²⁷ The disciples returned about this time and were surprised to find Jesus talking with a woman. But none of them asked him what he wanted or why he was talking with her.

²⁸ The woman left her water jar and ran back into town, where she said to the people, ²⁹ “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! Could he be the Messiah?” ³⁰ Everyone in town went out to see Jesus.

³¹ While this was happening, Jesus' disciples were saying to him, “Teacher, please eat something.”

³² But Jesus told them, “I have food you don't know anything about.”

³³ His disciples started asking each other, “Has someone brought him something to eat?”

³⁴ Jesus said:

My food is to do what God wants! He is the one who sent me, and I must finish the work that he gave me to do. ³⁵ You may say there are still four months until harvest time. But I tell you to look, and you will see that the fields are ripe and ready to harvest.

³⁶ Even now the harvest workers are receiving their reward by gathering a harvest that brings eternal life. Then everyone who planted the seed and everyone who harvests the crop will celebrate together. ³⁷ So the saying proves true, “Some plant the seed, and others harvest the crop.” ³⁸ I am sending you to harvest crops in fields where others have done all the hard work.

³⁹ A lot of Samaritans in that town put their faith in Jesus because the woman had said, “This man told me everything I have ever done.” ⁴⁰ They came and asked him to stay in their town, and he stayed on for two days.

⁴¹ Many more Samaritans put their faith in Jesus because of what they heard him say. ⁴² They told the woman, “We no longer have faith in Jesus just because of what you told us. We have heard him ourselves, and we are certain that he is the Savior of the world!”

David's Song of Praise

(Psalms 105.1-15; 96.1-13; 106.1,47,48)

⁷ That same day, David instructed Asaph and his relatives for the first time to sing these praises to the Lord:

After David finished, the people shouted, “Amen! Praise the Lord!”

David Appoints Worship Leaders at Jerusalem and Gibeon

³⁷ David chose Asaph and the Levites in his clan to be in charge of the daily worship at the place where the sacred chest was kept. ³⁸ Obed-Edom and 68 of his relatives were their assistants, and Hosah and Obed-Edom the son of Jeduthun were the guards.

³⁹ David also chose Zadok the priest and his relatives who were priests to serve at the Lord's sacred tent at Gibeon. ⁴⁰ They were to offer sacrifices on the altar every morning and evening, just as the Lord had commanded in the Law he gave Israel. ^41 (D) Heman and Jeduthun were their assistants, as well as the other men who had been chosen to praise the Lord for his never-ending love. ⁴² Heman and Jeduthun were also responsible for blowing the trumpets, and for playing the cymbals and other instruments during worship at the tent. The Levites in Jeduthun's clan were the guards at Gibeon.

^43 (E) After that, everyone went home, and David went home to his family.

Sixth Vision: A Flying Scroll

5 When I looked the next time, I saw a flying scroll,^{[a] 2} and the angel asked, “What do you see?”

“A flying scroll,” I answered. “About nine meters long and four and a half meters wide.”

³ Then he told me:

This scroll puts a curse on everyone in the land who steals or tells lies. The writing on one side tells about the destruction of those who steal, while the writing on the other side tells about the destruction of those who lie.

⁴ The Lord All-Powerful has said, “I am sending this scroll into the house of everyone who is a robber or tells lies in my name, and it will remain there until every piece of wood and stone in that house crumbles.”

Seventh Vision: A Woman in a Basket

⁵ Now the angel who was there to explain the visions came over and said, “Look up and tell me what you see coming.”

⁶ “I don't know what it is,” was my reply.

“It's a big basket,” he said. “And it shows what everyone in the land has in mind.”^[b]

⁷ The lead cover of the basket was opened, and in the basket was a woman. ⁸ “This woman represents evil,” the angel explained. Then he threw her back into the basket and slammed the heavy cover down tight.

⁹ Right after this I saw two women coming through the sky with wings outstretched like a stork in the wind. Suddenly they lifted the basket into the air, ¹⁰ and I asked the angel, “Where are they taking the basket?”

¹¹ “To Babylonia,”^[c] he answered, “where they will build a house for the basket and set it down inside.”