Deuteronomy 31 - 32, 2 Corinthians 9 - 10, Psalms 129 - 131

Be Strong and Courageous

31So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. ²And he said to them, “I am ^a120 years old today; ^bI am no longer able to come and go, and Yahweh has said to me, ‘^cYou shall not cross this Jordan.’ ³“^aIt is Yahweh your God who will cross ahead of you; He will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. ^bJoshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, just as Yahweh has spoken. ⁴“And Yahweh will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them. ⁵“^aAnd Yahweh will give them over before you, and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you. ⁶“^aBe strong and courageous. ^bDo not be afraid or be in dread of them, for ^cYahweh your God is the one who goes with you. ^dHe will not fail you or forsake you.”

⁷Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “^aBe strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. ⁸“^aAnd Yahweh is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. ^bHe will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

⁹So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi ^awho carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of ^athe year of the remission of debts, at the ^bFeast of Booths, ¹¹when all Israel comes ^ato appear before Yahweh your God at ^bthe place which He will choose, ^cyou shall read this law in front of all Israel in their hearing. ¹²“Assemble the people, the men and the women and little ones and ¹the sojourner who is within your gates, so that they may hear and so that they may ^alearn and fear Yahweh your God and be careful to do all the words of this law. ¹³“And their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God, all the days you live on the land ¹which you are about to cross the Jordan to ²possess.”

Yahweh Has Moses Write a Song

¹⁴Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, ¹^,^athe time for you to die is near; call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” ^bSo Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. ¹⁵^aAnd Yahweh appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent. ¹⁶And Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, ^ayou are about to lie down with your fathers; and ^bthis people will arise and play the harlot with the foreign gods of the land, into the midst of which they are going, and they ^cwill forsake Me and break My covenant which I have cut with them. ¹⁷“^aThen My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and ^bI will forsake them and ^chide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will find them, so that they will say in that day, ‘^dIs it not because our God is not among us that these evils have found us?’ ¹⁸“But I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to other gods.

¹⁹“So now, ^awrite this song for yourselves and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel. ²⁰“^aFor when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and are satisfied and ^bbecome fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them and spurn Me and break My covenant. ²¹“Then it will be, ^awhen many evils and troubles have found them, that this song will answer them as a witness (for it shall not be forgotten from the mouths of their seed); for ^bI know their intent which they are ¹developing today, before I have brought them into the land which I swore.” ²²^aSo Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the sons of Israel.

Joshua Is Commissioned

²³^aThen He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “^bBe strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and ^cI will be with you.”

²⁴And it happened, when Moses finished writing the words of this law in a book until they were complete, ²⁵that Moses commanded the Levites ^awho carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, saying, ²⁶“Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God, that it may be there as a witness against you. ²⁷“For I know ^ayour rebellion and ^byour ¹stiff-neck; behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Yahweh; how much more, then, after my death? ²⁸“Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and ^acall the heavens and the earth to witness against them. ²⁹“For I know that after my death you will ^aact corruptly and turn away from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the last days, for you will do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands.”

The Song of Moses

³⁰Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were complete:

