Today our passages are Deuteronomy 31:1–32:27; Luke 12:8-34; Psalm 78:32-55; and Proverbs 12:21-23. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.
Deuteronomy 31-32:27 (Contemporary English Version)
Deuteronomy 31
FINAL SPEECHES AND THE DEATH OF MOSES
1Moses again spoke to the whole nation of Israel: 2I am a hundred twenty years old, and I am no longer able to be your leader. And besides that, the LORD your God has told me that he won't let me cross the Jordan River. 3-5But he has promised that he and Joshua will lead you across the Jordan to attack the nations that live on the other side. The LORD will destroy those nations just as he destroyed Sihon and Og, those two Amorite kings. Just remember--whenever you capture a place, kill everyone who lives there.
6Be brave and strong! Don't be afraid of the nations on the other side of the Jordan. The LORD your God will always be at your side, and he will never abandon you.
7Then Moses called Joshua up in front of the crowd and said:
Joshua, be brave and strong as you lead these people into their land. The LORD made a promise long ago to Israel's ancestors that this land would someday belong to Israel. That time has now come, and you must divide up the land among the people. 8The LORD will lead you into the land. He will always be with you and help you, so don't ever be afraid of your enemies.
Read These Laws
9Moses wrote down all of these laws and teachings and gave them to the priests and the leaders of Israel. The priests were from the Levi tribe, and they carried the sacred chest that belonged to the LORD. 10-11Moses told these priests and leaders: Each year the Israelites must come together to celebrate the Festival of Shelters at the place where the LORD chooses to be worshiped. You must read these laws and teachings to the people at the festival every seventh year, the year when loans do not need to be repaid. a<="" value="[a]" >[] 12-13Everyone must come--men, women, children, and even the foreigners who live in your towns. And each new generation will listen and learn to worship the LORD their God with fear and trembling and to do exactly what is said in God's Law.
Israel Will Reject the LORD
14The LORD told Moses, " You will soon die, so bring Joshua to the sacred tent, and I will appoint him the leader of Israel." Moses and Joshua went to the sacred tent, 15and the LORD appeared in a thick cloud right over the entrance to the tent. 16The LORD said:
Moses, you will soon die. But Israel is going into a land where other gods are worshiped, and Israel will reject me and start worshiping these gods. The people will break the agreement I made with them, 17and I will be so furious that I will abandon them and ignore their prayers. I will send disasters and suffering that will nearly wipe them out. Finally, they will realize that the disasters happened because I abandoned them. 18They will pray to me, but I will ignore them because they were evil and started worshiping other gods.
19Moses and Joshua, I am going to give you the words to a new song. Write them down and teach the song to the Israelites. If they learn it, they will know what I want them to do, and so they will have no excuse for not obeying me. 20I am bringing them into the land that I promised their ancestors. It is a land rich with milk and honey, and the Israelites will have more than enough food to eat. But they will get fat and turn their backs on me and start worshiping other gods. The Israelites will reject me and break the agreement that I made with them.
21When I punish the Israelites and their descendants with suffering and disasters, I will remind them that they know the words to this song, so they have no excuse for not obeying me.
I will give them the land that I promised, but I know the way they are going to live later on.
22Moses wrote down the words to the song [b<="">] right away, and he taught it to the Israelites. 23The LORD told Joshua, " Be brave and strong! I will help you lead the people of Israel into the land that I have promised them."
24Moses wrote down all these laws and teachings in a book, 25then he went to the Levites who carried the sacred chest and said:
26This is The Book of God's Law. Keep it beside the sacred chest that holds the agreement the LORD your God made with Israel. This book is proof that you know what the LORD wants you to do. 27I know how stubborn and rebellious you and the rest of the Israelites are. You have rebelled against the LORD while I have been alive, and it will only get worse after I am gone. 28So call together the leaders and officials of the tribes of Israel. I will bring this book and read every word of it to you, and I will call the sky and the earth as witnesses that all of you know what you are supposed to do.
29I am going to die soon, and I know that in the future you will stop caring about what is right and what is wrong, and so you will disobey the LORD and stop living the way I told you to live. The LORD will be angry, and terrible things will happen to you.
The Song of Moses
30Moses called a meeting of all the people of Israel, so he could teach them the words to the song that the LORD had given him. And here are the words:
Deuteronomy 32
1Earth and Sky, listen to what I say!
2Israel, I will teach you.
My words will be like gentle rain
on tender young plants,
or like dew on the grass.
