The Second Tablets of Stone

101 'At that time hath Jehovah said unto me, Grave for thee two tables of stone, like the first, and come up unto Me, into the mount, and thou hast made for thee an ark of wood, 2 and I write on the tables the words which were on the first tables, which thou hast broken, and thou hast placed them in the ark; 3 and I make an ark of shittim wood, and grave two tables of stone like the first, and go up to the mount, and the two tables in my hand. 4 'And He writeth on the tables, according to the first writing, the Ten Matters, which Jehovah hath spoken unto you in the mount, out of the midst of the fire, in the day of the assembly, and Jehovah giveth them unto me, 5 and I turn and come down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made, and they are there, as Jehovah commanded me. 6 'And the sons of Israel have journeyed from Beeroth of the sons of Jaakan to Mosera, there Aaron died, and he is buried there, and Eleazar his son doth act as priest in his stead; 7 thence they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water. 8 'At that time hath Jehovah separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, to stand before Jehovah, to serve Him, and to bless in His name, unto this day, 9 therefore there hath not been to Levi a portion and inheritance with his brethren; Jehovah Himself 'is' his inheritance, as Jehovah thy God hath spoken to him. 10 'And I—I have stood in the mount, as the former days, forty days and forty nights, and Jehovah hearkeneth unto me also at that time; Jehovah hath not willed to destroy thee. 11 'And Jehovah saith unto me, Rise, go to journey before the people, and they go in and possess the land which I have sworn to their fathers to give to them.

What God Requires

12 'And now, Israel, what is Jehovah thy God asking from thee, except 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 commands of Jehovah, and His statutes which I am commanding thee to-day, for good to thee? 14 'Lo, to Jehovah thy God 'are' the heavens and the heavens of the heavens, the earth and all that 'is' in it; 15 only in thy fathers hath Jehovah delighted—to love them, and He doth fix on their seed after them—on you, out of all the peoples as 'at' this day; 16 and ye have circumcised the foreskin of your heart, and your neck ye do not harden any more; 17 for Jehovah your God—He 'is' God of the gods, and Lord of the lords; God, the great, the mighty, and the fearful; who accepteth not persons, nor taketh a bribe; 18 He is doing the judgment of fatherless and widow, and loving the sojourner, to give to him bread and raiment. 19 'And ye have loved the sojourner, for sojourners ye were in the land of Egypt. 20 'Jehovah thy God thou dost fear, Him thou dost serve, and to Him thou dost cleave, and by His name thou dost swear. 21 He 'is' thy praise, and He 'is' thy God, who hath done with thee these great and fearful 'things' which thine eyes have seen: 22 with seventy persons did thy fathers go down to Egypt, and now hath Jehovah thy God made thee as stars of the heavens for multitude.

The Greatness of the LORD

111 'And thou hast loved Jehovah thy God, and kept His charge, and His statutes, and His judgments, and His commands, all the days; 2 and ye have known to-day—for it is not your sons who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Jehovah your God, His greatness, His strong hand, and His stretched-out arm, 3 and His signs, and His doings, which He hath done in the midst of Egypt, to Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to all his land; 4 and that which He hath done to the force of Egypt, to its horses, and to its chariot, when He hath caused the waters of the Red Sea to flow against their faces in their pursuing after them, and Jehovah destroyeth them, unto this day; 5 and that which He hath done to you in the wilderness, till your coming in unto this place; 6 and that which He hath done to Dathan, and to Abiram, sons of Eliab, sons of Reuben, when the earth hath opened her mouth and swalloweth them, and their houses, and their tents, and all that liveth, which is at their feet, in the midst of all Israel: 7 '—But 'it is' your eyes which are seeing all the great work of Jehovah, which He hath done;

The Blessings of the Promised Land

8 and ye have kept all the command which I am commanding thee to-day, so that ye are strong, and have gone in, and possessed the land whither ye are passing over to possess it, 9 and so that ye prolong days on the ground which Jehovah hath sworn to your fathers to give to them and to their seed—a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 'For the land whither thou art going in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt whence ye have come out, where thou sowest thy seed, and hast watered with thy foot, as a garden of the green herb; 11 but the land whither ye are passing over to possess it, 'is' a land of hills and valleys; of the rain of the heavens it drinketh water; 12 a land which Jehovah thy God is searching; continually 'are' the eyes of Jehovah thy God upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the latter end of the year. 13 'And it hath been—if thou hearken diligently unto My commands which I am commanding you to-day, to love Jehovah your God, and to serve Him with all your heart, and with all your soul— 14 that I have given the rain of your land in its season—sprinkling and gathered—and thou hast gathered thy corn, and thy new wine, and thine oil, 15 and I have given herbs in thy field for thy cattle, and thou hast eaten, and been satisfied. 16 'Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be enticed, and ye have turned aside, and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them, 17 and the anger of Jehovah hath burned against you, and He hath restrained the heavens, and there is no rain, and the ground doth not give her increase, and ye have perished hastily from off the good land which Jehovah is giving to you.

