Boundaries of Canaan

34 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Command the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter Canaan,^(A) the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance^(B) is to have these boundaries:^(C)

³ “‘Your southern side will include some of the Desert of Zin^(D) along the border of Edom. Your southern boundary will start in the east from the southern end of the Dead Sea,^{(E) 4} cross south of Scorpion Pass,^(F) continue on to Zin and go south of Kadesh Barnea.^(G) Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon,^{(H) 5} where it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt^(I) and end at the Mediterranean Sea.

⁶ “‘Your western boundary will be the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.^(J) This will be your boundary on the west.^(K)

⁷ “‘For your northern boundary,^(L) run a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor^{(M) 8} and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath.^(N) Then the boundary will go to Zedad, ⁹ continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your boundary on the north.

¹⁰ “‘For your eastern boundary,^(O) run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. ¹¹ The boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah^(P) on the east side of Ain^(Q) and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Galilee.^{[a](R) 12} Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea.

“‘This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side.’”

¹³ Moses commanded the Israelites: “Assign this land by lot^(S) as an inheritance.^(T) The Lord has ordered that it be given to the nine and a half tribes, ¹⁴ because the families of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance.^{(U) 15} These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance east of the Jordan across from Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ “These are the names of the men who are to assign the land for you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua^(V) son of Nun. ¹⁸ And appoint one leader from each tribe to help^(W) assign the land.^{(X) 19} These are their names:^(Y)

²⁹ These are the men the Lord commanded to assign the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.^(AH)

Towns for the Levites

35 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho,^(AI) the Lord said to Moses, ² “Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in^(AJ) from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands^(AK) around the towns. ³ Then they will have towns to live in and pasturelands for the cattle they own and all their other animals.^(AL)

⁴ “The pasturelands around the towns that you give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits^[b] from the town wall. ⁵ Outside the town, measure two thousand cubits^[c](AM) on the east side, two thousand on the south side, two thousand on the west and two thousand on the north, with the town in the center. They will have this area as pastureland for the towns.^(AN)

Cities of Refuge^(AO)

⁶ “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee.^(AP) In addition, give them forty-two other towns. ⁷ In all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns, together with their pasturelands. ⁸ The towns you give the Levites from the land the Israelites possess are to be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: Take many towns from a tribe that has many, but few from one that has few.”^(AQ)

⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses: ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,^{(AR) 11} select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone^(AS) accidentally^(AT) may flee. ¹² They will be places of refuge from the avenger,^(AU) so that anyone accused of murder^(AV) may not die before they stand trial before the assembly.^{(AW) 13} These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge.^{(AX) 14} Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites and for foreigners residing among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.

¹⁶ “‘If anyone strikes someone a fatal blow with an iron object, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death.^{(AY) 17} Or if anyone is holding a stone and strikes someone a fatal blow with it, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if anyone is holding a wooden object and strikes someone a fatal blow with it, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death. ¹⁹ The avenger of blood^(AZ) shall put the murderer to death; when the avenger comes upon the murderer, the avenger shall put the murderer to death.^{(BA) 20} If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at them intentionally^(BB) so that they die ²¹ or if out of enmity one person hits another with their fist so that the other dies, that person is to be put to death;^(BC) that person is a murderer. The avenger of blood^(BD) shall put the murderer to death when they meet.

²² “‘But if without enmity someone suddenly pushes another or throws something at them unintentionally^{(BE) 23} or, without seeing them, drops on them a stone heavy enough to kill them, and they die, then since that other person was not an enemy and no harm was intended, ²⁴ the assembly^(BF) must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood according to these regulations. ²⁵ The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send the accused back to the city of refuge to which they fled. The accused must stay there until the death of the high priest,^(BG) who was anointed^(BH) with the holy oil.^(BI)

²⁶ “‘But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which they fled ²⁷ and the avenger of blood finds them outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder. ²⁸ The accused must stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may they return to their own property.

