Month: March 2017

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁸ “Tell the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel]: ‘You are going to another land, where I am taking you. ¹⁹ When you eat the food there, ·offer [elevate] part of it to the Lord. ²⁰ ·Offer [Elevate] a loaf of bread from the first of your ·grain [or dough], which will be your ·offering [elevation offering] from the threshing floor. ²¹ ·From now on [^LThroughout your generations] ·offer [elevate] to the Lord the first part of your ·grain [or dough].

²² “‘Now what if you ·forget [unintentionally fail] to ·obey [do] any of these commands the Lord gave Moses? ²³ These are the Lord’s commands given to you through Moses, which began the day the Lord ·gave them to [commanded] you and will continue ·from now on [^Lthroughout your generations]. ²⁴ If the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] ·forget [unintentionally fail] to ·obey [do] one of these commands, all the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] must offer a young bull as a burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17], a smell pleasing to the Lord. By law you must also give the ·grain [^Lgift; tribute] offering [Lev. 2:1] and the drink offering with it, and you must bring a male goat as a ·sin [or purification; Lev. 4:3] offering.

²⁵ “‘The priest will ·remove that sin for all the Israelites so they will belong to the Lord [^Latone for all the community/congregation/assembly of the sons/^Tchildren of Israel]. They are forgiven, because they ·didn’t know they were sinning [sinned unintentionally]. For the unintentional wrong they did they brought offerings to the Lord, an offering by fire and a ·sin [or purification; Lev. 4:3] offering. ²⁶ So all of the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] of ·Israel [^Lthe sons/^Tchildren of Israel] and the ·foreigners [resident aliens] living among them will be forgiven. ·No one meant to do wrong [They were all involved in unintentional sin].

²⁷ “‘If just one person sins ·without meaning to [unintentionally], a year-old female goat must be brought for a ·sin [or purification; Lev. 4:3] offering. ²⁸ The priest will ·remove [atone for] the sin of the person who sinned ·accidentally [unintentionally]. He will ·remove it before the Lord [atone for him]; and the person will be forgiven. ²⁹ The same ·teaching [instruction; law] is for everyone who sins ·accidentally [unintentionally]—for those ·born Israelites [natives] and for ·foreigners [resident aliens] living among you.

³⁰ “‘But anyone who sins ·on purpose [^Lwith a high hand; ^Cknowingly] ·is against [insults] the Lord and must be cut off from the people, whether it is ·someone born among you [a native] or a ·foreigner [resident alien]. ³¹ That person has ·turned against [despised] the Lord’s word and has ·not obeyed [broken] his commands. Such a person must surely be cut off from the others. He is guilty.’”

A Man Worked on the Sabbath

³² When the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] were still in the ·desert [wilderness], they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day [Gen. 2:2–3; Ex. 20:8–11; 35:2; Deut. 5:13–15]. ³³ Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and all the people. ³⁴ They held the man under guard, because they did not know what to do with him. ³⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely die. All the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] must kill him by ·throwing stones at [stoning] him outside the camp.” ³⁶ So all the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Tassels

³⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁸ “Speak to the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] and tell them this: ‘·Tie several pieces of thread together and attach them to [Make fringes/tassels on] the corners of your clothes. Put a blue thread ·in each one of these tassels [^Lon the fringe/tassel of each corner]. Wear them ·from now on [^Lthroughout your generations]. ³⁹ You will have these ·tassels [fringes] to look at to remind you of all the Lord’s commands. Then you will obey them and not ·be disloyal by following what your bodies and eyes want [^Lfollow after your own heart or your own eyes to be unfaithful/play the harlot after them]. ⁴⁰ Then you will remember to obey all my commands, and you will be God’s holy people. ⁴¹ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God [Ex. 12–15]. I am the Lord your God.’”

Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On

16 Korah, Dathan, Abiram, and On turned against Moses. (Korah was the son of Izhar [26:9–11; 27:3; Ex. 6:21, 24], the son of Kohath, the son of Levi; Dathan and Abiram were brothers [Deut. 11:6; Ps. 106:17], the sons of Eliab; and On was the son of Peleth; Dathan, Abiram, and On were from the tribe of Reuben [Gen. 49:3–4].) ² These men gathered two hundred fifty other ·Israelite men [^Lmen of the sons/^Tchildren of Israel], ·well-known leaders [^Lmen of name/reputation] chosen by the ·community [congregation; assembly], and ·challenged [confronted] Moses. ³ They ·came as a group to speak to [^Lassembled against] Moses and Aaron and said, “You have gone too far. All the ·people [community; congregation; assembly] are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them [Ex. 19:6]. So why do you put yourselves above all the ·people [assembly; crowd] of the Lord?”

⁴ When Moses heard this, he ·bowed facedown [^Lfell on his face]. ⁵ Then he said to Korah and all his ·followers [community; congregation; assembly]: “Tomorrow morning the Lord will show who belongs to him. He will bring the one who is holy near to him; he will bring to himself the person he chooses. ⁶ So Korah, you and all your ·followers [community; congregation; assembly] do this: Get some ·pans for burning incense [censers; firepans]. ⁷ Tomorrow put fire and incense in them and take them before the Lord [Lev. 10:1–2]. He will choose the man who is holy. You ·Levites [^Lsons/descendants of Levi] have gone too far.”

⁸ Moses also said to Korah, “Listen, you ·Levites [^Lsons of Levi]. ⁹ The God of Israel has ·separated [divided] you from the rest of the ·Israelites [^Lcommunity/congregation/assembly of Israel]. He brought you near to himself to do the work in the Lord’s ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] and to stand before all the ·Israelites [community; congregation; assembly] and ·serve [minister to] them [8:14; Ex. 32:29; Lev. 8–9; Deut. 33:8–11]. ·Isn’t that enough [^LIs it too little for you]? ¹⁰ He has brought you and all your ·fellow [brother] ·Levites [^Lsons of Levi] near to himself, yet now you ·want to be priests [^Lseek the priesthood]. ¹¹ You and your ·followers [community; congregation; assembly] have joined together against the Lord. ·Your complaint is not against Aaron [^LWho is Aaron that you complain/grumble against him?].”

¹² Then Moses called Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not come! ¹³ Is it too little that you have brought us out of a ·fertile land [^Lland flowing with milk and honey; ^CEgypt] to this ·desert [wilderness] to kill us? Now you want to ·order us around [lord it over us]. ¹⁴ You haven’t brought us into a ·fertile land [^Lland flowing with milk and honey; Ex. 3:8]; you haven’t given us ·any land [^Lan inheritance] with fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? No! We will not come!”

¹⁵ Then Moses became very angry and said to the Lord, “Don’t accept their ·gifts [tribute]. I have not taken anything from them, not even a donkey, and I have not done wrong to any of them.”

¹⁶ Then Moses said to Korah, “You and all your ·followers [community; congregation; assembly] must stand before the Lord tomorrow. And Aaron will stand there with you and them. ¹⁷ Each of you must take your ·pan [censer; firepan] and put incense in it; present these two hundred fifty ·pans [censers; firepans] before the Lord. You and Aaron must also present your ·pans [censers; firepans].” ¹⁸ So each man got his ·pan [censer; firepan] and put burning incense in it and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. ¹⁹ Korah ·gathered [assembled] all his ·followers [community; congregation; assembly] who were against Moses and Aaron, and they stood at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. Then the glory of the Lord [^Crepresenting God’s manifest presence, often in the form of fire and smoke] appeared to everyone.

