Spies Sent into Canaan

13 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^2 (A)“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” ³ So Moses sent them from ^(B)the wilderness of Paran, according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the people of Israel. ⁴ And these were their names: From the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; ⁵ from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; ^6 (C)from the tribe of Judah, ^(D)Caleb the son of Jephunneh; ⁷ from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; ⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, ^(E)Hoshea the son of Nun; ⁹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; ¹⁰ from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; ¹¹ from the tribe of Joseph (that is, from the tribe of Manasseh), Gaddi the son of Susi; ¹² from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; ¹³ from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; ¹⁴ from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; ¹⁵ from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. ¹⁶ These were the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called ^(F)Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

¹⁷ Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan and said to them, “Go up into ^(G)the Negeb and go up into ^(H)the hill country, ¹⁸ and see what the land is, and whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, whether they are few or many, ¹⁹ and whether the land that they dwell in is good or bad, and whether the cities that they dwell in are camps or strongholds, ²⁰ and whether the land is ^(I)rich or poor, and whether there are trees in it or not. ^(J)Be of good courage and bring some of the fruit of the land.” Now the time was the season of the first ripe grapes.

²¹ So they went up and spied out the land ^(K)from the wilderness of Zin to Rehob, ^(L)near Lebo-hamath. ²² They went up into ^(M)the Negeb and came to ^(N)Hebron. ^(O)Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the ^(P)descendants of Anak, were there. (^(Q)Hebron was built seven years before ^(R)Zoan in Egypt.) ²³ And ^(S)they came to the Valley of Eshcol and cut down from there a branch with a single cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them; they also brought some pomegranates and figs. ²⁴ That place was called the Valley of Eshcol,^[a] because of the cluster that the people of Israel cut down from there.

²³ These are the numbers of the divisions of the armed troops ^(A)who came to David in Hebron ^(B)to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him, ^(C)according to the word of the Lord. ²⁴ The men of Judah bearing shield and spear were 6,800 armed troops. ²⁵ Of the Simeonites, mighty men of valor for war, 7,100. ²⁶ Of the Levites 4,600. ²⁷ The prince Jehoiada, of the house of Aaron, and with him 3,700. ^28 (D)Zadok, a young man mighty in valor, and twenty-two commanders from his own fathers' house. ²⁹ Of the Benjaminites, ^(E)the kinsmen of Saul, 3,000, of whom the ^(F)majority had to that point kept their allegiance to the house of Saul. ³⁰ Of the Ephraimites 20,800, mighty men of valor, famous men in their fathers' houses. ³¹ Of the half-tribe of Manasseh 18,000, who were ^(G)expressly named to come and make David king. ³² Of Issachar, men who ^(H)had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200 chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command. ³³ Of Zebulun 50,000 seasoned troops, ^(I)equipped for battle with all the weapons of war, to help David^[a] with ^(J)singleness of purpose. ³⁴ Of Naphtali 1,000 commanders with whom were 37,000 men armed with shield and spear. ³⁵ Of the Danites 28,600 men equipped for battle. ³⁶ Of ^(K)Asher 40,000 ^(L)seasoned troops ^(M)ready for battle. ³⁷ Of the Reubenites and Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh from beyond the Jordan, 120,000 men armed with all the weapons of war.

³⁸ All these, men of war, arrayed in battle order, came to Hebron with ^(N)a whole heart to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel were of a ^(O)single mind to make David king. ³⁹ And they were there with David for three days, eating and drinking, for their brothers had made preparation for them. ⁴⁰ And also their relatives, from as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came bringing food on donkeys and on camels and on mules and on oxen, abundant provisions of flour, ^(P)cakes of figs, clusters of raisins, and wine and oil, oxen and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.

Vision of the New Temple

40 ^(A)In the twenty-fifth year ^(B)of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, ^(C)in the fourteenth year after the city was struck down, on that very day, ^(D)the hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me to the city.^{[a] 2} In ^(E)visions of God he brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down on ^(F)a very high mountain, on which was a structure like a city to the south. ³ When he brought me there, behold, there was ^(G)a man whose appearance was ^(H)like bronze, with ^(I)a linen cord and ^(J)a measuring reed in his hand. And he was standing in the gateway. ⁴ And the man said to me, ^(K)“Son of man, ^(L)look with your eyes, and ^(M)hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you, for you were brought here in order that I might show it to you. ^(N)Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

The East Gate to the Outer Court

⁵ And behold, there was ^(O)a wall all around the outside of the temple area, and the length of the measuring reed in the man's hand was six long cubits, ^(P)each being a cubit and a handbreadth^[b] in length. So he measured the thickness of the wall, one reed; and the height, one reed. ⁶ Then he went into ^(Q)the gateway facing east, ^(R)going up its steps, and measured the threshold of the gate, one reed deep.^{[c] 7} And ^(S)the side rooms, one reed long and one reed broad; and the space between the side rooms, five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate at the inner end, one reed. ⁸ Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, on the inside, one reed. ⁹ Then he measured the vestibule of the gateway, eight cubits; ^(T)and its jambs, two cubits; and the vestibule of the gate was at the inner end. ¹⁰ And there were three side rooms on either side of the east gate. ^(U)The three were of the same size, and the jambs on either side were of the same size. ¹¹ Then he measured the width of the opening of the gateway, ten cubits; and the length of the gateway, thirteen cubits. ¹² There was a barrier before the side rooms, one cubit on either side. And the side rooms were six cubits on either side. ¹³ Then he measured the gate from the ceiling of the one side room to the ceiling of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits; the openings faced each other.

Your Name, O Lord, Endures Forever

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

^9 (A)And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted ^(B)a vineyard and ^(C)let it out to tenants and ^(D)went into another country for a long while. ¹⁰ When the time came, he sent a servant^[a] to the tenants, so that ^(E)they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. ^(F)But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ^11 (G)And ^(H)he sent another servant. But they also beat and ^(I)treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ^12 (J)And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. ¹³ Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my ^(K)beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ^(L)‘This is the heir. ^(M)Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ ¹⁵ And they ^(N)threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ^16 (O)He will ^(P)come and destroy those tenants and ^(Q)give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” ¹⁷ But he ^(R)looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

^18 (T)Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls ^(U)on anyone, it will crush him.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

^19 (V)The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.

Timothy and Epaphroditus

¹⁹ I hope in the Lord Jesus ^(A)to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. ²⁰ For I have no one ^(B)like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. ²¹ For they all ^(C)seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. ²² But you know Timothy's^{[a] (D)}proven worth, how ^(E)as a son^[b] with a father ^(F)he has served with me in the gospel. ²³ I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, ²⁴ and ^(G)I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

²⁵ I have thought it necessary to send to you ^(H)Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and ^(I)fellow soldier, and your messenger and ^(J)minister to my need, ²⁶ for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. ²⁷ Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. ²⁸ I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. ²⁹ So ^(K)receive him in the Lord with all joy, and ^(L)honor such men, ³⁰ for he nearly died^{[c] (M)}for the work of Christ, risking his life ^(N)to complete what was lacking in your service to me.