24 Again the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and He moved David against them, saying, Go, number Israel and Judah.

² For the king said to Joab the captain of the host who was with him, Go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, and count the people, that I may know their number.

³ And Joab said to the king, May the Lord your God add a hundred times as many people as there are, and let the eyes of my lord the king see it; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?

⁴ But the king’s word prevailed against Joab and the commanders of the army. So they went from the king’s presence to number the Israelites.

⁵ They passed over the Jordan and encamped in Aroer, on the south side of the city lying in the midst of the ravine [of the Arnon] toward Gad, and on to Jazer.

⁶ Then they came to Gilead, and to the land of Tahtim-hodshi, and they came to Dan-jaan [Dan in the forest] and around to Sidon,

⁷ And came to the stronghold of Tyre and to all the cities of the Hivites and Canaanites; and they went out to the South (the Negeb) of Judah at Beersheba.

⁸ So when they had gone through all the land [taking the census], they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.

⁹ And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to the king. There were in Israel 800,000 valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were 500,000.

¹⁰ But David’s heart smote him after he had numbered the people. David said to the Lord, I have sinned greatly in what I have done. I beseech You, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.

¹¹ When David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying,

¹² Go and say to David, Thus says the Lord, I hold over you three choices; select one of them, so I may bring it upon you.

¹³ So Gad came to David and told him and said, Shall seven years of famine come to your land? Or will you flee three months before your pursuing enemies? Or do you prefer three days of pestilence in your land? Consider and see what answer I shall return to Him Who sent me.

¹⁴ And David said to Gad, I am in great distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are many and great; but let me not fall into the hands of man.

¹⁵ So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed; and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba 70,000 men.

¹⁶ And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented of the evil and reversed His judgment and said to the destroying angel, It is enough; now stay your hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁷ When David saw the angel who was smiting the people, he spoke to the Lord and said, Behold, I have sinned and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray You, be [only] against me and against my father’s house.

¹⁸ Then Gad came to David and said, Go up, rear an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

¹⁹ So David went up according to Gad’s word, as the Lord commanded.

²⁰ Araunah looked and saw the king and his servants coming toward him; and [he] went out and bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.

²¹ Araunah said, Why has my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing floor from you, to build there an altar to the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people.

²² And Araunah said to David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Behold, here are oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and the yokes of the oxen for wood.

²³ All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king. And Araunah said to the king, The Lord your God accept you.

²⁴ But King David said to Araunah, No, but I will buy it of you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God of that which costs me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

²⁵ David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord heeded the prayers for the land, and Israel’s plague was stayed.

42 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan son of Kareah and Jezaniah [Azariah] son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even to the greatest came near

² And said to Jeremiah the prophet, We beseech you that you will let our supplication be presented before you and that you will pray to the Lord your God for us, even for all this remnant [of the people of Judah]; for whereas we were once many, there are but a few of us left, as you see with your [own] eyes.

³ [Pray] that the Lord your God may show us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do.

⁴ Then Jeremiah the prophet said to them, I have heard you. Behold, I will pray to the Lord your God according to your words; and it will be that whatever thing the Lord will answer you, I will declare it to you; I will keep nothing back from you.

⁵ Then they said to Jeremiah, May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do according to all the things that the Lord your God sends you to tell us.

⁶ Whether it is good or evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to Whom we are sending you [to inquire], that it may be well with us when we obey the voice of the Lord our God.

⁷ And after ten days the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah.

⁸ Then he called Johanan son of Kareah and all the captains of the forces that were with him and all the people from the least even to the greatest,

⁹ And said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to Whom you sent me to present your supplication before Him:

¹⁰ If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down, and I will plant you and not pull you up; for I will relent and comfort and ease Myself concerning the evil that [in chastisement] I have done to you [and I will substitute mercy and loving-kindness for judgment].^(A)

¹¹ Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom you are fearful [with the profound and reverent dread inspired by deity]; be not afraid of him, says the Lord, for [he is a mere man, while I am the all-wise, all-powerful, and ever-present God] I [the Lord] am with you to save you and to deliver you from his hand.

