Offerings of the Seventh Month

29 ‘On the ^[a]first day of the seventh month, you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work. It will be for you a day of blowing the trumpets (the shophar, ram’s horn). ² You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old without blemish; ³ also their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths [of an ephah] for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, ⁴ and one-tenth [of an ephah] for each of the seven lambs, ⁵ and one male goat as a sin offering to make atonement for you. ⁶ These are in addition to the burnt offering of the New Moon and its grain offering, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to the ordinance for them, as a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.

⁷ ‘Then on the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly [for the Day of Atonement]; and you shall ^[b]humble yourselves; you shall not do any work. ⁸ You shall present a burnt offering to the Lord as a sweet and soothing aroma: one bull, one ram, and seven male lambs one year old, which are without blemish; ⁹ and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths [of an ephah] for the bull, two-tenths for the one ram, ¹⁰ a tenth [of an ephah] for each of the seven lambs, ¹¹ one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering and its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

¹² ‘Then on the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy [summoned] assembly; you shall do no laborious work, and you shall observe a Feast [of Booths] to the Lord for seven days. ¹³ You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord: thirteen bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old, which are without blemish; ¹⁴ and their grain offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths [of an ephah] for each of the thirteen bulls, two-tenths for each of the two rams, ¹⁵ and a tenth [of an ephah] for each of the fourteen lambs; ¹⁶ also one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, its grain offering and its drink offering.

¹⁷ ‘Then on the second day [of the Feast of Booths]: twelve bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish, ¹⁸ with their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, the rams, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance, ¹⁹ also one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and their drink offerings.

²⁰ ‘Then on the third day [of the Feast of Booths]: eleven bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish, ²¹ with their grain offering and drink offerings for the bulls, the rams, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance, ²² and one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

²³ ‘Then on the fourth day [of the Feast of Booths]: ten bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish; ²⁴ their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, the rams, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance, ²⁵ and one male goat as a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offering.

²⁶ ‘Then on the fifth day [of the Feast of Booths]: nine bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish, ²⁷ and their grain offering and drink offerings for the bulls, the rams, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; ²⁸ and one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, and its grain offering, and its drink offering.

²⁹ ‘Then on the sixth day [of the Feast of Booths]: eight bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish; ³⁰ and their grain offering and their drink offerings for the bulls, the rams, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance, ³¹ and one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, its grain offering, and its drink offerings.

³² ‘Then on the seventh day [of the Feast of Booths]: seven bulls, two rams, and fourteen male lambs one year old without blemish, ³³ and their grain offering and drink offerings for the bulls, the rams, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance; ³⁴ and one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, and its grain offering, and its drink offering.

³⁵ ‘On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly [to mark the end of the feast]; you shall do no laborious work. ³⁶ You shall present a burnt offering, an offering by fire, as a sweet and soothing aroma to the Lord: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs one year old without blemish; ³⁷ their grain offering and drink offerings for the bull, the ram, and the lambs, by their number according to the ordinance, ³⁸ and one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, and its grain offering, and its drink offering.

³⁹ ‘You shall present these to the Lord at your appointed times, in addition the offerings you have vowed and your freewill offerings, as your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and as your peace offerings.’” ^40 [c]So Moses spoke to the Israelites in accordance with everything that the Lord had commanded him.

The Law of Vows

30 Then Moses spoke to the leaders of the tribes of the Israelites, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ² If a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to bind himself with a pledge [of abstinence], he shall not break (violate, profane) his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.

³ “Also if a woman makes a vow to the Lord and binds herself by a pledge [of abstinence], while living in her father’s house in her youth, ⁴ and her father hears her vow and her pledge by which she has bound herself, and he offers no objection, then all her vows shall stand and every pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁵ But if her father disapproves of her [making her vow] on the day that he hears about it, none of her vows or her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the Lord will forgive her because her father has disapproved of her [making the vow].

⁶ “But if she marries while under her vows or if she has bound herself by a rash statement, ⁷ and her husband hears of it and says nothing about it on the day he hears it, then her vows shall stand and her pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. ⁸ But if her husband disapproves of her [making her vow or pledge] on the day that he hears of it, then he shall annul her vow which she is under and the rash statement of her lips by which she bound herself; and the Lord will forgive her.

⁹ “But the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, everything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her. ¹⁰ However, if she vowed in her husband’s house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath, ¹¹ and her husband heard it, but said nothing to her and did not disapprove of her [making the vow], then all her vows and every pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. ¹² But if her husband absolutely annuls them on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeds from her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge shall not stand. Her husband has annulled them, and the Lord will forgive her.

¹³ “Every vow and every binding oath to humble herself, her husband may confirm it or her husband may annul it. ¹⁴ But if her husband says nothing to her [concerning the matter] from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her pledges which are on her. He has confirmed them because he said nothing to her on the day he heard them. ¹⁵ But if he indeed nullifies them after he hears of them, then he shall be responsible for and bear her guilt [for breaking her promise].”

¹⁶ These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter while she is a youth in her father’s house.

The Slaughter of Midian

31 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Take vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people [in death].” ³ Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for war, so that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian [for seducing Israel to participate in idolatry].^{(A) 4} A thousand [fighting men] from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.” ⁵ So out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe were selected, twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶ Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the war, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to war with them, and the sacred vessels [of the sanctuary] and the trumpets to blow the alarm in his hand. ⁷ They made war against Midian, just as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. ⁸ They killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur [the father of Cozbi] and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; also Balaam the son of Beor they killed with the sword.^{(B) 9} The sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their children; and all their cattle, all their livestock, and all their property they took as spoil [of war]. ¹⁰ They burned all the cities where they lived, and all their encampments with fire. ¹¹ They took all the plunder and all the spoils of war, both people and livestock. ¹² Then they brought the captives, the spoils, and the plunder to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the Israelites at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan [River] across from Jericho.

