Week 132

• Torah (T): Devarim (Deuteronomy) 8:1-20
• Prophets (P): Jeremiah 9:22-26
• Apostolic (A): Matthew 4:1-11; John 15:1-11
• Additional (ADD): Sirach 27:1-30

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Proverbs 3:1-12 (T)
• Exodus 16:11-35 (T)
• Exodus 17:1-7; Exodus 20:18-20; Deuteronomy 33:8; Judges 2:21-22; Judges 3:1-4; Psalms 78:17-19, 40-41, 55-62;  Psalms 95:1-11; Psalms 106:13-14; Isaiah 7:10-12; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Ya’aqov (James) 1:1-15 (T)
• Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-4 (T, A)
• Deuteronomy 29:1-6 (T)
• Nehemiah 9:6-21 (T)
• Luke 22:24-38 (T)
• Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (T)
• Numbers 21:5-9 (T)
• Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11; Psalms 78:15-16; Psalms 114:7-8 (T)
• Deuteronomy 11:1-17 (T)

RELATED ADDITIONAL REA.D.INGS

• Wisdom of Solomon 4:1-20 (P)
• Deuteronomy 8:1-20 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 8:1-20

8:1 You will guard to do all the commandments which I command you today, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which YHWH swore to your fathers. 2 You will remember all the way which YHWH your Elohim has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might afflict you, to test you, [and]^(DSS) to know what was in your heart, whether you would guard his commandments or not. 3 He humbled you, allowed you to be hungry, and fed you with manna, which you didn’t know, neither did your fathers know, that he might teach you that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every [word]^(LXX) that proceeds out of the mouth of [Elohim].^(LXX) 4 Your clothing didn’t grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years. 5 You will know in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, [so]^(DSS) YHWH your Elohim disciplines you. 6 You will guard the commandments of YHWH your Elohim, to walk in [all]^(DSS) his ways, and to [love]^(DSS) him. 7 For YHWH your Elohim brings you into a good [and spacious]^(DSS)(LXX) land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, [and]^(DSS)(LXX) you will not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper. 10 You will eat and be full, and you will bless YHWH your Elohim for the good land which he has given you. 11 Beware lest you forget YHWH your Elohim, in not guarding his commandments, his judgments, and his statutes, which I command you today; 12 lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built fine houses and lived [in them];^(DSS)(LXX) 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 then your heart might be lifted up, and you forget YHWH your Elohim, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; 15 who led you through the great and fearful wilderness, with saraph nachash and scorpion, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who poured water for you out of the rock of flint; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn’t know, that he might humble you, and that he might test you, to do you good at your latter end; 17 and lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.” 18 But you will remember YHWH your Elohim, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers[, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob],^(DSS) as it is today. 19 It will be, if you will forget YHWH your Elohim, and walk after other elohim, and serve them and worship them, I call [the heavens and the earth]^(LXX) to witness against you today, that you will surely perish. 20 As the nations that YHWH makes to perish before you, so you will perish, because you wouldn’t listen to YHWH your Elohim’s voice.

Prophets Portion (P)

Jeremiah 9:22-26

9:22 Speak, “YHWH says, “ ‘The dead bodies of men will fall as dung on the open field, and as the handful after the harvester. No one will gather them.’ ” 23 YHWH says, “Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom. Don’t let the mighty man glory in his might. Don’t let the rich man glory in his riches. 24 But let him who glories glory in this, that he has understanding, and knows me, that I am YHWH who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness in the land, for I delight in these things,” says YHWH. 25 “Behold, the days come,” says YHWH, “that I will register all those who are circumcised in foreskin: 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell in the wilderness, for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

Apostolic Portion (A)

Matthew 4:1-11; John 15:1-11

Matthew 4:1 Then Yeshua was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. 2 When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward. 3 The one testing came and said to him, “If you are the Son of Elohim, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man will not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of Elohim’s mouth.’ ” (cf. Deuteronomy 8:3) 5 Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of Elohim, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’ ” (cf. Psalms 91:11-12) 7 Yeshua said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You will not test YHWH your Elohim.’ ”(cf. Deuteronomy 6:16) 8 Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the reigns of the world and their glory. 9 He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Yeshua said to him, “Go away,^(NU-Text) Satan! For it is written, ‘You will worship YHWH your Elohim, and you will serve him only.’ ” (cf. Deuteronomy 6:13) 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.