3Join with me in praising
the wonderful name
of the LORD our God.
4The LORD is a mighty rock, [c<="">] and he never does wrong.
God can always be trusted
to bring justice.
5But you lie and cheat
and are unfaithful to him.
You have disgraced yourselves
and are no longer worthy
to be his children. [d<="">] 6Israel, the LORD is your Father,
the one who created you,
but you repaid him
by being foolish.
7Think about past generations.
Ask your parents
or any of your elders.
They will tell you
8that God Most High
gave land to every nation.
He assigned a guardian angel
to each of them, [e<="">] 9but the LORD himself
takes care of Israel. [f<="">] 10Israel, the LORD discovered you
in a barren desert
filled with howling winds.
God became your fortress,
protecting you
as though
you were his own eyes.
11The LORD was like an eagle
teaching its young to fly,
always ready to swoop down
and catch them on its back.
12Israel, the LORD led you,
and without the aid
of a foreign god,
13he helped you
capture the land.
Your fields were rich
with grain.
Olive trees grew
in your stony soil,
and honey was found
among the rocks.
14Your flocks and herds
produced milk and yogurt,
and you got choice meat
from your sheep and goats
that grazed in Bashan.
Your wheat was the finest,
and you drank the best wine.
15Israel, [g<="">] you grew fat and rebelled against God, your Creator;
you rejected the Mighty Rock, [h<="">] your only place of safety.
16You made God jealous and angry
by worshiping disgusting idols
and foreign gods.
17You offered sacrifices
to demons, those useless gods [i<="">] that never helped you,
new gods that your ancestors
never worshiped.
18You turned away
from God, your Creator;
you forgot the Mighty Rock, [j<="">] the source of your life.
19You were the LORD's children,
but you made him angry.
Then he rejected you 20and said,
" You are unfaithful
and can't be trusted.
So I won't answer your prayers;
I'll just watch and see
what happens to you.
21You worshiped worthless idols,
and made me jealous
and angry!
Now I will send a cruel [k<="">] and worthless nation
to make you jealous and angry.
22" My people, I will breathe out fire
that sends you down
to the world of the dead.
It will scorch your farmlands
and burn deep down
under the mountains.
23I'll send disaster after disaster
to strike you like arrows.
24You'll be struck by starvation
and deadly diseases,
by the fangs of wild animals
and poisonous snakes.
25Young and old alike
will be killed in the streets
and terrified at home.
26" I wanted to scatter you,
so no one would remember
that you had ever lived.
27But I dreaded the sound
of your enemies saying,
We defeated Israel with no help
from the LORD. "
Footnotes:
- Deuteronomy 31:10 every seventh year. . . repaid: See 15.1,2 and the note there.
- Deuteronomy 31:22 the words to the song: See 32.1-43.
- Deuteronomy 32:4 mighty rock: The Hebrew text has " rock," which is sometimes used in poetry to compare the LORD to a mountain where his people can run for protection from their enemies.
- Deuteronomy 32:5 and are unfaithful. . . children: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- Deuteronomy 32:8 He assigned. . . them: The Dead Sea Scrolls and one ancient translation; the Standard Hebrew Text " So there were as many nations as Israel (that is, Jacob) had children."
- Deuteronomy 32:9 Israel: The Hebrew text has " Jacob," another name for Israel's ancestor.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 Israel: The Standard Hebrew Text has " Jeshurun," a rare name for Israel related to a word meaning " honest." The Samaritan Hebrew Text and one ancient translation also use " Jacob," another name for the ancestor of the nation of Israel.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 Mighty Rock: See the note at 32.4.
- Deuteronomy 32:17 disgusting idols. . . foreign gods. . . demons. . . those useless gods: Different ways of referring to gods of other nations.
- Deuteronomy 32:18 Mighty Rock: See the note at 32.4.
- Deuteronomy 32:21 cruel: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Luke 12:8-34 (Contemporary English Version)
Telling Others about Christ
(Matthew 10.32,33; 12.32; 10.19,20)
8If you tell others that you belong to me, the Son of Man will tell God's angels that you are my followers. 9But if you reject me, you will be rejected in front of them. 10If you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven, but if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you cannot be forgiven. 11When you are brought to trial in the Jewish meeting places or before rulers or officials, don't worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say. 12At that time the Holy Spirit will tell you what to say.
A Rich Fool
13A man in a crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to give me my share of what our father left us when he died." 14Jesus answered, "Who gave me the right to settle arguments between you and your brother?"