²⁰ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²¹ “·Move away [Separate/Divide yourselves] from these men so I can destroy them quickly.”

²² But Moses and Aaron ·bowed facedown [^Lfell on their faces] and cried out, “God, you are the God ·over [of] the spirits of all ·people [flesh; 27:16; Gen 2:7]. Please don’t be angry with this whole ·group [community; congregation; assembly]. Only one man has really sinned.”

²³ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “Tell ·everyone [the community/congregation/assembly] to ·move away from [^Lgo up from around] the ·tents [dwellings] of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.”

²⁵ Moses stood and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ Moses warned the people, “·Move away [Turn aside] from the tents of these evil men! Don’t touch anything of theirs, or you will be ·destroyed [swept away] because of their sins.” ²⁷ So they ·moved away [went up] from the ·tents [dwellings] of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were standing outside their tents with their wives, children, and little babies.

²⁸ Then Moses said, “Now you will know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things; it was not ·my idea [^Lfrom my heart/mind]. ²⁹ If these men die a normal death—·the way men usually die [if a normal fate comes on them]—then the Lord did not really send me. ³⁰ But if the Lord ·does [^Lcreates] something new, you will know they have ·insulted [despised] the Lord. The ground will open and swallow them. They will be buried alive and will go to ·the place of the dead [^LSheol; ^Cthe grave or the underworld], and everything that belongs to them will go with them.”

³¹ When Moses finished saying these things, the ground under the men split open. ³² The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and all their families. All Korah’s men and everything they owned went down. ³³ They were buried alive, going to ·the place of the dead [^LSheol ;^Cthe grave or the underworld], and everything they owned went with them. Then the earth covered them. They ·died and were gone [perished] from the ·community [assembly; crowd]. ³⁴ ·The people of [^LAll] Israel around them heard their screams and ran away, saying, “The earth will swallow us, too!”

³⁵ Then a fire came ·down [or out] from the Lord and ·destroyed [consumed] the two hundred fifty men who had presented the incense [Lev. 10:1–2].

³⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ³⁷ “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take all the ·incense pans [censers; firepans] out of the ·fire [flames]. Have him scatter the ·coals [^Lfire] a long distance away. But the ·incense pans [censers; firepans] are still holy. ³⁸ Take the ·pans [censers; firepans] of these men who sinned and lost their lives, and hammer them into flat sheets that will be used to cover the altar. They are holy, because they were presented to the Lord, and they will be a sign to the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel].”

³⁹ So Eleazar the priest gathered all the bronze ·pans [censers; firepans] that had been brought by the men who were burned up. He had the ·pans [censers; firepans] hammered into flat sheets to put on the altar, ⁴⁰ as the Lord had commanded him through Moses. These sheets were to remind the Israelites that only ·descendants [^Lthe seed] of Aaron should burn incense before the Lord. Anyone else would die like Korah and his ·followers [community; congregation; assembly].

Pilate Questions Jesus^(A)

15 Very early in the morning, the ·leading [^Tchief] priests, the elders, the ·teachers of the law [scribes], and all the ·Jewish council [Sanhedrin; see 14:55] decided what to do with Jesus. They ·tied [bound] him, led him away, and turned him over to Pilate, the governor.

² Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

Jesus answered, “·Those are your words [It is as you say; ^LYou say so; ^Can indirect affirmation].”

³ The ·leading [^Tchief] priests accused Jesus of many things. ⁴ So Pilate asked Jesus another question, “You can see that they are accusing you of many things. Aren’t you going to answer?”

⁵ But Jesus still said nothing, so Pilate was ·very surprised [amazed].

Pilate Tries to Free Jesus^(B)

⁶ Every year at the ·time of the Passover [festival/feast] the governor would free one prisoner whom the people ·chose [requested]. ⁷ At that time, there was a man named Barabbas in prison, one of a group of rebels who had committed murder during ·a riot [the uprising/insurrection]. ⁸ The crowd came to Pilate and began to ask him to free a prisoner as he always did.

⁹ So Pilate asked them, “Do you want me to free the king of the Jews?” ¹⁰ Pilate knew that the ·leading [^Tchief] priests had turned Jesus in to him because they were jealous. ¹¹ But the ·leading [^Tchief] priests had ·persuaded [stirred up] the people to ask Pilate to free Barabbas, not Jesus.

¹² Then Pilate asked the crowd again, “So what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”

¹³ They shouted, “Crucify him!”

¹⁴ Pilate asked, “Why? What ·wrong [crime; evil] has he done?”

But they shouted even louder, “Crucify him!”

¹⁵ Pilate wanted to ·please [satisfy] the crowd, so he freed Barabbas for them. After having Jesus ·beaten with whips [flogged; scourged], he handed Jesus over to the soldiers to be crucified.

The Soldiers Mock Jesus^(C)

¹⁶ The soldiers took Jesus into the [courtyard of the] governor’s palace (called the Praetorium) and called ·all the other soldiers [the whole cohort] together [^Ca cohort was about 500 soldiers; here it may mean those of the cohort on duty]. ¹⁷ They put a purple robe [^Cprobably a scarlet military coat (Matt. 27:28), whose color resembled purple—the color of royalty] on Jesus and used thorny branches to make a crown for his head. ¹⁸ They began to ·call out to [greet; salute] him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” ¹⁹ The soldiers beat Jesus on the head many times with a stick. They spit on him and made fun of him by bowing on their knees and worshiping him. ²⁰ After they finished, the soldiers took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him out of the palace to be crucified.

Jesus Is Crucified^(D)

²¹ A man named Simon from Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus [^Cprobably two Christians known to Mark’s readers], was coming from the ·fields [countryside] to the city. The soldiers forced Simon to carry the cross for Jesus. ²² They led Jesus to the place called Golgotha, which means [^Cin Aramaic] the Place of the Skull. ²³ ·The soldiers [^L They; ^Cthis could be the soldiers or the women of Jerusalem] tried to give Jesus wine mixed with myrrh to drink [^Ca narcotic meant to dull the pain; Prov. 31:6; Ps. 69:21], but he refused. ²⁴ The soldiers crucified Jesus and divided his clothes among themselves, throwing lots [^Csimilar to dice] to decide what each soldier would get [Ps. 22:18].

²⁵ It was ·nine o’clock in the morning [^Lthe third hour] when they crucified Jesus. ²⁶ There was a sign with this charge against Jesus written on it: the king of the jews. ²⁷ They also put two ·robbers [rebels; revolutionaries; ^Cthe term “robber” was used by the Romans of insurrectionists] on crosses beside Jesus, one on the right, and the other on the left. |²⁸ And the Scripture came true that says, “They put him with criminals [Is. 53:12].”|^{[a] 29} People walked by and ·insulted [defamed; slandered; ^Cthe same Greek word used to “blaspheme”] Jesus and shook their heads [^Ca gesture of derision; Ps. 22:7], saying, “You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days. ³⁰ So save yourself! Come down from that cross!”

³¹ The ·leading [^Tchief] priests and the ·teachers of the law [scribes] were also making fun of Jesus. They said to each other, “He saved other people, but he can’t save himself. ³² If he is really the ·Christ [Messiah], the king of Israel, let him come down now from the cross. When we see this, we will believe in him.” The robbers who were being crucified beside Jesus also ·insulted [ridiculed; taunted] him.

