Paul Accepted by the Apostles

2 Then after fourteen years, I went up again to Jerusalem,^(A) this time with Barnabas.^(B) I took Titus^(C) along also. ² I went in response to a revelation^(D) and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles.^(E) I wanted to be sure I was not running and had not been running my race^(F) in vain. ³ Yet not even Titus,^(G) who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek.^{(H) 4} This matter arose because some false believers^(I) had infiltrated our ranks to spy on^(J) the freedom^(K) we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. ⁵ We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel^(L) might be preserved for you.

⁶ As for those who were held in high esteem^(M)—whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not show favoritism^(N)—they added nothing to my message.^{(O) 7} On the contrary, they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task^(P) of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised,^[a](Q) just as Peter^(R) had been to the circumcised.^{[b] 8} For God, who was at work in Peter as an apostle^(S) to the circumcised, was also at work in me as an apostle^(T) to the Gentiles. ⁹ James,^(U) Cephas^[c](V) and John, those esteemed as pillars,^(W) gave me and Barnabas^(X) the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me.^(Y) They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles,^(Z) and they to the circumcised. ¹⁰ All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor,^(AA) the very thing I had been eager to do all along.

Paul Opposes Cephas

¹¹ When Cephas^(AB) came to Antioch,^(AC) I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before certain men came from James,^(AD) he used to eat with the Gentiles.^(AE) But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.^{(AF) 13} The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas^(AG) was led astray.

¹⁴ When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel,^(AH) I said to Cephas^(AI) in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew.^(AJ) How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?^(AK)

¹⁵ “We who are Jews by birth^(AL) and not sinful Gentiles^{(AM) 16} know that a person is not justified by the works of the law,^(AN) but by faith in Jesus Christ.^(AO) So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in^[d] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.^(AP)

¹⁷ “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners,^(AQ) doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not!^{(AR) 18} If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

¹⁹ “For through the law I died to the law^(AS) so that I might live for God.^{(AT) 20} I have been crucified with Christ^(AU) and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.^(AV) The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,^(AW) who loved me^(AX) and gave himself for me.^{(AY) 21} I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law,^(AZ) Christ died for nothing!”^[e]

Love and Obey the Lord

11 Love^(A) the Lord your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always.^{(B) 2} Remember today that your children^(C) were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God:^(D) his majesty,^(E) his mighty hand, his outstretched arm;^{(F) 3} the signs he performed and the things he did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country;^{(G) 4} what he did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots,^(H) how he overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea^[a](I) as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. ⁵ It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, ⁶ and what he did^(J) to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened^(K) its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. ⁷ But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.^(L)

⁸ Observe therefore all the commands^(M) I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,^{(N) 9} and so that you may live long^(O) in the land the Lord swore^(P) to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.^{(Q) 10} The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt,^(R) from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. ¹¹ But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys^(S) that drinks rain from heaven.^{(T) 12} It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes^(U) of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

¹³ So if you faithfully obey^(V) the commands I am giving you today—to love^(W) the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul^(X)— ¹⁴ then I will send rain^(Y) on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains,^(Z) so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. ¹⁵ I will provide grass^(AA) in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.^(AB)

¹⁶ Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them.^{(AC) 17} Then the Lord’s anger^(AD) will burn against you, and he will shut up^(AE) the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce,^(AF) and you will soon perish^(AG) from the good land the Lord is giving you. ¹⁸ Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.^{(AH) 19} Teach them to your children,^(AI) talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.^{(AJ) 20} Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates,^{(AK) 21} so that your days and the days of your children may be many^(AL) in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.^(AM)

²² If you carefully observe^(AN) all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love^(AO) the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast^(AP) to him— ²³ then the Lord will drive out^(AQ) all these nations^(AR) before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.^{(AS) 24} Every place where you set your foot will be yours:^(AT) Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River^(AU) to the Mediterranean Sea. ²⁵ No one will be able to stand against you. The Lord your God, as he promised you, will put the terror^(AV) and fear of you on the whole land, wherever you go.^(AW)

²⁶ See, I am setting before you today a blessing^(AX) and a curse^(AY)— ²⁷ the blessing^(AZ) if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; ²⁸ the curse if you disobey^(BA) the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,^(BB) which you have not known. ²⁹ When the Lord your God has brought you into the land you are entering to possess, you are to proclaim on Mount Gerizim^(BC) the blessings, and on Mount Ebal^(BD) the curses.^{(BE) 30} As you know, these mountains are across the Jordan, westward, toward the setting sun, near the great trees of Moreh,^(BF) in the territory of those Canaanites living in the Arabah in the vicinity of Gilgal.^{(BG) 31} You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession^(BH) of the land the Lord your God is giving^(BI) you. When you have taken it over and are living there, ³² be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

The New Residents of Jerusalem^(A)

11 Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten of them to live in Jerusalem,^(B) the holy city,^(C) while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns.^{(D) 2} The people commended all who volunteered to live in Jerusalem.

³ These are the provincial leaders who settled in Jerusalem (now some Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants and descendants of Solomon’s servants lived in the towns of Judah, each on their own property in the various towns,^{(E) 4} while other people from both Judah and Benjamin^(F) lived in Jerusalem):^(G)

From the descendants of Judah:

⁷ From the descendants of Benjamin:

¹⁰ From the priests:

¹⁵ From the Levites:

¹⁹ The gatekeepers:

²⁰ The rest of the Israelites, with the priests and Levites, were in all the towns of Judah, each on their ancestral property.

²¹ The temple servants^(P) lived on the hill of Ophel, and Ziha and Gishpa were in charge of them.

²² The chief officer of the Levites in Jerusalem was Uzzi son of Bani, the son of Hashabiah, the son of Mattaniah,^(Q) the son of Mika. Uzzi was one of Asaph’s descendants, who were the musicians responsible for the service of the house of God. ²³ The musicians^(R) were under the king’s orders, which regulated their daily activity.

²⁴ Pethahiah son of Meshezabel, one of the descendants of Zerah^(S) son of Judah, was the king’s agent in all affairs relating to the people.

²⁵ As for the villages with their fields, some of the people of Judah lived in Kiriath Arba^(T) and its surrounding settlements, in Dibon^(U) and its settlements, in Jekabzeel and its villages, ²⁶ in Jeshua, in Moladah,^(V) in Beth Pelet,^{(W) 27} in Hazar Shual,^(X) in Beersheba^(Y) and its settlements, ²⁸ in Ziklag,^(Z) in Mekonah and its settlements, ²⁹ in En Rimmon, in Zorah,^(AA) in Jarmuth,^{(AB) 30} Zanoah,^(AC) Adullam^(AD) and their villages, in Lachish^(AE) and its fields, and in Azekah^(AF) and its settlements. So they were living all the way from Beersheba^(AG) to the Valley of Hinnom.

³¹ The descendants of the Benjamites from Geba^(AH) lived in Mikmash,^(AI) Aija, Bethel^(AJ) and its settlements, ³² in Anathoth,^(AK) Nob^(AL) and Ananiah, ³³ in Hazor,^(AM) Ramah^(AN) and Gittaim,^{(AO) 34} in Hadid, Zeboim^(AP) and Neballat, ³⁵ in Lod and Ono,^(AQ) and in Ge Harashim.

³⁶ Some of the divisions of the Levites of Judah settled in Benjamin.

The Song of the Vineyard

Woes and Judgments

⁹ The Lord Almighty^(U) has declared in my hearing:^(V)