Month: March 2023

The Ten Commandments

5 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. ^2 (A)The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. ^3 (B)Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. ⁴ The Lord spoke with you ^(C)face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire, ^5 (D)while I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord. For ^(E)you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain. He said:

^6 (F)“‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

⁷ “‘You shall have no other gods before^[a] me.

⁸ “‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁹ You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ¹⁰ but showing steadfast love to ^(G)thousands^[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

¹¹ “‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

¹² “‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. ¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but ^(H)the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, ^(I)that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. ^15 (J)You shall remember that you were a slave^[c] in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there ^(K)with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

¹⁶ “‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, ^(L)that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

^17 (M)“‘You shall not murder.^[d]

^18 (N)“‘And you shall not commit adultery.

¹⁹ “‘And you shall not steal.

²⁰ “‘And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

²¹ “‘And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.’

²² “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly ^(O)at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And ^(P)he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. ²³ And ^(Q)as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. ²⁴ And you said, ‘Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and ^(R)greatness, and ^(S)we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man ^(T)still live. ²⁵ Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. ^(U)If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, we shall die. ^26 (V)For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? ²⁷ Go near and hear all that the Lord our God will say, and ^(W)speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’

²⁸ “And the Lord heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. ^(X)They are right in all that they have spoken. ^29 (Y)Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, ^(Z)that it might go well with them and with their descendants^[e] forever! ³⁰ Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” ³¹ But you, stand here by me, and ^(AA)I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ ³² You shall be careful therefore to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. ^(AB)You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ^33 (AC)You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and ^(AD)that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

The Greatest Commandment

6 “Now this is ^(AE)the commandment—the statutes and the rules^[f]—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, ² that ^(AF)you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and ^(AG)that your days may be long. ³ Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, ^(AH)as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: ^(AI)The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[g] 5} You ^(AJ)shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And ^(AK)these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ^7 (AL)You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ^8 (AM)You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ^9 (AN)You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

¹⁰ “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you—with great and good cities ^(AO)that you did not build, ¹¹ and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant—and when you eat and are full, ^12 (AP)then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹³ It is ^(AQ)the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and ^(AR)by his name you shall swear. ¹⁴ You shall not ^(AS)go after other gods, ^(AT)the gods of the peoples who are around you— ¹⁵ for ^(AU)the Lord your God in your midst ^(AV)is a jealous God—^(AW)lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.

^16 (AX)“You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, ^(AY)as you tested him at Massah. ¹⁷ You shall ^(AZ)diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his testimonies and his statutes, which he has commanded you. ^18 (BA)And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may go well with you, and that you may go in and take possession of the good land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers ^19 (BB)by thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.

^20 (BC)“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ ²¹ then you shall say to your son, ^(BD)‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ²² And ^(BE)the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. ²³ And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. ²⁴ And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, ^(BF)to fear the Lord our God, ^(BG)for our good always, that ^(BH)he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. ²⁵ And ^(BI)it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’

Jesus Raises a Widow's Son

¹¹ Soon afterward^[a] he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. ¹² As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, ^(A)the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. ¹³ And when the Lord saw her, ^(B)he had compassion on her and ^(C)said to her, “Do not weep.” ¹⁴ Then he came up and touched ^(D)the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, ^(E)arise.” ¹⁵ And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^{[b] (F)}gave him to his mother. ¹⁶ Fear seized them all, and ^(G)they glorified God, saying, ^(H)“A great prophet has arisen among us!” and ^(I)“God has visited his people!” ¹⁷ And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country.

Messengers from John the Baptist

^18 (J)(K)The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹ calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one ^(L)who is to come, or ^(M)shall we look for another?” ²⁰ And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one ^(N)who is to come, or ^(O)shall we look for another?’” ²¹ In that hour ^(P)he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and ^(Q)on many who were blind he bestowed sight. ²² And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: ^(R)the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, ^(S)lepers^[c] are cleansed, and ^(T)the deaf hear, ^(U)the dead are raised up, ^(V)the poor have good news preached to them. ²³ And blessed is the one who is ^(W)not offended by me.”

