Old/New Testament
Moses Talks to the Israelites
1 ·This is the message [L These are the words] Moses gave to all the people of Israel in the ·desert [wilderness] east of the Jordan River. They were in the ·desert [wilderness] area near Suph, between Paran and the towns of Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 (The trip from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea on the Mount Seir road takes eleven days.) 3 ·Forty years after the Israelites had left Egypt [L In the fortieth year], on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses told the ·people [L sons; T children] of Israel everything the Lord had commanded him to tell them. 4 This was after the Lord had ·defeated [L struck] Sihon and Og. Sihon was king of the Amorite people and lived in Heshbon. Og was king of Bashan and lived in Ashteroth and Edrei [Num. 21:21–35].
5 Now ·the Israelites [L they] were ·east of [L beyond] the Jordan River in the land of Moab, and there Moses began to ·explain [make clear] ·what God had commanded [L this law/instruction]. He said:
6 The Lord our God spoke to us at ·Mount Sinai [L Horeb; C another name for Sinai] and said, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 ·Get ready [L Turn face], and go to the mountain country of the Amorites, and to all the places around there—the ·Jordan Valley [L Arabah], the mountains, the ·western hills [L Shephelah], the ·southern area [L Negev], the seacoast, the land of Canaan, and Lebanon. Go as far as the great river, the Euphrates [Gen. 15:18–21]. 8 See, I have given you this land, so go in and take it for yourselves. The Lord ·promised it [swore] to your ancestors—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants [Gen. 12:1–3; 15:17–20].”
Moses Appoints Leaders
9 At that time I said, “I am not able to ·take care of you [L lift you up; bear you] by myself. 10 The Lord your God has made you grow in number so that there are as many of you as there are stars in the ·sky [heavens; Gen. 15:5; 22:17; 26:4; Ex. 32:13]. 11 I pray that the Lord, the God of your ·ancestors [fathers], will give you a thousand times more people and ·do all the wonderful things [L bless you as] he promised. 12 ·But I cannot take care of [L How can I lift up/bear…?] your problems, your troubles, and your arguments by myself. 13 So choose some men from each tribe—wise men who have ·understanding [discernment] and experience—and I will make them leaders over you.”
14 And you said, “That’s a good thing to do.”
15 So I took the wise and experienced leaders of your tribes, and I made them your leaders. I appointed commanders over a thousand people, over a hundred people, over fifty people, and over ten people and made them officers over your tribes. 16 Then I told your ·leaders [judges], “Listen to the arguments between your people. Judge fairly between two ·Israelites [relatives; L brothers] or between an ·Israelite [L relative; brother] and a ·foreigner [resident alien]. 17 When you judge, ·be fair to everyone [do not show favoritism]; don’t act as if one person is more important than another, and don’t be ·afraid of [intimidated by] anyone, because your decision comes from God. Bring the hard cases to me, and I will judge them.” 18 At that time I told you everything you must do [Ex. 18:13–23].
Spies Enter the Land
19 Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we left ·Mount Sinai [L Horeb; 1:6] and went toward the mountain country of the Amorite people. We went through that ·large [vast] and terrible ·desert [wilderness] you saw, and then we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 I said to you, “You have now come to the mountain country of the Amorites, to the land the Lord our God will give us. 21 Look, here it is! Go up and ·take [possess] it. The Lord, the God of your ·ancestors [fathers], told you to do this, so don’t be afraid and don’t ·worry [be dismayed].”
22 Then all of you came to me and said, “Let’s send men before us to spy out the land. They can come back and ·tell us [bring back a report] about the way we should go and the cities we will find [Num. 13–14].”
23 ·I thought that was a good idea [L The matter was good/right in my eyes], so I ·chose [took] twelve of your men, one for each tribe. 24 They ·left [L turned face] and went up to the mountains, and when they came to the ·Valley of [Wadi] Eshcol they ·explored [spied on] it. 25 They took some of the fruit from that land and brought it down to us, ·saying [L and gave us a report, saying], “It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.”
