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Blessings for Obedience

12 If you heed these ordinances, by diligently observing them, the Lord your God will maintain with you the covenant loyalty that he swore to your ancestors; ¹³he will love you, bless you, and multiply you; he will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock, in the land that he swore to your ancestors to give you. ¹⁴You shall be the most blessed of peoples, with neither sterility nor barrenness among you or your livestock. ¹⁵The Lord will turn away from you every illness; all the dread diseases of Egypt that you experienced, he will not inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you. ¹⁶You shall devour all the peoples that the Lord your God is giving over to you, showing them no pity; you shall not serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.

Psalm 105

God’s Faithfulness to Israel

¹ O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
   make known his deeds among the peoples.
² Sing to him, sing praises to him;
   tell of all his wonderful works.
³ Glory in his holy name;
   let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
⁴ Seek the Lord and his strength;
   seek his presence continually.
⁵ Remember the wonderful works he has done,
   his miracles, and the judgements he has uttered,
⁶ O offspring of his servant Abraham,^*
   children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

⁷ He is the Lord our God;
   his judgements are in all the earth.
⁸ He is mindful of his covenant for ever,
   of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,
⁹ the covenant that he made with Abraham,
   his sworn promise to Isaac,
¹⁰ which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
   to Israel as an everlasting covenant,
¹¹ saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan
   as your portion for an inheritance.’

¹² When they were few in number,
   of little account, and strangers in it,
¹³ wandering from nation to nation,
   from one kingdom to another people,
¹⁴ he allowed no one to oppress them;
   he rebuked kings on their account,
¹⁵ saying, ‘Do not touch my anointed ones;
   do my prophets no harm.’

¹⁶ When he summoned famine against the land,
   and broke every staff of bread,
¹⁷ he had sent a man ahead of them,
   Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
¹⁸ His feet were hurt with fetters,
   his neck was put in a collar of iron;
¹⁹ until what he had said came to pass,
   the word of the Lord kept testing him.
²⁰ The king sent and released him;
   the ruler of the peoples set him free.
²¹ He made him lord of his house,
   and ruler of all his possessions,
²² to instruct^* his officials at his pleasure,
   and to teach his elders wisdom.

²³ Then Israel came to Egypt;
   Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
²⁴ And the Lord made his people very fruitful,
   and made them stronger than their foes,
²⁵ whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,
   to deal craftily with his servants.

²⁶ He sent his servant Moses,
   and Aaron whom he had chosen.
²⁷ They performed his signs among them,
   and miracles in the land of Ham.
²⁸ He sent darkness, and made the land dark;
   they rebelled^* against his words.
²⁹ He turned their waters into blood,
   and caused their fish to die.
³⁰ Their land swarmed with frogs,
   even in the chambers of their kings.
³¹ He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
   and gnats throughout their country.
³² He gave them hail for rain,
   and lightning that flashed through their land.
³³ He struck their vines and fig trees,
   and shattered the trees of their country.
³⁴ He spoke, and the locusts came,
   and young locusts without number;
³⁵ they devoured all the vegetation in their land,
   and ate up the fruit of their ground.
³⁶ He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
   the first issue of all their strength.

³⁷ Then he brought Israel^* out with silver and gold,
   and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.
³⁸ Egypt was glad when they departed,
   for dread of them had fallen upon it.
³⁹ He spread a cloud for a covering,
   and fire to give light by night.
⁴⁰ They asked, and he brought quails,
   and gave them food from heaven in abundance.
⁴¹ He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
   it flowed through the desert like a river.
⁴² For he remembered his holy promise,
   and Abraham, his servant.

⁴³ So he brought his people out with joy,
   his chosen ones with singing.
⁴⁴ He gave them the lands of the nations,
   and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,
⁴⁵ that they might keep his statutes
   and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!

Teach Sound Doctrine

2But as for you, teach what is consistent with sound doctrine. ²Tell the older men to be temperate, serious, prudent, and sound in faith, in love, and in endurance.

3 Likewise, tell the older women to be reverent in behaviour, not to be slanderers or slaves to drink; they are to teach what is good, ⁴so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵to be self-controlled, chaste, good managers of the household, kind, being submissive to their husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited.

6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. ⁷Show yourself in all respects a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, gravity, ⁸and sound speech that cannot be censured; then any opponent will be put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us.

9 Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to answer back, ¹⁰not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity, so that in everything they may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Saviour.

11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,^{* 12}training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, ¹³while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Saviour,^* Jesus Christ. ¹⁴He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

15 Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority.^* Let no one look down on you.