Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



The Lord said to Moses, "The time of your death is now approaching. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, so that I may commission him." When Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting, the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood at the entrance to the tent. The Lord said to Moses, "You are about to rest with your fathers, and this people will soon commit adultery with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will abandon Me and break the covenant I have made with them. read more.
My anger will burn against them on that day; I will abandon them and hide My face from them so that they will become easy prey. Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day they will say, 'Haven't these troubles come to us because our God is no longer with us?' I will certainly hide My face on that day because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods. Therefore write down this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; have them recite it, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the Israelites. When I bring them into the land I swore to [give] their fathers, [a land] flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. They will turn to other gods and worship them, despising Me and breaking My covenant. And when many troubles and afflictions come to them, this song will testify against them, because their descendants will not have forgotten it. For I know what they are prone to do, even before I bring them into the land I swore [to give them]." So Moses wrote down this song on that day and taught it to the Israelites. The Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun, "Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I will be with you." When Moses had finished writing down on a scroll every single word of this law, he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord's covenant, "Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are rebelling against the Lord now, while I am still alive, how much more [will you rebel] after I am dead! Assemble all your tribal elders and officers before me, so that I may speak these words directly to them and call heaven and earth as witnesses against them. For I know that after my death you will become completely corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. Disaster will come to you in the future, because you will do what is evil in the Lord's sight, infuriating Him with what your hands have made." Then Moses recited aloud every single word of this song to the entire assembly of Israel:

Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho, and the Lord showed him all the land: Gilead as far as Dan, all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, the Negev, and the region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. read more.
The Lord then said to him, "This is the land I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it." So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab facing Beth-peor, and no one to this day knows where his grave is. Moses was 120 years old when he died; his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not left [him].


because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to provoke Me to anger-they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them time and time again, they do not listen and receive discipline. They have placed their detestable things in the house that is called by My name and have defiled it. read more.
They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through [the fire] to Molech-something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin! "Now therefore, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to this city about which you said: It has been handed over to Babylon's king through sword, famine, and plague:

But you who abandon the Lord, who forget My holy mountain, who prepare a table for Fortune and fill bowls of mixed wine for Destiny, I will destine you for the sword, and all of you will kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear; you did what was evil in My sight and chose what I did not delight in. Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: My servants will eat, but you will be hungry; My servants will drink, but you will be thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame. read more.
My servants will shout for joy from a glad heart, but you will cry out from an anguished heart, and you will lament out of a broken spirit. You will leave your name behind as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord God will kill you; but He will give His servants another name.

This is what the Lord says: Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What house could you possibly build for Me? And what place could be My home? My hand made all these things, and so they all came into being. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. I will look favorably on this kind of person: one who is humble, submissive in spirit, and who trembles at My word. One slaughters an ox, one kills a man; one sacrifices a lamb, one breaks a dog's neck; one offers a grain offering, one offers swine's blood; one offers incense, one praises an idol- all these have chosen their ways and delight in their abominations. read more.
So I will choose their punishment, and I will bring on them what they dread, because I called and no one answered; I spoke and they didn't hear; they did what is evil in My sight and chose what I didn't delight in.

For I know that after my death you will become completely corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. Disaster will come to you in the future, because you will do what is evil in the Lord’s sight, infuriating Him with what your hands have made.”

The Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, "Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed all these abominations-greater evil than the Amorites who preceded him had done-and by means of his idols has also caused Judah to sin, this is what the Lord God of Israel says: 'I am about to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will shudder. read more.
I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line [used on] Samaria and the mason's level [used on] the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean as one wipes a bowl-wiping it and turning it upside down. I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies, because they have done what is evil in My sight and have provoked Me from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until today.' " Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem with it from one end to another. This was in addition to his sin he caused Judah to commit so that they did what was evil in the Lord's sight.

For our fathers were unfaithful and did what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They abandoned Him, turned their faces away from the Lord's tabernacle, and turned their backs on Him. They also closed the doors of the vestibule, extinguished the lamps, did not burn incense, and did not offer burnt offerings in the holy place of the God of Israel. Therefore, the wrath of the Lord was on Judah and Jerusalem, and He made them an object of terror, horror, and hissing, as you see with your own eyes. read more.
Our fathers fell by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this.

But as soon as they had relief, they again did what was evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to the power of their enemies, who dominated them. When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven and rescued them many times in Your compassion. You warned them to turn back to Your law, but they acted arrogantly and would not obey Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a person will live if he does them. They stubbornly resisted, stiffened their necks, and would not obey. You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit warned them through Your prophets, but they would not listen. Therefore, You handed them over to the surrounding peoples. read more.
However, in Your abundant compassion, You did not destroy them or abandon them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

For this is what the Lord says to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: Break up the unplowed ground; do not sow among the thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, men of Judah and residents of Jerusalem. Otherwise, My wrath will break out like fire and burn with no one to extinguish [it] because of your evil deeds.

The word of the Lord came to me: "House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter [treats his clay]?"-[this is] the Lord's declaration. "Just like clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel. At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy [it]. read more.
However, if that nation I have made an announcement about, turns from its evil, I will not bring the disaster on it I had planned. At [another] time I announce that I will build and plant a nation or a kingdom. However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will not bring the good I had said I would do to it.

Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God. So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God's command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do good and you will have its approval. read more.
For government is God's servant to you for good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God's servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong.


You were secure in your wickedness; you said: No one sees me. Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray. You said to yourself: I, and no one else. But disaster will happen to you; you will not know how to avert it. And it will fall on you, but you will be unable to ward it off. Devastation will happen to you suddenly and unexpectedly.

For I know that after my death you will become completely corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. Disaster will come to you in the future, because you will do what is evil in the Lord’s sight, infuriating Him with what your hands have made.”

The Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, "Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed all these abominations-greater evil than the Amorites who preceded him had done-and by means of his idols has also caused Judah to sin, this is what the Lord God of Israel says: 'I am about to bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that everyone who hears about it will shudder. read more.
I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line [used on] Samaria and the mason's level [used on] the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean as one wipes a bowl-wiping it and turning it upside down. I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies. They will become plunder and spoil to all their enemies, because they have done what is evil in My sight and have provoked Me from the day their ancestors came out of Egypt until today.' " Manasseh also shed so much innocent blood that he filled Jerusalem with it from one end to another. This was in addition to his sin he caused Judah to commit so that they did what was evil in the Lord's sight.

This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, [fulfilling] all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read, because they have abandoned Me and burned incense to other gods in order to provoke Me with all the work of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.

'This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, [fulfilling] all the curses written in the book that they read in the presence of the king of Judah, because they have abandoned Me and burned incense to other gods in order to provoke Me with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be poured out on this place, and it will not be quenched.'

Concerning the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the Lord, because of His holy words. For the land is full of adulterers; the land mourns because of the curse, and the grazing lands in the wilderness have dried up. Their way of life has become evil, and their power is not rightly used because both prophet and priest are ungodly, even in My house I have found their evil. [This is]*The bracketed text has been added for clarity. the Lord's declaration. read more.
Therefore, their way will be to them like slippery paths in the gloom. They will be driven away and fall down there, for I will bring disaster on them, the year of their punishment. [This is] the Lord's declaration.


And here you, a brood of sinners, stand in your fathers’ place adding even more to the Lord’s burning anger against Israel.

Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly in front of the rock, and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels! Must we bring water out of this rock for you?”

But how can I bear your troubles, burdens, and disputes by myself?

So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites: "This evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt; in the morning you will see the Lord's glory because He has heard your complaints about Him. For who are we that you complain about us?"

As he approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses became enraged and threw the tablets out of his hands, smashing them at the base of the mountain. Then he took the calf they had made, burned [it] up, and ground [it] to powder. He scattered [the powder] over the surface of the water and forced the Israelites to drink [the water]. Then Moses asked Aaron, "What did this people do to you that you have led them into [such] a grave sin?" read more.
"Don't be enraged, my lord," Aaron replied. "You yourself know that the people are [intent] on evil. They said to me, 'Make us a god who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt-we don't know what has happened to him!' So I said to them, 'Whoever has gold, take it off,' and they gave [it] to me. When I threw it into the fire, out came this calf!" Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them get out of control, so that they would be vulnerable to their enemies. And Moses stood at the camp's entrance and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, [come] to me." And all the Levites gathered around him. He told them, "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, 'Every man fasten his sword to his side; go back and forth through the camp from entrance to entrance, and each of you kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.' " The Levites did as Moses commanded, and about 3,000 men fell dead that day among the people. Afterwards Moses said, "Today you have been dedicated to the Lord, since each man went against his son and his brother. Therefore you have brought a blessing on yourselves today." The following day Moses said to the people, "You have committed a great sin. Now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I will be able to pay for your sin."

But Moses responded, “Why are you going against the Lord’s command? It won’t succeed.

"But you were not willing to go up, rebelling against the command of the Lord your God. You grumbled in your tents and said, 'The Lord brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites so they would destroy us, because He hated us. Where can we go? Our brothers have discouraged us, saying: The people are larger and taller than we are; the cities are large, fortified to the heavens. We also saw the descendants of the Anakim there.' read more.
"So I said to you: Don't be terrified or afraid of them! The Lord your God who goes before you will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt. And you saw in the wilderness how the Lord your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place. But in spite of this you did not trust the Lord your God, who went before you on the journey to seek out a place for you to camp. He went in the fire by night and in the cloud by day to guide you on the road you were to travel. "When the Lord heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath: 'None of these men in this evil generation will see the good land I swore to give your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the Lord completely.' "The Lord was angry with me also because of you and said: 'You will not enter there either. Joshua son of Nun, who attends you, will enter it. Encourage him, for he will enable Israel to inherit it. Your little children whom you said would be plunder, your sons who don't know good from evil, will enter there. I will give them the land, and they will take possession of it. But you are to turn back and head for the wilderness by way of the Red Sea.' "You answered me, 'We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight just as the Lord our God commanded us.' Then each of you put on his weapons of war and thought it would be easy to go up into the hill country. "But the Lord said to me, 'Tell them: Don't go up and fight, for I am not with you to keep you from being defeated by your enemies.' So I spoke to you, but you didn't listen. You rebelled against the Lord's command and defiantly went up into the hill country.

