Laws for Guilt Offerings

¹⁴ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^15 (A)“If anyone commits a breach of faith and sins unintentionally in any of the holy things of the Lord, ^(B)he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation, a ram without blemish out of the flock, valued^[a] in silver shekels,^[b] according to the ^(C)shekel of the sanctuary, for a guilt offering. ¹⁶ He shall also make restitution for what he has done amiss in the holy thing and ^(D)shall add a fifth to it and give it to the priest. ^(E)And the priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering, and he shall be forgiven.

^17 (F)“If anyone sins, doing any of the things that by the Lord's commandments ought not to be done, ^(G)though he did not know it, then realizes his guilt, he shall bear his iniquity. ^18 (H)He shall bring to the priest a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent, for a guilt offering, and ^(I)the priest shall make atonement for him for the mistake that he made unintentionally, and he shall be forgiven. ¹⁹ It is a guilt offering; he has indeed incurred guilt before^[c] the Lord.”

6 ^[d] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “If anyone sins and ^(J)commits a breach of faith against the Lord by ^(K)deceiving his neighbor in ^(L)a matter of deposit or security, or through robbery, or ^(M)if he has oppressed his neighbor ³ or ^(N)has found something lost and lied about it, ^(O)swearing falsely—in any of all the things that people do and sin thereby— ⁴ if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore ^(P)what he took by robbery or what he got by oppression or the deposit that was committed to him or the lost thing that he found ⁵ or anything about which he has sworn falsely, he shall ^(Q)restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it, and give it to him to whom it belongs on the day he realizes his guilt. ⁶ And he shall bring to the priest as his compensation to the Lord ^(R)a ram without blemish out of the flock, or its equivalent, for a guilt offering. ^7 (S)And the priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord, and he shall be forgiven for any of the things that one may do and thereby become guilty.”

The Death of Jeroboam

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, ^(A)how he warred and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel. ²⁰ And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.

Rehoboam Reigns in Judah

^21 (B)Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, ^(C)the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. ^(D)His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. ^22 (E)And Judah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and they ^(F)provoked him to jealousy with their sins that they committed, more than all that their fathers had done. ²³ For they also built for themselves ^(G)high places ^(H)and pillars and ^(I)Asherim on every high hill and ^(J)under every green tree, ²⁴ and there were also ^(K)male cult prostitutes in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations that the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.

^25 (L)In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. ²⁶ He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house. ^(M)He took away everything. He also took away all the shields of gold ^(N)that Solomon had made, ²⁷ and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze, and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king's house. ²⁸ And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard carried them and brought them back to the guardroom.

^29 (O)Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^30 (P)And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam continually. ³¹ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. ^(Q)His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. And ^(R)Abijam his son reigned in his place.

Abijam Reigns in Judah

15 ^(S)Now in the eighteenth year of King Jeroboam the son of Nebat, Abijam began to reign over Judah. ² He reigned for three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacah the daughter of Abishalom. ³ And he walked in all the sins that his father did before him, and ^(T)his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father. ⁴ Nevertheless, for David's sake the Lord his God gave him ^(U)a lamp in Jerusalem, setting up his son after him, and establishing Jerusalem, ⁵ because ^(V)David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, ^(W)except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. ^6 (X)Now there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life. ^7 (Y)The rest of the acts of Abijam and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^(Z)And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam. ^8 (AA)And Abijam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place.

The Shepherds and the Angels

⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord ^(A)appeared to them, and ^(B)the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all ^(C)the people. ¹¹ For ^(D)unto you is born this day in ^(E)the city of David ^(F)a Savior, who is ^(G)Christ ^(H)the Lord. ¹² And ^(I)this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby ^(J)wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel ^(K)a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby ^(Q)lying in a manger. ¹⁷ And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But ^(R)Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, ^(S)glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

³³ But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife, ³⁴ and his interests are divided. And the unmarried or betrothed woman is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit. But the married woman is anxious about worldly things, how to please her husband. ³⁵ I say this for your own benefit, ^(A)not to lay any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and to secure your undivided devotion to the Lord.

³⁶ If anyone thinks that he is not behaving properly toward his betrothed,^[a] if his^[b] passions are strong, and it has to be, let him do as he wishes: let them marry—it is no sin. ³⁷ But whoever is firmly established in his heart, being under no necessity but having his desire under control, and has determined this in his heart, to keep her as his betrothed, he will do well. ³⁸ So then he who marries his betrothed ^(B)does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better.

^39 (C)A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only ^(D)in the Lord. ⁴⁰ Yet ^(E)in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is. And I think ^(F)that I too have the Spirit of God.