Month: March 2022

The Duties of the Kohathites

4 The Lord told Moses and Aaron ² to take a census of the descendants of Kohath among the Levites, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, ³ from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone eligible for the service of performing the tasks at the Tent of Meeting.

⁴ This is the work for the descendants of Kohath at the Tent of Meeting: to take care of the most holy things. ⁵ When the camp sets out, Aaron and his sons are to go into the Dwelling. They are to take down the veil that screens the ark, cover the Ark of the Testimony with it, ⁶ put a covering made from the hides of sea cows^[a] over it, spread a solid blue cloth over that, and insert its poles.

⁷ Over the table for the Bread of the Presence^[b] they are to spread a blue cloth and put the dishes, the small bowls, the larger bowls, and the pitchers for the drink offering on it.^[c] The bread that is continually there is to remain on it. ⁸ Then they are to spread a scarlet cloth over these things, cover them with a covering made from the hides of sea cows, and insert its poles.

⁹ They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand used for light, its lamps, its snuffers, its fire pans, and all the jars of oil used to supply it. ¹⁰ They are to put the lampstand and all its accessories under a cover made from the hides of sea cows and put it on a carrying frame.

¹¹ Over the golden altar they are to spread a blue cloth, cover it with a covering made from the hides of sea cows, and insert its poles. ¹² They are to take all the utensils which they use in the sanctuary and put them in a blue cloth, cover them with a covering made from the hides of sea cows, and put them on a carrying frame.

¹³ They are to remove the fat-soaked ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴ They are to put on it all the utensils which they use around the altar: the fire pans, the meat hooks,^[d] the shovels, and the basins—the utensils of the altar. They will spread a covering made of the hides of sea cows over the altar and insert its poles.

¹⁵ After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the items of the sanctuary, when the camp sets out, the descendants of Kohath will come to carry them. But they are not to touch the sanctuary or they will die. The descendants of Kohath are to carry these things associated with the Tent of Meeting.

¹⁶ Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, shall be in charge of the lamp oil, the fragrant incense, the daily grain offering, and the anointing oil. He shall be in charge of the entire Dwelling, everything in it, the holy objects, and its furnishings.

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, ¹⁸ “Do not allow the tribe of the Kohathite clans to be cut off from among the Levites. ¹⁹ Do this for them so that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things: Aaron and his sons are to go in and assign to each one of them what he is to do and what he is to carry. ²⁰ But the Kohathites must not go in to see the sanctuary even for a moment or they will die.”

The Duties of the Gershonites

²¹ The Lord also told Moses ²² to take a census of the descendants of Gershon, according to their fathers’ houses, by their clans, ²³ and to register those from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone eligible for the service of doing the work at the Tent of Meeting.

²⁴ This is the work for the Gershonite clans: the work of moving the Dwelling. ²⁵ They are to carry the curtains of the Dwelling, the Tent of Meeting, its covering, and the covering made of sea cow hides that is on top of that,^[e] the screen for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, ²⁶ the hangings for the courtyard, the screen for the entrance through the gate into the courtyard which surrounds the Dwelling and the altar, the ropes, and all the items related to this work. They are responsible for everything that is to be done with these things. ²⁷ All the work of the descendants of the Gershonites, everything they are to carry and all the work they are to do, is to be done at the command of Aaron and his sons. You are to assign to each of them everything they are to carry. ²⁸ This is the work for the clans of the descendants of the Gershonites in regard to the Tent of Meeting. They are to serve under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

The Duties of the Merarites

²⁹ As for the descendants of Merari, register them according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses. ³⁰ Register all of them who are between thirty years old and fifty years old, everyone eligible for service, to do the work for the Tent of Meeting. ³¹ This is what they are responsible for as their entire work at the Tent of Meeting: to carry the Dwelling’s boards, its crossbars, its posts, its bases, ³² the posts of the surrounding courtyard and their bases, their tent pegs, their ropes with all their equipment, and everything related to this work. You are to specify by name the items that they are responsible to carry. ³³ This is the work for the clans of the descendants of Merari, regarding all their work in regard to the Tent of Meeting, under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest.

The Census of the Levites

³⁴ Moses, Aaron, and the tribal chiefs of the community registered the descendants of the Kohathites according to their clans and their fathers’ houses, ³⁵ from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone eligible for service, for work at the Tent of Meeting. ³⁶ The ones registered according to their clans were 2,750. ³⁷ These were the ones registered from the clans of the Kohathites, all those who worked at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron registered them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

³⁸ The descendants of Gershon were registered according to their clans and according to their fathers’ houses, ³⁹ from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone eligible for service, for work at the Tent of Meeting. ⁴⁰ The ones registered according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, were 2,630. ⁴¹ These were the ones registered from the clans of the descendants of Gershon, all those who worked at the Tent of Meeting. Moses and Aaron registered them according to the Lord’s command.

