Vengeance on Midian

31 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^2 (A)“Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall ^(B)be gathered to your people.” ³ So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord's vengeance on Midian. ⁴ You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” ⁵ So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand ^(C)armed for war. ⁶ And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and ^(D)the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. ⁷ They warred against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and ^(E)killed every male. ⁸ They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, ^(F)Evi, Rekem, ^(G)Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed ^(H)Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. ⁹ And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. ¹⁰ All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their ^(I)encampments, they burned with fire, ^11 (J)and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. ¹² Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on ^(K)the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

¹³ Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴ And Moses was angry with ^(L)the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. ¹⁵ Moses said to them, “Have you ^(M)let all the women live? ¹⁶ Behold, ^(N)these, ^(O)on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of ^(P)Peor, and so ^(Q)the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. ¹⁷ Now therefore, ^(R)kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. ¹⁸ But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him ^(S)keep alive for yourselves. ^19 (T)Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and ^(U)whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. ²⁰ You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats' hair, and every article of wood.”

²¹ Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses: ²² only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, ²³ everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified ^(V)with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. ²⁴ You must ^(W)wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.”

²⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁶ “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, ²⁷ and ^(X)divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. ²⁸ And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, ^(Y)one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. ²⁹ Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord. ³⁰ And from the people of Israel's half you shall take ^(Z)one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites ^(AA)who keep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord.” ³¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³² Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, ³³ 72,000 cattle, ³⁴ 61,000 donkeys, ³⁵ and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. ³⁶ And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, ³⁷ and ^(AB)the Lord's tribute of sheep was 675. ³⁸ The cattle were 36,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 72. ³⁹ The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord's tribute was 61. ⁴⁰ The persons were 16,000, of which the Lord's tribute was 32 persons. ⁴¹ And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the Lord, to Eleazar the priest, ^(AC)as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴² From the people of Israel's half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army— ⁴³ now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴ 36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵ and 30,500 donkeys, ⁴⁶ and 16,000 persons— ^47 (AD)from the people of Israel's half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁴⁸ Then ^(AE)the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses ⁴⁹ and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. ⁵⁰ And we have brought the Lord's offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, ^(AF)to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” ⁵¹ And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. ⁵² And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the Lord, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels.^{[a] 53 (AG)}(The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) ⁵⁴ And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, ^(AH)as a memorial for the people of Israel before the Lord.

Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead

32 Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of ^(AI)Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. ² So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, ^3 (AJ)“Ataroth, ^(AK)Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, ^(AL)Nebo, and Beon, ⁴ the land ^(AM)that the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” ⁵ And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.”

⁶ But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? ⁷ Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the Lord has given them? ⁸ Your fathers did this, ^(AN)when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. ⁹ For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the Lord had given them. ^10 (AO)And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, ¹¹ ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, ^(AP)from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give ^(AQ)to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, ¹² none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the ^(AR)Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for ^(AS)they have wholly followed the Lord.’ ¹³ And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them ^(AT)wander in the wilderness forty years, until ^(AU)all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. ¹⁴ And behold, you have risen in your fathers' place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel! ¹⁵ For if you ^(AV)turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”

¹⁶ Then they came near to him and said, ^(AW)“We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, ¹⁷ but ^(AX)we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. ^18 (AY)We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. ¹⁹ For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, ^(AZ)because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.” ²⁰ So ^(BA)Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the Lord for the war, ²¹ and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord, until he has ^(BB)driven out his enemies from before him ²² and the land is subdued before the Lord; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and ^(BC)this land shall be your possession before the Lord. ²³ But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and ^(BD)be sure your sin will find you out. ^24 (BE)Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.” ²⁵ And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. ^26 (BF)Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead, ^27 (BG)but your servants will pass over, every man who is ^(BH)armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord orders.”

²⁸ So ^(BI)Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to ^(BJ)Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. ²⁹ And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the Lord, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. ³⁰ However, if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” ³¹ And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben answered, “What the Lord has said to your servants, we will do. ³² We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.”

