The Desert Years

2 “Then we turned and ^(A)journeyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, ^(B)as the Lord spoke to me, and we ^[a]skirted Mount Seir for many days.

² “And the Lord spoke to me, saying: ³ ‘You have skirted this mountain ^(C)long enough; turn northward. ⁴ And command the people, saying, ^(D)“You are about to pass through the territory of ^(E)your brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully. ⁵ Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, ^(F)because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. ⁶ You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.

⁷ “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your ^[b]trudging through this great wilderness. ^(G)These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” ’

⁸ “And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from ^(H)Elath and Ezion Geber, we ^(I)turned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab. ⁹ Then the Lord said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given ^(J)Ar to ^(K)the descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ”

^10 (L)(The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as ^(M)the Anakim. ¹¹ They were also regarded as ^[c]giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim. ^12 (N)The Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their ^[d]place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the Lord gave them.)

¹³ “ ‘Now rise and cross over ^(O)the ^[e]Valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered. ¹⁴ And the time we took to come ^(P)from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, ^(Q)until all the generation of the men of war ^[f]was consumed from the midst of the camp, ^(R)just as the Lord had sworn to them. ¹⁵ For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they ^[g]were consumed.

¹⁶ “So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people, ¹⁷ that the Lord spoke to me, saying: ¹⁸ ‘This day you are to cross over at Ar, the boundary of Moab. ¹⁹ And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to ^(S)the descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ”

²⁰ (That was also regarded as a land of ^[h]giants; giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call them ^(T)Zamzummim, ^21 (U)a people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But the Lord destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, ²² just as He had done for the descendants of Esau, ^(V)who dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed ^(W)the Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day. ²³ And ^(X)the Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—^(Y)the Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)

²⁴ “ ‘Rise, take your journey, and ^(Z)cross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand ^(AA)Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin ^[i]to possess it, and engage him in battle. ^25 (AB)This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations ^[j]under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall ^(AC)tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

King Sihon Defeated^(AD)

²⁶ “And I ^(AE)sent messengers from the Wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon, ^(AF)with words of peace, saying, ^27 (AG)‘Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the road, and I will turn neither to the right nor to the left. ²⁸ You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink; ^(AH)only let me pass through on foot, ^29 (AI)just as the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir and the Moabites who dwell in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land which the Lord our God is giving us.’

^30 (AJ)“But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass through, for ^(AK)the Lord your God ^(AL)hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into your hand, as it is this day.

³¹ “And the Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to ^(AM)give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possess it, that you may inherit his land.’ ^32 (AN)Then Sihon and all his people came out against us to fight at Jahaz. ³³ And ^(AO)the Lord our God delivered him ^[k]over to us; so ^(AP)we defeated him, his sons, and all his people. ³⁴ We took all his cities at that time, and we ^(AQ)utterly destroyed the men, women, and little ones of every city; we left none remaining. ³⁵ We took only the livestock as plunder for ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we took. ^36 (AR)From Aroer, which is on the bank of the River Arnon, and from ^(AS)the city that is in the ravine, as far as Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us; ^(AT)the Lord our God delivered all to us. ³⁷ Only you did not go near the land of the people of Ammon—anywhere along the River ^(AU)Jabbok, or to the cities of the mountains, or ^(AV)wherever the Lord our God had forbidden us.

Water Turned to Wine

2 On the third day there was a ^(A)wedding in ^(B)Cana of Galilee, and the ^(C)mother of Jesus was there. ² Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. ³ And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

⁴ Jesus said to her, ^(D)“Woman, ^(E)what does your concern have to do with Me? ^(F)My hour has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”

⁶ Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, ^(G)according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. ⁷ Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. ⁹ When the master of the feast had tasted ^(H)the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. ¹⁰ And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”

¹¹ This ^(I)beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, ^(J)and ^[a]manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.

¹² After this He went down to ^(K)Capernaum, He, His mother, ^(L)His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple^(M)

^13 (N)Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ^14 (O)And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers ^[b]doing business. ¹⁵ When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. ¹⁶ And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make ^(P)My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” ¹⁷ Then His disciples remembered that it was written, ^(Q)“Zeal for Your house ^[c]has eaten Me up.”

¹⁸ So the Jews answered and said to Him, ^(R)“What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?”

¹⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, ^(S)“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

²⁰ Then the Jews said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?”

²¹ But He was speaking ^(T)of the temple of His body. ²² Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, ^(U)His disciples remembered that He had said this ^[d]to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

The Discerner of Hearts

²³ Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the ^(V)signs which He did. ²⁴ But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He ^(W)knew all men, ²⁵ and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for ^(X)He knew what was in man.