⁴² The clans of the descendants of Merari were registered according to their clans, according to their fathers’ houses, ⁴³ from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone eligible for service, for work at the Tent of Meeting. ⁴⁴ Those registered by their clans were 3,200. ⁴⁵ These were the ones registered from the clans of the descendants of Merari. Moses and Aaron registered them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

⁴⁶ Every one of the Levites was registered. Moses and Aaron and the tribal chiefs of Israel registered them according to their clans and their fathers’ houses, ⁴⁷ from thirty years old to fifty years old, everyone who was eligible to perform the work of serving at or carrying the Tent of Meeting. ⁴⁸ Those registered totaled 8,580. ⁴⁹ According to the Lord’s command, they were registered by Moses, along with what each man was assigned to do and to carry. They were registered just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Separation From the Unclean

5 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Command the Israelites to send outside of the camp everyone who has an impure skin disease,^[f] everyone who has a bodily discharge, and everyone who is unclean because of contact with a dead body. ³ You must send them away, male or female. You must send them outside of the camp so that they will not defile their camps, where I dwell in their midst.”

⁴ The Israelites did exactly that and sent them outside of the camp. The Israelites did just as the Lord said to Moses.

Compensation for Wrongdoing

⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses and told him ⁶ to tell the Israelites this:

Whenever a man or a woman commits any wrong against another person and so in this way is unfaithful to the Lord, that person must be held responsible. ⁷ Such people are to confess the wrong which they have done. They are to make full restitution for their guilt, then add one fifth of its value on top of that and give it to the person they have wronged. ⁸ But if the wronged person has no next-of-kin to receive the restitution, the restitution goes to the Lord for the priest, in addition to the atonement ram, with which the priest will make atonement for him. ⁹ Every elevated offering that the Israelites present to the priest will belong to the priest. ¹⁰ Anyone’s holy things^[g] are his own, but whatever anyone gives to the priest is the priest’s.

A Test for Adultery

¹¹ The Lord told Moses to speak to the Israelites and tell them this:

¹² If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, ¹³ and another man lies down with^[h] her, but this remains hidden from her husband and she is not found out, she has defiled herself even though there is no witness against her and she was not caught in the act.

¹⁴ If a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he becomes jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, even though she has not defiled herself, ¹⁵ then the man is to bring his wife to the priest. He is also to bring an offering on her behalf: two quarts^[i] of barley flour. He is not to pour oil on it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a grain offering for remembrance, to reveal guilt.

¹⁶ The priest is to bring her near and present her before the Lord. ¹⁷ The priest is to take holy water in a clay vessel, take some of the dust that is on the floor of the Dwelling, and put it into the water. ¹⁸ The priest is to present the woman before the Lord, let down the woman’s hair, and put into her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the grain offering for jealousy. The priest is to have in his hands the bitter water that brings a curse. ¹⁹ The priest will make her take an oath, and he will tell the woman, “If no man has slept with you, and if you have not gone astray by becoming defiled while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not affect you. ²⁰ But if you have gone astray while married to your husband, and if you are defiled and another man besides your husband has had sex with you—” ²¹ Then the priest will make the woman take an oath with a curse, and the priest will tell the woman, “May the Lord make you an object of cursing and swearing among your people when the Lord allows your thigh to shrivel and your belly to swell. ²² May this water that brings a curse go inside you and make your belly swell and your thigh shrivel.” The woman will say, “Amen, Amen.”

²³ The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wipe them off into the bitter water. ²⁴ He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse. The water that brings a curse will enter into her and become bitter. ²⁵ The priest will take the grain offering for jealousy out of the woman’s hand, wave the grain offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar. ²⁶ The priest will take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial portion and burn it on the altar. Afterward he will make the woman drink the water.

²⁷ When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter into her and become bitter. Her belly will swell, and her thigh will shrivel. The woman will be an object of cursing among her people. ²⁸ If the woman has not defiled herself but is clean, then she will be unaffected and will be able to conceive children.

²⁹ This is the law regarding jealousy when a wife, while married to her husband, goes astray and defiles herself, ³⁰ or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he is jealous of his wife. Then the man will present the woman before the Lord, and the priest will apply this entire procedure to her. ³¹ The man will be free from guilt, but that woman will bear her guilt.

The God of the Living

¹⁸ Next some Sadducees (who say that there will be no resurrection) came to him. They asked him a question: ¹⁹ “Teacher, Moses wrote for us: ‘If a man’s brother dies and leaves behind a wife but no child, then his brother should take his wife and raise up children for his brother.’^[a]

²⁰ “Now there were seven brothers. The first one took a wife and died without leaving children. ²¹ The second one married her and died, leaving no children. The third one did the same. ²² The seven left no children. Last of all, the woman also died. ²³ So when they rise in the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since all seven had her as a wife?”

²⁴ Jesus said to them, “Isn’t this the reason you are mistaken: that you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? ²⁵ In fact, when people rise from the dead, they do not marry, and they are not given in marriage, but they are like angels in heaven. ²⁶ But about the dead—that they are raised—have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the burning bush, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?^{[b] 27} He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken.”

Love God and Your Neighbor

²⁸ One of the experts in the law approached after he heard their discussion. When he saw that Jesus had answered them well, he asked Jesus, “Which commandment is the greatest of all?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The most important is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’^{[c] 31} The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’^[d] There is no other commandment greater than these.”

³² The expert in the law said to him, “Well said, teacher. You have spoken correctly on the basis of the truth that he is one, and there is no other besides him.^{[e] 33} To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”^[f]

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

David’s Son and David’s Lord

³⁵ While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, he responded by saying, “How is it that the experts in the law say that the Christ is the Son of David? ³⁶ David himself said by the Holy Spirit:

³⁷ “David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with delight.