Jesus Dies^(E)

³³ At ·noon [^Lthe sixth hour] the whole country became dark, and the darkness lasted ·for three hours [^Luntil the ninth hour]. ³⁴ At ·three o’clock [^Lthe ninth hour] Jesus cried in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani.” This means [^Cin Aramaic], “My God, my God, why have you ·abandoned [forsaken] me?” [Ps. 22:1]

³⁵ When some of the people standing there heard this, they said, “Listen! He is calling Elijah.” [^CThe prophet Elijah was associated with the end times (Mal. 4:5) and was also viewed as a helper in time of need.]

³⁶ Someone there ran and got a sponge, filled it with ·vinegar [or sour wine; ^Can inexpensive drink used by soldiers and slaves], tied it to a ·stick [reed], and gave it to Jesus to drink [Ps. 69:21]. He said, “[Leave him be; Wait!] We want to see if Elijah will come to take him down from the cross.”

³⁷ Then Jesus cried in a loud voice and ·died [breathed his last; ^Lexpired].

³⁸ The curtain [^Cdividing the Most Holy Place from the rest of the temple] in the Temple was torn into two pieces, from the top to the bottom [^Crepresenting new access to the presence of God, and perhaps God’s judgment against the Temple leadership]. ³⁹ When the ·army officer [centurion] who was standing in front of the cross saw ·what happened when [or how] Jesus died,^[b] he said, “This man really was the Son of God!”

⁴⁰ Some women were standing at a distance from the cross, watching; among them were Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph. (James was her youngest son.) ⁴¹ These women had followed Jesus in Galilee and ·helped [cared for; supported] him. Many other women were also there who had come with Jesus to Jerusalem.

Jesus Is Buried^(F)

⁴² This was Preparation Day. (That means the day before the Sabbath day.) That evening, ⁴³ Joseph from Arimathea was ·brave [bold] enough to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body. Joseph, an ·important [respected] member of the ·Jewish council [Sanhedrin; see 14:55], was one of the people who was waiting for the kingdom of God to come. ⁴⁴ Pilate was amazed that Jesus would have already died, so he called the ·army officer [centurion] and asked him if Jesus ·had already died [or had been dead very long]. ⁴⁵ The officer told Pilate that he was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. ⁴⁶ Joseph bought some linen cloth, took the body down from the cross, and wrapped it in the linen. He put the body in a tomb that was cut out of a wall of rock. Then he rolled a [^Clarge] stone to block the entrance of the tomb. ⁴⁷ And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph ·saw [took note of] the place where Jesus was laid.

A Prayer for Help

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of David when the Ziphites went to Saul and said, “·We think David is [^LIs not David…?] hiding among ·our people [^Lus; 1 Sam. 23:13–29; 26:1].”

The People Complain

14 All night long the people cried out in distress. ² They complained against Moses and Aaron, and said, “It would have been better to die in Egypt or even here in the wilderness! ³ Why is the Lord taking us into that land? We will be killed in battle, and our wives and children will be captured. Wouldn't it be better to go back to Egypt?” ⁴ So they said to one another, “Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt!”

⁵ Then Moses and Aaron bowed to the ground in front of all the people. ⁶ And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, two of the spies, tore their clothes in sorrow ⁷ and said to the people, “The land we explored is an excellent land. ⁸ If the Lord is pleased with us, he will take us there and give us that rich and fertile land. ^9 (A)Do not rebel against the Lord and don't be afraid of the people who live there. We will conquer them easily. The Lord is with us and has defeated the gods who protected them; so don't be afraid.” ¹⁰ The whole community was threatening to stone them to death, but suddenly the people saw the dazzling light of the Lord's presence appear over the Tent.

Moses Prays for the People

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, “How much longer will these people reject me? How much longer will they refuse to trust in me, even though I have performed so many miracles among them? ¹² I will send an epidemic and destroy them, but I will make you the father of a nation that is larger and more powerful than they are!”

^13 (B)But Moses said to the Lord, “You brought these people out of Egypt by your power. When the Egyptians hear what you have done to your people, ¹⁴ they will tell it to the people who live in this land. These people have already heard that you, Lord, are with us, that you appear in plain sight when your cloud stops over us, and that you go before us in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. ¹⁵ Now if you kill all your people, the nations who have heard of your fame will say ¹⁶ that you killed your people in the wilderness because you were not able to bring them into the land you promised to give them. ¹⁷ So now, Lord, I pray, show us your power and do what you promised when you said, ^18 (C)‘I, the Lord, am not easily angered, and I show great love and faithfulness and forgive sin and rebellion. Yet I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.’ ¹⁹ And now, Lord, according to the greatness of your unchanging love, forgive, I pray, the sin of these people, just as you have forgiven them ever since they left Egypt.”

²⁰ The Lord answered, “I will forgive them, as you have asked. ^21 (D)But I promise that as surely as I live and as surely as my presence fills the earth, ²² none of these people will live to enter that land. They have seen the dazzling light of my presence and the miracles that I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, but they have tried my patience over and over again and have refused to obey me. ²³ They will never enter the land which I promised to their ancestors. None of those who have rejected me will ever enter it. ^24 (E)But because my servant Caleb has a different attitude and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land which he explored, and his descendants will possess the land ²⁵ in whose valleys the Amalekites and the Canaanites now live. Turn back tomorrow and go into the wilderness in the direction of the Gulf of Aqaba.”

The Lord Punishes the People for Complaining

²⁶ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ²⁷ “How much longer are these wicked people going to complain against me? I have heard enough of these complaints! ²⁸ Now give them this answer: ‘I swear that as surely as I live, I will do to you just what you have asked. I, the Lord, have spoken. ^29 (F)You will die and your corpses will be scattered across this wilderness. Because you have complained against me, none of you over twenty years of age will enter that land. ³⁰ I promised to let you live there, but not one of you will, except Caleb and Joshua. ³¹ You said that your children would be captured, but I will bring them into the land that you rejected, and it will be their home. ³² You will die here in this wilderness. ^33 (G)Your children will wander in the wilderness for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last one of you dies. ³⁴ You will suffer the consequences of your sin for forty years, one year for each of the forty days you spent exploring the land. You will know what it means to have me against you! ³⁵ I swear that I will do this to you wicked people who have gathered together against me. Here in the wilderness every one of you will die. I, the Lord, have spoken.’”

^36-37 The men Moses had sent to explore the land brought back a false report which caused the people to complain against the Lord. And so the Lord struck them with a disease, and they died. ³⁸ Of the twelve spies only Joshua and Caleb survived.

The First Attempt to Invade the Land^(H)

³⁹ When Moses told the Israelites what the Lord had said, they mourned bitterly. ⁴⁰ Early the next morning they started out to invade the hill country, saying, “Now we are ready to go to the place which the Lord told us about. We admit that we have sinned.”

⁴¹ But Moses said, “Then why are you disobeying the Lord now? You will not succeed! ⁴² Don't go. The Lord is not with you, and your enemies will defeat you. ⁴³ When you face the Amalekites and the Canaanites, you will die in battle; the Lord will not be with you, because you have refused to follow him.”

⁴⁴ Yet they still dared to go up into the hill country, even though neither the Lord's Covenant Box nor Moses left the camp. ⁴⁵ Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived there attacked and defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hormah.

