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

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Deuteronomy 32

1 Hear, heavens, and I will speak. Listen, earth, to what I say.

2 My teaching will drop like rain; my words will fall like dew. They will be like showers on the grass; they will pour down like rain on young plants.

3 I will announce the name of the Lord.

4 He is like a rock; what he does is perfect, and he is always fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong, who is right and fair.

5 They have done evil against him. To their shame they are no longer his children; they are an evil and lying people.

6 This is not the way to repay the Lord, you foolish and unwise people. He is your Father and Maker, who made you and formed you.

7 Remember the old days. Think of the years already passed. Ask your father and he will tell you; ask your older leaders and they will inform you.

8 God Most High gave the nations their lands, dividing up the human race. He set up borders for the people and even numbered the Israelites.

9 The Lord took his people as his share, the people of Jacob as his very own.

10 He found them in a desert, a windy, empty land. He surrounded them and brought them up, guarding them as those he loved very much.

11 He was like an eagle building its nest that flutters over its young. It spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its feathers.

12 The Lord alone led them, and there was no foreign god helping him.

13 The Lord brought them to the heights of the land and fed them the fruit of the fields. He gave them honey from the rocks, bringing oil from the solid rock.

14 There were milk curds from the cows and milk from the flock; there were fat sheep and goats. and the best of the wheat. You drank the juice of grapes.

15 Israel grew fat and kicked; they were fat and full and firm. and rejected the Rock who saved them.

16 They made God jealous with foreign gods and angry with hateful idols.

17 They made sacrifices to demons, not God, to gods they had never known, new gods from nearby, gods your ancestors did not fear.

18 You left God who is the Rock, your Father, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.

19 The Lord saw this and rejected them; his sons and daughters had made him angry.

20 He said, "I will turn away from them and see what will happen to them. They are evil people, unfaithful children.

21 They used things that are not gods to make me jealous and worthless idols to make me angry. So I will use those who are not a nation to make them jealous; I will use a nation that does not understand to make them angry.

22 My anger has started a fire that burns down to the place of the dead. It will burn up the ground and its crops, and it will set fire to the base of the mountains.

23 "I will pile troubles upon them and shoot my arrows at them.

24 They will be starved and sick, destroyed by terrible diseases. I will send them vicious animals and gliding, poisonous snakes.

25 In the streets the sword will kill; in their homes there will be terror. Young men and women will die, and so will babies and gray-haired men.

26 I will scatter them as I said, and no one will remember them.

27 But I didn't want their enemy to brag; their enemy might misunderstand and say, 'We have won! The Lord has done none of this.'"

28 Israel has no sense; they do not understand.

29 I wish they were wise and understood this; I wish they could see what will happen to them.

30 One person cannot chase a thousand people, and two people cannot fight ten thousand unless their Rock has sold them, unless the Lord has given them up.

31 The rock of these people is not like our Rock; our enemies agree to that.

32 Their vine comes from Sodom, and their fields are like Gomorrah. Their grapes are full of poison; their bunches of grapes are bitter.

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

34 "I have been saving this, and I have it locked in my storehouses.

35 I will punish those who do wrong; I will repay them. Soon their foot will slip, because their day of trouble is near, and their punishment will come quickly."

36 The Lord will defend his people and have mercy on his servants. He will see that their strength is gone, that nobody is left, slaves or free.

37 Then he will say, "Where are their gods? Where is the rock they trusted?

38 Who ate the fat from their sacrifices, and who drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let those gods come to help you! Let them protect you!

39 "Now you will see that I am the one God! There is no god but me. I send life and death; I can hurt, and I can heal. No one can escape from me.

40 I raise my hand toward heaven and make this promise: As surely as I live forever,

41 I will sharpen my flashing sword, and I will take it in my hand to judge. I will punish my enemies and pay back those who hate me.

42 My arrows will be covered with their blood; my sword will eat their flesh. The blood will flow from those who are killed and the captives. The heads of the enemy leaders will be cut off."

43 Be happy, nations, with his people, because he will repay you for the blood of his servants. He will punish his enemies, and he will remove the sin of his land and people.

44 Moses came with Joshua son of Nun, and they spoke all the words of this song for the people to hear.

45 When Moses finished speaking these words to all Israel,

46 he said to them: "Pay careful attention to all the words I have said to you today, and command your children to obey carefully everything in these teachings.

47 These should not be unimportant words for you, but rather they mean life for you! By these words you will live a long time in the land you are crossing the Jordan River to take as your own."

48 The Lord spoke to Moses again that same day and said,

49 "Go up the Abarim Mountains, to Mount Nebo in the country of Moab, across from Jericho. Look at the land of Canaan that I am giving to the Israelites as their own.

50 On that mountain that you climb, you will die and join your ancestors, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and joined his ancestors.

51 You both sinned against me at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin, and you did not honor me as holy there among the Israelites.

52 So now you will only look at the land from far away. You will not enter the land I am giving the people of Israel."

Deuteronomy 33

1 Moses, the man of God, gave this blessing to the Israelites before he died.

2 He said: "The Lord came from Mount Sinai and rose like the sun from Edom; he showed his greatness from Mount Paran. He came with thousands of angels from the southern mountains.

3 The Lord surely loves his people and takes care of all those who belong to him. They bow down at his feet, and they are taught by him.

4 Moses gave us the teachings that belong to the people of Jacob.

5 The Lord became king of Israel when the leaders of the people gathered, when the tribes of Israel came together.

6 "Let the people of Reuben live and not die, but let the people be few."

7 Moses said this about the people of Judah: "Lord, listen to Judah's prayer; bring them back to their people. They defend themselves with their hands. Help them fight their enemies!"

8 Moses said this about the people of Levi: "Lord, your Thummim and Urim belong to Levi, whom you love. Lord, you tested him at Massah and argued with him at the waters of Meribah.

