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Deuteronomy 26

Thanksgiving for the Harvest.

1^a When you have come into the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you as a heritage, and have taken possession and settled in it,

2you shall take some first fruits^b of the various products of the soil which you harvest from the land the LORD, your God, is giving you; put them in a basket and go to the place which the LORD, your God, will choose as the dwelling place for his name.

3There you shall go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “Today I acknowledge to the LORD, my God, that I have indeed come into the land which the LORD swore to our ancestors to give us.”^c

4The priest shall then take the basket from your hands and set it in front of the altar of the LORD, your God.

5Then you shall declare in the presence of the LORD, your God, “My father was a refugee Aramean^* who went down to Egypt with a small household and lived there as a resident alien.^d But there he became a nation great, strong and numerous.

6^e When the Egyptians maltreated and oppressed us, imposing harsh servitude upon us,

7we cried to the LORD, the God of our ancestors, and the LORD heard our cry and saw our affliction, our toil and our oppression.

8Then the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and outstretched arm, with terrifying power, with signs and wonders,^f

9and brought us to this place, and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.^g

10Now, therefore, I have brought the first fruits of the products of the soil which you, LORD, have given me.” You shall set them before the LORD, your God, and you shall bow down before the LORD, your God.

11Then you and your household, together with the Levite and the resident aliens who live among you, shall celebrate with all these good things which the LORD, your God, has given you.^h

Declaration Concerning Tithes.

12When you have finished setting aside all the tithes of your produce in the third year,ⁱ the year of the tithes, and have given them to the Levite, the resident alien, the orphan and the widow, that they may eat and be satisfied in your own communities,

13you shall declare before the LORD, your God, “I have purged my house of the sacred portion and I have given it to the Levite, the resident alien, the orphan and the widow, just as you have commanded me. I have not transgressed any of your commandments, nor forgotten any.

14^* I have not eaten any of the tithe while in mourning; I have not brought any of it while unclean; I have not offered any of it to the dead. I have thus obeyed the voice of the LORD, my God, and done just as you have commanded me.^j

15Look down, then, from heaven, your holy abode, and bless your people Israel and the fields you have given us, as you promised on oath to our ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.”^k

The Covenant.

16^l This day the LORD, your God, is commanding you to observe these statutes and ordinances. Be careful, then, to observe them with your whole heart and with your whole being.

17Today you have accepted the LORD’s agreement: he will be your God, and you will walk in his ways, observe his statutes, commandments, and ordinances, and obey his voice.

18And today the LORD has accepted your agreement: you will be a people specially his own, as he promised you, you will keep all his commandments,

19and he will set you high in praise and renown and glory above all nations he has made, and you will be a people holy to the LORD, your God, as he promised.

Deuteronomy 27

The Altar on Mount Ebal.

1Then Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying: Keep this whole commandment which I give you today.

2On the day you cross the Jordan into the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster.

3Write on them,^a at the time you cross, all the words of this law, so that you may enter the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, promised you.

4When you cross the Jordan, on Mount Ebal you shall set up these stones concerning which I command you today, and coat them with plaster,

5^b and you shall build there an altar to the LORD, your God, an altar made of stones that no iron tool has touched.

6You shall build this altar of the LORD, your God, with unhewn stones, and shall offer on it burnt offerings to the LORD, your God.

7You shall also offer communion sacrifices^* and eat them there, rejoicing in the presence of the LORD, your God.

8On the stones you shall inscribe all the words of this law very clearly.

9Moses, with the levitical priests, then said to all Israel: Be silent, Israel, and listen! This day you have become the people of the LORD, your God.^c

10You shall obey the voice of the LORD, your God, and keep his commandments and statutes which I am giving you today.

Preparation for Blessings and Curses.

11That same day Moses commanded the people, saying:

12^d When you cross the Jordan, these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin.

13And these shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan and Naphtali.

The Twelve Curses.

