The Daily Audio Bible

Cities Allotted to the Levites

21 Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to the priest Eleazar and to Joshua son of Nun and to the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites; ² they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, ‘The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given towns to live in, along with their pasture lands for our livestock.’ ³ So by command of the Lord the Israelites gave to the Levites the following towns and pasture lands out of their inheritance.

⁴ The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

⁵ The rest of the Kohathites received by lot ten towns from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶ The Gershonites received by lot thirteen towns from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷ The Merarites according to their families received twelve towns from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun.

⁸ These towns and their pasture lands the Israelites gave by lot to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

⁹ Out of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon they gave the following towns mentioned by name, ¹⁰ which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites who belonged to the Levites, since the lot fell to them first. ¹¹ They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasture lands around it. ¹² But the fields of the town and its villages had been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his holding.

¹³ To the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands, Libnah with its pasture lands, ¹⁴ Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, ¹⁵ Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands, ¹⁶ Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands—nine towns out of these two tribes. ¹⁷ Out of the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, ¹⁸ Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands—four towns. ¹⁹ The towns of the descendants of Aaron—the priests—were thirteen in all, with their pasture lands.

²⁰ As to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite families of the Levites, the towns allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹ To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasture lands, ²² Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth-horon with its pasture lands—four towns. ²³ Out of 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 towns. ²⁵ Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Taanach with its pasture lands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands—two towns. ²⁶ The towns of the families of the rest of the Kohathites were ten in all, with their pasture lands.

²⁷ To the Gershonites, one of the families of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, and Beeshterah with its pasture lands—two towns. ²⁸ Out of the tribe of Issachar: Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En-gannim with its pasture lands—four towns. ³⁰ Out of the tribe of Asher: Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, ³¹ Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands—four towns. ³² Out of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands—three towns. ³³ The towns of the several families of the Gershonites were in all thirteen, with their pasture lands.

³⁴ To the rest of the Levites—the Merarite families—were given out of the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands, ³⁵ Dimnah with its pasture lands, Nahalal with its pasture lands—four towns. ³⁶ Out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahzah with its pasture lands, ³⁷ Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands—four towns. ³⁸ Out of the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Mahanaim with its pasture lands, ³⁹ Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands—four towns in all. ⁴⁰ As for the towns of the several Merarite families, that is, the remainder of the families of the Levites, those allotted to them were twelve in all.

⁴¹ The towns of the Levites within the holdings of the Israelites were in all forty-eight towns with their pasture lands. ⁴² Each of these towns had its pasture lands around it; so it was with all these towns.

⁴³ Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to their ancestors that he would give them; and having taken possession of it, they settled there. ⁴⁴ And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their ancestors; not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. ⁴⁵ Not one of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

The Eastern Tribes Return to Their Territory

22 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ² and said to them, ‘You have observed all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed me in all that I have commanded you; ³ you have not forsaken your kindred these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God. ⁴ And now the Lord your God has given rest to your kindred, as he promised them; therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. ⁵ Take good care to observe the commandment and instruction that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, and to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.’ ⁶ So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

⁷ Now to one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan; but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their fellow-Israelites in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their tents and blessed them, ⁸ he said to them, ‘Go back to your tents with much wealth, and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with a great quantity of clothing; divide the spoil of your enemies with your kindred.’ ⁹ So the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the Israelites at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had taken possession by command of the Lord through Moses.

A Memorial Altar East of the Jordan

¹⁰ When they came to the region^[a] near the Jordan that lies in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of great size. ¹¹ The Israelites heard that the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh had built an altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region^[b] near the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the Israelites. ¹² And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh, to make war against them.

¹³ Then the Israelites sent the priest Phinehas son of Eleazar to the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, ¹⁴ and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel. ¹⁵ They came to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, ¹⁶ ‘Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, “What is this treachery that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away today from following the Lord, by building yourselves an altar today in rebellion against the Lord? ¹⁷ Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which a plague came upon the congregation of the Lord, ¹⁸ that you must turn away today from following the Lord! If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow. ¹⁹ But now, if your land is unclean, cross over into the Lord’s land where the Lord’s tabernacle now stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us; only do not rebel against the Lord, or rebel against us^[c] by building yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. ²⁰ Did not Achan son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity!”’

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

20 One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders ² and said to him, ‘Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?’ ³ He answered them, ‘I will also ask you a question, and you tell me: ⁴ Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ ⁵ They discussed it with one another, saying, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say, “Why did you not believe him?” ⁶ But if we say, “Of human origin”, all the people will stone us; for they are convinced that John was a prophet.’ ⁷ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.’

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

⁹ He began to tell the people this parable: ‘A man planted a vineyard, and leased it to tenants, and went to another country for a long time. ¹⁰ When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants in order that they might give him his share of the produce of the vineyard; but the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ Next he sent another slave; that one also they beat and insulted and sent away empty-handed. ¹² And he sent yet a third; this one also they wounded and threw out. ¹³ Then the owner of the vineyard said, “What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.” ¹⁴ But when the tenants saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, “This is the heir; let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours.” ¹⁵ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.’ When they heard this, they said, ‘Heaven forbid!’ ¹⁷ But he looked at them and said, ‘What then does this text mean:

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’ ¹⁹ When the scribes and chief priests realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to lay hands on him at that very hour, but they feared the people.

The Question about Paying Taxes

²⁰ So they watched him and sent spies who pretended to be honest, in order to trap him by what he said, so as to hand him over to the jurisdiction and authority of the governor. ²¹ So they asked him, ‘Teacher, we know that you are right in what you say and teach, and you show deference to no one, but teach the way of God in accordance with truth. ²² Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?’ ²³ But he perceived their craftiness and said to them, ²⁴ ‘Show me a denarius. Whose head and whose title does it bear?’ They said, ‘The emperor’s.’ ²⁵ He said to them, ‘Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’ ²⁶ And they were not able in the presence of the people to trap him by what he said; and being amazed by his answer, they became silent.

Psalm 89

God’s Covenant with David

A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.