101 At that time Jehovah said unto me, Hew for thyself two tables of stone like the first, and come up unto me into the mountain, and make thee an ark of wood; 2 and I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which thou didst break, and thou shalt lay them in the ark. 3 And I made an ark of acacia-wood, and hewed two tables of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tables in my hand. 4 And he wrote on the tables, as the first writing, the ten words which Jehovah spoke unto you on the mountain, from the midst of the fire, on the day of the assembly, and Jehovah gave them unto me. 5 And I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tables in the ark which I had made;—and they are there, as Jehovah commanded me. 6 (And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth-Bene-Jaakan to Moserah: there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son exercised the priesthood in his stead. 7 From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of water-brooks.) 8 At that time Jehovah separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, to stand before Jehovah to do service unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day. 9 Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; Jehovah is his inheritance, according as Jehovah thy God told him. 10 But I stood upon the mountain according to the former days, forty days and forty nights; and Jehovah listened unto me also at that time: Jehovah would not destroy thee. 11 And Jehovah said unto me, Rise up, take thy journey before the people, that they may enter in and possess the land, which I swore unto their fathers to give unto them.
12 And now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, 13 to keep the commandments of Jehovah, and his statutes, which I command thee this day, for thy good? 14 Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to Jehovah thy God; the earth and all that is therein. 15 Only, Jehovah took pleasure in thy fathers, to love them, and he chose their seed after them, [even] you, out of all the peoples, as it is this day. 16 Circumcise then the foreskin of your heart, and stiffen your neck no more. 17 For Jehovah your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty and the terrible, who regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward; 18 who executeth the judgment of the fatherless and the widow, and loveth the stranger, to give him food and clothing. 19 And ye shall love the stranger; for ye have been strangers in the land of Egypt. 20 Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; him thou shalt serve, and unto him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. 21 He is thy praise, and he is thy God, who hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen. 22 With seventy souls thy fathers went down into Egypt; and now Jehovah thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.
111 Thou shalt love then Jehovah thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments continually. 2 And know ye this day ...; for [I speak] not with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Jehovah your God, his greatness, his powerful hand, and his stretched-out arm, 3 and his signs and his acts which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; 4 and what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and unto their chariots, over which he made the water of the Red sea flow as they pursued after you, and Jehovah destroyed them unto this day; 5 —and what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came to this place; 6 and what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben,—how the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, with their households, and their tents, and all the living substance that belonged to them, in the midst of all Israel. 7 For your eyes have seen all the great work of Jehovah which he hath done.
8 Keep then all the commandment which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and enter in and possess the land, whither ye pass over to possess it; 9 and that ye may prolong your days in the land which Jehovah swore unto your fathers to give unto them and unto their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land, whither thou enterest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs; 11 but the land, whereunto ye are passing over to possess it, is a land of mountains and valleys, which drinketh water of the rain of heaven, 12 a land which Jehovah thy God careth for; the eyes of Jehovah thy God are constantly upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. 13 And it shall come to pass, if ye hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love Jehovah your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 that I will give rain to your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain; and thou shalt gather in thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil; 15 and I will give grass in thy field for thy cattle; and thou shalt eat and be full. 16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside and serve other gods, and bow down to them, 17 and Jehovah's wrath kindle against you, and he shut up the heavens, that there be no rain, and that the ground yield not its produce, and ye perish quickly from off the good land which Jehovah is giving you.
18 And ye shall lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. 19 And ye shall teach them unto your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou goest on the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up; 20 and write them upon the posts of thy house, and upon thy gates; 21 that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Jehovah swore unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens [which are] above the earth. 22 For if ye diligently keep all this commandment which I command you [this day] to do it, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him, 23 then will Jehovah dispossess all these nations from before you, and ye shall take possession of nations greater and mightier than yourselves. 24 Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours; from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the hinder sea shall your border be. 25 No man shall be able to stand before you: the fear of you and the dread of you will Jehovah your God lay upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.
