Deuteronomy 3 - 4

Israel Takes Possession of the Land

“Then we turned and went up the road to Bashan, and Og king of Bashan, with all his people, came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. 2 But Yahweh said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land over into your hand; and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ 3 So Yahweh our God also gave Og, king of Bashan, with all his people over into our hand, and we struck them until there was no survivor remaining for him. 4 And we captured all his cities at that time; there was not a town which we did not take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates and bars, besides a great many unwalled towns. 6 And we devoted them to destruction, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction the men, women, and little ones of every city. 7 But all the animals and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. 8 “Thus we took the land at that time from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir): 10 all the cities of the plateau and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 (For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was an iron bedstead; it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon. Its length was nine cubits, and its width four cubits by ordinary cubit.) 12 “So we took possession of this land at that time. From Aroer, which is by the valley of Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead and its cities I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites. 13 And the rest of Gilead and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh, all the region of Argob. (Concerning all Bashan, it is called the land of Rephaim. 14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites and called it—that is, Bashan—after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) 15 And to Machir I gave Gilead. 16 And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even as far as the valley of Arnon, the middle of the valley as a border and as far as the river Jabbok, the border of the sons of Ammon; 17 the Arabah also, with the Jordan as a border, from Chinnereth even as far as the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah on the east. 18 “Then I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘Yahweh your God has given you this land to possess it; all you men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the sons of Israel. 19 But your wives and your little ones and your livestock (I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in your cities which I have given you, 20 until Yahweh gives rest to your brothers as to you, and they also possess the land which Yahweh your God will give them beyond the Jordan. Then you may return, every man to his possession which I have given you.’ 21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, ‘Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings; so Yahweh shall do to all the kingdoms into which you are about to cross. 22 Do not fear them, for Yahweh your God is the one fighting for you.’

Moses Pleads to Cross the Jordan

23 “I also pleaded with Yahweh at that time, saying, 24 ‘O Lord Yahweh, You have begun to show Your slave Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? 25 Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ 26 But Yahweh was angry with me on your account and would not listen to me; and Yahweh said to me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. 28 But command Joshua and strengthen him and encourage him, for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he will cause them to inherit the land which you will see.’ 29 So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

Keep the Commandments of Yahweh

“So now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to do, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I am commanding you. 3 Your eyes have seen what Yahweh has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who walked after Baal-peor, Yahweh your God has destroyed them from among you. 4 But you who clung to Yahweh your God are alive today, every one of you. 5 “See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as Yahweh my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. 6 You shall keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is Yahweh our God whenever we call on Him? 8 Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I am setting before you today? 9 “Only keep yourself and keep your soul very carefully, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. But make them known to your sons and to your grandsons. 10 Remember the day you stood before Yahweh your God at Horeb, when Yahweh said to me, ‘Assemble the people to Me, that I may cause them to hear My words so they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.’ 11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire to the very heart of the heavens: darkness, cloud, and dense gloom. 12 Then Yahweh spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of words, but you saw no form—only a voice. 13 So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to do, that is, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14 And Yahweh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it. 15 “So keep your souls very carefully, since you did not see any form on the day Yahweh spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, 16 lest you act corruptly and make a graven image for yourselves in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the sky, 18 the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water below the earth, 19 and lest you lift up your eyes to heaven and see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, and be drawn away and worship them and serve them, those which Yahweh your God has apportioned for all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But Yahweh has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own inheritance, as today. 21 “Now Yahweh was angry with me on your account and swore that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance. 22 For I will die in this land, I shall not cross the Jordan, but you shall cross and take possession of this good land. 23 So keep yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Yahweh your God which He cut with you and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which Yahweh your God has commanded you. 24 For Yahweh your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. 25 “When you become the father of children and children’s children and remain long in the land and act corruptly and make a graven image in the form of anything and do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh your God so as to provoke Him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not prolong your days on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 And Yahweh will scatter you among the peoples, and you will remain few in number among the nations where Yahweh drives you. 28 And there you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. 29 But from there you will seek Yahweh your God, and you will find Him, for you will search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have come upon you, in the last days you will return to Yahweh your God and listen to His voice. 31 For Yahweh your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which He swore to them. 32 “Indeed, ask now concerning the former days which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and inquire from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything been done like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? 33 Has any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard it, and lived? 34 Or has a god tried to go to take for himself a nation from within another nation with trials, with signs and wonders and with war and with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm and with great terrors, as Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown that you might know that Yahweh, He is God; there is no other besides Him. 36 Out of the heavens He caused you to hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He caused you to see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. 37 Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their seed after them. And He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power, 38 dispossessing before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. 39 Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that Yahweh, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other. 40 So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am commanding you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days on the land which Yahweh your God is giving you for all the days.” 41 Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the east toward the sunrise, 42 that a manslayer might flee there, who slew his neighbor without premeditation, not hating him previously; so he shall flee to one of these cities that he might live: 43 Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites. 44 Now this is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel; 45 these are the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel when they came out from Egypt, 46 across the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel struck down when they came out from Egypt. 47 And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were across the Jordan to the east toward the sunrise, 48 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon, even as far as Mount Sion (that is, Hermon), 49 with all the Arabah across the Jordan to the east, even as far as the sea of the Arabah, at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah.

