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

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Deuteronomy 32

1 Listen, heaven, and I will speak. Earth, hear the words from my mouth.

2 Let my teachings come down like raindrops. Let my words drip like dew, like gentle rain on grass, like showers on green plants.

3 I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Give our God the greatness he deserves!

4 He is a rock. What he does is perfect. All his ways are fair. He is a faithful God, who does no wrong. He is honorable and reliable.

5 He recognizes that his people are corrupt. To their shame they are no longer his children. They are devious and scheming.

6 Is this how you repay the LORD, you foolish and silly people? Isn't he your Father and Owner, who made you and formed you?

7 Remember a time long ago. Think about all the past generations. Ask your fathers to remind you, and your leaders to tell you.

8 When the Most High gave nations their land, when he divided the descendants of Adam, he set up borders for the tribes corresponding to the number of the sons of Israel.

9 But the LORD's people were his property. Jacob was his own possession.

10 He found his people in a desert land, in a barren place where animals howl. He guarded them, took care of them, and protected them because they were helpless.

11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreads its wings to catch them, and carries them on its feathers,

12 so the LORD alone led his people. No foreign god was with him.

13 He made them ride on the heights of the earth and fed them with the produce of the fields. He gave them honey from rocks and olive oil from solid rock.

14 They ate cheese from cows and drank milk from sheep and goats. He gave them fat from lambs, rams from the stock of Bashan, male goats, and the best wheat. They drank the blood-red wine of grapes.

15 Jeshurun got fat and disrespectful. (You got fat! You were stuffed! You were gorged!) They abandoned the God who made them and treated the rock of their salvation like a fool.

16 They made him furious because they worshiped foreign gods and angered him because they worshiped worthless idols.

17 They sacrificed to demons that are not God, to gods they never heard of. These were new gods, who came from nearby, gods your ancestors never worshiped.

18 (You ignored the rock who fathered you and forgot the God who gave you life.)

19 The LORD saw this and rejected them, because his own sons and daughters had made him angry.

20 He said, "I will turn away from them and find out what will happen to them. They are devious people, children who can't be trusted.

21 They made him furious because they worshiped foreign gods and angered him because they worshiped worthless idols. So I will use those who are not my people to make them jealous and a nation of godless fools to make them angry.

22 My anger has started a fire that will burn to the depths of hell. It will consume the earth and its crops and set the foundations of the mountains on fire.

23 I will bring one disaster after another on them. I will use up all my arrows on them.

24 They will be starved by famines and ravaged by pestilence and deadly epidemics. I will send vicious animals against them along with poisonous animals that crawl on the ground.

25 Foreign wars will kill off their children, and even at home there will be horrors. Young men and young women alike will die as well as nursing babies and gray-haired men.

26 I said that I would cut them in pieces and erase everyone's memory of them.

27 But I didn't want their enemies to make me angry. I didn't want their opponents to misunderstand and say, 'We won this victory! It wasn't the LORD who did all this!'"

28 My people have lost their good sense. They are not able to understand.

29 If only they were wise enough to understand this and realize what will happen to them!

30 How could one person chase a thousand or two people make ten thousand flee? Their rock used these people to defeat them and the LORD gave them no help.

31 Their rock isn't like our rock. Even our enemies will agree with this.

32 Their grapevines come from the vineyards of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous, and their clusters are bitter.

33 Their wine is snake venom, the deadly poison of cobras.

34 Isn't this what I've stored under lock and key in my storehouses?

35 I will take revenge and be satisfied. In due time their foot will slip, because their day of disaster is near. Their doom is coming quickly.

36 The LORD will judge his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees that their strength is gone and that no one is left, neither slaves nor free people.

37 Then he will ask, "Where are their gods? Where is the rock they took refuge in?

38 Where are the gods who ate the fat from their sacrifices and drank the wine from their wine offerings? Let them come to help you! Let them be your refuge!"

39 See, I am the only God. There are no others. I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal, and no one can rescue you from my power.

