Idolatry Forbidden

19 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

² “Speak to all the congregation of the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^(A)You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. ³ Every one of you ^(B)shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep ^(C)My Sabbaths; ^(D)I am the Lord your God. ⁴ Do not turn to ^(E)idols or make for yourselves cast metal ^(F)gods; I am the Lord your God.

⁵ ‘Now when you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you may be accepted. ⁶ It shall be eaten on the same day you offer it, and on the next day; but what remains until the third day shall be burned with fire. ⁷ So if it is eaten at all on the third day, it is unclean; it will not be accepted. ⁸ And everyone who eats it will bear the consequences for his guilt, because he has profaned the holy thing of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from his people.

Various Laws

⁹ ‘^(G)Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the Lord your God.

¹¹ ‘^(H)You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, ^(I)nor lie to one another. ¹² And ^(J)you shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to ^(K)profane the name of your God; I am the Lord.

¹³ ‘^(L)You shall not oppress your neighbor, nor rob him. ^(M)The wages of a hired worker are not to remain with you all night until morning. ¹⁴ You shall not curse a person who is deaf, nor ^(N)put a stumbling block before a person who is blind, but you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.

¹⁵ ‘^(O)You shall not do injustice in judgment; you shall not show partiality to the poor nor give preference to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly. ¹⁶ You shall not go about as ^(P)a slanderer among your people; and you are not to ^[a]jeopardize the ^[b](Q)life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.

¹⁷ ‘You ^(R)shall not hate your fellow countryman in your heart; you ^(S)may certainly rebuke your neighbor, but you are not to incur sin because of him. ^18 (T)You shall not take vengeance, ^(U)nor hold any grudge against the sons of your people, but ^(V)you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.

¹⁹ ‘You are to keep My statutes. You shall not cross-breed two kinds of your cattle; ^(W)you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor wear a garment of two kinds of material mixed together.

²⁰ ‘^(X)Now if a man has sexual relations with a woman who is a slave acquired for another man, but who has in no way been redeemed nor given her freedom, there shall be punishment; they shall not, however, be put to death, because she was not free. ²¹ He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord to the doorway of the tent of meeting, ^(Y)a ram as a guilt offering. ²² The priest shall also make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin which he has committed, and the sin which he has committed will be forgiven him.

²³ ‘Now when you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as ^[c]forbidden. For three years it shall be ^[d]forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten. ²⁴ And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. ²⁵ But in the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, so that its yield may increase for you; I am the Lord your God.

²⁶ ‘You shall not eat any meat ^(Z)with the blood. You shall not practice ^(AA)divination nor soothsaying. ^27 (AB)You shall not round off the ^[e]hairline of your heads, nor trim the edges of your beard. ²⁸ You shall not make any cuts in your ^[f]body for the ^[g]dead, nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.

²⁹ ‘^(AC)Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land does not fall into prostitution, and the land does not become full of outrageous sin. ³⁰ You shall ^(AD)keep My Sabbaths and ^(AE)revere My sanctuary; I am the Lord.

³¹ ‘Do not turn to ^[h](AF)mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God.

³² ‘^(AG)You shall stand up in the presence of the grayheaded and honor ^[i]elders, and you shall ^[j]fear your God; I am the Lord.

³³ ‘^(AH)When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not ^[k]do him wrong. ³⁴ The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and ^(AI)you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.

³⁵ ‘^(AJ)You shall do no wrong in judgment, in measurement of weight, or volume. ³⁶ You shall have ^(AK)accurate balances, accurate weights, an accurate ^[l]ephah, and an accurate ^[m]hin; I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt. ³⁷ So you shall keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them; I am the Lord.’”

On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “You shall also say to the sons of Israel:

‘Anyone from the sons of Israel or from the strangers residing in Israel ^(AL)who gives any of his ^[n]children to Molech, shall certainly be put to death; ^(AM)the people of the land shall stone him with stones. ³ I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his ^[o]children to Molech, ^(AN)so as to defile My sanctuary and ^(AO)to profane My holy name. ⁴ If the people of the land, however, ^[p]should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his ^[q]children to Molech, so as not to put him to death, ⁵ then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the prostitute with him, by playing the prostitute with Molech.

⁶ ‘As for the person who turns to ^[r](AP)mediums and to spiritists, to play the prostitute with them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. ⁷ You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and ^(AQ)be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸ So ^(AR)you shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

⁹ ‘^(AS)If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall certainly be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and has brought his ^[s]own death upon himself.

¹⁰ ‘^(AT)If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. ^11 (AU)If there is a man who sleeps with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both of them must be put to death, they have brought their ^[t]own deaths upon themselves. ^12 (AV)If there is a man who sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have committed ^[u]incest, and have brought their ^[v]own deaths upon themselves. ^13 (AW)If there is a man who sleeps with a male as those who sleep with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they must be put to death. They have brought their ^[w]own deaths upon themselves. ^14 (AX)If there is a man who ^[x]marries a woman and her mother, it is an outrageous sin; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no such outrageous sin in your midst. ^15 (AY)If there is a man who has sexual intercourse with an animal, he must be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. ¹⁶ If there is a woman who approaches any animal to ^[y]mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they must be put to death. They have brought their ^[z]own deaths upon themselves.