²⁴ When John's messengers had gone, Jesus^[d] began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out ^(X)into the wilderness to see? ^(Y)A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings' courts. ²⁶ What then did you go out to see? ^(Z)A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he of whom it is written,

²⁸ I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” ²⁹ (^(AB)When all the people heard this, and ^(AC)the tax collectors too, they declared God just,^{[e] (AD)}having been baptized with ^(AE)the baptism of John, ^30 (AF)but the Pharisees and ^(AG)the lawyers ^(AH)rejected ^(AI)the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

³¹ “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

³³ For John the Baptist has come ^(AJ)eating no bread and ^(AK)drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man has come ^(AL)eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, ^(AM)a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ³⁵ Yet ^(AN)wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Moses Commands Obedience

4 “And now, O Israel, listen to ^(A)the statutes and the rules^[a] that I am teaching you, and do them, ^(B)that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. ^2 (C)You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. ³ Your eyes have seen what the Lord did ^(D)at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. ⁴ But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. ⁵ See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. ^6 (E)Keep them and do them, for ^(F)that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ ⁷ For ^(G)what great nation is there that has ^(H)a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? ⁸ And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so ^(I)righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

^9 (J)“Only take care, and ^(K)keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. ^(L)Make them known to your children and your children's children— ¹⁰ how on ^(M)the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ^(N)‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, ^(O)so that they may learn to fear ^(P)me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ ¹¹ And ^(Q)you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while ^(R)the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. ¹² Then ^(S)the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, ^(T)but saw no form; ^(U)there was only a voice. ^13 (V)And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, ^(W)the Ten Commandments,^{[b] (X)}and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. ¹⁴ And ^(Y)the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.

Idolatry Forbidden

^15 (Z)“Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since ^(AA)you saw no form on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, ¹⁶ beware ^(AB)lest you act corruptly ^(AC)by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, ^(AD)the likeness of male or female, ¹⁷ the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸ the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. ¹⁹ And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see ^(AE)the sun and the moon and the stars, ^(AF)all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. ²⁰ But the Lord has taken you and ^(AG)brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, ^(AH)to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. ²¹ Furthermore, ^(AI)the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he swore that I should not cross the Jordan, and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. ²² For I must die in this land; ^(AJ)I must not go over the Jordan. But you shall go over and take possession of ^(AK)that good land. ^23 (AL)Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and ^(AM)make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. ²⁴ For ^(AN)the Lord your God is a consuming fire, ^(AO)a jealous God.

²⁵ “When you father children and children's children, and have grown old in the land, ^(AP)if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and ^(AQ)by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, ²⁶ I ^(AR)call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. ²⁷ And the Lord ^(AS)will scatter you among the peoples, ^(AT)and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. ²⁸ And ^(AU)there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, ^(AV)that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. ^29 (AW)But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. ³⁰ When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you ^(AX)in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. ³¹ For the Lord your God is ^(AY)a merciful God. ^(AZ)He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

The Lord Alone Is God

³² “For ^(BA)ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. ^33 (BB)Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? ³⁴ Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, ^(BC)by signs, by wonders, and ^(BD)by war, ^(BE)by a mighty hand and ^(BF)an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵ To you it was shown, ^(BG)that you might know that the Lord is God; ^(BH)there is no other besides him. ^36 (BI)Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and ^(BJ)you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. ³⁷ And because ^(BK)he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them^[c] and brought you out of Egypt ^(BL)with his own presence, by his great power, ^38 (BM)driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, ³⁹ know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that ^(BN)the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; ^(BO)there is no other. ^40 (BP)Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, ^(BQ)that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

