Aaron's Staff Buds

17 ^[a] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^2 (A)“Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers' house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff, ³ and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers' house. ⁴ Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, ^(B)where I meet with you. ⁵ And the staff of the man ^(C)whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me ^(D)the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.” ⁶ Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. ⁷ And Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in ^(E)the tent of the testimony.

⁸ On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. ¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, “Put back ^(F)the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept ^(G)as a sign for the rebels, ^(H)that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” ¹¹ Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so he did.

¹² And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. ^13 (I)Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, shall die. Are we all to perish?”

Duties of Priests and Levites

18 So the Lord said to Aaron, “You and your sons and your father's house with you shall ^(J)bear iniquity connected with the sanctuary, ^(K)and you and your sons with you shall bear iniquity connected with your priesthood. ² And with you bring your brothers also, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, that they may ^(L)join you and ^(M)minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony. ³ They shall keep guard over you and ^(N)over the whole tent, ^(O)but shall not come near to the vessels of the sanctuary or to the altar ^(P)lest they, and you, die. ⁴ They shall join you and keep guard over the tent of meeting for all the service of the tent, ^(Q)and no outsider shall come near you. ⁵ And you shall ^(R)keep guard over the sanctuary and over the altar, ^(S)that there may never again be wrath on the people of Israel. ^6 (T)And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. ^(U)They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting. ⁷ And ^(V)you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and ^(W)that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift,^[b] and ^(X)any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.”

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, “Behold, ^(Y)I have given you charge of the contributions made to me, all the consecrated things of the people of Israel. I have given them to you ^(Z)as a portion and to your sons as a perpetual due. ⁹ This shall be yours of the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs, every grain offering of theirs and every ^(AA)sin offering of theirs and every ^(AB)guilt offering of theirs, which they render to me, shall be most holy to you and to your sons. ¹⁰ In a most holy place shall you eat it. Every male may eat it; it is holy to you. ¹¹ This also is yours: the contribution of their gift, all the ^(AC)wave offerings of the people of Israel. I have given them to ^(AD)you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. ^(AE)Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. ^12 (AF)All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, ^(AG)the firstfruits of what they give to the Lord, I give to you. ¹³ The first ripe fruits of all that is in their land, ^(AH)which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours. ^(AI)Everyone who is clean in your house may eat it. ^14 (AJ)Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. ^15 (AK)Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours. Nevertheless, ^(AL)the firstborn of man you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. ¹⁶ And their redemption price ^(AM)(at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels^[c] in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, ^(AN)which is twenty gerahs. ^17 (AO)But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall burn their fat as a food offering, with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁸ But their flesh shall be yours, as ^(AP)the breast that is waved and as the right thigh are yours. ^19 (AQ)All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the Lord I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. ^(AR)It is a covenant of salt forever before the Lord for you and for your offspring with you.” ²⁰ And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. ^(AS)I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

^21 (AT)“To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, ^22 (AU)so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, ^(AV)lest they bear sin and die. ²³ But ^(AW)the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, ^(AX)and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. ²⁴ For the tithe of the people of Israel, which ^(AY)they present as a contribution to the Lord, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no inheritance ^(AZ)among the people of Israel.”

²⁵ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ “Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to the Lord, ^(BA)a tithe of the tithe. ^27 (BB)And your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. ²⁸ So you shall also present a contribution to the Lord from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give the Lord's contribution to Aaron the priest. ²⁹ Out of all the gifts to you, you shall present every contribution due to the Lord; from each its best part is to be dedicated.’ ³⁰ Therefore you shall say to them, ‘When you have offered from it the best of it, ^(BC)then the rest shall be counted to the Levites as produce of the threshing floor, and as produce of the winepress. ³¹ And you may eat it in any place, you and your households, for it is ^(BD)your reward in return for your service in the tent of meeting. ³² And you shall ^(BE)bear no sin by reason of it, when you have contributed the best of it. But you shall not ^(BF)profane the holy things of the people of Israel, lest you die.’”

Laws for Purification

19 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ² “This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, ^(BG)and on which a yoke has never come. ³ And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and ^(BH)it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him. ⁴ And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and ^(BI)sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. ⁵ And the heifer shall be burned in his sight. ^(BJ)Its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned. ⁶ And the priest shall take ^(BK)cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn, and throw them into the fire burning the heifer. ⁷ Then the priest ^(BL)shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. But the priest shall be unclean until evening. ^8 (BM)The one who burns the heifer ^(BN)shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water and shall be unclean until evening. ⁹ And a man who is clean shall gather up ^(BO)the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a ^(BP)clean place. And they shall be kept for the water for ^(BQ)impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel; it is a sin offering. ¹⁰ And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer ^(BR)shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. And this shall be a perpetual statute for the people of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them.

