²¹ Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the ^[a]divisions of Israel: ²² “The Lord ^(A)God of gods, the Lord God of gods, He ^(B)knows, and let Israel itself know—if it is in rebellion, or if in treachery against the Lord, do not save us this day. ²³ If we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the Lord Himself ^(C)require an account. ²⁴ But in fact we have done it ^[b]for fear, for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants, saying, “What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? ²⁵ For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no part in the Lord.” So your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the Lord.’ ²⁶ Therefore we said, ‘Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, ²⁷ but that it may be ^(D)a ^[c]witness between you and us and our generations after us, that we may ^(E)perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, “You have no part in the Lord.” ’ ²⁸ Therefore we said that it will be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, ‘Here is the replica of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.’ ²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn from following the Lord this day, ^(F)to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle.”

³⁰ Now when Phinehas the priest and the rulers of the congregation, the heads of the ^[d]divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. ³¹ Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, “This day we perceive that the Lord is ^(G)among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.”

³² And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the rulers, returned from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them. ³³ So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel ^(H)blessed God; they spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.

³⁴ The children of Reuben and the children of ^[e]Gad called the altar, Witness, “For it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

Joshua’s Farewell Address

23 Now it came to pass, a long time after the Lord ^(I)had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua ^(J)was old, advanced in age. ² And Joshua ^(K)called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them:

“I am old, advanced in age. ³ You have seen all that the ^(L)Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the ^(M)Lord your God is He who has fought for you. ⁴ See, ^(N)I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward. ⁵ And the Lord your God ^(O)will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, ^(P)as the Lord your God promised you. ^6 (Q)Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, ^(R)lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, ⁷ and lest you ^(S)go^[f] among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not ^(T)make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to ^(U)swear by them; you shall not ^(V)serve them nor bow down to them, ⁸ but you shall ^(W)hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. ^9 (X)For the Lord has ^[g]driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. ^10 (Y)One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, ^(Z)as He promised you. ^11 (AA)Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God. ¹² Or else, if indeed you do ^(AB)go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and ^(AC)make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, ¹³ know for certain that ^(AD)the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. ^(AE)But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴ “Behold, this day ^(AF)I^[h] am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that ^(AG)not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed. ^15 (AH)Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the Lord your God promised you, so the Lord will bring upon you ^(AI)all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the Lord your God has given you. ^16 [i]When you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the ^(AJ)anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”

The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?^(A)

^27 (B)Then some of the Sadducees, ^(C)who deny that there is a resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, ²⁸ saying: “Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife, and he dies without children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁹ Now there were seven brothers. And the first took a wife, and died without children. ³⁰ And the second ^[a]took her as wife, and he died childless. ³¹ Then the third took her, and in like manner the seven ^[b]also; and they left no children, and died. ³² Last of all the woman died also. ³³ Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife does she become? For all seven had her as wife.”

³⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. ³⁵ But those who are ^(D)counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; ³⁶ nor can they die anymore, for ^(E)they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, ^(F)being sons of the resurrection. ³⁷ But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ^(G)‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ ³⁸ For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for ^(H)all live to Him.”

³⁹ Then some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ But after that they dared not question Him anymore.

Jesus: How Can David Call His Descendant Lord?^(I)

⁴¹ And He said to them, ^(J)“How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David? ⁴² Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:

⁴⁴ Therefore David calls Him ‘Lord’; ^(L)how is He then his Son?”

Beware of the Scribes^(M)

^45 (N)Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, ^46 (O)“Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, ^(P)love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, ^47 (Q)who devour widows’ houses, and for a ^(R)pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation.”