John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the farmer. 2 Every branch in me that doesn’t bear fruit, he takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. As the branch can’t bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you, unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will^(mss) ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you. 8 In this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; and so you will be my disciples. 9 Even as the Father has loved me, I also have loved you. Remain in my love. 10 If you guard my commandments, you will remain in my love, even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have spoken these things to you, that my joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

Additional Portion (ADD)

Sirach, or Wisdom of Sirach, and also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus (abbreviated Ecclus.) or Ben Sira, is a work of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 B.C., written by the Jewish scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his father Joshua son of Sirach, sometimes called Jesus son of Sirach or Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira. The Sirach was almost completely uncovered in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls, at Masada, and the Cairo Geniza. The multiplicity of manuscript fragments uncovered in the Cairo Genizah evidence its authoritative status among Egyptian Jewry until the Middle Ages. Quotes from Sirach can be found in Rabbinic literature in multiple places including the Talmud in Bava Kamma 92b:13 and Hagigah 13a:2. Additionally, the Gospels and other Apostolic Scriptures quote from the Book of Sirach including the Song of Miriam in Luke 1:52 (cf. Sirach 10:14); the description of the seed in Mark 4:5, 16–17 (cf. Sirach 40:15); the statement by Yeshua in Matthew 7:16,20 (cf. Sirach 27:6); and Ya’aqov (James) 1:19 (cf. Sirach 5:11).

Sirach 27:1-30

27:1 Many have sinned for profit. He who seeks to multiply wealth will turn his eye away. 2 As a nail will stick fast between the joinings of stones, so sin will thrust itself in between buying and selling. 3 Unless a person holds on diligently to the fear of the Lord, his house will be overthrown quickly. 4 In the shaking of a sieve, the refuse remains, so does the filth of man in his thoughts. 5 The furnace tests the potter’s vessels; so the test of a person is in his thoughts. 6 The fruit of a tree discloses its cultivation, so is the utterance of the thought of a person’s heart. 7 Praise no man before you hear his thoughts, for this is how people are tested. 8 If you follow righteousness, you will obtain her, and put her on like a tunic of glory. 9 Birds will return to their own kind, so truth will return to those who practice it. 10 The lion lies in wait for prey. So does sin for those who do evil. 11 The discourse of a pious man is always wisdom, but the fool changes like the moon. 12 Limit your time among people void of understanding, but persevere among the thoughtful. 13 The talk of fools is offensive. Their laughter is wantonly sinful. 14 Their talk with much swearing makes hair stand upright. Their strife makes others plug their ears. 15 The strife of the proud leads to bloodshed. Their abuse of each other is a grievous thing to hear. 16 He who reveals secrets destroys trust, and will not find a close friend. 17 Love a friend, and keep faith with him; but if you reveal his secrets, do not follow him; 18 for as a man has destroyed his enemy, so you have destroyed the friendship of your neighbor. 19 As a bird which you have released out of your hand, so you have let your neighbor go, and you will not catch him again. 20 Don’t pursue him, for he has gone far away, and has escaped like a gazelle out of the snare. 21 For a wound may be bound up, and after abuse there may be reconciliation; but he who reveals secrets has lost hope. 22 One who winks the eye contrives evil things; no one will remove him from it. 23 When you are present, he will speak sweetly, and will admire your words; but afterward he will twist his speech and set a trap in your words. 24 I have hated many things, but nothing like him. The Lord will hate him. 25 One who casts a stone on high casts it on his own head. A deceitful blow opens wounds. 26 He who digs a pit will fall into it. He who sets a snare will be caught in it. 27 He who does evil things, they will roll back upon him, and he will not know where they came from. 28 Mockery and reproach are from the arrogant. Vengeance lies in wait for them like a lion. 29 Those who rejoice at the fall of the pious will be caught in a snare. Anguish will consume them before they die. 30 Wrath and anger, these also are abominations. A sinner will possess them.