26 See, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: 27 a blessing, if ye obey the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I command you this day; 28 and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of Jehovah your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which ye have not known. 29 And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah thy God hath brought thee into the land whither thou enterest in to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. 30 Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, beyond the way toward the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites that dwell on the plain opposite to Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh? 31 For ye pass over the Jordan to enter in to possess the land which Jehovah your God giveth you, and ye shall take possession of it, and dwell therein. 32 And ye shall take heed to do all the statutes and ordinances which I set before you this day.
121 These are the statutes and ordinances, which ye shall take heed to do in the land, which Jehovah the God of thy fathers is giving thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. 2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall dispossess have served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree; 3 and ye shall break down their altars, and shatter their statues, and burn their Asherahs with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and ye shall destroy the names of them out of that place. 4 Ye shall not do so unto Jehovah your God;
5 but unto the place which Jehovah your God will choose out of all your tribes to set his name there, his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come; 6 and thither ye shall bring your burnt-offerings and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and your vows, and your voluntary-offerings, and the firstlings of your kine and of your sheep; 7 and ye shall eat there before Jehovah your God, and ye shall rejoice, ye and your households, in all the business of your hand, wherein Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee. 8 Ye shall not do after all that we do here this day, each one whatever is right in his own eyes. 9 For ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which Jehovah thy God giveth thee. 10 But when ye have gone over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which Jehovah your God causeth you to inherit, and when he hath given you rest from all your enemies round about, and ye dwell in safety, 11 then there shall be a place which Jehovah your God will choose to cause his name to dwell there; thither shall ye bring all that I command you: your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye shall vow to Jehovah. 12 And ye shall rejoice before Jehovah your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your bondmen, and your handmaids, and the Levite that is within your gates; for he hath no portion nor inheritance with you. 13 Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place that thou seest; 14 but in the place which Jehovah will choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee. 15 Nevertheless, according to all the desire of thy soul thou mayest slay and eat flesh in all thy gates, according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the gazelle, and the hart. 16 Only, ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it upon the earth as water. 17 Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, or of thy new wine, or of thine oil, or the firstlings of thy kine or of thy sheep, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy voluntary-offerings, nor the heave-offering of thy hand; 18 but before Jehovah thy God shalt thou eat them in the place which Jehovah thy God will choose, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy bondman, and thy handmaid, and the Levite that is within thy gates; and thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God in all the business of thy hand. 19 Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite all the days thou shalt be in thy land. 20 When Jehovah thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he promised thee, and thou say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul longeth to eat flesh, thou mayest eat flesh, according to all the desire of thy soul. 21 If the place which Jehovah thy God will choose to set his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt slay of thy kine and of thy sheep which Jehovah hath given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates according to all the desire of thy soul. 22 Even as the gazelle and the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat them: the unclean and the clean alike may eat of them. 23 Only, be sure that thou eat not the blood; for the blood is the life, and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh; 24 thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water: 25 thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah. 26 But thy hallowed things which thou hast, and what thou hast vowed, thou shalt take, and come to the place which Jehovah will choose; 27 and thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of Jehovah thy God; and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of Jehovah thy God, and the flesh shalt thou eat. 28 Take heed to hear all these words which I command thee, that it may be well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest what is good and right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God.
29 When Jehovah thy God cutteth off from before thee the nations whither thou goest, to take possession of them, and thou hast dispossessed them, and dwellest in their land, 30 take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared [to follow] after them, after that they are destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise. 31 Thou shalt not do so to Jehovah thy God; for every [thing that is] abomination to Jehovah, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters have they burned in the fire to their gods. 32 Everything that I command you, ye shall take heed to do it; thou shalt not add thereto, nor take from it.
