Arad Conquered

21 When the Canaanite, the king of ^(A)Arad, who lived in the ^[a]Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them captive. ² So ^(B)Israel made a vow to the Lord and said, “If You will indeed hand over this people to me, then I will ^[b]utterly destroy their cities.” ³ The Lord heard the voice of Israel and turned over the Canaanites; then they ^[c]utterly destroyed them and their cities. And the place was named ^[d](C)Hormah.

⁴ Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the ^[e]Red Sea, to ^(D)go around the land of Edom; and the ^[f]people became impatient because of the journey. ⁵ So the people spoke against God and Moses: “^(E)Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no ^[g]food and no water, and ^[h](F)we are disgusted with ^[i]this miserable food.”

The Bronze Serpent

^6 (G)Then the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and ^(H)they bit the people, so that ^(I)many people of Israel died. ^7 (J)So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and against you; ^(K)intercede with the Lord, that He will remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. ⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “^[j]Make a ^(L)fiery serpent, and put it on a flag pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, and looks at it, will live.” ⁹ So Moses made a ^(M)bronze serpent and put it on the flag pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit someone, and he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

^10 (N)Now the sons of Israel moved out and camped in Oboth. ¹¹ Then they journeyed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is opposite Moab, to the ^[k]east. ^12 (O)From there they set out and camped in ^[l]Wadi Zered. ¹³ From there they journeyed and camped on the other side of the Arnon, which is in the wilderness that comes out of the border of the Amorites; ^(P)for the Arnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴ For that reason it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord,

^16 (R)From there they continued to ^[n]Beer, that is the well where the Lord said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may give them water.”

^17 (S)Then Israel sang this song:

And from the wilderness they continued to Mattanah, ¹⁹ and from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth, ²⁰ and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the land of Moab, at the top of Pisgah, which overlooks the ^[o]desert.

Two Victories

^21 (T)Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying, ²² “^(U)Let me pass through your land. We will not turn off into field or vineyard; we will not drink water from wells. We will go by the king’s road until we have passed through your border.” ^23 (V)But Sihon would not permit Israel to pass through his border. Instead, Sihon gathered all his people and went out against Israel in the wilderness, and came to ^(W)Jahaz and fought against Israel. ²⁴ Then ^(X)Israel struck him with the edge of the sword, and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the sons of Ammon; for the ^(Y)border of the sons of Ammon was ^[p]Jazer. ²⁵ Israel took all these cities, and ^(Z)Israel lived in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon and in all her ^[q]villages. ²⁶ For Heshbon was the city of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all his land out of his hand, as far as the Arnon. ²⁷ For that reason those who use proverbs say,

³¹ So Israel lived in the land of the Amorites. ³² Now Moses sent men to spy out ^(AI)Jazer, and they captured its villages and dispossessed the Amorites who were there.

^33 (AJ)Then they turned and went up by the way of Bashan, and Og the king of Bashan went out against them ^[t]with all his people, for battle at ^(AK)Edrei. ³⁴ But the Lord said to Moses, “^(AL)Do not fear him, for I have handed him over to you, and all his people and his land; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon.” ³⁵ So ^(AM)they ^[u]killed him and his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor left; and they took possession of his land.

Balak Sends for Balaam

22 ^(AN)Then the sons of Israel journeyed on, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.

² Now ^(AO)Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. ^3 (AP)So Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel. ⁴ Moab said to the elders of ^(AQ)Midian, “Now this ^[v]horde will eat up all that is around us, as the ox eats up the grass of the field!” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. ⁵ So he sent messengers to ^(AR)Balaam the son of Beor, at ^(AS)Pethor, which is near the Euphrates River, in the land of the sons of his people, to call for him, saying, “Behold, a people came out of Egypt; behold, they have covered the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me. ^6 (AT)Now, therefore, please come, ^(AU)curse this people for me since they are too ^[w]mighty for me; perhaps I will be able to ^[x]defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”

⁷ So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian left with the fees for ^(AV)divination in their hands; and they came to Balaam and ^[y]repeated Balak’s words to him. ⁸ And he said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring word back to you just as the Lord may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. ⁹ Then ^(AW)God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” ¹⁰ Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent word to me: ¹¹ ‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt, and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” ¹² But God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; ^(AX)you shall not curse the people, for they ^(AY)are blessed.” ¹³ So Balaam got up in the morning and said to Balak’s representatives, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” ¹⁴ And the representatives from Moab got up and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

¹⁵ Then Balak sent representatives once again, more numerous and more distinguished than ^[z]the previous. ¹⁶ They came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak the son of Zippor says: ‘I beg you, let nothing keep you from coming to me; ¹⁷ for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you tell me. ^(AZ)Please come then, curse this people for me.’” ¹⁸ But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “^(BA)Even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the ^[aa]command of the Lord my God. ¹⁹ Now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the Lord will say to me.” ²⁰ And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise and go with them; but you shall do ^(BB)only the thing that I tell you.”

^21 (BC)So Balaam arose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the leaders of Moab.

