Matthew 27:57–66; Romans 15:1–13; Psalm 69:19–36; Deuteronomy 29–31

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Matthew 27:57–66

Jesus Is Buried

57 bWhen it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and claid it in his own new tomb, dwhich he had cut in the rock. And he rolled ea great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away. 61 Mary Magdalene and fthe other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

62 The next day, that is, after the day of gPreparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, Sir, we remember how hthat impostor said, while he was still alive, iAfter three days I will rise. 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, jlest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, He has risen from the dead, and the last fraud will be worse than the first. 65 Pilate said to them, You have ka guard1 of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can. 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by lsealing the stone and setting a guard.


Romans 15:1–13

The Example of Christ

sWe who are strong thave an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. uLet each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For vChrist did not please himself, but as it is written, wThe reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me. For xwhatever was written in former days was written for our yinstruction, that through endurance and through zthe encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you ato live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify bthe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Christ the Hope of Jews and Gentiles

For I tell you that Christ cbecame a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order dto confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order ethat the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,

fTherefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,

and sing to your name.

10 And again it is said,

gRejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.

11 And again,

hPraise the Lord, all you Gentiles,

and let all the peoples extol him.

12 And again Isaiah says,

ijThe root of Jesse will come,

even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;

kin him will the Gentiles hope.

13 May the God of hope fill you with all ljoy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.


Psalm 69:19–36

19  You know my breproach,

and my shame and my dishonor;

my foes are all known to you.

20  bReproaches have broken my heart,

so that I am in cdespair.

I dlooked for epity, but there was none,

and for fcomforters, but I found none.

21  They gave me gpoison for food,

and for my thirst they gave me hsour wine to drink.

22  iLet their own jtable before them become a snare;

kand when they are at peace, let it become a trap.1

23  lLet their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,

mand make their loins tremble continually.

24  Pour out your indignation upon them,

and let your burning anger overtake them.

25  nMay their camp be a desolation;

let no one dwell in their tents.

26  For they opersecute him whom pyou have struck down,

and they recount the pain of qthose you have wounded.

27  rAdd to them punishment upon punishment;

may they have no acquittal from you.2

28  Let them be sblotted out of the book of the living;

let them not be tenrolled among the righteous.

29  But I am afflicted and in pain;

let your salvation, O God, uset me on high!

30  I will vpraise the name of God with a song;

I will wmagnify him with xthanksgiving.

31  This will yplease the Lord more than an ox

or a bull zwith horns and hoofs.

32  When athe humble see it they will be glad;

you who seek God, alet your hearts revive.

33  For the Lord hears the needy

and bdoes not despise his own people who are prisoners.

34  Let cheaven and earth praise him,

the seas and everything that moves in them.

35  For dGod will save Zion

and build up the cities of Judah,

and people shall dwell there and possess it;

36  ethe offspring of his servants shall inherit it,

and those who love his name shall dwell in it.


Deuteronomy 29–31

The Covenant Renewed in Moab

1 These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel cin the land of Moab, besides dthe covenant that he had made with them at Horeb.

2 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: eYou have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, the great ftrials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But to this day gthe Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. hI have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet. iYou have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. And when you came to this place, jSihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them. We took their land and kgave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites. lTherefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper3 in all that you do.

10 You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God: the heads of your tribes,4 your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the msojourner who is in your camp, from nthe one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, 12 so that you may enter into the osworn covenant of the Lord your God, which the Lord your God is making with you today, 13 that he may pestablish you today as his people, and that qhe may be your God, as he promised you, and ras he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14 It is not with you alone sthat I am making this sworn covenant, 15 but with whoever is standing here with us today before the Lord our God, tand with whoever is not here with us today.

16 You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed. 17 And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them. 18 Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the Lord our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you ua root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, 19 one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart. This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. 20 The Lord will not be willing to forgive him, but rather vthe anger of the Lord and whis jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the Lord xwill blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And the Lord will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. 22 And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, ywill say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the Lord has made it sick 23 the whole land burned out with brimstone and zsalt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, aan overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, bAdmah, and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger and wrath 24 all the nations cwill say, dWhy has the Lord done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger? 25 Then people will say, It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. 27 Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, ebringing upon it all the curses written in this book, 28 and the Lord fuprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and gcast them into another land, as they are this day.

29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Repentance and Forgiveness

hAnd iwhen all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and jyou call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and kreturn to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God lwill restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will mgather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. nIf your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. oAnd he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And pthe Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, qso that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. And the Lord your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. And you shall again obey the voice of the Lord and keep all his commandments that I command you today. rThe Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. sFor the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

The Choice of Life and Death

11 For this commandment that I command you today tis not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 uIt is not in heaven, that you should say, Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.

15 See, vI have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God5 that I command you today, wby loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules,6 then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if xyour heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 yI declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, zblessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice aand holding fast to him, for bhe is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in cthe land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Joshua to Succeed Moses

So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. And he said to them, I am d120 years old today. I am no longer able to ego out and come in. The Lord has said to me, fYou shall not go over this Jordan. The Lord your God ghimself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, has the Lord has spoken. And the Lord will do to them ias he did to Sihon jand Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. And the Lord will give them over to you, and you shall do to them kaccording to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. lBe strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, mfor it is the Lord your God who goes with you. nHe will not leave you or forsake you.

Then oMoses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, lBe strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the Lord pwho goes before you. He will be with you; nhe will not leave you or forsake you. qDo not fear or be dismayed.

The Reading of the Law

Then Moses rwrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, swho carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 And Moses commanded them, tAt the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at uthe Feast of Booths, 11 when all Israel comes vto appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, wyou shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12 xAssemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, 13 and that their children, ywho have not known it, zmay hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, aas long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.

Joshua Commissioned to Lead Israel

14 And the Lord said to Moses, bBehold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that cI may commission him. And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 15 And dthe Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.

16 And the Lord said to Moses, bBehold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and ewhore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will fforsake me and gbreak my covenant that I have made with them. 17 Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and hI will forsake them and ihide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, jHave not these evils come upon us because kour God is not among us? 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because lthey have turned to other gods.

19 Now therefore write mthis song and nteach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be oa witness for me against the people of Israel. 20 For when I have brought them into the land pflowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and qgrown fat, rthey will turn to other gods and serve them, and sdespise me and gbreak my covenant. 21 And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as ta witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For uI know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give. 22 So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.

23 vAnd the Lord7 commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, wBe strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. xI will be with you.

24 When Moses had finished ywriting the words of this law in a book to the very end, 25 Moses commanded zthe Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, 26 Take this Book of the Law aand put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for ba witness against you. 27 For I know how rebellious and cstubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, dyou have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more after my death! 28 Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak ethese words in their ears and fcall heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death gyou will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And hin the days to come ievil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, jprovoking him to anger through the work of your hands.

The Song of Moses

30 Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel: