Bible Reading Plan

Chapter 31

Joshua to Succeed Moses

¹ Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: ² "I am now a hundred and twenty years old^(a) and I am no longer able to lead you.^(b) The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.'^{(c) 3} The Lord your God himself will cross^(d) over ahead of you.^(e) He will destroy these nations^(f) before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross^(g) over ahead of you, as the Lord said. ⁴ And the Lord will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og,^(h) the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land. ⁵ The Lord will deliver⁽ⁱ⁾ them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous.^(j) Do not be afraid or terrified^(k) because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you;^(l) he will never leave you^(m) nor forsake⁽ⁿ⁾ you."

⁷ Then Moses summoned Joshua and said^(o) to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them,^(p) and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. ⁸ The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you;^(q) he will never leave you nor forsake you.^(r) Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Public Reading of the Law

⁹ So Moses wrote^(s) down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried^(t) the ark of the covenant of the Lord , and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ Then Moses commanded them: "At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts,^(u) during the Festival of Tabernacles,^{(v) 11} when all Israel comes to appear^(w) before the Lord your God at the place he will choose,^(x) you shall read this law^(y) before them in their hearing. ¹² Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn^(z) to fear^(aa) the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. ¹³ Their children,^(ab) who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess."

Israel's Rebellion Predicted

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, "Now the day of your death^(ac) is near. Call Joshua^(ad) and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.^(ae)" So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.^(af)

¹⁵ Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.^{(ag) 16} And the Lord said to Moses: "You are going to rest with your ancestors,^(ah) and these people will soon prostitute^(ai) themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake^(aj) me and break the covenant I made with them. ¹⁷ And in that day I will become angry^(ak) with them and forsake^(al) them; I will hide^(am) my face^(an) from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters^(ao) and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?'^{(ap) 18} And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

¹⁹ "Now write^(aq) down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness^(ar) for me against them. ²⁰ When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors,^(as) and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods^(at) and worship them,^(au) rejecting me and breaking my covenant.^{(av) 21} And when many disasters and calamities come on them,^(aw) this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do,^(ax) even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath." ²² So Moses wrote^(ay) down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.

²³ The Lord gave this command^(az) to Joshua son of Nun: "Be strong and courageous,^(ba) for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you."

²⁴ After Moses finished writing^(bb) in a book the words of this law^(bc) from beginning to end, ²⁵ he gave this command to the Levites who carried^(bd) the ark of the covenant of the Lord : ²⁶ "Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.^{(be) 27} For I know how rebellious^(bf) and stiff-necked^(bg) you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! ²⁸ Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.^{(bh) 29} For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt^(bi) and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster^(bj) will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made."

The Song of Moses

³⁰ And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

Chapter 7

²³ "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. ²⁴ He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. ²⁵ Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. ²⁶ The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?'

²⁷ "But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?^{(af) 28} Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?'^{[e] 29} When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.^(ag)

³⁰ "After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. ³¹ When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to get a closer look, he heard the Lord say:^{(ah) 32} ‘I am the God of your fathers,^(ai) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.'^[f] Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.^(aj)

³³ "Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.^{(ak) 34} I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.'^[g](al)

³⁵ "This is the same Moses they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?'^(am) He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ He led them out of Egypt^(an) and performed wonders and signs^(ao) in Egypt, at the Red Sea^(ap) and for forty years in the wilderness.^(aq)

³⁷ "This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your own people.'^{[h](ar) 38} He was in the assembly in the wilderness, with the angel^(as) who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors;^(at) and he received living words^(au) to pass on to us.^(av)

³⁹ "But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.^{(aw) 40} They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don't know what has happened to him!'^{[i](ax) 41} That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.^{(ay) 42} But God turned away from them^(az) and gave them over to the worship of the sun, moon and stars.^(ba) This agrees with what is written in the book of the prophets:

⁴⁴ "Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law^(bc) with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.^{(bd) 45} After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them.^(be) It remained in the land until the time of David,^{(bf) 46} who enjoyed God's favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.^{[k](bg) 47} But it was Solomon who built a house for him.^(bh)

⁴⁸ "However, the Most High^(bi) does not live in houses made by human hands.^(bj) As the prophet says:

⁵¹ "You stiff-necked people!^(bm) Your hearts^(bn) and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! ⁵² Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute?^(bo) They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him^(bp)— ⁵³ you who have received the law that was given through angels^(bq) but have not obeyed it."

The Stoning of Stephen

⁵⁴ When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious^(br) and gnashed their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit,^(bs) looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.^{(bt) 56} "Look," he said, "I see heaven open^(bu) and the Son of Man^(bv) standing at the right hand of God."

⁵⁷ At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, ⁵⁸ dragged him out of the city^(bw) and began to stone him.^(bx) Meanwhile, the witnesses^(by) laid their coats^(bz) at the feet of a young man named Saul.^(ca)

⁵⁹ While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."^{(cb) 60} Then he fell on his knees^(cc) and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them."^(cd) When he had said this, he fell asleep.^(ce)