Boundaries of the Promised Land

34 The Lord spoke to Moses, ² “Command the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, it will be allotted to you as an inheritance^[a] with these borders:

³ Your southern side will be from the Wilderness of Zin along the boundary of Edom. Your southern border on the east will begin at the east end of the Dead Sea. ⁴ Your border will turn south of the Scorpions’ Ascent,^[b] proceed to Zin, and end south of Kadesh-barnea. It will go to Hazar-addar and proceed to Azmon.^{(A) 5} The border will turn from Azmon^(B) to the Brook of Egypt,^(C) where it will end at the Mediterranean Sea.

⁶ Your western border will be the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea; this will be your western border.

⁷ This will be your northern border: From the Mediterranean Sea draw a line to Mount Hor;^{(D) 8} from Mount Hor draw a line to the entrance of Hamath,^[c](E) and the border will reach Zedad.^{(F) 9} Then the border will go to Ziphron and end at Hazar-enan.^(G) This will be your northern border.

¹⁰ For your eastern border, draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham. ¹¹ The border will go down from Shepham to Riblah east of Ain.^(H) It will continue down and reach the eastern slope of the Sea of Chinnereth.^{[d](I) 12} Then the border will go down to the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea. This will be your land defined by its borders on all sides.”

¹³ So Moses commanded the Israelites, “This is the land you are to receive by lot as an inheritance, which the Lord commanded to be given to the nine and a half tribes. ¹⁴ For the tribe of Reuben’s descendants and the tribe of Gad’s descendants have received their inheritance according to their ancestral families,^[e] and half the tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance. ¹⁵ The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance^(J) across the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

Leaders for Distributing the Land

¹⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses, ¹⁷ “These are the names of the men who are to distribute the land as an inheritance for you: the priest Eleazar and Joshua son of Nun. ¹⁸ Take one leader from each tribe to distribute the land. ¹⁹ These are the names of the men:

²⁹ These are the ones the Lord commanded to distribute the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

Cities for the Levites

35 The Lord again spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:^{(L) 2} “Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.^{(M) 3} The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other animals. ⁴ The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites will extend from the city wall five hundred yards^[f] on every side. ⁵ Measure a thousand yards^[g] outside the city for the east side, a thousand yards for the south side, a thousand yards for the west side, and a thousand yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the cities.

⁶ “The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge,^(N) which you will provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give forty-two other cities.^{(O) 7} The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, along with their pasturelands.^{(P) 8} Of the cities that you give from the Israelites’ territory, you should take more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.^(Q) Each tribe is to give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance it receives.”

Cities of Refuge

⁹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.^{(R) 12} You will have the cities as a refuge from the avenger,^(S) so that the one who kills someone will not die until he stands trial before the assembly. ¹³ The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. ¹⁴ Select three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan to be cities of refuge.^{(T) 15} These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the alien or temporary resident among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

¹⁶ “If anyone strikes a person with an iron object and death results, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.^{(U) 17} If anyone has in his hand a stone capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must be put to death. ¹⁸ If anyone has in his hand a wooden object capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must be put to death. ¹⁹ The avenger of blood himself is to kill the murderer; when he finds him, he is to kill him.^{(V) 20} Likewise, if anyone in hatred pushes a person or throws an object at him with malicious intent and he dies, ²¹ or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood is to kill the murderer when he finds him.

²² “But if anyone suddenly pushes a person without hostility or throws any object at him without malicious intent ²³ or without looking drops a stone that could kill a person and he dies, but he was not his enemy and didn’t intend to harm him, ²⁴ the assembly is to judge between the person who kills someone and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. ²⁵ The assembly is to protect the one who kills someone from the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge he fled to, and he must live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.^(W)

²⁶ “If the one who kills someone ever goes outside the border of the city of refuge he fled to, ²⁷ and the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills him, the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed, ²⁸ for the one who killed a person was supposed to live in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may the one who has killed a person return to the land he possesses. ²⁹ These instructions will be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations wherever you live.

³⁰ “If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death based on the word of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of one witness.^{(X) 31} You are not to accept a ransom for the life of someone who is guilty of murder; he must be put to death. ³² Neither should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to his city of refuge, allowing him to return and live in the land before the death of the high priest.

³³ “Do not defile the land where you live, for bloodshed defiles the land,^(Y) and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it. ³⁴ Do not make the land unclean where you live and where I dwell; for I, the Lord, reside among the Israelites.”

The Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters

36 The family heads from the clan of the descendants of Gilead—the son of Machir, son of Manasseh^(Z)—who were from the clans of the sons of Joseph, approached and addressed Moses and the leaders who were heads of the Israelite families. ² They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites. My lord was further commanded by the Lord to give our brother Zelophehad’s inheritance to his daughters.^{(AA) 3} If they marry any of the men from the other Israelite tribes, their inheritance will be taken away from our fathers’ inheritance and added to that of the tribe into which they marry. Therefore, part of our allotted inheritance would be taken away. ⁴ When the Jubilee^(AB) comes for the Israelites, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”

⁵ So Moses commanded the Israelites at the word of the Lord, “What the tribe of Joseph’s descendants says is right. ⁶ This is what the Lord has commanded concerning Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they like provided they marry within a clan of their ancestral tribe. ⁷ No inheritance belonging to the Israelites is to transfer from tribe to tribe, because each of the Israelites is to retain the inheritance of his ancestral tribe.^{(AC) 8} Any daughter who possesses an inheritance from an Israelite tribe must marry someone from the clan of her ancestral tribe, so that each of the Israelites will possess the inheritance of his fathers. ⁹ No inheritance is to transfer from one tribe to another, because each of the Israelite tribes is to retain its inheritance.”

¹⁰ The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses. ¹¹ Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married cousins on their father’s side. ¹² They married men from the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan.

¹³ These are the commands and ordinances the Lord commanded the Israelites through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.

The Temptation of Jesus

4 Then Jesus^(A) left the Jordan,^(B) full of the Holy Spirit,^(C) and was led by the Spirit^(D) in the wilderness ² for forty days^(E) to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry. ³ The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

⁴ But Jesus answered him, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone.”^[a][b](F)

⁵ So he took him up^[c] and showed him all the kingdoms of the world^(G) in a moment of time. ⁶ The devil said to him, “I will give you their splendor and all this authority, because it has been given over to me,^(H) and I can give it to anyone I want. ⁷ If you, then, will worship me,^[d] all will be yours.”

⁸ And Jesus answered him,^[e] “It is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve^[f] him only.”^(I)

⁹ So he took him to Jerusalem, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here. ¹⁰ For it is written:

¹² And Jesus answered him, “It is said: Do not test the Lord your God.”^[i](L)

¹³ After the devil had finished every temptation, he departed from him for a time.

Ministry in Galilee

¹⁴ Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,^(M) and news about him spread throughout the entire vicinity.^{(N) 15} He was teaching in their synagogues,^(O) being praised^[j] by everyone.

Rejection at Nazareth

¹⁶ He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up.^(P) As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day^(Q) and stood up to read.^{(R) 17} The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written:

²⁰ He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.^(T) And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”^(U)

²² They were all speaking well of him^[n] and were amazed by the gracious words that came from his mouth; yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” ^(V)

²³ Then he said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb^[o] to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. What we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum,^(W) do here in your hometown also.’”

²⁴ He also said, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.^{(X) 25} But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days,^(Y) when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land. ²⁶ Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them except a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.^{(Z) 27} And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had leprosy,^[p] and yet not one of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”^(AA)

²⁸ When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. ²⁹ They got up, drove him out of town,^(AB) and brought him to the edge of the hill that their town was built on, intending to hurl him over the cliff. ³⁰ But he passed right through the crowd and went on his way.^(AC)

Driving Out an Unclean Spirit

³¹ Then he went down to Capernaum,^(AD) a town in Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbath. ³² They were astonished at his teaching because his message had authority.^{(AE) 33} In the synagogue there was a man with an unclean demonic spirit who cried out with a loud voice,^{(AF) 34} “Leave us alone! What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” ^(AG)

³⁵ But Jesus rebuked him^(AH) and said, “Be silent and come out of him!”^(AI) And throwing him down before them, the demon came out of him without hurting him at all.

³⁶ Amazement came over them all, and they were saying to one another, “What is this message? For he commands the unclean spirits with authority and power, and they come out!” ³⁷ And news about him began to go out to every place in the vicinity.

Healings at Capernaum

³⁸ After he left the synagogue, he entered Simon’s house.^(AJ) Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked him about her.^{(AK) 39} So he stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up immediately^(AL) and began to serve them.

⁴⁰ When the sun was setting, all those who had anyone sick with various diseases brought them to him. As he laid his hands on each one of them, he healed them.^{(AM) 41} Also, demons were coming out of many, shouting and saying, “You are the Son of God!” ^(AN) But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.^(AO)

⁴² When it was day, he went out and made his way to a deserted place.^(AP) But the crowds were searching for him. They came to him and tried to keep him from leaving them. ⁴³ But he said to them, “It is necessary for me to proclaim the good news about the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because I was sent for this purpose.” ⁴⁴ And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.^[q](AQ)