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Portion of the Levites
18 “(A)The Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the Lord’s offerings by fire and His [a]portion. 2 (B)They shall have no inheritance among their [b]countrymen; the Lord is their inheritance, as He [c]promised them.
3 “(C)Now this shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, either an ox or a sheep, of which they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4 You shall give him the (D)first fruits of your grain, your new wine, and your oil, and the first shearing of your sheep. 5 (E)For the Lord your God has chosen him and his sons from all your tribes, to (F)stand [d]and serve in the name of the Lord forever.
6 “Now if a Levite comes from any of your [e]towns throughout Israel where he (G)resides, and comes [f]whenever he desires to the place which the Lord chooses, 7 then he shall serve in the name of the Lord his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand there before the Lord. 8 (H)They shall eat [g]equal portions, except what they receive from the sale of their fathers’ estates.
Spiritism Forbidden
9 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to [h](I)imitate the detestable things of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone (J)who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one (K)who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a spell, (L)or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and (M)because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you. 13 (N)You shall be [i]blameless before the Lord your God. 14 For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who (O)practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.
15 “(P)The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your [j]countrymen, you shall listen to him. 16 This is (Q)according to all that you asked of the Lord your God in Horeb on the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, let me not see this great fire anymore, or I will die.’ 17 (R)The Lord said to me, ‘They have [k]spoken well. 18 I will raise up a prophet from among their [l]countrymen like you, and (S)I will put My words in his mouth, and (T)he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 (U)It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who speaks a word (V)presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or (W)which he speaks in the name of other gods, [m]that prophet shall die.’ 21 [n]You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ 22 (X)When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it (Y)presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.
Cities of Refuge
19 “(Z)When the Lord your God cuts off the nations, whose land the Lord your God gives you, and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and in their houses, 2 (AA)you shall set aside three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which the Lord your God gives you to [o]possess. 3 You shall prepare the [p]roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord your God will give you as a possession, [q]so that any manslayer may flee there.
4 “(AB)Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he [r]kills his friend [s]unintentionally, [t]not hating him previously— 5 as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand [u]swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the [v]handle and [w]strikes his friend so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live; 6 otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer [x]in the heat of his anger, and overtake him, because the way is long, and [y]take his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously. 7 Therefore, I command you, saying, ‘You shall set aside three cities for yourself.’
8 “If the Lord your God (AC)enlarges your territory, just as He has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which He [z]promised to give your fathers— 9 if you [aa]carefully observe all this commandment which I command you today, (AD)to love the Lord your God, and to walk in His ways always—(AE)then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three. 10 So innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and (AF)bloodguiltiness be on you.
11 “But (AG)if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes [ab]him so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13 [ac](AH)You shall not pity him, but (AI)you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you.
Laws of Landmark and Testimony
14 “(AJ)You shall not move your neighbor’s boundary mark, which the ancestors have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God gives you to [ad]possess.
15 “(AK)A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin [ae]which he has committed; on the [af]evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. 16 (AL)If a malicious witness rises up against a man to [ag]accuse him of [ah]wrongdoing, 17 then both the men who have the dispute shall stand (AM)before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. 18 The judges (AN)shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has [ai]accused his brother falsely, 19 then (AO)you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. 20 (AP)The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. 21 Thus [aj](AQ)you shall not show pity: (AR)life for life, (AS)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Laws of Warfare
20 “When you go out to battle against your enemies and see (AT)horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, (AU)do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you. 2 When you are approaching the battle, the priest shall come near and speak to the people. 3 He shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, you are approaching the battle against your enemies today. Do not be fainthearted. (AV)Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, 4 for the Lord your God (AW)is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’ 5 The officers also shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Who is the man that has built a new house and has not (AX)dedicated it? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man would dedicate it. 6 Who is the man that has planted a vineyard and has not [ak]begun to use its fruit? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man [al]would begin to use its fruit. 7 (AY)And who is the man that is engaged to a woman and has not [am]married her? Let him depart and return to his house, otherwise he might die in the battle and another man [an]would marry her.’ 8 Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘(AZ)Who is the man that is afraid and fainthearted? Let him depart and return to his house, so that [ao]he might not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart.’ 9 When the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of armies at the head of the people.
10 “When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall [ap]offer it terms of peace. 11 If it [aq]agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your (BA)forced labor and shall serve you. 12 However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 When the Lord your God gives it into your hand, (BB)you shall strike all the [ar]men in it with the edge of the sword. 14 Only the women and the children and (BC)the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourself; and you shall [as]use the spoil of your enemies which the Lord your God has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations [at]nearby. 16 (BD)Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 But you shall [au]utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has commanded you, 18 so that they may not teach you to do (BE)according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would (BF)sin against the Lord your God.
