Old/New Testament
32 ·Hear [L Give ear], heavens, and I will speak. Listen, earth, to ·what I say [L the words of my mouth].
2 My teaching will drop like rain;
my words will ·fall [distill] like dew.
They will be like showers on the grass;
they will pour down like rain on young plants.
3 I will announce the name of the Lord.
·Praise God because he is great [L Ascribe greatness to our God]!
4 He is like a rock; what he does is perfect,
and ·he is always [L all his ways are] fair.
He is a faithful God who does no wrong,
who is ·right [righteous] and ·fair [virtuous].
5 They ·have done evil against him [are corrupt].
·To their shame [or Their faults show] they are no longer his children [Is. 1:2–4; Hos. 1:9];
they are an ·evil [perverted] and ·lying [crooked] people.
6 This is not the way to repay the Lord,
you foolish and unwise people.
·He is [L Is he not…?] your Father and Maker,
who made you and formed you.
7 Remember the old days.
Think of the years already passed.
Ask your father and he will tell you;
ask your elders and they will inform you.
8 God Most High gave ·the nations their lands [L each nation its inheritance],
dividing up the ·human race [L sons of man].
He set up borders for the people
·and even numbered the Israelites[a] [L according to the number of the sons/T children of Israel].
9 The Lord took his people as his ·share [portion],
the people of Jacob as his ·very own [L special inheritance].
10 He found them in a ·desert [wilderness],
a windy, ·empty [unformed; Gen. 1:2] land.
He surrounded them and brought them up,
guarding them as ·those he loved very much [L the apple/pupil of his eye].
11 He was like an eagle ·building [watching; stirring up] its nest
that ·flutters [hovers] over its young.
It spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them on its feathers.
12 The Lord alone led them,
and there was no foreign god ·helping [L with] him.
13 The Lord ·brought them to [or made them ride over] the heights of the land
and fed them the fruit of the fields.
He ·gave them [suckled them with] honey from the rocks,
bringing oil from the ·solid [flint] rock.
14 There were milk curds from the cows and milk from the flock;
there were fat sheep and goats.
There were sheep and goats from Bashan [C a particularly fertile area east of the Sea of Galilee]
and the best of the wheat.
You drank the ·juice [L fermenting/foaming blood] of grapes [C wine].
15 ·Israel [L Jeshurun; C a name for Israel meaning “virtuous”; perhaps intended ironically; 33:5, 26; Is. 44:2] grew fat and kicked;
they were fat and ·full [bloated] and firm.
They ·left [abandoned] the God who made them
and ·rejected [dishonored] the Rock who saved them.
16 They made God jealous with ·foreign [strange] gods [4:24]
and angry with ·hateful idols [L abominations].
17 They made sacrifices to demons, not God,
to gods they had never known,
new gods from nearby,
gods your ·ancestors [fathers] did not fear.
18 You left God who is the Rock, ·your Father [L who bore you; or who begot you],
and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 The Lord saw this and ·rejected [spurned] them;
his sons and daughters had made him angry.
20 He said, “I will turn ·away [L my face away] from them
and see what ·will happen to them [their end will be].
They are ·evil people [L a perverted generation],
·unfaithful [untrustworthy] children.
21 They used things that are not gods to make me jealous [4:24]
and ·worthless idols [vanities; vain idols] to make me angry.
So I will use those who are not a nation to make them jealous;
I will use a nation that ·does not understand [L is foolish] to make them angry.
22 My anger has started a fire
that burns down to ·the place of the dead [L Sheol; C the grave or the underworld].
It will ·burn up [consume] the ·ground [or earth] and its ·crops [produce],
and it will set fire to the ·base [foundations] of the mountains.
23 “I will pile ·troubles [disasters] upon them
and shoot my arrows at them.
24 They will be starved and sick,
destroyed by terrible diseases.
I will send them ·vicious [L the teeth of] animals
·and gliding, poisonous snakes [L with the poison/venom of creatures that crawl in the dust].
25 In the streets the sword will ·kill [bereave];
in their ·homes [bedrooms] there will be terror.
Young men and women will die,
and so will ·babies [sucklings] and gray-haired men.
26 I will ·scatter them [or dash them to pieces] as I said,
and ·no one will remember them [L I will cause their memory to cease from among humans].
27 But I didn’t want ·their enemy to brag [or to provoke the enemy];
their enemy might misunderstand
and say, ‘·We have won [L Our hand is lifted up]!
The Lord has done none of this.’”
28 ·Israel [L They are a nation that] has no sense;
they do not understand.
29 I wish they were wise and understood this;
I wish they could see ·what will happen to them [their end].
