Elders Appointed to Aid Moses

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me ^(A)seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and ^(B)officers over them, and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. ^17 (C)And I will come down and talk with you there. And ^(D)I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them, and ^(E)they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you may not bear it yourself alone. ¹⁸ And say to the people, ^(F)‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, “Who will give us meat to eat? ^(G)For it was better for us in Egypt.” Therefore the Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. ¹⁹ You shall not eat just one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, ²⁰ but a whole month, ^(H)until it comes out at your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you, because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, ^(I)“Why did we come out of Egypt?”’” ²¹ But Moses said, ^(J)“The people among whom I am number six hundred thousand on foot, and you have said, ‘I will give them meat, that they may eat a whole month!’ ^22 (K)Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and be enough for them? Or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, and be enough for them?” ²³ And the Lord said to Moses, ^(L)“Is the Lord's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether ^(M)my word will come true for you or not.”

²⁴ So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. ^(N)And he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. ²⁵ Then ^(O)the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.

²⁶ Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they ^(P)had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” ²⁸ And ^(Q)Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, ^(R)stop them.” ²⁹ But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? ^(S)Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” ³⁰ And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

Quail and a Plague

³¹ Then a ^(T)wind from the Lord sprang up, and it brought quail from the sea and let them fall beside the camp, about a day's journey on this side and a day's journey on the other side, around the camp, and about two cubits^[a] above the ground. ³² And the people rose all that day and all night and all the next day, and gathered the quail. Those who gathered least gathered ten ^(U)homers.^[b] And they spread them out for themselves all around the camp. ^33 (V)While the meat was yet between their teeth, before it was consumed, the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people, and ^(W)the Lord struck down the people with a very great plague. ³⁴ Therefore the name of that place was called ^(X)Kibroth-hattaavah,^[c] because there they buried the people who had the craving. ^35 (Y)From Kibroth-hattaavah the people journeyed to ^(Z)Hazeroth, and they remained at ^(AA)Hazeroth.

²⁷ Shammoth of Harod,^[a] Helez the Pelonite, ²⁸ Ira the son of Ikkesh of Tekoa, Abiezer of Anathoth, ²⁹ Sibbecai the Hushathite, Ilai the Ahohite, ³⁰ Maharai of Netophah, Heled the son of Baanah of Netophah, ³¹ Ithai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the people of Benjamin, Benaiah of Pirathon, ³² Hurai of the brooks of Gaash, Abiel the Arbathite, ³³ Azmaveth of Baharum, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, ³⁴ Hashem^[b] the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shagee the Hararite, ³⁵ Ahiam the son of Sachar the Hararite, Eliphal the son of Ur, ³⁶ Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite, ³⁷ Hezro of Carmel, Naarai the son of Ezbai, ³⁸ Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibhar the son of ^(A)Hagri, ³⁹ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai of Beeroth, the armor-bearer of Joab the son of Zeruiah, ⁴⁰ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ⁴¹ Uriah the Hittite, ^(B)Zabad the son of Ahlai, ⁴² Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a leader of the Reubenites, and thirty with him, ⁴³ Hanan the son of Maacah, and Joshaphat the Mithnite, ⁴⁴ Uzzia the Ashterathite, Shama and Jeiel the sons of Hotham the Aroerite, ⁴⁵ Jediael the son of Shimri, and Joha his brother, the Tizite, ⁴⁶ Eliel the Mahavite, and Jeribai, and Joshaviah, the sons of Elnaam, and Ithmah the Moabite, ⁴⁷ Eliel, and Obed, and Jaasiel the Mezobaite.

39 “And you, ^(A)son of man, ^(B)prophesy against ^(C)Gog and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, ^(D)I am against you, O Gog, ^(E)chief prince of ^(F)Meshech^[a] and ^(G)Tubal. ^2 (H)And I will turn you about and drive you forward,^[b] and bring you up from ^(I)the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the ^(J)mountains of Israel. ³ Then ^(K)I will strike your bow from your left hand, and ^(L)will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. ^4 (M)You shall fall on ^(N)the mountains of Israel, you and all your ^(O)hordes and the peoples who are with you. ^(P)I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. ⁵ You shall fall in the open field, for ^(Q)I have spoken, declares the Lord God. ^6 (R)I will send fire on ^(S)Magog and on those ^(T)who dwell securely in ^(U)the coastlands, and ^(V)they shall know that I am the Lord.

⁷ “And ^(W)my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and ^(X)I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And ^(Y)the nations shall know that I am ^(Z)the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. ^8 (AA)Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the Lord God. That is the day ^(AB)of which I have spoken.

⁹ “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and ^(AC)make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, ^(AD)clubs^[c] and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years, ¹⁰ so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for ^(AE)they will make their fires of the weapons. ^(AF)They will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord God.

The Lord Has Chosen Zion

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem

^41 (A)And when he drew near and saw the city, ^(B)he wept over it, ⁴² saying, ^(C)“Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now ^(D)they are hidden from your eyes. ⁴³ For ^(E)the days will come upon you, when your enemies ^(F)will set up a barricade around you and ^(G)surround you and hem you in on every side ^44 (H)and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And ^(I)they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know ^(J)the time of your ^(K)visitation.”

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

^45 (L)And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, ⁴⁶ saying to them, “It is written, ^(M)‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but ^(N)you have made it a den of robbers.”

^47 (O)And he was teaching daily in the temple. ^(P)The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, ⁴⁸ but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

^23 (A)I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is ^(B)to depart and ^(C)be with Christ, for that is far better. ²⁴ But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. ^25 (D)Convinced of this, ^(E)I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your ^(F)progress and ^(G)joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that in me ^(H)you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

²⁷ Only ^(I)let your manner of life be ^(J)worthy^[a] of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you ^(K)that you are standing firm in one spirit, with ^(L)one mind ^(M)striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, ²⁸ and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is ^(N)a clear sign to them of their destruction, but ^(O)of your salvation, and that from God. ²⁹ For ^(P)it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also ^(Q)suffer for his sake, ³⁰ engaged in the same ^(R)conflict that ^(S)you saw I had and now hear that I still have.