32“^aGive ear, O heavens, and let me speak;And let the earth hear the words of my mouth.²“^aLet what I have learned drop as the rain,My speech distill as the dew,^bAs the droplets on the fresh grassAnd as the showers on the herb.³“^aFor I proclaim the name of Yahweh;^bAscribe greatness to our God!⁴“^aThe Rock! His work is ¹perfect,^bFor all His ways are ²just;^cA God of faithfulness and without injustice,Righteous and upright is He.⁵“¹^,^aThey have acted corruptly toward Him,They are not His children because of their defect;^bBut are a perverse and crooked generation.⁶“Do you thus ^arepay Yahweh,^bO people who are wickedly foolish and without wisdom?^cIs not He your Father who has bought you?^dHe has made you and established you.⁷“Remember the ancient days,Consider the years from generation to generation.^aAsk your father, and he will declare to you,Your elders, and they will speak to you.⁸“^aWhen the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,When He separated the sons of ¹man,He set the boundaries of the peoples^bAccording to the number of the ²sons of Israel.⁹“^aFor Yahweh’s portion is His people;Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.¹⁰“^aHe found him in a desert land,And in the howling waste of a wilderness;He encircled him; He cared for him;He guarded him as ^bthe pupil of His eye.¹¹“^aLike an eagle that stirs up its nest,That hovers over its young,^bHe spread His wings and caught them;He carried them on His pinions.¹²“^aYahweh alone guided him,^bAnd there was no foreign god with him.¹³“^aHe made him ride on the high places of the earth,And he ate the produce of the field;^bAnd He made him suck honey from the rock,And ^coil from the flinty rock,¹⁴Curds of cows, and milk of the flock,With fat of lambs,And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,^aWith the finest of the wheat—And of the ^bblood of grapes you drank wine.¹⁵“^aBut ¹Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—You grew fat, thick, and sleek—^bThen he abandoned God ^cwho made him,And treated ^dthe Rock of his salvation with wicked foolishness.¹⁶“^aThey made Him jealous with strange gods;^bWith abominations they provoked Him to anger.¹⁷“^aThey sacrificed to demons who were not God,^bTo gods whom they have not known,^cNew gods who came lately,Whom your fathers did not dread.¹⁸“You neglected ^athe Rock who begot you,^bAnd forgot the God who brought you forth.¹⁹“^aAnd Yahweh saw this and spurned them^bBecause of the provocation of His sons and daughters.²⁰“Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them;^aI will see what their end shall be;^bFor they are a perverse generation,^cSons in whom is no faithfulness.²¹‘^aThey have made Me jealous with what is not God;They have provoked Me to anger with their ¹^,^bidols.^cSo I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;I will provoke them to anger with a wickedly foolish nation,²²^aFor a fire is kindled in My anger,And it burns to the lowest part of Sheol,^bAnd it consumes the earth with its produce,And it sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.²³‘^aI will heap calamities on them;^bI will exhaust My arrows on them.²⁴‘^aThey will be wasted by famine, and consumed by ¹plague^bAnd bitter destruction;^cAnd the teeth of beasts I will send upon them,^dWith the venom of crawling things of the dust.²⁵‘^aOutside the sword will bereave,And inside terror—^bBoth choice man and virgin,The nursing baby with the man of gray hair.²⁶‘I would have said, “^aI will cut them to pieces;^bI will cause the memory of them to cease from men,”²⁷Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,Lest their adversaries misjudge,Lest they say, “^aOur hand is ¹triumphant,And Yahweh has not done all this.”’²⁸“^aFor they are a nation where counsel perishes,And there is no discernment in them.²⁹“^aWould that they were wise, that they had insight into this,^bThat they would understand their ¹future!³⁰“^aHow could one pursue one thousand,And two put ten thousand to flight,Unless their ^bRock had sold them,And Yahweh had handed them over?³¹“Indeed their rock is not like our Rock,^aEven our enemies ¹themselves judge this.³²“For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,And from the fields of Gomorrah;Their grapes are grapes of ^apoison,Their clusters, bitter.³³“Their wine is the venom of ¹serpents,And the ²deadly poison of cobras.³⁴‘^aIs it not laid up in store with Me,Sealed up in My treasuries?³⁵‘^aVengeance is Mine, and retribution,^bIn due time their foot will stumble;^cFor the day of their disaster is near,And the impending things are hastening upon them.’³⁶“^aFor Yahweh will render justice to His people,^bAnd will have compassion on His slaves,When He sees that their ¹strength is gone,And there is none remaining, bond or free.³⁷“And He will say, ‘^aWhere are their gods,The rock in which they sought refuge?³⁸‘^aWho ate the fat of their sacrifices,And drank the wine of their drink offering?^bLet them rise up and help you,Let them be your hiding place!³⁹‘^aSee now that I, I am He,^bAnd there is no god besides Me;^cIt is I who put to death and give life.^dI have wounded, and it is I who heal,^eAnd there is no one who can deliver from My hand.⁴⁰‘Indeed, ^aI lift up My hand to heaven,And say, as I live forever,⁴¹^aIf I sharpen My ¹flashing sword,And My hand takes hold on judgment,^bI will render vengeance on My adversaries,And I will repay those who hate Me.⁴²‘^aI will make My arrows drunk with blood,^bAnd My sword will devour flesh,With the blood of the slain and the captives,From the long-haired ¹leaders of the enemy.’⁴³“^aO nations, cause His people to shout for joy;^bFor He will avenge the blood of His slaves,^cAnd He will render vengeance on His adversaries,^dAnd He will atone for His land and His people.”

⁴⁴Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and ¹^,^aJoshua the son of Nun. ⁴⁵Then Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, ⁴⁶and he said to them, “^aPlace in your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you shall command ^byour sons to be careful to do, even all the words of this law. ⁴⁷“For it is not an idle word for you; indeed ^ait is your life. And ^bby this word you will prolong your days in the land, ¹which you are about to cross the Jordan to ²possess.”

Moses to Go Up Mount Nebo

⁴⁸^aAnd Yahweh spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, ⁴⁹“^aGo up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab ¹opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. ⁵⁰“Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be ^agathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, ⁵¹^abecause you both acted unfaithfully with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the ^bwilderness of Zin, because you both did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. ⁵²“^aFor you shall see the land at a distance, but ^byou shall not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”

God Loves a Cheerful Giver

9For ^ait is superfluous for me to write to you about this ^bministry to the ¹saints; ²for I know your readiness, of which I ^aboast about you to the ^bMacedonians, that ^cAchaia has been prepared since ^dlast year, and your zeal stirred up most of them. ³But I have sent the brothers, in order that our ^aboasting about you may not be made empty in this case, so that, ^bas I was saying, you may be prepared; ⁴lest if any ^aMacedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to speak of you—be put to shame in this certainty of ours. ⁵So I regarded it necessary to encourage the ^abrothers that they would go on ahead to you and arrange beforehand your previously promised ^bblessing, so that the same would be ready as a ^cblessing and not as a ¹^,^dbegrudging obligation.