Cities of Refuge

⁴¹ Then Moses ^(BR)set apart three cities in the east beyond the Jordan, ⁴² that ^(BS)the manslayer might flee there, anyone who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without being at enmity with him in time past; he may flee to one of these cities and save his life: ^43 (BT)Bezer in the wilderness on the ^(BU)tableland for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

Introduction to the Law

⁴⁴ This is the law that Moses set before the people of Israel. ⁴⁵ These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the rules, which Moses spoke to the people of Israel when they came out of Egypt, ⁴⁶ beyond the Jordan ^(BV)in the valley opposite Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon, ^(BW)whom Moses and the people of Israel defeated when they came out of Egypt. ⁴⁷ And they took possession of his land and the land ^(BX)of Og, the king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who lived to the east beyond the Jordan; ^48 (BY)from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, as far as Mount ^(BZ)Sirion^[d] (that is, ^(CA)Hermon), ⁴⁹ together with all the Arabah on the east side of the Jordan as far as ^(CB)the Sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of Pisgah.

³⁹ He also told them a parable: ^(A)“Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? ^40 (B)A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is ^(C)fully trained will be like his teacher. ^41 (D)Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but ^(E)do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother's eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³ “For ^(F)no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, ⁴⁴ for ^(G)each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. ^45 (H)The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces ^(I)evil, ^(J)for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Build Your House on the Rock

^46 (K)“Why ^(L)do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? ^47 (M)Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.^{[a] 49 (N)}But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and ^(O)the ruin of that house was great.”

Jesus Heals a Centurion's Servant

7 After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, ^(P)he entered Capernaum. ² Now a centurion had a servant^[b] who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. ³ When the centurion^[c] heard about Jesus, ^(Q)he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. ⁴ And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ^(R)“He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us ^(S)our synagogue.” ⁶ And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, ^(T)do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷ Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But ^(U)say the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸ For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹ When Jesus heard these things, ^(V)he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such ^(W)faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

God Shall Scatter His Enemies

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.

The Wilderness Years

2 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, ^(A)as the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. ² Then the Lord said to me, ³ ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country ^(B)long enough. Turn northward ⁴ and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of ^(C)your brothers, the people of Esau, ^(D)who live in Seir; and ^(E)they will be afraid of you. So be very careful. ⁵ Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because ^(F)I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ^6 (G)You shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. ⁷ For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. ^(H)He knows your going through this great wilderness. ^(I)These forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ ⁸ So ^(J)we went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from ^(K)the Arabah road from ^(L)Elath and ^(M)Ezion-geber.

“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. ⁹ And the Lord said to me, ^(N)‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given ^(O)Ar to ^(P)the people of Lot for a possession.’ ¹⁰ (^(Q)The Emim formerly lived there, ^(R)a people great and many, and tall ^(S)as the Anakim. ¹¹ Like the Anakim they are also counted as ^(T)Rephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. ^12 (U)The Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, ^(V)as Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.) ¹³ ‘Now rise up and go over ^(W)the brook Zered.’ So we went over ^(X)the brook Zered. ¹⁴ And the time from our leaving ^(Y)Kadesh-barnea until we crossed ^(Z)the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, ^(AA)until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. ¹⁵ For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

¹⁶ “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, ¹⁷ the Lord said to me, ¹⁸ ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. ¹⁹ And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, ^(AB)do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to ^(AC)the sons of Lot for a possession.’ ²⁰ (It is also counted as a land of ^(AD)Rephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— ^21 (AE)a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites,^[a] and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, ²² as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed ^(AF)the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. ²³ As for ^(AG)the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as ^(AH)Gaza, ^(AI)the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) ²⁴ ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and ^(AJ)go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of ^(AK)Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and ^(AL)contend with him in battle. ²⁵ This day I will begin to put ^(AM)the dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

