Deuteronomy 29 - 30

The Covenant in Moab

These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to cut with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He had cut with them at Horeb. 2 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land; 3 the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders. 4 Yet to this day Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear. 5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot. 6 You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink, in order that you might know that I am Yahweh your God. 7 Then you came to this place, and Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out to meet us for battle, but we struck them down; 8 and we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites. 9 So you shall keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. 10 “You stand today, all of you, before Yahweh your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is within your camps, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, 12 that you may enter into the covenant with Yahweh your God and into His oath, which Yahweh your God is cutting with you today, 13 in order that He may establish you today as His people and that He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14 “Now not with you alone am I cutting this covenant and this oath, 15 but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of Yahweh our God and with those who are not with us here today— 16 for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed; 17 moreover, you have seen their detestable things and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which they had with them— 18 lest there be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood. 19 And it will be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will bless himself in his heart, saying, ‘I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to sweep away the watered land with the dry.’ 20 Yahweh shall not be willing to pardon him, but rather the anger of Yahweh and His jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 Then Yahweh will separate him out for adversity from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant which are written in this book of the law. 22 “And the generation to come, your sons who rise up after you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land, shall see the plagues of the land and the diseases with which Yahweh has afflicted it, and they will say, 23 ‘All its land is brimstone and salt, a burning waste, unsown and nothing sprouting, and no grass grows in it, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in His anger and in His wrath.’ 24 And all the nations will say, ‘Why has Yahweh done thus to this land? Why this great burning anger?’ 25 Then men will say, ‘Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which He cut with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26 And they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they have not known and whom He had not apportioned to them. 27 Therefore, the anger of Yahweh was kindled against that land, to bring upon it every curse which is written in this book; 28 and Yahweh uprooted them from their land in anger and in fury and in great wrath, and He cast them into another land, as it is this day.’ 29 “The secret things belong to Yahweh our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Yahweh Will Take You Back

“So it will be, when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you cause these things to return to your heart in all the nations where Yahweh your God has banished you, 2 and you return to Yahweh your God and listen to His voice with all your heart and soul according to all that I am commanding you today, you and your sons, 3 then Yahweh your God will return you from captivity and return His compassion on you, and He will gather you again from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you. 4 If those of you who are banished are at the ends of the sky, from there Yahweh your God will gather you, and from there He will take you back. 5 And Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. 6 “Moreover Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed, to love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live. 7 And Yahweh your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. 8 And you shall return and listen to the voice of Yahweh, and you shall do all His commandments which I am commanding you today. 9 Then Yahweh your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for Yahweh will return to rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers, 10 when you listen to the voice of Yahweh your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, when you return to Yahweh your God with all your heart and soul. 11 “For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it far from you. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us and get it for us and make us hear it, that we may do it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us and get it for us and make us hear it, that we may do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it.

Choose Life

15 “See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and calamity; 16 in that I am commanding you today to love Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. 17 But if your heart turns away and you will not listen, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your seed, 20 by loving Yahweh your God, by listening to His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

2 Corinthians 7 - 8

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Godly Sorrow Produces Repentance

2 Make room for us in your hearts. We wronged no one, we corrupted no one, we took advantage of no one. 3 I do not speak to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. 4 Great is my boldness toward you; great is my boasting on your behalf. I have been filled with comfort; I am overflowing with joy in all our affliction. 5 For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side—conflicts without, fears within. 6 But God, who comforts the humbled, comforted us by the coming of Titus; 7 and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you, as he reported to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more. 8 For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it, though I did regret it—for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while— 9 I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to repentance. For you were made to have godly sorrow, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 10 For godly sorrow produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world brings about death. 11 For behold what earnestness this very thing—this godly sorrow—has brought about in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter. 12 So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the offender nor for the sake of the one offended, but that your earnestness on our behalf might be manifested to you in the sight of God. 13 For this reason we have been comforted. And besides our comfort, we rejoiced even much more for the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all. 14 For if in anything I have boasted to him about you, I was not put to shame, but as we spoke all things to you in truth, so also our boasting before Titus proved to be the truth. 15 And his affection abounds all the more toward you, as he remembers the obedience of you all, how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice that in everything I am encouraged about you.

Generosity and Grace

Now brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, 2 that in a great testing by affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the richness of their generosity. 3 For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, 4 begging us with much urging for the grace of sharing in the ministry to the saints, 5 and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God. 6 So we encouraged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well. 7 But just as you abound in everything, in faith and word and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also. 8 I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though being rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. 10 And I give my opinion in this matter, for this is profitable for you, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it. 11 But now complete doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it from what you have. 12 For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. 13 For this is not for the relief of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality— 14 at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality. 15 As it is written, “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little had no lack.” 16 But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness on your behalf in the heart of Titus. 17 For he not only accepted our plea, but being himself very earnest, he has gone out to you of his own accord. 18 And we have sent along with him the brother whose praise in the things of the gospel is throughout all the churches. 19 And not only this, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work that is being ministered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our readiness, 20 taking precaution lest anyone discredits us in our ministering of this generous gift, 21 for we respect what is good, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. 22 And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found earnest in many things, but now even more earnest because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ. 24 Therefore openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you.

Psalm 126 - 128

Those Who Sow in Tears Shall Reap with Joy

A Song of Ascents.

When Yahweh returned the captive ones of Zion,

We were like those who dream.

Then our mouth was filled with laughter

And our tongue with shouts of joy;

Then they said among the nations,

“Yahweh has done great things for them.”

Yahweh has done great things for us;

We are glad.

Restore our captivity, O Yahweh,

As the streams in the Negev.

Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy.

He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,

Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves with him.

Unless Yahweh Builds the House

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

Unless Yahweh builds the house,

They labor in vain who build it;

Unless Yahweh watches the city,

The watchman keeps awake in vain.

It is in vain that you rise up early,

That you sit out late,

O you who eat the bread of painful labors;

For in this manner, He gives sleep to His beloved.

Behold, children are an inheritance of Yahweh,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one’s youth.

How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them;

They will not be ashamed

When they speak with enemies in the gate.

Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears Yahweh

A Song of Ascents.

How blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh,

Who walks in His ways.

When you shall eat of the fruit of the labor of your hands,

How blessed will you be and how well will it be for you.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine

In the innermost parts of your house,

Your children like olive plants

All around your table.

Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed

Who fears Yahweh.

May Yahweh bless you from Zion,

That you may see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.

Indeed, may you see your children’s children.

Peace be upon Israel!