40 I raise my hand toward heaven and solemnly swear: As surely as I live forever,

41 I will sharpen my flashing sword and take justice into my own hands. Then I will take revenge on my enemies and pay back those who hate me.

42 My arrows will drip with blood from those who were killed and taken captive. My sword will cut off the heads of the enemy who vowed to fight.

43 Joyfully sing with the LORD's people, you nations, because he will take revenge for the death of his servants. He will get even with his enemies and make peace for his people's land.

44 Moses came with Hoshea, son of Nun, and recited all the words of this song as the people listened.

45 When Moses had finished reciting all these words to Israel,

46 he said to them, "Pay attention to all these warnings I've given you today. Then you will command your children to faithfully obey every word of these teachings.

47 Don't think these words are idle talk. They are your life! By these words you will be able to live for a long time in the land that you are going to take possession of when you cross the Jordan River."

48 That same day the LORD said to Moses,

49 "Go into the Abarim Mountains, to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho. Take a look at the land of Canaan that I'm giving the Israelites as their own property.

50 On this mountain where you're going, you will die and join your ancestors in death, as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor.

51 This is because both of you were unfaithful to me at the oasis of Meribah at Kadesh in the Desert of Zin. You didn't show the Israelites how holy I am.

52 You may see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I'm giving the Israelites."

Deuteronomy 33

1 Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites with this blessing before he died.

2 He said, "The LORD came from Sinai. For his people he rose from Seir [like the sun]. He appeared like sunshine from Mount Paran. He came with tens of thousands of holy ones. On his right was a raging fire for them.

3 You certainly love your people. All your holy ones are in your hands. They bow at your feet to receive your instructions.

4 Moses gave us these teachings. They belong to the assembly of Jacob.

5 The LORD was king of Jeshurun when the leaders of the people assembled together with all the tribes of Israel.

6 "May the tribe of Reuben live and not die out, though their people are few in number."

7 This is what he said about the tribe of Judah: "Hear the cry of Judah, O LORD, and bring them to their people. They must defend themselves. Help them against their enemies."

8 About the tribe of Levi he said, "Your Thummim and Urim belong to your faithful people. You tested your people at Massah. You quarreled with them at the oasis of Meribah.

9 They said that they didn't know their father and mother. They didn't recognize their own brothers. They didn't acknowledge their own children. But they obeyed your word and were faithful to the terms of your promise.

10 They teach Jacob your rules and give Israel your teachings. They burn incense for you to smell and sacrifice burnt offerings on your altar.

11 LORD, bless them with strength and be pleased with the work they do. Break the backs of those who attack them and hate them so that they can never get up again."

12 About the tribe of Benjamin he said, "The LORD's beloved people will live securely with him. The LORD will shelter them all day long, since he, too, lives on the mountain slopes."

13 About the tribes of Joseph he said, "May the LORD bless their land with [water,] the best gift heaven can send, with dew and deep springs below the ground.

14 May the LORD bless their land with crops, the best gift the sun can give, the best produce of each month,

15 the finest fruits from the oldest mountains, the best from the ancient hills,

16 and the most plentiful crops of the earth. May the LORD bless their land with the favor of the one who was in the burning bush. May these blessings come to the tribes of Joseph. May they crown the people who are like princes in Israel.

17 They will be as majestic as a firstborn bull. Their horns will be like the horns of a wild ox. They will use them to push away nations including those at the ends of the earth. The tens of thousands from the tribe of Ephraim and the thousands from the tribe of Manasseh will be like this."

18 About the tribe of Zebulun he said, "People of Zebulun, enjoy yourselves when you go to war, and you people of Issachar, enjoy yourselves when you stay at home.

19 They will invite nations to their mountain, and there they will offer the proper sacrifices. They will be nourished by the abundance from the seas and the treasures hidden in the sand."

20 About the tribe of Gad he said, "Blessed is the one who gives the people of Gad more land. They wait there like a lion. They can tear off an arm or a head.

