T51 - Nitzavim
Portion (parasha) for this week:
Nitzavim | נצבים | "Standing"
Torah: Deuteronomy 29:10(9) - 30:20
Prophets: Isaiah 55:6-56:8, 61:10-63:9
Brit Hadasha: Luke 24:1-12; Romans 7:7-12
(click on a selected reading to be taken directly to it)
"Torah Portions" are a systematic teaching schedule that includes a portion of scripture from the Torah, Prophets, and Brit Hadasha each week. This schedule is known all over the world, and serves as a great way to facilitate discussion and learning with others in the Body of the Messiah.
Deuteronomy 29:10(9) - 30:20
English Standard Version (ESV)
10 “You are standing today all of you before YHWH your Elohim: the heads of your tribes,[a] your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, 12 so that you may enter into the sworn covenant of YHWH your Elohim, which YHWH your Elohim is making with you today, 13 that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your Elohim, as he promised you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14 It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant, 15 but with whoever is standing here with us today before YHWH our Elohim, and with whoever is not here with us today.
16 “You know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed. 17 And you have seen their detestable things, their idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold, which were among them. 18 Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from YHWH our Elohim to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, 19 one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.’ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. 20 YHWH will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of YHWH and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and YHWH will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 And YHWH will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for calamity, in accordance with all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law. 22 And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which YHWH has made it sick— 23 the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which YHWH overthrew in his anger and wrath— 24 all the nations will say, ‘Why has YHWH done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of YHWH, the Elohim of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. 27 Therefore the anger of YHWH was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book, 28 and YHWH uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as they are this day.’
29 “The secret things belong to YHWH our Elohim, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Repentance and Forgiveness
30 “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where YHWH your Elohim has driven you, 2 and return to YHWH your Elohim, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then YHWH your Elohim will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where YHWH your Elohim has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there YHWH your Elohim will gather you, and from there he will take you. 5 And YHWH your Elohim will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. 6 And YHWH your Elohim will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. 7 And YHWH your Elohim will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you. 8 And you shall again obey the voice of YHWH and keep all his commandments that I command you today. 9 YHWH your Elohim will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For YHWH will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of YHWH your Elohim, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and with all your soul.
The Choice of Life and Death
11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of YHWH your Elohim[b] that I command you today, by loving YHWH your Elohim, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules,[c] then you shall live and multiply, and YHWH your Elohim will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving YHWH your Elohim, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that YHWH swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
Footnotes:
- Deuteronomy 29:10 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew your heads, your tribes
- Deuteronomy 30:16 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks If you obey the commandments of the Lord your Elohim
- Deuteronomy 30:16 Or his just decrees
Isaiah 55:6 - 56:8
English Standard Version (ESV)
6 “Seek YHWH while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to YHWH, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our Elohim, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares YHWH.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
12 “For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for YHWH,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
Salvation for Foreigners
56 Thus says YHWH:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my righteousness be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man who does this,
and the son of man who holds it fast,
who keeps the Sabbath, not profaning it,
and keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
3 Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
“YHWH will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
“Behold, I am a dry tree.”
4 For thus says YHWH:
“To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
5 I will give in my house and within my walls
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
that shall not be cut off.
6 “And the foreigners who join themselves to YHWH,
to minister to him, to love the name of YHWH,
and to be his servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—
7 these I will bring to my holy mountain,
and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.”
8 The Lord YHWH,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
“I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered.”
Isaiah 61:10 - 63:9
English Standard Version (ESV)
10 I will greatly rejoice in YHWH;
my soul shall exult in my Elohim,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord Elohim will cause righteousness and praise
to sprout up before all the nations.
Zion's Coming Salvation
62 For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be quiet,
until her righteousness goes forth as brightness,
and her salvation as a burning torch.
2 The nations shall see your righteousness,
and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of YHWH will give.
3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of YHWH,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your Elohim.
4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken,[a]
and your land shall no more be termed Desolate,[b]
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,[c]
and your land Married;[d]
for YHWH delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
5 For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your sons marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your Elohim rejoice over you.
6 On your walls, O Jerusalem,
I have set watchmen;
all the day and all the night
they shall never be silent.
You who put YHWH in remembrance,
take no rest,
7 and give him no rest
until he establishes Jerusalem
and makes it a praise in the earth.
8 YHWH has sworn by his right hand
and by his mighty arm:
“I will not again give your grain
to be food for your enemies,
and foreigners shall not drink your wine
for which you have labored;
9 but those who garner it shall eat it
and praise YHWH,
and those who gather it shall drink it
in the courts of my sanctuary.”[e]
10 Go through, go through the gates;
prepare the way for the people;
build up, build up the highway;
clear it of stones;
lift up a signal over the peoples.
11 Behold, YHWH has proclaimed
to the end of the earth:
Say to the daughter of Zion,
“Behold, your salvation comes;
behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.”
12 And they shall be called The Holy People,
The Redeemed of YHWH;
and you shall be called Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken.
YHWH's Day of Vengeance
63 Who is this who comes from Edom,
in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
mighty to save.”
2 Why is your apparel red,
and your garments like his who treads in the winepress?
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone,
and from the peoples no one was with me;
I trod them in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath;
their lifeblood[f] spattered on my garments,
and stained all my apparel.
4 For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
and my year of redemption[g] had come.
5 I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold;
so my own arm brought me salvation,
and my wrath upheld me.
6 I trampled down the peoples in my anger;
I made them drunk in my wrath,
and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”
YHWH's Mercy Remembered
7 I will recount the steadfast love of YHWH,
the praises of YHWH,
according to all that YHWH has granted us,
and the great goodness to the house of Israel
that he has granted them according to his compassion,
according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
8 For he said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will not deal falsely.”
And he became their Savior.
9 In all their affliction he was afflicted,[h]
and the angel of his presence saved them;
in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
Footnotes:
- Isaiah 62:4 Hebrew Azubah
- Isaiah 62:4 Hebrew Shemamah
- Isaiah 62:4 Hebrew Hephzibah
- Isaiah 62:4 Hebrew Beulah
- Isaiah 62:9 Or in my holy courts
- Isaiah 63:3 Or their juice; also verse 6
- Isaiah 63:4 Or the year of my redeemed
- Isaiah 63:9 Or he did not afflict
Luke 24:1-12
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Resurrection
24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Yeshua. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.
Romans 7:7-12
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Law and Sin
7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.