Six Cities of Refuge

20 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘^[a]Designate ^(A)the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you ^[b]through Moses, ³ that the manslayer who ^[c]kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood. ⁴ He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the ^(B)gate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall ^[d]take him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them. ⁵ Now ^(C)if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand. ⁶ He shall dwell in that city ^(D)until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the manslayer shall ^[e]return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.’”

⁷ So they ^[f]set apart ^(E)Kedesh in ^[g]Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in ^(F)the hill country of Judah. ⁸ Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they ^[h]designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. ^9 (G)These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever ^[i]kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.

On Life and Conduct

Foundations for Living

3 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to ^(A)spiritual men, but as to ^(B)men of flesh, as to ^(C)infants in Christ. ² I gave you ^(D)milk to drink, not solid food; for you ^(E)were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, ³ for you are still fleshly. For since there is ^(F)jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking ^[a](G)like mere men? ⁴ For when ^(H)one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere ^(I)men?

⁵ What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? ^(J)Servants through whom you believed, even ^(K)as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. ^6 (L)I planted, ^(M)Apollos watered, but ^(N)God was causing the growth. ⁷ So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. ⁸ Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will ^(O)receive his own ^[b]reward according to his own labor. ⁹ For we are God’s ^(P)fellow workers; you are God’s ^[c](Q)field, God’s ^(R)building.

¹⁰ According to ^(S)the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder ^(T)I laid a foundation, and ^(U)another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ For no man can lay a ^(V)foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, ^[d]precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ^13 (W)each man’s work will become evident; for ^(X)the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test ^[e]the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴ If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will ^(Y)receive a reward. ¹⁵ If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet ^(Z)so as through fire.

^16 (AA)Do you not know that ^(AB)you are a ^[f]temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? ¹⁷ If any man destroys the ^[g]temple of God, God will destroy him, for the ^[h]temple of God is holy, and ^[i]that is what you are.

^18 (AC)Let no man deceive himself. ^(AD)If any man among you thinks that he is wise in ^(AE)this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For ^(AF)the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is ^(AG)the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; ²⁰ and again, “^(AH)The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.” ²¹ So then ^(AI)let no one boast in men. For ^(AJ)all things belong to you, ^22 (AK)whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or ^(AL)life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, ²³ and ^(AM)you belong to Christ; and ^(AN)Christ belongs to God.