¹⁷ ‘^(AZ)If there is a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears his guilt. ^18 (BA)If there is a man who sleeps with a menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood; so both of them shall be cut off from among their people. ^19 (BB)You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has uncovered his ^[aa]blood relative; they will bear their guilt. ^20 (BC)If there is a man who sleeps with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. ^21 (BD)If there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is ^[ab]detestable; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.

²² ‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to ^[ac]live will not ^(BE)vomit you out. ²³ Furthermore, you shall not ^[ad]follow ^(BF)the customs of the nation which I am going to drive out before you, because they did all these things; ^(BG)therefore I have felt disgust for them. ²⁴ So I have said to you, “^(BH)You are to take possession of their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has ^(BI)singled you out from the peoples. ^25 (BJ)You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make ^[ae]yourselves detestable by animal or by bird, or by anything ^[af]that crawls on the ground, which I have distinguished for you as unclean. ²⁶ So you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I ^(BK)have singled you out from the peoples to be Mine.

²⁷ ‘Now a man or a woman ^(BL)who is a medium or a spiritist ^[ag]must be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones; they have brought their ^[ah]own deaths upon themselves.’”

The Fact of Christ’s Resurrection

15 Now ^(A)I make known to you, brothers and sisters, the ^(B)gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, ^(C)in which you also stand, ² by which you also are saved, ^(D)if you hold firmly to ^[a]the word which I preached to you, ^(E)unless you believed in vain.

³ For ^(F)I handed down to you ^[b]as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died ^(G)for our sins ^(H)according to the Scriptures, ⁴ and that He was buried, and that He was ^(I)raised on the third day ^(J)according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that ^(K)He appeared to ^[c](L)Cephas, then ^(M)to the twelve. ⁶ After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some ^(N)have fallen asleep; ⁷ then He appeared to ^[d](O)James, then to ^(P)all the apostles; ⁸ and last of all, as ^[e]to one untimely born, ^(Q)He appeared to me also. ⁹ For I am ^(R)the least of the apostles, ^[f]and not fit to be called an apostle, because I ^(S)persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by ^(T)the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I ^(U)labored even more than all of them, yet ^(V)not I, but the grace of God with me. ¹¹ Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

¹² Now if Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there ^(W)is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁴ and ^(X)if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, your faith also is in vain. ¹⁵ Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified ^[g]against God that He ^(Y)raised ^[h]Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised; ¹⁷ and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; ^(Z)you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then also those who ^(AA)have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If we have hoped in Christ only in this life, we are ^(AB)of all people most to be pitied.

The Order of Resurrection

²⁰ But the fact is, Christ ^(AC)has been raised from the dead, the ^(AD)first fruits of those who ^(AE)are asleep. ²¹ For since ^(AF)by a man death came, by a Man also came the resurrection of the dead. ²² For ^(AG)as in Adam all die, so also in ^[i]Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ ^(AH)the first fruits, after that ^(AI)those who are Christ’s at ^(AJ)His coming, ²⁴ then comes the end, when He hands over ^(AK)the kingdom to our ^(AL)God and Father, when He has abolished ^(AM)all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For He must reign ^(AN)until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy that will be ^(AO)abolished is death. ²⁷ For ^(AP)He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “^(AQ)All things are put in subjection,” it is clear that ^[j]this excludes the Father who put all things in subjection to Him. ²⁸ When ^(AR)all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that ^(AS)God may be all in all.

²⁹ For otherwise, what will those do who are baptized ^[k]for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized ^[l]for them? ³⁰ Why are we also ^(AT)in danger every hour? ³¹ I affirm, brothers and sisters, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, that ^(AU)I die daily. ³² If ^[m]from human motives I ^(AV)fought with wild beasts at ^(AW)Ephesus, what good is it to me? If the dead are not raised, ^(AX)let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. ^33 (AY)Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” ^34 (AZ)Sober up ^[n]morally and stop sinning, for some have ^(BA)no knowledge of God. ^(BB)I say this to your shame.

³⁵ But ^(BC)someone will say, “How are ^(BD)the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” ^36 (BE)You fool! That which you ^(BF)sow does not come to life unless it dies; ³⁷ and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of ^[o]something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body just as He wished, and ^(BG)to each of the seeds a body of its own. ³⁹ All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of mankind, another flesh of animals, another flesh of birds, and another of fish. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. ⁴¹ There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.

^42 (BH)So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown ^[p](BI)a perishable body, it is raised ^[q](BJ)an imperishable body; ⁴³ it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in ^(BK)glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; ⁴⁴ it is sown a ^(BL)natural body, it is raised a ^(BM)spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So also it is written: “The first ^(BN)man, Adam, became a living ^[r]person.” The ^(BO)last Adam was a ^(BP)life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man is ^(BQ)from the earth, ^[s](BR)earthy; the second Man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As is the earthy one, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly One, ^(BS)so also are those who are heavenly. ⁴⁹ Just as we have ^(BT)borne the image of the earthy, ^[t]we ^(BU)will also bear the image of the heavenly.

