Deuteronomy 32; Deuteronomy 33; Deuteronomy 34; Mark 15:26-47

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Deuteronomy 32

1 "Earth and sky, hear my words, listen closely to what I say.

2 My teaching will fall like drops of rain and form on the earth like dew. My words will fall like showers on young plants, like gentle rain on tender grass.

3 I will praise the name of the Lord, and his people will tell of his greatness.

4 "The Lord is your mighty defender, perfect and just in all his ways; Your God is faithful and true; he does what is right and fair.

5 But you are unfaithful, unworthy to be his people, a sinful and deceitful nation.

6 Is this the way you should treat the Lord, you foolish, senseless people? He is your father, your Creator, he made you into a nation.

7 "Think of the past, of the time long ago; ask your parents to tell you what happened, ask the old people to tell of the past.

8 The Most High assigned nations their lands; he determined where peoples should live. He assigned to each nation a heavenly being,

9 but Jacob's descendants he chose for himself.

10 "He found them wandering through the desert, a desolate, wind-swept wilderness. He protected them and cared for them, as he would protect himself.

11 Like an eagle teaching its young to fly, catching them safely on its spreading wings, the Lord kept Israel from falling.

12 The Lord alone led his people without the help of a foreign god.

13 "He let them rule the highlands, and they ate what grew in the fields. They found wild honey among the rocks; their olive trees flourished in stony ground.

14 Their cows and goats gave plenty of milk; they had the best sheep, goats, and cattle, the finest wheat, and the choicest wine.

15 "The Lord's people grew rich, but rebellious; they were fat and stuffed with food. They abandoned God their Creator and rejected their mighty savior.

16 Their idolatry made the Lord jealous; the evil they did made him angry.

17 They sacrificed to gods that are not real, new gods their ancestors had never known, gods that Israel had never obeyed.

18 They forgot their God, their mighty savior, the one who had given them life.

19 "When the Lord saw this, he was angry and rejected his sons and daughters.

20 "I will no longer help them,' he said; "then I will see what happens to them, those stubborn, unfaithful people.

21 With their idols they have made me angry, jealous with their so-called gods, gods that are really not gods. So I will use a so-called nation to make them angry; I will make them jealous with a nation of fools.

22 My anger will flame up like fire and burn everything on earth. It will reach to the world below and consume the roots of the mountains.

23 " "I will bring on them endless disasters and use all my arrows against them.

24 They will die from hunger and fever; they will die from terrible diseases. I will send wild animals to attack them, and poisonous snakes to bite them.

25 War will bring death in the streets; terrors will strike in the homes. Young men and young women will die; neither babies nor old people will be spared.

26 I would have destroyed them completely, so that no one would remember them.

27 But I could not let their enemies boast that they had defeated my people, when it was I myself who had crushed them.'

28 "Israel is a nation without sense; they have no wisdom at all.

29 They fail to see why they were defeated; they cannot understand what happened.

30 Why were a thousand defeated by one, and ten thousand by only two? The Lord, their God, had abandoned them; their mighty God had given them up.

31 Their enemies know that their own gods are weak, not mighty like Israel's God.

32 Their enemies, corrupt as Sodom and Gomorrah, are like vines that bear bitter and poisonous grapes,

33 like wine made from the venom of snakes.

34 "The Lord remembers what their enemies have done; he waits for the right time to punish them.

35 The Lord will take revenge and punish them; the time will come when they will fall; the day of their doom is near.

36 The Lord will rescue his people when he sees that their strength is gone. He will have mercy on those who serve him, when he sees how helpless they are.

37 Then the Lord will ask his people, "Where are those mighty gods you trusted?

38 You fed them the fat of your sacrifices and offered them wine to drink. Let them come and help you now; let them run to your rescue.

39 " "I, and I alone, am God; no other god is real. I kill and I give life, I wound and I heal, and no one can oppose what I do.

40 As surely as I am the living God, I raise my hand and I vow

41 that I will sharpen my flashing sword and see that justice is done. I will take revenge on my enemies and punish those who hate me.

42 My arrows will drip with their blood, and my sword will kill all who oppose me. I will spare no one who fights against me; even the wounded and prisoners will die.'

43 "Nations, you must praise the Lord's people - he punishes all who kill them. He takes revenge on his enemies and forgives the sins of his people."

44 Moses and Joshua son of Nun recited this song, so that the people of Israel could hear it.

45 When Moses had finished giving God's teachings to the people,

46 he said, "Be sure to obey all these commands that I have given you today. Repeat them to your children, so that they may faithfully obey all of God's teachings.

47 These teachings are not empty words; they are your very life. Obey them and you will live long in that land across the Jordan that you are about to occupy."

48 That same day the Lord said to Moses,

49 "Go to the Abarim Mountains in the land of Moab opposite the city of Jericho; climb Mount Nebo and look at the land of Canaan that I am about to give the people of Israel.

50 You will die on that mountain as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor,

51 because both of you were unfaithful to me in the presence of the people of Israel. When you were at the waters of Meribah, near the town of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, you dishonored me in the presence of the people.

52 You will look at the land from a distance, but you will not enter the land that I am giving the people of Israel."

Deuteronomy 33

1 These are the blessings that Moses, the man of God, pronounced on the people of Israel before he died.

2 The Lord came from Mount Sinai; he rose like the sun over Edom and shone on his people from Mount Paran. Ten thousand angels were with him, a flaming fire at his right hand.

3 The Lord loves his people and protects those who belong to him. So we bow at his feet and obey his commands.

4 We obey the Law that Moses gave us, our nation's most treasured possession.

5 The Lord became king of his people Israel when their tribes and leaders were gathered together.

6 Moses said about the tribe of Reuben: "May Reuben never die out, Although their people are few."

7 About the tribe of Judah he said: "Lord, listen to their cry for help; Unite them again with the other tribes. Fight for them, Lord, And help them against their enemies."