¹² And I will grant mercy to you, that he may have mercy on you and permit you to remain in your own land.

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27 When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people held a consultation against Jesus to put Him to death;

² And they bound Him and led Him away and handed Him over to Pilate the governor.

³ When Judas, His betrayer, saw that [Jesus] was condemned, [Judas was ^[a]afflicted in mind and troubled for his former folly; and] with remorse [with little more than a selfish dread of the consequences] he brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders,^(A)

⁴ Saying, I have sinned in betraying innocent blood. They replied, What is that to us? See to that yourself.

⁵ And casting the pieces of silver [forward] into the [Holy Place of the ^[b]sanctuary of the] temple, he departed; and he went off and hanged himself.

⁶ But the chief priests, picking up the pieces of silver, said, It is not legal to put these in the [consecrated] treasury, for it is the price of blood.

⁷ So after consultation they bought with them [the pieces of silver] the potter’s field [as a place] in which to bury strangers.

⁸ Therefore that piece of ground has been called the Field of Blood to the present day.

⁹ Then were fulfilled the words spoken by Jeremiah the prophet when he said, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of Him on Whom a price had been set by some of the sons of Israel,^(B)

¹⁰ And they gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.

¹¹ Now Jesus stood before the governor [Pilate], and the governor asked Him, Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus said to him, You have stated [the fact].

¹² But when the charges were made against Him by the chief priests and elders, He made no answer.^(C)

¹³ Then Pilate said to Him, Do You not hear how many and how serious are the things they are testifying against You?

¹⁴ But He made no reply to him, not even to a single accusation, so that the governor marveled greatly.

¹⁵ Now at the Feast [of the Passover] the governor was in the habit of setting free for the people any one prisoner whom they chose.

¹⁶ And at that time they had a notorious prisoner whose name was Barabbas.

¹⁷ So when they had assembled for this purpose, Pilate said to them, Whom do you want me to set free for you, Barabbas, or Jesus Who is called Christ?

¹⁸ For he knew that it was because of envy that they had handed Him over to him.

¹⁹ Also, while he was seated on the judgment bench, his wife sent him a message, saying, Have nothing to do with that just and upright Man, for I have had a painful experience today in a dream because of Him.

²⁰ But the chief priests and the elders prevailed on the people to ask for Barabbas, and put Jesus to death.

²¹ Again the governor said to them, Which of the two do you wish me to release for you? And they said, Barabbas!

²² Pilate said to them, Then what shall I do with Jesus Who is called Christ?

²³ They all replied, Let Him be crucified! And he said, Why? What has He done that is evil? But they shouted all the louder, Let Him be crucified!

²⁴ So when Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but rather that a riot was about to break out, he took water and washed his hands in the presence of the crowd, saying, I am not guilty of nor responsible for this ^[c]righteous Man’s blood; see to it yourselves.^(D)

²⁵ And all the people answered, Let His blood be on us and on our children!^(E)

²⁶ So he set free for them Barabbas; and he [had] Jesus whipped, and delivered Him up to be crucified.

²⁷ Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the palace, and they gathered the whole battalion about Him.

²⁸ And they stripped off His clothes and put a scarlet robe (^[d]garment of dignity and office worn by Roman officers of rank) upon Him,

²⁹ And, weaving a crown of thorns, they put it on His head and put a reed (staff) in His right hand. And kneeling before Him, they made sport of Him, saying, Hail (greetings, good health to You, long life to You), King of the Jews!

³⁰ And they spat on Him, and took the reed (staff) and struck Him on the head.

³¹ And when they finished making sport of Him, they stripped Him of the robe and put His own garments on Him and led Him away to be crucified.

³² As they were marching forth, they came upon a man of Cyrene named Simon; this man they forced to carry the cross of Jesus.

³³ And when they came to a place called Golgotha [Latin: Calvary], which means The Place of a Skull,

³⁴ They offered Him wine mingled with gall to drink; but when He tasted it, He refused to drink it.

