1 Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, “Keep all the commandments which I am commanding you today. 2 So it shall be on the day when you cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, that you shall set up for yourself large stones and coat them with lime 3 and write on them all the words of this Law, when you cross over, so that you may enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you. 4 So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime. 5 Moreover, you shall build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones; you shall not wield an iron tool on them. 6 You shall build the altar of the Lord your God of uncut stones, and you shall offer on it burnt offerings to the Lord your God; 7 and you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and rejoice before the Lord your God. 8 You shall write on the stones all the words of this Law very clearly.”
9 Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying, “Be silent and listen, Israel! This day you have become a people for the Lord your God. 10 So you shall obey the Lord your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today.”
11 Moses also commanded the people on that day, saying, 12 “When you cross the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 For the curse, these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 The Levites shall then respond and say to all the people of Israel with a loud voice,
15 ‘Cursed is the person who makes a carved image or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord, the work of the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ And all the people shall reply and say, ‘Amen.’
16 ‘Cursed is one who treats his father or mother contemptuously.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
17 ‘Cursed is one who displaces his neighbor’s boundary marker.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
18 ‘Cursed is one who misleads a person who is blind on the road.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
19 ‘Cursed is one who distorts the justice due a stranger, an orphan, or a widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
20 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s garment.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
21 ‘Cursed is one who has sexual intercourse with any animal.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
22 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or of his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
23 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
24 ‘Cursed is he who attacks his neighbor in secret.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
25 ‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to attack an innocent person.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
26 ‘Cursed is anyone who does not fulfill the words of this Law by doing them.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
1 “Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I am commanding you today, that the Lord your God will put you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings will come to you and reach you if you obey the Lord your God:
3 “Blessed will you be in the city, and blessed will you be in the country.
4 “Blessed will be the children of your womb, the produce of your ground, and the offspring of your animals: the newborn of your herd and the young of your flock.
5 “Blessed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 “Blessed will you be when you come in, and blessed will you be when you go out.
7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated by you; they will go out against you one way and will flee at your presence seven ways. 8 The Lord will command the blessing for you in your barns and in everything that you put your hand to, and He will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. 9 The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. 10 So all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will be afraid of you. 11 And the Lord will give you more than enough prosperity, in the children of your womb, in the offspring of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open for you His good storehouse, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless every work of your hand; and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will only be above, and not be underneath, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God which I am commanding you today, to follow them carefully, 14 and do not turn aside from any of the words which I am commanding you today, to the right or the left, to pursue other gods to serve them.
15 “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to be careful to follow all His commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 “Cursed will you be in the city, and cursed will you be in the country.
17 “Cursed will be your basket and your kneading bowl.
18 “Cursed will be the children of your womb, the produce of your ground, the newborn of your herd, and the offspring of your flock.
19 “Cursed will you be when you come in, and cursed will you be when you go out.
1 Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
Who walk in the Law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are those who comply with His testimonies,
And seek Him with all their heart.
3 They also do no injustice;
They walk in His ways.
4 You have ordained Your precepts,
That we are to keep them diligently.
5 Oh that my ways may be established
To keep Your statutes!
6 Then I will not be ashamed
When I look at all Your commandments.
7 I will give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I will keep Your statutes;
Do not utterly abandon me!
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.
10 With all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
11 I have treasured Your word in my heart,
So that I may not sin against You.
12 Blessed are You, Lord;
Teach me Your statutes.
13 With my lips I have told of
All the ordinances of Your mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on Your precepts
And regard Your ways.
16 I shall delight in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word.
17 Deal generously with Your servant,
That I may live and keep Your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from Your Law.
19 I am a stranger on the earth;
Do not hide Your commandments from me.
20 My soul is crushed with longing
For Your ordinances at all times.
21 You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed,
Who wander from Your commandments.
22 Take disgrace and contempt away from me,
For I comply with Your testimonies.
23 Even though rulers sit and speak against me,
Your servant meditates on Your statutes.
24 Your testimonies also are my delight;
They are my advisers.
1 “Shout for joy, infertile one, you who have not given birth to any child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor;
For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman,” says the Lord.
2 “Enlarge the place of your tent;
Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not spare them;
Lengthen your ropes
And strengthen your pegs.
3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left.
And your descendants will possess nations
And will resettle the desolate cities.
4 “Fear not, for you will not be put to shame;
And do not feel humiliated, for you will not be disgraced;
But you will forget the shame of your youth,
And no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.
5 For your husband is your Maker,
Whose name is the Lord of armies;
And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel,
Who is called the God of all the earth.
6 For the Lord has called you,
Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit,
Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,”
Says your God.
7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you,
But with great compassion I will gather you.
8 In an outburst of anger
I hid My face from you for a moment,
But with everlasting favor I will have compassion on you,”
Says the Lord your Redeemer.
9 “For this is like the days of Noah to Me,
When I swore that the waters of Noah
Would not flood the earth again;
So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you
Nor rebuke you.
10 For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake,
But My favor will not be removed from you,
Nor will My covenant of peace be shaken,”
Says the Lord who has compassion on you.
11 “Afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted,
Behold, I will set your stones in antimony,
And I will lay your foundations with sapphires.
12 Moreover, I will make your battlements of rubies,
And your gates of crystal,
And your entire wall of precious stones.
13 All your sons will be taught by the Lord;
And the well-being of your sons will be great.
14 In righteousness you will be established;
You will be far from oppression, for you will not fear;
And from terror, for it will not come near you.
15 If anyone fiercely attacks you, it will not be from Me.
Whoever attacks you will fall because of you.
16 Behold, I Myself have created the smith who blows on the fire of coals
And produces a weapon for its work;
And I have created the destroyer to inflict ruin.
17 No weapon that is formed against you will succeed;
And you will condemn every tongue that accuses you in judgment.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
And their vindication is from Me,” declares the Lord.
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written by the prophet:
6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
Are by no means least among the leaders of Judah;
For from you will come forth a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod secretly called for the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him.” 9 After hearing the king, they went on their way; and behold, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on ahead of them until it came to a stop over the place where the Child was to be found. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And after they came into the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And after being warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.
13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.”
14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. 15 He stayed there until the death of Herod; this happened so that what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet would be fulfilled: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”
16 Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent men and killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. 17 Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
Weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children;
And she refused to be comforted,
Because they were no more.”
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord *appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, 20 “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” 21 So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, 23 and came and settled in a city called Nazareth. This happened so that what was spoken through the prophets would be fulfilled: “He will be called a Nazarene.”