Related Scriptures

Proverbs 3:1-12 (T)

3:1 My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart guard my commandments, 2 for they will add to you length of days, years of life, and peace. 3 Don’t let kindness and truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart. 4 So you will find favor, and good understanding in the sight of Elohim and man. 5 Trust in YHWH with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Fear YHWH, and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your body, and nourishment to your bones. 9 Honor YHWH with your substance, with the first fruits of all your increase; 10 so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine. 11 My son, don’t despise YHWH’s discipline, neither be weary of his correction; 12 for whom YHWH loves, he corrects, even as a father reproves the son in whom he delights.

Exodus 16:11-35 (T)

16:11 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “I have heard the murmurings of the sons of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you will eat flesh, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am YHWH your Elohim.’ ” 13 In the evening, quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp. 14 When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the frost on the ground. 15 When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “what is he?” For they didn’t know what he was. Moses said to them, “He is the bread which YHWH has given you to eat. 16 This is the thing which YHWH has commanded: ‘Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, you will take it, every man for those who are in his tent.’ ” 17 The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered more, some less. 18 When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They each gathered according to his eating. 19 Moses said to them, “Let no one leave of it until the morning.” 20 Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, so it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. 21 They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is that which YHWH has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a rest, a Sabbath holy to YHWH. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.’ ” 24 They laid it up until the morning, as Moses ordered, and it didn’t become foul, and there were no worms in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to YHWH. Today do not find him in the field. 26 Six days you will gather him, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. He will not exist in him.” 27 On the seventh day, certain ones of the people went out to gather, and they found none. 28 YHWH said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to guard my commandments and my Torot? 29 Behold, because YHWH has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone sit in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people ceased on the seventh day. 31 The house of Israel called his name “Mahn”, and he was like coriander seed, white; and his taste was like wafers with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is the thing which YHWH has commanded, ‘Fill an omer with him to be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ” 33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer of the Manna in it, and lay him up before YHWH, to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As YHWH commanded Moses, so Aaron laid him up before the Witness, to be kept. 35 The sons of Israel ate the Manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the Manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan.

Exodus 17:1-7; Exodus 20:18-20; Deuteronomy 8:1-3, 16; Deuteronomy 33:8; Judges 2:21-22; Judges 3:1-4; Psalms 78:17-19, 40-41, 55-62;  Psalms 95:1-11; Psalms 106:13-14; Isaiah 7:10-12; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Ya’aqov (James) 1:12-15 (T)

Exodus 17:1 All the congregation of the sons of Israel traveled from the wilderness of Sin, starting according to the commandment of YHWH, and encamped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test YHWH?” 3 The people were thirsty for water there; so the people murmured against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us, our sons, and our livestock with thirst?” 4 Moses cried to YHWH, saying, “What will I do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 YHWH said to Moses, “Walk on before the people, and take the elders of Israel with you, and take the rod in your hand with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You will strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the sons of Israel quarreled, and because they tested YHWH, saying, “Is YHWH among us, or not?”

Exodus 20:18 All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the voice of the shofar, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance. 19 They said to Moses, “Speak with us yourself, and we will listen; but don’t let Elohim speak with us, lest we die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid, for Elohim has come to test you, and that his fear may be before you, that you won’t sin.”

Deuteronomy 33:8 About Levi he said, “Your Tummim and your Urim are with your pious one, whom you tested at Massah, with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah.

Judges 2:21 I also will no longer drive out any of the nations that Joshua left when he died from before them; 22 that by them I may test Israel, to see if they will keep YHWH’s way to walk therein, as their fathers kept it, or not.”

Judges 3:1 Now these are the nations which YHWH left, to test Israel by them, even as many as had not known all the wars of Canaan; 2 only that the generations of the sons of Israel might know, to teach them war, at least those who knew nothing of it before: 3 the five lords of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entrance of Hamath. 4 They were left to test Israel by them, to know whether they would listen to the commandments of YHWH, which he commanded their fathers by Moses.

Psalms 78:17 Yet they still went on to sin against him, to rebel against the Most High in the desert. 18 They tested Elohim in their heart by asking food according to their desire. 19 Yes, they spoke against Elohim. They said, “Can Elohim prepare a table in the wilderness? … Psalms 78:40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert! 41 They turned again and tested Elohim, and provoked the Holy One of Israel. … Psalms 78:55 He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. 56 Yet they tested and rebelled against the Most High Elohim, and didn’t keep his testimonies, 57 but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were twisted like a deceitful bow. 58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and made him to zealous with their engraved images. 59 When Elohim heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel, 60 so that he abandoned the tent of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men, 61 and delivered his strength into captivity, his glory into the adversary’s hand. 62 He also gave his people over to the sword, and was angry with his inheritance.

