Cities for the Levites

35 ^(A)Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, ² “Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities. ³ The cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their equipment and for all their other animals.

⁴ “The pasture lands of the cities which you are to give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city ^[a]outward a thousand cubits around. ⁵ You shall also measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the center. This shall become theirs as pasture lands for the cities.

Cities of Refuge

⁶ The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the ^(B)six cities of refuge, which you shall provide for the one who commits manslaughter to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. ⁷ The total number of the cities which you are to give to the Levites shall be ^(C)forty-eight cities, ^[b]together with their pasture lands. ^8 (D)As for the cities which you shall give them from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take fewer from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his inheritance which he possesses.”

⁹ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “^(E)Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ^11 (F)then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your ^(G)cities of refuge, so that the one who commits manslaughter by ^[c]killing a person ^(H)unintentionally may flee there. ^12 (I)The cities shall ^[d]serve you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who commits manslaughter does not die until he stands before the congregation for ^[e]trial. ¹³ So the cities which you are to provide shall be six cities of refuge for you. ¹⁴ You ^(J)shall provide three cities across the Jordan, and three cities ^[f]in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities shall be a refuge for the sons of Israel, for the stranger, and for the foreign resident among them; so that anyone who ^[g]kills a person ^(K)unintentionally may flee there.

¹⁶ ‘^(L)But if he struck him with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. ¹⁷ And if he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which he would die, and as a result he did die, he is a murderer; the murderer ^(M)must be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand, by which he would die, and as a result he did die, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. ¹⁹ The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he himself shall put him to death when he meets him. ²⁰ Now ^(N)if he pushed him in hatred, or he threw something at him ^[h](O)with malicious intent, and as a result he died, ²¹ or if he struck him with his hand with hostility, and as a result he died, the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer. The blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²² ‘^(P)But if he pushed him suddenly, without hostility, or threw any object at him without ^[i]malicious intent, ²³ or had any ^[j]deadly stone, and without looking he dropped it on him so that he died, while he was not his enemy nor was he seeking ^[k]to harm him, ²⁴ then ^(Q)the congregation shall judge between the one who fatally struck the victim and the blood avenger in accordance with these ordinances. ²⁵ And the congregation shall save the one who committed manslaughter from the hand of the blood avenger, and the congregation shall return him to his city of refuge to which he fled; and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. ²⁶ But if at any time ^[l]he goes beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he flees, ²⁷ and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the blood avenger kills ^[m]him, he ^[n]will not be guilty of bloodshed, ²⁸ because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the one who committed manslaughter may return to the land of his property.

²⁹ ‘These things shall be a ^(R)statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

³⁰ ‘^(S)If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the ^[o]testimony of witnesses, but ^(T)no person shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. ³¹ Moreover, you shall not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is ^[p]condemned to death, but he must be put to death. ³² And you shall not accept a ransom for one who has fled to his city of refuge, so that he may return to live in the land ^[q]before the death of the priest. ^33 (U)So you shall not defile the land in which you live; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except ^(V)by the blood of the one who shed it. ³⁴ So you shall not ^(W)defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which ^(X)I dwell; for I the Lord am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’”

Contrast of the Upright and the Wicked

Simon Carries the Cross

^26 (A)And when they led Him away, they seized a man, Simon of ^(B)Cyrene, as he was coming in from the country, and placed on him the cross to carry behind Jesus.

²⁷ Now following Him was a large crowd of the people, and of women who were ^[a](C)mourning and grieving for Him. ²⁸ But Jesus turned to them and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. ²⁹ For behold, days are coming when they will say, ‘^(D)Blessed are those who cannot bear, and the wombs that have not given birth, and the breasts that have not nursed.’ ³⁰ Then they will begin to ^(E)say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’ ³¹ For if they do these things ^[b]when the tree is green, what will happen ^[c]when it is dry?”

^32 (F)Now two others, who were criminals, were also being led away to be put to death with Him.

The Crucifixion

^33 (G)And when they came to the place called ^[d]The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁴ [^[e]But Jesus was saying, “^(H)Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”] ^(I)And they cast lots, dividing His garments among themselves. ³⁵ And the people stood by, watching. And even the ^(J)rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; ^(K)let Him save Himself if this is the ^[f]Christ of God, His Chosen One.” ³⁶ The soldiers also ridiculed Him, coming up to Him, ^(L)offering Him sour wine, ³⁷ and saying, “^(M)If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” ³⁸ Now there was also an inscription above Him, “^(N)THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

^39 (O)One of the criminals who were hanged there was ^[g]hurling abuse at Him, saying, “Are You not the ^[h]Christ? ^(P)Save Yourself and us!” ⁴⁰ But the other responded, and rebuking him, said, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹ And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving ^[i]what we deserve for our crimes; but this Man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴² And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your kingdom!” ⁴³ And He said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with Me in ^(Q)Paradise.”

^44 (R)It was now about ^[j](S)the sixth hour, and darkness came over the entire land until ^[k]the ninth hour, ^45 [l]because the sun stopped shining; and ^(T)the veil of the temple was torn ^[m]in two. ⁴⁶ And Jesus, ^(U)crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, ^(V)into Your hands I entrust My spirit.” And having said this, He ^[n]died. ^47 (W)Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began ^(X)praising God, saying, “This Man was in fact ^[o]innocent.” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, after watching what had happened, began to return home, ^[p](Y)beating their chests. ^49 (Z)And all His acquaintances and ^(AA)the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.

Jesus Is Buried

^50 (AB)And a man named Joseph, who was a ^(AC)member of the Council, a good and righteous man ⁵¹ (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was ^(AD)waiting for the kingdom of God— ⁵² this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. ⁵⁴ It was a ^[q](AE)preparation day, and a Sabbath was about to ^[r]begin. ⁵⁵ Now ^(AF)the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed, and they saw the tomb and how His body was laid. ⁵⁶ And then they returned and ^(AG)prepared spices and perfumes.

And ^(AH)on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.