Psalm 48

The Security of the King’s Holy City

Heading
A song. A psalm by the Sons of Korah.

Call to Praise

Defeat of the Enemies

Thanksgiving

The Arrangement of the Camp

2 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron as follows:

² Each of the Israelites will camp under his own standard, with the banners for their fathers’ houses. They will camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance from it.

³ Those who camp on the east side toward the sunrise will be organized under the standard of Judah’s camp, according to their military units.

¹⁰ Those who camp on the south side will be organized under the standard of Reuben’s camp, according to their military units.

¹⁷ Then the Tent of Meeting will set out with the Levites’ camp, which is in the middle of the camps. They are to set out in the same order as they camp, each one in his place, following their standards.

¹⁸ Those who camp on the west side will be organized under the standard of Ephraim’s camp, according to their military units.

²⁵ Those who camp on the north side will be organized under the standard of Dan’s camp, according to their military units.

³² These were the Israelites who were registered according to their fathers’ houses. All the men in the camps, organized according to their military units, as registered, totaled 603,550. ³³ But the Levites were not registered among the Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³⁴ The Israelites did everything that the Lord commanded Moses. They camped around their standards, and they set out, every one of them by their clans, according to their fathers’ houses.

Aaron’s Sons and the Duties of the Levites

3 This is the family history of Aaron and Moses at the time when the Lord spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai.

² These are the names of Aaron’s sons: Nadab the firstborn, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ³ These are the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests.

⁴ Nadab and Abihu died in the presence of the Lord when they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai, and they had no sons. So Eleazar and Ithamar served as priests in the presence of Aaron their father.

⁵ The Lord spoke to Moses: ⁶ “Bring the tribe of Levi near and have them stand before Aaron the priest so that they may assist him. ⁷ They will perform the duties for him and for the entire congregation in front of the Tent of Meeting by doing the work for the Dwelling. ⁸ They will take care of all the furnishings for the Tent of Meeting and perform the duties of the Israelites by doing the work for the Dwelling. ⁹ You will give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons. They are completely given to him from among the Israelites. ¹⁰ But you will appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will serve in the priesthood. Any unauthorized person who goes near must be put to death.”

The Census of the Levites

¹¹ The Lord spoke to Moses, ¹² “See, I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites instead of every firstborn that opens the womb among the Israelites. The Levites are mine, ¹³ for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, both human and animal. They are mine. I am the Lord.”

¹⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, ¹⁵ “Register the Levites according to their fathers’ houses, by their clans. You are to register every male a month old and up.”

¹⁶ So Moses registered them as he was commanded by the word of the Lord.

¹⁷ These were the names of the sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.

The following were the clans of the Levites according to their fathers’ houses.

²¹ From Gershon came the Libnite clan and the Shimeite clan. These were the Gershonite clans. ²² Those who were registered, counting all the males who were a month old and up, were 7,500. ²³ The Gershonite clans camped behind the Dwelling on the west side. ²⁴ The tribal chief of the father’s house for the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael. ²⁵ The duties of the descendants of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting involved the dwelling and the tent,^[b] its coverings, and the screen for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, ²⁶ also the hangings of the courtyard, and the screen for the entrance to the courtyard which surrounds the Dwelling and the altar, and its ropes—everything related to this work.

²⁷ From Kohath came the Amramite clan, the Izharite clan, the Hebronite clan, and the Uzzielite clan. These were the Kohathite clans. ²⁸ Counting all the males who were a month old and up, there were 8,600 to perform the duties of the sanctuary. ²⁹ The clans of the descendants of Kohath camped on the south side of the Dwelling. ³⁰ The tribal chief of the father’s house for the Kohathite clans was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. ³¹ Their duties involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the sanctuary utensils with which they serve, and the screen—everything related to this work. ³² The tribal chief over the Levite tribal chiefs was Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest. He was in charge of those performing the duties of the sanctuary.

³³ From Merari came the Mahlite clan and the Mushite clan. These were the Merarite clans. ³⁴ Those who were registered, counting all the males who were a month old and up, were 6,200. ³⁵ The tribal chief of the father’s house for the Merarite clans was Zuriel son of Abihail. They camped on the north side of the Dwelling. ³⁶ The appointed duties for the sons of Merari involved the Dwelling’s boards, its crossbars, its posts, its bases, all its equipment—everything related to this work, ³⁷ also the posts for the surrounding courtyard, their bases, their tent pegs, and their ropes.

³⁸ Those who camped in front of the Dwelling on the east side, in front of the Tent of Meeting, toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and Aaron’s sons, who were performing the duties of the sanctuary on behalf of the Israelites. Any unauthorized person who goes near shall be put to death. ³⁹ All of the Levities who were registered when the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to register them according to their clans, every male a month old and up, were 22,000.

Redemption of the Firstborn

⁴⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Register all the firstborn males of the Israelites one month old and up, and make a list of their names. ⁴¹ You are to take the Levites for me—I am the Lord—instead of every firstborn among the Israelites, and take the livestock of the Levites instead of every firstborn among the livestock of the Israelites.” ⁴² So Moses registered all the firstborn among the Israelites as the Lord commanded. ⁴³ All the firstborn males listed by name, one month old and up, when registered, totaled 22,273.