14The Levites shall proclaim in a loud voice to all the Israelites:

15^* “Cursed be anyone who makes a carved or molten idol,^e an abomination to the LORD, the work of a craftsman’s hands, and sets it up in secret!” And all the people shall answer, “Amen!”

16“Cursed be anyone who dishonors father or mother!”^f And all the people shall answer, “Amen!”

17“Cursed be anyone who moves a neighbor’s boundary markers!”^g And all the people shall answer, “Amen!”

18“Cursed be anyone who misleads the blind on their way!”^h And all the people shall answer, “Amen!”

19“Cursed be anyone who deprives the resident alien, the orphan or the widow of justice!”ⁱ And all the people shall answer, “Amen!”

20“Cursed be anyone who has relations with his father’s wife, for he dishonors his father’s bed!”^j And all the people shall answer, “Amen!”

21“Cursed be anyone who has relations with any animal!”^k And all the people shall answer, “Amen!”

22“Cursed be anyone who has relations with his sister, whether his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter!”^l And all the people shall answer, “Amen!”

23“Cursed be anyone who has relations with his mother-in-law!”^m And all the people shall answer, “Amen!”

24“Cursed be anyone who strikes down a neighbor in secret!”ⁿ And all the people shall answer, “Amen!”

25“Cursed be anyone who accepts payment to kill an innocent person!”^o And all the people shall answer, “Amen!”

26“Cursed be anyone whose actions do not uphold the words of this law!”^p And all the people shall answer, “Amen!”

Deuteronomy 28

Blessings for Obedience.

1Now,^{a b} if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD, your God, carefully observing all his commandments which I give you today, the LORD, your God, will set you high above all the nations of the earth.^c

2All these blessings will come upon you and overwhelm you when you obey the voice of the LORD, your God:

3^d May you be blessed in the city,

and blessed in the country!

4Blessed be the fruit of your womb,

the produce of your soil and the offspring of your livestock,

the issue of your herds and the young of your flocks!^e

5Blessed be your grain basket and your kneading bowl!

6May you be blessed in your coming in,

and blessed in your going out!^{* f}

Victory and Prosperity.

7The LORD will beat down before you the enemies that rise up against you; they will come out against you from one direction, and flee before you in seven.^{* g}

8The LORD will affirm the blessing upon you, on your barns and on all your undertakings; he will bless you in the land that the LORD, your God, is giving you.

9The LORD will establish you as a holy people, as he swore to you,^h if you keep the commandments of the LORD, your God, and walk in his ways.

10All the peoples of the earth will see that the name of the LORD is proclaimed over you,^* and they will be afraid of you.ⁱ

11The LORD will generously increase the fruit of your womb, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil, upon the land which the LORD swore to your ancestors he would give you.^j

12The LORD will open up for you his rich storehouse, the heavens, to give your land rain in due season and to bless all the works of your hands. You will lend to many nations but borrow from none.^k

13The LORD will make you the head not the tail, the top not the bottom, if you obey the commandments of the LORD, your God, which I am giving you today, observing them carefully,

14not turning aside, either to the right or to the left, from any of the words which I am giving you today, following other gods and serving them.^l

Curses for Disobedience.

15But if you do not obey the voice of the LORD, your God,^m carefully observing all his commandments and statutes which I give you today, all these curses shall come upon you and overwhelm you:

16ⁿ May you be cursed in the city, and cursed in the country!

17Cursed be your grain basket and your kneading bowl!

18Cursed be the fruit of your womb, the produce of your soil and the offspring of your livestock, the issue of your herds and the young of your flocks!

19May you be cursed in your coming in, and cursed in your going out!

Sickness and Defeat.

20The LORD will send on you a curse, panic, and frustration in everything you set your hand to, until you are speedily destroyed and perish for the evil you have done in forsaking me.

21^o The LORD will make disease cling to you until he has made an end of you from the land you are entering to possess.

22The LORD will strike you with consumption, fever, and inflammation, with fiery heat and drought, with blight and mildew, that will pursue you until you perish.

