The Nazirite Vow

6 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When either a man or a woman makes a special vow, the vow of ^(A)a Nazirite,^{[a] (B)}to separate himself to the Lord, ³ he ^(C)shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried. ⁴ All the days of his separation^[b] he shall eat nothing that is produced by the grapevine, not even the seeds or the skins.

⁵ “All the days of his vow of separation, no ^(D)razor shall touch his head. Until the time is completed for which he separates himself to the Lord, he shall be holy. ^(E)He shall let the locks of hair of his head grow long.

⁶ “All the days that he separates himself to the Lord ^(F)he shall not go near a dead body. ^7 (G)Not even for his father or for his mother, for brother or sister, if they die, shall he make himself unclean, because his separation to God is on his head. ⁸ All the days of his separation he is holy to the Lord.

⁹ “And if any man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles his consecrated head, then ^(H)he shall shave his head on the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. ^10 (I)On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two pigeons to the priest to the entrance of the tent of meeting, ¹¹ and the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead body. And he shall consecrate his head that same day ¹² and separate himself to the Lord for the days of his separation and bring a male lamb a year old ^(J)for a guilt offering. But the previous period shall be void, because his separation was defiled.

¹³ “And this is the law for the Nazirite, ^(K)when the time of his separation has been completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, ¹⁴ and he shall bring his gift to the Lord, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish ^(L)as a sin offering, and one ram without blemish ^(M)as a peace offering, ¹⁵ and a basket of unleavened bread, ^(N)loaves of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and their ^(O)grain offering and their ^(P)drink offerings. ¹⁶ And the priest shall bring them before the Lord and offer ^(Q)his sin offering and his burnt offering, ¹⁷ and he shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its grain offering and its drink offering. ¹⁸ And the Nazirite ^(R)shall shave his consecrated head at the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall take the hair from his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace offering. ¹⁹ And the priest shall take the ^(S)shoulder of the ram, when it is boiled, and one unleavened loaf out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and ^(T)shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the hair of his consecration, ²⁰ and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord. ^(U)They are a holy portion for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed. And after that the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹ “This is the law of the Nazirite. But if he vows an offering to the Lord above his Nazirite vow, as he can afford, in exact accordance with the vow that he takes, then he shall do in addition to the law of the Nazirite.”

Aaron's Blessing

²² The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus ^(V)you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

^27 (AA)“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.”

I and the Father Are One

²² At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, ²³ and Jesus was walking in the temple, ^(A)in the colonnade of Solomon. ²⁴ So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are ^(B)the Christ, ^(C)tell us plainly.” ²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. ^(D)The works that I do ^(E)in my Father's name bear witness about me, ²⁶ but ^(F)you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. ^27 (G)My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ^28 (H)I give them eternal life, and ^(I)they will never perish, and ^(J)no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, ^(K)who has given them to me,^{[a] (L)}is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of ^(M)the Father's hand. ^30 (N)I and the Father are one.”

^31 (O)The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. ³² Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” ³³ The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but ^(P)for blasphemy, because you, being a man, ^(Q)make yourself God.” ³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in ^(R)your Law, ^(S)‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵ If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be ^(T)broken— ³⁶ do you say of him whom ^(U)the Father consecrated and ^(V)sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because ^(W)I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? ^37 (X)If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; ³⁸ but if I do them, ^(Y)even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that ^(Z)the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” ^39 (AA)Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰ He went away again across the Jordan to the place ^(AB)where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. ⁴¹ And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but ^(AC)everything that John said about this man was true.” ⁴² And ^(AD)many believed in him there.

The Cloud Covering the Tabernacle

^15 (A)On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And ^(B)at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. ¹⁶ So it was always: the cloud covered it by day^[a] and the appearance of fire by night. ¹⁷ And whenever the cloud ^(C)lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. ¹⁸ At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. ^(D)As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. ¹⁹ Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel ^(E)kept the charge of the Lord and did not set out. ²⁰ Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they remained in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they set out. ²¹ And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out. ²² Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel ^(F)remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. ²³ At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. ^(G)They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.

²⁹ And Moses said to Hobab the son of ^(A)Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ^(B)‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will do good to you, for ^(C)the Lord has promised good to Israel.” ³⁰ But he said to him, “I will not go. I will depart to my own land and to my kindred.” ³¹ And he said, “Please do not leave us, for you know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will serve ^(D)as eyes for us. ³² And if you do go with us, ^(E)whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same will we do to you.”

³³ So they set out from ^(F)the mount of the Lord three days' journey. And the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them three days' journey, to seek out ^(G)a resting place for them. ^34 (H)And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, whenever they set out from the camp.

³⁵ And whenever the ark set out, Moses said, ^(I)“Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered, and let those who hate you flee before you.” ³⁶ And when it rested, he said, “Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands of Israel.”

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant^[a] of God and ^(A)an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and ^(B)their knowledge of the truth, ^(C)which accords with godliness, ^2 (D)in hope of eternal life, which God, ^(E)who never lies, ^(F)promised ^(G)before the ages began^{[b] 3} and ^(H)at the proper time manifested in his word^{[c] (I)}through the preaching ^(J)with which I have been entrusted ^(K)by the command of God our Savior;

⁴ To Titus, ^(L)my true child in ^(M)a common faith:

^(N)Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

Qualifications for Elders

^5 (O)This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and ^(P)appoint elders in every town as I directed you— ^6 (Q)if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife,^[d] and his children are believers^[e] and not open to the charge of ^(R)debauchery or insubordination. ⁷ For an overseer,^{[f] (S)}as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not ^(T)be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent ^(U)or greedy for gain, ⁸ but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, ^(V)and disciplined. ⁹ He must ^(W)hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in ^(X)sound^[g] doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

¹⁰ For there are many who are insubordinate, ^(Y)empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of ^(Z)the circumcision party.^{[h] 11} They must be silenced, since ^(AA)they are upsetting whole families by teaching ^(AB)for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. ^12 (AC)One of the Cretans,^[i] a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”^{[j] 13} This testimony is true. Therefore ^(AD)rebuke them ^(AE)sharply, that they ^(AF)may be sound in the faith, ^14 (AG)not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and ^(AH)the commands of people ^(AI)who turn away from the truth. ^15 (AJ)To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and ^(AK)unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both ^(AL)their minds and their consciences are defiled. ^16 (AM)They profess to know God, but they ^(AN)deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^(AO)unfit for any good work.

Teach Sound Doctrine

2 But as for you, teach what accords with ^(AP)sound^[k] doctrine. ² Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^(AQ)sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. ^3 (AR)Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^(AS)not slanderers ^(AT)or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, ⁴ and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled, ^(AU)pure, ^(AV)working at home, kind, and ^(AW)submissive to their own husbands, ^(AX)that the word of God may not be reviled. ⁶ Likewise, urge ^(AY)the younger men to be self-controlled. ⁷ Show yourself in all respects to be ^(AZ)a model of good works, and in your teaching ^(BA)show integrity, ^(BB)dignity, ⁸ and ^(BC)sound speech that cannot be condemned, ^(BD)so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.