Israel Refuses to Enter
26 But you refused to go. You ·would not obey [rebelled against] the command of the Lord your God, 27 but grumbled in your tents, saying, “The Lord hates us. He brought us out of Egypt just to give us to the Amorites, who will destroy us. 28 Where can we go now? ·The spies we sent have [L Our relatives/brothers] made ·us afraid [L our hearts melt], because they said, ‘The people there are stronger and taller than we are. The cities are big, with walls up to the ·sky [heavens]. And we saw the Anakites there [Num. 13:28–33]!’”
29 Then I said to you, “Don’t be frightened; don’t be afraid of those people. 30 The Lord your God will go ahead of you and fight for you as he did in Egypt; ·you saw him do it [L before your eyes]. 31 And in the ·desert [wilderness] you saw how the Lord your God carried you, like one carries a child [Ps. 131]. And he has brought you safely all the way to this place.”
32 But you still did not trust the Lord your God, even though 33 he had always gone before you to find places for you to camp. In a fire at night and in a cloud during the day, he showed you which way to go.
34 When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and ·made an oath [swore], saying, 35 “I promised a good land to your ·ancestors [fathers], but none of ·you evil people [this evil generation] will see it. 36 Only Caleb son of Jephunneh will see it [Num. 14:24]. I will give him and his descendants the land he walked on, because he followed the Lord completely [Josh. 15:13–19; Judg. 1:9–15].”
37 Because of you, the Lord was also angry with me and said, “You won’t enter the land either [Num. 20:12], 38 but ·your assistant [L the one who stands before you], Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to take the land for their own.
39 “Your little children that you said would be ·captured [plunder], who do not know right from wrong at this time, will go into the land. I will give the land to them, and they will ·take it for their own [possess it]. 40 But you must turn ·around [L face] and follow the ·desert [wilderness] road toward the ·Red [or Reed] Sea [Ex. 10:19].”
41 Then you said to me, “We have sinned against the Lord, but now we will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.” Then all of you put on weapons, thinking it would be easy to go into the mountains.
42 But the Lord said to me, “Tell the people, ‘You must not go up there and fight. I will not be with you, and your enemies will defeat you.’”
43 So I told you, but you would not listen. You ·would not obey [rebelled against] the Lord’s command. You were ·proud [presumptuous], so you went on up into the mountains, 44 and the Amorites who lived in those mountains came out and fought you. They ·chased [swarmed over] you like bees and ·defeated [L struck] you from ·Edom [L Seir; C another name for Edom] to Hormah [Num. 14:39–45]. 45 So you came back and cried before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to you; he refused to pay attention to you. 46 So you stayed in Kadesh a long time.
Israel Wanders in the Desert
2 Then we turned ·around [L face], and we traveled on the ·desert [wilderness] road toward the ·Red [or Reed] Sea [Ex. 10:19], as the Lord had told me to do. We traveled through the mountains of ·Edom [L Seir; 1:44] for many days.
2 Then the Lord said to me, 3 “You have traveled through these mountains long enough. Turn north 4 and give the people this command: ‘You will soon go through the land that belongs to your ·relatives [brothers], the ·descendants [sons] of Esau who live in ·Edom [L Seir; 1:44]. They will be afraid of you, but be very careful. 5 Do not go to war against them. I will not give you any of their land—not even a foot of it, because I have given the mountains of ·Edom [L Seir; 1:44] to Esau as his own. 6 You must pay them in silver for any food you eat or water you drink.’”
7 The Lord your God has blessed everything you have done; he has protected you while you traveled through this ·great desert [vast wilderness]. The Lord your God has been with you for the past forty years, and you have had everything you needed.
8 So we passed by our ·relatives [brothers], the ·descendants [sons] of Esau who lived in ·Edom [L Seir; 1:44]. We turned off the ·Jordan Valley [L Arabah] road that comes from the towns of Elath and Ezion Geber and traveled along the ·desert [wilderness] road to Moab [Num. 20:14–21].
