Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord

A Song of ^(A)Ascents.

They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth

A Song of ^(L)Ascents.

Rules for Levitical Priests

¹⁵ “But ^(A)the Levitical priests, ^(B)the sons of Zadok, who kept ^(C)the charge of my sanctuary ^(D)when the people of Israel went astray from me, shall come near to me ^(E)to minister to me. And they shall stand before me to offer me ^(F)the fat and the blood, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ They shall enter my sanctuary, and they shall approach ^(G)my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge. ¹⁷ When they enter the gates of the inner court, they shall wear ^(H)linen garments. They shall have nothing of wool on them, while they minister at the gates of the inner court, and within. ¹⁸ They shall have linen turbans on their heads, and linen undergarments around their waists. They shall not bind themselves with anything that causes sweat. ¹⁹ And when they go out into the outer court to the people, they shall put off the garments in which they have been ministering ^(I)and lay them in the holy chambers. And ^(J)they shall put on other garments, ^(K)lest they transmit holiness to the people with their garments. ^20 (L)They shall not shave their heads or ^(M)let their locks grow long; they shall surely trim the hair of their heads. ^21 (N)No priest shall drink wine when he enters the inner court. ^22 (O)They shall not marry a widow or a divorced woman, but only virgins of the offspring of the house of Israel, or a widow who is the widow of a priest. ^23 (P)They shall teach my people the difference between the holy and the common, and ^(Q)show them how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean. ^24 (R)In a dispute, they shall act as judges, and they shall judge it according to my judgments. They shall keep my laws and my statutes in all my appointed feasts, and ^(S)they shall keep my Sabbaths holy. ^25 (T)They shall not defile themselves by going near to a dead person. However, for father or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister they may defile themselves. ^26 (U)After he^[a] has become clean, they shall count seven days for him. ²⁷ And on the day that he goes into the Holy Place, ^(V)into the inner court, to minister in the Holy Place, ^(W)he shall offer his sin offering, declares the Lord God.

^28 (X)“This shall be their inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ^(Y)you shall give them no possession in Israel; I am their possession. ^29 (Z)They shall eat the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, and ^(AA)every devoted thing in Israel shall be theirs. ^30 (AB)And the first of all the firstfruits of all kinds, and every offering of all kinds from all your offerings, shall belong to the priests. ^(AC)You shall also give to the priests the first of your dough, ^(AD)that a blessing may rest on your house. ^31 (AE)The priests shall not eat of ^(AF)anything, whether bird or beast, that has died of itself or is torn by wild animals.

The Holy District

45 “When ^(AG)you allot the land as an inheritance, ^(AH)you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits^[b] long and 20,000^[c] cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. ^2 (AI)Of this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for ^(AJ)an open space around it. ³ And ^(AK)from this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, ^(AL)in which shall be the sanctuary, ^(AM)the Most Holy Place. ^4 (AN)It shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. ^5 (AO)Another section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.^[d]

⁶ “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district ^(AP)you shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. ^(AQ)It shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

The Portion for the Prince

^7 (AR)“And to ^(AS)the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary ⁸ of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And ^(AT)my princes shall no more oppress my people, but ^(AU)they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

⁹ “Thus says the Lord God: ^(AV)Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease ^(AW)your evictions of my people, declares the Lord God.

^10 (AX)“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.^{[e] 11} The ephah and the bath shall be ^(AY)of the same measure, ^(AZ)the bath containing one tenth of a homer,^[f] and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. ^12 (BA)The shekel shall be twenty gerahs;^[g] twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.^[h]

^13 (BB)“This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, ¹⁴ and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor^[i] (the cor, like the homer, contains ^(BC)ten baths).^{[j] 15} And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, ^(BD)to make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. ^17 (BE)It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

The Faith of a Centurion

^5 (A)When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, ⁶ “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” ⁷ And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” ⁸ But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but ^(B)only say the word, and my servant will be healed. ⁹ For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant,^[a] ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, ^(C)he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with ^(D)no one in Israel^[b] have I found such faith. ¹¹ I tell you, ^(E)many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, ^12 (F)while the sons of the kingdom ^(G)will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place ^(H)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” ¹³ And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you ^(I)as you have believed.” ^(J)And the servant was healed at that very moment.

Jesus Heals Many

^14 (K)And when Jesus entered Peter's house, he saw ^(L)his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever. ¹⁵ He ^(M)touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she rose and began to serve him. ¹⁶ That evening they brought to him many who were ^(N)oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits ^(O)with a word and healed all who were sick. ^17 (P)This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: ^(Q)“He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”

The Cost of Following Jesus

¹⁸ Now ^(R)when Jesus saw a crowd around him, ^(S)he gave orders to go over to the other side. ^19 (T)And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” ²⁰ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ²¹ Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ²² And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave ^(U)the dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus Calms a Storm

^23 (V)And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴ And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but ^(W)he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him, saying, ^(X)“Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” ²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you ^(Y)afraid, ^(Z)O you of little faith?” Then he rose and ^(AA)rebuked the winds and the sea, and ^(AB)there was a great calm. ²⁷ And the men ^(AC)marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even ^(AD)winds and sea obey him?”

Jesus Heals Two Men with Demons

^28 (AE)And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes,^[c] two ^(AF)demon-possessed^[d] men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ And behold, they ^(AG)cried out, “What have you to do with us, ^(AH)O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us ^(AI)before the time?” ³⁰ Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹ And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” ³² And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. ³³ The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the ^(AJ)demon-possessed men. ³⁴ And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, ^(AK)they begged him to leave their region.