1 “Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;
And let the earth hear the words of my mouth!
2 May my teaching drip as the rain,
My speech trickle as the dew,
As droplets on the fresh grass,
And as the showers on the vegetation.
3 For I proclaim the name of the Lord;
Ascribe greatness to our God!
4 The Rock! His work is perfect,
For all His ways are just;
A God of faithfulness and without injustice,
Righteous and just is He.
5 They have acted corruptly against Him,
They are not His children, because of their defect;
But are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Is this what you do to the Lord,
You foolish and unwise people?
Is He not your Father who has purchased you?
He has made you and established you.
7 Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of all generations.
Ask your father and he will inform you,
Your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
When He separated the sons of mankind,
He set the boundaries of the peoples
According to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 For the Lord’s portion is His people;
Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
10 He found him in a desert land,
And in the howling wasteland of a wilderness;
He encircled him, He cared for him,
He guarded him as the apple of His eye.
11 As an eagle stirs up its nest,
And hovers over its young,
He spread His wings, He caught them,
He carried them on His pinions.
12 The Lord alone guided him,
And there was no foreign god with him.
13 He had him ride on the high places of the earth,
And he ate the produce of the field;
And He had him suck honey from the rock,
And oil from the flinty rock,
14 Curds of the herd, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs
And rams, the breed of Bashan, and of goats,
With the best of the wheat;
And you drank wine of the blood of grapes.
15 “But Jeshurun became fat and kicked—
You have become fat, thick, and obstinate—
Then he abandoned God who made him,
And rejected the Rock of his salvation.
16 They made Him jealous with strange gods;
With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons, who were not God,
To gods whom they have not known,
New gods who came lately,
Whom your fathers did not know.
18 You forgot the Rock who fathered you,
And forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 “The Lord saw this, and spurned them
Because of the provocation by His sons and daughters.
20 Then He said, ‘I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end will be;
For they are a perverse generation,
Sons in whom there is no faithfulness.
21 They have made Me jealous with what is not God;
They have provoked Me to anger with their idols.
So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people;
I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation,
22 For a fire has flared in My anger,
And it burns to the lowest part of Sheol,
And devours the earth with its yield,
And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23 ‘I will add misfortunes to them;
I will use up My arrows on them.
24 They will be wasted by famine, and emaciated by plague
And a bitter epidemic;
And the teeth of beasts I will send against them,
With the venom of crawling things of the dust.
25 Outside the sword will make them childless,
And inside, terror—
Both young man and virgin,
The nursing child with the man of gray hair.
26 I would have said, “I will wipe them out,
I will remove the mention of their name from humanity,”
27 Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy,
That their adversaries would misjudge,
That they would say, “Our hand is triumphant,
And the Lord has not performed all this.”’
28 “For they are a nation destitute of counsel,
And there is no understanding in them.
29 If only they were wise and they understood this;
If only they would discern their future!
30 How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their Rock had sold them,
And the Lord had given them up?
31 Indeed, their rock is not like our Rock;
Even our enemies themselves judge this.
32 For their vine is from the vine of Sodom,
And from the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of poison,
Their clusters, bitter.
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents,
And the deadly poison of vipers.
34 ‘Is it not stored up with Me,
Sealed up in My treasuries?
35 Vengeance is Mine, and retribution;
In due time their foot will slip.
For the day of their disaster is near,
And the impending things are hurrying to them.’
36 For the Lord will vindicate His people,
And will have compassion on His servants,
When He sees that their strength is gone,
And there is none remaining, bond or free.
37 And He will say, ‘Where are their gods,
The rock in which they took refuge?
38 Those who ate the fat of their sacrifices,
And drank the wine of their drink offering?
Let them rise up and help you,
Let them be your protection!
39 See now that I, I am He,
And there is no god besides Me;
It is I who put to death and give life.
I have wounded and it is I who heal,
And there is no one who can save anyone from My hand.