⁴⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses: ⁴⁵ “Take the Levites instead of every firstborn among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of their livestock. The Levites will be mine. I am the Lord. ⁴⁶ For the redemption of the 273 firstborn Israelites who outnumber the Levites, ⁴⁷ you are to collect five shekels apiece for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel (this shekel is twenty gerahs^[c]). ⁴⁸ You are to give the money, the redemption price for the additional Israelites, to Aaron and his sons.”

⁴⁹ Moses collected the redemption money from those who outnumbered the ones redeemed by the Levites who took their place. ⁵⁰ He collected the money from the firstborn of the Israelites, 1,365 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel. ⁵¹ Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and to his sons, in obedience to the word of the Lord, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Jesus’ Authority Is Questioned

²⁷ They went into Jerusalem again. As he was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the experts in the law, and the elders came to him. ²⁸ They asked him, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do these things?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰ The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer me.”

³¹ They discussed this with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘From men’. . . .” (They feared the crowd, because everybody held that John really was a prophet.) ³³ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

12 Jesus began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he rented it out to some tenant farmers and went on a journey. ² When it was time, he sent a servant to the tenants to receive his share of the vineyard’s produce. ³ They took him, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Again, he sent another servant to them. But they hit him on the head and treated him shamefully. ⁵ Then he sent another servant, but they killed that one. He also sent many others; some they beat, and others they killed. ⁶ He still had one left, a dearly loved son. Finally, he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ⁷ But those tenant farmers said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ They seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. ⁹ So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Have you not read this Scripture:

¹² They were looking for a way to arrest him, because they knew that he had spoken the parable against them. But they feared the crowd, so they left him and went away.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹³ The Jewish leaders sent some Pharisees and some Herodians to Jesus to try to trap him in what he said. ¹⁴ They came and said to him, “Teacher, we know that you are honest and do not play favorites, since you are not partial to anyone,^[b] but you teach the way of God on the basis of the truth. Is it lawful to pay a tax to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay it or not?”

Since Jesus knew their hypocrisy, he said to them, “Why do you keep testing me? Bring me a denarius so that I can look at it.”

¹⁶ So they brought one.

He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”

“Caesar’s,” they answered him.

¹⁷ Then Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

And they were amazed at him.

Psalm 47

The King’s Empire

Heading
For the choir director. By the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

Praise the Great King of All the Earth!

Contrasts Between the Righteous and the Wicked

¹⁴ When a person dedicates his house as holy to the Lord, the priest shall assess it. Whatever value the priest assesses, whether high or low, will be binding. ¹⁵ But if the person who has dedicated his house redeems it, he must add one-fifth to its value in silver, so that it belongs to him again.

¹⁶ If a person dedicates any field from his family property to the Lord, its value shall be based on how much seed is needed to sow it. Land sown by six bushels^[a] of barley seed is worth fifty shekels of silver. ¹⁷ If he dedicates his field during the year of Jubilee, its value stands as stated, ¹⁸ but if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, the priest shall recalculate its value in silver based on the number of years that are left until the next year of Jubilee, and that much will be deducted from the value. ¹⁹ If the person who dedicated the field redeems it, he must add one-fifth to its value in silver, so that it may be returned to him. ²⁰ But if he does not redeem the field but has sold the field to another person, it may no longer be redeemed. ²¹ When the field is released on the Jubilee, it will be set aside as holy. It belongs to the Lord as a dedicated field. It belongs to the priest as his holding.

²² If someone dedicates to the Lord a field he has purchased that is not part of his family landholding, ²³ the priest shall calculate the amount of value until the year of Jubilee, so that he may pay the value on that day as something holy to the Lord. ²⁴ In the year of Jubilee, the field shall return to the person from whom the donor bought it, to the one to whom the landholding originally belonged. ²⁵ Every value shall be based on the sanctuary shekel, which has twenty gerahs to the shekel.^[b]

²⁶ However, no one may dedicate a firstborn from the livestock that has already been designated for the Lord as a firstborn, whether it is a head of cattle or a sheep or a goat. It already belongs to the Lord. ²⁷ But if it is one of the unclean livestock, he may buy it back at its set value plus one-fifth. If it is not redeemed, it may be sold at its set value.

²⁸ However, if anyone devotes anything that belongs to him to the Lord unconditionally, whether it is a human being or livestock or any part of his landholding, it may not be sold and may not be redeemed. Everything devoted unconditionally is most holy to the Lord.

²⁹ Any person who has been devoted to destruction may not be ransomed. He must certainly be put to death.

³⁰ But every tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or from the fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord. It is holy to the Lord. ³¹ If anyone redeems any of his tithe, he must add one-fifth to it. ³² The tithe from the herd or the flock, that is, every tenth animal that passes under the staff of the shepherd, shall be set apart as holy to the Lord. ³³ The donor must not sort out the good from the bad, and he must not make any substitutions for it. If he makes a substitution for it, then both the first animal and its substitute shall be set apart as holy. It cannot be redeemed.

³⁴ These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel at Mount Sinai.