The Angel and Balaam

²² But God was angry that he was going, ^(BD)and the angel of the Lord took his stand in the road as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. ²³ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand, the donkey turned off from the road and went into the field; and Balaam struck the donkey to guide her back onto the road. ²⁴ Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a stone wall on this side and on that side. ²⁵ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she pressed herself against the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck her again. ²⁶ Then the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right or to the left. ²⁷ When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam; so ^(BE)Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his staff. ²⁸ Then ^(BF)the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” ²⁹ And Balaam said to the donkey, “It is because you have made a mockery of me! If only there had been a sword in my hand! For ^(BG)I would have killed you by now!” ³⁰ But the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been in the habit of doing such a thing to you?” And he said, “No.”

³¹ Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw ^(BH)the angel of the Lord standing in the way with his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed ^[ab]all the way to the ground. ³² Then the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way was ^(BI)reckless and contrary to me. ³³ But the donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If she had not turned away from me, I certainly would have killed you just now, and let her live.” ³⁴ So Balaam said to the angel of the Lord, “^(BJ)I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. Now then, if it is displeasing to you, I will turn back.” ³⁵ But the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but ^(BK)you shall speak only the word that I ^[ac]tell you.” So Balaam went along with the representatives of Balak.

³⁶ When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the Arnon border, ^[ad]at the extreme end of the border. ³⁷ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send word to you to call for you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really unable to honor you?” ³⁸ So Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come to you now! ^(BL)Am I really able to speak anything? The word that God puts in my mouth, that only shall I speak.” ³⁹ And Balaam went with Balak, and they came to Kiriath-huzoth. ⁴⁰ Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and the leaders who were with him.

⁴¹ Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to ^[ae](BM)the high places of Baal, and he saw from there ^[af]a ^(BN)portion of the people.

The Prophecies of Balaam

23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ² Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. ³ Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.

⁴ Now God met with Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.” ⁵ Then the Lord ^(BO)put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” ⁶ So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. ⁷ And he took up his discourse and said,

¹¹ Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^(BW)I took you to put a curse on my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” ¹² He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak ^(BX)what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

¹³ Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from where you may see them, although you will only see the extreme end of them and will not see all of them; and put a curse on them for me from there.” ¹⁴ So he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and he built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. ¹⁵ Then he said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering while I myself meet the Lord over there.” ¹⁶ Then the Lord met Balaam and ^(BY)put a word in his mouth, and said, “Return to Balak, and this is what you shall speak.” ¹⁷ So he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” ¹⁸ Then he took up his discourse and said,

²⁵ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all nor bless them at all!” ²⁶ But Balaam replied to Balak, “Did I not tell you, ‘^[ah](CL)Whatever the Lord speaks, I must do’?”

²⁷ Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will be ^[ai]agreeable with God that you curse them for me from there.” ²⁸ So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the ^[aj]desert. ²⁹ And Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” ³⁰ Balak did just as Balaam had said, and offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.

Teaching at Nazareth

6 ^(A)Jesus went out from there and *came into ^[a](B)His hometown; and His disciples *followed Him. ² And when the Sabbath came, He began ^(C)to teach in the synagogue; and ^[b]the ^(D)many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man learn these things, and what is this wisdom that has been given to Him, and such ^[c]miracles as these performed by His hands? ³ Is this not ^(E)the carpenter, ^(F)the son of Mary and brother of ^[d]James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are ^(G)His sisters not here with us?” And they took ^(H)offense at Him. ⁴ Jesus said to them, “^(I)A prophet is not dishonored except in ^[e](J)his hometown and among his own relatives, and in his own household.” ⁵ And He could not do any ^[f]miracle there except that He ^(K)laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He was amazed at their unbelief.

^(L)And He was going around the villages, teaching.

The Twelve Sent Out

^7 (M)And ^(N)He *summoned the twelve and began to send them out ^(O)in pairs, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits; ^8 (P)and He instructed them that they were to take nothing for their journey, except a mere staff—no bread, no ^[g]bag, no money in their belt— ⁹ but ^[h]to wear sandals; and He added, “Do not wear two ^[i]tunics.” ¹⁰ And He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you ^[j]leave town. ¹¹ Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, ^(Q)shake the dust ^[k]off the soles of your feet as a testimony against them.” ^12 (R)And they went out and ^[l]preached that people are to repent. ¹³ And they were casting out many demons and ^(S)were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.

John’s Fate Recalled

^14 (T)And King Herod heard about it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “^(U)John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” ¹⁵ But others were saying, “He is ^(V)Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is ^(W)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” ¹⁶ But when Herod heard about it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”

¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent men and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of ^(X)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “^(Y)It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ And ^(Z)Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death, and could not do so; ²⁰ for ^(AA)Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he had been protecting him. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; and yet he ^[m]used to enjoy listening to him. ²¹ An opportune day came when Herod, on his birthday, ^(AB)held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders, and the leading people ^(AC)of Galilee; ²² and when the daughter of ^(AD)Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and ^[n]his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” ²³ And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, up to ^(AE)half of my kingdom.” ²⁴ And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” ²⁵ Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” ²⁶ And although the king was very sorry, because of his oaths and ^[o]his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, ²⁸ and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard about this, they came and carried away his body, and laid it in a tomb.