9 He said about his father and mother, 'I don't care about them.' He did not treat his brothers as favorites or give special favors to his children, but he protected your word and guarded your agreement.

10 He teaches your laws to the people of Jacob and your teachings to the people of Israel. He burns incense before you and makes whole burnt offerings on your altar.

11 Lord, make them strong; be pleased with the work they do. Defeat those who attack them, and don't let their enemies rise up again."

12 Moses said this about the people of Benjamin: "The Lord's loved ones will lie down in safety, because he protects them all day long. The ones he loves rest with him."

13 Moses said this about the people of Joseph: "May the Lord bless their land with wonderful dew from heaven, with water from the springs below,

14 with the best fruits that the sun brings, and with the best fruits that the moon brings.

15 Let the old mountains give the finest crops, and let the everlasting hills give the best fruits.

16 Let the full earth give the best fruits, and let the Lord who lived in the burning bush be pleased. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, on the forehead of the one who was blessed among his brothers.

17 Joseph has the majesty of a firstborn bull; he is as strong as a wild ox. He will stab other nations, even those nations far away. These are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and these are the thousands of Manasseh."

18 Moses said this about the people of Zebulun: "Be happy when you go out, Zebulun, and be happy in your tents, Issachar.

19 They will call the people to the mountain, and there they will offer the right sacrifices. They will do well from all that is in the sea, and they will do well from the treasures hidden in the sand on the shore."

20 Moses said this about the people of Gad: "Praise God who gives Gad more land! Gad lives there like a lion, who tears off arms and heads.

21 They chose the best land for themselves. They received a large share, like that given to an officer. When the leaders of the people gathered, the people of Gad did what the Lord said was right, and they judged Israel fairly."

22 Moses said this about the people of Dan: "Dan is like a lion's cub, who jumps out of Bashan."

23 Moses said this about the people of Naphtali: "Naphtali enjoys special kindnesses, and they are full of the Lord's blessings. Take as your own the west and south."

24 Moses said this about the people of Asher: "Asher is the most blessed of the sons; let him be his brothers' favorite. Let him bathe his feet in olive oil.

25 Your gates will have locks of iron and bronze, and you will be strong as long as you live.

26 "There is no one like the God of Israel, who rides through the skies to help you, who rides on the clouds in his majesty.

27 The everlasting God is your place of safety, and his arms will hold you up forever. He will force your enemy out ahead of you, saying, 'Destroy the enemy!'

28 The people of Israel will lie down in safety. Jacob's spring is theirs alone. Theirs is a land full of grain and new wine, where the skies drop their dew.

29 Israel, you are blessed! No one else is like you, because you are a people saved by the Lord. He is your shield and helper, your glorious sword. Your enemies will be afraid of you, and you will walk all over their holy places."

Deuteronomy 34

1 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Mount Pisgah, across from Jericho. From there the Lord showed him all the land from Gilead to Dan,

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

3 as well as the southern desert and the whole Valley of Jericho up to Zoar. (Jericho is called the city of palm trees.)

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, "This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said to them, 'I will give this land to your descendants.' I have let you look at it, Moses, but you will not cross over there."

5 Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in Moab, as the Lord had said.

6 He buried Moses in Moab in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but even today no one knows where his grave is.

7 Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not weak, and he was still strong.

8 The Israelites cried for Moses for thirty days, staying in the plains of Moab until the time of sadness was over.

9 Joshua son of Nun was then filled with wisdom, because Moses had put his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to Joshua, and they did what the Lord had commanded Moses.

10 There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses. The Lord knew Moses face to face

11 and sent him to do signs and miracles in Egypt -- to the king, to all his officers, and to the whole land of Egypt.

12 Moses had great power, and he did great and wonderful things for all the Israelites to see.

Mark 15:26-47

26 There was a sign with this charge against Jesus written on it: the king of the jews.

27 They also put two robbers on crosses beside Jesus, one on the right, and the other on the left.

29 People walked by and insulted Jesus and shook their heads, saying, "You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days.

30 So save yourself! Come down from that cross!"

31 The leading priests and the teachers of the law were also making fun of Jesus. They said to each other, "He saved other people, but he can't save himself.

32 If he is really the Christ, the king of Israel, let him come down now from the cross. When we see this, we will believe in him." The robbers who were being crucified beside Jesus also insulted him.

33 At noon the whole country became dark, and the darkness lasted for three hours.

34 At three o'clock Jesus cried in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani." This means, "My God, my God, why have you rejected me?"

35 When some of the people standing there heard this, they said, "Listen! He is calling Elijah."

36 Someone there ran and got a sponge, filled it with vinegar, tied it to a stick, and gave it to Jesus to drink. He said, "We want to see if Elijah will come to take him down from the cross."

37 Then Jesus cried in a loud voice and died.

38 The curtain in the Templen was torn into two pieces, from the top to the bottom.

39 When the army officer who was standing in front of the cross saw what happened when Jesus died, he said, "This man really was the Son of God!"

40 Some women were standing at a distance from the cross, watching; among them were Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph. (James was her youngest son.)

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

42 This was Preparation Day. (That means the day before the Sabbath day.) That evening,

43 Joseph from Arimathea was brave enough to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus' body. Joseph, an important member of the Jewish council, was one of the people who was waiting for the kingdom of God to come.

44 Pilate was amazed that Jesus would have already died, so he called the army officer who had guarded Jesus and asked him if Jesus had already died.

45 The officer told Pilate that he was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body.

46 Joseph bought some linen cloth, took the body down from the cross, and wrapped it in the linen. He put the body in a tomb that was cut out of a wall of rock. Then he rolled a very large stone to block the entrance of the tomb.

47 And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw the place where Jesus was laid.