23The heavens over your heads will be like bronze and the earth under your feet like iron.^p

24For rain the LORD will give your land powdery dust, which will come down upon you from the heavens until you are destroyed.

25The LORD will let you be beaten down before your enemies; though you advance against them from one direction, you will flee before them in seven,^* so that you will become an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.^q

26Your corpses will become food for all the birds of the air and for the beasts of the field, with no one to frighten them off.^r

27The LORD will strike you with Egyptian boils^s and with tumors, skin diseases and the itch, from none of which you can be cured.

28^t And the LORD will strike you with madness, blindness and panic,

29so that even at midday you will grope in the dark as though blind, unable to find your way.

Despoilment. You will be oppressed and robbed continually, with no one to come to your aid.

30Though you betroth a wife, another will have her. Though you build a house, you will not live in it. Though you plant a vineyard, you will not pluck its fruits.^u

31^v Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat its flesh. Your donkey will be stolen in your presence, but you will never get it back. Your flocks will be given to your enemies, with no one to come to your aid.

32Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you strain your eyes looking for them every day, having no power to do anything.

33A people you do not know will consume the fruit of your soil and of all your labor, and you will be thoroughly oppressed and continually crushed,

34until you are driven mad by what your eyes must look upon.

35The LORD will strike you with malignant boils of which you cannot be cured, on your knees and legs, and from the soles of your feet to the crown of your head.

Deuteronomy 29

Past Favors Recalled.

1Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, You have seen with your own eyes all that the LORD did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and to all his land,

2the great testings your own eyes have seen, and those great signs and wonders.^a

3But the LORD has not given you a heart to understand, or eyes to see, or ears to hear until this day.^b

4^c I led you for forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes did not fall from you in tatters nor your sandals from your feet;

5it was not bread that you ate, nor wine or beer that you drank—so that you might know that I, the LORD, am your God.

6^d When you came to this place, Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, came out to engage us in battle, but we defeated them

7and took their land, and gave it as a heritage to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.^e

8Observe carefully the words of this covenant, therefore, in order that you may succeed in whatever you do.^f

All Israel Bound by Covenant.

9You are standing today, all of you, in the presence of the LORD, your God—your tribal heads, elders, and officials, all of the men of Israel,

10your children, your wives, and the resident alien who lives in your camp, from those who cut wood to those who draw water for you—

11to enter into the covenant of the LORD, your God, which the LORD, your God, is making with you today, with its curse,

12so 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 ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

13^g But it is not with you alone that I am making this covenant, with its curse,

14but with those who are standing here with us today in the presence of the LORD, our God, and with those who are not here with us^* today.

Warning Against Idolatry.

15You know that we lived in the land of Egypt and that we passed through the nations, that you too passed through

16and saw the loathsome things and idols of wood and stone, of gold and silver, that they possess.

17There may be among you a man or woman, or a clan or tribe, whose heart is now turning away from the LORD, our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; there may be among you a root bearing poison and wormwood;

18if any such persons, after hearing the words of this curse, should congratulate themselves, saying in their hearts, “I am safe, even though I walk in stubbornness of heart,” thereby sweeping away moist and dry alike,^{* h}

19the LORD will never consent to pardon them. Instead, the LORD’s burning wrath will flare up against them; every curse written in this book will pounce on them, and the LORD will blot out their names from under the heavens.ⁱ

20The LORD will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for doom, in keeping with all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.

Punishment for Idolatry.

21^j Future generations, your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigners who will come here from distant lands, when they see the calamities of this land and the ills the LORD has inflicted upon it—

22all its soil burned out by sulphur and salt, unsown and unfruitful, without a blade of grass, like the catastrophe of Sodom and Gomorrah,^k Admah and Zeboiim,^* which the LORD overthrew in his furious wrath—

23^l they and all the nations will ask, “Why has the LORD dealt thus with this land? Why this great outburst of wrath?”