Laws about Sacrifice

15 The Lord gave Moses ² the following regulations for the people of Israel to observe in the land that he was going to give them. ³ A bull, a ram, a sheep, or a goat may be presented to the Lord as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice in fulfillment of a vow or as a freewill offering or as an offering at your regular religious festivals; the odor of these food offerings is pleasing to the Lord. ^4-5 Whoever presents a sheep or a goat as a burnt offering to the Lord is to bring with each animal 2 pounds of flour mixed with 2 pints of olive oil as a grain offering, together with 2 pints of wine. ⁶ When a ram is offered, 4 pounds of flour mixed with 3 pints of olive oil are to be presented as a grain offering, ⁷ together with 3 pints of wine. The odor of these sacrifices is pleasing to the Lord. ⁸ When a bull is offered to the Lord as a burnt offering or as a sacrifice in fulfillment of a vow or as a fellowship offering, ⁹ a grain offering of 6 pounds of flour mixed with 4 pints of olive oil is to be presented, ¹⁰ together with 4 pints of wine. The odor of this sacrifice is pleasing to the Lord.

¹¹ That is what shall be offered with each bull, ram, sheep, or goat. ¹² When more than one animal is offered, the accompanying offering is to be increased proportionately. ¹³ All native Israelites are to do this when they present a food offering, an odor pleasing to the Lord. ¹⁴ And if at any time foreigners living among you, whether on a temporary or a permanent basis, make a food offering, an odor that pleases the Lord, they are to observe the same regulations. ¹⁵ For all time to come, the same^[a] rules are binding on you and on the foreigners who live among you. You and they are alike in the Lord's sight; ^16 (I)the same laws and regulations apply to you and to them.

Jesus before the Council^(A)

⁵³ Then Jesus was taken to the High Priest's house, where all the chief priests, the elders, and the teachers of the Law were gathering. ⁵⁴ Peter followed from a distance and went into the courtyard of the High Priest's house. There he sat down with the guards, keeping himself warm by the fire. ⁵⁵ The chief priests and the whole Council tried to find some evidence against Jesus in order to put him to death, but they could not find any. ⁵⁶ Many witnesses told lies against Jesus, but their stories did not agree.

⁵⁷ Then some men stood up and told this lie against Jesus: ^58 (B)“We heard him say, ‘I will tear down this Temple which men have made, and after three days I will build one that is not made by men.’” ⁵⁹ Not even they, however, could make their stories agree.

⁶⁰ The High Priest stood up in front of them all and questioned Jesus, “Have you no answer to the accusation they bring against you?”

⁶¹ But Jesus kept quiet and would not say a word. Again the High Priest questioned him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed God?”

^62 (C)“I am,” answered Jesus, “and you will all see the Son of Man seated at the right side of the Almighty and coming with the clouds of heaven!”

⁶³ The High Priest tore his robes and said, “We don't need any more witnesses! ^64 (D)You heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?”

They all voted against him: he was guilty and should be put to death.

⁶⁵ Some of them began to spit on Jesus, and they blindfolded him and hit him. “Guess who hit you!” they said. And the guards took him and slapped him.

Peter Denies Jesus^(E)

⁶⁶ Peter was still down in the courtyard when one of the High Priest's servant women came by. ⁶⁷ When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked straight at him and said, “You, too, were with Jesus of Nazareth.”

⁶⁸ But he denied it. “I don't know … I don't understand what you are talking about,” he answered, and went out into the passageway. Just then a rooster crowed.^[a]

⁶⁹ The servant woman saw him there and began to repeat to the bystanders, “He is one of them!” ⁷⁰ But Peter denied it again.

A little while later the bystanders accused Peter again, “You can't deny that you are one of them, because you, too, are from Galilee.”

⁷¹ Then Peter said, “I swear that I am telling the truth! May God punish me if I am not! I do not know the man you are talking about!”

⁷² Just then a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows two times, you will say three times that you do not know me.” And he broke down and cried.

Human Wickedness^[a](A)

⁴ Riches will do you no good on the day you face death, but honesty can save your life.

²⁴ So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He assembled seventy of the leaders and placed them around the Tent. ²⁵ Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him. He took some of the spirit he had given to Moses and gave it to the seventy leaders. When the spirit came on them, they began to shout like prophets, but not for long.

²⁶ Two of the seventy leaders, Eldad and Medad, had stayed in the camp and had not gone out to the Tent. There in the camp the spirit came on them, and they too began to shout like prophets. ²⁷ A young man ran out to tell Moses what Eldad and Medad were doing.

²⁸ Then Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' helper since he was a young man, spoke up and said to Moses, “Stop them, sir!”

²⁹ Moses answered, “Are you concerned about my interests? I wish that the Lord would give his spirit to all his people and make all of them shout like prophets!” ³⁰ Then Moses and the seventy leaders of Israel went back to camp.

The Lord Sends Quails

³¹ Suddenly the Lord sent a wind that brought quails from the sea, flying three feet above the ground. They settled on the camp and all around it for miles and miles in every direction.^{[a] 32} So all that day, all night, and all the next day, the people worked catching quails; no one gathered less than fifty bushels. They spread them out to dry all around the camp. ³³ While there was still plenty of meat for them to eat, the Lord became angry with the people and caused an epidemic to break out among them. ³⁴ That place was named Kibroth Hattaavah (which means “Graves of Craving”), because there they buried the people who had craved meat.

³⁵ From there the people moved to Hazeroth, where they made camp.

Miriam Is Punished

12 Moses had married a Cushite^[b] woman, and Miriam and Aaron criticized him for it. ² They said, “Has the Lord spoken only through^[c] Moses? Hasn't he also spoken through^[d] us?” The Lord heard what they said. (^3 (A)Moses was a humble man, more humble than anyone else on earth.)

⁴ Suddenly the Lord said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, “I want the three of you to come out to the Tent of my presence.” They went, ⁵ and the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance of the Tent, and called out, “Aaron! Miriam!” The two of them stepped forward, ⁶ and the Lord said, “Now hear what I have to say! When there are prophets among you,^[e] I reveal myself to them in visions and speak to them in dreams. ^7 (B)It is different when I speak with my servant Moses; I have put him in charge of all my people Israel.^{[f] 8} So I speak to him face-to-face, clearly and not in riddles; he has even seen my form! How dare you speak against my servant Moses?”

⁹ The Lord was angry with them; and so as he departed ¹⁰ and the cloud left the Tent, Miriam's skin was suddenly covered with a dreaded disease and turned as white as snow. When Aaron looked at her and saw that she was covered with the disease, ¹¹ he said to Moses, “Please, sir, do not make us suffer this punishment for our foolish sin. ¹² Don't let her become like something born dead with half its flesh eaten away.”

¹³ So Moses cried out to the Lord, “O God, heal her!”

^14 (C)The Lord answered, “If her father had spit in her face, she would have to bear her disgrace for seven days. So let her be shut out of the camp for a week, and after that she can be brought back in.” ¹⁵ Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought back in. ¹⁶ Then they left Hazeroth and set up camp in the wilderness of Paran.