²⁹ “‘This is to have the force of law^(BJ) for you throughout the generations to come,^(BK) wherever you live.^(BL)

³⁰ “‘Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.^(BM)

³¹ “‘Do not accept a ransom^(BN) for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. They are to be put to death.

³² “‘Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow them to go back and live on their own land before the death of the high priest.

³³ “‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land,^(BO) and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. ³⁴ Do not defile the land^(BP) where you live and where I dwell,^(BQ) for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.’”

Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters^(BR)

36 The family heads of the clan of Gilead^(BS) son of Makir,^(BT) the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph,^(BU) came and spoke before Moses and the leaders,^(BV) the heads of the Israelite families. ² They said, “When the Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot,^(BW) he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad^(BX) to his daughters. ³ Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into. And so part of the inheritance allotted to us will be taken away. ⁴ When the Year of Jubilee^(BY) for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their property will be taken from the tribal inheritance of our ancestors.”

⁵ Then at the Lord’s command Moses gave this order to the Israelites: “What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right. ⁶ This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within their father’s tribal clan. ⁷ No inheritance^(BZ) in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors. ⁸ Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan,^(CA) so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of their ancestors. ⁹ No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.”

¹⁰ So Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses. ¹¹ Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah and Noah^(CB)—married their cousins on their father’s side. ¹² They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in their father’s tribe and clan.^(CC)

¹³ These are the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses^(CD) to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.^(CE)

The Healing at the Pool

5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. ² Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate^(A) a pool, which in Aramaic^(B) is called Bethesda^[a] and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. ³ Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. ^{[4] [b] 5} One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁷ “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”^{(C) 9} At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,^{(D) 10} and so the Jewish leaders^(E) said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”^(F)

¹¹ But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

¹² So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

¹³ The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

¹⁴ Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning^(G) or something worse may happen to you.” ¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jewish leaders^(H) that it was Jesus who had made him well.

The Authority of the Son

¹⁶ So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. ¹⁷ In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father^(I) is always at his work^(J) to this very day, and I too am working.” ¹⁸ For this reason they tried all the more to kill him;^(K) not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.^(L)

¹⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself;^(M) he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son^(N) and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these,^(O) so that you will be amazed. ²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,^(P) even so the Son gives life^(Q) to whom he is pleased to give it. ²² Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,^{(R) 23} that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.^(S)

²⁴ “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me^(T) has eternal life^(U) and will not be judged^(V) but has crossed over from death to life.^{(W) 25} Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come^(X) when the dead will hear^(Y) the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life^(Z) in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to judge^(AA) because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸ “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming^(AB) when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.^{(AC) 30} By myself I can do nothing;^(AD) I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just,^(AE) for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.^(AF)

Testimonies About Jesus

³¹ “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.^{(AG) 32} There is another who testifies in my favor,^(AH) and I know that his testimony about me is true.

³³ “You have sent to John and he has testified^(AI) to the truth. ³⁴ Not that I accept human testimony;^(AJ) but I mention it that you may be saved.^{(AK) 35} John was a lamp that burned and gave light,^(AL) and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.

³⁶ “I have testimony weightier than that of John.^(AM) For the works that the Father has given me to finish—the very works that I am doing^(AN)—testify that the Father has sent me.^{(AO) 37} And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.^(AP) You have never heard his voice nor seen his form,^{(AQ) 38} nor does his word dwell in you,^(AR) for you do not believe^(AS) the one he sent.^{(AT) 39} You study^[c] the Scriptures^(AU) diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life.^(AV) These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,^{(AW) 40} yet you refuse to come to me^(AX) to have life.

⁴¹ “I do not accept glory from human beings,^{(AY) 42} but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God^[d]?^(AZ)

⁴⁵ “But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses,^(BA) on whom your hopes are set.^{(BB) 46} If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.^{(BC) 47} But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?”^(BD)

Get Wisdom at Any Cost

Psalm 4^[a]

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.

Psalm 104