18 'And ye have placed these my words on your heart, and on your soul, and have bound them for a sign on your hand, and they have been for frontlets between your eyes; 19 and ye have taught them to your sons, by speaking of them in thy sitting in thy house, and in thy going in the way, and in thy lying down, and in thy rising up, 20 and hast written them on the side-posts of thy house, and on thy gates, 21 so that your days are multiplied, and the days of your sons, on the ground which Jehovah hath sworn to your fathers to give to them, as the days of the heavens on the earth. 22 'For, if ye diligently keep all this command which I am commanding you—to do it, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him, 23 then hath Jehovah dispossessed all these nations from before you, and ye have possessed nations, greater and mightier than you; 24 every place on which the sole of your foot treadeth is yours; from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Phrat, even unto the farther sea is your border; 25 no man doth station himself in your presence; your dread and your fear doth Jehovah your God put on the face of all the land on which ye tread, as He hath spoken to you.

26 'See, I am setting before you to-day a blessing and a reviling: 27 the blessing, when ye hearken unto the commands of Jehovah your God, which I am commanding you to-day; 28 and the reviling, if ye do not hearken unto the commands of Jehovah your God, and have turned aside out of the way which I am commanding you to-day, to go after other gods which ye have not known. 29 'And it hath been, when Jehovah thy God doth bring thee in unto the land whither thou art going in to possess it, that thou hast given the blessing on mount Gerizim, and the reviling on mount Ebal; 30 are they not beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going in of the sun, in the land of the Canaanite, who is dwelling in the plain over-against Gilgal, near the oaks of Moreh? 31 for ye are passing over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God is giving to you; and ye have possessed it, and dwelt in it, 32 and observed to do all the statutes and the judgments which I am setting before you to day.

Only One Place of Worship

121 'These 'are' the statutes and the judgments which ye observe to do in the land which Jehovah, God of thy fathers, hath given to thee to possess it, all the days that ye are living on the ground: 2 ye do utterly destroy all the places where the nations which ye are dispossessing served their gods, on the high mountains, and on the heights, and under every green tree; 3 and ye have broken down their altars, and shivered their standing pillars, and their shrines ye burn with fire, and graven images of their gods ye cut down, and have destroyed their name out of that place. 4 'Ye do not do so to Jehovah your God;

5 but unto the place which Jehovah your God doth choose out of all your tribes to put His name there, to His tabernacle ye seek, and thou hast entered thither, 6 and hast brought in thither your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and your vows, and your free-will offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock; 7 and ye have eaten there before Jehovah your God, and have rejoiced in every putting forth of your hand, ye and your households, with which Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee. 8 'Ye do not do according to all that we are doing here to-day, each anything that is right in his own eyes, 9 for ye have not come in hitherto unto the rest, and unto the inheritance, which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee; 10 and ye have passed over the Jordan, and have dwelt in the land which Jehovah your God is causing you to inherit, and He hath given rest to you from all your enemies round about, and ye have dwelt confidently: 11 'And it hath been, the place on which Jehovah your God doth fix to cause His name to tabernacle there, thither ye bring in all that which I am commanding you, your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and all the choice of your vows which ye vow to Jehovah; 12 and ye have rejoiced before Jehovah your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men-servants, and your handmaids, and the Levite who 'is' within your gates, for he hath no part and inheritance with you. 13 'Take heed to thee, lest thou cause thy burnt-offerings to ascend in any place which thou seest, 14 except in the place which Jehovah doth choose in one of thy tribes, there thou dost cause thy burnt-offerings to ascend, and there thou dost do all that which I am commanding thee. 15 'Only, with all the desire of thy soul thou dost sacrifice, and hast eaten flesh according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which He hath given to thee, in all thy gates; the unclean and the clean do eat it, as of the roe, and as of the hart. 16 'Only, the blood ye do not eat—on the earth thou dost pour it as water; 17 thou art not able to eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn, and of thy new wine, and thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herd and of thy flock, and any of thy vows which thou vowest, and thy free-will offerings, and heave-offering of thy hand; 18 but before Jehovah thy God thou dost eat it, in the place which Jehovah thy God doth fix on, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy handmaid, and the Levite who 'is' within thy gates, and thou hast rejoiced before Jehovah thy God in every putting forth of thy hand; 19 take heed to thee lest thou forsake the Levite all thy days on thy ground. 20 'When Jehovah thy God doth enlarge thy border, as He hath spoken to thee, and thou hast said, Let me eat flesh—for thy soul desireth to eat flesh—of all the desire of thy soul thou dost eat flesh. 21 'When the place is far from thee which Jehovah thy God doth choose to put His name there, then thou hast sacrificed of thy herd and of thy flock which Jehovah hath given to thee, as I have commanded thee, and hast eaten within thy gates, of all the desire of thy soul; 22 only, as the roe and the hart is eaten, so dost thou eat it; the unclean and the clean doth alike eat it. 23 'Only, be sure not to eat the blood, for the blood 'is' the life, and thou dost not eat the life with the flesh; 24 thou dost not eat it, on the earth thou dost pour it as water; 25 thou dost not eat it, in order that it may be well with thee, and with thy sons after thee, when thou dost that which 'is' right in the eyes of Jehovah. 26 'Only, thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou dost take up, and hast gone in unto the place which Jehovah doth choose, 27 and thou hast made thy burnt-offerings—the flesh and the blood—on the altar of Jehovah thy God; and the blood of thy sacrifices is poured out by the altar of Jehovah thy God, and the flesh thou dost eat. 28 Observe, and thou hast obeyed all these words which I am commanding thee, in order that it may be well with thee and with thy sons after thee—to the age, when thou dost that which 'is' good and right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God.