⁶Now this I say, ^ahe who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows with blessing will also reap with blessing. ⁷Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not ^agrudgingly or under compulsion, for ^bGod loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And ^aGod is able to make every grace abound to you, so that in everything at every time having every sufficiency, you may have an abundance for every good deed; ⁹as it is written, “^aHe scattered abroad, he gave to the needy,His righteousness ¹stands forever.”

¹⁰Now He who supplies ^aseed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and ^bincrease the harvest of your righteousness; ¹¹you will be ^aenriched in everything for all generosity, which through us is bringing about ^bthanksgiving to God. ¹²For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying ^athe needs of the ¹saints, but is also abounding ^bthrough many thanksgivings to God. ¹³Because of the proven character given by this ^aministry, they will ^bglorify God for your obedience to your ^cconfession of the ^dgospel of Christ and for the ¹generosity of your ²fellowship toward them and toward all, ¹⁴while they also, by prayer on your behalf, long for you because of the surpassing grace of God on you. ¹⁵¹^,^aThanks be to God for His indescribable ^bgift!

Paul Defends His Authority

10Now ^aI, Paul, myself ^bplead with you by the ^cgentleness and forbearance of Christ—I who ^dam humble when face-to-face with you, but courageous toward you when absent! ²But I beg that ^awhen I am present I need not act so courageously with the confidence that I consider to daringly use against ^bsome, who consider us as if we walked ^caccording to the flesh. ³For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war ^aaccording to the flesh, ⁴for the ^aweapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but ¹divinely powerful ^bfor the tearing down of strongholds, ⁵as we tear down speculations and every ^alofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the ^bobedience of Christ, ⁶and are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever ^ayour obedience is fulfilled.

⁷¹^,^aYou are looking at ²things as they are outwardly. ^bIf anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ’s, ^cso also are we. ⁸For even if ^aI boast somewhat ¹further about our ^bauthority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for tearing you down, I will not be put to shame, ⁹¹for I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters. ¹⁰For they say, “His letters are weighty and strong, but his ¹personal presence is ^aweak and ^bhis ²words contemptible.” ¹¹Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when present.

¹²For we do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with ¹some of those who ^acommend themselves, but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding. ¹³But we will not boast ^abeyond our measure, but ¹^,^bwithin the measure of the area of influence which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you. ¹⁴For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach you, (for ^awe were the first to come even as far as you in the ^bgospel of Christ), ¹⁵not boasting ^abeyond our measure in ^bother men’s labors, but having the hope—that as ^cyour faith grows—to be ^denlarged even more by you ¹within our area of influence, ¹⁶so as to ^aproclaim the gospel even to ^bthe regions beyond you, and not to boast ¹^,^cin what has been accomplished in the area of influence of another. ¹⁷But ^ahe who boasts is to boast in the Lord. ¹⁸For it is not the one who ^acommends himself that is approved, but the one ^bwhom the Lord commends.

Yahweh Has Cut the Cords of the Wicked

129

A Song of Ascents.

“¹Many times they have ²^,^aassailed me from my ^byouth up,”^cLet Israel now say,²“¹Many times they have ²assailed me from my youth up;Yet they have ^anot prevailed against me.³“The plowers plowed upon my back;They lengthened their furrows.”⁴Yahweh ^ais righteous;He has cut up the ^bcords of the wicked.⁵Let all who ^ahate ZionBe ^bput to shame and turned backward;⁶Let them be like ^agrass upon the rooftops,Which dries up before it ¹grows up;⁷With which the reaper does not fill his ¹hand,Nor the binder of sheaves the ^afold of his garment;⁸And those who pass by will not say,“The ^ablessing of Yahweh be upon you;We bless you in the name of Yahweh.”

Yahweh Will Redeem Israel

130

A Song of Ascents.

Out of the ^adepths I called to You, O Yahweh.²O Lord, ^ahear my voice!Let ^bYour ears be attentiveTo the ^cvoice of my supplications.³If You should keep iniquities, O Yah,O Lord, who could ^astand?⁴But with You there is ^aforgiveness,That You may be ^bfeared.⁵I hope for Yahweh, my ^asoul does hope,And ^bfor His word do I wait.⁶My soul waits for the LordMore than the watchmen ^afor the morning,The watchmen for the morning.⁷O Israel, ^await for Yahweh;For with Yahweh there is ^blovingkindness,And with Him is ^cabundant redemption.⁸And it is He who will ^aredeem IsraelFrom all his iniquities.

I Have Quieted My Soul

131

A Song of Ascents. Of David.

O Yahweh, my heart is not ^aexalted, and my eyes are not ^braised high;And I do not ¹involve myself in ^cgreat matters,Or in matters ^dtoo marvelous for me.²Surely I have ^asoothed and quieted my soul,Like a weaned ^bchild with his mother,Like a weaned child is my soul ¹within me.³O Israel, ^await for Yahweh^bFrom now until forever.