The Lamps

24 ^(A)The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. ³ Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. ⁴ He shall arrange the lamps on the ^(B)lampstand of pure gold^[a] before the Lord regularly.

Bread for the Tabernacle

⁵ “You shall take fine flour and bake twelve ^(C)loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah^[b] shall be in each loaf. ⁶ And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, ^(D)on the table of pure gold^[c] before the Lord. ⁷ And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. ^8 (E)Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. ⁹ And ^(F)it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and ^(G)they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord's food offerings, a perpetual due.”

Punishment for Blasphemy

¹⁰ Now an Israelite woman's son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, ¹¹ and the Israelite woman's son ^(H)blasphemed the ^(I)Name, and cursed. Then they ^(J)brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. ¹² And ^(K)they put him in custody, ^(L)till the will of the Lord should be clear to them.

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^14 (M)“Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him ^(N)lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. ¹⁵ And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall ^(O)bear his sin. ¹⁶ Whoever ^(P)blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

An Eye for an Eye

^17 (Q)“Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. ^18 (R)Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good, life for life. ¹⁹ If anyone injures his neighbor, ^(S)as he has done it shall be done to him, ²⁰ fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. ^21 (T)Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, ^(U)and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. ²² You shall have the ^(V)same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the Lord your God.” ²³ So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and ^(W)they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Sabbath Year

25 ^(X)The Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, ² “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you come into ^(Y)the land that I give you, the land shall keep a Sabbath to the Lord. ³ For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, ⁴ but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. ^5 (Z)You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. ⁶ The Sabbath of the land^[d] shall provide food for you, for yourself and for your male and female slaves^[e] and for your hired worker and the sojourner who lives with you, ⁷ and for your cattle and for the wild animals that are in your land: ^(AA)all its yield shall be for food.

The Year of Jubilee

⁸ “You shall count seven weeks^[f] of years, seven times seven years, so that the time of the seven weeks of years shall give you forty-nine years. ⁹ Then you shall sound ^(AB)the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month. ^(AC)On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. ¹⁰ And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and ^(AD)proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of ^(AE)you shall return to his clan. ¹¹ That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it ^(AF)you shall neither sow nor reap ^(AG)what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines. ¹² For it is a jubilee. It shall be holy to you. ^(AH)You may eat the produce of the field.^[g]

^13 (AI)“In this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his property. ¹⁴ And if you make a sale to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, ^(AJ)you shall not wrong one another. ^15 (AK)You shall pay your neighbor according to the number of years after the jubilee, and he shall sell to you according to the number of years for crops. ¹⁶ If the years are many, you shall increase the price, and if the years are few, you shall reduce the price, for it is the number of the crops that he is selling to you. ^17 (AL)You shall not wrong one another, but you shall fear your God, for I am the Lord your God.

^18 (AM)“Therefore you shall do my statutes and keep my rules and perform them, and then ^(AN)you will dwell in the land securely. ^19 (AO)The land will yield its fruit, and ^(AP)you will eat your fill ^(AQ)and dwell in it securely. ²⁰ And if you say, ^(AR)‘What shall we eat in the seventh year, if ^(AS)we may not sow or gather in our crop?’ ²¹ I will ^(AT)command my blessing on you in the sixth year, so that it will produce a crop sufficient for three years. ^22 (AU)When you sow in the eighth year, you will be eating some of ^(AV)the old crop; you shall eat the old until the ninth year, when its crop arrives.

Unless the Lord Builds the House

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of Solomon.

The Light of the Gospel

4 Therefore, having ^(A)this ministry ^(B)by the mercy of God,^[a] we do not lose heart. ² But we have renounced ^(C)disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice^[b] cunning or ^(D)to tamper with God's word, but ^(E)by the open statement of the truth ^(F)we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. ³ And even ^(G)if our gospel is veiled, ^(H)it is veiled to ^(I)those who are perishing. ⁴ In their case ^(J)the god of this world ^(K)has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing ^(L)the light of ^(M)the gospel of the glory of Christ, ^(N)who is the image of God. ⁵ For what ^(O)we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ^(P)ourselves as your servants^[c] for Jesus' sake. ⁶ For God, who said, ^(Q)“Let light shine out of darkness,” ^(R)has shone in our hearts to give ^(S)the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Treasure in Jars of Clay

⁷ But we have this treasure in ^(T)jars of clay, ^(U)to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. ⁸ We are ^(V)afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; ⁹ persecuted, but ^(W)not forsaken; ^(X)struck down, but not destroyed; ^10 (Y)always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, ^(Z)so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies. ¹¹ For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. ¹² So ^(AA)death is at work in us, but life in you.