24And they will say, “Because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, which he had made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt,

25and they went and served other gods and bowed down to them, gods whom they did not know and whom he had not apportioned to them.^m

26ⁿ So the anger of the LORD flared up against this land and brought on it every curse written in this book.

27The LORD uprooted them from their soil in anger, fury, and great wrath, and cast them out into another land, as they are today.”

28The hidden things^* belong to the LORD our God, but the revealed things are for us and for our children forever, to observe all the words of this law.

1 Peter 2:1-12

God’s House and People.

1^* Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, insincerity, envy, and all slander;^a

2like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation,

3^b for you have tasted that the Lord is good.^*

4Come to him, a living stone,^* rejected by human beings but chosen and precious in the sight of God,^c

5and, like living stones, let yourselves be built^* into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.^d

6For it says in scripture:

“Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,

a cornerstone, chosen and precious,

and whoever believes in it shall not be put to shame.”^e

7Therefore, its value is for you who have faith, but for those without faith:

“The stone which the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone,”^f

8and

“A stone that will make people stumble,

and a rock that will make them fall.”

They stumble by disobeying the word, as is their destiny.^g

9^* But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.^h

10Once you were “no people”

but now you are God’s people;

you “had not received mercy”

but now you have received mercy.ⁱ

III. The Christian in a Hostile World

Christian Examples.

11^* Beloved, I urge you as aliens and sojourners^* to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against the soul.^j

12Maintain good conduct among the Gentiles, so that if they speak of you as evildoers, they may observe your good works and glorify God on the day of visitation.

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The complete Book of Deuteronomy

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

The title of Deuteronomy in Hebrew is Debarim, “words,” from its opening phrase. The English title comes from the Septuagint of 17:18, deuteronomion, “copy of the law”; this title is appropriate because the book replicates much of the legal content of the previous books, serving as a “second law.” It brings to a close the five books of the Torah or Pentateuch with a retrospective account of Israel’s past—the exodus, the Sinai covenant, and the wilderness wanderings—and a look into Israel’s future as they stand poised to enter the land of Canaan and begin their life as a people there.

The book consists of three long addresses by Moses. Each of these contains narrative, law, and exhortation, in varying proportions. In an expansion of the first commandment of the decalogue (Ex 20:5–6; Dt 5:9–10), Moses tells the Israelites how to make a success of their life as a people once they are settled in the land. The choice presented to Israel is to love the Lord and keep his commandments, or to serve “other gods.” That choice will determine what kind of life they will make for themselves in the land. Whichever choice they make as a people carries consequences, which Deuteronomy terms “blessing” and “curse.” Thus the book can be seen as a kind of survival manual for Israel in their life as a people: how to live and what to avoid. This gives the book its hortatory style and tone of life-or-death urgency.

One defining concern of the book is centralization of worship. As Israel’s God is one (6:4–5), so its worship must be focused in one place, which the Lord “will choose from among your tribes”; there the Lord will “make his name dwell” (see note on 12:5). Thus the privileged status of the Jerusalem Temple is asserted; all other places and all other modes of worship of the God of Israel (the local shrines, the “high places,” “under every green tree”) are proscribed.

The book was probably composed over the course of three centuries, from the eighth century to the exile and beyond. It bears some relation to “the Book of the Law” discovered in the Jerusalem Temple around 622 B.C. during the reign of King Josiah (2 Kgs 22:8–13). It gives evidence of later editing: cf. the references to exile in 4:1–40; 28:63–68; 29:21–28; 30:1–10.

Over the book looms the disaster of 722/721, the fall of the Northern Kingdom, Israel. The detailed description of siege (28:49–57) especially echoes the fate the North suffered at the hands of the Assyrian invader. The book draws the minds of its intended readers back to a time before disastrous mistakes were made and their disastrous effects felt, and serves to explain the political and theological dynamics that led to the destruction of the North as well as to warn the surviving Southern Kingdom, Judah, to reform by keeping faith with Israel’s covenant Lord.

