Aaron's Staff Buds

17 ^[a] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^2 (A)“Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers' house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff, ³ and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers' house. ⁴ Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, ^(B)where I meet with you. ⁵ And the staff of the man ^(C)whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me ^(D)the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.” ⁶ Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. ⁷ And Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in ^(E)the tent of the testimony.

⁸ On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. ¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, “Put back ^(F)the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept ^(G)as a sign for the rebels, ^(H)that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” ¹¹ Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so he did.

Peace with God Through Faith

5 ^(A)Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, ^(B)we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also ^(C)obtained access by faith^[b] into this grace ^(D)in which we stand, and ^(E)we^[c] rejoice^[d] in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we ^(F)rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering ^(G)produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and ^(H)hope does not put us to shame, because God's love ^(I)has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

⁶ For ^(J)while we were still weak, at the right time ^(K)Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but ^(L)God shows his love for us in that ^(M)while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, ^(N)we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from ^(O)the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if ^(P)while we were enemies ^(Q)we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by ^(R)his life. ¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received ^(S)reconciliation.

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

^17 (A)And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, ¹⁸ “See, ^(B)we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will ^(C)condemn him to death ¹⁹ and ^(D)deliver him over to the Gentiles ^(E)to be mocked and flogged and ^(F)crucified, and he will be raised on ^(G)the third day.”

A Mother's Request

^20 (H)Then ^(I)the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and ^(J)kneeling before him she asked him for something. ²¹ And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine ^(K)are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, ^(L)in your kingdom.” ²² Jesus answered, ^(M)“You do not know what you are asking. Are you able ^(N)to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” ²³ He said to them, ^(O)“You will drink ^(P)my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, ^(Q)but it is for those for whom it has been ^(R)prepared by my Father.” ²⁴ And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. ²⁵ But Jesus called them to him and said, ^(S)“You know that the rulers of the Gentiles ^(T)lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ^26 (U)It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,^{[a] 27} and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,^{[b] 28} even as the Son of Man came not to be served but ^(V)to serve, and ^(W)to give his life as a ransom for ^(X)many.”