The First Census of Israel

1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt. He said, ² “Take a census of the entire community of the people of Israel, according to their clans and their fathers’ houses.^[c] Count the names of every male, one by one, ³ twenty years old and up, all who are of age to serve in Israel’s army. Aaron and you are to register them by their military units.^{[d] 4} A man from each tribe will be with you. Every one of them will be the head of his fathers’ house. ⁵ These are the names of the men who will assist you:

¹⁶ These were the men chosen from the community, the chiefs of the tribes of their fathers. They were the heads of Israel’s divisions.^{[e] 17} Moses and Aaron brought together these men, who had been designated by name. ¹⁸ They assembled the entire community on the first day of the second month, and they recorded the people’s ancestry by their clans,^[f] by their fathers’ houses, listing the names of those who were twenty years old and up, one by one. ¹⁹ Moses registered them in the Wilderness of Sinai, exactly as the Lord commanded him.

⁴⁴ These are the men who were registered by Moses and Aaron and twelve tribal chiefs of Israel, each representing his fathers’ house. ⁴⁵ So all of the Israelite men twenty years old and up, who were of age to serve in Israel’s army, were registered according to their fathers’ houses. ⁴⁶ Those who were registered totaled 603,550.

The Levites Exempted

⁴⁷ But the Levites were not registered along with the others on the basis of their fathers’ tribe, ⁴⁸ for the Lord had said to Moses, ⁴⁹ “You are not to register the tribe of Levi, neither will you take a census of them along with the other Israelites. ⁵⁰ Instead, appoint the Levites over the Dwelling of the Testimony^[h] and over all its furnishings and over everything that belongs to it. They are to carry the Dwelling and all its furnishings. They are to take care of it, and they are to camp around it. ⁵¹ Whenever the Dwelling is to move, the Levites will take it down, and whenever the Dwelling is to stop for a new camp, the Levites will set it up. Any unauthorized person who comes near it must be put to death. ⁵² The Israelites will set up camp, everyone in his own camp and under his own standard, according to their military divisions. ⁵³ But the Levites will camp around the Dwelling of the Testimony so that wrath will not fall on the Israelite community. In this way the Levites will perform the duties for the Dwelling of the Testimony.”

⁵⁴ So the Israelites did everything that the Lord commanded Moses, exactly as he commanded.

Jesus’ Triumphal Entry Into Jerusalem

11 As they approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples ² and told them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it, and he will send it back here without delay.’”

⁴ They left and found a colt on the street, tied at a door; and they untied it. ⁵ Some who were standing there asked them, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” ⁶ The disciples answered them just as Jesus had instructed them, and the men let them go.

⁷ They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their garments on it, and Jesus sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their garments on the road. Others spread branches that they had cut from the fields. ⁹ Those who went in front and those who followed were crying out,

¹¹ Jesus went into the temple courts in Jerusalem and looked around at everything. Since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree

¹² The next day, after they had set out from Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ¹³ When he saw a fig tree in leaf in the distance, he went to see if he might find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, since it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ Jesus said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And his disciples were listening.

Jesus Cleanses His Father’s House

¹⁵ They came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the temple area and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those who were selling doves. ¹⁶ He would not allow anyone to carry any merchandise through the temple courts. ¹⁷ He began to teach them: “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’?^[c] But you have made it ‘a den of robbers’!”^[d]

¹⁸ The chief priests and the experts in the law heard this and were looking for a way to kill him. Indeed they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching.

¹⁹ When evening came, Jesus and his disciples would leave the city.

The Withered Fig Tree

²⁰ As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered down to the roots. ²¹ Peter remembered and said, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.”

²² Jesus replied, “Have faith in God. ²³ Amen I tell you: Whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, everything that you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins. ²⁶ But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins.”^[e]

Psalm 46

The King’s Reign

Heading
For the choir director. By the Sons of Korah.
According to alamoth.^[a] A song.

The Earth Shaken

A City Unshaken

⁴⁷ If a resident alien living among you prospers, and if your brother Israelite becomes so indebted to him that he is sold to that alien living among you or to that alien’s family, ⁴⁸ the Israelite who has been sold shall have the right to be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, ⁴⁹ or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or anyone from his immediate family^[a] or extended family may redeem him, or if he prospers, he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰ Together with his buyer, he shall calculate the elapsed time from the year that he was sold until the year of Jubilee, and the price to redeem him shall be based on that number of years. It shall be calculated as if he were a hired laborer. ⁵¹ If there are still many years left, he shall pay the price of redemption proportionally to the years that have passed. ⁵² If only a few years remain until the year of Jubilee, he shall calculate the redemption in this way: He shall pay the price of his redemption on the basis of his years of work, ⁵³ as if he were a worker hired year by year. You shall see to it that the owner does not rule over him harshly. ⁵⁴ If he has not been redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children with him shall become free in the year of Jubilee, ⁵⁵ because the Israelites are servants who really belong to me. They are my servants whom I freed from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

Promises and Warnings

26 You shall not make gods that are really not gods for yourselves, and you shall not set up an image or a sacred memorial stone for yourselves, and you shall not set up a carved stone relief in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God. ² You shall observe my Sabbaths and revere my sanctuary. I am the Lord.

³ If you walk according to my regulations and keep my commandments and carry them out, ⁴ I will give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees in the farmland will yield their fruit. ⁵ Threshing will last until the grape harvest, and the grape harvest will last until the time for sowing. You will eat your food until you are full, and you will live securely in your land.

⁶ I will give peace in the land so that you may lie down without anyone frightening you. I will eliminate ferocious animals from the land, and no sword will pass through your land. ⁷ You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall before you by the sword. ⁸ Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall before you by the sword.