Psalms 95:1 Oh come, let’s sing to YHWH. Let’s shout aloud to the rock of our salvation! 2 Let’s come before his face with thanksgiving. Let’s extol him with songs! 3 For YHWH is a great Elohim, a great King above all elohim. 4 In his hand are the deep places of the land. The heights of the mountains are also his. 5 The sea is his, and he made it. His hands formed the dry land. 6 Oh come, let’s worship and bow down. Let’s kneel before YHWH, our Maker, 7 for he is our Elohim. We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care. Today, oh that you would hear his voice! 8 Don’t harden your heart, as at Meribah, as in the day of Massah in the wilderness, 9 when your fathers tested me, tested me, and saw my work. 10 Forty long years I was grieved with that generation, and said, “It is a people that errs in their heart. They have not known my ways.” 11 Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They won’t enter into my rest.”

Psalms 106:13 They soon forgot his works. They didn’t wait for his counsel, 14 but gave in to craving in the desert, and tested Elohim in the wasteland.

Isaiah 7:10 YHWH spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask a sign of YHWH your Elohim; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I won’t ask. I won’t test YHWH.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 No test has taken you except what is common to man. Elohim is faithful, who will not allow you to be tested above what you are able, but will with the test also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Ya’aqov (James) 1:1 Jacob, a servant of Elohim and of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, to the twelve tribes which are in the Diaspora: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various tests, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of Elohim, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. 7 For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord. 8 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position; 10 and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away. 11 For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass; and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits. 12 Blessed is a person who endures testing, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him. 13 Let no man say when he is tested, “From Elohim I am tested,” for Elohim is beyond testing by evils, and he himself tests no one. 14 But each one is tested when he is drawn away by his own coveting and enticed. 15 Then the coveting, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death.

Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-15 (T, A)

Mark 1:12 Immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. 13 He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals; and the angels were serving him.

Luke 4:1 Yeshua, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness 2 for forty days, being tested by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of Elohim, command this stone to become bread.” 4 Yeshua answered him, saying, “It is written, ‘Man will not live by bread alone, but by every word of Elohim.’ ” (cf. Deuteronomy 8:3) 5 The devil, leading him up on a high mountain, showed him all the reigns of the world in a moment of time. 6 The devil said to him, “I will give you all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I want. 7 If you therefore will worship before me, it will all be yours.” 8 Yeshua answered him, “It is written, ‘You will worship YHWH your Elohim, and you will serve him only.’ ” (cf. Deuteronomy 6:13) 9 He led him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of Elohim, cast yourself down from here, 10 for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you;’ 11 and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone.’ ” (cf. Psalms 91:11-12) 12 Yeshua answering, said to him, “It has been said, ‘You will not test YHWH your Elohim.’ ” (cf. Deuteronomy 6:16) 13 When the devil had completed every test, he departed from him until another time. 14 Yeshua returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and news about him spread through all the surrounding area. 15 He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

Deuteronomy 29:1-6 (T)

29:1 These are the words of the covenant which YHWH commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. 2 Moses called to all Israel, and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that YHWH did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; 3 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But YHWH has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. 5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your sandals have not grown old on your feet. 6 You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am YHWH your Elohim.

Nehemiah 9:6-21 (T)