The Land of Ar
9 Then the Lord said to me, “Don’t ·bother [harrass] the people of Moab. Don’t go to war against them, because I will not give you any of their land as your own; I have given Ar to the ·descendants [L sons] of Lot as their own.” 10 (The Emites, who lived in ·Ar [L it] before, were strong people, and there were many of them. They were very tall, like the Anakites. 11 The Emites were thought to be ·Rephaites [or Rephaim; 3:11, 13; Gen. 14:5], like the Anakites, but the Moabite people called them Emites. 12 The Horites also lived in ·Edom [L Seir; 1:44] before, but the ·descendants [L sons] of Esau forced them out and destroyed them, taking their place as Israel did in the land the Lord gave them as their own.)
13 And the Lord said to me, “Now get up and cross the Zered ·Valley [Wadi].” So we crossed the ·valley [wadi]. 14 It had been thirty-eight years from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered ·Valley [Wadi]. By then, all the fighting men ·from that time [L of that generation] had died, as the Lord had ·promised [sworn] would happen [Num. 14:20–23]. 15 The [L hand of the] Lord ·continued to work [L was] against them to remove them from the camp until they were all dead.
16 When the last of those fighting men had died, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 “Today you will pass by Ar, on the border of Moab. 19 When you come near the ·people [L sons; descendants] of Ammon, don’t ·bother [harrass] them or go to war against them, because I will not give you any of their land as your own. I have given it to the ·descendants [sons] of Lot for their own.”
20 (That land was also thought to be a land of the ·Rephaites [or Rephaim; 2:11], because those people used to live there, but the Ammonites called them Zamzummites. 21 They were strong people, and there were many of them; they were very tall, like the Anakites. The Lord destroyed the Zamzummites, and the Ammonites forced them out of the land and took their place. 22 The Lord did the same thing for the ·descendants [sons] of Esau, who lived in ·Edom [L Seir; 1:44], when he destroyed the Horites. ·The Edomites [L They] forced them out of the land and took their place, and they live there to this day. 23 The ·Cretan people [L Caphtorim; C better known as Philistines] came from ·Crete [L Caphtor] and destroyed the Avvites, who lived in towns all the way to Gaza; the ·Cretans [L Caphtorim] destroyed them and took their place.)
Fighting the Amorites
24 The Lord said, “Get up and cross the Arnon ·Ravine [Wadi]. See, I am ·giving you the power to defeat [L putting in your hand] Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and I am giving you his land [Num. 21:21–32]. So fight against him and begin taking his land. 25 Today I will begin to make all the people ·in the world [L under heaven] afraid of you. When they hear reports about you, they will shake with fear, and they will be terrified of you.”
26 I sent messengers from the ·desert [wilderness] of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon. ·They offered him [L …with words/messages of] peace, saying, 27 “If you let us pass through your country, · we will stay on the road and [L I will] not turn right or left. 28 We will pay you in silver for any food we eat or water we drink. We only want to walk through your country. 29 The ·descendants [sons] of Esau in ·Edom [L Seir; 1:44] let us go through their land, and so did the Moabites in Ar. We want to cross the Jordan River into the land the Lord our God has given us.” 30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass, because the Lord your God had ·made him stubborn [L hardened his spirit and made his heart defiant]. The Lord wanted ·you to defeat Sihon, and now this has happened [L to give him into your hand as it is on this day].
31 The Lord said to me, “See, I have begun to give Sihon and his country to you. Begin taking the land as your own.”
32 Then Sihon and all his army came out and fought us at Jahaz, 33 but the Lord our God gave Sihon to us. We ·defeated [L struck] him, his sons, and all his army. 34 We captured all his cities at that time and ·completely destroyed them [devoted them to the Lord; 20:15–20; Josh. 6:17], as well as the men, women, and children. We left no one alive. 35 But we kept the cattle and ·valuable things [L plunder] from the cities for ourselves. 36 We defeated Aroer on the edge of the Arnon ·Ravine [Wadi], and we defeated the town in the ·ravine [wadi], and even as far as Gilead. No ·town was too strong [or citadel was too high] for us; the Lord our God gave us all of them. 37 But you did not go near the land of the ·Ammonites [L sons/descendants of Ammon], on the shores of the Jabbok ·River [Wadi], or the towns in the mountains, as the Lord our God had commanded.
