Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

3 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus^(A) who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.^{(B) 2} He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi,^(C) we know^(D) that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs^(E) you are doing if God were not with him.”^(F)

³ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.^[a]”^(G)

⁴ “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.^{(H) 6} Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit^[b] gives birth to spirit.^{(I) 7} You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You^[c] must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”^[d](J)

⁹ “How can this be?”^(K) Nicodemus asked.

¹⁰ “You are Israel’s teacher,”^(L) said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? ¹¹ Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know,^(M) and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.^{(N) 12} I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ever gone into heaven^(O) except the one who came from heaven^(P)—the Son of Man.^{[e](Q) 14} Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,^(R) so the Son of Man must be lifted up,^{[f](S) 15} that everyone who believes^(T) may have eternal life in him.”^[g](U)

¹⁶ For God so loved^(V) the world that he gave^(W) his one and only Son,^(X) that whoever believes^(Y) in him shall not perish but have eternal life.^{(Z) 17} For God did not send his Son into the world^(AA) to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.^{(AB) 18} Whoever believes in him is not condemned,^(AC) but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.^{(AD) 19} This is the verdict: Light^(AE) has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.^{(AF) 20} Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.^{(AG) 21} But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

John Testifies Again About Jesus

²² After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized.^{(AH) 23} Now John^(AI) also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. ²⁴ (This was before John was put in prison.)^{(AJ) 25} An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing.^{(AK) 26} They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi,^(AL) that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified^(AM) about—look, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

²⁷ To this John replied, “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’^{(AN) 29} The bride belongs to the bridegroom.^(AO) The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.^{(AP) 30} He must become greater; I must become less.”^[h]

³¹ The one who comes from above^(AQ) is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth.^(AR) The one who comes from heaven is above all. ³² He testifies to what he has seen and heard,^(AS) but no one accepts his testimony.^{(AT) 33} Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. ³⁴ For the one whom God has sent^(AU) speaks the words of God, for God^[i] gives the Spirit^(AV) without limit. ³⁵ The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.^{(AW) 36} Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life,^(AX) but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

Israel Fully Restored

45 “‘When you allot the land as an inheritance,^(A) you are to present to the Lord a portion of the land as a sacred district, 25,000 cubits^[a] long and 20,000^[b] cubits^[c] wide; the entire area will be holy.^{(B) 2} Of this, a section 500 cubits^[d] square^(C) is to be for the sanctuary, with 50 cubits^[e] around it for open land. ³ In the sacred district, measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits^[f] wide. In it will be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. ⁴ It will be the sacred portion of the land for the priests,^(D) who minister in the sanctuary and who draw near to minister before the Lord. It will be a place for their houses as well as a holy place for the sanctuary.^{(E) 5} An area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide will belong to the Levites, who serve in the temple, as their possession for towns to live in.^[g](F)

⁶ “‘You are to give the city as its property an area 5,000 cubits^[h] wide and 25,000 cubits long, adjoining the sacred portion; it will belong to all Israel.^(G)

⁷ “‘The prince will have the land bordering each side of the area formed by the sacred district and the property of the city. It will extend westward from the west side and eastward from the east side, running lengthwise from the western to the eastern border parallel to one of the tribal portions.^{(H) 8} This land will be his possession in Israel. And my princes will no longer oppress my people but will allow the people of Israel to possess the land according to their tribes.^(I)

⁹ “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have gone far enough, princes of Israel! Give up your violence and oppression^(J) and do what is just and right.^(K) Stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁰ You are to use accurate scales,^(L) an accurate ephah^[i](M) and an accurate bath.^{[j] 11} The ephah^(N) and the bath are to be the same size, the bath containing a tenth of a homer and the ephah a tenth of a homer; the homer is to be the standard measure for both. ¹² The shekel^[k] is to consist of twenty gerahs.^(O) Twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels equal one mina.^[l]

¹³ “‘This is the special gift you are to offer: a sixth of an ephah^[m] from each homer of wheat and a sixth of an ephah^[n] from each homer of barley. ¹⁴ The prescribed portion of olive oil, measured by the bath, is a tenth of a bath^[o] from each cor (which consists of ten baths or one homer, for ten baths are equivalent to a homer). ¹⁵ Also one sheep is to be taken from every flock of two hundred from the well-watered pastures of Israel. These will be used for the grain offerings, burnt offerings^(P) and fellowship offerings to make atonement^(Q) for the people, declares the Sovereign Lord. ¹⁶ All the people of the land will be required to give this special offering to the prince in Israel. ¹⁷ It will be the duty of the prince to provide the burnt offerings, grain offerings and drink offerings at the festivals, the New Moons^(R) and the Sabbaths^(S)—at all the appointed festivals of Israel. He will provide the sin offerings,^[p] grain offerings, burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to make atonement for the Israelites.^(T)

¹⁸ “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: In the first month^(U) on the first day you are to take a young bull without defect^(V) and purify the sanctuary.^{(W) 19} The priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the temple, on the four corners of the upper ledge^(X) of the altar^(Y) and on the gateposts of the inner court. ²⁰ You are to do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who sins unintentionally^(Z) or through ignorance; so you are to make atonement for the temple.