The Defeat of King Sihon

²⁶ “So I sent messengers from the wilderness of ^(AN)Kedemoth to Sihon the king of ^(AO)Heshbon, ^(AP)with words of peace, saying, ^27 (AQ)‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. ^28 (AR)You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot, ^29 (AS)as the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us.’ ³⁰ But ^(AT)Sihon the king of ^(AU)Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God ^(AV)hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day. ³¹ And the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.’ ³² Then ^(AW)Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. ³³ And ^(AX)the Lord our God gave him over to us, and ^(AY)we defeated him and his sons and all his people. ³⁴ And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction^[b] every ^(AZ)city, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. ³⁵ Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. ^36 (BA)From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from ^(BB)the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. ^(BC)The Lord our God gave all into our hands. ³⁷ Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river ^(BD)Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the Lord our God had forbidden us.

The Defeat of King Og

3 “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And ^(BE)Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at ^(BF)Edrei. ² But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to ^(BG)Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ ³ So the Lord our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, ^(BH)and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. ⁴ And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, ^(BI)the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ⁵ All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. ⁶ And ^(BJ)we devoted them to destruction,^[c] as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every ^(BK)city, men, women, and children. ⁷ But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. ⁸ So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon ⁹ (the Sidonians call ^(BL)Hermon ^(BM)Sirion, while the Amorites call it ^(BN)Senir), ¹⁰ all the cities of the ^(BO)tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as ^(BP)Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ¹¹ (For ^(BQ)only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of ^(BR)the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in ^(BS)Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits^[d] was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the ^(BT)common cubit.^[e])

¹² “When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning ^(BU)at Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with ^(BV)its cities. ^13 (BW)The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, ^(BX)all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of ^(BY)Rephaim. ^14 (BZ)Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of ^(CA)the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages ^(CB)after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) ¹⁵ To Machir ^(CC)I gave Gilead, ¹⁶ and to the Reubenites ^(CD)and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, ^(CE)the border of the Ammonites; ¹⁷ the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from ^(CF)Chinnereth as far as ^(CG)the Sea of the Arabah, ^(CH)the Salt Sea, under ^(CI)the slopes of Pisgah on the east.

¹⁸ “And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. ^(CJ)All your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel. ¹⁹ Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock ^(CK)(I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, ^20 (CL)until the Lord gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the Lord your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’ ²¹ And I commanded ^(CM)Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. ²² You shall not fear them, for it is ^(CN)the Lord your God who fights for you.’

Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land

²³ “And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, ²⁴ ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant ^(CO)your greatness and your mighty hand. For ^(CP)what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? ²⁵ Please let me go over and see ^(CQ)the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and ^(CR)Lebanon.’ ²⁶ But ^(CS)the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ^(CT)‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. ^27 (CU)Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. ²⁸ But ^(CV)charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ ²⁹ So we remained in ^(CW)the valley opposite Beth-peor.

The Twelve Apostles

¹² In these days ^(A)he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. ¹³ And when day came, ^(B)he called his disciples ^(C)and ^(D)chose from them twelve, whom he named ^(E)apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, ^(F)whom he named Peter, and ^(G)Andrew his brother, and ^(H)James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, ¹⁵ and ^(I)Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called ^(J)the Zealot, ¹⁶ and ^(K)Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Jesus Ministers to a Great Multitude

¹⁷ And ^(L)he came down with them and stood on a level place, with ^(M)a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and the seacoast of ^(N)Tyre and Sidon, ¹⁸ who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. ^(O)And those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. ¹⁹ And all the crowd ^(P)sought to touch him, for ^(Q)power came out from him and healed them all.

The Beatitudes

²⁰ And ^(R)he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, ^(S)and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for ^(T)yours is the kingdom of God.

^21 (U)“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

^(V)“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

²² “Blessed are you when ^(W)people hate you and when they ^(X)exclude you and revile you and ^(Y)spurn your name as evil, ^(Z)on account of the Son of Man! ^23 (AA)Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for ^(AB)so their fathers did to the prophets.

Jesus Pronounces Woes

^24 (AC)“But woe to you who are rich, ^(AD)for you ^(AE)have received your consolation.