121 And he began to say to them in parables, A man planted a vineyard, and made a fence round [it] and dug a wine-vat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and left the country. 2 And he sent a bondman to the husbandmen at the season, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they took him, and beat [him], and sent [him] away empty. 4 And again he sent to them another bondman; and [at] him they [threw stones, and] struck [him] on the head, and sent [him] away with insult. 5 And [again] he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some. 6 Having yet therefore one beloved son, he sent also him to them the last, saying, They will have respect for my son. 7 But those husbandmen said to one another, This is the heir: come, let us kill him and the inheritance will be ours. 8 And they took him and killed him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard. 9 What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard to others. 10 Have ye not even read this scripture, The stone which they that builded rejected, this has become the corner-stone: 11 this is of [the] Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes? 12 And they sought to lay hold of him, and they feared the crowd; for they knew that he had spoken the parable of them. And they left him and went away.
13 And they send to him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, that they might catch him in speaking. 14 And they come and say to him, Teacher, we know that thou art true, and carest not for any one; for thou regardest not men's person, but teachest the way of God with truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not? 15 Should we give, or should we not give? But he knowing their hypocrisy said unto them, Why tempt ye me? Bring me a denarius that I may see [it]. 16 And they brought [it]. And he says to them, Whose [is] this image and superscription? And they said to him, Caesar's. 17 And Jesus answering said to them, Pay what is Caesar's to Caesar, and what is God's to God. And they wondered at him.
18 And Sadducees come to him, that say there is no resurrection; and they demanded of him saying, 19 Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if any one's brother die, and leave a wife behind, and leave no children, that his brother shall take his wife, and raise up seed to his brother. 20 There were seven brethren; and the first took a wife, and dying did not leave seed; 21 and the second took her and died, and neither did he leave seed; and the third likewise. 22 And the seven [took her and] did not leave seed. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they shall rise again, of which of them shall she be wife, for the seven had her as wife? 24 And Jesus answering said to them, Do not ye therefore err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from among [the] dead they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as angels [who are] in the heavens. 26 But concerning the dead that they rise, have ye not read in the book of Moses, in [the section of] the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, I [am] the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? 27 He is not the God of [the] dead, but of [the] living. Ye therefore greatly err.
(Read Mark 12:1-12)
Christ showed in parables, that he would lay aside the Jewish church. It is sad to think what base usage God's faithful ministers have met with in all ages, from those who have enjoyed the privileges of the church, but have not brought forth fruit answerable. God at length sent his Son, his Well-beloved; and it might be expected that he whom their Master loved, they also should respect and love; but instead of honouring him because he was the Son and Heir, they therefore hated him. But the exaltation of Christ was the Lord's doing; and it is his doing to exalt him in our hearts, and to set up his throne there; and if this be done, it cannot but be marvellous in our eyes. The Scriptures, and faithful preachers, and the coming of Christ in the flesh, call on us to render due praise to God in our lives. Let sinners beware of a proud, carnal spirit; if they revile or despise the preachers of Christ, they would have done so their Master, had they lived when he was upon earth.
(Read Mark 12:13-17)
The enemies of Christ would be thought desirous to know their duty, when really they hoped that which soever side he took of the question, they might find occasion to accuse him. Nothing is more likely to insnare the followers of Christ, than bringing them to meddle with disputes about worldly politics. Jesus avoided the snare, by referring to the submission they had already made as a nation; and all that heard him, marvelled at the great wisdom of his answer. Many will praise the words of a sermon, who will not be commanded by the doctrines of it.
(Read Mark 12:18-27)
A right knowledge of the Scripture, as the fountain whence all revealed religion now flows, and the foundation on which it is built, is the best preservative against error. Christ put aside the objection of the Sadducees, who were the scoffing infidels of that day, by setting the doctrine of the future state in a true light. The relation between husband and wife, though appointed in the earthly paradise, will not be known in the heavenly one. It is no wonder if we confuse ourselves with foolish errors, when we form our ideas of the world of spirits by the affairs of this world of sense. It is absurd to think that the living God should be the portion and happiness of a man if he is for ever dead; and therefore it is certain that Abraham's soul exists and acts, though now for a time separate from the body. Those that deny the resurrection greatly err, and ought to be told so. Let us seek to pass through this dying world, with a joyful hope of eternal happiness, and of a glorious resurrection.