The Spies^(D)

13 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Choose one of the leaders from each of the twelve tribes and send them as spies to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.” ^3-15 Moses obeyed and from the wilderness of Paran he sent out leaders, as follows:

Tribe	Leader
Reuben	Shammua son of Zaccur
Simeon	Shaphat son of Hori
Judah	Caleb son of Jephunneh
Issachar	Igal son of Joseph
Ephraim	Hoshea son of Nun
Benjamin	Palti son of Raphu
Zebulun	Gaddiel son of Sodi
Manasseh	Gaddi son of Susi
Dan	Ammiel son of Gemalli
Asher	Sethur son of Michael
Naphtali	Nahbi son of Vophsi
Gad	Geuel son of Machi

¹⁶ These are the spies Moses sent to explore the land. He changed the name of Hoshea son of Nun to Joshua.

¹⁷ When Moses sent them out, he said to them, “Go north from here into the southern part of the land of Canaan and then on into the hill country. ¹⁸ Find out what kind of country it is, how many people live there, and how strong they are. ¹⁹ Find out whether the land is good or bad and whether the people live in open towns or in fortified cities. ²⁰ Find out whether the soil is fertile and whether the land is wooded. And be sure to bring back some of the fruit that grows there.” (It was the season when grapes were beginning to ripen.)

²¹ So the men went north and explored the land from the wilderness of Zin in the south all the way to Rehob, near Hamath Pass in the north. ²² They went first into the southern part of the land and came to Hebron, where the clans of Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the descendants of a race of giants called the Anakim, lived. (Hebron was founded seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) ²³ They came to Eshcol Valley, and there they cut off a branch which had one bunch of grapes on it so heavy that it took two men to carry it on a pole between them. They also brought back some pomegranates and figs. (²⁴ That place was named Eshcol^[g] Valley because of the bunch of grapes the Israelites cut off there.)

²⁵ After exploring the land for forty days, the spies returned ²⁶ to Moses, Aaron, and the whole community of Israel at Kadesh in the wilderness of Paran. They reported what they had seen and showed them the fruit they had brought. ²⁷ They told Moses, “We explored the land and found it to be rich and fertile; and here is some of its fruit. ²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful, and their cities are very large and well fortified. Even worse, we saw the descendants of the giants there. ²⁹ Amalekites live in the southern part of the land; Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and Canaanites live by the Mediterranean Sea and along the Jordan River.”

³⁰ Caleb silenced the people who were complaining against^[h] Moses, and said, “We should attack now and take the land; we are strong enough to conquer it.”

³¹ But the men who had gone with Caleb said, “No, we are not strong enough to attack them; the people there are more powerful than we are.” ³² So they spread a false report among the Israelites about the land they had explored. They said, “That land doesn't even produce enough to feed the people who live there. Everyone we saw was very tall, ^33 (E)and we even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. We felt as small as grasshoppers, and that is how we must have looked to them.”

The Lord's Supper^(A)

²² While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. “Take it,” he said, “this is my body.”

²³ Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and handed it to them; and they all drank from it. ^24 (B)Jesus said, “This is my blood which is poured out for many, my blood which seals God's covenant. ²⁵ I tell you, I will never again drink this wine until the day I drink the new wine in the Kingdom of God.”

²⁶ Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial^(C)

^27 (D)Jesus said to them, “All of you will run away and leave me, for the scripture says, ‘God will kill the shepherd, and the sheep will all be scattered.’ ^28 (E)But after I am raised to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”

²⁹ Peter answered, “I will never leave you, even though all the rest do!”

³⁰ Jesus said to Peter, “I tell you that before the rooster crows two times tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me.”

³¹ Peter answered even more strongly, “I will never say that, even if I have to die with you!”

And all the other disciples said the same thing.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane^(F)

³² They came to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ He took Peter, James, and John with him. Distress and anguish came over him, ³⁴ and he said to them, “The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch.”

³⁵ He went a little farther on, threw himself on the ground, and prayed that, if possible, he might not have to go through that time of suffering. ³⁶ “Father,” he prayed, “my Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.”

³⁷ Then he returned and found the three disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Weren't you able to stay awake for even one hour?” ³⁸ And he said to them, “Keep watch, and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

³⁹ He went away once more and prayed, saying the same words. ⁴⁰ Then he came back to the disciples and found them asleep; they could not keep their eyes open. And they did not know what to say to him.

⁴¹ When he came back the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come! Look, the Son of Man is now being handed over to the power of sinners. ⁴² Get up, let us go. Look, here is the man who is betraying me!”

The Arrest of Jesus^(G)

⁴³ Jesus was still speaking when Judas, one of the twelve disciples, arrived. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs and sent by the chief priests, the teachers of the Law, and the elders. ⁴⁴ The traitor had given the crowd a signal: “The man I kiss is the one you want. Arrest him and take him away under guard.”

⁴⁵ As soon as Judas arrived, he went up to Jesus and said, “Teacher!” and kissed him. ⁴⁶ So they arrested Jesus and held him tight. ⁴⁷ But one of those standing there drew his sword and struck at the High Priest's slave, cutting off his ear. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus spoke up and said to them, “Did you have to come with swords and clubs to capture me, as though I were an outlaw? ^49 (H)Day after day I was with you teaching in the Temple, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must come true.”

⁵⁰ Then all the disciples left him and ran away.

⁵¹ A certain young man, dressed only in a linen cloth, was following Jesus. They tried to arrest him, ⁵² but he ran away naked, leaving the cloth behind.

^(A)God's Judgment and Grace^[a]

11 The Lord hates people who use dishonest scales. He is happy with honest weights.

² People who are proud will soon be disgraced. It is wiser to be modest.

³ If you are good, you are guided by honesty. People who can't be trusted are destroyed by their own dishonesty.

The Silver Trumpets

10 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Make two trumpets of hammered silver to use for calling the people together and for breaking camp. ³ When long blasts are sounded on both trumpets, the whole community is to gather around you at the entrance to the Tent of my presence. ⁴ But when only one trumpet is sounded, then only the leaders of the clans are to gather around you. ⁵ When short blasts are sounded, the tribes camped on the east will move out. ⁶ When short blasts are sounded a second time, the tribes on the south will move out. So short blasts are to be sounded to break camp, ⁷ but in order to call the community together, long blasts are to be sounded. ⁸ The trumpets are to be blown by Aaron's sons, the priests.

“The following rule is to be observed for all time to come. ⁹ When you are at war in your land, defending yourselves against an enemy who has attacked you, sound the signal for battle on these trumpets. I, the Lord your God, will help you and save you from your enemies. ¹⁰ Also on joyful occasions—at your New Moon Festivals and your other religious festivals—you are to blow the trumpets when you present your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings. Then I will help you. I am the Lord your God.”

The Israelites Break Camp

¹¹ On the twentieth day of the second month in the second year after the people left Egypt, the cloud over the Tent of the Lord's presence lifted, ¹² and the Israelites started on their journey out of the Sinai Desert. The cloud came to rest in the wilderness of Paran.

¹³ They began to march at the command of the Lord through Moses, ¹⁴ and each time they moved, they were in the same order. Those under the banner of the division led by the tribe of Judah started out first, company by company, with Nahshon son of Amminadab in command. ¹⁵ Nethanel son of Zuar was in command of the tribe of Issachar, ¹⁶ and Eliab son of Helon was in command of the tribe of Zebulun.

¹⁷ Then the Tent would be taken down, and the clans of Gershon and Merari, who carried it, would start out.

¹⁸ Next, those under the banner of the division led by the tribe of Reuben would start out, company by company, with Elizur son of Shedeur in command. ¹⁹ Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai was in command of the tribe of Simeon, ²⁰ and Eliasaph son of Deuel was in command of the tribe of Gad.

