Week 18: Thursday Joshua 2-3

Invocation

P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

Reading Joshua 2:1—3:17

¹And Joshua the son of Nun sent two men secretly from Shittim as spies, saying, “Go, view the land, especially Jericho.” And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. ²And it was told to the king of Jericho, “Behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land.” ³Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, “Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house, for they have come to search out all the land.” ⁴But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, “True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. ⁵And when the gate was about to be closed at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them.” ⁶But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them with the stalks of flax that she had laid in order on the roof. ⁷So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords. And the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out.

⁸Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof ⁹and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. ¹⁰For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. ¹¹And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. ¹²Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a sure sign ¹³that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” ¹⁴And the men said to her, “Our life for yours even to death! If you do not tell this business of ours, then when the Lord gives us the land we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”

¹⁵Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall. ¹⁶And she said to them, “Go into the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way.” ¹⁷The men said to her, “We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made us swear. ¹⁸Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you shall gather into your house your father and mother, your brothers, and all your father’s household. ¹⁹Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if a hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head. ²⁰But if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear.” ²¹And she said, “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

²²They departed and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned, and the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing. ²³Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills and passed over and came to Joshua the son of Nun, and they told him all that had happened to them. ²⁴And they said to Joshua, “Truly the Lord has given all the land into our hands. And also, all the inhabitants of the land melt away because of us.”

¹Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. ²At the end of three days the officers went through the camp ³and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. ⁴Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” ⁵Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” ⁶And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

⁷The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. ⁸And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” ⁹And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” ¹⁰And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. ¹¹Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. ¹²Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man.

¹³“And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”

¹⁴So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, ¹⁵and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), ¹⁶the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.

Collect

Almighty God, grant that we who have been redeemed from the old life of sin through Baptism into the death and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, may be renewed in Your Holy Spirit and live in righteousness and true holiness; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

750 If Thou But Trust in God to Guide Thee

5 Nor think amid the fiery trial
That God hath cast thee off unheard,
That he whose hopes meet no denial
Must surely be of God preferred.
Time passes and much change doth bring
And sets a bound to ev’rything.

6 All are alike before the Highest;
’Tis easy for our God, we know,
To raise thee up, though low thou liest,
To make the rich man poor and low.
True wonders still by Him are wrought
Who setteth up and brings to naught.

7 Sing, pray, and keep His ways unswerving,
Perform thy duties faithfully,
And trust His Word; though undeserving,
Thou yet shalt find it true for thee.
God never yet forsook in need
The soul that trusted Him indeed.

Public domain

Apostles' Creed

C I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life T everlasting. Amen.

Lord's Prayer

C Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Benediction (Aaronic)

P The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.

C Amen.

Acknowledgments

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.

Week 18: Wednesday Joshua 1

Invocation

P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

Reading Joshua 1:1–18

¹After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, ²“Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. ³Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses. ⁴From the wilderness and this Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory. ⁵No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. ⁶Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. ⁸This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. ⁹Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

¹⁰And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, ¹¹“Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’”

¹²And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh Joshua said, ¹³“Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’ ¹⁴Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them, ¹⁵until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶And they answered Joshua, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. ¹⁷Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses! ¹⁸Whoever rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him, shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.”

Collect

Lord God, You have called Your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that Your hand is leading us and Your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

665 Be Strong in the Lord

5 So wield well your blade,

Rejoice in its pow’rs,

Fight on undismayed

For Jesus is ours!

Then in Him victorious

Your armor lay down,

To praise, ever glorious,

His cross and His crown.

© 1984 Hope Publishing Co. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100011178.

Apostles' Creed

C I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life T everlasting. Amen.

Lord's Prayer

C Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Benediction (Aaronic)

P The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.

C Amen.

Acknowledgments

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.

Week 18: Tuesday Deuteronomy 34

Invocation

P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

Reading Deuteronomy 34:1–12

¹Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, ²all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, ³the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. ⁴And the Lord said to him, “This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” ⁵So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord, ⁶and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. ⁷Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. ⁸And the people of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

⁹And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses. ¹⁰And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, ¹¹none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, ¹²and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Collect

Almighty God, grant Your unworthy servants Your grace, that in the hour of our death the adversary may not prevail against us but that we may be found worthy of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

517 By All Your Saints in Warfare

© 1993 Harlyn J. Kuschel. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100011178.; © 2006 Gregory J. Wismar. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100011178.
Public domain

Apostles' Creed

C I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life T everlasting. Amen.

Lord's Prayer

C Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Benediction (Aaronic)

P The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.

C Amen.

Acknowledgments

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.

Week 18: Monday Deuteronomy 33

Invocation

P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

Reading Deuteronomy 33:1–29

¹This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the people of Israel before his death. ²He said,

“The Lord came from Sinai

and dawned from Seir upon us;

he shone forth from Mount Paran;

he came from the ten thousands of holy ones,

with flaming fire at his right hand.