¹³ Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴ But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, who served in the war. ¹⁵ And Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? ¹⁶ Look, these [are the women who] caused the Israelites, by the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, and so a plague came among the congregation of the Lord.^{(C) 17} Now therefore, kill every male among the children, and kill every woman who is not a virgin. ¹⁸ But all the young girls who have not known a man intimately, keep alive for yourselves [to marry]. ¹⁹ Camp outside the camp for seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any dead body, purify yourselves and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day. ²⁰ You shall purify every garment and every article made of leather and all the things made of goats’ hair, and every article made of wood.”

²¹ Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle, “This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded Moses: ²² only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, ²³ everything that can stand fire, you shall pass through fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water of purification [to remove its impurity]; and all that cannot stand fire [such as fabrics] you shall pass through water. ²⁴ And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.”

Division of the Spoil of War

²⁵ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁶ “You and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the fathers’ households of the congregation are to take a count of the spoil of war that was captured, both people and livestock. ²⁷ Divide the spoil into two [equal] parts between those who were involved in the war, that is, those who went out to battle and all [the rest of] the congregation. ²⁸ Levy a tax for the Lord from the warriors who went to battle, one in five hundred of the persons, the oxen, the donkeys, and the flocks. ²⁹ Take this tribute from the warriors’ half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord. ³⁰ From the Israelites’ half [of the spoil] you shall take one out of every fifty of the persons, the oxen, the donkeys, the flocks, and of all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who are in charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.” ³¹ Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³² The plunder that remained from the spoil of war which the warriors had taken, was 675,000 sheep, ³³ and 72,000 cattle, ³⁴ and 61,000 donkeys, ³⁵ and 32,000 persons in all, of the [Midianite] women who were virgins.

³⁶ The half share, the portion of those who went to war, was 337,500 sheep in number, ³⁷ and the Lord’s levy (tax) of the sheep was 675; ³⁸ the cattle were 36,000, from which the Lord’s levy was 72; ³⁹ the donkeys were 30,500, from which the Lord’s levy was 61; ⁴⁰ the persons were 16,000, from whom the Lord’s levy was 32 persons. ⁴¹ Moses gave the levy which was the Lord’s offering to Eleazar the priest, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁴² As for the Israelites’ half, which Moses separated from that of the warriors— ⁴³ now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep, ⁴⁴ and 36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵ and 30,500 donkeys, ⁴⁶ and 16,000 people— ⁴⁷ and from the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty, both of persons and animals, and gave them to the Levites, who were in charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁴⁸ Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and hundreds, approached Moses, ⁴⁹ and they said to him, “Your servants have counted the warriors under our command, and not one man of us is missing. ⁵⁰ So we have brought as an offering to the Lord what each man obtained—articles of gold, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” ⁵¹ Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all the handmade articles. ⁵² All the gold of the offering which they presented to the Lord from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds was 16,750 shekels. ⁵³ For the men of war had taken plunder, every man for himself. ⁵⁴ So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) as a memorial for the sons of Israel before the Lord.

The Transfiguration

9 And Jesus said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there are ^[a]some of those who are standing here who will not taste (experience) death before they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

² Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured (changed in form) before them [and began to shine brightly with divine and regal glory];^{(A) 3} and His clothes became radiant and dazzling, intensely white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. ⁴ Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were having a conversation with Jesus. ⁵ Peter responded and said to Jesus, “Rabbi (Master), it is good for us to be here; let us make three [sacred] tents—one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For he did not [really] know what to say because they were terrified [and stunned by the miraculous sight]. ⁷ Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and ^[b]a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him and obey Him!” ⁸ Suddenly they looked around and no longer saw anyone with them, except Jesus alone.

⁹ As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus expressly ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. ¹⁰ So they [carefully and faithfully] kept the matter to themselves, ^[c]discussing and questioning [with one another] what it meant to rise from the dead. ¹¹ They asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first [before the Messiah comes]?”^{(B) 12} He answered them, “Elijah does come first and restores and reestablishes all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things [grief and physical distress] and be treated with contempt [utterly despised and rejected]?^{(C) 13} But I say to you that Elijah has in fact come [already], and they ^[d]did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written [in Scripture] of him.”

All Things Possible

¹⁴ When they came [back] to the [other nine] disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes questioning and arguing with them.^{(D) 15} Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Jesus, they were startled and began running up to greet Him. ¹⁶ He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?” ¹⁷ One of the crowd replied to Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him unable to speak; ¹⁸ and whenever it seizes him [intending to do harm], it throws him down, and he foams [at the mouth], and grinds his teeth and becomes stiff. I told Your disciples to drive it out, and they could not do it.” ¹⁹ He replied, “O unbelieving (faithless) generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” ²⁰ They brought the boy to Him. When the [demonic] spirit saw Him, immediately it threw the boy into a convulsion, and falling to the ground he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. ²¹ Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he answered, “Since childhood. ²² The demon has often thrown him both into fire and into water, intending to kill him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” ²³ Jesus said to him, “[You say to Me,] ‘If You can?’ All things are possible for the one who believes and trusts [in Me]!” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the boy cried out [with a desperate, piercing cry], saying, “I do believe; help [me overcome] my unbelief.” ²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering [around them], He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again!” ²⁶ After screaming out and throwing him into a terrible convulsion, it came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse [so still and pale] that many [of the spectators] said, “He is dead!” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he stood up. ²⁸ When He had gone indoors, His disciples began asking Him privately, “Why were we unable to drive it out?” ²⁹ He replied to them, “This kind [of unclean spirit] cannot come out by anything but prayer [to the Father].”