I saw how you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made a calf image for yourselves. You had quickly turned from the way the Lord had commanded for you. So I took hold of the tablets and threw them from my hands, shattering them before your eyes. Then I fell down like the first time in the presence of the Lord for 40 days and 40 nights; I did not eat bread or drink water because of all the sin you committed, doing what was evil in the Lord's sight and provoking Him to anger. read more.
I was afraid of the fierce anger the Lord had directed against you, because He was about to destroy you. But again, the Lord listened to me on that occasion. The Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. But I prayed for Aaron at that time also. I took the sinful calf you had made, burned it up, and crushed it, thoroughly grinding it to powder as [fine as] dust. Then I threw it into the stream that came down from the mountain. "You continued to provoke the Lord at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah. When the Lord sent you from Kadesh-barnea, He said, 'Go up and possess the land I have given you'; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not believe or obey Him. You have been rebelling against the Lord ever since I have known you.

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

For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you are rebelling against the Lord now, while I am still alive, how much more [will you rebel] after I am dead! Assemble all your tribal elders and officers before me, so that I may speak these words directly to them and call heaven and earth as witnesses against them. For I know that after my death you will become completely corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. Disaster will come to you in the future, because you will do what is evil in the Lord's sight, infuriating Him with what your hands have made."

Then Jeshurun became fat and rebelled- you became fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation. They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with detestable practices. They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known, new gods that had just arrived, which your fathers did not fear. read more.
You ignored the Rock who gave you birth; you forgot the God who brought you forth.


God does not [need to] examine a person further, that one should approach Him in court. He shatters the mighty without an investigation and sets others in their place. Therefore, He recognizes their deeds and overthrows [them] by night, and they are crushed. read more.
In full view of the public, He strikes them for their wickedness, because they turned aside from following Him and did not understand any of His ways but caused the poor to cry out to Him, and He heard the outcry of the afflicted.

The Amalekites and Canaanites are right in front of you, and you will fall by the sword. The Lord won’t be with you, since you have turned from following Him.”

For I know that after my death you will become completely corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. Disaster will come to you in the future, because you will do what is evil in the Lord’s sight, infuriating Him with what your hands have made.”

For our fathers were unfaithful and did what is evil in the sight of the Lord our God. They abandoned Him, turned their faces away from the Lord's tabernacle, and turned their backs on Him. They also closed the doors of the vestibule, extinguished the lamps, did not burn incense, and did not offer burnt offerings in the holy place of the God of Israel. Therefore, the wrath of the Lord was on Judah and Jerusalem, and He made them an object of terror, horror, and hissing, as you see with your own eyes. read more.
Our fathers fell by the sword, and our sons, our daughters, and our wives are in captivity because of this.

You saw their detestable images and idols [made] of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them. Be sure there is no man, 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. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit. When someone hears the words of this oath, he may bless himself in his mind, thinking, 'I will have peace even though I follow my [own] stubborn heart.' This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered [land] as well as the dry [land]. read more.
The Lord will not be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that person, and every curse written in this scroll will descend on him. The Lord will blot out his name under heaven, and single him out for harm from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law. "Future generations of your children who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant country will see the plagues of the land and the sicknesses the Lord has inflicted on it. All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown, producing nothing, with no plant growing on it, just like the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord demolished in His fierce anger. All the nations will ask, 'Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?' Then people will answer, 'It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He had made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. They began to worship other gods, bowing down to gods they had not known-gods that the Lord had not permitted them [to worship]. Therefore the Lord's anger burned against this land, and He brought every curse written in this book on it. The Lord uprooted them from their land in [His] anger, fury, and great wrath, and threw them into another land where they are today.' The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.

Be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside, worship, and bow down to other gods. Then the Lord's anger will burn against you. He will close the sky, and there will be no rain; the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land the Lord is giving you. "Impress these words of Mine on your hearts and souls, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads.

See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity. For I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow down to other gods and worship them, read more.
I tell you today that you will certainly perish and will not live long in the land you are entering to possess across the Jordan.

If you or your sons turn away from following Me and do not keep My commands-My statutes that I have set before you-and if you go and serve other gods and worship them, I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them, and I will reject the temple I have sanctified for My name. Israel will become an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples. Though this temple is [now] exalted, every passerby will be appalled and will hiss. They will say: Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple? read more.
Then they will say: Because they abandoned the Lord their God who brought their ancestors out of the land of Egypt. They clung to other gods and worshiped and served them. Because of this, the Lord brought all this ruin on them.

I struck you with blight and mildew; the locust devoured your many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and olive trees, yet you did not return to Me- the Lord's declaration. I sent plagues like those of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I caused the stench of your camp to fill your nostrils, yet you did not return to Me- the Lord's declaration. I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick snatched from a fire, yet you did not return to Me- the Lord's declaration. read more.
Therefore, Israel, that is what I will do to you, and since I will do that to you, Israel, prepare to meet your God!