The Greatest Commandment

1 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules¹—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, ^qthat it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, ^ras the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

4 ^s“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is ^tone.² 5 ^uYou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be ^von your heart. 7 ^wYou shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 ^xYou shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as ^yfrontlets between your eyes. 9 ^zYou shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

18 For you have not come to what may be touched, ^va blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the ^wsound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers ^xbeg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, ^y“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ^z“I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount ^aZion and to the ^bcity of the ^cliving God, the ^dheavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly¹ of the firstborn who are ^eenrolled in heaven, and to God, the ^fjudge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous ^gmade perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the ^hmediator of a ⁱnew covenant, and to the ^jsprinkled blood that speaks a better word than ^kthe blood of ^lAbel.

25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not ^mescape when they refused him who warned them on earth, ⁿmuch less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 ^oAt that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ^p“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a ^qkingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for ^rour God is a consuming fire.

24 Truly, truly, I say to you, ^uunless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it ^vbears much fruit. 25 ^wWhoever loves his life loses it, and whoever ^xhates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must ^yfollow me; and ^zwhere I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

The Son of Man Must Be Lifted Up

27 ^a“Now is my soul ^btroubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, ^csave me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a ^dvoice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 ^eThe crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. ^fOthers said, ^g“An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come ^hfor your sake, not mine. 31 Now is ⁱthe judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am ^jlifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”