Cities for the Levites

35 The Lord spoke to Moses in ^(A)the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ^2 (B)“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. ³ The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. ⁴ The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits^[a] all around. ⁵ And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.

⁶ “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^(C)the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. ⁷ All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^(D)forty-eight, with their pasturelands. ⁸ And as for the cities that you shall give ^(E)from the possession of the people of Israel, ^(F)from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”

Cities of Refuge

⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(G)When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ^11 (H)then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. ¹² The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. ¹³ And the cities that you give shall be your ^(I)six cities of refuge. ^14 (J)You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and ^(K)for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.

Joash Repairs the Temple

24 ^(A)Joash^[a] was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Zibiah of Beersheba. ^2 (B)And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. ³ Jehoiada got for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.

⁴ After this Joash ^(C)decided to ^(D)restore the house of the Lord. ⁵ And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of ^(E)Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. ⁶ So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem ^(F)the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the congregation of Israel for ^(G)the tent of testimony?” ⁷ For ^(H)the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all ^(I)the dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.

⁸ So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside the gate of the house of the Lord. ⁹ And ^(J)proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the Lord ^(K)the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰ And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished.^{[b] 11} And whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king's secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. ¹² And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. ¹³ So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward in their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. ¹⁴ And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and with it ^(L)were made utensils for the house of the Lord, both for the service and for the burnt offerings, and dishes for incense and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord regularly all the days of Jehoiada.

¹⁵ But Jehoiada grew old and full of days, and died. He was 130 years old at his death. ¹⁶ And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and his house.

¹⁷ Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. ¹⁸ And they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served ^(M)the Asherim and the idols. And ^(N)wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. ^19 (O)Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. ^(P)These testified against them, but they would not pay attention.

Joash's Treachery

^20 (Q)Then the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah ^(R)the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood above the people, and said to them, “Thus says God, ^(S)‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? ^(T)Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’” ²¹ But ^(U)they conspired against him, ^(V)and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. ²² Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, “May the Lord see ^(W)and avenge!”^[c]

The Lord Will Punish Israel

I Am the Bread of Life

²² On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only ^(A)one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. ²³ Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord ^(B)had given thanks. ^24 (C)So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and ^(D)went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ^(E)“Rabbi, when did you come here?” ²⁶ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(F)you are seeking me, not because you saw ^(G)signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. ^27 (H)Do not work for the food that perishes, but for ^(I)the food that endures to eternal life, which ^(J)the Son of Man will give to you. For on ^(K)him God the Father has ^(L)set his seal.” ²⁸ Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing ^(M)the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, ^(N)that you believe in him whom ^(O)he has sent.” ³⁰ So they said to him, ^(P)“Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? ^31 (Q)Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ^(R)‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³² Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is ^(S)he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ They said to him, ^(T)“Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and ^(A)sin which clings so closely, and ^(B)let us run ^(C)with endurance the race that is ^(D)set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, ^(E)who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising ^(F)the shame, and ^(G)is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do Not Grow Weary

^3 (H)Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or ^(I)fainthearted. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. ^(M)God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ If you are left without discipline, ^(N)in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to ^(O)the Father of spirits ^(P)and live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, ^(Q)that we may share his holiness. ^11 (R)For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields ^(S)the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

¹² Therefore ^(T)lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³ and ^(U)make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint ^(V)but rather be healed.