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.

Who Is the Greatest?

18 ^(A)At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them ³ and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you ^(B)turn and ^(C)become like children, you ^(D)will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ^4 (E)Whoever humbles himself like this child is the ^(F)greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

^5 (G)“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, ⁶ but ^(H)whoever causes one of these ^(I)little ones who believe in me to sin,^[a] it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Temptations to Sin

⁷ “Woe to the world for ^(J)temptations to sin!^{[b] (K)}For it is necessary that temptations come, ^(L)but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! ^8 (M)And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into ^(N)the eternal fire. ^9 (O)And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the ^(P)hell^[c] of fire.

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise ^(Q)one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven ^(R)their angels always ^(S)see the face of my Father who is in heaven.^{[d] 12 (T)}What do you think? ^(U)If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ¹⁴ So ^(V)it is not the will of my^[e] Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

If Your Brother Sins Against You

^15 (W)“If your brother sins against you, ^(X)go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have ^(Y)gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established ^(Z)by the evidence of two or three witnesses. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, ^(AA)tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^(AB)let him be to you as ^(AC)a Gentile and ^(AD)a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly, I say to you, ^(AE)whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed^[f] in heaven. ¹⁹ Again I say to you, if two of you ^(AF)agree on earth about anything they ask, ^(AG)it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three are ^(AH)gathered in my name, ^(AI)there am I among them.”

The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

²¹ Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often ^(AJ)will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? ^(AK)As many as seven times?” ²² Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

²³ “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished ^(AL)to settle accounts with his servants.^{[g] 24} When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ^(AM)ten thousand ^(AN)talents.^{[h] 25 (AO)}And since he could not pay, his master ordered him ^(AP)to be sold, with his wife and ^(AQ)children and all that he had, and payment to be made. ²⁶ So the servant^{[i] (AR)}fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ ²⁷ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and ^(AS)forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred ^(AT)denarii,^[j] and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ ³⁰ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. ³¹ When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. ³² Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ^33 (AU)And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ ^34 (AV)And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers,^{[k] (AW)}until he should pay all his debt. ^35 (AX)So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother ^(AY)from your heart.”

Lawsuits Against Believers

6 When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous ^(A)instead of the saints? ² Or do you not know that ^(B)the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? ³ Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life! ⁴ So if you have such cases, ^(C)why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church? ^5 (D)I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, ⁶ but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? ⁷ To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. ^(E)Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? ⁸ But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even ^(F)your own brothers!^[a]

⁹ Or do you not know that the unrighteous^[b] will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: ^(G)neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality,^{[c] 10} nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And ^(H)such were some of you. But ^(I)you were washed, ^(J)you were sanctified, ^(K)you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Flee Sexual Immorality

^12 (L)“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be dominated by anything. ^13 (M)“Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food”—and God will destroy both one ^(N)and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but ^(O)for the Lord, and ^(P)the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ And ^(Q)God raised the Lord and ^(R)will also raise us up ^(S)by his power. ¹⁵ Do you not know that ^(T)your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined^[d] to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, ^(U)“The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But he who is joined to the Lord ^(V)becomes one spirit with him. ^18 (W)Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin^[e] a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person ^(X)sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or ^(Y)do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? ^(Z)You are not your own, ^20 (AA)for you were bought with a price. ^(AB)So glorify God in your body.

The Collection for Christians in Jerusalem

9 Now ^(A)it is superfluous for me to write to you about ^(B)the ministry for the saints, ² for I know your readiness, ^(C)of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready ^(D)since last year. And your zeal has stirred up most of them. ³ But ^(E)I am sending^[a] the brothers so that our boasting about you may not prove empty in this matter, so that you may be ready, ^(F)as I said you would be. ⁴ Otherwise, if some Macedonians ^(G)come with me and find that you are not ready, we would be humiliated—to say nothing of you—for being so confident. ⁵ So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the ^(H)gift^[b] you have promised, so that it may be ready ^(I)as a willing gift, ^(J)not as an exaction.^[c]

The Cheerful Giver

⁶ The point is this: ^(K)whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully^[d] will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, ^(L)not reluctantly or under compulsion, for ^(M)God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And ^(N)God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency^[e] in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. ⁹ As it is written,

¹⁰ He who supplies ^(P)seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and ^(Q)increase the harvest of your righteousness. ^11 (R)You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which ^(S)through us will produce thanksgiving to God. ¹² For the ministry of this service is not only supplying ^(T)the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. ¹³ By their approval of this service, ^(U)they^[f] will glorify God because of your submission that comes from your ^(V)confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, ¹⁴ while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. ^15 (W)Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!

¹¹ But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone ^(A)who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. ¹² For what have I to do with judging ^(B)outsiders? ^(C)Is it not those inside the church^[a] whom you are to judge? ¹³ God judges^[b] those outside. ^(D)“Purge the evil person from among you.”

Retaliation

^38 (A)“You have heard that it was said, ^(B)‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I say to you, ^(C)Do not resist the one who is evil. But ^(D)if anyone ^(E)slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ⁴⁰ And ^(F)if anyone would sue you and take your tunic,^[a] let him have your cloak as well. ⁴¹ And if anyone ^(G)forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

²² In him ^(A)you also are being built together ^(B)into a dwelling place for God by^[a] the Spirit.

^16 (A)Do you not know that you^[a] are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?