The Defeat of King Og

3 “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And ^(A)Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at ^(B)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 ^(C)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, ^(D)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, ^(E)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 ^(F)we devoted them to destruction,^[a] as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every ^(G)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 ^(H)Hermon ^(I)Sirion, while the Amorites call it ^(J)Senir), ¹⁰ all the cities of the ^(K)tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as ^(L)Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ¹¹ (For ^(M)only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of ^(N)the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in ^(O)Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits^[b] was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the ^(P)common cubit.^[c])

¹² “When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning ^(Q)at Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with ^(R)its cities. ^13 (S)The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, ^(T)all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of ^(U)Rephaim. ^14 (V)Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of ^(W)the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages ^(X)after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) ¹⁵ To Machir ^(Y)I gave Gilead, ¹⁶ and to the Reubenites ^(Z)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, ^(AA)the border of the Ammonites; ¹⁷ the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from ^(AB)Chinnereth as far as ^(AC)the Sea of the Arabah, ^(AD)the Salt Sea, under ^(AE)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. ^(AF)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 ^(AG)(I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, ^20 (AH)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 ^(AI)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 ^(AJ)the Lord your God who fights for you.’

Passover Celebrated

30 Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. ² For the king and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover ^(A)in the second month— ³ for they could not keep it ^(B)at that time ^(C)because the priests had not consecrated themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem— ⁴ and the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. ⁵ So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, ^(D)from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed. ^6 (E)So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, “O people of Israel, ^(F)return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of ^(G)the kings of Assyria. ^7 (H)Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were faithless to the Lord God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation, as you see. ^8 (I)Do not now be stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever, and serve the Lord your God, ^(J)that his fierce anger may turn away from you. ⁹ For ^(K)if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children ^(L)will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For ^(M)the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you, ^(N)if you return to him.”

^10 (O)So the couriers went from city to city through the country of ^(P)Ephraim and Manasseh, and as far as Zebulun, but ^(Q)they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. ¹¹ However, ^(R)some men of Asher, of Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. ¹² The hand of God was also on Judah to give them one heart to do what the king and the princes commanded ^(S)by the word of the Lord.

¹³ And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread ^(T)in the second month, a very great assembly. ¹⁴ They set to work and removed ^(U)the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the altars for burning incense they took away ^(V)and threw into the brook Kidron. ^15 (W)And they slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. ^(X)And the priests and the Levites were ashamed, ^(Y)so that they consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. ^16 (Z)They took their accustomed posts according to the Law of Moses ^(AA)the man of God. The priests threw the blood that they received from the hand of the Levites. ¹⁷ For there were many in the assembly who had not consecrated themselves. Therefore the Levites had to slaughter the Passover lamb for everyone who was not clean, to consecrate it to the Lord. ¹⁸ For a majority of the people, ^(AB)many of them from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar, and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise ^(AC)than as prescribed. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, “May the good Lord pardon everyone ^19 (AD)who sets his heart to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness.”^{[a] 20} And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. ²¹ And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept ^(AE)the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with all their might^[b] to the Lord. ²² And Hezekiah spoke ^(AF)encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. So they ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing ^(AG)peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers.

²³ Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast ^(AH)for another seven days. So they kept it for another seven days with gladness. ²⁴ For Hezekiah king of Judah ^(AI)gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep for offerings, and the princes gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And the priests ^(AJ)consecrated themselves in great numbers. ²⁵ The whole assembly of Judah, and the priests and the Levites, ^(AK)and the whole assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners who came out of the land of Israel, and the sojourners who lived in Judah, rejoiced. ²⁶ So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for ^(AL)since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. ²⁷ Then ^(AM)the priests and the Levites arose and ^(AN)blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to ^(AO)his holy habitation in heaven.

The Lord Had Pity

The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit

³⁰ “And I will show ^(AI)wonders in the heavens and ^(AJ)on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ^31 (AK)The sun shall be turned to darkness, ^(AL)and the moon to blood, ^(AM)before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ³² And it shall come to pass that ^(AN)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. ^(AO)For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among ^(AP)the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

^45 (A)The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” ⁴⁶ The officers answered, ^(B)“No one ever spoke like this man!” ⁴⁷ The Pharisees answered them, ^(C)“Have you also been deceived? ^48 (D)Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” ^50 (E)Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, ^51 (F)“Does our law judge a man without first ^(G)giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” ⁵² They replied, ^(H)“Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that ^(I)no prophet arises from Galilee.”

[The earliest manuscripts do not include 7:53–8:11.]^[a]

The Woman Caught in Adultery

⁵³ [[They went each to his own house,

Qualifications for Overseers

3 The saying is ^(A)trustworthy: If anyone aspires to ^(B)the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. ² Therefore ^(C)an overseer^[a] must be above reproach, ^(D)the husband of one wife,^{[b] (E)}sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, ^(F)hospitable, ^(G)able to teach, ³ not a drunkard, not violent but ^(H)gentle, not quarrelsome, ^(I)not a lover of money. ⁴ He must manage his own household well, with all dignity ^(J)keeping his children submissive, ⁵ for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for ^(K)God's church? ⁶ He must not be a recent convert, or he may ^(L)become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. ⁷ Moreover, he must be well thought of by ^(M)outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into ^(N)a snare of the devil.

Qualifications for Deacons

^8 (O)Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,^{[c] (P)}not addicted to much wine, ^(Q)not greedy for dishonest gain. ⁹ They must ^(R)hold the mystery of the faith with ^(S)a clear conscience. ¹⁰ And ^(T)let them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. ^11 (U)Their wives likewise^[d] must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, ^(V)faithful in all things. ¹² Let deacons each be ^(W)the husband of one wife, ^(X)managing their children and their own households well. ¹³ For ^(Y)those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.