²¹ Then the Levite clan of Kohath would start out, carrying the sacred objects. By the time they arrived at the next camp, the Tent had been set up again.

²² Next, those under the banner of the division led by the tribe of Ephraim would start out, company by company, with Elishama son of Ammihud in command. ²³ Gamaliel son of Pedahzur was in command of the tribe of Manasseh, ²⁴ and Abidan son of Gideoni was in command of the tribe of Benjamin.

²⁵ Finally, those under the banner of the division led by the tribe of Dan, serving as the rear guard of all the divisions, would start out, company by company, with Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai in command. ²⁶ Pagiel son of Ochran was in command of the tribe of Asher, ²⁷ and Ahira son of Enan was in command of the tribe of Naphtali. ²⁸ This, then, was the order of march, company by company, whenever the Israelites broke camp and set out.

²⁹ Moses said to his brother-in-law Hobab son of Jethro the Midianite, “We are about to start out for the place which the Lord said he would give us. He has promised to make Israel prosperous, so come with us, and we will share our prosperity with you.”

³⁰ Hobab answered, “No, I am going back to my native land.”

³¹ “Please don't leave us,” Moses said. “You know where we can camp in the wilderness, and you can be our guide. ³² If you come with us, we will share with you all the blessings that the Lord gives us.”

The People Set Out

³³ When the people left Sinai, the holy mountain, they traveled three days. The Lord's Covenant Box always went ahead of them to find a place for them to camp. ³⁴ As they moved on from each camp, the cloud of the Lord was over them by day.

^35 (A)Whenever the Covenant Box started out, Moses would say, “Arise, Lord; scatter your enemies and put to flight those who hate you!” ³⁶ And whenever it stopped, he would say, “Return, Lord, to the thousands of families of Israel.”^[a]

The Place Named Taberah

11 The people began to complain to the Lord about their troubles. When the Lord heard them, he became angry and sent fire on the people. It burned among them and destroyed one end of the camp. ² The people cried out to Moses for help; he prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down. ³ So the place was named Taberah,^[b] because there the fire of the Lord burned among them.

Moses Chooses Seventy Leaders

⁴ There were foreigners traveling with the Israelites. They had a strong craving for meat, and even the Israelites themselves began to complain: “If only we could have some meat! ⁵ In Egypt we used to eat all the fish we wanted, and it cost us nothing. Remember the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic we had? ⁶ But now our strength is gone. There is nothing at all to eat—nothing but this manna day after day!”

(^7 (B)Manna was like small seeds, whitish yellow in color. ^8-9 (C)It fell on the camp at night along with the dew. The next morning the people would go around and gather it, grind it or pound it into flour, and then boil it and make it into flat cakes. It tasted like bread baked with olive oil.)

¹⁰ Moses heard all the people complaining as they stood around in groups at the entrances of their tents. He was distressed because the Lord had become angry with them, ¹¹ and he said to the Lord, “Why have you treated me so badly? Why are you displeased with me? Why have you given me the responsibility for all these people? ¹² I didn't create them or bring them to birth! Why should you ask me to act like a nurse and carry them in my arms like babies all the way to the land you promised to their ancestors? ¹³ Where could I get enough meat for all these people? They keep whining and asking for meat. ¹⁴ I can't be responsible for all these people by myself; it's too much for me! ¹⁵ If you are going to treat me like this, have pity on me and kill me, so that I won't have to endure your cruelty any longer.”

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “Assemble seventy respected men who are recognized as leaders of the people, bring them to me at the Tent of my presence, and tell them to stand there beside you. ¹⁷ I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the spirit I have given you and give it to them. Then they can help you bear the responsibility for these people, and you will not have to bear it alone. ¹⁸ Now tell the people, ‘Purify yourselves for tomorrow; you will have meat to eat. The Lord has heard you whining and saying that you wished you had some meat and that you were better off in Egypt. Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will have to eat it. ¹⁹ You will have to eat it not just for one or two days, or five, or ten, or even twenty days, ²⁰ but for a whole month, until it comes out of your ears, until you are sick of it. This will happen because you have rejected the Lord who is here among you and have complained to him that you should never have left Egypt.’”

²¹ Moses said to the Lord, “Here I am leading 600,000 people, and you say that you will give them enough meat for a month? ²² Could enough cattle and sheep be killed to satisfy them? Are all the fish in the sea enough for them?”

²³ “Is there a limit to my power?” the Lord answered. “You will soon see whether what I have said will happen or not!”

The Plot against Jesus^(A)

14 ^(B)It was now two days before the Festival of Passover and Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law were looking for a way to arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death. ² “We must not do it during the festival,” they said, “or the people might riot.”

Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany^(C)

^3 (D)Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, a man who had suffered from a dreaded skin disease. While Jesus was eating, a woman came in with an alabaster jar full of a very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on Jesus' head. ⁴ Some of the people there became angry and said to one another, “What was the use of wasting the perfume? ⁵ It could have been sold for more than three hundred silver coins^[a] and the money given to the poor!” And they criticized her harshly.

⁶ But Jesus said, “Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a fine and beautiful thing for me. ^7 (E)You will always have poor people with you, and any time you want to, you can help them. But you will not always have me. ⁸ She did what she could; she poured perfume on my body to prepare it ahead of time for burial. ⁹ Now, I assure you that wherever the gospel is preached all over the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus^(F)

¹⁰ Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went off to the chief priests in order to betray Jesus to them. ¹¹ They were pleased to hear what he had to say, and promised to give him money. So Judas started looking for a good chance to hand Jesus over to them.

Jesus Eats the Passover Meal with His Disciples^(G)

¹² On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the day the lambs for the Passover meal were killed, Jesus' disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and get the Passover meal ready for you?”

¹³ Then Jesus sent two of them with these instructions: “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him ¹⁴ to the house he enters, and say to the owner of the house: ‘The Teacher says, Where is the room where my disciples and I will eat the Passover meal?’ ¹⁵ Then he will show you a large upstairs room, fixed up and furnished, where you will get everything ready for us.”

¹⁶ The disciples left, went to the city, and found everything just as Jesus had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

¹⁷ When it was evening, Jesus came with the twelve disciples. ^18 (H)While they were at the table eating, Jesus said, “I tell you that one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”

¹⁹ The disciples were upset and began to ask him, one after the other, “Surely you don't mean me, do you?”

²⁰ Jesus answered, “It will be one of you twelve, one who dips his bread in the dish with me. ²¹ The Son of Man will die as the Scriptures say he will; but how terrible for that man who will betray the Son of Man! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!”

^(A)A Prayer for Forgiveness^[a]

³¹ Righteous people speak wisdom, but the tongue that speaks evil will be stopped.

³² Righteous people know the kind thing to say, but the wicked are always saying things that hurt.

Placing the Lamps

8 ^(A)The Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell Aaron that when he puts the seven lamps on the lampstand, he should place them so that the light shines toward the front.” ³ Aaron obeyed and placed the lamps facing the front of the lampstand. ⁴ From top to bottom the lampstand was made of hammered gold, according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses.

