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Forty-eight Cities of the Levites
21 Then the heads of [a]households of (A)the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of [b]households of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 2 They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “(B)The Lord commanded [c]through Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle.” 3 So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these cities with their pasture lands, according to the [d]command of the Lord. 4 Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And the sons of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, [e]received thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of the Simeonites and from the tribe of Benjamin.
5 The rest of the sons of Kohath [f]received ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim and from the tribe of Dan and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.
6 The sons of Gershon [g]received thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar and from the tribe of Asher and from the tribe of Naphtali and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 The sons of Merari according to their families [h]received twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben and from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulun.
8 Now the (C)sons of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the Lord had commanded [i]through Moses.
9 They gave these cities which are here mentioned by name from the tribe of the sons of Judah and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon; 10 and they were for the sons of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi, for the lot was theirs first. 11 Thus (D)they gave them Kiriath-arba, Arba being the (E)father of Anak (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, with its surrounding pasture lands. 12 But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.
13 So (F)to the sons of Aaron the priest they gave (G)Hebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, and (H)Libnah with its pasture lands, 14 and (I)Jattir with its pasture lands and (J)Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, 15 and [j]Holon with its pasture lands and (K)Debir with its pasture lands, 16 and [k]Ain with its pasture lands and (L)Juttah with its pasture lands and (M)Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes. 17 From the tribe of Benjamin, (N)Gibeon with its pasture lands, (O)Geba with its pasture lands, 18 Anathoth with its pasture lands and [l]Almon with its pasture lands; four cities. 19 All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.
20 Then the cities from the tribe of Ephraim were allotted to the (P)families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, even to the rest of the sons of Kohath. 21 They gave them (Q)Shechem, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands, 22 and Kibzaim with its pasture lands and Beth-horon with its pasture lands; four cities. 23 From the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, 24 Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; four cities. 25 From the half-tribe of Manasseh, they allotted Taanach with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; two cities. 26 All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the rest of the sons of Kohath were ten.
27 (R)To the sons of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, and Be-eshterah with its pasture lands; two cities. 28 From the tribe of Issachar, they gave Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, 29 Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En-gannim with its pasture lands; four cities. 30 From the tribe of Asher, they gave Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, 31 Helkath with its pasture lands and Rehob with its pasture lands; four cities. 32 From the tribe of Naphtali, they gave (S)Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands and Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands and Kartan with its pasture lands; three cities. 33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.
34 To the families of (T)the sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands and Kartah with its pasture lands. 35 Dimnah with its pasture lands, Nahalal with its pasture lands; four cities. 36 From the tribe of Reuben, they gave (U)Bezer with its pasture lands and Jahaz with its pasture lands, 37 Kedemoth with its pasture lands and Mephaath with its pasture lands; four cities. 38 From the tribe of Gad, they gave (V)Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands and (W)Mahanaim with its pasture lands, 39 Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands; four cities in all. 40 All these were the cities of the sons of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.
41 (X)All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands. 42 These cities each had its surrounding pasture lands; thus it was with all these cities.
43 (Y)So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and (Z)they possessed it and lived in it. 44 And the Lord (AA)gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and (AB)no one of all their enemies stood before them; (AC)the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. 45 (AD)Not [m]one of the good promises which the Lord had [n]made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.
Tribes beyond Jordan Return
22 (AE)Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, (AF)and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you. 3 You have not forsaken your brothers these many days to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God. 4 And now (AG)the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as He spoke to them; therefore turn now and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan. 5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to (AH)love the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him (AI)with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6 So Joshua (AJ)blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.
7 Now (AK)to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but (AL)to the other half Joshua gave a possession among their brothers westward beyond the Jordan. So when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, 8 and said to [o]them, “Return to your tents with great riches and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and with very many clothes; (AM)divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.” 9 The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home and departed from the sons of Israel at Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the (AN)land of Gilead, to the land of their possession which they had possessed, according to the [p]command of the Lord [q]through Moses.
The Offensive Altar
10 When they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar in appearance. 11 And the sons of Israel heard it [r]said, “Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have (AO)built an altar at the [s]frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.” 12 When the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves at (AP)Shiloh to go up against them in war.
13 Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, (AQ)Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14 and with him ten chiefs, one chief for each father’s household from each of the tribes of Israel; and (AR)each one of them was the head of his father’s household among the [t]thousands of Israel. 15 They came to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them saying, 16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following the Lord this day, by (AS)building yourselves an altar, to rebel against the Lord this day? 17 Is not (AT)the iniquity of Peor [u]enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although a plague came on the congregation of the Lord, 18 that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, (AU)He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow. 19 If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then [v]cross into the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle [w]stands, and take possession among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord, or rebel against us by (AV)building an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of the Lord our God. 20 Did not (AW)Achan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things under the ban, and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’”
Jesus’ Authority Questioned
20 (A)On one of the days while (B)He was teaching the people in the temple and (C)preaching the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes with the elders (D)confronted Him, 2 and they spoke, saying to Him, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” 3 Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you a [a]question, and you tell Me: 4 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” 5 They reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a (E)prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Nor [b]will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Parable of the Vine-growers
9 (F)And He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and rented it out to [c]vine-growers, and went on a journey for a long time. 10 At the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine-growers, so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard; but the vine-growers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 And he proceeded to send another slave; and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And he proceeded to send a third; and this one also they wounded and cast out. 13 The [d]owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will (G)respect him.’ 14 But when the vine-growers saw him, they reasoned with one another, saying, ‘This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What, then, will the [e]owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and (H)destroy these vine-growers and will give the vineyard to others.” When they heard it, they said, “(I)May it never be!” 17 But [f]Jesus looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
18 (L)Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”
Tribute to Caesar
19 The scribes and the chief priests (M)tried to lay hands on Him that very hour, and they feared the people; for they understood that He spoke this parable against them. 20 (N)So they watched Him, and sent spies who [g]pretended to be righteous, in order (O)that they might [h]catch Him in some statement, so that they could deliver Him to the rule and the authority of (P)the governor. 21 They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly, and You [i]are not partial to any, but teach the way of God in truth. 22 Is it [j]lawful for us (Q)to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” 23 But He detected their trickery and said to them, 24 “Show Me a [k]denarius. Whose [l]likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 And He said to them, “Then (R)render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26 And they were unable to [m](S)catch Him in a saying in the presence of the people; and being amazed at His answer, they became silent.
The Lord’s Covenant with David, and Israel’s Afflictions.
A [a]Maskil of [b]Ethan [c]the Ezrahite.
89 I will (A)sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever;
To all generations I will (B)make known Your (C)faithfulness with my mouth.
2 For I have said, “(D)Lovingkindness will be built up forever;
In the heavens You will establish Your (E)faithfulness.”
3 “I have made a covenant with (F)My chosen;
I have (G)sworn to David My servant,
4 I will establish your (H)seed forever
And build up your (I)throne to all generations.” [d]Selah.
5 The (J)heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord;
Your faithfulness also (K)in the assembly of the (L)holy ones.
6 For (M)who in the skies is comparable to the Lord?
Who among the [e](N)sons of the mighty is like the Lord,
7 A God (O)greatly feared in the council of the (P)holy ones,
And (Q)awesome above all those who are around Him?
8 O Lord God of hosts, (R)who is like You, O mighty [f]Lord?
Your faithfulness also surrounds You.
9 You rule the swelling of the sea;
When its waves rise, You (S)still them.
10 You Yourself crushed [g](T)Rahab like one who is slain;
You (U)scattered Your enemies with [h]Your mighty arm.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.