9:6 You are YHWH, even you alone. You have made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, with all their army, the land and all things that are on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve them all. The army of the heavens worships you. 7 You are YHWH, the Elohim who chose Abram, brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees, gave him the name of Abraham, 8 found his heart faithful before you, and cut a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite, to give it to his seed, and have performed your words, for you are righteous. 9 “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, and heard their cry by the Sea of Reeds, 10 and showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, against all his servants, and against all the people of his land, for you knew that they dealt proudly against them, and made a name for yourself, as it is today. 11 You divided the sea before them, so that they went through the middle of the sea on the dry land; and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into the mighty waters. 12 Moreover, in a pillar of cloud you led them by day; and in a pillar of fire by night, to give them light in the way in which they should go. 13 “You also came down on Mount Sinai, and spoke with them from the heavens, and gave them right judgments and true Torot, good statutes and commandments, 14 and made known to them your holy Sabbath, and commanded them commandments, statutes, and a Torah, by Moses your servant, 15 and gave them bread from the heavens for their hunger, and brought water out of the rock for them for their thirst, and commanded them that they should go in to possess the land which you had sworn to give them. 16 “But they and our fathers behaved proudly, hardened their neck, didn’t listen to your commandments, 17 and refused to obey. They weren’t mindful of your wonders that you did among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But you are an Elohim ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and didn’t forsake them. 18 Yes, when they had made themselves a molded calf, and said, ‘This is your Elohim who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed awful blasphemies, 19 yet you in your manifold mercies didn’t forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud didn’t depart from over them by day, to lead them in the way; neither did the pillar of fire by night, to show them light, and the way in which they should go. 20 You gave also your good Spirit to instruct them, and didn’t withhold your manna from their mouth, and gave them water for their thirst. 21 “Yes, forty years you sustained them in the wilderness. They lacked nothing. Their clothes didn’t grow old, and their feet didn’t swell.

Luke 22:24-38 (T)

22:24 A dispute also arose among them, which of them was considered to be greatest. 25 He said to them, “The kings of the nations lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ 26 But not so with you. Rather, the one who is greater among you, let him become as the younger, and one who is governing, as one who serves. 27 For who is greater, one who sits at the table, or one who serves? Isn’t it he who sits at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. 28 “But you are those who have continued with me in my trials. 29 I confer on you a reign, even as my Father conferred on me, 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my Reign. You will sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” 31 The Lord said, “Shimon, Shimon, behold, Satan asked to have all of you, that he might sift you as wheat, 32 but I prayed for you, that your faith wouldn’t fail. You, when once you have turned again, establish your brothers.” 33 He said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death!” 34 He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will by no means crow today until you deny that you know me three times.” 35 He said to them, “When I sent you out without purse, bag, and sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.” 36 Then he said to them, “But now, whoever has a purse, let him take it, and likewise a bag. Whoever has none, let him sell his cloak, and buy a sword. 37 For I tell you that this which is written must still be fulfilled in me: ‘He was counted with transgressors.’ (cf. Isaiah 53:12) For that which concerns me is being fulfilled.” 38 They said, “Lord, behold, here are two swords.” He said to them, “That is enough.”

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (T)

6:10 It will be, when YHWH your Elohim brings you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities which you didn’t build, 11 and houses full of all good things which you didn’t fill, and cisterns dug out which you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive trees which you didn’t plant, and you will eat and be full; 12 be on guard lest you forget YHWH, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

Numbers 21:5-9 (T)

21:5 The people spoke against Elohim and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, there is no water, and our soul loathes this light bread!” 6 YHWH sent the seraphim nachashim among the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died. 7 The people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against YHWH and against you. Pray to YHWH, that he take away the serpent from us.” Moses prayed for the people. 8 YHWH said to Moses, “Make a saraph, and set it on a pole. It will happen that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, will live.” 9 Moses made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived.

Exodus 17:6; Numbers 20:11; Psalms 78:15-16; Psalms 114:7-8 (T)

Exodus 17:6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb. You will strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Numbers 20:11 Moses lifted up his hand, and struck the rock with his branch twice, and water came out abundantly. The congregation and their livestock drank.

Psalms 78:15 He split rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths. 16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.

Psalms 114:7 Tremble, you land, at the face of the Lord, at the face of the Elohim of Jacob, 8 who turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of waters.