The Purification and Dedication of the Levites

⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ⁶ “Separate the Levites from the rest of the people of Israel and purify them ⁷ in the following way: sprinkle them with the water of purification and have them shave their whole bodies and have them wash their clothes. Then they will be ritually clean. ⁸ Then they are to take a young bull and the required grain offering of flour mixed with olive oil; and you are to take another bull for the sin offering. ⁹ Then assemble the whole community of Israel and have the Levites stand in front of the Tent of my presence. ¹⁰ The people of Israel are to place their hands on the heads of the Levites, ¹¹ and then Aaron shall dedicate the Levites to me as a special gift from the Israelites, so that they may do my work. ¹² The Levites shall then put their hands on the heads of the two bulls; one is to be offered as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, in order to perform the ritual of purification for the Levites.

¹³ “Dedicate the Levites as a special gift to me, and put Aaron and his sons in charge of them. ¹⁴ Separate the Levites in this way from the rest of the Israelites, so that they will belong to me. ¹⁵ After you have purified and dedicated the Levites, they will be qualified to work in the Tent. ¹⁶ I have claimed them in the place of all the first-born sons of the Israelites, and they belong to me alone. ^17 (B)When I killed all the first-born in Egypt, I consecrated as my own the oldest son of each Israelite family and the first-born of every animal. ¹⁸ I am now taking the Levites instead of all the first-born of the Israelites, ¹⁹ and I assign the Levites to Aaron and his sons, as a gift from the Israelites, to work in the Tent for the people of Israel and to protect the Israelites from the disaster that would strike them if they came too near the Holy Place.”

²⁰ So Moses, Aaron, and all the people of Israel dedicated the Levites, as the Lord commanded Moses. ²¹ The Levites purified themselves and washed their clothes, and Aaron dedicated them as a special gift to the Lord. He also performed the ritual of purification for them. ²² The people did everything the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites. And so the Levites were qualified to work in the Tent under Aaron and his sons.

²³ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁴ “From the age of twenty-five each Levite shall perform his duties in the Tent of my presence, ²⁵ and at the age of fifty he shall retire. ²⁶ After that, he may help his fellow Levites in performing their duties in the Tent, but he must not perform any service by himself. This is how you are to regulate the duties of the Levites.”

The Second Passover

9 ^(C)The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai Desert in the first month of the second year after the people of Israel had left Egypt. He said, ^2-3 “On the fourteenth day of this month, beginning at sunset, the people of Israel are to observe the Passover according to all the rules and regulations for it.” ⁴ So Moses told the people to observe the Passover, ⁵ and on the evening of the fourteenth day of the first month they did so in the Sinai Desert. The people did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁶ But there were some people who were ritually unclean because they had touched a corpse, and they were not able to keep the Passover on that day. They went to Moses and Aaron ⁷ and said, “We are unclean because we have touched a corpse, but why should we be excluded from presenting the Lord's offering with the rest of the Israelites?”

⁸ Moses answered, “Wait until I receive instructions from the Lord.”

⁹ The Lord told Moses ¹⁰ to say to the people of Israel, “When any of you or your descendants are unclean from touching a corpse or are far away on a journey, but still want to keep the Passover, ¹¹ you are permitted to observe it one month later instead, on the evening of the fourteenth day of the second month. Celebrate it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. ^12 (D)Do not leave any of the food until the following morning and do not break any of the animal's bones. Observe the Passover according to all the regulations. ¹³ But if any of you are ritually clean and not away on a journey and do not observe the Passover, you shall no longer be considered my people, because you did not present the offering to me at the appointed time. You must suffer the consequences of your sin.

¹⁴ “If foreigners living among you want to keep the Passover, they must observe it according to all the rules and regulations. The same law applies to everyone, whether native or foreigner.”

The Fiery Cloud^(E)

^15-16 On the day the Tent of the Lord's presence was set up, a cloud came and covered it. At night the cloud looked like fire. ¹⁷ Whenever the cloud lifted, the people of Israel broke camp, and they set up camp again in the place where the cloud came down. ¹⁸ The people broke camp at the command of the Lord, and at his command they set up camp. As long as the cloud stayed over the Tent, they stayed in the same camp. ¹⁹ When the cloud stayed over the Tent for a long time, they obeyed the Lord and did not move on. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud remained over the Tent for only a few days; in any case, they remained in camp or moved, according to the command of the Lord. ²¹ Sometimes the cloud remained only from evening until morning, and they moved on as soon as the cloud lifted. Whenever the cloud lifted, they moved on. ²² Whether it was two days, a month, a year, or longer, as long as the cloud remained over the Tent, they did not move on; but when it lifted, they moved. ²³ They set up camp and broke camp in obedience to the commands which the Lord gave through Moses.

The Awful Horror^(A)

^14 (B)“You will see ‘The Awful Horror’ standing in the place where he should not be.” (Note to the reader: understand what this means!) “Then those who are in Judea must run away to the hills. ^15 (C)Someone who is on the roof of a house must not lose time by going down into the house to get anything to take along. ¹⁶ Someone who is in the field must not go back to the house for a cloak. ¹⁷ How terrible it will be in those days for women who are pregnant and for mothers with little babies! ¹⁸ Pray to God that these things will not happen in the winter! ^19 (D)For the trouble of those days will be far worse than any the world has ever known from the very beginning when God created the world until the present time. Nor will there ever be anything like it again. ²⁰ But the Lord has reduced the number of those days; if he had not, nobody would survive. For the sake of his chosen people, however, he has reduced those days.

²¹ “Then, if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’—do not believe it. ²² For false Messiahs and false prophets will appear. They will perform miracles and wonders in order to deceive even God's chosen people, if possible. ²³ Be on your guard! I have told you everything ahead of time.

The Coming of the Son of Man^(E)

^24 (F)“In the days after that time of trouble the sun will grow dark, the moon will no longer shine, ^25 (G)the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers in space will be driven from their courses. ^26 (H)Then the Son of Man will appear, coming in the clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ He will send the angels out to the four corners of the earth to gather God's chosen people from one end of the world to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree^(I)

²⁸ “Let the fig tree teach you a lesson. When its branches become green and tender and it starts putting out leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ In the same way, when you see these things happening, you will know that the time is near, ready to begin.^{[a] 30} Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

No One Knows the Day or Hour^(J)

^32 (K)“No one knows, however, when that day or hour will come—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son; only the Father knows. ³³ Be on watch, be alert, for you do not know when the time will come. ^34 (L)It will be like a man who goes away from home on a trip and leaves his servants in charge, after giving to each one his own work to do and after telling the doorkeeper to keep watch. ³⁵ Watch, then, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming—it might be in the evening or at midnight or before dawn or at sunrise. ³⁶ If he comes suddenly, he must not find you asleep. ³⁷ What I say to you, then, I say to all: Watch!”

True Worship^[a]

²⁹ The Lord protects honest people, but destroys those who do wrong.

³⁰ Righteous people will always have security, but the wicked will not survive in the land.

Rules for Nazirites

6 The Lord commanded Moses ² to give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Any of you, male or female, who make a special vow to become a nazirite and dedicate yourself to the Lord ^3 (A)shall abstain from wine and beer. You shall not drink any kind of drink made from grapes or eat any grapes or raisins. ⁴ As long as you are a nazirite, you shall not eat anything that comes from a grapevine, not even the seeds or skins of grapes.

⁵ As long as you are under the nazirite vow, you must not cut your hair or shave. You are bound by the vow for the full time that you are dedicated to the Lord, and you shall let your hair grow. ^6-7 Your hair is the sign of your dedication to God, and so you must not defile yourself by going near a corpse, not even that of your father, mother, brother, or sister. ⁸ As long as you are a nazirite, you are consecrated to the Lord.