⁹ I will look on you with favor, and I will make you fruitful and will multiply you, and I will keep my covenant with you. ¹⁰ You will eat grain from previous harvests, grain long stored, until you remove the old grain to make room for the new. ¹¹ I will place my Dwelling in your midst, and I will not at all detest you. ¹² I will walk about in your midst, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. ¹³ I am the Lord your God, who freed you from the land of Egypt so that you would not be slaves to them. I broke the bars of your yoke so that I could make you walk upright.

¹⁴ But if you will not listen to me and do not obey all these commandments, ¹⁵ if you reject my regulations and you detest my ordinances so much that you do not obey all my commandments, so that you break my covenant, ¹⁶ I in turn will do this to you: I will inflict upon you panic, wasting disease, and fever, which will cause your eyes to fail and your vitality to slip away. You will sow your seed but get no return, for your enemies will eat it. ¹⁷ I will set my face against you. You will be beaten by your enemies, and those who hate you will rule over you. You will flee, even though nobody is pursuing you.

¹⁸ If, despite these things, you will not listen to me, I will go on to discipline you seven times for your sins. ¹⁹ I will break your proud strength and make your sky like iron and your land as hard as bronze, ²⁰ so that your strength will be exhausted without accomplishing anything. Your land will not yield its produce, and the trees on the land will not yield their fruit.

²¹ If you still remain hostile to me and you are not willing to listen to me, I will multiply the plague against you seven times more according to your sins. ²² I will send against you the wild animals so that they will deprive you of your children and cut off your livestock. They will make you so few that your roads will be deserted.

²³ If in spite of all these things you still refuse to be disciplined by me, and you remain hostile to me, ²⁴ I will also remain hostile to you. I will strike you seven times more for your sins. ²⁵ I will bring a sword on you to avenge the covenant. If you withdraw into your towns, I will send an epidemic among you, so that you will be delivered into the hand of the enemy. ²⁶ When I break your supply of bread, ten women will bake your bread in a single oven. They will have to ration^[b] your bread, and though you eat, you will not be satisfied.

²⁷ But if, in spite of all this, you will not listen to me and remain hostile to me, ²⁸ I will remain hostile to you in anger. I myself will discipline you seven times as much for your sins. ²⁹ You will eat the flesh of your sons, and you will eat the flesh of your daughters. ³⁰ I will destroy your high places,^[c] cut down your incense burners, and place your corpses on the corpses of your filthy idols. With all my heart I will detest you. ³¹ I will turn your towns into a wasteland and make your holy places desolate, and I will not smell the pleasing aroma of your sacrifices. ³² I myself will make your land so desolate that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled at it, ³³ while I scatter you among the nations and unsheathe my sword against you. Then your land will be a desolation, and your towns will be a wasteland.

³⁴ The land will then enjoy its sabbaths during all the days of its desolation, while you are in the land of your enemies. Yes, the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths.^{[d] 35} All the days when it is desolate it will rest, because it did not rest on your sabbaths when you lived there. ³⁶ As for those of you who survive, I will bring despair into their hearts in the lands of their enemies, so that the sound of a scattered leaf will scare them away. They will flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they will fall though no one is pursuing them. ³⁷ Each of them will stumble over his brother, as if from a sword, even though no one is pursuing him. You will have no power to stand against your enemies, ³⁸ and you will perish among the nations. The land of your enemies will devour you. ³⁹ Those of you who survive will rot away in the lands of your enemies because of their guilt. They will rot away because of the guilt of their ancestors. ⁴⁰ They will confess their guilt and the guilt of their ancestors because of the unfaithfulness that they committed against me, and also because they remained hostile to me. ⁴¹ So I in turn became hostile to them, and I brought them into the land of their enemies. So their uncircumcised hearts will then be humbled, and they will then accept the punishment for their guilt.

⁴² Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob. I will remember also my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham as well. I will remember the land.

⁴³ The land will be empty of them, so that in its desolation it may enjoy its sabbaths without them, while they suffer punishment for their guilt, because, and only because, they rejected my ordinances and they detested my statutes with all their heart.

⁴⁴ Yet, for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, and I will not detest them so much that I exterminate them. I will not annul my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵ I will remember in their favor the covenant to be their God that I made with their first generation, whom I freed from the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations. I am the Lord.

⁴⁶ These are the regulations, the ordinances, and the laws^[e] that the Lord instituted between himself and the people of Israel at Mount Sinai through Moses.

Votive Offerings and Dedicated Things

27 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Speak to the Israelites and say this to them.”

When a person makes a special vow to the Lord which is based on the value of different classes of people, ³ the set value of a male from twenty years to sixty years of age is fifty shekels of silver, using the sanctuary shekel as the standard. ⁴ If it is a female, the value is thirty shekels. ⁵ If the age is from five years to twenty years, the value is twenty shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female. ⁶ If the age is from one month to five years, the value for the male is five shekels of silver, while the value for the female is three shekels of silver. ⁷ If the age is sixty years or over, the value is fifteen shekels for a male and ten shekels for a female. ⁸ But if anyone making a dedication is too poor to pay that standard value, he shall appear before the priest with the dedicated person, and the priest shall assess a substitute valuation for the person. The priest shall assess a value on the basis of what the person who has made the vow can afford.

