Men and Vows

30 Moses spoke to ^(A)the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, saying, “This is what the Lord has commanded. ^2 (B)If a man vows a vow to the Lord, or ^(C)swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. ^(D)He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

Women and Vows

³ “If a woman vows a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge, while within her father's house in her youth, ⁴ and her father hears of her vow and of her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁵ But if her father opposes her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. And the Lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her.

⁶ “If she marries a husband, while under her ^(E)vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, ⁷ and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁸ But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he opposes her, then he makes void her ^(F)vow that was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself. ^(G)And the Lord will forgive her. ⁹ (But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.) ¹⁰ And if she vowed in her husband's house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, ¹¹ and her husband heard of it and said nothing to her and did not oppose her, then all her vows shall stand, and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. ¹² But if her husband makes them null and void on the day that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge of herself shall not stand. Her husband has made them void, and ^(H)the Lord will forgive her. ¹³ Any vow and any binding oath to afflict herself,^[a] her husband may establish,^[b] or her husband may make void. ¹⁴ But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows or all her pledges that are upon her. He has established them, because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard of them. ¹⁵ But if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then ^(I)he shall bear her iniquity.”

¹⁶ These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses about a man and his wife and about a father and his daughter while she is in her youth within her father's house.

Egypt Plunders Jerusalem

12 ^(A)When the rule of Rehoboam was established ^(B)and he was strong, ^(C)he abandoned the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. ^2 (D)In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the Lord, ^(E)Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem ³ with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt—^(F)Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. ⁴ And he took ^(G)the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. ⁵ Then ^(H)Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord, ^(I)‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” ⁶ Then the princes of ^(J)Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, ^(K)“The Lord is righteous.” ⁷ When the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah: ^(L)“They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, ^(M)and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. ⁸ Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, ^(N)that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.”

^9 (O)So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house. He took away everything. He also took away ^(P)the shields of gold that Solomon had made, ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ And as often as the king went into the house of the Lord, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom. ¹² And when ^(Q)he humbled himself the wrath of the Lord turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, ^(R)conditions were good^[a] in Judah.

^13 (S)So King Rehoboam grew strong in Jerusalem and reigned. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city that the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah the Ammonite. ¹⁴ And he did evil, ^(T)for he did not set his heart to seek the Lord.

^15 (U)Now the acts of Rehoboam, ^(V)from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of ^(W)Shemaiah the prophet and of ^(X)Iddo ^(Y)the seer?^[b] There were continual wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¹⁶ And Rehoboam slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David, and ^(Z)Abijah^[c] his son reigned in his place.

Daniel's Terrifying Vision of a Man

10 ^(A)In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a word was revealed to Daniel, ^(B)who was named Belteshazzar. And ^(C)the word was true, and it was a great conflict.^[a] And ^(D)he understood the word and ^(E)had understanding of the vision.

² In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for ^(F)three weeks. ³ I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I ^(G)anoint myself at all, for ^(H)the full three weeks. ⁴ On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing ^(I)on the bank of the great river (^(J)that is, the Tigris) ^5 (K)I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, ^(L)a man clothed in linen, ^(M)with a belt of fine ^(N)gold from Uphaz around his waist. ⁶ His body was like ^(O)beryl, his face ^(P)like the appearance of lightning, ^(Q)his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and ^(R)legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and ^(S)the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude. ^7 (T)And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. ⁸ So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and ^(U)no strength was left in me. My radiant appearance was fearfully changed,^{[b] (V)}and I retained no strength. ⁹ Then I heard the sound of his words, ^(W)and as I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in deep sleep ^(X)with my face to the ground.

¹⁰ And behold, ^(Y)a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. ¹¹ And he said to me, “O Daniel, ^(Z)man greatly loved, ^(AA)understand the words that I speak to you, and ^(AB)stand upright, for ^(AC)now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. ¹² Then he said to me, ^(AD)“Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you ^(AE)set your heart to understand and ^(AF)humbled yourself before your God, ^(AG)your words have been heard, ^(AH)and I have come because of your words. ^13 (AI)The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me ^(AJ)twenty-one days, but ^(AK)Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, ^14 (AL)and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people ^(AM)in the latter days. For ^(AN)the vision is for days yet to come.”

¹⁵ When he had spoken to me according to these words, ^(AO)I turned my face toward the ground ^(AP)and was mute. ¹⁶ And behold, ^(AQ)one in the likeness of the children of man ^(AR)touched my lips. Then I opened my mouth and spoke. I said to him who stood before me, “O my lord, by reason of the vision pains have come upon me, and ^(AS)I retain no strength. ¹⁷ How can my lord's servant talk with my lord? For now no strength remains in me, and no breath is left in me.”

¹⁸ Again ^(AT)one having the appearance of a man ^(AU)touched me and strengthened me. ¹⁹ And he said, ^(AV)“O man greatly loved, ^(AW)fear not, peace be with you; be strong and of good courage.” And as he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.” ²⁰ Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? But now I will return to fight against the ^(AX)prince of Persia; and when I go out, behold, the prince of ^(AY)Greece will come. ²¹ But I will tell you ^(AZ)what is inscribed in the book of truth: there is none who contends by my side against these except ^(BA)Michael, your prince.

The Way of Wisdom

^31 (A)He who comes from above ^(B)is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and ^(C)speaks in an earthly way. ^(D)He who comes from heaven ^(E)is above all. ^32 (F)He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, ^(G)yet no one receives his testimony. ³³ Whoever receives his testimony ^(H)sets his seal to this, ^(I)that God is true. ³⁴ For he whom ^(J)God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit ^(K)without measure. ^35 (L)The Father loves the Son and ^(M)has given all things into his hand. ^36 (N)Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; ^(O)whoever does not obey the Son shall not ^(P)see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

The Priestly Order of Melchizedek

7 For this ^(A)Melchizedek, king of ^(B)Salem, priest of ^(C)the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ² and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. He is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is, king of peace. ³ He is without father or mother ^(D)or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

⁴ See how great this man was to whom Abraham ^(E)the patriarch gave a tenth of the spoils! ⁵ And ^(F)those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brothers,^[a] though these also are descended from Abraham. ⁶ But this man ^(G)who does not have his descent from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed ^(H)him who had the promises. ⁷ It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior. ⁸ In the one case tithes are received by mortal men, but in the other case, by one ^(I)of whom it is testified that ^(J)he lives. ⁹ One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, ¹⁰ for he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.