When Brothers Dwell in Unity

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

Come, Bless the Lord

A Song of ^(J)Ascents.

Aaron's Staff Buds

17 ^[a] The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^2 (A)“Speak to the people of Israel, and get from them staffs, one for each fathers' house, from all their chiefs according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. Write each man's name on his staff, ³ and write Aaron's name on the staff of Levi. For there shall be one staff for the head of each fathers' house. ⁴ Then you shall deposit them in the tent of meeting before the testimony, ^(B)where I meet with you. ⁵ And the staff of the man ^(C)whom I choose shall sprout. Thus I will make to cease from me ^(D)the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against you.” ⁶ Moses spoke to the people of Israel. And all their chiefs gave him staffs, one for each chief, according to their fathers' houses, twelve staffs. And the staff of Aaron was among their staffs. ⁷ And Moses deposited the staffs before the Lord in ^(E)the tent of the testimony.

⁸ On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds. ⁹ Then Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the people of Israel. And they looked, and each man took his staff. ¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, “Put back ^(F)the staff of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept ^(G)as a sign for the rebels, ^(H)that you may make an end of their grumblings against me, lest they die.” ¹¹ Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so he did.

¹² And the people of Israel said to Moses, “Behold, we perish, we are undone, we are all undone. ^13 (I)Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of the Lord, shall die. Are we all to perish?”

The Sign of Jonah

^29 (A)When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, ^(B)“This generation is an evil generation. ^(C)It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. ³⁰ For as ^(D)Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. ^31 (E)The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and ^(F)condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, ^(G)something greater than Solomon is here. ^32 (H)The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and ^(I)condemn it, for ^(J)they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, ^(K)something greater than Jonah is here.

The Light in You

^33 (L)“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. ³⁴ Your eye is ^(M)the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is ^(N)bad, your body is full of darkness. ^35 (O)Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. ³⁶ If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, ^(P)as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”

Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers

³⁷ While Jesus^[a] was speaking, ^(Q)a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. ³⁸ The Pharisee was astonished to see ^(R)that he did not first wash before dinner. ³⁹ And the Lord said to him, ^(S)“Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of ^(T)greed and wickedness. ^40 (U)You fools! ^(V)Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ But ^(W)give as alms those things that are within, and behold, ^(X)everything is clean for you.

^42 (Y)“But woe to you Pharisees! For ^(Z)you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect ^(AA)justice and ^(AB)the love of God. ^(AC)These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. ⁴³ Woe to you Pharisees! For ^(AD)you love the best seat in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. ⁴⁴ Woe to you! ^(AE)For you are like unmarked graves, and people walk over them without knowing it.”

⁴⁵ One of ^(AF)the lawyers answered him, “Teacher, in saying these things you insult us also.” ⁴⁶ And he said, “Woe to you ^(AG)lawyers also! For ^(AH)you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. ^47 (AI)Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your fathers killed. ^48 (AJ)So you are witnesses and you ^(AK)consent to the deeds of ^(AL)your fathers, for they killed them, and you build their tombs. ⁴⁹ Therefore also ^(AM)the Wisdom of God said, ^(AN)‘I will send them ^(AO)prophets and apostles, ^(AP)some of whom they will ^(AQ)kill and persecute,’ ⁵⁰ so that ^(AR)the blood of all the prophets, shed ^(AS)from the foundation of the world, may be ^(AT)charged against this generation, ⁵¹ from the blood of ^(AU)Abel to the blood of ^(AV)Zechariah, who perished between ^(AW)the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be ^(AX)required of this generation. ⁵² Woe to you ^(AY)lawyers! ^(AZ)For you have taken away the key of ^(BA)knowledge. You ^(BB)did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.”

⁵³ As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, ^54 (BC)lying in wait for him, ^(BD)to catch him in something he might say.