⁹ If what is vowed is livestock which is acceptable as an offering to the Lord, anything that a person dedicates to the Lord is set apart as holy. ¹⁰ He may not exchange it or substitute another for it, either good for bad, or bad for good. If he substitutes one animal for another, both the animal and its substitute are set aside as holy. ¹¹ If what has been vowed is any kind of unclean livestock, which may not be presented as an offering to the Lord, he shall present the animal before the priest ¹² so that the priest may assess it. Whatever value is set by the priest, whether high or low, will be binding. ¹³ But if he does indeed redeem it, he must add one-fifth to its value.

Again Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection

³² They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was leading them. The disciples were amazed, and the others who followed were afraid. He took the Twelve aside again and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. ³³ “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the experts in the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴ They will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. On the third day^[a] he will rise again.”

³⁵ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we wish that you would do for us whatever we ask.”

³⁶ He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”

³⁷ They said to him, “Promise that we may sit, one at your right and one at your left, in your glory.”

³⁸ But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with?”

³⁹ “We can,” they replied.

Jesus told them, “You will drink the cup that I am going to drink and be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with. ⁴⁰ But to sit at my right or at my left is not for me to give; rather, these places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”

⁴¹ When the ten heard this, they were angry with James and John.

⁴² Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ⁴³ But that is not the way it is to be among you. Instead, whoever wants to be great among you will be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus

⁴⁶ They came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, a blind man, Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road begging. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ Many told him to be quiet, but he kept shouting all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹ Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

They called the blind man, saying, “Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!”

⁵⁰ He tossed aside his outer garment, jumped up, and went to Jesus.

⁵¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man replied, “Rabboni,^[b] I want to see again.”

⁵² Jesus told him, “Go. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight and began following Jesus on the road.

Psalm 45

The Wedding of the Victorious King

Heading

For the choir director. According to “Lilies.”^[a]
By the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A love song.

Introduction

The Glory of the Royal Groom

The Beauty of the Bride

The Glory of the King’s Children

The Holy Oil

24 The Lord spoke to Moses:

² Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil from beaten^[a] olives for the Light so the lamps will be kept burning continually.^{[b] 3} Aaron shall set the Light before the Lord in the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil which is in front of the Testimony, every night from the evening to the morning. It is a permanent regulation throughout your generations. ⁴ He shall set the lamps regularly on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord.

The Holy Bread

⁵ You shall take fine flour and bake twelve round loaves from it. Each loaf shall be made with four quarts of flour. ⁶ You shall put them in two stacks, six to each stack, on the pure gold table before the Lord. ⁷ Upon the stacks you shall place clear frankincense as a memorial portion for the bread. It is a gift of food^[c] to the Lord. ⁸ On every Sabbath day he shall arrange it before the Lord regularly. It is a permanent covenant on behalf of the Israelites. ⁹ The bread shall belong to Aaron and his sons, who shall eat it in a holy place, for it belongs to him as a most holy thing from the gifts of food to the Lord, a perpetual allotment.

Blasphemy Against the Holy Name

¹⁰ A man who was the son of an Israelite woman and of an Egyptian man came along with the Israelites. This son of the Israelite woman fought with another Israelite in the camp. ¹¹ The Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name^[d] and cursed, so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri, belonging to the tribe of Dan.) ¹² They put him in custody to wait for a decision from the mouth of the Lord.

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ¹⁴ “Take the man who cursed outside the camp, and all those who heard it shall lay their hands on his head, and the whole community shall stone him. ¹⁵ Then speak to the Israelites: If anyone curses his God, he shall bear his sin, ¹⁶ but if anyone blasphemes the name of the Lord, he must certainly be put to death; the whole community must stone him. Whether he is an alien or a citizen, when he has blasphemed the Name, he must be put to death.”

¹⁷ “If anyone hits someone and kills him, he must certainly be put to death. ¹⁸ But one who strikes and kills an animal must make restitution for it, a life for a life. ¹⁹ If anyone injures his fellow citizen, he shall have the same thing done to him as he has done: ²⁰ fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he injured that other person, the same is to be done to him. ²¹ One who strikes an animal so that it dies shall make restitution for it, but one who strikes a human being and kills him shall be put to death. ²² You shall have the same standard of justice for the alien who lives with you and for the citizen, for I am the Lord your God.”

²³ After Moses had spoken this to the Israelites, the man who had cursed was taken outside the camp and stoned to death. The Israelites did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Sabbatical Years

25 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say this to them.”

When you enter the land that I am giving to you, the land shall observe a sabbath rest for the Lord. ³ For six years you may sow your field, and for six years you may prune your vineyard and gather its produce. ⁴ But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord. You shall not sow your field, and you shall not prune your vineyard. ⁵ You shall not reap the produce that grows by itself from your harvest or gather the grapes from your unpruned vine. It shall be a year of complete rest for the land. ⁶ The sabbath of the land will, however, provide food for you—for you, for your male slaves and for your female slaves, for your hired workers and for your servants who are living with you temporarily as aliens working for you, ⁷ for your livestock and for the wild animals which are in your land. You may eat all its produce.^[e]

The Jubilee

⁸ You shall count off seven weeks of years. Count off seven years seven times, so that the duration of the seven weeks of years is forty-nine years. ⁹ Then you shall sound loud blasts on the ram’s horn. In the seventh month on the tenth day, on the Day of Atonement, you are to have a ram’s horn sounded throughout your land, ¹⁰ so that you may set aside the fiftieth year as holy and proclaim liberty throughout the land for all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you, so that each of you may return to his family property and each of you may return to his clan. ¹¹ The fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee for you. You shall not sow the field, and you shall not reap the grain that grows by itself, and you shall not gather fruit from its unpruned vines. ¹² Because it is a Jubilee, it shall be holy for you. You may eat its produce from the field. ¹³ In this year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his family property.