The Battle at Bashan
3 When we turned and went up the road toward Bashan, Og king of Bashan and all his army came out to fight us at Edrei. 2 The Lord said to me, “Don’t be afraid of Og, because I will hand him, his whole army, and his land over to you. Do to him what you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon [Num. 21:33–35].”
3 So the Lord our God gave ·us [L into our hands] Og king of Bashan and all his army; we ·defeated [L struck] them and ·left no one alive [there were no survivors]. 4 Then we captured all of Og’s cities, all sixty of them, and took the whole area of Argob, Og’s kingdom in Bashan. 5 All these were ·strong [fortified] cities, with high walls and ·gates [double doors] with bars. And there were also many small towns with no walls. 6 We ·completely destroyed them [devoted them to the Lord; 20:15–18; Josh. 6:17], just like the cities of Sihon king of Heshbon. We killed all the men, women, and children, 7 but we kept all the cattle and ·valuable things [plunder] from the cities for ourselves.
8 So at that time we took the land ·east of [L beyond] the Jordan River, from the Arnon ·Ravine [Wadi] to Mount Hermon, from these two Amorite kings. 9 (Hermon is called Sirion by the Sidonian people, but the Amorites call it Senir.) 10 We captured all the cities on the high plain and all of Gilead, and we took all of Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, towns in Og’s kingdom of Bashan. 11 (Only Og king of Bashan was left of the few ·Rephaites [or Rephaim; Gen. 14:5]. His bed was made of iron, and it was more than ·thirteen feet [L nine cubits] long and ·six feet [L four cubits] wide! It is still in the ·Ammonite city [L city of the sons/descendants of Ammon] of Rabbah.)
The Land Is Divided
12 At that time we took this land to be our own. I gave the people of Reuben and Gad the land from Aroer by the Arnon Ravine, as well as half of the mountain country of Gilead and the cities in it [Num. 32:1–42]. 13 To the people of ·East [L the half-tribe of] Manasseh I gave the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og. (The area of Argob in Bashan was called the land of the ·Rephaites [or Rephaim; Gen. 14:5]. 14 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole area of Argob, all the way to the border of the Geshurites and Maacathites. So that land was named for Jair, and even today Bashan is called the Towns of Jair.) 15 I gave Gilead to Makir. 16 I gave the ·Reubenites [L sons of Reuben] and the ·Gadites [L sons of Gad] the land that begins at Gilead and goes from the Arnon ·Ravine [Wadi] (the middle of the Arnon is the border) to the Jabbok ·River [Wadi], which is the ·Ammonite border [L border of the sons of Ammon]. 17 The border on the west was the Jordan River in the ·Jordan Valley [L Arabah], and it goes from ·Lake [or the Sea of] ·Galilee [L of the Arabah] to the ·Dead [L Salt] Sea west of Mount Pisgah.
18 At that time I gave you this command: “The Lord your God has given you this land ·as your own [to possess it]. Now your fighting men must take their weapons, and you must lead ·the other Israelites [L your brothers, the sons/T children of Israel] across the river. 19 Your wives, your young children, and your cattle may stay here. I know you have many cattle, and they may stay here in the cities I have given you, 20 until the Lord also gives your ·Israelite relatives [L brothers] a place to rest. They will receive the land the Lord your God has given them on the other side of the Jordan River. After that, you may each return to ·the land I have given you [your possession].”
21 Then I gave this command to Joshua at that time: “·You [L Your eyes] have seen for yourself all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same thing to all the kingdoms where you are ·going [crossing over]. 22 Don’t be afraid of them, because the Lord your God will fight for you.”
