Moses’ Final Blessing on Israel
1 This is the blessing with which Moses ythe man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. 2 He said,
z“The Lord came from Sinai
and dawned from Seir upon us;1
he shone forth from Mount Paran;
he came afrom the ten thousands of holy ones,
with flaming fire2 at his right hand.
call his holy ones were in his4 hand;
dso they followed5 in your steps,
receiving direction from you,
4 when eMoses commanded us a law,
as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.
5 Thus the Lord6 fbecame king in gJeshurun,
when the heads of the people were gathered,
all the tribes of Israel together.
6 h“Let Reuben live, and not die,
but let his men be few.”
7 And this he said of Judah:
“Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,
and bring him in to his people.
With your hands contend7 for him,
and be a help against his adversaries.”
8 And iof Levi he said,
and your Urim to your godly one,
kwhom you tested at Massah,
with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;
9 who said of his father and mother,
‘I regard them not’;
lhe disowned his brothers
and ignored his children.
For mthey observed your word
and kept your covenant.
10 nThey shall teach Jacob your rules
and Israel your law;
othey shall put incense before you
and pwhole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
and qaccept the work of his hands;
crush the loins of his adversaries,
of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”
12 rOf Benjamin he said,
“The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety.
The High God9 surrounds him all day long,
and dwells between his shoulders.”
13 And sof Joseph he said,
t“Blessed by the Lord be his land,
with the choicest gifts of heaven uabove,10
and of the deep that crouches beneath,
14 with the choicest fruits of the sun
and the rich yield of the months,
15 with the finest produce of the ancient mountains
and the abundance of vthe everlasting hills,
16 with the best gifts of the earth and wits fullness
and the favor of xhim who dwells in the bush.
May these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.
17 yA firstborn bull11—he has majesty,
and his horns are the horns of a zwild ox;
with them ahe shall gore the peoples,
all of them, to the ends of the earth;
bthey are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”
18 And of Zebulun he said,
c“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,
and Issachar, in your tents.
19 They shall call peoples dto their mountain;
there they offer eright sacrifices;
for they draw from the abundance of the seas
and the hidden treasures of the sand.”
20 And fof Gad he said,
“Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!
Gad crouches glike a lion;
he tears off arm and scalp.
21 hHe chose the best of the land for himself,
for there a commander’s portion was reserved;
and ihe came with the heads of the people,
with Israel he executed the justice of the Lord,
and his judgments for Israel.”
22 And jof Dan he said,
k“Dan is a lion’s cub
lthat leaps from Bashan.”
23 And mof Naphtali he said,
“O Naphtali, sated with favor,
and full of the blessing of the Lord,
24 And oof Asher he said,
“Most blessed of sons be Asher;
let him be the favorite of his brothers,
and let him pdip his foot in oil.
25 Your bars shall be iron and bronze,
and as your days, so shall your strength be.
26 q“There is none like God, O rJeshurun,
swho rides through the heavens to your help,
through the skies in his majesty.
27 The eternal God is your tdwelling place,13
and underneath are the everlasting arms.14
And he thrust out the enemy before you
and said, ‘Destroy.’
28 So Israel lived in safety,
in a land of grain and wine,
whose heavens drop down dew.
29 Happy are you, O Israel! wWho is like you,
a people xsaved by the Lord,
ythe shield of your help,
and the sword of your triumph!
Your enemies shall come fawning to you,
and you shall tread upon their backs.”
The Death of Moses
1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab ato Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, 2 all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah bas far as the western sea, 3 cthe Negeb, and dthe Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho ethe city of palm trees, as far as fZoar. 4 And the Lord said to him, g“This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ hI have let you see it with your eyes, but iyou shall not go over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, 6 and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but jno one knows the place of his burial to this day. 7 kMoses was 120 years old when he died. lHis eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. 8 And the people of Israel mwept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of nthe spirit of wisdom, for oMoses had laid his hands on him. So pthe people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. 10 And there has not qarisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, rwhom the Lord knew face to face, 11 none like him for all sthe signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Worship in the Splendor of Holiness
1 aOh sing to the Lord ba new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth!
2 Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
ctell of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples!
4 For dgreat is the Lord, and egreatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above fall gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord gmade the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are before him;
hstrength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to the Lord, O ifamilies of the peoples,
jascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
8 Ascribe to the Lord kthe glory due his name;
bring lan offering, and mcome into his courts!
9 Worship the Lord in nthe splendor of holiness;1
otremble before him, all the earth!
10 Say among the nations, p“The Lord reigns!
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
he will qjudge the peoples with equity.”
11 Let rthe heavens be glad, and let sthe earth rejoice;
let tthe sea roar, and all that fills it;
12 let uthe field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all vthe trees of the forest sing for joy
13 before the Lord, for he comes,
for he comes wto judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
Paul in Macedonia and Greece
1 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and qdeparted for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when ra plot was made against him by the Jews1 as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, sAristarchus and Secundus; and sGaius of Derbe, and tTimothy; and the Asians, uTychicus and vTrophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for wus at xTroas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after ythe days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.
Eutychus Raised from the Dead
7 zOn the first day of the week, when we were gathered together ato break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in bthe upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he cfell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and dbent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, e“Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and fhad broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. 14 And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. 15 And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and2 the day after that we went to Miletus. 16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening gto be at Jerusalem, if possible, hon the day of Pentecost.
Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders
17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called ithe elders of the church to come to him. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them:
j“You yourselves know khow I lived among you the whole time jfrom the first day that I set foot in Asia, 19 lserving the Lord mwith all humility and with ntears and with trials that happened to me through othe plots of the Jews; 20 how I pdid not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and qteaching you in public and from house to house, 21 rtestifying both to Jews and to Greeks of srepentance toward God and of tfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ.3 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained uby4 the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that vthe Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that wimprisonment and xafflictions await me. 24 But yI do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only zI may finish my course and athe ministry bthat I received from the Lord Jesus, cto testify to dthe gospel of ethe grace of God. 25 And now, behold, fI know that none of you among whom I have gone about gproclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore hI testify to you this day that iI am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for jI did not shrink from declaring to you kthe whole counsel of God. 28 lPay careful attention to yourselves and to all mthe flock, in which nthe Holy Spirit has made you ooverseers, pto care for qthe church of God,5 which he robtained swith his own blood.6 29 I rknow that after my departure tfierce wolves will come in among you, unot sparing the flock; 30 and vfrom among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore wbe alert, remembering that xfor three years I did not cease night or day yto admonish every one zwith tears. 32 And now aI commend you to God and to bthe word of his grace, which is able to cbuild you up and to give you dthe inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 eI coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 fYou yourselves know that gthese hands ministered to my necessities and hto those who were with me. 35 In all things iI have shown you that jby working hard in this way we must khelp the weak and lremember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed mto give than to receive.’”
36 And when he had said these things, nhe knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 And othere was much weeping on the part of all; pthey embraced Paul and pkissed him, 38 being sorrowful most of all because of qthe word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And rthey accompanied him to the ship.
