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.

Great Are the Lord's Works

Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees

12 In the meantime, ^(A)when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, ^(B)“Beware of ^(C)the leaven of the Pharisees, ^(D)which is hypocrisy. ^2 (E)Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ³ Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in ^(F)private rooms shall be proclaimed on ^(G)the housetops.

Have No Fear

⁴ “I tell you, my friends, ^(H)do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. ⁵ But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him ^(I)who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.^[a] Yes, I tell you, fear him! ⁶ Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?^[b] And ^(J)not one of them is forgotten before God. ⁷ Why, ^(K)even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; ^(L)you are of more value than many sparrows.

Acknowledge Christ Before Men

⁸ “And I tell you, ^(M)everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge ^(N)before the angels of God, ⁹ but ^(O)the one who denies me before men ^(P)will be denied ^(Q)before the angels of God. ¹⁰ And ^(R)everyone who speaks a word ^(S)against the Son of Man ^(T)will be forgiven, but the one who ^(U)blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. ^11 (V)And when they ^(W)bring you before the synagogues and ^(X)the rulers and ^(Y)the authorities, ^(Z)do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, ^12 (AA)for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

The Parable of the Rich Fool

^13 (AB)Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴ But he said to him, ^(AC)“Man, ^(AD)who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” ¹⁵ And he said to them, ^(AE)“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” ¹⁶ And he told them a parable, saying, ^(AF)“The land of a rich man produced plentifully, ¹⁷ and he thought to himself, ^(AG)‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ ¹⁸ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my ^(AH)barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹ And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up ^(AI)for many years; relax, ^(AJ)eat, drink, be merry.”’ ²⁰ But God said to him, ^(AK)‘Fool! ^(AL)This night ^(AM)your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, ^(AN)whose will they be?’ ²¹ So is the one ^(AO)who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

Do Not Be Anxious

²² And he said to his disciples, ^(AP)“Therefore I tell you, ^(AQ)do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ^24 (AR)Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. ^(AS)Of how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his ^(AT)span of life?^{[c] 26} If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, ^(AU)even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ²⁸ But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, ^(AV)O you of little faith! ²⁹ And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor ^(AW)be worried. ³⁰ For ^(AX)all the nations of the world seek after these things, and ^(AY)your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ Instead, ^(AZ)seek ^(BA)his^[d] kingdom, ^(BB)and these things will be added to you.

^32 (BC)“Fear not, little ^(BD)flock, for ^(BE)it is your Father's good pleasure to give you ^(BF)the kingdom. ^33 (BG)Sell your possessions, and ^(BH)give to the needy. ^(BI)Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with ^(BJ)a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ^34 (BK)For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

You Must Be Ready

^35 (BL)“Stay dressed for action^[e] and ^(BM)keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ and be like men who are ^(BN)waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and ^(BO)knocks. ^37 (BP)Blessed are those servants^[f] whom the master finds ^(BQ)awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, ^(BR)he will dress himself for service and ^(BS)have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸ If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! ^39 (BT)But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour ^(BU)the thief was coming, he^[g] would not have left his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ^(BV)ready, for ^(BW)the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, ^(BX)are you telling this parable for us or for all?” ⁴² And the Lord said, “Who then is ^(BY)the faithful and ^(BZ)wise ^(CA)manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? ^43 (CB)Blessed is that servant^[h] whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly, I say to you, ^(CC)he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master ^(CD)is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and ^(CE)get drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that servant will come ^(CF)on a day when he does not expect him and ^(CG)at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. ^47 (CH)And that servant who ^(CI)knew his master's will but ^(CJ)did not get ready ^(CK)or act according to his will, will receive a ^(CL)severe beating. ^48 (CM)But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, ^(CN)will receive a light beating. ^(CO)Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

Not Peace, but Division

^49 (CP)“I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! ^50 (CQ)I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how ^(CR)great is my distress until it is accomplished! ^51 (CS)Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? ^(CT)No, I tell you, but rather division. ⁵² For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. ⁵³ They will be divided, ^(CU)father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Interpreting the Time

⁵⁴ He also said to the crowds, ^(CV)“When you see ^(CW)a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. ⁵⁵ And ^(CX)when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be ^(CY)scorching heat,’ and it happens. ⁵⁶ You hypocrites! ^(CZ)You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?

Settle with Your Accuser

⁵⁷ “And why ^(DA)do you not judge ^(DB)for yourselves what is right? ^58 (DC)As you go with your accuser before the magistrate, make an effort to settle with him on the way, lest he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer put you in prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, ^(DD)you will never get out until you have paid the very last ^(DE)penny.”^[i]