Deuteronomy 33–34; Luke 7

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Deuteronomy 33–34

Moses’ Final Blessing on Israel

This is the blessing with which Moses ythe man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. He said,

zThe Lord came from Sinai

and dawned from Seir upon us;1

he shone forth from Mount Paran;

he came afrom the ten thousands of holy ones,

with flaming fire2 at his right hand.

Yes, bhe loved his people,3

call his holy ones were in his4 hand;

dso they followed5 in your steps,

receiving direction from you,

when eMoses commanded us a law,

as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

Thus the Lord6 fbecame king in gJeshurun,

when the heads of the people were gathered,

all the tribes of Israel together.

hLet Reuben live, and not die,

but let his men be few.

And this he said of Judah:

Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,

and bring him in to his people.

With your hands contend7 for him,

and be a help against his adversaries.

And iof Levi he said,

Give to Levi8 jyour Thummim,

and your Urim to your godly one,

kwhom you tested at Massah,

with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;

who said of his father and mother,

I regard them not;

lhe disowned his brothers

and ignored his children.

For mthey observed your word

and kept your covenant.

10  nThey shall teach Jacob your rules

and Israel your law;

othey shall put incense before you

and pwhole burnt offerings on your altar.

11  Bless, O Lord, his substance,

and qaccept the work of his hands;

crush the loins of his adversaries,

of those who hate him, that they rise not again.

12 rOf Benjamin he said,

The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety.

The High God9 surrounds him all day long,

and dwells between his shoulders.

13 And sof Joseph he said,

tBlessed by the Lord be his land,

with the choicest gifts of heaven uabove,10

and of the deep that crouches beneath,

14  with the choicest fruits of the sun

and the rich yield of the months,

15  with the finest produce of the ancient mountains

and the abundance of vthe everlasting hills,

16  with the best gifts of the earth and wits fullness

and the favor of xhim who dwells in the bush.

May these rest on the head of Joseph,

on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.

17  yA firstborn bull11he has majesty,

and his horns are the horns of a zwild ox;

with them ahe shall gore the peoples,

all of them, to the ends of the earth;

bthey are the ten thousands of Ephraim,

and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

18 And of Zebulun he said,

cRejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,

and Issachar, in your tents.

19  They shall call peoples dto their mountain;

there they offer eright sacrifices;

for they draw from the abundance of the seas

and the hidden treasures of the sand.

20 And fof Gad he said,

Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!

Gad crouches glike a lion;

he tears off arm and scalp.

21  hHe chose the best of the land for himself,

for there a commander’s portion was reserved;

and ihe came with the heads of the people,

with Israel he executed the justice of the Lord,

and his judgments for Israel.

22 And jof Dan he said,

kDan is a lion’s cub

lthat leaps from Bashan.

23 And mof Naphtali he said,

O Naphtali, sated with favor,

and full of the blessing of the Lord,

npossess the lake12 and the south.

24 And oof Asher he said,

Most blessed of sons be Asher;

let him be the favorite of his brothers,

and let him pdip his foot in oil.

25  Your bars shall be iron and bronze,

and as your days, so shall your strength be.

26  qThere is none like God, O rJeshurun,

swho rides through the heavens to your help,

through the skies in his majesty.

27  The eternal God is your tdwelling place,13

and underneath are the everlasting arms.14

And he thrust out the enemy before you

and said, Destroy.

28  So Israel lived in safety,

uJacob lived valone,15

in a land of grain and wine,

whose heavens drop down dew.

29  Happy are you, O Israel! wWho is like you,

a people xsaved by the Lord,

ythe shield of your help,

and the sword of your triumph!

Your enemies shall come fawning to you,

and you shall tread upon their backs.

The Death of Moses

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab ato Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah bas far as the western sea, cthe Negeb, and dthe Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho ethe city of palm trees, as far as fZoar. And the Lord said to him, gThis is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, I will give it to your offspring. hI have let you see it with your eyes, but iyou shall not go over there. So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but jno one knows the place of his burial to this day. kMoses was 120 years old when he died. lHis eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. And the people of Israel mwept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

And Joshua the son of Nun was full of nthe spirit of wisdom, for oMoses had laid his hands on him. So pthe people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not qarisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, rwhom the Lord knew face to face, 11 none like him for all sthe signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.


Luke 7

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant

After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, bhe entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant1 who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion2 heard about Jesus, che sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, dHe is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us eour synagogue. And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, Lord, fdo not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But gsay the word, and let my servant be healed. For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, Do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard these things, hhe marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such ifaith. 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

11 Soon afterward3 he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12 As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, jthe only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13 And when the Lord saw her, khe had compassion on her and lsaid to her, Do not weep. 14 Then he came up and touched mthe bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, Young man, I say to you, narise. 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus4 ogave him to his mother. 16 Fear seized them all, and pthey glorified God, saying, qA great prophet has arisen among us! and rGod has visited his people! 17 And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Messengers from John the Baptist

18 stThe disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, Are you the one uwho is to come, or vshall we look for another? 20 And when the men had come to him, they said, John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, Are you the one uwho is to come, or vshall we look for another? 21 In that hour whe healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and xon many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: ythe blind receive their sight, the lame walk, zlepers5 are cleansed, and athe deaf hear, bthe dead are raised up, cthe poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is dnot offended by me.

24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus6 began to speak to the crowds concerning John: What did you go out einto the wilderness to see? fA reed shaken by the wind? 25 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. 26 What then did you go out to see? gA prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written,

hBehold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way before you.

28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. 29 (iWhen all the people heard this, and jthe tax collectors too, they declared God just,7 jhaving been baptized with kthe baptism of John, 30 lbut the Pharisees and mthe lawyers nrejected othe purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

31 To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.

33 For John the Baptist has come peating no bread and qdrinking no wine, and you say, He has a demon. 34 The Son of Man has come reating and drinking, and you say, Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, sa friend of tax collectors and sinners! 35 Yet twisdom is justified by all her children.

A Sinful Woman Forgiven

36 uOne of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 vAnd behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wwiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, If xthis man were ya prophet, he zwould have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. 40 And Jesus answering said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. And he answered, Say it, Teacher.

41 A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred adenarii, and the other fifty. 42 bWhen they could not pay, he ccancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more? 43 Simon answered, The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt. And he said to him, You have judged rightly. 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, Do you see this woman? I entered your house; dyou gave me no water for my feet, but eshe has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 fYou gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to gkiss my feet. 46 hYou did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, iwhich are many, are forgivenfor she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little. 48 And he said to her, jYour sins are forgiven. 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among8 themselves, kWho is this, who even forgives sins? 50 And he said to the woman, lYour faith has saved you; mgo in peace.