³Yes, he loved his people,

all his holy ones were in his hand;

so they followed in your steps,

receiving direction from you,

⁴when Moses commanded us a law,

as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵Thus the Lord became king in Jeshurun,

when the heads of the people were gathered,

all the tribes of Israel together.

⁶“Let Reuben live, and not die,

but let his men be few.”

⁷And this he said of Judah:

“Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah,

and bring him in to his people.

With your hands contend for him,

and be a help against his adversaries.”

⁸And of Levi he said,

“Give to Levi your Thummim,

and your Urim to your godly one,

whom you tested at Massah,

with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;

⁹who said of his father and mother,

‘I regard them not’;

he disowned his brothers

and ignored his children.

For they observed your word

and kept your covenant.

¹⁰They shall teach Jacob your rules

and Israel your law;

they shall put incense before you

and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

¹¹Bless, O Lord, his substance,

and accept the work of his hands;

crush the loins of his adversaries,

of those who hate him, that they rise not again.”

¹²Of Benjamin he said,

“The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety.

The High God surrounds him all day long,

and dwells between his shoulders.”

¹³And of Joseph he said,

“Blessed by the Lord be his land,

with the choicest gifts of heaven above,

and of the deep that crouches beneath,

¹⁴with the choicest fruits of the sun

and the rich yield of the months,

¹⁵with the finest produce of the ancient mountains

and the abundance of the everlasting hills,

¹⁶with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness

and the favor of him who dwells in the bush.

May these rest on the head of Joseph,

on the pate of him who is prince among his brothers.

¹⁷A firstborn bull—he has majesty,

and his horns are the horns of a wild ox;

with them he shall gore the peoples,

all of them, to the ends of the earth;

they are the ten thousands of Ephraim,

and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”

¹⁸And of Zebulun he said,

“Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out,

and Issachar, in your tents.

¹⁹They shall call peoples to their mountain;

there they offer right sacrifices;

for they draw from the abundance of the seas

and the hidden treasures of the sand.”

²⁰And of Gad he said,

“Blessed be he who enlarges Gad!

Gad crouches like a lion;

he tears off arm and scalp.

²¹He chose the best of the land for himself,

for there a commander’s portion was reserved;

and he came with the heads of the people,

with Israel he executed the justice of the Lord,

and his judgments for Israel.”

²²And of Dan he said,

“Dan is a lion’s cub

that leaps from Bashan.”

²³And of Naphtali he said,

“O Naphtali, sated with favor,

and full of the blessing of the Lord,

possess the lake and the south.”

²⁴And of Asher he said,

“Most blessed of sons be Asher;

let him be the favorite of his brothers,

and let him dip his foot in oil.

²⁵Your bars shall be iron and bronze,

and as your days, so shall your strength be.

²⁶“There is none like God, O Jeshurun,

who rides through the heavens to your help,

through the skies in his majesty.

²⁷The eternal God is your dwelling place,

and underneath are the everlasting arms.

And he thrust out the enemy before you

and said, Destroy.

²⁸So Israel lived in safety,

Jacob lived alone,

in a land of grain and wine,

whose heavens drop down dew.

²⁹Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,

a people saved by the Lord,

the shield of your help,

and the sword of your triumph!

Your enemies shall come fawning to you,

and you shall tread upon their backs.”

Collect

Merciful and everlasting God, You did not spare Your only Son but delivered Him up for us all that He might bear our sins on the cross. Grant that our eyes may ever behold our Savior and His cross, that we may not fear the power of any adversaries but rather rejoice in His victory for us; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

765 God Moves in a Mysterious Way LSB 765

1 God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

2 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
Faith sees a smiling face.

3 His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev’ry hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow’r.

4 Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain

5 You fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy and will break
In blessings on your head.

Public domain

Apostles' Creed

C I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life T everlasting. Amen.

Lord's Prayer

C Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Benediction (Aaronic)

P The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.

C Amen.

Acknowledgments

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.

Week 17: Saturday Deuteronomy 32

Invocation

P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

Reading Deuteronomy 32:1–52

¹“Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,

and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.

²May my teaching drop as the rain,

my speech distill as the dew,

like gentle rain upon the tender grass,

and like showers upon the herb.

³For I will proclaim the name of the Lord;

ascribe greatness to our God!

⁴“The Rock, his work is perfect,

for all his ways are justice.

A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,

just and upright is he.

⁵They have dealt corruptly with him;

they are no longer his children because they are blemished;

they are a crooked and twisted generation.

⁶Do you thus repay the Lord,

you foolish and senseless people?

Is not he your father, who created you,

who made you and established you?

⁷Remember the days of old;

consider the years of many generations;

ask your father, and he will show you,

your elders, and they will tell you.

⁸When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,

when he divided mankind,

he fixed the borders of the peoples

according to the number of the sons of God.

⁹But the Lord’s portion is his people,

Jacob his allotted heritage.

