Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land

²³ “And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, ²⁴ ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant ^(A)your greatness and your mighty hand. For ^(B)what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? ²⁵ Please let me go over and see ^(C)the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and ^(D)Lebanon.’ ²⁶ But ^(E)the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ^(F)‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. ^27 (G)Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. ²⁸ But ^(H)charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ ²⁹ So we remained in ^(I)the valley opposite Beth-peor.

Hezekiah Organizes the Priests

31 Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and ^(A)broke in pieces the ^(B)pillars and cut down ^(C)the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession.

² And Hezekiah appointed ^(D)the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, division by division, each according to his service, the priests and the Levites, ^(E)for burnt offerings and peace offerings, to minister in the gates of the camp of the Lord and to give thanks and praise. ^3 (F)The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burnt offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed feasts, ^(G)as it is written in the Law of the Lord. ⁴ And he commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give ^(H)the portion due to the priests and the Levites, that they might give themselves to the Law of the Lord. ⁵ As soon as the command was spread abroad, the people of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field. And they brought in abundantly ^(I)the tithe of everything. ⁶ And the people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and ^(J)the tithe of the dedicated things that had been dedicated to the Lord their God, and laid them in heaps. ⁷ In the third month they began to pile up the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. ⁸ When Hezekiah and the princes came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel. ⁹ And Hezekiah questioned the priests and the Levites about the heaps. ¹⁰ Azariah the chief priest, who was ^(K)of the house of Zadok, answered him, “Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the Lord, we have eaten and had enough and have plenty left, ^(L)for the Lord has blessed his people, so that we have this large amount left.”

¹¹ Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare ^(M)chambers in the house of the Lord, and they prepared them. ¹² And they faithfully brought in the contributions, the tithes, and the dedicated things. The chief officer ^(N)in charge of them was Conaniah the Levite, with ^(O)Shimei his brother as second, ^13 (P)while Jehiel, Azaziah, Nahath, Asahel, Jerimoth, Jozabad, Eliel, Ismachiah, ^(Q)Mahath, and Benaiah were overseers assisting Conaniah and Shimei his brother, by the appointment of Hezekiah the king and ^(R)Azariah the chief officer of the house of God. ¹⁴ And Kore the son of Imnah the Levite, keeper of the east gate, was over the freewill offerings to God, to apportion the contribution reserved for the Lord and the most holy offerings. ^15 (S)Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah were faithfully assisting him in ^(T)the cities of the priests, to distribute the portions to their brothers, old and young alike, by divisions, ¹⁶ except those enrolled by genealogy, males from three years old and upward—all who entered the house of the Lord ^(U)as the duty of each day required—for their service according to their offices, by their divisions. ¹⁷ The enrollment of the priests was according to their fathers' houses; that of the Levites ^(V)from twenty years old and upward was according to their offices, by their divisions. ¹⁸ They were enrolled with all their little children, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, the whole assembly, for they were faithful in keeping themselves holy. ¹⁹ And for the sons of Aaron, the priests, who were in the fields of common land belonging to their cities, there were men in the several cities who were ^(W)designated by name to distribute portions to every male among the priests and to everyone among the Levites who was enrolled.

²⁰ Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, ^(X)and he did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. ²¹ And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.

The Lord Judges the Nations

3 ^[a] “For behold, ^(A)in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, ^2 (B)I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And ^(C)I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, ³ and ^(D)have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.

⁴ “What are you to me, ^(E)O Tyre and Sidon, and all ^(F)the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, ^(G)I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. ⁵ For ^(H)you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.^{[b] 6} You have sold ^(I)the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. ⁷ Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and ^(J)I will return your payment on your own head. ⁸ I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the ^(K)Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken.”

The Glorious Future of Judah

8 ¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ^2 (A)Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and ^(B)he sat down and taught them. ³ The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst ⁴ they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ Now ^(C)in the Law, Moses commanded us ^(D)to stone such women. So what do you say?” ⁶ This they said ^(E)to test him, ^(F)that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷ And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, ^(G)“Let him who is without sin among you ^(H)be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. ¹⁰ Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” ¹¹ She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, ^(I)“Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on ^(J)sin no more.”]]

The Mystery of Godliness

¹⁴ I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, ¹⁵ if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. ¹⁶ Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:

Some Will Depart from the Faith

4 Now ^(F)the Spirit expressly says that ^(G)in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to ^(H)deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, ² through the insincerity of ^(I)liars whose consciences are seared, ^3 (J)who forbid marriage and ^(K)require abstinence from foods ^(L)that God created ^(M)to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For ^(N)everything created by God is good, and ^(O)nothing is to be rejected if it is ^(P)received with thanksgiving, ⁵ for it is made holy ^(Q)by the word of God and prayer.