^11 (BS)“Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. ¹² He ^(BT)shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean. ¹³ Whoever touches a dead person, the body of anyone who has died, and does not cleanse himself, ^(BU)defiles the tabernacle of the Lord, ^(BV)and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him.

¹⁴ “This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days. ¹⁵ And every ^(BW)open vessel that has no cover fastened on it is unclean. ^16 (BX)Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a ^(BY)grave, shall be unclean seven days. ¹⁷ For the unclean they shall take ^(BZ)some ashes of the burnt sin offering, and fresh^[d] water shall be added in a vessel. ¹⁸ Then a clean person shall take ^(CA)hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on whoever touched the bone, or the slain or the dead or the grave. ¹⁹ And the clean person shall sprinkle it on the unclean ^(CB)on the third day and on the seventh day. ^(CC)Thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall ^(CD)wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean.

²⁰ “If the man who is unclean does not cleanse himself, ^(CE)that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. Because the water for impurity has not been thrown on him, he is unclean. ²¹ And it shall be a statute forever for them. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. ²² And ^(CF)whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.”

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

9 ^(A)And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, ^2 (B)and he sent them out to ^(C)proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. ^3 (D)And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, ^(E)no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.^{[a] 4} And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. ⁵ And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town ^(F)shake off the dust from your feet ^(G)as a testimony ^(H)against them.” ^6 (I)And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus

^7 (J)Now ^(K)Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that ^(L)John had been raised from the dead, ^8 (M)by some that Elijah had appeared, and ^(N)by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. ⁹ Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And ^(O)he sought to see him.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹⁰ On their return ^(P)the apostles told him all that they had done. ^(Q)And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹ When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he ^(R)welcomed them and ^(S)spoke to them of the kingdom of God and ^(T)cured those who had need of healing. ¹² Now ^(U)the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, ^(V)“Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” ¹³ But he said to them, ^(W)“You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than ^(X)five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ And they did so, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^(Y)he looked up to heaven and ^(Z)said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

^18 (AA)Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹ And they answered, ^(AB)“John the Baptist. But others say, ^(AC)Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” ²⁰ Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, ^(AD)“The Christ of God.”

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (AE)And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, ^22 (AF)saying, ^(AG)“The Son of Man must ^(AH)suffer many things and ^(AI)be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on ^(AJ)the third day be raised.”

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

²³ And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^(AK)deny himself and ^(AL)take up his cross ^(AM)daily and follow me. ²⁴ For ^(AN)whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ^25 (AO)For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶ For ^(AP)whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed ^(AQ)when he comes in ^(AR)his glory and the glory of the Father and of ^(AS)the holy angels. ²⁷ But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not ^(AT)taste death ^(AU)until they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

^28 (AV)Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him ^(AW)Peter and John and James and ^(AX)went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was ^(AY)altered, and ^(AZ)his clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰ And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,^[b] which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and those who were with him ^(BA)were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake ^(BB)they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³ And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three ^(BC)tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—^(BD)not knowing what he said. ³⁴ As he was saying these things, ^(BE)a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ And ^(BF)a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, ^(BG)my Chosen One;^{[c] (BH)}listen to him!” ³⁶ And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. ^(BI)And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

^37 (BJ)On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸ And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for ^(BK)he is my only child. ³⁹ And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. ⁴⁰ And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but ^(BL)they could not.” ⁴¹ Jesus answered, “O ^(BM)faithless and twisted generation, ^(BN)how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴² While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus ^(BO)rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and ^(BP)gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And all were astonished at ^(BQ)the majesty of God.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

^(BR)But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus^[d] said ^(BS)to his disciples, ⁴⁴ “Let these words sink into your ears: ^(BT)The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” ^45 (BU)But they did not understand this saying, and ^(BV)it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Who Is the Greatest?

^46 (BW)An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷ But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side ⁴⁸ and said to them, ^(BX)“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and ^(BY)whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For ^(BZ)he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

^49 (CA)John answered, “Master, we saw someone ^(CB)casting out demons in your name, and ^(CC)we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, ^(CD)for the one who is not against you is for you.”

A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus

⁵¹ When the days drew near for ^(CE)him to be taken up, ^(CF)he set his face ^(CG)to go to Jerusalem. ⁵² And ^(CH)he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of ^(CI)the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. ⁵³ But ^(CJ)the people did not receive him, because ^(CK)his face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell ^(CL)fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”^{[e] 55} But he turned and rebuked them.^{[f] 56} And they went on to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

⁵⁷ As they were going ^(CM)along the road, ^(CN)someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹ To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ And Jesus^[g] said to him, “Leave ^(CO)the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and ^(CP)proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, ^(CQ)but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶² Jesus said to him, ^(CR)“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Book Four

From Everlasting to Everlasting

A ^(A)Prayer of Moses, the ^(B)man of God.