²⁵ “Woe to you who are full now, for ^(AF)you shall be hungry.

“Woe to ^(AG)you who laugh now, ^(AH)for you shall mourn and weep.

²⁶ “Woe to you, ^(AI)when all people speak well of you, for ^(AJ)so their fathers did to ^(AK)the false prophets.

Love Your Enemies

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, ^(AL)Love your enemies, ^(AM)do good to those who hate you, ^28 (AN)bless those who curse you, ^(AO)pray for those who abuse you. ^29 (AP)To one who ^(AQ)strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic^[a] either. ^30 (AR)Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. ³¹ And ^(AS)as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

^32 (AT)“If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ³⁴ And ^(AU)if you ^(AV)lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. ³⁵ But ^(AW)love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and ^(AX)you will be sons of ^(AY)the Most High, for ^(AZ)he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. ^36 (BA)Be merciful, even as ^(BB)your Father is merciful.

Judging Others

^37 (BC)(BD)“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; ^(BE)forgive, and you will be forgiven; ^38 (BF)give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put ^(BG)into your lap. For ^(BH)with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Make Your Face Shine upon Us

To the choirmaster: with ^(A)stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.

Marriage of Female Heirs

36 The heads of the fathers' houses of the clan of the ^(A)people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel. ² They said, ^(B)“The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and ^(C)my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. ³ But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. ⁴ And when ^(D)the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

⁵ And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph ^(E)is right. ⁶ This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, ^(F)only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. ⁷ The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel ^(G)shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. ⁸ And ^(H)every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. ⁹ So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’”

¹⁰ The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses, ^11 (I)for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father's brothers. ¹² They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's clan.

¹³ These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel ^(J)in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

The Command to Leave Horeb

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in ^(K)the Arabah opposite ^(L)Suph, between ^(M)Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ² It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to ^(N)Kadesh-barnea. ^3 (O)In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them, ⁴ after ^(P)he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ^(Q)Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in ^(R)Edrei. ⁵ Beyond the Jordan, ^(S)in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, ⁶ “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ^(T)‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. ⁷ Turn and take your journey, and go to ^(U)the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in ^(V)the Arabah, ^(W)in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and ^(X)by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. ⁸ See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, ^(Y)to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

Leaders Appointed

⁹ “At that time ^(Z)I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. ¹⁰ The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, ^(AA)you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. ^11 (AB)May the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, ^(AC)as he has promised you! ^12 (AD)How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? ^13 (AE)Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ ¹⁴ And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ ¹⁵ So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, ^(AF)and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. ¹⁶ And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and ^(AG)judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. ^17 (AH)You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for ^(AI)the judgment is God's. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall ^(AJ)bring to me, and I will hear it.’ ¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

Israel's Refusal to Enter the Land

¹⁹ “Then we set out from Horeb and ^(AK)went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us. And ^(AL)we came to Kadesh-barnea. ²⁰ And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. ²¹ See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. ^(AM)Do not fear or be dismayed.’ ²² Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ ²³ The thing seemed good to me, and ^(AN)I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. ²⁴ And ^(AO)they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. ²⁵ And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’

²⁶ “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. ²⁷ And ^(AP)you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord ^(AQ)hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, ^(AR)to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. ²⁸ Where are we going up? ^(AS)Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, ^(AT)“The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen ^(AU)the sons of the Anakim there.”’ ²⁹ Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. ³⁰ The Lord your God who goes before you ^(AV)will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, ³¹ and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God ^(AW)carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ ³² Yet in spite of this word ^(AX)you did not believe the Lord your God, ^33 (AY)who went before you in the way ^(AZ)to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

The Penalty for Israel's Rebellion

³⁴ “And the Lord heard your words and was angered, and he swore, ^35 (BA)‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, ^36 (BB)except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!’ ³⁷ Even with me ^(BC)the Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. ^38 (BD)Joshua the son of Nun, ^(BE)who stands before you, he shall enter. ^(BF)Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. ³⁹ And as for ^(BG)your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today ^(BH)have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. ⁴⁰ But as for you, ^(BI)turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’

