The Report of the Guard
11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and gstole him away while we were asleep.’ 14 And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. hAnd this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.
The Great Commission
16 iNow the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some jdoubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, k“All lauthority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and mmake disciples of nall nations, baptizing them in1 the oname of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am pwith you always, to the end of the age.”
Personal Greetings
1 jI commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant1 of the church at kCenchreae, 2 that you may lwelcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.
3 Greet mPrisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, 4 who nrisked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks as well. 5 Greet also othe church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert2 to Christ in Asia. 6 Greet Mary, who has worked hard for you. 7 Greet Andronicus and Junia,3 my kinsmen and my pfellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles,4 and they were in Christ before me. 8 Greet Ampliatus, my beloved in the Lord. 9 Greet Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ, and my beloved Stachys. 10 Greet Apelles, who is approved in Christ. Greet those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greet my kinsman Herodion. Greet those in the Lord who belong to the family of Narcissus. 12 Greet those workers in the Lord, Tryphaena and Tryphosa. Greet the beloved Persis, who has worked hard in the Lord. 13 Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord; also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. 14 Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and the brothers5 who are with them. 15 Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them. 16 qGreet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ greet you.
Final Instructions and Greetings
17 rI appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who scause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 18 For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own tappetites,6 and by usmooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. 19 For vyour obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and winnocent as to what is evil. 20 The God of peace will soon xcrush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
21 yTimothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
22 zI Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.
23 aGaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.7
Doxology
25 bNow to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept csecret for long ages 26 but has now been ddisclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the eobedience of faith— 27 fto the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent
1 dIn you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
elet me never be put to shame!
2 fIn your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
3 Be to me a grock of refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have given the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
5 For you, O Lord, are my hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth;
hyou are he who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is icontinually of you.
7 I have been as a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day.
9 jDo not cast me off in the time of old age;
kforsake me not when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who lwatch for my life mconsult together
11 and nsay, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”
12 O God, obe not far from me;
O my God, pmake haste to help me!
13 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
with scorn and disgrace may they be qcovered
who seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for rtheir number is past my knowledge.
16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So seven to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
19 tYour righteousness, O God,
ureaches the high heavens.
You who have done great things,
O God, vwho is like you?
20 wYou who have made me see many troubles and calamities
will xrevive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.
22 yI will also praise you with the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy,
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have redeemed.
24 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been put to shame and disappointed
who sought to do me hurt.
Moses’ Final Blessing on Israel
1 This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,
“The Lord wcame from Sinai
and dawned xfrom Seir upon us;1
he shone forth from Mount Paran;
he came from the yten thousands of holy ones,
with flaming fire2 at his right hand.
3 Yes, he loved his people,3
all his holy ones were zin his4 hand;
so they followed5 in your steps,
receiving direction from you,
4 when Moses commanded us a law,
as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
5 Thus the Lord6 became aking in bJeshurun,
when the heads of the people were gathered,
all the tribes of Israel together.
6 “Let cReuben live, and not die,
but let his men be few.”
7 And this he said dof 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.”
8 And eof Levi he said,
and your Urim to your godly one,
whom you tested at gMassah,
with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;
9 hwho said of his father and mother,
‘I regard them not’;
he disowned his brothers
and ignored his children.
For they observed your word
and kept your covenant.
10 They shall iteach Jacob your rules
and Israel your law;
they shall jput incense before you
and whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
and accept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”
12 kOf 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 lof Joseph he said,
“Blessed by the Lord be his land,
with the choicest gifts of heaven above,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 the meverlasting hills,
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness
and the favor of nhim 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 A firstborn bull11—he has majesty,
and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;
with them he shall gore the peoples,
all of them, to the ends of the earth;
they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
18 And oof Zebulun he said,
“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
and Issachar, in your tents.
19 They shall call peoples to their mountain;
there they offer right sacrifices;
for they draw from the abundance of the seas
and the hidden treasures of the sand.”
20 And pof Gad he said,
“Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!
Gad crouches like a lion;
he tears off arm and scalp.
21 qHe chose the best of the land for himself,
for there a commander’s portion was reserved;
and he came with the heads of the people,
with Israel he executed the justice of the Lord,
and his judgments for Israel.”
22 And rof Dan he said,
“Dan is a lion’s cub
that leaps from Bashan.”
23 And sof Naphtali he said,
“O Naphtali, sated with favor,
and full of the blessing of the Lord,
possess the lake12 and the south.”
24 And tof Asher he said,
“Most blessed of sons be Asher;
let him be the favorite of his brothers,
and let him dip his foot in oil.
25 Your bars shall be iron and bronze,
and as your days, so shall your strength be.
26 “There is none like God, O Jeshurun,
who rides through the heavens to your help,
through the skies in his majesty.
27 The eternal God is uyour dwelling 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,
in a land of grain and wine,
whose heavens drop down dew.
29 Happy are you, O Israel! wWho is like you,
a people saved by the Lord,
the 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
1 Then Moses xwent up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, 3 the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, y‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall znot go 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 the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but ano one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 bMoses was c120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel dwept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for eMoses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not arisen a fprophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew gface to face, 11 none like him for all the hsigns 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 igreat deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