30 ·One person cannot [L How can one person…?] chase a thousand people,
and ·two people cannot [L two…?] fight ten thousand
unless their Rock has sold them,
unless the Lord has ·given them up [surrendered them; 28:25–27].
31 The rock of these people is not like our Rock;
our enemies ·agree to that [L are judges].
32 Their vine comes from Sodom,
and their fields are like Gomorrah [Gen. 19].
Their grapes are full of poison;
their bunches of grapes are bitter.
33 Their wine is like ·snake poison [the venom of serpents],
like the ·deadly [cruel] poison of cobras.
34 “·I have been saving this [L Is this not stored up with me…?],
and I have it ·locked [sealed] in my ·storehouses [treasuries].
35 ·I will punish those who do wrong [L Vengeance is mine; Rom. 12:9]; I will repay them.
Soon their foot will slip,
because their day of ·trouble [disaster] is near,
and their ·punishment [doom] will come quickly.”
36 The Lord will ·defend [vindicate; judge] his people
and have mercy on his servants.
He will see that their ·strength [power; control; L hand] is gone,
that nobody is left, slaves or free.
37 Then he will say, “Where are their gods?
Where is the rock they ·trusted [took refuge in]?
38 Who ate the fat from their sacrifices [Lev. 3:17],
and who drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let those gods come to help you!
Let them protect you!
39 “Now you will see that I am ·the one God [L he]!
There is no god but me.
I ·send death and life [kill and make alive];
I ·can hurt [wound], and I can heal.
No one can escape from ·me [L my hand].
40 I raise my hand toward heaven [C to make a promise]:
As surely as I live forever,
41 I will sharpen my flashing sword,
and I will take it in my hand to judge [Ps. 7:12–13].
I will ·punish [bring vengeance on] my enemies
and pay back those who hate me.
42 My arrows will be ·covered [L drunk] with their blood;
my sword will eat their flesh.
The blood will flow from those who are killed and the captives.
The ·heads of the enemy leaders [or long-haired enemy] will be cut off.”
43 ·Be happy [Rejoice], nations, with his people,
because he will repay you for the blood of his servants.
He will ·punish [work vengeance on] his enemies,
and he will ·remove the sin of [provide atonement for] his land and people.
44 Moses came with Joshua son of Nun, and they spoke all the words of this song ·for the people to hear [L in the ears of his people]. 45 When Moses finished speaking these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them: “·Pay careful attention to [L Set your heart on] all the words I ·have said [testify; give witness] to you today, and command your children to obey carefully everything in these ·teachings [laws; instructions]. 47 These should not be unimportant words for you, but rather they mean life for you! By these words you will live a long time in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to take as your ·own [possession].”
Moses Goes Up to Mount Nebo
48 The Lord spoke to Moses again that same day and said, 49 “Go up the Abarim Mountains, to Mount Nebo in the country of Moab, across from Jericho. Look at the land of Canaan that I am giving to the Israelites as their ·own [possession; C one can look far into the Promised Land from Nebo]. 50 On that mountain that you climb, you will die and ·join [be gathered to] your ·ancestors [fathers], just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and joined his ·ancestors [fathers; Num. 20:22–29]. 51 You both sinned against me at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin, and you did not honor me as holy there among the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel; Num. 20:1–13]. 52 So now you will only look at the land from far away. You will not enter the land I am giving the ·people [L sons; T children] of Israel.”
Moses Blesses the People
33 Moses, the man of God, gave this blessing to the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] before he died. 2 He said:
“The Lord came from Mount Sinai
and ·rose like the sun [shone forth] from ·Edom [L Seir; C another name for Edom];
he ·showed his greatness [blazed forth] from Mount Paran.
He came with ·thousands of angels [myriads of holy ones]
·from the southern mountains [or marching at his right hand; Ex. 15:17; Judg. 5:4–5; Ps. 68:7–8, 17–18; Hab. 3:3–7].
3 The Lord surely loves his people
and takes care of all ·those who belong to him [his holy/consecrated ones].
They ·bow down [submit; or followed] at his feet,
and they are taught by him.
4 Moses ·gave us [commanded us with] the ·teachings [laws; instructions]
that ·belong to the people [L are the possession of the assembly] of Jacob.
5 The Lord became king ·of Israel [L in Jeshurun; 32:15]
when the leaders of the people gathered,
when the tribes of Israel came together.
6 “Let the people of Reuben live and not die,
but let ·the people [L his numbers] be few [2 Kin. 10:32–34].”
7 Moses said this about the people of Judah:
“Lord, listen to Judah’s ·prayer [L voice];
bring them back to their people.
They ·defend [contend for] themselves with their hands.
