The Bronze Serpent

⁴ From Mount Hor ^(A)they set out by the way to the Red Sea, ^(B)to go around the land of Edom. And the people became impatient on the way. ⁵ And the people ^(C)spoke against God and against Moses, ^(D)“Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and ^(E)we loathe this worthless food.” ^6 (F)Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and ^(G)they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. ^7 (H)And the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. ^(I)Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. ⁸ And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” ⁹ So ^(J)Moses made a bronze^[a] serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the bronze serpent and live.

16 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. ^2 (A)They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, ^(B)the hour is coming when ^(C)whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³ And they will do these things ^(D)because they have not known the Father, nor me. ⁴ But ^(E)I have said these things to you, that when ^(F)their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, ^(G)because I was with you. ⁵ But now ^(H)I am going to him who sent me, and ^(I)none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ But because I have said these things to you, ^(J)sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for ^(K)if I do not go away, ^(L)the Helper will not come to you. But ^(M)if ^(N)I go, ^(O)I will send him to you. ^8 (P)And when he comes, he will ^(Q)convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ concerning sin, ^(R)because they do not believe in me; ^10 (S)concerning righteousness, ^(T)because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ^11 (U)concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world ^(V)is judged.

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When ^(W)the Spirit of truth comes, ^(X)he will ^(Y)guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but ^(Z)whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will ^(AA)glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ^15 (AB)All that the Father has is mine; ^(AC)therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

² and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to ^(A)come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For ^(B)I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. ³ But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: ^(C)with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and ^(D)a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He shall put on ^(E)the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. ^(F)He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. ⁵ And he shall take from ^(G)the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.

⁶ “Aaron shall ^(H)offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall ^(I)make atonement for himself and for his house. ⁷ Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ⁸ And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for ^(J)Azazel.^{[a] 9} And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, ¹⁰ but the goat on which the lot fell for ^(K)Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to ^(L)Azazel.

¹¹ “Aaron shall present ^(M)the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. ¹² And he shall take ^(N)a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil ^13 (O)and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover ^(P)the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. ¹⁴ And ^(Q)he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

^15 (R)“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood ^(S)inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. ¹⁶ Thus he shall ^(T)make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. ^17 (U)No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. ¹⁸ Then he shall go out to the altar that is ^(V)before the Lord and ^(W)make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. ¹⁹ And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.

²⁰ “And when he has made an end of ^(X)atoning for the Holy Place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. ²¹ And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall ^(Y)put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness. ²² The goat shall ^(Z)bear all their iniquities on itself to a remote area, and ^(AA)he shall let the goat go free in the wilderness.

²³ “Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and ^(AB)shall take off the linen garments that he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. ²⁴ And he shall bathe his body in water in a holy place and put on his garments and come out and ^(AC)offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people.

Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

^16 (A)“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and ^(B)again a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷ So ^(C)some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ^(D)‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ^(E)‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? ^(F)We do not know what he is talking about.” ^19 (G)Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(H)you will weep and lament, but ^(I)the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but ^(J)your sorrow will turn into joy. ^21 (K)When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ^22 (L)So also you have sorrow now, but ^(M)I will see you again, and ^(N)your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ^23 (O)In that day you will ^(P)ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(Q)whatever you ask of the Father in my name, ^(R)he will give it to you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. ^(S)Ask, and you will receive, ^(T)that your joy may be full.

I Have Overcome the World

²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. ^(U)The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ^27 (V)for the Father himself loves you, because ^(W)you have loved me and ^(X)have believed that I came from God.^{[a] 28 (Y)}I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now ^(Z)I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not ^(AA)using figurative speech! ³⁰ Now we know that ^(AB)you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that ^(AC)you came from God.” ³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, ^(AD)the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when ^(AE)you will be scattered, each to his own home, and ^(AF)will leave me alone. ^(AG)Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. ³³ I have said these things to you, that ^(AH)in me you may have peace. ^(AI)In the world you will have ^(AJ)tribulation. But ^(AK)take heart; ^(AL)I have overcome the world.”