Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

12 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. ² And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? ^(A)Has he not spoken through us also?” And ^(B)the Lord heard it. ³ Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. ⁴ And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. ⁵ And ^(C)the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. ⁶ And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him ^(D)in a vision; I speak with him ^(E)in a dream. ⁷ Not so with ^(F)my servant Moses. ^(G)He is faithful in all my house. ⁸ With him I speak ^(H)mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in ^(I)riddles, and he beholds ^(J)the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” ⁹ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.

¹⁰ When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, ^(K)Miriam was ^(L)leprous,^[a] like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. ¹¹ And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, ^(M)do not punish us^[b] because we have done foolishly and have sinned. ¹² Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother's womb.” ¹³ And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.” ¹⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but ^(N)spit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be ^(O)shut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” ¹⁵ So Miriam ^(P)was shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. ¹⁶ After that the people set out from ^(Q)Hazeroth, and camped in ^(R)the wilderness of Paran.

The Mighty Men Join David

12 ^(A)Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he could not move about freely because of Saul the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty men who helped him in war. ² They ^(B)were bowmen and could shoot arrows and sling stones with either the right or the ^(C)left hand; they were Benjaminites, ^(D)Saul's kinsmen. ³ The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, both sons of Shemaah of ^(E)Gibeah; also Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah, Jehu of ^(F)Anathoth, ⁴ Ishmaiah of ^(G)Gibeon, a mighty man among the thirty and a leader over the thirty; Jeremiah,^[a] Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad of Gederah, ⁵ Eluzai,^[b] Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite; ⁶ Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the ^(H)Korahites; ⁷ And Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

⁸ From the Gadites there went over to David at the stronghold in the wilderness mighty and experienced warriors, expert with shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and who were ^(I)swift as gazelles upon the mountains: ⁹ Ezer the chief, Obadiah second, Eliab third, ¹⁰ Mishmannah fourth, Jeremiah fifth, ¹¹ Attai sixth, Eliel seventh, ¹² Johanan eighth, Elzabad ninth, ¹³ Jeremiah tenth, Machbannai eleventh. ¹⁴ These Gadites were officers of the army; the least was a ^(J)match for a hundred men and the greatest for a thousand. ¹⁵ These are the men who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it was ^(K)overflowing all its banks, and put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.

¹⁶ And some of the men of Benjamin and Judah came to the stronghold to David. ¹⁷ David went out to meet them and said to them, “If you have come to me in friendship to help me, my heart will be joined to you; but if to betray me to my adversaries, although there is no wrong in my hands, then may the God of our fathers see and rebuke you.” ¹⁸ Then ^(L)the Spirit clothed ^(M)Amasai, chief of the thirty, and he said,

Then David received them and made them officers of his troops.

¹⁹ Some of the men of Manasseh deserted to David ^(O)when he came with the Philistines for the battle against Saul. (Yet he did not help them, for the rulers of the Philistines took counsel and sent him away, saying, ^(P)“At peril to our heads he will desert to his master Saul.”) ²⁰ As he went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh deserted to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh. ²¹ They helped David against ^(Q)the band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor and were commanders in the army. ²² For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like an army of God.

¹¹ “On that day I will give to ^(A)Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of ^(B)Hamon-gog.^{[a] 12} For ^(C)seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order ^(D)to cleanse the land. ¹³ All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day that ^(E)I show my glory, declares the Lord God. ¹⁴ They will set apart men to travel through the land regularly and bury those travelers remaining on the face of the land, so as ^(F)to cleanse it. At^[b] the end of ^(G)seven months they will make their search. ¹⁵ And when these travel through the land and anyone sees a human bone, then he shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of ^(H)Hamon-gog. ¹⁶ (Hamonah^[c] is also the name of the city.) Thus shall they cleanse the land.

¹⁷ “As for you, ^(I)son of man, thus says the Lord God: ^(J)Speak to ^(K)the birds of every sort and to ^(L)all beasts of the field: ‘Assemble and come, gather from all around to ^(M)the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood. ^18 (N)You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them ^(O)fat beasts of Bashan. ¹⁹ And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you. ²⁰ And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,’ declares the Lord God.

²¹ “And ^(P)I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see ^(Q)my judgment that I have executed, and ^(R)my hand that I have laid on them. ^22 (S)The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, from that day forward. ²³ And ^(T)the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that ^(U)I hid my face from them and ^(V)gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. ²⁴ I dealt with them ^(W)according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them.

The Lord Will Restore Israel

²⁵ “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now ^(X)I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on ^(Y)the whole house of Israel, and ^(Z)I will be jealous for my holy name. ²⁶ They shall ^(AA)forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when ^(AB)they dwell securely in their land with ^(AC)none to make them afraid, ^27 (AD)when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies' lands, ^(AE)and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. ^28 (AF)Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. ^29 (AG)And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when ^(AH)I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord God.”

When Brothers Dwell in Unity

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.

Come, Bless the Lord

A Song of ^(J)Ascents.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

20 ^(A)One day, ^(B)as Jesus^[a] was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, ^(C)the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up ² and said to him, “Tell us ^(D)by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” ³ He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, ⁴ was the baptism of John ^(E)from heaven or from man?” ⁵ And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ^(F)‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was ^(G)a prophet.” ⁷ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Christ's Example of Humility

2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from ^(A)love, any ^(B)participation in the Spirit, any ^(C)affection and sympathy, ^2 (D)complete my joy by being ^(E)of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from ^(F)selfish ambition or ^(G)conceit, but in ^(H)humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you ^(I)look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ^5 (J)Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,^{[a] 6 (K)}who, though he was in ^(L)the form of God, did not count equality with God ^(M)a thing to be grasped,^{[b] 7} but ^(N)emptied himself, by taking the form of a ^(O)servant,^{[c] (P)}being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by ^(Q)becoming obedient to the point of death, ^(R)even death on a cross. ^9 (S)Therefore ^(T)God has ^(U)highly exalted him and bestowed on him ^(V)the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus ^(W)every knee should bow, ^(X)in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and ^(Y)every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is ^(Z)Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Lights in the World

¹² Therefore, my beloved, ^(AA)as you have always ^(AB)obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for ^(AC)it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for ^(AD)his good pleasure.

¹⁴ Do all things ^(AE)without grumbling or ^(AF)disputing, ¹⁵ that you may be blameless and innocent, ^(AG)children of God ^(AH)without blemish ^(AI)in the midst of ^(AJ)a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine ^(AK)as lights in the world, ¹⁶ holding fast to ^(AL)the word of life, so that in ^(AM)the day of Christ ^(AN)I may be proud that ^(AO)I did not run in vain or labor in vain. ¹⁷ Even if I am to be ^(AP)poured out as a drink offering upon ^(AQ)the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. ¹⁸ Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.