8 About the tribe of Levi he said: "You, Lord, reveal your will by the Urim and Thummim Through your faithful servants, the Levites; You put them to the test at Massah And proved them true at the waters of Meribah.

9 They showed greater loyalty to you Than to parents, brothers, or children. They obeyed your commands And were faithful to your covenant.

10 They will teach your people to obey your Law; They will offer sacrifices on your altar.

11 Lord, help their tribe to grow strong; Be pleased with what they do. Crush all their enemies; Let them never rise again."

12 About the tribe of Benjamin he said: "This is the tribe the Lord loves and protects; He guards them all the day long, And he dwells in their midst."

13 About the tribe of Joseph he said: "May the Lord bless their land with rain And with water from under the earth.

14 May their land be blessed with sun-ripened fruit, Rich with the best fruits of each season.

15 May their ancient hills be covered with choice fruit.

16 May their land be filled with all that is good, Blessed by the goodness of the Lord, Who spoke from the burning bush. May these blessings come to the tribe of Joseph, Because he was the leader among his brothers.

17 Joseph has the strength of a bull, The horns of a wild ox. His horns are Manasseh's thousands And Ephraim's ten thousands. With them he gores the nations And pushes them to the ends of the earth."

18 About the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar he said: "May Zebulun be prosperous in their trade on the sea, And may Issachar's wealth increase at home.

19 They invite foreigners to their mountain And offer the right sacrifices there. They get their wealth from the sea And from the sand along the shore."

20 About the tribe of Gad he said: "Praise God, who made their territory large. Gad waits like a lion To tear off an arm or a scalp.

21 They took the best of the land for themselves; A leader's share was assigned to them. They obeyed the Lord's commands and laws When the leaders of Israel were gathered together."

22 About the tribe of Dan he said: "Dan is a young lion; He leaps out from Bashan."

23 About the tribe of Naphtali he said: "Naphtali is richly blessed by the Lord's good favor; Their land reaches to the south from Lake Galilee."

24 About the tribe of Asher he said: "Asher is blessed more than the other tribes. May he be the favorite of his brothers, And may his land be rich with olive trees.

25 May his towns be protected with iron gates, And may he always live secure."

26 People of Israel, no god is like your God, riding in splendor across the sky, riding through the clouds to come to your aid.

27 God has always been your defense; his eternal arms are your support. He drove out your enemies as you advanced, and told you to destroy them all.

28 So Jacob's descendants live in peace, secure in a land full of grain and wine, where dew from the sky waters the ground.

29 Israel, how happy you are! There is no one like you, a nation saved by the Lord. The Lord himself is your shield and your sword, to defend you and give you victory. Your enemies will come begging for mercy, and you will trample them down.

Deuteronomy 34

1 Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Mount Pisgah east of Jericho, and there the Lord showed him the whole land: the territory of Gilead as far north as the town of Dan;

2 the entire territory of Naphtali; the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh; the territory of Judah as far west as the Mediterranean Sea;

3 the southern part of Judah; and the plain that reaches from Zoar to Jericho, the city of palm trees.

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "This is the land that I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob I would give to their descendants. I have let you see it, but I will not let you go there."

5 So Moses, the Lord's servant, died there in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said he would.

6 The Lord buried him in a valley in Moab, opposite the town of Bethpeor, but to this day no one knows the exact place of his burial.

7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; he was as strong as ever, and his eyesight was still good.

8 The people of Israel mourned for him for thirty days in the plains of Moab.

9 Joshua son of Nun was filled with wisdom, because Moses had appointed him to be his successor. The people of Israel obeyed Joshua and kept the commands that the Lord had given them through Moses.

10 There has never been a prophet in Israel like Moses; the Lord spoke with him face-to-face.

11 No other prophet has ever done miracles and wonders like those that the Lord sent Moses to perform against the king of Egypt, his officials, and the entire country.

12 No other prophet has been able to do the great and terrifying things that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Mark 15:26-47

26 The notice of the accusation against him said: "The King of the Jews."

27 They also crucified two bandits with Jesus, one on his right and the other on his left.

29 People passing by shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus: "Aha! You were going to tear down the Temple and build it back up in three days!

30 Now come down from the cross and save yourself!"

31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law made fun of Jesus, saying to one another, "He saved others, but he cannot save himself!

32 Let us see the Messiah, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him!" And the two who were crucified with Jesus insulted him also.

33 At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours.

34 At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, ["Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?"] which means, "My God, my God, why did you abandon me?"

35 Some of the people there heard him and said, "Listen, he is calling for Elijah!"

36 One of them ran up with a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, and put it on the end of a stick. Then he held it up to Jesus' lips and said, "Wait! Let us see if Elijah is coming to bring him down from the cross!"

37 With a loud cry Jesus died.

38 The curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

39 The army officer who was standing there in front of the cross saw how Jesus had died. "This man was really the Son of God!" he said.

40 Some women were there, looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joseph, and Salome.

41 They had followed Jesus while he was in Galilee and had helped him. Many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him were there also.

42 It was toward evening when Joseph of Arimathea arrived. He was a respected member of the Council, who was waiting for the coming of the Kingdom of God. It was Preparation day (that is, the day before the Sabbath), so Joseph went boldly into the presence of Pilate and asked him for the body of Jesus.

44 Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead. He called the army officer and asked him if Jesus had been dead a long time.

45 After hearing the officer's report, Pilate told Joseph he could have the body.

46 Joseph bought a linen sheet, took the body down, wrapped it in the sheet, and placed it in a tomb which had been dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb.

47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph were watching and saw where the body of Jesus was placed.