15Then he said to the crowd, "Don't be greedy! Owning a lot of things won't make your life safe."
16So Jesus told them this story:
A rich man's farm produced a big crop, 17and he said to himself, "What can I do? I don't have a place large enough to store everything."
18Later, he said, "Now I know what I'll do. I'll tear down my barns and build bigger ones, where I can store all my grain and other goods. 19Then I'll say to myself, `You have stored up enough good things to last for years to come. Live it up! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.' "
20But God said to him, "You fool! Tonight you will die. Then who will get what you have stored up?"
21"This is what happens to people who store up everything for themselves, but are poor in the sight of God."
Worry
(Matthew 6.25-34)
22Jesus said to his disciples: I tell you not to worry about your life! Don't worry about having something to eat or wear. 23Life is more than food or clothing. 24Look at the crows! They don't plant or harvest, and they don't have storehouses or barns. But God takes care of them. You are much more important than any birds. 25Can worry make you live longer? a<="" value="[a]" >[] 26If you don't have power over small things, why worry about everything else? 27Look how the wild flowers grow! They don't work hard to make their clothes. But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth [b<="">] wasn't as well clothed as one of these flowers. 28God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. Won't he do even more for you? You have such little faith! 29Don't keep worrying about having something to eat or drink. 30Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father knows what you need. 31But put God's work first, and these things will be yours as well.
Treasures in Heaven
(Matthew 6.19-21)
32My little group of disciples, don't be afraid! Your Father wants to give you the kingdom. 33Sell what you have and give the money to the poor. Make yourselves moneybags that never wear out. Make sure your treasure is safe in heaven, where thieves cannot steal it and moths cannot destroy it. 34Your heart will always be where your treasure is.
Footnotes:
- Luke 12:25 live longer: Or " grow taller."
- Luke 12:27 Solomon with all his wealth: The Jewish people thought that Solomon was the richest person who had ever lived.
Psalm 78:32-55 (Contemporary English Version)
32But the rest kept on sinning
and would not trust
God's miracles.
33So he cut their lives short
and made them terrified.
34After he killed some of them,
the others turned to him
with all their hearts.
35They remembered God Most High,
36But they tried to flatter God,
and they told him lies;
37they were unfaithful
and broke their promises.
38Yet God was kind.
He kept forgiving their sins
and didn't destroy them.
He often became angry,
but never lost his temper.
39God remembered that they
were made of flesh
and were like a wind
that blows once
and then dies down.
40While they were in the desert,
they often rebelled
and made God sad.
41They kept testing him
and caused terrible pain
for the Holy One of Israel.
42They forgot about his power
and how he had rescued them
from their enemies.
43God showed them all kinds
of wonderful miracles
near Zoan [b<="">] in Egypt. 44He turned the rivers of Egypt
into blood,
and no one could drink
from the streams.
45He sent swarms of flies
to pester the Egyptians,
and he sent frogs
to cause them trouble.
46God let worms and grasshoppers
eat their crops.
47He destroyed their grapevines
and their fig trees
with hail and floods. [c<="">] 48Then he killed their cattle
with hail
and their other animals
with lightning.
49God was so angry and furious
that he went into a rage
and caused them great trouble
by sending swarms
of destroying angels.
50God gave in to his anger
and slaughtered them
in a terrible way.
51He killed the first-born son
of each Egyptian family.
52Then God led his people
out of Egypt
and guided them in the desert
like a flock of sheep.
53He led them safely along,
and they were not afraid,
but their enemies drowned
in the sea.
54God brought his people
to the sacred mountain
that he had taken
by his own power.
55He made nations run
from the tribes of Israel,
and he let the tribes
take over their land.
Footnotes:
- Psalm 78:35 mighty rock: See the note at 18.2.
- Psalm 78:43 Zoan: See the note at 78.12.
- Psalm 78:47 floods: Or " frost."
Proverbs 12:21-23 (Contemporary English Version)
21Good people never have trouble,
but troublemakers
have more than enough.
22The LORD hates every liar,
but he is the friend of all
who can be trusted.
23Be sensible and don't tell
everything you know--
only fools spread
foolishness everywhere.
“I have died, but Christ lives in me. And I now live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave his life for me.” -Galatians 2:20
Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.
Thought for the Day
American businessman and author, Robert Kiyosaki wrote, “If you are the kind of person who is waiting for the 'right' thing to happen, you might wait for a long time. It's like waiting for all the traffic lights to be green for five miles before starting the trip.”
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