Aaron's Staff Buds

17 ^[a] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^2 (A)“Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers' house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff, ³ and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers' house. ⁴ Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, ^(B)where I meet with you. ⁵ And the staff of the man ^(C)whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me ^(D)the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.” ⁶ Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. ⁷ And Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in ^(E)the tent of the testimony.

⁸ On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. ¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, “Put back ^(F)the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept ^(G)as a sign for the rebels, ^(H)that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” ¹¹ Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so he did.

¹² And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. ^13 (I)Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, shall die. Are we all to perish?”

The Capture of Rabbah

20 ^(A)In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged the country of the Ammonites and came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. And ^(B)Joab struck down Rabbah and overthrew it. ^2 (C)And David took the crown of their king from his head. He found that it weighed a talent^[a] of gold, and in it was a precious stone. And it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. ³ And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor^{[b] (D)}with saws and iron picks and axes.^[c] And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

Philistine Giants Killed

^4 (E)And after this there arose war with the Philistines at Gezer. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Sippai, who was one of the descendants of the giants, and the Philistines were subdued. ⁵ And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of ^(F)Jair struck down Lahmi ^(G)the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. ⁶ And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. ⁷ And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of ^(H)Shimea, David's brother, struck him down. ⁸ These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

David's Census Brings Pestilence

21 ^(I)Then ^(J)Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. ² So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.” ³ But Joab said, “May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord's servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?” ⁴ But the king's word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. ⁵ And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were ^(K)1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah ^(L)470,000 who drew the sword. ^6 (M)But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king's command was abhorrent to Joab.

⁷ But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. ⁸ And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please ^(N)take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” ⁹ And the Lord spoke to Gad, David's ^(O)seer, saying, ¹⁰ “Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” ¹¹ So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Choose what you will: ¹² either ^(P)three years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” ¹³ Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

¹⁴ So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell. ¹⁵ And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he ^(Q)relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁶ And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, ^(R)clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. ¹⁷ And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father's house. But do not let the plague be on your people.”

Rules for Levitical Priests

¹⁵ “But ^(A)the Levitical priests, ^(B)the sons of Zadok, who kept ^(C)the charge of my sanctuary ^(D)when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me ^(E)to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me ^(F)the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach ^(G)my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. ¹⁷ When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear ^(H)linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸ They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering ^(I)and lay them in the holy chambers. And ^(J)they shall put on other garments, ^(K)lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. ^20 (L)They shall not shave their heads or ^(M)let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. ^21 (N)No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ^22 (O)They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ^23 (P)They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and ^(Q)show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ^24 (R)In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and ^(S)they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. ^25 (T)They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. ^26 (U)After he^[a] has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. ²⁷ And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, ^(V)into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, ^(W)he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

^28 (X)“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ^(Y)you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. ^29 (Z)They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and ^(AA)every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. ^30 (AB)And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. ^(AC)You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, ^(AD)that a blessing may rest on your house. ^31 (AE)The priests shall not eat of ^(AF)anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

My Rock and My Fortress

Of David.

Who Is the Greatest?

^24 (A)A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. ^25 (B)And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles ^(C)exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. ^26 (D)But not so with you. Rather, let ^(E)the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. ²⁷ For who is the greater, ^(F)one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But ^(G)I am among you as the one who serves.

²⁸ “You are those who have stayed with me ^(H)in my trials, ²⁹ and ^(I)I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, ^30 (J)that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and ^(K)sit on thrones judging ^(L)the twelve tribes of Israel.

Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial

³¹ “Simon, Simon, behold, ^(M)Satan demanded to have you,^{[a] (N)}that he might sift you like wheat, ³² but ^(O)I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, ^(P)strengthen your brothers.” ³³ Peter^[b] said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both ^(Q)to prison and ^(R)to death.” ^34 (S)Jesus^[c] said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

²⁰ If with Christ ^(A)you died to the ^(B)elemental spirits of the world, ^(C)why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— ^21 (D)“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” ²² (^(E)referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to ^(F)human precepts and teachings? ²³ These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in ^(G)promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are ^(H)of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.