Deuteronomy 33–34
1 Now this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2 He said:
The Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Seir to them;
He shone forth from Mount Paran,
and He came with ten thousands of holy ones;
from His right hand went a fiery law for them.
3 Surely, He loved the people;
all His holy ones are in Your hand,
and they sit down at Your feet;
everyone receives Your words.
4 Moses decreed to us a law,
the inheritance of the assembly of Jacob.
5 He was king over Jeshurun,
when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.
6 Let Reuben live, and not die,
and let not his men be few.
7 This is the blessing to Judah. He said:
Listen, O Lord, to the voice of Judah,
and bring him to his people;
may his hands contend for them,
and may You help him against his enemies.
8 Of Levi he said:
Let Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your godly one,
whom You tested at Massah,
and with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah,
9 who said to his father and to his mother,
“I have not seen him,”
and he did not acknowledge his brothers
or know his own children,
for they have kept Your word
and guarded Your covenant.
10 They will teach Jacob Your judgments
and Israel Your law.
They will put incense before You
and the whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless, O Lord, his substance,
and accept the work of his hands;
run through the loins of them that rise against him
and of them that hate him,
so that they rise never again.
12 Of Benjamin he said:
The beloved of the Lord
will dwell in safety by Him,
and the Lord will protect him all day long;
he will dwell between His shoulders.
13 Of Joseph he said:
May his land be blessed of the Lord,
from the harvest of the heavens,
by the dew,
and by the deep crouching beneath,
14 by the precious fruits brought forth by the sun,
and by the choice things put forth by the moon,
15 by the finest things of the ancient mountains,
and by the choice things of the everlasting hills,
16 by the best things of the earth and its fullness,
and by the goodwill of Him who dwelt in the bush.
May the blessing rest on the head of Joseph,
on top of the head of him who was separated from his brothers.
17 His glory is like the firstborn of his bull,
and his horns are like the horns of a wild ox;
with them he will push the peoples together to the ends of the earth;
they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
18 Of Zebulun he said:
Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going outside,
and Issachar in your tents.
19 They will call the peoples to the mountain;
there they will offer sacrifices of righteousness,
for they will draw out the abundance of the seas
and the treasures hid in the sand.
20 Of Gad he said:
Blessed be he who enlarges Gad;
he dwells as a lion
and tears an arm and the crown of a head.
21 He provided the first part for himself,
because there, in a portion of the ruler, he was seated.
He came with the heads of the people.
He executed the justice of the Lord,
and His ordinances with Israel.
22 Of Dan he said:
Dan is a lion’s whelp;
he will leap forth from Bashan.
23 Of Naphtali he said:
O Naphtali, satisfied with favor
and full with the blessing of the Lord,
possess the west and the south.
24 Of Asher he said:
May Asher be blessed with children;
may he be acceptable to his brothers,
and may he dip his foot in oil.
25 Your sandals will be iron and brass;
according to your days, so shall be your strength.
26 There is none like the God of Jeshurun,
who rides through the heavens to help you,
and in His majesty through the skies.
27 The eternal God is your refuge,
and underneath you are the everlasting arms;
He will drive out the enemy before you,
and will say, “Destroy them.”
28 Israel dwells in safety;
the fountain of Jacob will be secluded
in a land of grain and new wine;
its heavens will rain down dew.
29 Blessed are you, O Israel!
Who is like you,
a people saved by the Lord,
the shield of your help,
who is the sword of your majesty!
Your enemies will cringe before you,
and you will tread upon their high places.
Chapter 34
1 Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. Then the Lord showed him all the land—from Gilead to Dan, 2 and all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the Mediterranean Sea, 3 and the Negev and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. 4 The Lord said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you will not cross 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 He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows of his burial place to this day. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eye was not dim, nor was his vitality diminished. 8 The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.
9 Now Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. And the children of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord commanded Moses.
10 Since then there has not arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, 11 in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, to all his servants, and to all his land, 12 and by all that mighty power and by all the great terror which Moses displayed in the sight of all Israel.
Mark 15:26–47
26 The inscription of His accusation was written above:
THE KING OF THE JEWS.
27 With Him they crucified two thieves, one on His right and the other on His left. 28 And the Scripture was fulfilled, which says, “He was numbered with the lawless ones.” 29 Those who passed by blasphemed Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ah, You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30 save Yourself, and come down from the cross!” 31 Likewise the chief priests mocked Him among themselves with the scribes and said, “He saved others, but He cannot save Himself! 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with Him also reviled Him.
33 When the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. 34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
35 Some of those who stood by, when they heard it, said, “Listen, He is calling Elijah!”
36 One man ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, put it on a stick, and gave it to Him to drink, saying, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”
37 But Jesus cried with a loud voice and gave up the spirit.
38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 When the centurion who stood facing Him saw that He cried out and gave up the spirit, he said, “Truly, this Man was the Son of God.”
40 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joseph, and Salome. 41 They also had followed Him and had ministered to Him when He was in Galilee. And many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem were there.
42 When the evening had come, because it was the Day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable member of the Council, who also waited for the kingdom of God, came and went in boldly to Pilate, and requested the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate wondered if He were already dead. And calling for the centurion, he asked him whether He had been dead for a while. 45 When he learned about it from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 So he bought fine linen, and taking Him down, wrapped Him in the linen and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where He was laid.