Warning against Idolatry

29 'When Jehovah thy God doth cut off the nations—whither thou art going in to possess them—from thy presence, and thou hast possessed them, and hast dwelt in their land— 30 take heed to thee, lest thou be snared after them, after their being destroyed out of thy presence, and lest thou enquire about their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods, and I do so—even I? 31 'Thou dost not do so to Jehovah thy God; for every abomination of Jehovah which He is hating they have done to their gods, for even their sons and their daughters they burn with fire to their gods. 32 The whole thing which I am commanding you—it ye observe to do; thou dost not add unto it, nor diminish from it.

The Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen

121 And he began to speak to them in similes: 'A man planted a vineyard, and put a hedge around, and digged an under-winevat, and built a tower, and gave it out to husbandmen, and went abroad; 2 and he sent unto the husbandmen at the due time a servant, that from the husbandmen he may receive from the fruit of the vineyard, 3 and they, having taken him, did severely beat 'him', and did send him away empty. 4 'And again he sent unto them another servant, and at that one having cast stones, they wounded 'him' in the head, and sent away—dishonoured. 5 'And again he sent another, and that one they killed; and many others, some beating, and some killing. 6 'Having yet therefore one son—his beloved—he sent also him unto them last, saying—They will reverence my son; 7 and those husbandmen said among themselves—This is the heir, come, we may kill him, and ours shall be the inheritance; 8 and having taken him, they did kill, and cast 'him' forth without 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 And this Writing did ye not read: A stone that the builders rejected, it did become the head of a corner: 11 from the Lord was this, and it is wonderful in our eyes.' 12 And they were seeking to lay hold on him, and they feared the multitude, for they knew that against them he spake the simile, and having left him, they went away;

Paying Taxes to Caesar

13 and they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, that they may ensnare him in discourse, 14 and they having come, say to him, 'Teacher, we have known that thou art true, and thou art not caring for any one, for thou dost not look to the face of men, but in truth the way of God dost teach; is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not? may we give, or may we not give?' 15 And he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, 'Why me do ye tempt? bring me a denary, that I may see;' 16 and they brought, and he saith to them, 'Whose 'is' this image, and the inscription?' and they said to him, 'Caesar's;' 17 and Jesus answering said to them, 'Give back the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of God to God;' and they did wonder at him.

The Question about the Resurrection

18 And the Sadducees come unto him, who say there is not a rising again, and they questioned him, saying, 19 'Teacher, Moses wrote to us, that if any one's brother may die, and may leave a wife, and may leave no children, that his brother may take his wife, and raise up seed to his brother. 20 'There were then seven brothers, and the first took a wife, and dying, he left no seed; 21 and the second took her, and died, neither left he seed, and the third in like manner, 22 and the seven took her, and left no seed, last of all died also the woman; 23 in the rising again, then, whenever they may rise, of which of them shall she be wife—for the seven had her as wife?' 24 And Jesus answering said to them, 'Do ye not because of this go astray, not knowing the Writings, nor the power of God? 25 for when they may rise out of the dead, they neither marry nor are they given in marriage, but are as messengers who are in the heavens. 26 'And concerning the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in the Book of Moses (at The Bush), how God spake 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 dead men, but a God of living men; ye then go greatly astray.'

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Mark 12:1-27

Commentary on Mark 12:1-12

(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.

Commentary on Mark 12:13-17

(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.

Commentary on Mark 12:18-27

(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.