²¹ “‘In the first month on the fourteenth day you are to observe the Passover,^(AA) a festival lasting seven days, during which you shall eat bread made without yeast. ²² On that day the prince is to provide a bull as a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land.^{(AB) 23} Every day during the seven days of the festival he is to provide seven bulls and seven rams^(AC) without defect as a burnt offering to the Lord, and a male goat for a sin offering.^{(AD) 24} He is to provide as a grain offering^(AE) an ephah for each bull and an ephah for each ram, along with a hin^[q] of olive oil for each ephah.^(AF)

²⁵ “‘During the seven days of the festival,^(AG) which begins in the seventh month on the fifteenth day, he is to make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings and oil.^(AH)

46 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The gate of the inner court^(AI) facing east^(AJ) is to be shut on the six working days, but on the Sabbath day and on the day of the New Moon^(AK) it is to be opened. ² The prince is to enter from the outside through the portico^(AL) of the gateway and stand by the gatepost. The priests are to sacrifice his burnt offering^(AM) and his fellowship offerings. He is to bow down in worship at the threshold of the gateway and then go out, but the gate will not be shut until evening.^{(AN) 3} On the Sabbaths^(AO) and New Moons the people of the land are to worship in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of that gateway.^{(AP) 4} The burnt offering the prince brings to the Lord on the Sabbath day is to be six male lambs and a ram, all without defect. ⁵ The grain offering given with the ram is to be an ephah,^[r] and the grain offering with the lambs is to be as much as he pleases, along with a hin^[s] of olive oil for each ephah.^{(AQ) 6} On the day of the New Moon^(AR) he is to offer a young bull, six lambs and a ram, all without defect.^{(AS) 7} He is to provide as a grain offering one ephah with the bull, one ephah with the ram, and with the lambs as much as he wants to give, along with a hin of oil for each ephah.^{(AT) 8} When the prince enters, he is to go in through the portico^(AU) of the gateway, and he is to come out the same way.^(AV)

⁹ “‘When the people of the land come before the Lord at the appointed festivals,^(AW) whoever enters by the north gate to worship is to go out the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate is to go out the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which they entered, but each is to go out the opposite gate. ¹⁰ The prince is to be among them, going in when they go in and going out when they go out.^{(AX) 11} At the feasts and the appointed festivals, the grain offering is to be an ephah with a bull, an ephah with a ram, and with the lambs as much as he pleases, along with a hin of oil for each ephah.^(AY)

¹² “‘When the prince provides^(AZ) a freewill offering^(BA) to the Lord—whether a burnt offering or fellowship offerings—the gate facing east is to be opened for him. He shall offer his burnt offering or his fellowship offerings as he does on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate will be shut.^(BB)

¹³ “‘Every day you are to provide a year-old lamb without defect for a burnt offering to the Lord; morning by morning^(BC) you shall provide it.^{(BD) 14} You are also to provide with it morning by morning a grain offering, consisting of a sixth of an ephah^[t] with a third of a hin^[u] of oil^(BE) to moisten the flour. The presenting of this grain offering to the Lord is a lasting ordinance.^{(BF) 15} So the lamb and the grain offering and the oil shall be provided morning by morning for a regular^(BG) burnt offering.^(BH)

¹⁶ “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: If the prince makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his sons, it will also belong to his descendants; it is to be their property by inheritance.^{(BI) 17} If, however, he makes a gift from his inheritance to one of his servants, the servant may keep it until the year of freedom;^(BJ) then it will revert to the prince. His inheritance belongs to his sons only; it is theirs. ¹⁸ The prince must not take^(BK) any of the inheritance^(BL) of the people, driving them off their property. He is to give his sons their inheritance out of his own property, so that not one of my people will be separated from their property.’”

¹⁹ Then the man brought me through the entrance^(BM) at the side of the gate to the sacred rooms facing north,^(BN) which belonged to the priests, and showed me a place at the western end. ²⁰ He said to me, “This is the place where the priests are to cook the guilt offering and the sin offering^[v] and bake the grain offering, to avoid bringing them into the outer court and consecrating^(BO) the people.”^(BP)

²¹ He then brought me to the outer court and led me around to its four corners, and I saw in each corner another court. ²² In the four corners of the outer court were enclosed^[w] courts, forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide;^[x] each of the courts in the four corners was the same size. ²³ Around the inside of each of the four courts was a ledge of stone, with places for fire built all around under the ledge. ²⁴ He said to me, “These are the kitchens where those who minister at the temple are to cook the sacrifices of the people.”

The River From the Temple

47 The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water^(BQ) coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.^{(BR) 2} He then brought me out through the north gate^(BS) and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side.

³ As the man went eastward with a measuring line^(BT) in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits^[y] and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. ⁴ He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. ⁵ He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river^(BU) that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross.^{(BV) 6} He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”

Then he led me back to the bank of the river. ⁷ When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river.^{(BW) 8} He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah,^[z](BX) where it enters the Dead Sea. When it empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh.^{(BY) 9} Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live.^{(BZ) 10} Fishermen^(CA) will stand along the shore; from En Gedi^(CB) to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets.^(CC) The fish will be of many kinds^(CD)—like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea.^{(CE) 11} But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.^{(CF) 12} Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river.^(CG) Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit^(CH) fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary^(CI) flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.^(CJ)”

The Boundaries of the Land

¹³ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “These are the boundaries^(CK) of the land that you will divide among the twelve tribes of Israel as their inheritance, with two portions for Joseph.^{(CL) 14} You are to divide it equally among them. Because I swore with uplifted hand to give it to your ancestors, this land will become your inheritance.^(CM)

¹⁵ “This is to be the boundary of the land:^(CN)

²¹ “You are to distribute this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. ²² You are to allot it as an inheritance^(CZ) for yourselves and for the foreigners^(DA) residing among you and who have children. You are to consider them as native-born Israelites; along with you they are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.^{(DB) 23} In whatever tribe a foreigner resides, there you are to give them their inheritance,” declares the Sovereign Lord.^(DC)