³³ And ^(BK)Moses gave to them, to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country. ³⁴ And the people of Gad built ^(BL)Dibon, ^(BM)Ataroth, ^(BN)Aroer, ³⁵ Atroth-shophan, ^(BO)Jazer, Jogbehah, ^36 (BP)Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran, ^(BQ)fortified cities, and folds for sheep. ³⁷ And the people of Reuben built ^(BR)Heshbon, ^(BS)Elealeh, Kiriathaim, ^38 (BT)Nebo, and ^(BU)Baal-meon (^(BV)their names were changed), and ^(BW)Sibmah. And they gave other names to the cities that they built. ³⁹ And the sons of ^(BX)Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰ And Moses ^(BY)gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it. ⁴¹ And ^(BZ)Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.^{[b] 42} And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

20 ^(A)One day, ^(B)as Jesus^[a] was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, ^(C)the chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up ² and said to him, “Tell us ^(D)by what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” ³ He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, ⁴ was the baptism of John ^(E)from heaven or from man?” ⁵ And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ^(F)‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was ^(G)a prophet.” ⁷ So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

^9 (H)And he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted ^(I)a vineyard and ^(J)let it out to tenants and ^(K)went into another country for a long while. ¹⁰ When the time came, he sent a servant^[b] to the tenants, so that ^(L)they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. ^(M)But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ^11 (N)And ^(O)he sent another servant. But they also beat and ^(P)treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ^12 (Q)And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. ¹³ Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my ^(R)beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ ¹⁴ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ^(S)‘This is the heir. ^(T)Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ ¹⁵ And they ^(U)threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ^16 (V)He will ^(W)come and destroy those tenants and ^(X)give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” ¹⁷ But he ^(Y)looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

^18 (AA)Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls ^(AB)on anyone, it will crush him.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

^19 (AC)The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. ^20 (AD)So they ^(AE)watched him and sent spies, who ^(AF)pretended to be sincere, that they might ^(AG)catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of ^(AH)the governor. ²¹ So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and ^(AI)show no partiality,^[d] but truly teach ^(AJ)the way of God. ²² Is it lawful for us to give ^(AK)tribute to ^(AL)Caesar, or not?” ²³ But he perceived their ^(AM)craftiness, and said to them, ²⁴ “Show me ^(AN)a denarius.^[e] Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar's.” ²⁵ He said to them, “Then ^(AO)render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” ²⁶ And they were not able in the presence of the people ^(AP)to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

²⁷ There came to him ^(AQ)some Sadducees, ^(AR)those who deny that there is a resurrection, ²⁸ and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us ^(AS)that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man^[f] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁹ Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. ³⁰ And the second ³¹ and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. ³² Afterward the woman also died. ³³ In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

³⁴ And Jesus said to them, ^(AT)“The sons of this age ^(AU)marry and ^(AV)are given in marriage, ³⁵ but those who are ^(AW)considered worthy to attain to ^(AX)that age and to the resurrection from the dead ^(AY)neither marry ^(AZ)nor are given in marriage, ³⁶ for ^(BA)they cannot die anymore, because they are ^(BB)equal to angels and ^(BC)are ^(BD)sons of God, being ^(BE)sons^[g] of the resurrection. ³⁷ But that the dead are raised, ^(BF)even Moses showed, in ^(BG)the passage about the bush, where he calls ^(BH)the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. ³⁸ Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all ^(BI)live to him.” ³⁹ Then some of the scribes ^(BJ)answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” ⁴⁰ For ^(BK)they no longer dared to ask him any question.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

^41 (BL)But he said to them, “How can they say that ^(BM)the Christ is ^(BN)David's son? ⁴² For David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

⁴⁴ David thus calls him Lord, so ^(BQ)how is he his son?”

Beware of the Scribes

^45 (BR)And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, ⁴⁶ “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and ^(BS)the places of honor at feasts, ^47 (BT)who devour widows' houses and ^(BU)for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”