The characteristic and highly recognizable language and theology of Deuteronomy are seen in editorial comments structuring the works that follow it in the Hebrew canon, the Books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Together with Deuteronomy, these present a history of Israel from Moses to the time of the Babylonian exile. Conventionally this great multivolume work is termed the Deuteronomistic History. The Book of Deuteronomy itself was also incorporated into the Torah as its fifth volume.

The book presents three discourses by Moses, as follows:

1. First Address (1:1–4:43)
2. Second Address (4:44–28:69)
   1. The Lord’s Covenant with Israel (4:44–11:32)
   2. The Deuteronomic Code (12:1–28:69)
3. Third Address (29:1–33:29)
4. The Death of Moses (34:1–12)

I. FIRST ADDRESS

The book of 1 Peter

THE FIRST LETTER OF PETER

This letter begins with an address by Peter to Christian communities located in five provinces of Asia Minor (1 Pt 1:1), including areas evangelized by Paul (Acts 16:6–7; 18:23). Christians there are encouraged to remain faithful to their standards of belief and conduct in spite of threats of persecution. Numerous allusions in the letter suggest that the churches addressed were largely of Gentile composition (1 Pt 1:14, 18; 2:9–10; 4:3–4), though considerable use is made of the Old Testament (1 Pt 1:24; 2:6–7, 9–10, 22; 3:10–12).

The contents following the address both inspire and admonish these “chosen sojourners” (1 Pt 1:1) who, in seeking to live as God’s people, feel an alienation from their previous religious roots and the society around them. Appeal is made to Christ’s resurrection and the future hope it provides (1 Pt 1:3–5) and to the experience of baptism as new birth (1 Pt 1:3, 23–25; 3:21). The suffering and death of Christ serve as both source of salvation and example (1 Pt 1:19; 2:21–25; 3:18). What Christians are in Christ, as a people who have received mercy and are to proclaim and live according to God’s call (1 Pt 2:9–10), is repeatedly spelled out for all sorts of situations in society (1 Pt 2:11–17), work (even as slaves, 1 Pt 2:18–20), the home (1 Pt 3:1–7), and general conduct (1 Pt 3:8–12; 4:1–11). But over all hangs the possibility of suffering as a Christian (1 Pt 3:13–17). In 1 Pt 4:12–19 persecution is described as already occurring, so that some have supposed the letter was addressed both to places where such a “trial by fire” was already present and to places where it might break out.

The letter constantly mingles moral exhortation (paraklēsis) with its catechetical summaries of mercies in Christ. Encouragement to fidelity in spite of suffering is based upon a vision of the meaning of Christian existence. The emphasis on baptism and allusions to various features of the baptismal liturgy suggest that the author has incorporated into his exposition numerous homiletic, credal, hymnic, and sacramental elements of the baptismal rite that had become traditional at an early date.

From Irenaeus in the late second century until modern times, Christian tradition regarded Peter the apostle as author of this document. Since he was martyred at Rome during the persecution of Nero between A.D. 64 and 67, it was supposed that the letter was written from Rome shortly before his death. This is supported by its reference to “Babylon” (1 Pt 5:13), a code name for Rome in the early church.

Some modern scholars, however, on the basis of a number of features that they consider incompatible with Petrine authenticity, regard the letter as the work of a later Christian writer. Such features include the cultivated Greek in which it is written, difficult to attribute to a Galilean fisherman, together with its use of the Greek Septuagint translation when citing the Old Testament; the similarity in both thought and expression to the Pauline literature; and the allusions to widespread persecution of Christians, which did not occur until at least the reign of Domitian (A.D. 81–96). In this view the letter would date from the end of the first century or even the beginning of the second, when there is evidence for persecution of Christians in Asia Minor (the letter of Pliny the Younger to Trajan, A.D. 111–12).

Other scholars believe, however, that these objections can be met by appeal to use of a secretary, Silvanus, mentioned in 1 Pt 5:12. Such secretaries often gave literary expression to the author’s thoughts in their own style and language. The persecutions may refer to local harassment rather than to systematic repression by the state. Hence there is nothing in the document incompatible with Petrine authorship in the 60s.