Moses Cannot Enter the Land
23 Then I ·begged [pleaded with] the Lord at that time: 24 “Lord God, you have begun to show me, your servant, ·how great you are [L your greatness and your strong hand]. ·You have great strength, and no [L What…?] other god in heaven or on earth can do the powerful things you do. There is no other god like you. 25 Please let me cross ·the [L beyond the] Jordan River so that I may see the good land by the Jordan. I want to see the beautiful mountains and Lebanon.”
26 But the Lord was angry with me because of you [Num. 20:1–21], and he would not listen to me. The Lord said to me, “That’s enough from you. Don’t talk to me anymore about it. 27 Climb to the top of Mount Pisgah and ·look [L lift your eyes to the] west, north, south, and east. You can look ·at the land [L with your eyes], but you will not cross the Jordan River [34:1–8]. 28 ·Appoint [Charge; Commission] Joshua and help him be brave and strong. He will lead the people across the river and give them the land that they are to inherit, but you can only look at it.” 29 So we stayed in the ·valley [or glen] opposite Beth Peor.
Jesus Talks a Third Time About His Death(A)
32 As Jesus and the people with him were on the road to Jerusalem, he was leading the way. His ·followers [disciples] were ·amazed [surprised; puzzled; alarmed], but others in the crowd who followed were afraid. Again Jesus took ·the twelve apostles [the Twelve] aside and began to tell them what was about to happen [to him] in Jerusalem. 33 He said, “Look, we are going [L up] to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be ·turned over [betrayed; delivered over; see 9:31] to the ·leading [T chief] priests and the ·teachers of the law [scribes]. They will ·say that he must die [condemn him to death], and they will turn him over to the ·Gentiles [C the Roman authorities], 34 who will laugh at him and spit on him. They will beat him with whips and ·crucify [L kill] him. But after three days, he will rise to life again.”
Two Followers Ask Jesus a Favor(B)
35 Then James and John, sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want ·to ask you to do something for us [you to do whatever we ask].”
36 Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37 They answered, “Let one of us sit at your right side and one of us sit at your left side in your glory [C the messianic kingdom].”
38 Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I must drink? And can you be baptized with the same kind of baptism that I must go through?” [C Both “cup” and “baptism” symbolize suffering, and perhaps God’s judgment experienced by Jesus on the cross; Jer. 25:15–29.]
39 They answered, “Yes, we can.”
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the same cup that I will drink, and you will be baptized with the same baptism that I must go through. 40 But ·I cannot choose [it is not for me to grant/say] who will sit at my right or my left; those places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
41 When ·the other ten followers [L the ten] heard this, they began to be ·angry [indignant] with James and John.
42 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of ·other nations [the Gentiles] love to ·show their power [lord it] over the people, and their ·important leaders [high officials; L great ones] love to ·use [exert] their authority [L over them]. 43 But it ·should not be [must not be; is not to be] that way among you. [Instead, L But] Whoever wants to become great among you must ·serve the rest of you like a servant [L be your servant]. 44 Whoever wants to become the first among you must ·serve all of you like a slave [L be your slave]. 45 In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many people [Is. 53:12; John 11:49–50].”
Jesus Heals a Blind Man(C)
46 Then they came to the town of Jericho. As Jesus was leaving there with his ·followers [disciples] and a great many people, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus [which means] son of Timaeus was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that Jesus from Nazareth was walking by, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David [C a title for the Messiah, a descendant of King David; 2 Sam. 7:11–16], ·have mercy [take pity] on me!”
48 Many people ·warned [rebuked; scolded] the blind man to be quiet, but he shouted even more, “Son of David, ·have mercy [take pity] on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Tell the man to come here.”
So they called the blind man, saying, “·Cheer up [Take courage]! Get to your feet. Jesus is calling you.” 50 The blind man jumped up, ·left his coat there [threw off his cloak], and went to Jesus.
51 Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man answered, “·Teacher [L Rabbouni], I want to see.”
52 Jesus said, “Go, ·you are healed because you believed [your faith has healed you].” At once the man could see, and he followed Jesus on the road.
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