Today's Reading

¹It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that the Lord your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth:

²and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of the Lord your God.

³You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field.

⁴You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock.

⁵Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed.

⁶You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out.

⁷The Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways.

⁸The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to; and he will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

⁹The Lord will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you; if you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in his ways.

¹⁰All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of you.

¹¹The Lord will make you plenteous for good, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you.

¹²The Lord will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow.

¹³The Lord will make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you shall listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do,

¹⁴and shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

¹⁵But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you.

¹⁶You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field.

¹⁷Your basket and your kneading trough shall be cursed.

¹⁸The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock shall be cursed.

¹⁹You shall be cursed when you come in, and you shall be cursed when you go out.

²⁰The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me.

²¹The Lord will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it.

²²The Lord will strike you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish.

²³Your sky that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you shall be iron.

²⁴The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust: from the sky shall it come down on you, until you are destroyed.

²⁵The Lord will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

²⁶Your dead body shall be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away.

²⁷The Lord will strike you with the boil of Egypt, and with the tumors, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed.

²⁸The Lord will strike you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;

²⁹and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways: and you shall be only oppressed and robbed always, and there shall be none to save you.

³⁰You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use its fruit.

³¹Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it: your donkey shall be violently taken away from before your face, and shall not be restored to you: your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to save you.

³²Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people; and your eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nothing in the power of your hand.

³³The fruit of your ground, and all your labors, shall a nation which you do not know eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always;

³⁴so that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.

³⁵The Lord will strike you in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

³⁶The Lord will bring you, and your king whom you shall set over you, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone.

³⁷You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where the Lord shall lead you away.

³⁸You shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.

³⁹You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine, nor harvest; for the worm shall eat them.

⁴⁰You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off.

⁴¹You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity.

⁴²All your trees and the fruit of your ground shall the locust possess.

⁴³The foreigner who is in the midst of you shall mount up above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower.

⁴⁴He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

⁴⁵All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you did not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you:

⁴⁶and they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever.

⁴⁷Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;

⁴⁸therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he has destroyed you.

⁴⁹The Lord will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you shall not understand;

⁵⁰a nation of fierce facial expressions, that shall not respect the person of the old, nor show favor to the young,

⁵¹and shall eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; that also shall not leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.

⁵²They shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which the Lord your God has given you.

⁵³You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.

⁵⁴The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining;

⁵⁵so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your gates.

⁵⁶The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,

⁵⁷and toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your gates.

⁵⁸If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, The Lord your God;

⁵⁹then the Lord will make your plagues wonderful, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses, and of long continuance.

⁶⁰He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cling to you.

⁶¹Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, the Lord will bring them on you, until you are destroyed.

⁶²You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you did not listen to the voice of the Lord your God.

⁶³It shall happen that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and you shall be plucked from off the land where you go in to possess it.

⁶⁴The Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.

⁶⁵Among these nations you shall find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot: but the Lord will give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul;

⁶⁶and your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life.

⁶⁷In the morning you shall say, "I wish it were evening!" and at evening you shall say, "I wish it were morning!" for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.

⁶⁸The Lord will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I said to you, You shall see it no more again: and there you shall sell yourselves to your enemies for bondservants and for bondmaids, and no man shall buy you.

¹These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

²Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, You 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;

³the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders:

⁴but the Lord has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.

⁵I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes have not grown old on you, and your shoes have not grown old on your feet.

⁶You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink; that you may know that I am the Lord your God.

⁷When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us to battle, and we struck them:

⁸and we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites.

⁹Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

¹⁰You stand this day all of you before the Lord your God; your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel,

¹¹your little ones, your wives, and your foreigner who is in the midst of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water;

¹²that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, and into his oath, which the Lord your God makes with you this day;

¹³that he may establish you this day to himself for a people, and that he may be to you a God, as he spoke to you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

¹⁴Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath,

¹⁵but with him who stands here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him who is not here with us this day

¹⁶(for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed;

¹⁷and you have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them);

¹⁸lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the Lord our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood;

¹⁹and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, "I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry."

²⁰The Lord will not pardon him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie on him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under the sky.

²¹The Lord will set him apart to evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law.

²²The generation to come, your children who shall rise up after you, and the foreigner who shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which the Lord has made it sick;

²³and that the whole land of it is sulfur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:

²⁴even all the nations shall say, "Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?"

²⁵Then men shall say, "Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt,

²⁶and went and served other gods, and worshiped them, gods that they did not know, and that he had not given to them:

²⁷therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curse that is written in this book;

²⁸and the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day."

²⁹The 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.

¹It shall happen, when all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall call them to mind among all the nations, where the Lord your God has driven you,

²and shall return to the Lord your God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul;

³that then the Lord your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples, where the Lord your God has scattered you.

⁴If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there will the Lord your God gather you, and from there he will bring you back:

⁵and the Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and he will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers.

⁶The Lord your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live.

⁷The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies, and on those who hate you, who persecuted you.

⁸You shall return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command you this day.

⁹The Lord your God will make you plenteous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your ground, and in the fruit of your livestock, for the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers;

¹⁰if you shall obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law; if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul.

¹¹For this commandment which I command you this day, it is not too hard for you, neither is it far off.