Deuteronomy 11:1-17 (T)

11:1 Therefore you will love YHWH your Elohim, and keep his instructions, his statutes, his judgments, and his commandments, always. 2 Know this day—for I don’t speak with your sons who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of YHWH your Elohim, his greatness, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm, 3 his signs, and his works, which he did in the middle of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land; 4 and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued you, and how YHWH has destroyed them to this day; 5 and what he did to you in the wilderness until you came to this place; 6 and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben—how the land opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the middle of all Israel; 7 but your eyes have seen all of YHWH’s great work which he did. 8 Therefore you will guard the entire commandment which I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land that you go over to possess; 9 and that you may prolong your days in the land which YHWH swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land, where you go in to possess isn’t like the land of Egypt that you came out of, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs; 11 but the land that you go over to possess is a land of hills and valleys which drinks water from the rain of the heavens, 12 a land which YHWH your Elohim cares for. YHWH your Elohim’s eyes are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year. 13 It will happen, if you will listen diligently to my commandments which I command you today, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 that I will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil. 15 I will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat and be full. 16 Be careful, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn away to serve other elohim and worship them; 17 and the anger of YHWH be kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, and the land doesn’t yield its fruit; and you perish quickly from off the good land which YHWH gives you.

Jeremiah 9:1-26 (P)

9:1 Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! 2 Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my people and go from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. 3 “They bend their tongue, as their bow, for falsehood. They have grown strong in the land, but not for truth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don’t know me,” says YHWH. 4 “Everyone beware of his neighbor, and don’t trust in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go around like a slanderer. 5 Friends deceive each other, and will not speak the truth. They have taught their tongue to speak lies. They weary themselves committing iniquity. 6 Your habitation is in the middle of deceit. Through deceit, they refuse to know me,” says YHWH. 7 Therefore YHWH of Armies says, “Behold, I will melt them and test them; for how should I deal with the daughter of my people? 8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow. It speaks deceit. One speaks peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart, he waits to ambush him. 9 Shouldn’t I punish them for these things?” says YHWH. “Shouldn’t my soul be avenged on a nation such as this? 10 I will weep and wail for the mountains, and lament for the pastures of the wilderness, because they are burned up, so that no one passes through; Men can’t hear the voice of the livestock. Both the birds of the heavens and the animals have fled. They are gone. 11 “I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals. I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.” 12 Who is wise enough to understand this? Who is he to whom the mouth of YHWH has spoken, that he may declare it? Why has the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? 13 YHWH says, “Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in my ways, 14 but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart and after the Ba’alim, which their fathers taught them.” 15 Therefore YHWH of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says, “Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood and give them poisoned water to drink. 16 I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known. I will send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.” 17 YHWH of Armies says, “Consider, and call for the mourning women, that they may come. Send for the skillful women, that they may come. 18 Let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush out with waters. 19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, ‘How we are ruined! We are greatly confounded because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings.’ ” 20 Yet hear the word of YHWH, you women. Let your ear receive the word of his mouth. Teach your daughters wailing. Everyone teach her neighbor a lamentation. 21 For death has come up into our windows. It has entered into our palaces to cut off the young men from outside, and the young men from the streets. 22 Speak, “YHWH says, “ ‘The dead bodies of men will fall as dung on the open field, and as the handful after the harvester. No one will gather them.’ ” 23 YHWH says, “Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom. Don’t let the mighty man glory in his might. Don’t let the rich man glory in his riches. 24 But let him who glories glory in this, that he has understanding, and knows me, that I am YHWH who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness in the land, for I delight in these things,” says YHWH. 25 “Behold, the days come,” says YHWH, “that I will register all those who are circumcised in foreskin: 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell in the wilderness, for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.”

Related Additional Readings​

Wisdom of Solomon 4:1-20 (P)

The Wisdom of Solomon, or Book of Wisdom, is a Jewish work, written in Greek, and most likely composed in Alexandria, Egypt. Generally dated to the mid first century B.C. It is uncertain whether the book has a single author or comes from a school of writers, but recent scholarship has favored regarding it as a unified work. Fragments of the Wisdom of Solomon were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls in the first discovered and excavated cave at Qumran in 1949.