⁴¹ “Then you answered me, ^(BJ)‘We have sinned against the Lord. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. ⁴² And the Lord said to me, ^(BK)‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, ^(BL)for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ ⁴³ So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the Lord and ^(BM)presumptuously went up into the hill country. ^44 (BN)Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you ^(BO)as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as ^(BP)Hormah. ⁴⁵ And you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. ⁴⁶ So ^(BQ)you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

²⁹ And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company ^(A)of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. ³⁰ And the Pharisees and ^(B)their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, ^(C)“Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” ³¹ And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ^32 (D)I have not come to call the righteous ^(E)but sinners ^(F)to repentance.”

A Question About Fasting

³³ And they said to him, ^(G)“The disciples of John ^(H)fast often and ^(I)offer prayers, ^(J)and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink.” ³⁴ And Jesus said to them, ^(K)“Can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? ^35 (L)The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^(M)then they will fast in those days.” ³⁶ He also told them a parable: “No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one puts new wine into old ^(N)wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. ³⁸ But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. ³⁹ And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, ‘The old is good.’”^[a]

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath

6 ^(O)On a Sabbath,^[b] while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples ^(P)plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. ² But some of the Pharisees said, ^(Q)“Why are you doing ^(R)what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?” ³ And Jesus answered them, ^(S)“Have you not read ^(T)what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: ⁴ how he entered the house of God and took and ate ^(U)the bread of the Presence, ^(V)which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” ⁵ And he said to them, ^(W)“The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”

A Man with a Withered Hand

⁶ On another Sabbath, ^(X)he entered the synagogue ^(Y)and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was withered. ⁷ And the scribes and the Pharisees ^(Z)watched him, to see whether he would heal on the Sabbath, ^(AA)so that they might find a reason to accuse him. ⁸ But ^(AB)he knew their thoughts, and he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. ⁹ And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, ^(AC)is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ And ^(AD)after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And ^(AE)he did so, and his hand was restored. ¹¹ But they were filled with ^(AF)fury and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.

How Awesome Are Your Deeds

To the choirmaster. A Song. A Psalm.

⁴⁰ And ^(A)the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.

⁴¹ And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. ⁴² And they set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. ⁴³ And they set out from Punon and camped at ^(B)Oboth. ⁴⁴ And they set out from Oboth and camped at ^(C)Iye-abarim, in the territory of Moab. ⁴⁵ And they set out from Iyim and camped at ^(D)Dibon-gad. ⁴⁶ And they set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. ⁴⁷ And they set out from Almon-diblathaim ^(E)and camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. ⁴⁸ And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in ^(F)the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; ⁴⁹ they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as ^(G)Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

Drive Out the Inhabitants

⁵⁰ And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ⁵¹ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(H)When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵² then ^(I)you shall drive out ^(J)all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their ^(K)figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. ⁵³ And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. ^54 (L)You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. ^(M)To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. ⁵⁵ But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as ^(N)barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. ⁵⁶ And I will do to you ^(O)as I thought to do to them.”

Boundaries of the Land

34 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter ^(P)the land of Canaan ^(Q)(this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), ^3 (R)your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of ^(S)the Salt Sea on the east. ⁴ And your border shall turn south of ^(T)the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to ^(U)Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. ⁵ And the border shall turn ^(V)from Azmon to ^(W)the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea.

⁶ “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its^[a] coast. This shall be your western border.

⁷ “This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to ^(X)Mount Hor. ⁸ From Mount Hor you shall draw a line ^(Y)to Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at ^(Z)Zedad. ⁹ Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at ^(AA)Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.

¹⁰ “You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. ¹¹ And the border shall go down from Shepham to ^(AB)Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of ^(AC)the Sea of Chinnereth on the east. ¹² And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at ^(AD)the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.”

