The Command to Leave Horeb

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in ^(A)the Arabah opposite ^(B)Suph, between ^(C)Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ² It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to ^(D)Kadesh-barnea. ^3 (E)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 ^(F)he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ^(G)Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in ^(H)Edrei. ⁵ Beyond the Jordan, ^(I)in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, ⁶ “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ^(J)‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. ⁷ Turn and take your journey, and go to ^(K)the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in ^(L)the Arabah, ^(M)in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and ^(N)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, ^(O)to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

Leaders Appointed

⁹ “At that time ^(P)I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. ¹⁰ The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, ^(Q)you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. ^11 (R)May the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, ^(S)as he has promised you! ^12 (T)How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? ^13 (U)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, ^(V)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 ^(W)judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. ^17 (X)You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for ^(Y)the judgment is God's. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall ^(Z)bring to me, and I will hear it.’ ¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

Uzziah Reigns in Judah

26 And all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father Amaziah. ² He built Eloth and restored it to Judah, after the king slept with his fathers. ³ Uzziah was ^(A)sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem. ⁴ And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ He set himself to seek God ^(B)in the days of Zechariah, ^(C)who instructed him in the fear of God, and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.

⁶ He went out and ^(D)made war against the Philistines and broke through the wall of Gath and the wall of Jabneh and the wall of Ashdod, and he built cities in the territory of Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. ⁷ God helped him ^(E)against the Philistines and against the Arabians who lived in Gurbaal and against the ^(F)Meunites. ⁸ The Ammonites ^(G)paid tribute to Uzziah, and his fame spread even to the border of Egypt, for he became very strong. ⁹ Moreover, Uzziah built towers in Jerusalem at ^(H)the Corner Gate and at ^(I)the Valley Gate and at ^(J)the Angle, and fortified them. ¹⁰ And he built towers in the wilderness and ^(K)cut out many cisterns, for he had large herds, both in the Shephelah and in the plain, and he had farmers and vinedressers in the hills and in the fertile lands, for he loved the soil. ¹¹ Moreover, Uzziah had an army of soldiers, fit for war, in divisions according to the numbers in the muster made by Jeiel the secretary and Maaseiah the officer, under the direction of Hananiah, one of the king's commanders. ¹² The whole number of the heads of fathers' houses of mighty men of valor was 2,600. ¹³ Under their command was an army of ^(L)307,500, who could make war with mighty power, to help the king against the enemy. ¹⁴ And Uzziah prepared for all the army shields, spears, helmets, ^(M)coats of mail, bows, and stones for slinging. ¹⁵ In Jerusalem he made machines, invented by skillful men, to be on the towers and the corners, to shoot arrows and great stones. And his fame spread far, for he was marvelously helped, till he was strong.

Uzziah's Pride and Punishment

¹⁶ But when ^(N)he was strong, ^(O)he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. ¹⁷ But ^(P)Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, ¹⁸ and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, ^(Q)“It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, ^(R)but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.” ¹⁹ Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, ^(S)leprosy^[a] broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. ²⁰ And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. ^21 (T)And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived ^(U)in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord. And Jotham his son was over the king's household, governing the people of the land.

²² Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, from first to last, ^(V)Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz wrote. ²³ And Uzziah slept with his fathers, and they buried him with his fathers in the burial field that belonged to the kings, for they said, “He is a leper.” And Jotham his son reigned in his place.

The Lord's Indictment of Israel and Judah

The Words of Eternal Life

^60 (A)When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” ⁶¹ But Jesus, ^(B)knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? ⁶² Then what if you were to see ^(C)the Son of Man ^(D)ascending to ^(E)where he was before? ^63 (F)It is the Spirit who gives life; ^(G)the flesh is no help at all. ^(H)The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴ But ^(I)there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus ^(J)knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and ^(K)who it was who would betray him.) ⁶⁵ And he said, “This is why I told you ^(L)that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

^66 (M)After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. ⁶⁷ So Jesus said to ^(N)the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have ^(O)the words of eternal life, ⁶⁹ and ^(P)we have believed, and have come to know, that ^(Q)you are ^(R)the Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰ Jesus answered them, ^(S)“Did I not choose you, ^(T)the twelve? And yet one of you is ^(U)a devil.” ⁷¹ He spoke of Judas ^(V)the son of Simon Iscariot, for ^(W)he, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.

⁷ Remember ^(A)your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and ^(B)imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is ^(C)the same yesterday and today and forever. ⁹ Do not be ^(D)led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, ^(E)not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. ¹⁰ We have an altar ^(F)from which those who serve the tent^[a] have no right to eat. ¹¹ For ^(G)the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned ^(H)outside the camp. ¹² So Jesus also ^(I)suffered ^(J)outside the gate in order to sanctify the people ^(K)through his own blood. ¹³ Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear ^(L)the reproach he endured. ¹⁴ For ^(M)here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. ^15 (N)Through him then let us continually offer up ^(O)a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, ^(P)the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. ¹⁶ Do not neglect to do good and ^(Q)to share what you have, for such ^(R)sacrifices are pleasing to God.

¹⁷ Obey ^(S)your leaders and submit to them, ^(T)for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to ^(U)give an account. ^(V)Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

^18 (W)Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience, desiring to act honorably in all things. ¹⁹ I urge you the more earnestly to do this in order ^(X)that I may be restored to you the sooner.