Deuteronomy 29 (Listen)

The Covenant Renewed in Moab

1 These are the words of the covenant that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb.

2 And Moses summoned 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, 3 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. 5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet. 6 You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. 7 And when you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them. 8 We took their land and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites. 9 Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

10 “You are standing today, all of you, before the LORD your God: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, 12 so that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is making with you today, 13 that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he promised you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14 It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant, 15 but with whoever is standing here with us today before the LORD our God, and with whoever is not here with us today.

16 “You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed. 17 And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them. 18 Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from the LORD our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, 19 one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. 20 The LORD will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the LORD and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And the LORD will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. 22 And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the LORD has made it sick—23 the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger and wrath—24 all the nations will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. 27 Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book, 28 and the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as they are this day.’

29 “The 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.

(ESV)

Proverbs 18 (Listen)

1   Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;
    he breaks out against all sound judgment.
2   A fool takes no pleasure in understanding,
    but only in expressing his opinion.
3   When wickedness comes, contempt comes also,
    and with dishonor comes disgrace.
4   The words of a man’s mouth are deep waters;
    the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook.
5   It is not good to be partial to the wicked
    or to deprive the righteous of justice.
6   A fool’s lips walk into a fight,
    and his mouth invites a beating.
7   A fool’s mouth is his ruin,
    and his lips are a snare to his soul.
8   The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
    they go down into the inner parts of the body.
9   Whoever is slack in his work
    is a brother to him who destroys.
10   The name of the LORD is a strong tower;
    the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
11   A rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
    and like a high wall in his imagination.
12   Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty,
    but humility comes before honor.
13   If one gives an answer before he hears,
    it is his folly and shame.
14   A man’s spirit will endure sickness,
    but a crushed spirit who can bear?
15   An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,
    and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
16   A man’s gift makes room for him
    and brings him before the great.
17   The one who states his case first seems right,
    until the other comes and examines him.
18   The lot puts an end to quarrels
    and decides between powerful contenders.
19   A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city,
    and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.
20   From the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach is satisfied;
    he is satisfied by the yield of his lips.
21   Death and life are in the power of the tongue,
    and those who love it will eat its fruits.
22   He who finds a wife finds a good thing
    and obtains favor from the LORD.
23   The poor use entreaties,
    but the rich answer roughly.
24   A man of many companions may come to ruin,
    but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

(ESV)

Psalm 109 (Listen)

Help Me, O Lord My God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

1   Be not silent, O God of my praise!
2   For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
    speaking against me with lying tongues.
3   They encircle me with words of hate,
    and attack me without cause.
4   In return for my love they accuse me,
    but I give myself to prayer.
5   So they reward me evil for good,
    and hatred for my love.
6   Appoint a wicked man against him;
    let an accuser stand at his right hand.
7   When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
    let his prayer be counted as sin!
8   May his days be few;
    may another take his office!
9   May his children be fatherless
    and his wife a widow!
10   May his children wander about and beg,
    seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!
11   May the creditor seize all that he has;
    may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12   Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
    nor any to pity his fatherless children!
13   May his posterity be cut off;
    may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
14   May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the LORD,
    and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
15   Let them be before the LORD continually,
    that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth!
16   For he did not remember to show kindness,
    but pursued the poor and needy
    and the brokenhearted, to put them to death.
17   He loved to curse; let curses come upon him!
    He did not delight in blessing; may it be far from him!
18   He clothed himself with cursing as his coat;
    may it soak into his body like water,
    like oil into his bones!
19   May it be like a garment that he wraps around him,
    like a belt that he puts on every day!
20   May this be the reward of my accusers from the LORD,
    of those who speak evil against my life!
21   But you, O GOD my Lord,
    deal on my behalf for your name’s sake;
    because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22   For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is stricken within me.
23   I am gone like a shadow at evening;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
24   My knees are weak through fasting;
    my body has become gaunt, with no fat.
25   I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
    when they see me, they wag their heads.
26   Help me, O LORD my God!
    Save me according to your steadfast love!
27   Let them know that this is your hand;
    you, O LORD, have done it!
28   Let them curse, but you will bless!
    They arise and are put to shame, but your servant will be glad!
29   May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
    may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a cloak!
30   With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD;
    I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
31   For he stands at the right hand of the needy one,
    to save him from those who condemn his soul to death.

(ESV)