The Two Tablets Replaced

34 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself ^(A)two stone tablets like the former ones, and ^(B)I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you smashed. ² So be ready by morning, and come up in the morning to ^(C)Mount Sinai, and ^[a]present yourself there to Me on the top of the mountain. ³ And ^(D)no one is to come up with you, nor let anyone be seen ^[b]anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and the herds are not to graze in front of that mountain.” ⁴ So he cut out ^(E)two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses got up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and he took the two stone tablets in his hand. ⁵ And ^(F)the Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he ^[c]called upon the name of the Lord. ⁶ Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, ^(G)compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and ^[d]truth; ⁷ who ^(H)keeps faithfulness for thousands, who forgives wrongdoing, violation of His Law, and sin; yet He ^(I)will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, ^(J)inflicting the ^[e]punishment of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” ⁸ And Moses hurried ^[f](K)to bow low toward the ground and worship. ⁹ Then he said, “^(L)If in any way I have found favor in Your sight, Lord, please may the Lord go along in our midst, even though ^[g](M)the people are so obstinate, and ^(N)pardon our wrongdoing and our sin, and ^(O)take us as Your own ^[h]possession.”

The Covenant Renewed

¹⁰ Then ^[i]God said, “Behold, ^(P)I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people ^(Q)I will perform miracles which have not been ^[j]produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people ^[k]among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the Arnon border, ^[a]at the extreme end of the border. ³⁷ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send word to you to call for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really unable to honor you?” ³⁸ So Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you now! ^(A)Am I really able to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that only shall I speak.” ³⁹ And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰ Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.

⁴¹ Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to ^[b](B)the high places of Baal, and he saw from there ^[c]a ^(C)portion of the people.

The Prophecies of Balaam

23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ² Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. ³ Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.

⁴ Now God met with Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.” ⁵ Then the Lord ^(D)put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” ⁶ So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. ⁷ And he took up his discourse and said,

¹¹ Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^(L)I took you to put a curse on my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” ¹² He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak ^(M)what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

^8 [a]To sum up, ^(A)all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, ^[b](B)loving, ^(C)compassionate, and ^(D)humble; ^9 (E)not returning evil for evil or ^(F)insult for insult, but giving a ^(G)blessing instead; for ^(H)you were called for the very purpose that you would ^(I)inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For,

^13 (M)And who is ^[c]there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? ¹⁴ But even if you should ^(N)suffer for the sake of righteousness, ^(O)you ^[d]are blessed. ^(P)And do not fear their ^[e]intimidation, and do not be in dread, ¹⁵ but ^[f]sanctify ^(Q)Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready ^(R)to make a ^[g]defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the ^(S)hope that is in you, but ^(T)with gentleness and ^(U)respect; ^16 [h]and keep a ^(V)good conscience so that in the thing in which ^(W)you are slandered, those who disparage your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. ¹⁷ For ^(X)it is better, ^(Y)if ^[i]God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong. ¹⁸ For ^(Z)Christ also ^[j]suffered for sins ^(AA)once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might ^(AB)bring us to God, having been put to death ^(AC)in the flesh, but made alive ^(AD)in the ^[k]spirit; ¹⁹ in ^[l]which He also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison, ²⁰ who once were disobedient when the ^(AE)patience of God ^(AF)kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of ^(AG)the ark, in which a few, that is, ^(AH)eight ^(AI)persons, were brought safely through the water. ^21 (AJ)Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—^(AK)not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God ^[m]for a ^(AL)good conscience—through ^(AM)the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ^22 (AN)who is at the right hand of God, ^(AO)having gone into heaven, ^(AP)after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him.

The Death and Resurrection of Lazarus

11 Now a certain man was sick: Lazarus of ^(A)Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister ^(B)Martha. ² And it was the Mary who ^(C)anointed ^(D)the Lord with ^[a]ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. ³ So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, “^(E)Lord, behold, ^(F)he whom You love is sick.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard this, He said, “This sickness is not ^[b]meant for death, but is for ^(G)the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” ⁵ (Now Jesus loved ^(H)Martha and her sister, and Lazarus.) ⁶ So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. ⁷ Then after this He *said to the disciples, “^(I)Let’s go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples *said to Him, “^(J)Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking ^(K)to stone You, and yet You are going there again?” ⁹ Jesus replied, “^(L)Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks during the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in ^[c]him.” ¹¹ This He said, and after this He *said to them, “Our ^(M)friend Lazarus ^(N)has fallen asleep; but I am going so that I may awaken him from sleep.” ¹² The disciples then said to Him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will ^[d]come out of it.” ¹³ Now ^(O)Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about ^[e]actual sleep. ¹⁴ So Jesus then said to them plainly, “Lazarus died, ¹⁵ and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let’s go to him.” ^16 (P)Therefore Thomas, who was called ^[f](Q)Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s also go, so that we may die with Him!”

¹⁷ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb ^(R)four days. ¹⁸ Now ^(S)Bethany was near Jerusalem, about ^[g]fifteen stadia away; ¹⁹ and many of ^(T)the Jews had come to ^(U)Martha and Mary, ^(V)to console them about their brother. ²⁰ So then ^(W)Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but ^(X)Mary ^[h]stayed in the house. ²¹ Martha then said to Jesus, “^(Y)Lord, ^(Z)if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² Even now I know that ^(AA)whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” ²³ Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise from the dead.” ²⁴ Martha *said to Him, “^(AB)I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “^(AC)I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in Me ^(AD)will never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have come to believe that You are ^(AE)the ^[i]Christ, the Son of God, and ^[j](AF)He who comes into the world.”

²⁸ When she had said this, she ^(AG)left and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “^(AH)The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard this, she *got up quickly and came to Him.

³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but ^(AI)was still at the place where Martha met Him. ^31 (AJ)Then the Jews who were with her in the house and were ^(AK)consoling her, when they saw that Mary had gotten up quickly and left, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² So when Mary came to the place where Jesus was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “^(AL)Lord, ^(AM)if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping, and ^(AN)the Jews who came with her also weeping, He ^(AO)was deeply moved in spirit and ^[k](AP)was troubled, ³⁴ and He said, “Where have you laid him?” They *said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus ^(AQ)wept. ³⁶ So ^(AR)the Jews were saying, “See how He ^(AS)loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could this man, who ^(AT)opened the eyes of the man who was blind, not have also ^[l]kept this man from dying?”

³⁸ So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a ^(AU)cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹ Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time ^[m]there will be a stench, for he has been dead ^(AV)four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus *said to her, “^(AW)Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they removed the ^(AX)stone. And Jesus ^(AY)raised His eyes, and said, “^(AZ)Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, ^(BA)because of the ^[n]people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that ^(BB)You sent Me.” ⁴³ And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ Out came the man who had died, ^(BC)bound hand and foot with wrappings, and ^(BD)his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”