¹⁰“He found him in a desert land,

and in the howling waste of the wilderness;

he encircled him, he cared for him,

he kept him as the apple of his eye.

¹¹Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,

that flutters over its young,

spreading out its wings, catching them,

bearing them on its pinions,

¹²the Lord alone guided him,

no foreign god was with him.

¹³He made him ride on the high places of the land,

and he ate the produce of the field,

and he suckled him with honey out of the rock,

and oil out of the flinty rock.

¹⁴Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,

with fat of lambs,

rams of Bashan and goats,

with the very finest of the wheat—

and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.

¹⁵“But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked;

you grew fat, stout, and sleek;

then he forsook God who made him

and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.

¹⁶They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods;

with abominations they provoked him to anger.

¹⁷They sacrificed to demons that were no gods,

to gods they had never known,

to new gods that had come recently,

whom your fathers had never dreaded.

¹⁸You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you,

and you forgot the God who gave you birth.

¹⁹“The Lord saw it and spurned them,

because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

²⁰And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them;

I will see what their end will be,

For they are a perverse generation,

children in whom is no faithfulness.

²¹They have made me jealous with what is no god;

they have provoked me to anger with their idols.

So I will make them jealous with those who are no people;

I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.

²²For a fire is kindled by my anger,

and it burns to the depths of Sheol,

devours the earth and its increase,

and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.

²³“‘And I will heap disasters upon them;

I will spend my arrows on them;

²⁴they shall be wasted with hunger,

and devoured by plague

and poisonous pestilence;

I will send the teeth of beasts against them,

with the venom of things that crawl in the dust.

²⁵Outdoors the sword shall bereave,

and indoors terror,

for young man and woman alike,

the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.

²⁶I would have said, “I will cut them to pieces;

I will wipe them from human memory,”

²⁷had I not feared provocation by the enemy,

lest their adversaries should misunderstand,

lest they should say, “Our hand is triumphant,

it was not the Lord who did all this.”’

²⁸“For they are a nation void of counsel,

and there is no understanding in them.

²⁹If they were wise, they would understand this;

they would discern their latter end!

³⁰How could one have chased a thousand,

and two have put ten thousand to flight,

unless their Rock had sold them,

and the Lord had given them up?

³¹For their rock is not as our Rock;

our enemies are by themselves.

³²For their vine comes from the vine of Sodom

and from the fields of Gomorrah;

their grapes are grapes of poison;

their clusters are bitter;

³³their wine is the poison of serpents

and the cruel venom of asps.

³⁴“‘Is not this laid up in store with me,

sealed up in my treasuries?

³⁵Vengeance is mine, and recompense,

for the time when their foot shall slip;

for the day of their calamity is at hand,

and their doom comes swiftly.’

³⁶ The Lord will vindicate his people

and have compassion on his servants,

when he sees that their power is gone

and there is none remaining, bond or free.

³⁷Then he will say, “Where are their gods,

the rock in which they took refuge,

³⁸who ate the fat of their sacrifices

and drank the wine of their drink offering?

Let them rise up and help you;

let them be your protection!”

³⁹“See now that I, even I, am he,

and there is no god beside me;

I kill and I make alive;

I wound and I heal;

and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.”

⁴⁰For I lift up my hand to heaven

and swear, As I live forever,

⁴¹if I sharpen my flashing sword

and my hand takes hold on judgment,

I will take vengeance on my adversaries

and will repay those who hate me.

⁴²I will make my arrows drunk with blood,

and my sword shall devour flesh—

with the blood of the slain and the captives,

from the long-haired heads of the enemy.’

⁴³“Rejoice with him, O heavens;

bow down to him, all gods,

for he avenges the blood of his children

and takes vengeance on his adversaries.

He repays those who hate him

and cleanses his people’s land.”

⁴⁴Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun. ⁴⁵And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, ⁴⁶he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. ⁴⁷For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

⁴⁸That very day the Lord spoke to Moses, ⁴⁹“Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel for a possession. ⁵⁰And die on the mountain which you go up, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, ⁵¹because you broke faith with me in the midst of the people of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, and because you did not treat me as holy in the midst of the people of Israel. ⁵²For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there, into the land that I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Collect

O God, the exaltation of the humble and the strength of the righteous, You taught Your people through Your holy servant Moses to sing Your sacred songs and delivered to them the Law that still directs us. Display in all nations the fullness of Your power that, as You blot out all sins through Your forgiveness, terror may turn to joy and fear of punishment may be transformed into the hope of salvation; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

414 'Tis Good, Lord, to Be Here

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Apostles' Creed

C I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell.

The third day He rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the holy Christian Church,

the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body,

and the life T everlasting. Amen.

Lord's Prayer

C Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be Thy name,
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven;
give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Benediction (Aaronic)

P The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.

C Amen.

Acknowledgments

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2006 Concordia Publishing House.