Romans 15

Bearing the Weaknesses of Others

Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. 2 Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his building up. 3 For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” 4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through the perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 Now may the God of perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ, the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

7 Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. 8 For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, 9 and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written,

“Therefore I will give praise to You among the Gentiles,

And I will sing to Your name.”

10 And again he says,

“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.”

11 And again,

“Praise the Lord all you Gentiles,

And let all the peoples praise Him.”

12 And again Isaiah says,

“There shall come the root of Jesse,

And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles,

In Him shall the Gentiles hope.”

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s Ministry Plans

14 But I myself am also convinced about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, having been filled with all knowledge and being able also to admonish one another. 15 But I have written very boldly to you on some points so as to remind you again, because of the grace that was given me by God 16 for me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, having been sanctified by the Holy Spirit. 17 Therefore in Christ Jesus I have reason for boasting in things pertaining to God. 18 For I will not be bold to speak of anything except what Christ has brought about through me, leading to the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Spirit; so that from Jerusalem and all around as far as Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 And in this way I make it my ambition to proclaim the gospel, not where Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s foundation; 21 but as it is written,

“They who had no declaration of Him shall see,

And they who have not heard shall understand.”

22 For this reason I have often been prevented from coming to you; 23 but now, with no further place for me in these regions, and since I have had for many years a longing to come to you 24 whenever I go to Spain—for I hope, passing through, to see you, and to be helped on my way there by you, when I have first enjoyed your company for a while. 25 But now I am going to Jerusalem to serve the saints. 26 For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to share with the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. 27 Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things. 28 Therefore, when I have completed this and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain. 29 And I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. 30 Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, 31 that I may be rescued from those who are disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove acceptable to the saints; 32 so that I may come to you in joy by the will of God and find rest in your company. 33 Now may the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

Psalm 107:1 - 107:22

Yahweh Saves in Times of Trouble

Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good,

For His lovingkindness endures forever.

Let the redeemed of Yahweh say so,

Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary

And gathered from the lands,

From the east and from the west,

From the north and from the south.

They wandered in the wilderness along the way of the wasteland;

They did not find an inhabited city.

Hungry and thirsty,

Their soul fainted within them.

Then they cried out to Yahweh in their trouble;

He delivered them out of their distresses.

He led them by a straight way,

To go to an inhabited city.

Let them give thanks to Yahweh for His lovingkindness,

And for His wondrous deeds to the sons of men!

For He has satisfied the thirsty soul,

And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.

There were those who inhabited darkness and the shadow of death,

Prisoners in affliction and irons,

Because they had rebelled against the words of God

And spurned the counsel of the Most High.

So He subdued their heart with labor;

They stumbled and there was none to help.

Then they cried out to Yahweh in their trouble;

He saved them out of their distresses.

He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death

And broke their bands apart.

Let them give thanks to Yahweh for His lovingkindness,

And for His wondrous deeds to the sons of men!

For He has shattered the doors of bronze

And cut through the bars of iron.

Ignorant fools, because of their way of transgression,

And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.

Their soul abhorred all kinds of food,

And they reached the gates of death.

Then they cried out to Yahweh in their trouble;

He saved them out of their distresses.

He sent His word and healed them,

And provided them escape from their destructions.

Let them give thanks to Yahweh for His lovingkindness,

And for His wondrous deeds to the sons of men!

Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,

And recount His works with joyful singing.