the abominations that Adonai hates! They even burn up their sons and daughters in the fire for their gods!

12 Yeshua began speaking to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the wine press and built a tower; then he rented it to tenant-farmers and left. ² When harvest-time came, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the crop from the vineyard. ³ But they took him, beat him up and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ So he sent another servant; this one they punched in the head and insulted. ⁵ He sent another one, and him they killed; and so with many others — some they beat up, others they killed. ⁶ He had still one person left, a son whom he loved; in the end, he sent him to them, saying, ‘My son they will respect.’ ⁷ But the tenants said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ ⁸ So they seized him, killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come, destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others! ¹⁰ Haven’t you read the passage in the Tanakh that says,

¹² They set about to arrest him, for they recognized that he had told the parable with reference to themselves. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away.

¹³ Next they sent some P’rushim and some members of Herod’s party to him in order to trap him with a sh’eilah. ¹⁴ They came and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you tell the truth and are not concerned with what people think about you, since you pay no attention to a person’s status but really teach what God’s way is. Does Torah say that taxes are to be paid to the Roman Emperor, or not?” ¹⁵ But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it.” ¹⁶ They brought one; and he asked them, “Whose name and picture are these?” “The Emperor’s,” they replied. ¹⁷ Yeshua said, “Give the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. And give to God what belongs to God!” And they were amazed at him.

¹⁸ Then some Tz’dukim came to him. They are the ones who say there is no such thing as resurrection, so they put to him a sh’eilah: ¹⁹ “Rabbi, Moshe wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and have children to preserve the man’s family line.^{[b] 20} There were seven brothers. The first one took a wife, and when he died, he left no children. ²¹ Then the second one took her and died without leaving children, and the third likewise, ²² and none of the seven left children. Last of all, the woman also died. ²³ In the Resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.”

²⁴ Yeshua said to them, “Isn’t this the reason that you go astray? because you are ignorant both of the Tanakh and of the power of God? ²⁵ For when people rise from the dead, neither men nor women marry — they are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ And as for the dead being raised, haven’t you read in the book of Moshe, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov’?^{[c] 27} He is God not of the dead, but of the living! You are going far astray!”