¹²It is not in heaven, that you should say, "Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?"

¹³Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, and make us to hear it, that we may do it?"

¹⁴But the word is very near to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you may do it.

¹⁵Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil;

¹⁶in that I command you this day to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.

¹⁷But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but shall be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;

¹⁸I denounce to you this day, that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land, where you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it.

¹⁹I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your seed;

²⁰to love the Lord your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

¹He said to the disciples, "It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come!

²It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble.

³Be careful. If your brother sins, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him.

⁴If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him."

⁵The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."

⁶The Lord said, "If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you would tell this sycamore tree, 'Be uprooted, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

⁷But who is there among you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say, when he comes in from the field, 'Come immediately and sit down at the table,'

⁸and will not rather tell him, 'Prepare my supper, clothe yourself properly, and serve me, while I eat and drink. Afterward you shall eat and drink'?

⁹Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded?

¹⁰Even so you also, when you have done all the things that are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy servants. We have done our duty.'"

¹¹It happened as he was on his way to Jerusalem, that he was passing along the borders of Samaria and Galilee.

¹²As he entered into a certain village, ten men who were lepers met him, who stood at a distance.

¹³They lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"

¹⁴When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." It happened that as they went, they were cleansed.

¹⁵One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice.

¹⁶He fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks; and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷Jesus answered, "Weren't the ten cleansed? But where are the nine?

¹⁸Were there none found who returned to give glory to God, except this stranger?"

¹⁹Then he said to him, "Get up, and go your way. Your faith has healed you."

²⁰Being asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, he answered them, "The Kingdom of God does not come with observation;

²¹neither will they say, 'Look, here!' or, 'Look, there!' for the Kingdom of God is within you."

²²He said to the disciples, "The days will come, when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.

²³And they will tell you, 'Look, there!' or 'Look, here!' Do not go away, nor follow after them,

²⁴for as the lightning, when it flashes out of the one part under the sky, shines to the other part under the sky; so will the Son of Man be in his day.

²⁵But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

²⁶As it happened in the days of Noah, even so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man.

²⁷They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

²⁸Likewise, even as it happened in the days of Lot: they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built;

²⁹but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from the sky, and destroyed them all.

³⁰It will be the same way in the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

³¹In that day, he who will be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away. Let him who is in the field likewise not turn back.

³²Remember Lot's wife!

³³Whoever seeks to save his life loses it, but whoever loses his life preserves it.

³⁴I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed. The one will be taken, and the other will be left.

³⁵There will be two grinding grain together. One will be taken, and the other will be left."

³⁶

³⁷They, answering, asked him, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the body is, there will the vultures also be gathered together."

¹ Hear my cry, God. Listen to my prayer.

²From the end of the earth, I will call to you, when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

³For you have been a refuge for me, a strong tower from the enemy.

⁴I will dwell in your tent forever. I will take refuge in the shelter of your wings. Selah.

⁵For you, God, have heard my vows. You have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

⁶You will prolong the king's life; his years shall be for generations.

⁷He shall be enthroned in God's presence forever. Appoint your loving kindness and truth, that they may preserve him.

⁸So I will sing praise to your name forever, that I may fulfill my vows daily.

¹The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle: the man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

²"Surely I am the most ignorant man, and do not have a man's understanding.

³I have not learned wisdom, neither do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.

⁴Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if you know?

⁵"Every word of God is flawless. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

⁶Do not add to his words, lest he reprove you, and you be found a liar.

⁷"Two things I have asked of you; do not deny me before I die:

⁸Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me;

⁹lest I be full, deny you, and say, 'Who is the Lord?' or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

¹⁰"Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.

¹¹There is a generation that curses their father, and doesn't bless their mother.

¹²There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness.

¹³There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! Their eyelids are lifted up.

¹⁴There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and their jaws like knives, to devour the poor from the earth, and the needy from among men.

¹⁵"The leach has two daughters: 'Give, give.' "There are three things that are never satisfied; four that do not say, 'Enough:'

¹⁶Sheol, the barren womb; the earth that is not satisfied with water; and the fire that doesn't say, 'Enough.'

¹⁷"The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother: the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall eat it.

¹⁸"There are three things which are too amazing for me, four which I do not understand:

¹⁹The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent on a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maiden.

²⁰"So is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth, and says, 'I have done nothing wrong.'

²¹"For three things the earth tremble, and under four, it can't bear up:

²²For a servant when he is king; a fool when he is filled with food;

²³for an unloved woman when she is married; and a handmaid who is heir to her mistress.

²⁴"There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise:

²⁵the ants are not a strong people, yet they provide their food in the summer.

²⁶The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.

²⁷The locusts have no king, yet they advance in ranks.

²⁸You can catch a lizard with your hands, yet it is in kings' palaces.

²⁹"There are three things which are stately in their march, four which are stately in going:

³⁰The lion, which is mightiest among animals, and doesn't turn away for any;

³¹the greyhound, the male goat also; and the king against whom there is no rising up.

³²"If you have done foolishly in lifting up yourself, or if you have thought evil, put your hand over your mouth.

³³For as the churning of milk brings forth butter, and the wringing of the nose brings forth blood; so the forcing of wrath brings forth strife."