¹⁴ When you sell some land to your countryman, or when you buy land from your countryman, you must not cheat your brother Israelite. ¹⁵ When you buy from your countryman, set the price according to the number of years since the last Jubilee. When he sells it to you, he shall set the price according to the number of years of produce left till the next Jubilee. ¹⁶ When there are many years left, you shall increase the purchase price. When there are few years left, you shall decrease its purchase price, because what the owner is actually selling to you is the amount of produce. ¹⁷ So each of you must not cheat your countryman, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.

¹⁸ You shall carry out my regulations, and you shall observe my ordinances. You shall carry them out, so that you may live on the land securely. ¹⁹ The land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live securely on it. ²⁰ If you ask, “What will we eat during the seventh year, since we may not sow and we may not gather our produce?” ²¹ I will command my blessing for you in the sixth year, so that the land will yield enough produce for three years. ²² When you sow in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the sixth year’s crop. You will eat the sixth year’s crop until the ninth year, when its produce comes in.

²³ But the land must not be sold without a right to recover it, for the land really belongs to me. You are actually resident aliens under my authority. ²⁴ Therefore, throughout all the land that you possess, you shall grant the right of redemption for the land. ²⁵ When your brother Israelite becomes so impoverished that he has to sell some of the land that he holds, his closest relative shall come and redeem what his brother has sold. ²⁶ When the man who has no close relative prospers and acquires enough for the price to redeem his land, ²⁷ he may calculate the years since he sold it, refund the difference to the man to whom he sold it, and return to his family property. ²⁸ But if he does not acquire a sufficient amount to recover the land for himself, what he has sold shall remain under the control of the one who bought it until the year of Jubilee. It shall become free in the Jubilee, so that the seller may return to his family property.

²⁹ When a man sells a house where he lives in a walled town, his right of redemption shall last until a full year after its sale. The time to redeem it lasts for a year. ³⁰ But if it is not redeemed before the completion of a full year, the house which is in a town which has a wall will belong to its buyer and his descendants. It cannot be reclaimed. It will not be released in the Jubilee. ³¹ But the houses in the villages that have no wall around them shall be classified as part of the farmland. They have the right of redemption and shall become free in the Jubilee.

³² All the towns of the Levites and the houses in the towns which are their property have a permanent right of redemption. ³³ Whatever a Levite is permitted to redeem (such as a house which he sold that had been his property in a city) will become free in the Jubilee, because the houses in the towns of the Levites are their possession among the Israelites.^{[f] 34} But the pastures and fields around the Levites’ towns may not be sold, for that is their permanent possession.

³⁵ When your fellow Israelite^[g] becomes so impoverished that he cannot support himself,^[h] help him as you would help a resident alien or a temporary resident. Let him retain his right to work for a livelihood among you.^{[i] 36} You shall not take advance interest or accrued interest from him, but you shall fear your God and let your brother retain his livelihood with you. ³⁷ You shall not lend him your money for advance interest or your food for accrued interest. ³⁸ I am the Lord your God, who freed you from the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

³⁹ When your fellow Israelite becomes so indebted to you that he is sold to you, you shall not make him serve as a slave. ⁴⁰ He shall remain with you as a hired laborer or a temporary resident. He shall work for you until the year of Jubilee. ⁴¹ Then he and his children with him will become free from your authority. He shall return to his family home and to his ancestral landholding, ⁴² for the Israelites are my servants, whom I freed from the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold in a slave sale. ⁴³ You shall not rule over them harshly, but you shall fear your God.

⁴⁴ You may buy a male slave or a female slave for yourself from the nations around you. ⁴⁵ You may also buy some of the children of those who reside as aliens among you and some of their extended families who are born in your land, so that they become your property. ⁴⁶ You may leave them to your children as inherited property. You may make them work as slaves for life. But as for your brothers, the Israelites, each of you must not rule over your brother harshly.

Jesus Loves Little Children

¹³ Some people began bringing little children to Jesus so that he would touch them. But the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said, “Let the little children come to me! Do not hinder them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Amen I tell you: Whoever will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took the little children in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

The Rich Young Ruler

¹⁷ As Jesus was setting out on a journey, one man ran up to him and knelt in front of him. He asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God. ¹⁹ You know the commandments. ‘You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony. You shall not defraud. Honor your father and mother.’”^[a]

²⁰ The man replied, “Teacher, I have kept all these since I was a child.”

²¹ Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²² When he heard this, he looked sad and went away grieving, because he had great wealth. ²³ Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴ The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus told them again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in their riches to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ They were even more astonished and said to one another, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, “For people, it is impossible, but not for God, because all things are possible for God.”

²⁸ Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”

²⁹ Jesus said, “Amen I tell you: There is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, ³⁰ who now at this time will fail to receive one hundred times as much: houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and fields (along with persecutions)—and in the coming age: eternal life. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Present Defeat

Present Plea