¹These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ²It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. ³Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lᴏʀᴅ had given him as commandments to them, ⁴after he had killed Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei. ⁵On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying, ⁶“The Lᴏʀᴅ our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. ⁷Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. ⁸See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lᴏʀᴅ swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’ ⁹“And I spoke to you at that time, saying: ‘I alone am not able to bear you. ¹⁰The Lᴏʀᴅ your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude. ¹¹May the Lᴏʀᴅ God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you as He has promised you! ¹²How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints? ¹³Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.’ ¹⁴And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have told us to do is good.’ ¹⁵So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes. ¹⁶Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the stranger who is with him. ¹⁷You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.’ ¹⁸And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do. ¹⁹“So we departed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the Lᴏʀᴅ our God had commanded us. Then we came to Kadesh Barnea. ²⁰And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the Lᴏʀᴅ our God is giving us. ²¹Look, the Lᴏʀᴅ your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lᴏʀᴅ God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged.’ ²²And everyone of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’ ²³The plan pleased me well; so I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. ²⁴And they departed and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. ²⁵They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a good land which the Lᴏʀᴅ our God is giving us.’ ²⁶“Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lᴏʀᴅ your God; ²⁷and you complained in your tents, and said, ‘Because the Lᴏʀᴅ hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. ²⁸Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.” ‘ ²⁹Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, or afraid of them. ³⁰The Lᴏʀᴅ your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, ³¹and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lᴏʀᴅ your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ ³²Yet, for all that, you did not believe the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, ³³who went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day. ³⁴“And the Lᴏʀᴅ heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and took an oath, saying, ³⁵‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers, ³⁶except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because he wholly followed the Lᴏʀᴅ.’ ³⁷The Lᴏʀᴅ was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you shall not go in there; ³⁸Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. ³⁹Moreover your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. ⁴⁰But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.’ ⁴¹“Then you answered and said to me, ‘We have sinned against the Lᴏʀᴅ; we will go up and fight, just as the Lᴏʀᴅ our God commanded us.’ And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain. ⁴²And the Lᴏʀᴅ said to me, ‘Tell them, “Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.” ’ ⁴³So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of the Lᴏʀᴅ, and presumptuously went up into the mountain. ⁴⁴And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you as bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah. ⁴⁵Then you returned and wept before the Lᴏʀᴅ, but the Lᴏʀᴅ would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you. ⁴⁶So you remained in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you spent there.

¹To the Chief Musician. On an instrument of Gath. A Psalm of Asaph. Sing aloud to God our strength; Make a joyful shout to the God of Jacob. ²Raise a song and strike the timbrel, The pleasant harp with the lute. ³Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon, At the full moon, on our solemn feast day. ⁴For this is a statute for Israel, A law of the God of Jacob. ⁵This He established in Joseph as a testimony, When He went throughout the land of Egypt, Where I heard a language I did not understand. ⁶“I removed his shoulder from the burden; His hands were freed from the baskets. ⁷You called in trouble, and I delivered you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah ⁸“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me! ⁹There shall be no foreign god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god. ¹⁰I am the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. ¹¹“But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. ¹²So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels. ¹³“Oh, that My people would listen to Me, That Israel would walk in My ways! ¹⁴I would soon subdue their enemies, And turn My hand against their adversaries. ¹⁵The haters of the Lᴏʀᴅ would pretend submission to Him, But their fate would endure forever. ¹⁶He would have fed them also with the finest of wheat; And with honey from the rock I would have satisfied you.”

¹A Psalm of Asaph. God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods. ²How long will you judge unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked? Selah ³Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. ⁴Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked. ⁵They do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable. ⁶I said, “You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High. ⁷But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes.” ⁸Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.

¹“Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! Add year to year; Let feasts come around. ²Yet I will distress Ariel; There shall be heaviness and sorrow, And it shall be to Me as Ariel. ³I will encamp against you all around, I will lay siege against you with a mound, And I will raise siegeworks against you. ⁴You shall be brought down, You shall speak out of the ground; Your speech shall be low, out of the dust; Your voice shall be like a medium’s, out of the ground; And your speech shall whisper out of the dust. ⁵“Moreover the multitude of your foes Shall be like fine dust, And the multitude of the terrible ones Like chaff that passes away; Yes, it shall be in an instant, suddenly. ⁶You will be punished by the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts With thunder and earthquake and great noise, With storm and tempest And the flame of devouring fire. ⁷The multitude of all the nations who fight against Ariel, Even all who fight against her and her fortress, And distress her, Shall be as a dream of a night vision. ⁸It shall even be as when a hungry man dreams, And look—he eats; But he awakes, and his soul is still empty; Or as when a thirsty man dreams, And look—he drinks; But he awakes, and indeed he is faint, And his soul still craves: So the multitude of all the nations shall be, Who fight against Mount Zion.” ⁹Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink. ¹⁰For the Lᴏʀᴅ has poured out on you The spirit of deep sleep, And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers. ¹¹The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” ¹²Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, “Read this, please.” And he says, “I am not literate.” ¹³Therefore the Lᴏʀᴅ said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, ¹⁴Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.” ¹⁵Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lᴏʀᴅ, And their works are in the dark; They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?” ¹⁶Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, “He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? ¹⁷Is it not yet a very little while Till Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field, And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest? ¹⁸In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. ¹⁹The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lᴏʀᴅ, And the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel. ²⁰For the terrible one is brought to nothing, The scornful one is consumed, And all who watch for iniquity are cut off— ²¹Who make a man an offender by a word, And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, And turn aside the just by empty words. ²²Therefore thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall not now be ashamed, Nor shall his face now grow pale; ²³But when he sees his children, The work of My hands, in his midst, They will hallow My name, And hallow the Holy One of Jacob, And fear the God of Israel. ²⁴These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, And those who complained will learn doctrine.”

¹The Elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth: ²Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. ³For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. ⁴I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. ⁵Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, ⁶who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, ⁷because they went forth for His name’s sake, taking nothing from the Gentiles. ⁸We therefore ought to receive such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth. ⁹I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. ¹⁰Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. ¹¹Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God. ¹²Demetrius has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also bear witness, and you know that our testimony is true. ¹³I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink; ¹⁴but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face. Peace to you. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name. ¹⁵[No text]