¹³ Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear about it! By your power you brought these people up from among them.^{(A) 14} And they will tell the inhabitants of this land about it. They have already heard^(B) that you, Lord, are with these people^(C) and that you, Lord, have been seen face to face,^(D) that your cloud stays over them,^(E) and that you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.^{(F) 15} If you put all these people to death, leaving none alive, the nations who have heard this report about you will say, ¹⁶ ‘The Lord was not able to bring these people into the land he promised them on oath,^(G) so he slaughtered them in the wilderness.’^(H)

¹⁷ “Now may the Lord’s strength be displayed, just as you have declared: ¹⁸ ‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.^(I) Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.’^{(J) 19} In accordance with your great love, forgive^(K) the sin of these people,^(L) just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now.”^(M)

²⁰ The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them,^(N) as you asked. ²¹ Nevertheless, as surely as I live^(O) and as surely as the glory of the Lord^(P) fills the whole earth,^{(Q) 22} not one of those who saw my glory and the signs^(R) I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times^(S)— ²³ not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath^(T) to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt^(U) will ever see it.^{(V) 24} But because my servant Caleb^(W) has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly,^(X) I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.^{(Y) 25} Since the Amalekites^(Z) and the Canaanites^(AA) are living in the valleys, turn^(AB) back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.^[a](AC)”

David’s House and Family^(A)

14 Now Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, along with cedar logs,^(B) stonemasons and carpenters to build a palace for him. ² And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted^(C) for the sake of his people Israel.

³ In Jerusalem David took more wives and became the father of more sons^(D) and daughters. ⁴ These are the names of the children born to him there:^(E) Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ⁵ Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, ⁶ Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, ⁷ Elishama, Beeliada^[a] and Eliphelet.

David Defeats the Philistines^(F)

⁸ When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel,^(G) they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went out to meet them. ⁹ Now the Philistines had come and raided the Valley^(H) of Rephaim; ¹⁰ so David inquired of God: “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”

The Lord answered him, “Go, I will deliver them into your hands.”

¹¹ So David and his men went up to Baal Perazim,^(I) and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, God has broken out against my enemies by my hand.” So that place was called Baal Perazim.^{[b] 12} The Philistines had abandoned their gods there, and David gave orders to burn^(J) them in the fire.^(K)

¹³ Once more the Philistines raided the valley;^{(L) 14} so David inquired of God again, and God answered him, “Do not go directly after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. ¹⁵ As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move out to battle, because that will mean God has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” ¹⁶ So David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army, all the way from Gibeon^(M) to Gezer.^(N)

¹⁷ So David’s fame^(O) spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear^(P) him.

²⁹ Its alcoves,^(A) its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the others. The gateway and its portico had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide.^{(B) 30} (The porticoes^(C) of the gateways around the inner court were twenty-five cubits wide and five cubits deep.) ³¹ Its portico^(D) faced the outer court; palm trees decorated its jambs, and eight steps led up to it.^(E)

³² Then he brought me to the inner court on the east side, and he measured the gateway; it had the same measurements^(F) as the others. ³³ Its alcoves,^(G) its projecting walls and its portico had the same measurements as the others. The gateway and its portico had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁴ Its portico^(H) faced the outer court; palm trees decorated the jambs on either side, and eight steps led up to it.

³⁵ Then he brought me to the north gate^(I) and measured it. It had the same measurements^(J) as the others, ³⁶ as did its alcoves,^(K) its projecting walls and its portico, and it had openings all around. It was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. ³⁷ Its portico^[a](L) faced the outer court; palm trees decorated the jambs on either side, and eight steps led up to it.^(M)

The Rooms for Preparing Sacrifices

³⁸ A room with a doorway was by the portico in each of the inner gateways, where the burnt offerings^(N) were washed. ³⁹ In the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings,^(O) sin offerings^[b](P) and guilt offerings^(Q) were slaughtered.^{(R) 40} By the outside wall of the portico of the gateway, near the steps at the entrance of the north gateway were two tables, and on the other side of the steps were two tables. ⁴¹ So there were four tables on one side of the gateway and four on the other—eight tables in all—on which the sacrifices were slaughtered. ⁴² There were also four tables of dressed stone^(S) for the burnt offerings, each a cubit and a half long, a cubit and a half wide and a cubit high.^[c] On them were placed the utensils for slaughtering the burnt offerings and the other sacrifices.^{(T) 43} And double-pronged hooks, each a handbreadth^[d] long, were attached to the wall all around. The tables were for the flesh of the offerings.

The Rooms for the Priests

⁴⁴ Outside the inner gate, within the inner court, were two rooms, one^[e] at the side of the north gate and facing south, and another at the side of the south^[f] gate and facing north. ⁴⁵ He said to me, “The room facing south is for the priests who guard the temple,^{(U) 46} and the room facing north^(V) is for the priests who guard the altar.^(W) These are the sons of Zadok,^(X) who are the only Levites who may draw near to the Lord to minister before him.^(Y)”

⁴⁷ Then he measured the court: It was square—a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits wide. And the altar was in front of the temple.^(Z)

The Resurrection and Marriage^(A)

²⁷ Some of the Sadducees,^(B) who say there is no resurrection,^(C) came to Jesus with a question. ²⁸ “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.^{(D) 29} Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. ³⁰ The second ³¹ and then the third married her, and in the same way the seven died, leaving no children. ³² Finally, the woman died too. ³³ Now then, at the resurrection whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵ But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come^(E) and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, ³⁶ and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children,^(F) since they are children of the resurrection. ³⁷ But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’^{[a](G) 38} He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

³⁹ Some of the teachers of the law responded, “Well said, teacher!” ⁴⁰ And no one dared to ask him any more questions.^(H)

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal,^(A) but I press on to take hold^(B) of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.^{(C) 13} Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind^(D) and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on^(E) toward the goal to win the prize^(F) for which God has called^(G) me heavenward in Christ Jesus.