Still other scholars take a middle position. The many literary contacts with the Pauline literature, James, and 1 John suggest a common fund of traditional formulations rather than direct dependence upon Paul. Such liturgical and catechetical traditions must have been very ancient and in some cases of Palestinian origin.

Yet it is unlikely that Peter addressed a letter to the Gentile churches of Asia Minor while Paul was still alive. This suggests a period after the death of the two apostles, perhaps A.D. 70–90. The author would be a disciple of Peter in Rome, representing a Petrine group that served as a bridge between the Palestinian origins of Christianity and its flowering in the Gentile world. The problem addressed would not be official persecution but the difficulty of living the Christian life in a hostile, secular environment that espoused different values and subjected the Christian minority to ridicule and oppression.

The principal divisions of the First Letter of Peter are the following:

1. Address (1:1–2)
2. The Gift and Call of God in Baptism (1:3–2:10)
3. The Christian in a Hostile World (2:11–4:11)
4. Advice to the Persecuted (4:12–5:11)
5. Conclusion (5:12–14)

I. Address

It is in the nature of faith to recognize the reality of what is not yet seen and is the object of hope, and the saints of the Old Testament give striking example of that faith (Heb 11:1–40). The perseverance to which the author exhorts the readers is shown forth in the earthly life of Jesus. Despite the afflictions of his ministry and the supreme trial of his suffering and death, he remained confident of the triumph that God would bring him (Heb 12:1–3). The difficulties of human life have meaning when they are accepted as God’s discipline (Heb 12:4–13), and if Christians persevere in fidelity to the word in which they have believed, they are assured of possessing forever the unshakable kingdom of God (Heb 12:14–29).

The letter concludes with specific moral commandments (Heb 13:1–17), in the course of which the author recalls again his central theme of the sacrifice of Jesus and the courage needed to associate oneself with it in faith (Heb 13:9–16).

As early as the end of the second century, the church of Alexandria in Egypt accepted Hebrews as a letter of Paul, and that became the view commonly held in the East. Pauline authorship was contested in the West into the fourth century, but then accepted. In the sixteenth century, doubts about that position were again raised, and the modern consensus is that the letter was not written by Paul. There is, however, no widespread agreement on any of the other suggested authors, e.g., Barnabas, Apollos, or Prisc(ill)a and Aquila. The document itself has no statement about its author.

Among the reasons why Pauline authorship has been abandoned are the great difference of vocabulary and style between Hebrews and Paul’s letters, the alternation of doctrinal teaching with moral exhortation, the different manner of citing the Old Testament, and the resemblance between the thought of Hebrews and that of Alexandrian Judaism. The Greek of the letter is in many ways the best in the New Testament.

Since the letter of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, written about A.D. 96, most probably cites Hebrews, the upper limit for the date of composition is reasonably certain. While the letter’s references in the present tense to the Old Testament sacrificial worship do not necessarily show that temple worship was still going on, many older commentators and a growing number of recent ones favor the view that it was and that the author wrote before the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. In that case, the argument of the letter is more easily explained as directed toward Jewish Christians rather than those of Gentile origin, and the persecutions they have suffered in the past (cf. Heb 10:32–34) may have been connected with the disturbances that preceded the expulsion of the Jews from Rome in A.D. 49 under the emperor Claudius. These were probably caused by disputes between Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah and those who did not.

The principal divisions of the Letter to the Hebrews are the following:

1. Introduction (1:1–4)
2. The Son Higher than the Angels (1:5–2:18)
3. Jesus, Faithful and Compassionate High Priest (3:1–5:10)
4. Jesus’ Eternal Priesthood and Eternal Sacrifice (5:11–10:39)
5. Examples, Discipline, Disobedience (11:1–12:29)
6. Final Exhortation, Blessing, Greetings (13:1–25)