Cities for the Levites

35 The Lord spoke to Moses in ^(A)the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ^2 (B)“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. ³ The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts.

Cities of Refuge

⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(A)When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ^11 (B)then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. ¹² The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. ¹³ And the cities that you give shall be your ^(C)six cities of refuge. ^14 (D)You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and ^(E)for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.

³⁰ “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the ^(A)evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. ³¹ Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. ³² And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. ³³ You shall not ^(B)pollute the land in which you live, for blood ^(C)pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except ^(D)by the blood of the one who shed it. ^34 (E)You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, ^(F)for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

God's Everlasting Love

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? ^(A)If God is for us, who can be^[a] against us? ^32 (B)He who did not spare his own Son but ^(C)gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? ^(D)It is God who justifies. ^34 (E)Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—^(F)who is at the right hand of God, ^(G)who indeed is interceding for us.^{[b] 35} Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than ^(J)conquerors through ^(K)him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹³ “But woe ^(A)to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you ^(B)shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you ^(C)neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.^{[a] 15} Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single ^(D)proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a ^(E)child of ^(F)hell^[b] as yourselves.

¹⁶ “Woe to ^(G)you, ^(H)blind guides, who say, ^(I)‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁷ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or ^(J)the temple that has made the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by ^(K)the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.’ ¹⁹ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or ^(L)the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by ^(M)him who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by ^(N)heaven swears by ^(O)the throne of God and by ^(P)him who sits upon it.

^23 (Q)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(R)you tithe mint and dill and ^(S)cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: ^(T)justice and mercy and faithfulness. ^(U)These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ²⁴ You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing ^(V)a camel!

^25 (W)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ^(X)you clean the outside of ^(Y)the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of ^(Z)greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of ^(AA)the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

^27 (AB)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like ^(AC)whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and ^(AD)all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also ^(AE)outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of ^(AF)hypocrisy and lawlessness.

^29 (AG)“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, ³⁰ saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ ³¹ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are ^(AH)sons of those who murdered the prophets. ^32 (AI)Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. ³³ You serpents, ^(AJ)you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to ^(AK)hell? ^34 (AL)Therefore ^(AM)I send you ^(AN)prophets and wise men and ^(AO)scribes, ^(AP)some of whom you will kill and crucify, and ^(AQ)some you will ^(AR)flog in your synagogues and ^(AS)persecute from town to town, ³⁵ so that on you may come all ^(AT)the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^(AU)Abel to the blood of ^(AV)Zechariah the son of Barachiah,^[c] whom you murdered between ^(AW)the sanctuary and ^(AX)the altar. ³⁶ Truly, I say to you, ^(AY)all these things will come upon this generation.