³⁵ And when they had crucified Him, they divided and distributed His garments [among them] by casting lots ^[e]so that the prophet’s saying was fulfilled, They parted My garments among them and over My apparel they cast lots.^(F)

³⁶ Then they sat down there and kept watch over Him.

³⁷ And over His head they put the accusation against Him (^[f]the cause of His death), which read, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.

³⁸ At the same time two robbers were crucified with Him, one on the right hand and one on the left.

³⁹ And those who passed by spoke reproachfully and abusively and jeered at Him, wagging their heads,^(G)

⁴⁰ And they said, You Who would tear down the ^[g]sanctuary of the temple and rebuild it in three days, rescue Yourself ^[h]from death. If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.

⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, made sport of Him, saying,

⁴² He rescued others ^[i]from death; Himself He cannot rescue ^[j]from death. He is the King of Israel? Let Him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in and ^[k]acknowledge and cleave to Him.

⁴³ He trusts in God; let God deliver Him now if He cares for Him and will have Him, for He said, I am the Son of God.

⁴⁴ And the robbers who were crucified with Him also abused and reproached and made sport of Him in the same way.

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour (noon) there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour (three o’clock).

⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour (three o’clock) Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?—that is, My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me [leaving Me ^[l]helpless, forsaking and failing Me in My need]?^(H)

⁴⁷ And some of the bystanders, when they heard it, said, This Man is calling for Elijah!

⁴⁸ And one of them immediately ran and took a sponge, soaked it with vinegar (a sour wine), and put it on a reed (staff), and was ^[m]about to give it to Him to drink.^(I)

⁴⁹ But the others said, Wait! Let us see whether Elijah will come to save Him ^[n]from death.

⁵⁰ And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and gave up His spirit.

⁵¹ And at once the curtain of the ^[o]sanctuary of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; the earth shook and the rocks were split.^(J)

⁵² The tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep ^[p]in death were raised [to life];

⁵³ And coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

⁵⁴ When the centurion and those who were with him keeping watch over Jesus observed the earthquake and all that was happening, they were terribly frightened and filled with awe, and said, Truly this was God’s Son!

⁵⁵ There were also numerous women there, looking on from a distance, who were of those who had accompanied Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him.

⁵⁶ Among them were Mary of Magdala, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

⁵⁷ When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus.

⁵⁸ He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.

⁵⁹ And Joseph took the body and ^[q]rolled it up in a clean linen cloth ^[r]used for swathing dead bodies

⁶⁰ And laid it in his own fresh (^[s]undefiled) tomb, which he had hewn in the rock; and he rolled a big boulder over the door of the tomb and went away.

⁶¹ And Mary of Magdala and the other Mary kept sitting there opposite the tomb.

⁶² The next day, that is, the day after the day of Preparation [for the Sabbath], the chief priests and the Pharisees assembled before Pilate

⁶³ And said, Sir, we have just remembered how that ^[t]vagabond Imposter said while He was still alive, After three days I will rise again.

⁶⁴ Therefore give an order to have the tomb made secure and safeguarded until the third day, for fear that His disciples will come and steal Him away and tell the people that He has risen from the dead, and the last deception and fraud will be worse than the first.

⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, You have a guard [of soldiers; take them and] go, make it as secure as you can.

⁶⁶ So they went off and made the tomb secure by sealing the boulder, a guard of soldiers being with them and remaining to watch.

⁵ And it is true that those descendants of Levi who are charged with the priestly office are commanded in the Law to take tithes from the people—which means, from their brethren—though these have descended from Abraham.

⁶ But this person who has not their Levitical ancestry received tithes from Abraham [himself] and blessed him who possessed the promises [of God].

⁷ Yet it is beyond all contradiction that it is the lesser person who is blessed by the greater one.

⁸ Furthermore, here [in the Levitical priesthood] tithes are received by men who are subject to death; while there [in the case of Melchizedek], they are received by one of whom it is testified that he lives [perpetually].

⁹ A person might even say that Levi [the father of the priestly tribe] himself, who received tithes (the tenth), paid tithes through Abraham,

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