19 “When you besiege a city a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. [av]For is the tree of the field a man, that it should [aw]be besieged by you? 20 Only the trees which you know [ax]are not fruit trees you shall destroy and cut down, that you may construct siegeworks against the city that is making war with you until it falls.
The Transfiguration
28 (A)Some eight days after these sayings, He took along (B)Peter and John and James, and (C)went up on the mountain (D)to pray. 29 And while He was (E)praying, the appearance of His face (F)became different, and His clothing became white and [a]gleaming. 30 And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, 31 who, appearing in [b]glory, were speaking of His (G)departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 32 Now Peter and his companions (H)had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. 33 And as [c]these were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “(I)Master, it is good for us to be here; (J)let us make three [d]tabernacles: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—(K)not realizing what he was saying. 34 While he was saying this, a cloud [e]formed and began to overshadow them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35 Then (L)a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “(M)This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!” 36 And when the voice [f]had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And (N)they kept silent, and reported to no one in those days any of the things which they had seen.
37 (O)On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met Him. 38 And a man from the crowd shouted, saying, “Teacher, I beg You to look at my son, for he is my [g]only boy, 39 and a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth; and only with difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves. 40 I begged Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not.” 41 And Jesus answered and said, “You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here.” 42 While he was still approaching, the demon [h]slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. 43 And they were all amazed at the [i](P)greatness of God.
(Q)But while everyone was marveling at all that He was doing, He said to His disciples, 44 “Let these words sink into your ears; (R)for the Son of Man is going to be [j]delivered into the hands of men.” 45 But (S)they [k]did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this statement.
The Test of Greatness
46 (T)An argument [l]started among them as to which of them might be the greatest. 47 But Jesus, (U)knowing [m]what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, 48 and said to them, “(V)Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; (W)for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great.”
49 (X)John answered and said, “(Y)Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; (Z)for he who is not against you is [n]for you.”
BOOK 3
The End of the Wicked Contrasted with That of the Righteous.
A Psalm of Asaph.
73 Surely God is (A)good to Israel,
To those who are (B)pure in heart!
2 But as for me, (C)my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps [a]had almost slipped.
3 For I was (D)envious of the [b]arrogant
As I saw the (E)prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains in their death,
And their [c]body is fat.
5 They are (F)not [d]in trouble as other [e]men,
Nor are they (G)plagued [f]like mankind.
6 Therefore pride is (H)their necklace;
The (I)garment of violence covers them.
7 Their eye [g]bulges from (J)fatness;
The imaginations of their heart [h]run riot.
8 They (K)mock and [i]wickedly speak of oppression;
They (L)speak from on high.
9 They have (M)set their mouth [j]against the heavens,
And their tongue [k]parades through the earth.
10 Therefore [l]his people return to this place,
And waters of (N)abundance are [m]drunk by them.
11 They say, “(O)How does God know?
And is there knowledge [n]with the Most High?”
12 Behold, (P)these are the wicked;
And always (Q)at ease, they have increased in wealth.
13 Surely (R)in vain I have [o]kept my heart pure
And (S)washed my hands in innocence;
14 For I have been stricken (T)all day long
And [p](U)chastened every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the (V)generation of Your children.
16 When I (W)pondered to understand this,
It was [q]troublesome in my sight
17 Until I came into the [r](X)sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their (Y)end.
18 Surely You set them in (Z)slippery places;
You cast them down to [s](AA)destruction.
19 How they are [t](AB)destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by (AC)sudden terrors!
20 Like a (AD)dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when (AE)aroused, You will (AF)despise their [u]form.
21 When my (AG)heart was embittered
And I was (AH)pierced [v]within,
22 Then I was (AI)senseless and ignorant;
I was like [w]a (AJ)beast [x]before You.
23 Nevertheless (AK)I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
24 With Your counsel You will (AL)guide me,
And afterward (AM)receive me [y]to glory.
25 (AN)Whom have I in heaven but You?
And [z]besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
26 My (AO)flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the [aa]strength of my heart and my (AP)portion forever.
27 For, behold, (AQ)those who are far from You will (AR)perish;
You have [ab]destroyed all those who [ac](AS)are unfaithful to You.
28 But as for me, (AT)the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord [ad]God my (AU)refuge,
That I may (AV)tell of all Your works.
10 A (A)righteous man has regard for the life of his animal,
But even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.