Exploring Canaan

13 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Send some men to explore^(A) the land of Canaan,^(B) which I am giving to the Israelites.^(C) From each ancestral tribe^(D) send one of its leaders.”

³ So at the Lord’s command Moses sent them out from the Desert of Paran. All of them were leaders of the Israelites.^{(E) 4} These are their names:

¹⁶ These are the names of the men Moses sent to explore^(H) the land. (Moses gave Hoshea son of Nun^(I) the name Joshua.)^(J)

¹⁷ When Moses sent them to explore Canaan,^(K) he said, “Go up through the Negev^(L) and on into the hill country.^{(M) 18} See what the land is like and whether the people who live there are strong or weak, few or many. ¹⁹ What kind of land do they live in? Is it good or bad? What kind of towns do they live in? Are they unwalled or fortified? ²⁰ How is the soil? Is it fertile or poor? Are there trees in it or not? Do your best to bring back some of the fruit of the land.^(N)” (It was the season for the first ripe grapes.)^(O)

²¹ So they went up and explored the land from the Desert of Zin^(P) as far as Rehob,^(Q) toward Lebo Hamath.^{(R) 22} They went up through the Negev and came to Hebron,^(S) where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai,^(T) the descendants of Anak,^(U) lived. (Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.)^{(V) 23} When they reached the Valley of Eshkol,^[a](W) they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates^(X) and figs.^{(Y) 24} That place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes the Israelites cut off there.

Others Join David at Hebron

²³ These are the numbers of the men armed for battle who came to David at Hebron^(A) to turn^(B) Saul’s kingdom over to him, as the Lord had said:^(C)

³⁸ All these were fighting men who volunteered to serve in the ranks. They came to Hebron fully determined to make David king over all Israel.^(H) All the rest of the Israelites were also of one mind to make David king. ³⁹ The men spent three days there with David, eating and drinking,^(I) for their families had supplied provisions for them. ⁴⁰ Also, their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. There were plentiful supplies^(J) of flour, fig cakes, raisin^(K) cakes, wine, olive oil, cattle and sheep, for there was joy^(L) in Israel.

The Temple Area Restored

40 In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city^(A)—on that very day the hand of the Lord was on me^(B) and he took me there. ² In visions^(C) of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain,^(D) on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. ³ He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze;^(E) he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod^(F) in his hand. ⁴ The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you,^(G) for that is why you have been brought here. Tell^(H) the people of Israel everything you see.^(I)”

The East Gate to the Outer Court

⁵ I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man’s hand was six long cubits,^[a] each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured^(J) the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high.

⁶ Then he went to the east gate.^(K) He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate; it was one rod deep. ⁷ The alcoves^(L) for the guards were one rod long and one rod wide, and the projecting walls between the alcoves were five cubits^[b] thick. And the threshold of the gate next to the portico facing the temple was one rod deep.

⁸ Then he measured the portico of the gateway; ⁹ it^[c] was eight cubits^[d] deep and its jambs were two cubits^[e] thick. The portico of the gateway faced the temple.

¹⁰ Inside the east gate were three alcoves on each side; the three had the same measurements, and the faces of the projecting walls on each side had the same measurements. ¹¹ Then he measured the width of the entrance of the gateway; it was ten cubits and its length was thirteen cubits.^{[f] 12} In front of each alcove was a wall one cubit high, and the alcoves were six cubits square. ¹³ Then he measured the gateway from the top of the rear wall of one alcove to the top of the opposite one; the distance was twenty-five cubits^[g] from one parapet opening to the opposite one.

Psalm 135^(A)

The Parable of the Tenants^(A)

⁹ He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard,^(B) rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.^{(C) 10} At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. ¹² He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

¹³ “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love;^(D) perhaps they will respect him.’

¹⁴ “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and kill those tenants^(E) and give the vineyard to others.”

When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”

¹⁷ Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”^(G)

¹⁹ The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him^(H) immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.^(I)

Timothy and Epaphroditus

¹⁹ I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy^(A) to you soon,^(B) that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. ²⁰ I have no one else like him,^(C) who will show genuine concern for your welfare. ²¹ For everyone looks out for their own interests,^(D) not those of Jesus Christ. ²² But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father^(E) he has served with me in the work of the gospel. ²³ I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me.^{(F) 24} And I am confident^(G) in the Lord that I myself will come soon.

²⁵ But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, co-worker^(H) and fellow soldier,^(I) who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.^{(J) 26} For he longs for all of you^(K) and is distressed because you heard he was ill. ²⁷ Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. ²⁸ Therefore I am all the more eager to send him,^(L) so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. ²⁹ So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him,^{(M) 30} because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.^(N)