Help them fight their enemies!”
8 Moses said this about the people of Levi:
“Lord, your Thummim and Urim [Ex. 28:30] belong
to ·Levi, whom you love [L your loyal one].
Lord, you tested him at Massah
and argued with him at the waters of Meribah [Ex. 17:1–7].
9 He said about his father and mother,
‘I don’t care about them.’
He did not treat his brothers as favorites
or give special favors to his children,
but he protected your word
and guarded your ·agreement [covenant; treaty; Ex. 32:25–29].
10 He teaches your ·laws [judgments] to the people of Jacob
and your ·teachings [laws; instructions] to the people of Israel.
He ·burns [places] incense before you
and makes whole burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] on your altar.
11 Lord, ·make them strong [L bless his powers];
be pleased with the work ·they do [L of their hand].
·Defeat those who attack them [L Strike the loins of those who rise against them],
and don’t let ·their enemies [L those who hate them] rise up again.”
12 Moses said this about the people of Benjamin:
“The Lord’s loved ones will lie down in safety,
because ·he [or the Most High] protects them all day long.
The ones he loves rest ·with him [L between his shoulders].”
13 Moses said this about the people of Joseph:
“May the Lord bless their land with ·wonderful [or the best fruits from the] dew from heaven,
·with water from the springs [and from the deeps] below,
14 with the best fruits that the sun brings,
and with the best fruits ·that the moon brings [or of the months].
15 Let the ·old [ancient] mountains give the finest crops,
and let the everlasting hills give the best fruits.
16 Let the ·full earth [L earth and its fullness] give the best fruits,
and let the Lord who lived in ·the burning bush [the thorn bush; or Sinai; Ex. 3:2] be pleased.
May ·these blessings [L they] rest on the head of Joseph,
on the forehead of the ·one who was blessed [L prince] among his brothers.
17 Joseph has the majesty of a firstborn bull;
·he is as strong as [L his horns are the horns of] a wild ox [Ex. 27:2].
He will ·stab [gore] other nations with them,
even those ·nations far away [L at the ends of the earth].
These are the ·ten thousands [myriads] of Ephraim,
and these are the thousands of Manasseh [C tribes named after Joseph’s sons].”
18 Moses said this about the people of Zebulun:
“·Be happy [Rejoice] when you go out, Zebulun,
and ·be happy [rejoice] in your tents, Issachar.
19 They will call the people to the mountain,
and there they will offer the ·right [righteous] sacrifices.
They will ·do well from all that is in [L suck the abundance of] the sea,
and from the treasures hidden in the sand on the shore.”
20 Moses said this about the people of Gad:
“·Praise God who gives Gad more land [L Blessed be the one who enlarges Gad]!
Gad lives there like a lion,
who tears off arms and heads.
21 They chose the best land for themselves.
They received a large share, like that given to an officer.
When the leaders of the people ·gathered [or came],
the people of Gad did what the Lord said was ·right [righteous; just],
and they judged Israel fairly.”
22 Moses said this about the people of Dan:
“Dan is like a lion’s cub,
who ·jumps out of [leaps forth from] Bashan [32:14].”
23 Moses said this about the people of Naphtali:
“Naphtali ·enjoys special kindnesses [is deeply favored],
and they are full of the Lord’s blessings.
·Take as your own [or It possesses] the west and south.”
24 Moses said this about the people of Asher:
“Asher is the most blessed of the sons;
let him be his brothers’ favorite.
Let him ·bathe [dip] his feet in olive oil [C symbolizing comfort and luxury].
25 Your ·gates will have locks of [L bolts/bars are] iron and bronze,
and ·you will be strong as long as you live [L your strength will be like your days].
26 “There is no one like the God of ·Israel [L Jeshurun; 32:15],
who rides through the ·skies [heavens] to help you,
who rides on the clouds in his majesty [Ps. 18:7–15; 68:5–7; Dan. 7:13–14; Nah. 1:3; Matt. 24:30; Rev. 1:7].
27 ·The everlasting God is your place of safety [or He humbles the gods of old],
and ·his arms will hold you up forever [or humbles the ancient powers].
He will force your enemy out ahead of you,
saying, ‘Destroy the enemy!’
28 The people of Israel will ·lie down [reside; dwell] in safety.
Jacob’s ·spring [or abode] is theirs alone.
Theirs is a land full of grain and new wine,
where the ·skies [heavens] drop their dew.
29 Israel, you are blessed!
·No one else [L Who…?] is like you,
because you are a people saved by the Lord.
He is your shield and helper,
your glorious sword.
Your enemies will ·be afraid of you [come cringing to you],
and you will ·walk all over [trample] their ·holy places [L high places; or backs].”
