The Blessing of Moses

1Now this is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the sons of Israel before his death. 2He said,

“The Lord came from Sinai,

And dawned on them from Seir;

He shone forth from Mount Paran,

And He came from the midst of ten thousand holy ones;

At His right hand there was flashing lightning for them.

3Indeed, He loves the people;

All Your holy ones are in Your hand,

And they followed in Your steps;

Everyone receives of Your words.

4Moses charged us with a law,

A possession for the assembly of Jacob.

5And He was king in Jeshurun,

When the heads of the people were gathered,

The tribes of Israel together.

6“May Reuben live and not die,

Nor his men be few.”

7And this regarding Judah; so he said,

“Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,

And bring him to his people.

With his hands he contended for them,

And may You be a help against his adversaries.”

8Of Levi he said,

“Let Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your godly man,

Whom You proved at Massah,

With whom You contended at the waters of Meribah;

9Who said of his father and his mother,

‘I did not consider them’;

And he did not acknowledge his brothers,

Nor did he regard his own sons,

For they observed Your word,

And kept Your covenant.

10They shall teach Your ordinances to Jacob,

And Your law to Israel.

They shall put incense before You,

And whole burnt offerings on Your altar.

11O Lord, bless his substance,

And accept the work of his hands;

Shatter the loins of those who rise up against him,

And those who hate him, so that they will not rise again.”

12Of Benjamin he said,

“May the beloved of the Lord dwell in security by Him,

Who shields him all the day,

And he dwells between His shoulders.”

13Of Joseph he said,

“Blessed of the Lord be his land,

With the choice things of heaven, with the dew,

And from the deep lying beneath,

14And with the choice yield of the sun,

And with the choice produce of the months.

15And with the best things of the ancient mountains,

And with the choice things of the everlasting hills,

16And with the choice things of the earth and its fullness,

And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush.

Let it come to the head of Joseph,

And to the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.

17As the firstborn of his ox, majesty is his,

And his horns are the horns of the wild ox;

With them he will push the peoples,

All at once, to the ends of the earth.

And those are the ten thousands of Ephraim,

And those are the thousands of Manasseh.”

18Of Zebulun he said,

“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going forth,

And, Issachar, in your tents.

19They will call peoples to the mountain;

There they will offer righteous sacrifices;

For they will draw out the abundance of the seas,

And the hidden treasures of the sand.”

20Of Gad he said,

“Blessed is the one who enlarges Gad;

He lies down as a lion,

And tears the arm, also the crown of the head.

21Then he provided the first part for himself,

For there the ruler’s portion was reserved;

And he came with the leaders of the people;

He executed the justice of the Lord,

And His ordinances with Israel.”

22Of Dan he said,

“Dan is a lion’s whelp,

That leaps forth from Bashan.”

23Of Naphtali he said,

“O Naphtali, satisfied with favor,

And full of the blessing of the Lord,

Take possession of the sea and the south.”

24Of Asher he said,

“More blessed than sons is Asher;

May he be favored by his brothers,

And may he dip his foot in oil.

25Your locks will be iron and bronze,

And according to your days, so will your leisurely walk be.

26“There is none like the God of Jeshurun,

Who rides the heavens to your help,

And through the skies in His majesty.

27The eternal God is a dwelling place,

And underneath are the everlasting arms;

And He drove out the enemy from before you,

And said, ‘Destroy!’

28So Israel dwells in security,

The fountain of Jacob secluded,

In a land of grain and new wine;

His heavens also drop down dew.

29Blessed are you, O Israel;

Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord,

Who is the shield of your help

And the sword of your majesty!

So your enemies will cringe before you,

And you will tread upon their high places.”

Call to Repent

1Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? 3I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

6And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. 7And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ 8And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; 9and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’ ”

Healing on the Sabbath

10And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all. 12When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” 13And He laid His hands on her; and immediately she was made erect again and began glorifying God. 14But the synagogue official, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “There are six days in which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the stall and lead him away to water him? 16And this woman, a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom Satan has bound for eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this bond on the Sabbath day?” 17As He said this, all His opponents were being humiliated; and the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.

Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven

18So He was saying, “What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? 19It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches.”

20And again He said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”

65Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep,

Like a warrior overcome by wine.

66He drove His adversaries backward;

He put on them an everlasting reproach.

67He also rejected the tent of Joseph,

And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,

68But chose the tribe of Judah,

Mount Zion which He loved.

69And He built His sanctuary like the heights,

Like the earth which He has founded forever.

70He also chose David His servant

And took him from the sheepfolds;

71From the care of the ewes with suckling lambs He brought him

To shepherd Jacob His people,

And Israel His inheritance.

72So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,

And guided them with his skillful hands.

25Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down,

But a good word makes it glad.