¹⁸ These were the clans of Gad;^(A) those numbered were 40,500.

¹⁹ Er^(B) and Onan^(C) were sons of Judah, but they died^(D) in Canaan.

²⁰ The descendants of Judah by their clans were:

²² These were the clans of Judah;^(J) those numbered were 76,500.

²³ The descendants of Issachar by their clans were:

²⁵ These were the clans of Issachar;^(M) those numbered were 64,300.

²⁶ The descendants of Zebulun^(N) by their clans were:

²⁷ These were the clans of Zebulun;^(O) those numbered were 60,500.

²⁸ The descendants of Joseph^(P) by their clans through Manasseh and Ephraim^(Q) were:

²⁹ The descendants of Manasseh:^(R)

The Temple’s Furnishings^(A)

4 He made a bronze altar^(B) twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.^{[a] 2} He made the Sea^(C) of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to rim and five cubits^[b] high. It took a line of thirty cubits^[c] to measure around it. ³ Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten to a cubit.^[d] The bulls were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.

⁴ The Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south and three facing east.^(D) The Sea rested on top of them, and their hindquarters were toward the center. ⁵ It was a handbreadth^[e] in thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held three thousand baths.^[f]

⁶ He then made ten basins^(E) for washing and placed five on the south side and five on the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings^(F) were rinsed, but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.

⁷ He made ten gold lampstands^(G) according to the specifications^(H) for them and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.

⁸ He made ten tables^(I) and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.^(J)

⁹ He made the courtyard^(K) of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the court, and overlaid the doors with bronze. ¹⁰ He placed the Sea on the south side, at the southeast corner.

¹¹ And Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls.

So Huram finished^(L) the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of God:

All the objects that Huram-Abi^(N) made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze. ¹⁷ The king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth^(O) and Zarethan.^{[g] 18} All these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the bronze^(P) could not be calculated.

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the furnishings that were in God’s temple:

5 When all the work Solomon had done for the temple of the Lord was finished,^(U) he brought in the things his father David had dedicated^(V)—the silver and gold and all the furnishings—and he placed them in the treasuries of God’s temple.

⁵ Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. ⁶ His face turned pale^(A) and he was so frightened^(B) that his legs became weak^(C) and his knees were knocking.^(D)

⁷ The king summoned the enchanters,^(E) astrologers^[a](F) and diviners.^(G) Then he said to these wise^(H) men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around his neck,^(I) and he will be made the third^(J) highest ruler in the kingdom.”^(K)

⁸ Then all the king’s wise men^(L) came in, but they could not read the writing or tell the king what it meant.^{(M) 9} So King Belshazzar became even more terrified^(N) and his face grew more pale. His nobles were baffled.

¹⁰ The queen,^[b] hearing the voices of the king and his nobles, came into the banquet hall. “May the king live forever!”^(O) she said. “Don’t be alarmed! Don’t look so pale! ¹¹ There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods^(P) in him. In the time of your father he was found to have insight and intelligence and wisdom^(Q) like that of the gods.^(R) Your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, appointed him chief of the magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners.^{(S) 12} He did this because Daniel, whom the king called Belteshazzar,^(T) was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles^(U) and solve difficult problems.^(V) Call for Daniel, and he will tell you what the writing means.^(W)”

Warning Against Adultery

John the Baptist Denies Being the Messiah

¹⁹ Now this was John’s^(A) testimony when the Jewish leaders^[a](B) in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰ He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”^(C)

²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”^(D)

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”^(E)

He answered, “No.”

²² Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

²³ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness,^(F) ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”^[b](G)

²⁴ Now the Pharisees who had been sent ²⁵ questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”

²⁶ “I baptize with^[c] water,”^(H) John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. ²⁷ He is the one who comes after me,^(I) the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”^(J)

²⁸ This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan,^(K) where John was baptizing.

Warning to Pay Attention

2 We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.^{(A) 2} For since the message spoken^(B) through angels^(C) was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment,^{(D) 3} how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?^(E) This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord,^(F) was confirmed to us by those who heard him.^{(G) 4} God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles,^(H) and by gifts of the Holy Spirit^(I) distributed according to his will.^(J)