Duties of the Kohathites, Gershonites, and Merarites

4 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ² “Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their clans and their fathers' houses, ^3 (A)from thirty years old up to fifty years old, all who can come on duty, to do the work in the tent of meeting. ⁴ This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting: ^(B)the most holy things. ⁵ When the camp is to set out, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down ^(C)the veil of the screen and cover ^(D)the ark of the testimony with it. ⁶ Then they shall put on it a covering of goatskin^[a] and spread on top of that a cloth all of blue, and shall put in its ^(E)poles. ⁷ And over the ^(F)table of the bread of the Presence they shall spread a cloth of blue and put on it the plates, the dishes for incense, the bowls, and the flagons for the drink offering; ^(G)the regular showbread also shall be on it. ⁸ Then they shall spread over them a cloth of scarlet and cover the same with a covering of goatskin, and shall ^(H)put in its poles. ⁹ And they shall take a cloth of blue and cover ^(I)the lampstand for the light, with its lamps, its tongs, its trays, and all the vessels for oil with which it is supplied. ¹⁰ And they shall put it with all its utensils in a covering of goatskin and put it on the carrying frame. ¹¹ And over ^(J)the golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue and cover it with a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. ¹² And they shall take all ^(K)the vessels of the service that are used in the sanctuary and put them in a cloth of blue and cover them with a covering of goatskin and put them on the carrying frame. ¹³ And they shall take away the ashes from the altar and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴ And they shall put on it all the utensils of the altar, which are used for the service there, the fire pans, the forks, the shovels, and the basins, all the utensils of the altar; and they shall spread on it a covering of goatskin, and shall put in its poles. ¹⁵ And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that ^(L)the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, ^(M)but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.

¹⁶ “And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall have charge of ^(N)the oil for the light, the ^(O)fragrant incense, ^(P)the regular grain offering, and ^(Q)the anointing oil, with the oversight of the whole tabernacle and all that is in it, of the sanctuary and its vessels.”

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ¹⁸ “Let not the tribe of the clans of the Kohathites be destroyed from among the Levites, ¹⁹ but deal thus with them, that they may live and not die when they come near to ^(R)the most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in and appoint them each to his task and to his burden, ^20 (S)but they shall not go in to look on the holy things even for a moment, lest they die.”

Descendants of David

3 ^(A)These are the sons of David who were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn, Amnon, by Ahinoam the Jezreelite; the second, ^(B)Daniel, by Abigail the Carmelite, ² the third, Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur; the fourth, Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith; ³ the fifth, Shephatiah, by Abital; the sixth, Ithream, by his wife Eglah; ⁴ six were born to him in Hebron, ^(C)where he reigned for seven years and six months. ^(D)And he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. ^5 (E)These were born to him in Jerusalem: ^(F)Shimea, Shobab, Nathan and ^(G)Solomon, four by ^(H)Bath-shua, the daughter of ^(I)Ammiel; ⁶ then Ibhar, ^(J)Elishama, Eliphelet, ⁷ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁸ Elishama, ^(K)Eliada, and Eliphelet, nine. ⁹ All these were David's sons, besides the sons of the concubines, ^(L)and Tamar was their sister.

¹⁰ The son of Solomon was ^(M)Rehoboam, ^(N)Abijah his son, ^(O)Asa his son, ^(P)Jehoshaphat his son, ^11 (Q)Joram his son, ^(R)Ahaziah his son, ^(S)Joash his son, ^12 (T)Amaziah his son, ^(U)Azariah his son, ^(V)Jotham his son, ^13 (W)Ahaz his son, ^(X)Hezekiah his son, ^(Y)Manasseh his son, ^14 (Z)Amon his son, ^(AA)Josiah his son. ¹⁵ The sons of Josiah: ^(AB)Johanan the firstborn, the second ^(AC)Jehoiakim, the third ^(AD)Zedekiah, the fourth Shallum. ¹⁶ The descendants of ^(AE)Jehoiakim: ^(AF)Jeconiah his son, ^(AG)Zedekiah his son; ¹⁷ and the sons of Jeconiah, the ^(AH)captive: ^(AI)Shealtiel his son, ¹⁸ Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama and Nedabiah; ¹⁹ and the sons of Pedaiah: ^(AJ)Zerubbabel and Shimei; and the sons of ^(AK)Zerubbabel: Meshullam and Hananiah, and Shelomith was their sister; ²⁰ and Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushab-hesed, five. ²¹ The sons of Hananiah: Pelatiah and Jeshaiah, his son^[a] Rephaiah, his son Arnan, his son Obadiah, his son Shecaniah. ²² The son^[b] of Shecaniah: ^(AL)Shemaiah. And the sons of Shemaiah: ^(AM)Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat, six. ²³ The sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam, three. ²⁴ The sons of Elioenai: Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani, seven.

Prophecy Against Egypt

29 ^(A)In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (B)“Son of man, ^(C)set your face against ^(D)Pharaoh king of Egypt, ^(E)and prophesy against him and ^(F)against all Egypt; ³ speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:

⁶ Then all the inhabitants of Egypt ^(O)shall know that I am the Lord.

“Because you^[a] have been ^(P)a staff of reed to the house of Israel, ^7 (Q)when they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.^{[b] 8} Therefore thus says the Lord God: ^(R)Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, ⁹ and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. ^(S)Then they will know that I am the Lord.

^(T)“Because you^[c] said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ ¹⁰ therefore, ^(U)behold, I am against you and ^(V)against your streams, and ^(W)I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, ^(X)from Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. ^11 (Y)No foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. ^12 (Z)And I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. ^(AA)I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.

¹³ “For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years ^(AB)I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, ¹⁴ and ^(AC)I will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to ^(AD)the land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. ¹⁵ It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, ^(AE)and never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. ¹⁶ And it shall never again be ^(AF)the reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. ^(AG)Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”

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The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15 Now ^(A)the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes ^(B)grumbled, saying, ^(C)“This man receives sinners and ^(D)eats with them.”

³ So he told them this parable: ^4 (E)“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, ^(F)if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine ^(G)in the open country, and ^(H)go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, ^(I)he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for ^(J)I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who ^(K)repents than over ninety-nine ^(L)righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸ “Or what woman, having ten silver coins,^[a] if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? ⁹ And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before ^(M)the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Bear One Another's Burdens

6 Brothers,^{[a] (A)}if anyone is caught in any transgression, ^(B)you who are spiritual should restore him in ^(C)a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. ^2 (D)Bear one another's burdens, and ^(E)so fulfill ^(F)the law of Christ. ³ For ^(G)if anyone thinks he is something, ^(H)when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴ But let each one ^(I)test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. ⁵ For ^(J)each will have to bear his own load.

^6 (K)Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. ^7 (L)Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for ^(M)whatever one sows, that will he also reap. ⁸ For ^(N)the one who sows to his own flesh ^(O)will from the flesh reap corruption, but ^(P)the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. ⁹ And ^(Q)let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, ^(R)if we do not give up. ¹⁰ So then, ^(S)as we have opportunity, let us ^(T)do good to everyone, and especially to those who are ^(U)of the household of faith.