⁹ If your consecrated hair is defiled because you are right beside someone who suddenly dies, you must wait seven days and then shave your head; and so you become ritually clean. ¹⁰ On the eighth day you shall bring two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence. ¹¹ The priest shall offer one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, to perform the ritual of purification for you because of your contact with a corpse. On the same day you shall reconsecrate your hair ¹² and rededicate to the Lord your time as a nazirite. The previous period of time doesn't count, because your consecrated hair was defiled. As a repayment offering you shall bring a one-year-old lamb.

^13 (B)When you complete your nazirite vow, you shall perform this ritual. You shall go to the entrance of the Tent ¹⁴ and present to the Lord three animals without any defects: a one-year-old male lamb for a burnt offering, a one-year-old ewe lamb for a sin offering, and a ram for a fellowship offering. ¹⁵ You shall also offer a basket of bread made without yeast: thick loaves made of flour mixed with olive oil and thin cakes brushed with olive oil, and in addition the required offerings of grain and wine.

¹⁶ The priest shall present all these to the Lord and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering. ¹⁷ He shall sacrifice the ram to the Lord as a fellowship offering, and offer it with the basket of bread; he shall also present the offerings of grain and wine. ¹⁸ At the entrance of the Tent you nazirites shall shave off your hair and put it on the fire on which the fellowship offering is being burned.

¹⁹ Then, when the shoulder of the ram is boiled, the priest shall take it and put it, together with one thick loaf of bread and one thin cake from the basket, into the hands of the nazirite. ²⁰ Next, the priest shall present them as a special gift to the Lord; they are a sacred offering for the priest, in addition to the breast and the leg of the ram which by law belong to the priest. After that, the nazirite may drink wine.

²¹ These are the regulations for you nazirites; but if you promise an offering beyond what your vow requires you to give, you must fulfill exactly the promise you made.

The Priestly Blessing

²² The Lord commanded Moses ²³ to tell Aaron and his sons to use the following words in blessing the people of Israel:

²⁷ And the Lord said, “If they pronounce my name as a blessing upon the people of Israel, I will bless them.”

The Offerings of the Leaders

7 On the day Moses finished setting up the Tent of the Lord's presence, he anointed and dedicated the Tent and all its equipment, and the altar and all its equipment. ² Then the clan chiefs who were leaders in the tribes of Israel, the same men who were in charge of the census, ³ brought their offerings to the Lord: six wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for every two leaders and an ox for each leader. After they had presented them, ⁴ the Lord said to Moses, ⁵ “Accept these gifts for use in the work to be done for the Tent; give them to the Levites according to the work they have to do.” ⁶ So Moses gave the wagons and the oxen to the Levites. ⁷ He gave two wagons and four oxen to the Gershonites, ⁸ and four wagons and eight oxen to the Merarites. All their work was to be done under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron. ⁹ But Moses gave no wagons or oxen to the Kohathites, because the sacred objects they took care of had to be carried on their shoulders.

¹⁰ The leaders also brought offerings to celebrate the dedication of the altar. When they were ready to present their gifts at the altar, ¹¹ the Lord said to Moses, “Tell them that each day for a period of twelve days one of the leaders is to present his gifts for the dedication of the altar.”

^12-83 They presented their offerings in the following order:

Day	Tribe	Leader
1st	Judah	Nahshon son of Amminadab
2nd	Issachar	Nethanel son of Zuar
3rd	Zebulun	Eliab son of Helon
4th	Reuben	Elizur son of Shedeur
5th	Simeon	Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai
6th	Gad	Eliasaph son of Deuel
7th	Ephraim	Elishama son of Ammihud
8th	Manasseh	Gamaliel son of Pedahzur
9th	Benjamin	Abidan son of Gideoni
10th	Dan	Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai
11th	Asher	Pagiel son of Ochran
12th	Naphtali	Ahira son of Enan

The offerings each one brought were identical: one silver bowl weighing 50 ounces and one silver basin weighing 30 ounces, by the official standard, both of them full of flour mixed with oil for the grain offering; one gold dish weighing 4 ounces, full of incense; one young bull, one ram, and a one-year-old lamb, for the burnt offering; one goat for the sin offering; and two bulls, five rams, five goats, and five one-year-old lambs, for the fellowship offering.

^84-88 The totals of the offerings brought by the twelve leaders for the dedication of the altar were as follows:

• twelve silver bowls and twelve silver basins weighing a total of 60 pounds
• twelve gold dishes weighing a total of 48 ounces, filled with incense
• twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve one-year-old lambs, plus the grain offerings that go with them, for the burnt offerings
• twelve goats for the sin offerings
• twenty-four bulls, sixty rams, sixty goats, sixty one-year-old lambs, for the fellowship offerings

⁸⁹ When Moses went into the Tent to talk with the Lord, he heard the Lord speaking to him from above the lid on the Covenant Box, between the two winged creatures.^[a]

³⁸ As he taught them, he said, “Watch out for the teachers of the Law, who like to walk around in their long robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplace, ³⁹ who choose the reserved seats in the synagogues and the best places at feasts. ⁴⁰ They take advantage of widows and rob them of their homes, and then make a show of saying long prayers. Their punishment will be all the worse!”

The Widow's Offering^(A)

⁴¹ As Jesus sat near the Temple treasury, he watched the people as they dropped in their money. Many rich men dropped in a lot of money; ⁴² then a poor widow came along and dropped in two little copper coins, worth about a penny. ⁴³ He called his disciples together and said to them, “I tell you that this poor widow put more in the offering box than all the others. ⁴⁴ For the others put in what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, put in all she had—she gave all she had to live on.”

Jesus Speaks of the Destruction of the Temple^(B)

13 As Jesus was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples said, “Look, Teacher! What wonderful stones and buildings!”

² Jesus answered, “You see these great buildings? Not a single stone here will be left in its place; every one of them will be thrown down.”

Troubles and Persecutions^(C)

³ Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, across from the Temple, when Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him in private. ^4 (D)“Tell us when this will be,” they said, “and tell us what will happen to show that the time has come for all these things to take place.”

⁵ Jesus said to them, “Watch out, and don't let anyone fool you. ⁶ Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will fool many people. ⁷ And don't be troubled when you hear the noise of battles close by and news of battles far away. Such things must happen, but they do not mean that the end has come. ⁸ Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be earthquakes everywhere, and there will be famines. These things are like the first pains of childbirth.

^9 (E)“You yourselves must watch out. You will be arrested and taken to court. You will be beaten in the synagogues; you will stand before rulers and kings for my sake to tell them the Good News. ¹⁰ But before the end comes, the gospel must be preached to all peoples. ¹¹ And when you are arrested and taken to court, do not worry ahead of time about what you are going to say; when the time comes, say whatever is then given to you. For the words you speak will not be yours; they will come from the Holy Spirit. ¹² Men will hand over their own brothers to be put to death, and fathers will do the same to their children. Children will turn against their parents and have them put to death. ^13 (F)Everyone will hate you because of me. But whoever holds out to the end will be saved.

The Foolishness of Trusting in Riches^[a]

²⁷ Obey the Lord, and you will live longer. The wicked die before their time.

²⁸ The hopes of good people lead to joy, but wicked people can look forward to nothing.