The Faithful or the Unfaithful Servant.^* 45^u “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time?^* 46Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. 47Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. 48^* But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’ 49and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, 50the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour 51^v and will punish him severely^* and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.

1Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo,^a the peak of Pisgah which faces Jericho, and the LORD showed him all the land—Gilead, and as far as Dan, 2all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,^b 3the Negeb, the plain (the valley of Jericho, the City of Palms), and as far as Zoar. 4The LORD then said to him, This is the land^c about which I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, “I will give it to your descendants.” I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you shall not cross over. 5So there, in the land of Moab, Moses, the servant of the LORD, died^d as the LORD had said; 6and he was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; to this day no one knows the place of his burial.^e 7Moses was one hundred and twenty years old^f when he died, yet his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated. 8The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days, till they had completed the period of grief and mourning for Moses.

9Now Joshua, son of Nun,^g was filled with the spirit of wisdom, since Moses had laid his hands upon him; and so the Israelites gave him their obedience, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

13therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

My servants shall eat,

but you shall go hungry;

My servants shall drink,

but you shall be thirsty;

My servants shall rejoice,

but you shall be put to shame;

14My servants shall shout

for joy of heart,

But you shall cry out for grief of heart,

and howl for anguish of spirit.

15You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen ones

when the Lord GOD slays you,

and calls his servants by another name.

16Whoever invokes a blessing in the land

shall bless by the God of truth;^*

Whoever takes an oath in the land

shall swear by the God of truth;

For the hardships of the past shall be forgotten

and hidden from my eyes.

7Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.^f

9Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teaching.^* It is good to have our hearts strengthened by grace and not by foods, which do not benefit those who live by them.^g 10We have an altar^* from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. 11The bodies of the animals whose blood the high priest brings into the sanctuary as a sin offering are burned outside the camp.^h 12Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, to consecrate the people by his own blood.ⁱ 13Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing the reproach that he bore. 14For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come.^j 15Through him [then] let us continually offer God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.^k 16Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have; God is pleased by sacrifices of that kind.^l