¹³ Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, ^(AE)“This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. ^14 (AF)For the tribe of the people of Reuben by fathers' houses and the tribe of the people of Gad by their fathers' houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh. ¹⁵ The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

List of Tribal Chiefs

¹⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: ^(AG)Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. ¹⁸ You shall take one ^(AH)chief from every tribe to divide the land for inheritance. ¹⁹ These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. ²⁰ Of the tribe of the people of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. ²¹ Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. ²² Of the tribe of the people of Dan a chief, Bukki the son of Jogli. ²³ Of the people of Joseph: of the tribe of the people of Manasseh a chief, Hanniel the son of Ephod. ²⁴ And of the tribe of the people of Ephraim a chief, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. ²⁵ Of the tribe of the people of Zebulun a chief, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. ²⁶ Of the tribe of the people of Issachar a chief, Paltiel the son of Azzan. ²⁷ And of the tribe of the people of Asher a chief, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. ²⁸ Of the tribe of the people of Naphtali a chief, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” ²⁹ These are the men whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Cities for the Levites

35 The Lord spoke to Moses in ^(AI)the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ^2 (AJ)“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. ³ The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. ⁴ The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits^[b] all around. ⁵ And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.

⁶ “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^(AK)the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. ⁷ All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^(AL)forty-eight, with their pasturelands. ⁸ And as for the cities that you shall give ^(AM)from the possession of the people of Israel, ^(AN)from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”

Cities of Refuge

⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(AO)When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ^11 (AP)then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. ¹² The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. ¹³ And the cities that you give shall be your ^(AQ)six cities of refuge. ^14 (AR)You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and ^(AS)for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.

^16 (AT)“But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. ¹⁷ And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. ^19 (AU)The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. ²⁰ And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, ^(AV)lying in wait, so that he died, ²¹ or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. ^(AW)The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²² “But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him ^(AX)without lying in wait ²³ or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, ²⁴ then ^(AY)the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and ^(AZ)the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. ²⁵ And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it ^(BA)until the death of the high priest ^(BB)who was anointed with the holy oil. ²⁶ But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, ²⁷ and ^(BC)the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. ²⁸ For he must remain in his city of refuge ^(BD)until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. ²⁹ And these things shall be for ^(BE)a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

³⁰ “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the ^(BF)evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. ³¹ Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. ³² And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. ³³ You shall not ^(BG)pollute the land in which you live, for blood ^(BH)pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except ^(BI)by the blood of the one who shed it. ^34 (BJ)You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, ^(BK)for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

¹² While he was in one of the cities, ^(A)there came a man full of leprosy.^[a] And when he saw Jesus, he ^(B)fell on his face and begged him, “Lord, ^(C)if you will, you can make me clean.” ¹³ And Jesus^[b] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ And he charged him ^(D)to tell no one, but “go and show ^(E)yourself to the priest, and ^(F)make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, ^(G)for a proof to them.” ^15 (H)But now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. ¹⁶ But ^(I)he would withdraw to desolate places and ^(J)pray.

Jesus Heals a Paralytic

¹⁷ On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and ^(K)teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And ^(L)the power of the Lord was with him to heal.^{[c] 18 (M)}And behold, some men were bringing ^(N)on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, ¹⁹ but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on ^(O)the roof and let him down with his bed ^(P)through the tiles into the midst before Jesus. ²⁰ And ^(Q)when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, ^(R)your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks ^(S)blasphemies? ^(T)Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ²² When Jesus ^(U)perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that ^(V)the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.” ²⁵ And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, ^(W)glorifying God. ²⁶ And amazement seized them all, and they ^(X)glorified God and were filled ^(Y)with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

Jesus Calls Levi

^27 (Z)After this he went out and saw ^(AA)a tax collector named ^(AB)Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” ²⁸ And ^(AC)leaving everything, he rose and followed him.

O God of Our Salvation

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.