Through the Bible – Day 62

₁Israel, listen to me! You will soon cross the River Jordan and go into the land to force out the nations that live there. They are more powerful than you are, and the walls around their cities reach to the sky. ₂Some of these nations are descendants of the Anakim. You know how tall and strong they are, and you've heard that no one can defeat them in battle. ₃But the LORD your God has promised to go ahead of you, like a raging fire burning everything in its path. So when you attack your enemies, it will be easy for you to destroy them and take their land.

_4-6After the LORD helps you wipe out these nations and conquer their land, don't think he did it because you are such good people. You aren't good—you are stubborn! No, the LORD is going to help you, because the nations that live there are evil, and because he wants to keep the promise he made to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

₇Don't ever forget how you kept rebelling and making the LORD angry the whole time you were in the desert. You rebelled from the day you left Egypt until the day you arrived here.

₈At Mount Sinai you made the LORD so angry that he was going to destroy you. _9-11It happened during those forty days and nights that I was on the mountain, without anything to eat or drink. He had told me to come up there so he could give me the agreement he made with us. And this agreement was actually the same Ten Commandments he had announced to you when he spoke from the fire on the mountain. The LORD had written them on two flat stones with his own hand. But after giving me the two stones, ₁₂he said:

₁₅Fire was raging on the mountaintop as I went back down, carrying the two stones with the commandments on them. ₁₆I saw how quickly you had sinned and disobeyed the LORD your God. There you were, worshipping the metal idol you had made in the shape of a calf. ₁₇So I threw down the two stones and smashed them before your very eyes.

_18-20I bowed down at the place of worship and prayed to the LORD, without eating or drinking for forty days and nights. You had committed a terrible sin by making that idol, and the LORD hated what you had done. He was angry enough to destroy all of you and Aaron as well. So I prayed for you and Aaron as I had done before, and this time the LORD answered my prayers.

₂₁It was a sin for you to make that idol, so I threw it into the fire to melt it down. Then I took the lump of gold, ground it into powder, and threw the powder into the stream flowing down the mountain.

₂₂You also made the LORD angry when you were staying at Taberah, at Massah, and at Kibroth-Hattaavah. ₂₃Then at Kadesh-Barnea the LORD said, “I am giving you the land, so go ahead and take it!” But since you didn't trust the LORD, you rebelled and disobeyed his command. ₂₄In fact, you've rebelled against the LORD for as long as he has known you.

₂₅After you had made the idol in the shape of a calf, the LORD said he was going to destroy you. So I bowed down in front of the sacred tent for forty days and nights, ₂₆and I prayed:

₁The LORD told me to chisel out two flat stones, just like the ones he had given me earlier. He also commanded me to make a wooden chest, then come up the mountain and meet with him. ₂He told me that he would write the same words on the new stones that he had written on the ones I broke, and that I could put these stones in this sacred chest.

₃So I made a chest out of acacia wood, and I chiselled two flat stones like the ones I broke. Then I carried the stones up the mountain, ₄where the LORD wrote the Ten Commandments on them, just as he had done the first time. The commandments were exactly what he had announced from the fire, when you were gathered at the mountain.

After the LORD returned the stones to me, ₅I took them down the mountainside and put them in the chest, just as he had commanded. And they are still there.

₆Later we set up camp at the wells belonging to the descendants of Jaakan. Then we moved on and camped at Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, and his son Eleazar became the priest. ₇Next, we camped at Gudgodah and then at Jotbathah, where there are flowing streams.

₈After I put the two stones in the sacred chest, the LORD chose the tribe of Levi, not only to carry the chest, but also to serve as his priests at the place of worship and to bless the other tribes in his name. And they still do these things. ₉The LORD promised that he would always provide for the tribe of Levi, and that's why he won't give them any land, when he divides it among the other tribes.

₁₀When I had taken the second set of stones up the mountain, I spent forty days and nights there, just as I had done before. Once again, the LORD answered my prayer and did not destroy you. ₁₁Instead, he told me, “Moses, get ready to lead the people into the land that I promised their ancestors.”

₁₂People of Israel, what does the LORD your God want from you? The LORD wants you to respect and follow him, to love and serve him with all your heart and soul, ₁₃and to obey his laws and teachings that I am giving you today. Do this, and all will go well for you.

₁₄Everything belongs to the LORD your God, not only the earth and everything on it, but also the sky and the highest heavens. ₁₅Yet the LORD loved your ancestors and wanted them to belong to him. So he chose them and their descendants rather than any other nation, and today you are still his people.

₁₆Remember your agreement with the LORD and stop being so stubborn. ₁₇The LORD your God is more powerful than all other gods and lords, and his tremendous power is to be feared. His decisions are always fair, and you cannot bribe him to change his mind. ₁₈The LORD defends the rights of orphans and widows. He cares for foreigners and gives them food and clothing. ₁₉And you should also care for them, because you were foreigners in Egypt.

₂₀Respect the LORD your God, serve only him, and make promises in his name alone. ₂₁Offer your praises to him, because you have seen him work such terrifying miracles for you.

₂₂When your ancestors went to live in Egypt, there were only seventy of them. But the LORD has blessed you, and now there are more of you than there are stars in the sky.

₁₄Jesus called the crowd together again and said, “Pay attention and try to understand what I mean. _15-16The food that you put into your mouth doesn't make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean.”

₁₇After Jesus and his disciples had left the crowd and had gone into the house, they asked him what these sayings meant. ₁₈He answered, “Don't you know what I am talking about by now? Surely you know that the food you put into your mouth cannot make you unclean. ₁₉It doesn't go into your heart, but into your stomach, and then out of your body.” By saying this, Jesus meant that all foods were fit to eat.

₂₀Then Jesus said:

₂₄Jesus left and went to the region near the city of Tyre, where he stayed in someone's home. He did not want people to know he was there, but they found out anyway. ₂₅A woman whose daughter had an evil spirit in her heard where Jesus was. And straight away she came and knelt down at his feet. ₂₆The woman was Greek and had been born in the part of Syria known as Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to force the demon out of her daughter. ₂₇But Jesus said, “The children must first be fed! It isn't right to take away their food and feed it to dogs.”

₂₈The woman replied, “Lord, even dogs eat the crumbs that children drop from the table.”

₂₉Jesus answered, “That's true! You may go now. The demon has left your daughter.” ₃₀When the woman got back home, she found her child lying on the bed. The demon had gone.

₃₁Jesus left the region around Tyre and went by way of Sidon towards Lake Galilee. He went through the land near the ten cities known as Decapolis. ₃₂Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. They begged Jesus just to touch him.

₃₃After Jesus had taken him aside from the crowd, he stuck his fingers in the man's ears. Then he spat and put the spit on the man's tongue. ₃₄Jesus looked up towards heaven, and with a groan he said, “Effatha!” which means “Open up!” ₃₅At once the man could hear, and he had no more trouble talking clearly.

₃₆Jesus told the people not to say anything about what he had done. But the more he told them, the more they talked about it. ₃₇They were completely amazed and said, “Everything he does is good! He even heals people who cannot hear or talk.”