^30 (AF)The ^(AG)apostles *gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ And He *said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and ^(AH)they did not even have time to eat.) ^32 (AI)And they went away in ^(AJ)the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

Five Thousand Men Fed

³³ The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ When Jesus went ^[p]ashore, He ^(AK)saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because ^(AL)they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. ³⁵ And when it was already late, His disciples came up to Him and said, “^[q]This place is secluded and it is already late; ³⁶ send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves ^[r]something to eat.” ³⁷ But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” ^(AM)And they *said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred ^[s](AN)denarii on bread, and give it to them to eat?” ³⁸ But He *said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they *said, “Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ And He ordered them all to recline by groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ They reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He ^(AO)blessed the food and broke the loaves and He gave them to the disciples again and again to set before them; and He divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² And they all ate and were satisfied; ⁴³ and they picked up twelve full ^(AP)baskets of the broken pieces of bread, and of the fish. ⁴⁴ There were ^(AQ)five thousand ^[t]men who ate the loaves.

Jesus Walks on the Water

^45 (AR)And immediately Jesus had His disciples get into ^(AS)the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, to ^(AT)Bethsaida, while He Himself *dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ And after ^(AU)saying goodbye to them, He left ^(AV)for the mountain to pray.

⁴⁷ When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ Seeing them ^[u]straining at the oars—for the wind was against them—at about the ^[v](AW)fourth watch of the night, He *came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. ⁴⁹ But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost, and they cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were ^[w]terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and *said to them, “^(AX)Take courage; it is I, ^(AY)do not be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then He got into ^(AZ)the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished, ⁵² for ^(BA)they ^[x]had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but ^[y]their hearts ^(BB)were hardened.

Healing at Gennesaret

^53 (BC)When they had crossed over they came to land at Gennesaret, and moored at the shore. ⁵⁴ And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized Him, ⁵⁵ and ran about that entire country and began carrying here and there on their pallets those who were sick, ^[z]to wherever they heard He was. ⁵⁶ And wherever He entered villages, or cities, or a countryside, they were laying the sick in the marketplaces and imploring Him that they might just ^(BD)touch ^(BE)the fringe of His cloak; and all who touched it were being ^[aa]healed.

Followers of Tradition

7 ^(BF)The Pharisees and some of the scribes *gathered to Him after they came ^(BG)from Jerusalem, ² and saw that some of His disciples were eating their bread with ^[ab](BH)unholy hands, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the other Jews do not eat unless they ^[ac]carefully wash their hands, thereby holding firmly to the ^(BI)tradition of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they ^[ad]completely cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received as traditions to firmly hold, such as the ^[ae]washing of ^(BJ)cups, pitchers, and copper pots.) ⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk in accordance with the ^(BK)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with ^(BL)[af]unholy hands?” ⁶ But He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:

⁸ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the ^(BO)tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your ^(BP)tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘^(BQ)Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘^(BR)The one who speaks evil of father or mother, is ^[ag]certainly to be put to death’; ¹¹ but you say, ‘If a person says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is ^(BS)Corban (that is, ^[ah]given to God),’ ¹² you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother; ¹³ thereby invalidating the word of God by your ^(BT)tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁴ After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside the person which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which come out of the person are what defile the person^[ai].”

¹⁷ And when He later entered a house, away from the crowd, ^(BU)His disciples asked Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He *said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding as well? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and ^[aj]is eliminated?” (Thereby He declared ^(BV)all foods ^(BW)clean.) ²⁰ And He was saying, “^(BX)That which comes out of the person, that is what defiles the person. ²¹ For from within, out of the ^[ak]hearts of people, come the evil thoughts, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, acts of adultery, ²² deeds of greed, wickedness, deceit, indecent behavior, ^[al](BY)envy, slander, ^[am]pride, and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and defile the person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman

^24 (BZ)Now Jesus got up and went from there to the region of ^(CA)Tyre^[an]. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know about it; and yet He could not escape notice. ²⁵ But after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. ²⁶ Now the woman was a ^[ao]Gentile, of Syrophoenician descent. And she repeatedly asked Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not ^[ap]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the ^[aq]dogs.” ²⁸ But she answered and *said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹ And He said to her, “Because of this ^[ar]answer, go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” ³⁰ And after going back to her home, she found the child ^[as]lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

^31 (CB)Again He left the region of ^(CC)Tyre and came through Sidon to ^(CD)the Sea of Galilee, within the region of ^(CE)Decapolis. ³² And they *brought to Him one who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they *begged Him to ^(CF)lay His hand on him. ³³ And Jesus ^(CG)took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers in his ears, and after ^(CH)spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; ³⁴ and looking up to heaven with a deep ^(CI)sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” ³⁵ And his ears were opened, and the ^[at]impediment of his tongue was ^[au]removed, and he began speaking plainly. ³⁶ And ^(CJ)He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they ^(CK)continued to proclaim it. ³⁷ And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even those who are deaf hear, and those who are unable to talk, speak.”