¹³ Since we have ^(AB)the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ^(AC)“I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, ¹⁴ knowing that ^(AD)he who raised the Lord Jesus ^(AE)will raise us also with Jesus and ^(AF)bring us with you into his presence. ¹⁵ For ^(AG)it is all for your sake, so that as ^(AH)grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, ^(AI)to the glory of God.

¹⁶ So we do not lose heart. ^(AJ)Though our outer self^[d] is wasting away, ^(AK)our inner self ^(AL)is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For ^(AM)this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, ^18 (AN)as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Our Heavenly Dwelling

5 For we know that if ^(AO)the tent that is ^(AP)our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, ^(AQ)a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this tent ^(AR)we groan, longing to ^(AS)put on our heavenly dwelling, ³ if indeed by putting it on^[e] we may not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal ^(AT)may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, ^(AU)who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.^[f]

⁶ So we are always of good courage. We know that ^(AV)while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, ⁷ for ^(AW)we walk by faith, not ^(AX)by sight. ⁸ Yes, we are of good courage, and we ^(AY)would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹ So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to ^(AZ)please him. ¹⁰ For ^(BA)we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, ^(BB)so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹¹ Therefore, knowing ^(BC)the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But ^(BD)what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. ^12 (BE)We are not commending ourselves to you again but ^(BF)giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. ¹³ For if we ^(BG)are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴ For the love of Christ ^(BH)controls us, because we have concluded this: that ^(BI)one has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵ and he died for all, ^(BJ)that those who live might no longer live for themselves but ^(BK)for him who for their sake died and was raised.

¹⁶ From now on, therefore, ^(BL)we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is ^(BM)in Christ, he is ^(BN)a new creation.^{[g] (BO)}The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ¹⁸ All this is from God, ^(BP)who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us ^(BQ)the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling^[h] the world to himself, ^(BR)not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us ^(BS)the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore, ^(BT)we are ambassadors for Christ, ^(BU)God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ^21 (BV)For our sake he made him to be sin ^(BW)who knew no sin, so that in him we might become ^(BX)the righteousness of God.

6 ^(BY)Working together with him, then, ^(BZ)we appeal to you ^(CA)not to receive the grace of God in vain. ² For he says,

Behold, ^(CC)now is the ^(CD)favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. ³ We ^(CE)put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, ⁴ but ^(CF)as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: ^(CG)by great endurance, ^(CH)in afflictions, ^(CI)hardships, calamities, ^5 (CJ)beatings, imprisonments, ^(CK)riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; ^6 (CL)by purity, ^(CM)knowledge, patience, kindness, ^(CN)the Holy Spirit, ^(CO)genuine love; ⁷ by ^(CP)truthful speech, and ^(CQ)the power of God; with ^(CR)the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; ⁸ through honor and dishonor, ^(CS)through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; ⁹ as unknown, and ^(CT)yet well known; ^(CU)as dying, and behold, we live; ^(CV)as punished, and yet not killed; ^10 (CW)as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; ^(CX)as poor, yet making many rich; ^(CY)as having nothing, ^(CZ)yet possessing everything.

¹¹ We have spoken freely to you,^[i] Corinthians; ^(DA)our heart is wide open. ¹² You are not restricted by us, but ^(DB)you are restricted in your own affections. ^13 (DC)In return (I speak ^(DD)as to children) widen your hearts also.

The Temple of the Living God

^14 (DE)Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For ^(DF)what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or ^(DG)what fellowship has light with darkness? ^15 (DH)What accord has Christ with Belial?^[j] Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For ^(DI)we are the temple of the living God; as God said,