²⁵ “And you, Ezra, according to the God-given wisdom you possess, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River who know the laws of your God, and you shall teach those who do not know them.^(A)

¹⁰ For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach the statutes and ordinances in Israel.^(A)

Municipal Judges and Officers

¹⁸ “You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes, in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall render just decisions for the people.^(A)

⁵ If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.^(A)

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.^{(A) 18} And the fruit of righteousness^[a] is sown in peace by those who make peace.^(B)

⁷ For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.^(A)

¹⁴ But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed?^[a] And how are they to believe^[b] in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? ¹⁵ And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”^{(A) 16} But not all have obeyed the good news,^[c] for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed^[d] our message?”^{(B) 17} So faith^[e] comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.^[f]

³⁴ As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.^(A)

² “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’s seat;^{(A) 3} therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it, but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.