40 Indeed, I raise My hand to heaven,
And say, as I live forever,
41 If I have sharpened My flashing sword,
And My hand has taken hold of justice,
I will return vengeance on My adversaries,
And I will repay those who hate Me.
42 I will make My arrows drunk with blood,
And My sword will devour flesh,
With the blood of the slain and the captives,
From the long-haired leaders of the enemy.’
43 Rejoice, you nations, with His people;
For He will avenge the blood of His servants,
And will return vengeance on His adversaries,
And will atone for His land and His people.”
44 Then Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he, with Joshua the son of Nun. 45 When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to your heart all the words with which I am warning you today, which you will command your sons to follow carefully, all the words of this Law. 47 For it is not a trivial matter for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”
48 Now the Lord spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, 49 “Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel as a possession. 50 Then you are to die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, 51 because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. 52 For you will see the land at a distance but you will not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.”
121 I have done justice and righteousness;
Do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Be a guarantor for Your servant for good;
Do not let the arrogant oppress me.
123 My eyes fail with longing for Your salvation,
And for Your righteous word.
124 Deal with Your servant according to Your graciousness,
And teach me Your statutes.
125 I am Your servant; give me understanding,
So that I may know Your testimonies.
126 It is time for the Lord to act,
For they have broken Your Law.
127 Therefore I love Your commandments
Above gold, yes, above pure gold.
128 Therefore I carefully follow all Your precepts concerning everything,
I hate every false way.
129 Your testimonies are wonderful;
Therefore my soul complies with them.
130 The unfolding of Your words gives light;
It gives understanding to the simple.
131 I opened my mouth wide and panted,
For I longed for Your commandments.
132 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
As is right for those who love Your name.
133 Establish my footsteps in Your word,
And do not let any wrongdoing have power over me.
134 Redeem me from oppression by man,
So that I may keep Your precepts.
135 Make Your face shine upon Your servant,
And teach me Your statutes.
136 My eyes shed streams of water,
Because they do not keep Your Law.
137 You are righteous, Lord,
And Your judgments are right.
138 You have commanded Your testimonies in righteousness
And great faithfulness.
139 My zeal has consumed me,
Because my enemies have forgotten Your words.
140 Your word is very pure,
Therefore Your servant loves it.
141 I am small and despised,
Yet I do not forget Your precepts.
142 Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
And Your Law is truth.
143 Trouble and anguish have come upon me,
Yet Your commandments are my delight.
144 Your testimonies are righteous forever;
Give me understanding that I may live.
1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.
2 But your wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with wrongdoing;
Your lips have spoken deceit,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly.
They trust in confusion and speak lies;
They conceive trouble and give birth to disaster.
5 They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web;
The one who eats of their eggs dies,
And from what is crushed, a snake breaks out.
6 Their webs will not become clothing,
Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of wrongdoing,
And an act of violence is in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil,
And they hurry to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are thoughts of wrongdoing,
Devastation and destruction are in their paths.
8 They do not know the way of peace,
And there is no justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked,
Whoever walks on them does not know peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not reach us;
We hope for light, but there is darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 We grope for the wall like people who are blind,
We grope like those who have no eyes.
We stumble at midday as in the twilight;
Among those who are healthy we are like the dead.
11 All of us growl like bears,
And moan sadly like doves;
We hope for justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our wrongful acts have multiplied before You,
And our sins have testified against us;
For our wrongful acts are with us,
And we know our wrongdoings:
13 Offending and denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and uttering lying words from the heart.
14 Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking,
And one who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey.
Now the Lord saw,
And it was displeasing in His sight that there was no justice.
16 And He saw that there was no one,
And was amazed that there was not one to intercede;
Then His own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with zeal as a cloak.
18 According to their deeds, so will He repay:
Wrath to His adversaries, retribution to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will deal retribution.
19 So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west
And His glory from the rising of the sun,
For He will come like a rushing stream
Which the wind of the Lord drives.
20 “A Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those in Jacob who turn from wrongdoing,” declares the Lord.
21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”
1 “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye!
6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
24 “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.”
28 When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; 29 for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.