Moses Dies
34 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Mount Pisgah, across from Jericho. From there the Lord showed him all the land from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali and the lands of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the ·Mediterranean [L Western] Sea, 3 as well as the ·southern desert [L the Negev] and the whole Valley of Jericho up to Zoar. (Jericho is called the city of palm trees.) 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is the land I ·promised [swore] to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said to them, ‘I will give this land to your ·descendants [L seed; Gen. 12:1–13; 15:17–20].’ ·I have let you look at [L Your eyes have seen] it, Moses, but you will not cross over there.”
5 Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in Moab, as the Lord had said [Num. 20:12]. 6 He buried Moses in Moab in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but even today no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not weak, and ·he was still strong [L his vigor had not left him]. 8 The ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] cried for Moses for thirty days, staying in the plains of Moab until the time of ·sadness [mourning] was over.
9 Joshua son of Nun was then filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had ·put [laid] his hands on him. So the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] listened to Joshua, and they did what the Lord had commanded Moses.
10 There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses [Acts 3:22–23; Heb. 3:1–19]. The Lord knew Moses face to face [Num. 12:6–8] 11 and sent him to do signs and ·miracles [wonders] in Egypt—to ·the king [L Pharaoh], to all his ·officers [L servants], and to the whole land of Egypt. 12 Moses had ·great power [L a strong hand], and he did great and wonderful things for all the Israelites to see.
26 There was a sign with this charge against Jesus written on it: the king of the jews. 27 They also put two ·robbers [rebels; revolutionaries; C the term “robber” was used by the Romans of insurrectionists] on crosses beside Jesus, one on the right, and the other on the left. |28 And the Scripture came true that says, “They put him with criminals [Is. 53:12].”|[a] 29 People walked by and ·insulted [defamed; slandered; C the same Greek word used to “blaspheme”] Jesus and shook their heads [C a gesture of derision; Ps. 22:7], saying, “You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days. 30 So save yourself! Come down from that cross!”
31 The ·leading [T chief] priests and the ·teachers of the law [scribes] were also making fun of Jesus. They said to each other, “He saved other people, but he can’t save himself. 32 If he is really the ·Christ [Messiah], the king of Israel, let him come down now from the cross. When we see this, we will believe in him.” The robbers who were being crucified beside Jesus also ·insulted [ridiculed; taunted] him.
Jesus Dies(A)
33 At ·noon [L the sixth hour] the whole country became dark, and the darkness lasted ·for three hours [L until the ninth hour]. 34 At ·three o’clock [L the ninth hour] Jesus cried in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.” This means [C in Aramaic], “My God, my God, why have you ·abandoned [forsaken] me?” [Ps. 22:1]
35 When some of the people standing there heard this, they said, “Listen! He is calling Elijah.” [C The prophet Elijah was associated with the end times (Mal. 4:5) and was also viewed as a helper in time of need.]
36 Someone there ran and got a sponge, filled it with ·vinegar [or sour wine; C an inexpensive drink used by soldiers and slaves], tied it to a ·stick [reed], and gave it to Jesus to drink [Ps. 69:21]. He said, “[Leave him be; Wait!] We want to see if Elijah will come to take him down from the cross.”
37 Then Jesus cried in a loud voice and ·died [breathed his last; L expired].
38 The curtain [C dividing the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple] in the Temple was torn into two pieces, from the top to the bottom [C representing new access to the presence of God, and perhaps God’s judgment against the Temple leadership]. 39 When the ·army officer [centurion] who was standing in front of the cross saw ·what happened when [or how] Jesus died,[b] he said, “This man really was the Son of God!”
40 Some women were standing at a distance from the cross, watching; among them were Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph. (James was her youngest son.) 41 These women had followed Jesus in Galilee and ·helped [cared for; supported] him. Many other women were also there who had come with Jesus to Jerusalem.
Jesus Is Buried(B)
42 This was Preparation Day. (That means the day before the Sabbath day.) That evening, 43 Joseph from Arimathea was ·brave [bold] enough to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body. Joseph, an ·important [respected] member of the ·Jewish council [Sanhedrin; see 14:55], was one of the people who was waiting for the kingdom of God to come. 44 Pilate was amazed that Jesus would have already died, so he called the ·army officer [centurion] and asked him if Jesus ·had already died [or had been dead very long]. 45 The officer told Pilate that he was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. 46 Joseph bought some linen cloth, took the body down from the cross, and wrapped it in the linen. He put the body in a tomb that was cut out of a wall of rock. Then he rolled a [C large] stone to block the entrance of the tomb. 47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph ·saw [took note of] the place where Jesus was laid.
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