The Mystery of Resurrection

⁵⁰ Now I say this, brothers and sisters, that ^(BV)flesh and blood cannot ^(BW)inherit the kingdom of God; nor does ^[u]the perishable inherit ^[v](BX)the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold, I am telling you a ^[w](BY)mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be ^(BZ)changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for ^(CA)the trumpet will sound, and ^(CB)the dead will be raised ^[x]imperishable, and ^(CC)we will be changed. ⁵³ For this ^[y]perishable must put on ^[z](CD)the imperishable, and this ^(CE)mortal must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ But when this ^[aa]perishable puts on ^[ab]the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written: “^(CF)Death has been swallowed up in victory. ^55 (CG)Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” ⁵⁶ The sting of ^(CH)death is sin, and ^(CI)the power of sin is the Law; ⁵⁷ but ^(CJ)thanks be to God, who gives us the ^(CK)victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

^58 (CL)Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, immovable, always excelling in ^(CM)the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

Deception by the Gibeonites

9 Now it came about when ^(A)all the kings who were beyond the Jordan, in the hill country, the lowland, and on all the ^(B)coast of the Great Sea toward Lebanon, ^(C)the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard about it, ² that they met together with ^(D)one ^[a]purpose, to fight with Joshua and with Israel.

³ The inhabitants of ^(E)Gibeon also heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, ⁴ but they on their part acted craftily and went and took provisions for a journey, and took worn-out sacks on their donkeys, and wineskins that were worn out, split open, and patched, ⁵ and worn-out and patched sandals on their feet, and worn-out clothes on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and had become crumbled. ⁶ And they went to Joshua at the ^(F)camp at Gilgal and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now then, make a covenant with us.” ⁷ But the men of Israel said to the ^(G)Hivites, “Perhaps you are living ^[b]within our land; ^(H)how then are we to make a covenant with you?” ⁸ So they said to Joshua, “^(I)We are your servants.” Then Joshua said to them, “Who are you and where do you come from?” ⁹ They said to him, “Your servants have come from ^(J)a very distant country because of the ^[c]fame of the Lord your God; for ^(K)we have heard the report about Him and all that He did in Egypt, ¹⁰ and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan who was in Ashtaroth. ¹¹ So our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions in your hand for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “^(L)We are your servants; now then, make a covenant with us.”’ ¹² This bread of ours was hot when we took it for our provisions from our houses on the day that we left to come to you; but now behold, it is dry and has become crumbled. ¹³ And these wineskins which we filled were new, and behold, they are split open; and these clothes of ours and our sandals are worn out from the very long journey.” ¹⁴ So the men of Israel took some of their provisions, and ^(M)did not ask for the ^[d]counsel of the Lord. ¹⁵ And ^(N)Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live; and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.

¹⁶ However, it came about at the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were neighbors and that they were living ^[e]within their land. ¹⁷ Then the sons of Israel set out and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were ^(O)Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kiriath-jearim. ¹⁸ But the sons of Israel did not ^[f]attack them because the leaders of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. And the whole congregation grumbled against the leaders. ¹⁹ But all the leaders said to the whole congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them. ²⁰ This we will do to them, even let them live, so that wrath will not be on us because of the oath which we swore to them.” ²¹ So the leaders said to them, “Let them live.” And they became ^(P)gatherers of firewood and ^[g]labor to draw water for the whole congregation, just as the leaders had spoken to them.

²² Then Joshua called for them and spoke to them, saying, “Why have you deceived us, saying, ‘We are very far from you,’ ^(Q)when you are living ^[h]within our land? ²³ Now therefore, you are ^(R)cursed, and ^[i]you will never cease to be slaves, both gatherers of firewood and ^[j]labor to draw water for the house of my God.” ²⁴ So they answered Joshua and said, “^(S)Since your servants were fully informed that the Lord your God had commanded His servant Moses to give you all the land, and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land before you, we feared greatly for our lives because of you, and did this thing. ²⁵ And now behold, ^(T)we are in your hands; do to us as it seems good and right in your sight to do.” ²⁶ This he did to them, and saved them from the hands of the sons of Israel, and they did not kill them. ²⁷ But on that day Joshua made them gatherers of firewood and ^[k]labor to draw water for the congregation and for the altar of the Lord, to this day, ^(U)in the place which He would choose.

“Seek Me So That You May Live”

³ For this is what the Lord ^[a]God says:

⁴ For this is what the Lord says to the house of Israel:

¹⁶ Therefore this is what the Lord God of armies, the Lord says:

²⁵ “^[q](AS)Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, house of Israel? ^26 (AT)You also carried along ^[r]Sikkuth your king and ^[s]Kiyyun, your images, ^[t]the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. ²⁷ Therefore I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus,” says the Lord, whose name is the God of armies.