4:1 It is better to be childless with virtue, for immortality is in the memory of virtue, because it is recognized both before Elohim and before men. 2 When it is present, people imitate it. They long after it when it has departed. In the age, it marches crowned in triumph, victorious in the competition for the prizes that are undefiled. 3 But the multiplying brood of the impious will be of no profit, and their illegitimate offshoots won’t take deep root, nor will they establish a sure hold. 4 For even if they grow branches and flourish for a season, standing unsure, they will be shaken by the wind. They will be uprooted by the violence of winds. 5 Their branches will be broken off before they come to maturity. Their fruit will be useless, never ripe to eat, and fit for nothing. 6 For unlawfully conceived children are witnesses of wickedness against parents when they are investigated. 7 But a righteous man, even if he dies before his time, will be at rest. 8 For honorable old age is not that which stands in length of time, nor is its measure given by number of years: 9 But understanding is gray hair to men, and an unspotted life is ripe old age. 10 Being found well-pleasing to Elohim, he was loved. While living among sinners he was transported. 11 He was caught away, lest evil should change his understanding, or guile deceive his soul. 12 For the witchcraft of worthlessness obscures the things which are good, and the whirl of desire perverts an innocent mind. 13 Being made perfect quickly, he filled a long time; 14 for his soul was pleasing to the Lord. Therefore he hurried out of the midst of wickedness. 15 But as for the peoples seeing and not understanding, not considering this, that grace and mercy are with his chosen, and that he visits his holy ones— 16 but a righteous man who is dead will condemn the impious who are living, and youth that is quickly perfected will condemn the many years of an unrighteous man’s old age. 17 For the impious will see a wise man’s end, and won’t understand what the Lord planned for him, and why he safely kept him. 18 They will see, and they will despise; but the Lord will laugh them to scorn. After this, they will become a dishonored carcass and a reproach among the dead forever; 19 because he will dash them speechless to the ground, and will shake them from the foundations. They will lie utterly waste. They will be in anguish and their memory will perish. 20 They will come with coward fear when their sins are counted. Their lawless deeds will convict them to their face.

Deuteronomy 8:1-20 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 8

Every commandment which I command you this day, observe ye to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and inherit the land which the Lord sware to your fathers. And remember all the way by which the Lord your Elohim hath led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble and try you, to know whether you will keep His commandments or not. And He humbled thee and let thee hunger, and fed thee with the manna which thou knewest not, nor thy fathers had known, that He might make thee to know that man liveth not by bread only, but by all that is created by the Word of the Lord doth man live. [JERUSALEM. That by manna only.] Your raiment hath not waxen old upon your bodies, and your feet have not gone without covering these forty years. But you know with the thoughts of your hearts, that as a man regardeth his child, so the Lord your Elohim hath regarded you. Keep, therefore, the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in the ways that are right before Him, and to fear Him. For the Lord your Elohim bringeth you into a land whose fruits are celebrated, a land whose streams flow in clear waters, from sweet fountain springs, and depths that dry not up, issuing forth among the vales and mountains; a land producing wheat and barley, and growing vines from which cometh out wine sweet and ripe, and a land which yieldeth figs and pomegranates, a land whose olive trees make oil, and whose palms give honey; a land where, without poverty, you may eat bread and want nothing; a land whose sages will enact decrees unalloyed as iron, and whose disciples will propound questions weighty as brass. [JERUSALEM. A land from whose olive trees they make oil, and from whose palms they make honey……whose stones are, pure as iron, and whose hills are firm as brass.]

Be mindful, therefore, in the time when you will have eaten and are satisfied, that you render thanksgiving and blessing before the Lord your Elohim for all the fruit of the goodly land which He hath given you, lest you forget the fear of the Lord your God, and keep not His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes, which I command you this day; lest, when you shall have eaten and are satisfied, and you have builded pleasant houses to dwell in, and your oxen and sheep are multiplied, and silver and gold are increased to you, and all things you have are multiplied, your heart be lifted up, and you forget the fear of the Lord your God, who brought you out free from the land of Mizraim, from the house of the affliction of slaves; who led thee in mercy through that great and fearful desert, a place abounding in burning serpents and scorpions with stings, a place where there is thirst but no water; but (where) He brought thee forth water out of the hard rock, and fed thee in the desert with manna which thy fathers knew not, to humble thee and to prove thee, that He may do thee good in thine end.

Beware that you say not in your heart, Our strength and the might of our hands have obtained us all these riches; but remember the Lord your Elohim ; for He it is who giveth thee counsel whereby to get wealth; that He may confirm the covenant which He sware to your fathers at the time of this day. For it shall be that if you forget the fear of the Lord your God, and go after the idols of the Gentiles, to serve and worship them, I testify against you this day, you will surely perish; as the peoples which the Lord your Elohim disperseth before you, so will you perish, because you were not obedient to the Word of the Lord your God.