1 These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant He had made with them at Horeb.

2 Moses summoned all Israel and proclaimed to them, “You have seen with your own eyes everything the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to all his land. 3You saw with your own eyes the great trials, and those miraculous signs and wonders. 4Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.

7 When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out against us in battle, but we defeated them. 8We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 9So keep and follow the words of this covenant, that you may prosper in all you do.

10 All of you are standing today before the Lord your God— you leaders of tribes, elders, officials, and all the men of Israel, 11your children and wives, and the foreigners in your camps who cut your wood and draw your water— 12so that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, which He is making with you today, and into His oath, 13and so that He may establish you today as His people, and He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

14 I am making this covenant and this oath not only with you, 15but also with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God, as well as with those who are not here today.

16 For you yourselves know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we passed through the nations on the way here. 17You saw the abominations and idols among them made of wood and stone, of silver and gold.

18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit, 19because when such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself, saying, ‘I will have peace, even though I walk in the stubbornness of my own heart.’

This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. 20The Lord will never be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse written in this book will fall upon him. The Lord will blot out his name from under heaven 21and single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.

22 Then the generation to come — your sons who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant land — will see the plagues of the land and the sicknesses the Lord has inflicted on it. 23All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His fierce anger.

24 So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’

25 And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26They went and served other gods, and they worshiped gods they had not known— gods that the Lord had not given to them. 27Therefore the anger of the Lord burned against this land, and He brought upon it every curse written in this book. 28The Lord uprooted them from their land in His anger, rage, and great wrath, and He cast them into another land, where they are today.’

29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.’’

1 “ When all these things come upon you— the blessings and curses I have set before you— and you call them to mind in all the nations to which the Lord your God has banished you, 2and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey His voice with all your heart and all your soul according to everything I am giving you today, 3then He will restore you from captivity and have compassion on you and gather you from all the nations to which the Lord your God has scattered you. 4Even if you have been banished to the farthest horizon, He will gather you and return you from there.

5 And the Lord your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply more than your fathers. 6The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

7 Then the Lord your God will put all these curses upon your enemies who hate you and persecute you. 8And you will again obey the voice of the Lord and follow all His commandments I am giving you today. 9So the Lord your God will make you abound in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the Lord will again delight in your prosperity, as He delighted in that of your fathers, 10if you obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, and if you turn to Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

11 For this commandment I give you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12It is not in heaven, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’ 13And it is not beyond the sea, that you should need to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it for us and proclaim it, that we may obey it?’ 14But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may obey it.

15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, as well as death and disaster. 16For I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and increase, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.

17 But if your heart turns away and you do not listen, but are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18I declare to you today that you will surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, 20and that you may love the Lord your God, obey Him, and hold fast to Him. For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

1 In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known. 3What you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the housetops.

4 I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear the One who, after you have been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!

6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.