Wednesday, 19 June

44.   So Moses came with Joshua the son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45.   Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46.   and He said to them: "Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe––all the words of this law. 47.   "For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess." 48.   Then the LORD spoke to Moses that very same day, saying: 49.   "Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho; view the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel as a possession; 50.   "and die on the mountain which you ascend, and be gathered to your people, just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people; 51.   "because you trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, because you did not hallow Me in the midst of the children of Israel. 52.   "Yet you shall see the land before you , though you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to the children of Israel."

1.   Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2.   And he said: "The LORD came from Sinai, And dawned on them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran, And He came with ten thousands of saints; From His right hand Came a fiery law for them. 3.   Yes, He loves the people; All His saints are in Your hand; They sit down at Your feet; Everyone receives Your words. 4.   Moses commanded a law for us, A heritage of the congregation of Jacob. 5.   And He was King in Jeshurun, When the leaders of the people were gathered, All the tribes of Israel together. 6.   "Let Reuben live, and not die, Nor let his men be few." 7.   And this he said of Judah: "Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, And bring him to his people; Let his hands be sufficient for him, And may You be a help against his enemies." 8.   And of Levi he said: " Let Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your holy one, Whom You tested at Massah, And with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah, 9.   Who says of his father and mother, ‘I have not seen them’; Nor did he acknowledge his brothers, Or know his own children; For they have observed Your word And kept Your covenant. 10.   They shall teach Jacob Your judgments, And Israel Your law. They shall put incense before You, And a whole burnt sacrifice on Your altar. 11.   Bless his substance, LORD, And accept the work of his hands; Strike the loins of those who rise against him, And of those who hate him, that they rise not again." 12.   Of Benjamin he said: "The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by Him, Who shelters him all the day long; And he shall dwell between His shoulders." 13.   And of Joseph he said: "Blessed of the LORD is his land, With the precious things of heaven, with the dew, And the deep lying beneath, 14.   With the precious fruits of the sun, With the precious produce of the months, 15.   With the best things of the ancient mountains, With the precious things of the everlasting hills, 16.   With the precious things of the earth and its fullness, And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush. Let the blessing come ‘on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.’ 17.   His glory is like a firstborn bull, And his horns like the horns of the wild ox; Together with them He shall push the peoples To the ends of the earth; They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, And they are the thousands of Manasseh." 18.   And of Zebulun he said: "Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, And Issachar in your tents! 19.   They shall call the peoples to the mountain; There they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness; For they shall partake of the abundance of the seas And of treasures hidden in the sand." 20.   And of Gad he said: "Blessed is he who enlarges Gad; He dwells as a lion, And tears the arm and the crown of his head. 21.   He provided the first part for himself, Because a lawgiver’s portion was reserved there. He came with the heads of the people; He administered the justice of the LORD, And His judgments with Israel." 22.   And of Dan he said: "Dan is a lion’s whelp; He shall leap from Bashan." 23.   And of Naphtali he said: "O Naphtali, satisfied with favor, And full of the blessing of the LORD, Possess the west and the south." 24.   And of Asher he said: "Asher is most blessed of sons; Let him be favored by his brothers, And let him dip his foot in oil. 25.   Your sandals shall be iron and bronze; As your days, so shall your strength be . 26.   " There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, Who rides the heavens to help you, And in His excellency on the clouds. 27.   The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, ‘Destroy!’ 28.   Then Israel shall dwell in safety, The fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine; His heavens shall also drop dew. 29.   Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, The shield of your help And the sword of your majesty! Your enemies shall submit to you, And you shall tread down their high places."

1.   Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan, 2.   all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, 3.   the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4.   Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there." 5.   So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6.   And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day. 7.   Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished. 8.   And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended. 9.   Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; so the children of Israel heeded him, and did as the LORD had commanded Moses. 10.   But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, 11.   in all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land, 12.   and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

1.   The burden against Damascus. "Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, And it will be a ruinous heap. 2.   The cities of Aroer are forsaken; They will be for flocks Which lie down, and no one will make them afraid. 3.   The fortress also will cease from Ephraim, The kingdom from Damascus, And the remnant of Syria; They will be as the glory of the children of Israel," Says the LORD of hosts. 4.   "In that day it shall come to pass That the glory of Jacob will wane, And the fatness of his flesh grow lean. 5.   It shall be as when the harvester gathers the grain, And reaps the heads with his arm; It shall be as he who gathers heads of grain In the Valley of Rephaim. 6.   Yet gleaning grapes will be left in it, Like the shaking of an olive tree, Two or three olives at the top of the uppermost bough, Four or five in its most fruitful branches," Says the LORD God of Israel. 7.   In that day a man will look to his Maker, And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel. 8.   He will not look to the altars, The work of his hands; He will not respect what his fingers have made, Nor the wooden images nor the incense altars. 9.   In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough And an uppermost branch, Which they left because of the children of Israel; And there will be desolation. 10.   Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold, Therefore you will plant pleasant plants And set out foreign seedlings; 11.   In the day you will make your plant to grow, And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish; But the harvest will be a heap of ruins In the day of grief and desperate sorrow. 12.   Woe to the multitude of many people Who make a noise like the roar of the seas, And to the rushing of nations That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters! 13.   The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters; But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away, And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind, Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind. 14.   Then behold, at eventide, trouble! And before the morning, he is no more. This is the portion of those who plunder us, And the lot of those who rob us.

1.   Woe to the land shadowed with buzzing wings, Which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, 2.   Which sends ambassadors by sea, Even in vessels of reed on the waters, saying , "Go, swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth of skin , To a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, Whose land the rivers divide." 3.   All inhabitants of the world and dwellers on the earth: When he lifts up a banner on the mountains, you see it ; And when he blows a trumpet, you hear it . 4.   For so the LORD said to me, "I will take My rest, And I will look from My dwelling place Like clear heat in sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest." 5.   For before the harvest, when the bud is perfect And the sour grape is ripening in the flower, He will both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks And take away and cut down the branches. 6.   They will be left together for the mountain birds of prey And for the beasts of the earth; The birds of prey will summer on them, And all the beasts of the earth will winter on them. 7.   In that time a present will be brought to the LORD of hosts From a people tall and smooth of skin , And from a people terrible from their beginning onward, A nation powerful and treading down, Whose land the rivers divide––To the place of the name of the LORD of hosts, To Mount Zion.

28.   Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, "Which is the first commandment of all?" 29.   Jesus answered him, "The first of all the commandments is : ‘Hear, O Israel, the LORD our God, the LORD is one. 30.   ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31.   "And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these." 32.   So the scribe said to Him, "Well said , Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. 33.   "And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34.   Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." But after that no one dared question Him. 35.   Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David? 36.   "For David himself said by the Holy Spirit: ‘The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."’ 37.   "Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; how is He then his Son?" And the common people heard Him gladly. 38.   Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, 39.   "the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, 40.   "who devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation." 41.   Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury. And many who were rich put in much. 42.   Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans. 43.   So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; 44.   "for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."