Cities for the Levites

35 The Lord spoke to Moses in ^(A)the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ^2 (B)“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. ³ The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. ⁴ The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits^[a] all around. ⁵ And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.

⁶ “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^(C)the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. ⁷ All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^(D)forty-eight, with their pasturelands. ⁸ And as for the cities that you shall give ^(E)from the possession of the people of Israel, ^(F)from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”

Cities of Refuge

⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(G)When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ^11 (H)then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. ¹² The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. ¹³ And the cities that you give shall be your ^(I)six cities of refuge. ^14 (J)You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and ^(K)for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.

^16 (L)“But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. ¹⁷ And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. ^19 (M)The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. ²⁰ And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, ^(N)lying in wait, so that he died, ²¹ or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. ^(O)The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²² “But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him ^(P)without lying in wait ²³ or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, ²⁴ then ^(Q)the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and ^(R)the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. ²⁵ And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it ^(S)until the death of the high priest ^(T)who was anointed with the holy oil. ²⁶ But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, ²⁷ and ^(U)the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. ²⁸ For he must remain in his city of refuge ^(V)until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. ²⁹ And these things shall be for ^(W)a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

³⁰ “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the ^(X)evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. ³¹ Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. ³² And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. ³³ You shall not ^(Y)pollute the land in which you live, for blood ^(Z)pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except ^(AA)by the blood of the one who shed it. ^34 (AB)You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, ^(AC)for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

Marriage of Female Heirs

36 The heads of the fathers' houses of the clan of the ^(AD)people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel. ² They said, ^(AE)“The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and ^(AF)my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. ³ But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. ⁴ And when ^(AG)the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

⁵ And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph ^(AH)is right. ⁶ This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, ^(AI)only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. ⁷ The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel ^(AJ)shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. ⁸ And ^(AK)every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. ⁹ So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’”

¹⁰ The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses, ^11 (AL)for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father's brothers. ¹² They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's clan.

¹³ These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel ^(AM)in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

16 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had ^(A)a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. ² And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your ^(B)management, for you can no longer be manager.’ ³ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. ⁴ I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ ⁵ So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ ⁶ He said, ‘A hundred measures^[a] of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ ⁷ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures^[b] of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ ⁸ The master commended the dishonest manager for his ^(C)shrewdness. For ^(D)the sons of this world^[c] are ^(E)more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than ^(F)the sons of light. ⁹ And I tell you, ^(G)make friends for yourselves by means of ^(H)unrighteous wealth,^[d] so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

^10 (I)“One who is ^(J)faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. ¹¹ If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? ¹² And if you have not been faithful in ^(K)that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? ^13 (L)No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

The Law and the Kingdom of God

^14 (M)The Pharisees, who were ^(N)lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ^(O)ridiculed him. ¹⁵ And he said to them, “You are those who ^(P)justify yourselves before men, but ^(Q)God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men ^(R)is an abomination in the sight of God.

^16 (S)“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then ^(T)the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and ^(U)everyone forces his way into it.^{[e] 17} But ^(V)it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.

Divorce and Remarriage

^18 (W)“Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was clothed in ^(X)purple and fine linen and ^(Y)who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰ And at his gate ^(Z)was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹ who desired to be fed with ^(AA)what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² The poor man died and was carried by ^(AB)the angels ^(AC)to Abraham's side.^[f] The rich man also died and was buried, ²³ and in ^(AD)Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and ^(AE)saw Abraham far off and Lazarus ^(AF)at his side. ²⁴ And he called out, ^(AG)‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and ^(AH)cool my tongue, for ^(AI)I am in anguish in this flame.’ ²⁵ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that ^(AJ)you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ ²⁷ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— ²⁸ for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ ²⁹ But Abraham said, ‘They have ^(AK)Moses and the Prophets; ^(AL)let them hear them.’ ³⁰ And he said, ‘No, ^(AM)father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ ³¹ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear ^(AN)Moses and the Prophets, ^(AO)neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Bless the Lord, O My Soul

Of David.