21 They chose the best land for themselves. Indeed, a commander's piece of land was reserved for them. They were leaders of the people and did for Israel what the LORD considers fair and honorable."

22 About the tribe of Dan he said, "The people of Dan are a lion cub. Out of Bashan they pounce [on their enemies]."

23 About the tribe of Naphtali he said, "The people of Naphtali enjoy the LORD's favor and are filled with the LORD's blessings. They will take possession of the lake and the land south of it."

24 About the tribe of Asher he said, "The people of Asher are the most blessed of the sons of Israel. May they be the Israelites' favorite tribe and wash their feet in olive oil.

25 May the locks and bolts of your gates be made of iron and copper. May your strength last as long as you live.

26 "There's no one like your God, Jeshurun! He rides through the heavens to help you. In majesty he rides through the clouds.

27 The eternal God is your shelter, and his everlasting arms support you. He will force your enemies out of your way and tell you to destroy them.

28 So Israel will live securely. Jacob's spring will be [left] alone in a land of grain and new wine. Dew will drip from Israel's skies.

29 You are blessed, Israel! Who is like you, a nation saved by the LORD? He is a shield that helps you and a sword that wins your victories. Your enemies will come crawling to you, and you will stomp on their backs."

Deuteronomy 34

1 Then Moses went up on Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab. He went to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. The LORD showed him the whole land. He could see Gilead as far as Dan,

2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the territory of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea,

3 the Negev, and the Jordan Plain--the valley of Jericho (the City of Palms)--as far as Zoar.

4 Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land I promised with an oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I said I would give it to their descendants. I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you may not go there."

5 As the LORD had predicted, the LORD's servant Moses died in Moab.

6 He was buried in a valley in Moab, near Beth Peor. Even today no one knows where his grave is.

7 Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyesight never became poor, and he never lost his physical strength.

8 The Israelites mourned for Moses in the plains of Moab for 30 days. Then the time of mourning for him was over.

9 Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the Spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands on him. The Israelites obeyed him and did what the LORD had commanded through Moses.

10 There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD dealt with face to face.

11 He was the one the LORD sent to do all the miraculous signs and amazing things in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his whole country.

12 Moses used his mighty hand to do all the spectacular and awe-inspiring deeds that were seen by all the Israelites.

Mark 15:26-47

26 There was a written notice of the accusation against him. It read, "The king of the Jews."

27 They crucified two criminals with him, one on his right and the other on his left.

29 Those who passed by insulted him. They shook their heads and said, "What a joke! You were going to tear down God's temple and build it again in three days.

30 Come down from the cross, and save yourself!"

31 The chief priests and the scribes made fun of him among themselves in the same way. They said, "He saved others, but he can't save himself.

32 Let the Messiah, the king of Israel, come down from the cross now so that we may see and believe." Even those who were crucified with him were insulting him.

33 At noon darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.

34 At three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?"

35 When some of the people standing there heard him say that, they said, "Listen! He's calling Elijah."

36 Someone ran and soaked a sponge in vinegar. Then he put it on a stick and offered Jesus a drink. The man said, "Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down."

37 Then Jesus cried out in a loud voice and died.

38 The curtain in the temple was split in two from top to bottom.

39 When the officer who stood facing Jesus saw how he gave up his spirit, he said, "Certainly, this man was the Son of God!"

40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary from Magdala, Mary (the mother of young James and Joseph), and Salome.

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

42 It was Friday evening, before the day of worship,

43 when Joseph arrived. He was from the city of Arimathea and was an important member of the Jewish council. He, too, was waiting for the kingdom of God. Joseph boldly went to Pilate's quarters to ask for the body of Jesus.

44 Pilate wondered if Jesus had already died. So he summoned the officer to ask him if Jesus was, in fact, dead.

45 When the officer had assured him that Jesus was dead, Pilate let Joseph have the corpse.

46 Joseph had purchased some linen cloth. He took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in the cloth. Then he laid the body in a tomb, which had been cut out of rock, and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.

47 Mary from Magdala and Mary (the mother of Joses) watched where Jesus was laid.