Unless the Lord Builds the House

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of Solomon.

Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

The Defeat of King Og

3 “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And ^(A)Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at ^(B)Edrei. ² But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to ^(C)Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ ³ So the Lord our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, ^(D)and we struck him down until he had no survivor left. ⁴ And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, ^(E)the whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ⁵ All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. ⁶ And ^(F)we devoted them to destruction,^[a] as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every ^(G)city, men, women, and children. ⁷ But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. ⁸ So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon ⁹ (the Sidonians call ^(H)Hermon ^(I)Sirion, while the Amorites call it ^(J)Senir), ¹⁰ all the cities of the ^(K)tableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as ^(L)Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. ¹¹ (For ^(M)only Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of ^(N)the Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in ^(O)Rabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits^[b] was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the ^(P)common cubit.^[c])

¹² “When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning ^(Q)at Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with ^(R)its cities. ^13 (S)The rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, ^(T)all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of ^(U)Rephaim. ^14 (V)Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of ^(W)the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages ^(X)after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) ¹⁵ To Machir ^(Y)I gave Gilead, ¹⁶ and to the Reubenites ^(Z)and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, ^(AA)the border of the Ammonites; ¹⁷ the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from ^(AB)Chinnereth as far as ^(AC)the Sea of the Arabah, ^(AD)the Salt Sea, under ^(AE)the slopes of Pisgah on the east.

¹⁸ “And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. ^(AF)All your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel. ¹⁹ Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock ^(AG)(I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, ^20 (AH)until the Lord gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the Lord your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’ ²¹ And I commanded ^(AI)Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. ²² You shall not fear them, for it is ^(AJ)the Lord your God who fights for you.’

Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land

²³ “And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, ²⁴ ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant ^(AK)your greatness and your mighty hand. For ^(AL)what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? ²⁵ Please let me go over and see ^(AM)the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and ^(AN)Lebanon.’ ²⁶ But ^(AO)the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ^(AP)‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. ^27 (AQ)Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. ²⁸ But ^(AR)charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ ²⁹ So we remained in ^(AS)the valley opposite Beth-peor.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of ^(A)Tiberius Caesar, ^(B)Pontius Pilate ^(C)being governor of Judea, and ^(D)Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, ² during ^(E)the high priesthood of Annas and ^(F)Caiaphas, ^(G)the word of God came to ^(H)John the son of Zechariah in ^(I)the wilderness. ³ And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming ^(J)a baptism of repentance ^(K)for the forgiveness of sins. ⁴ As it is written in ^(L)the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,

⁷ He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ^(T)“You brood of ^(U)vipers! Who warned you to flee from ^(V)the wrath to come? ⁸ Bear fruits ^(W)in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ^(X)‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from ^(Y)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. ⁹ Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. ^(Z)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

¹⁰ And the crowds asked him, ^(AA)“What then shall we do?” ¹¹ And he answered them, ^(AB)“Whoever has two tunics^[b] is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” ^12 (AC)Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, ^(AD)what shall we do?” ¹³ And he said to them, ^(AE)“Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” ¹⁴ Soldiers also asked him, “And we, ^(AF)what shall we do?” And he said to them, ^(AG)“Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your ^(AH)wages.”

¹⁵ As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, ^(AI)whether he might be ^(AJ)the Christ, ^16 (AK)John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but ^(AL)he who is mightier than I is coming, ^(AM)the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you ^(AN)with the Holy Spirit and ^(AO)fire. ¹⁷ His ^(AP)winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to ^(AQ)gather the wheat into his barn, ^(AR)but the chaff he will burn with ^(AS)unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ So ^(AT)with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. ¹⁹ But ^(AU)Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother's wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, ²⁰ added this to them all, that ^(AV)he locked up John in prison.

²¹ Now when all the people were baptized, and when ^(AW)Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, ^(AX)the heavens were opened, ²² and ^(AY)the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and ^(AZ)a voice came from heaven, ^(BA)“You are my beloved Son;^[c] with you I am well pleased.”^[d]