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Teachings about Vows
30 [a]Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel, “This is what Yahweh has commanded about vows: 2 If a man makes a vow to Yahweh that he will do something or swears an oath that he won’t do something, he must not break his word. He must do everything he said he would do.
3 “A young girl, who still lives in her father’s house, might make a vow to Yahweh that she will do something or swear an oath that she won’t do something. 4 If her father says nothing to her when he hears about it, her vow or oath must be kept. 5 But if her father objects when he hears about it, her vow or oath doesn’t have to be kept. Yahweh will free her from this vow or oath because her father objected.
6 “An unmarried woman might make a vow that she will do something or carelessly promise that she won’t do something. When she marries, 7 her husband may hear about it but say nothing to her. Then her vow or oath must be kept. 8 But if her husband objects when he hears about it, he can cancel the vow or promise she made. Yahweh will free her from this vow or promise.
9 “But a widow or a divorced woman must keep her vow or her promise.
10 “A married woman might make a vow that she will do something or swear an oath that she won’t do something. 11 Her husband may hear about it but may say nothing and not object. Then her vow or oath must be kept. 12 But if her husband cancels it when he hears about it, nothing she said in her vow or oath has to be kept. Her husband has canceled it, and Yahweh will free her from this vow or oath.
13 “A husband decides whether or not his wife has to keep any vow to do something or any oath to do without something. 14 If he says nothing to her about it day after day, this means he’s decided that she must keep her vow or oath. She must keep it because he said nothing to her when he heard about it. 15 But if he cancels it later, he will suffer the consequences.”
16 These are the laws Yahweh gave Moses for husbands and wives, and for fathers with young daughters still living at home.
The Lord Commands Israel to Defeat Midian
31 Yahweh said to Moses, 2 “Get even with the Midianites for what they did to the Israelites. After that you will join your ancestors in death.”
3 Moses said to the people, “Some of your men must get ready to go to war against the Midianites. Yahweh will use them to get even with Midian. 4 Send 1,000 men from each of the tribes of Israel.”
5 So 1,000 men from each tribe were supplied from the divisions of Israel—12,000 men ready for war. 6 Then Moses sent them off to war, 1,000 men from each tribe along with Phinehas, son of the priest Eleazar. Phinehas took with him the holy articles and the trumpets for the fanfare.
7 They went to war against Midian, as Yahweh commanded Moses, and killed every man. 8 Among those killed were the five kings of Midian—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They also killed Balaam, son of Beor, in battle. 9 The Israelites took the Midianite women and children as prisoners of war. They also took all their animals, their livestock, and their valuables as loot. 10 They burned all the cities where the Midianites lived and all their settlements. 11 Then they took everything as loot, including all the people and animals, 12 and brought the prisoners of war, the loot, and everything to Moses, the priest Eleazar, and the community of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River across from Jericho.
13 Moses, the priest Eleazar, and all the leaders of the community went outside the camp to meet them. 14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of the companies and battalions, who were returning from battle.
15 “Why did you let all the women live?” he asked them. 16 “Remember, they were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and caused[b] the Israelites to be unfaithful to Yahweh in the incident that took place at Peor. Yahweh’s community experienced a plague at that time. 17 So kill all the Midianite boys and every Midianite woman who has gone to bed with a man. 18 But save for yourselves every girl who has never gone to bed with a man.
19 “Everyone who killed a person or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp seven days. You and your prisoners of war must use the ritual water on the third and seventh days in order to take away your sin. 20 Do the same for all the clothes and everything made of leather, goats’ hair, or wood.”
21 Then the priest Eleazar said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is what Yahweh’s teachings told Moses to do: 22 Any gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead— 23 anything that won’t burn—must be put through fire in order to make it clean.[c] Then it must also be put through the ritual water in order to take away its sin. Whatever might burn must only be put through the ritual water. 24 On the seventh day wash your clothes, and you will be clean. Then you may come into the camp.”
25 Yahweh said to Moses, 26 “You, the priest Eleazar, and the heads of the families of the community need to count all the loot, including the people and animals you captured. 27 Divide the loot between the soldiers who served in the war and the rest of the community. 28 Collect a tax for Yahweh. From the soldiers who served in the war collect one out of every 500 things. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. 29 Collect all these things from the soldiers’ half of the loot, and give them to the priest Eleazar as a contribution to Yahweh. 30 From the Israelites’ half of the loot, collect one out of every 50 things. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and every other kind of animal. Give them to the Levites who are in charge of the work done at Yahweh’s tent.” 31 Moses and the priest Eleazar did as Yahweh commanded Moses.
32 This is the loot that was left from everything that the troops took: 675,000 sheep and goats, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, and 35 32,000 women who had never gone to bed with a man.
36 Half of it went to the soldiers who served in the war. Of the 337,500 sheep and goats they received, 37 675 went to Yahweh as taxes. 38 Of the 36,000 cattle they received, 72 went to Yahweh as taxes. 39 Of the 30,500 donkeys they received, 61 went to Yahweh as taxes. 40 Of the 16,000 people they received, 32 went to Yahweh as taxes.
41 Moses gave Yahweh’s taxes to the priest Eleazar, as Yahweh had commanded him.
42 Moses took the Israelites’ half of the loot from the soldiers. 43 The community received 337,500 sheep and goats, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 people.
47 From the Israelites’ half Moses collected one out of every 50 things, including people and animals, as Yahweh commanded him. Then he gave all this to the Levites who were in charge of the work done at Yahweh’s tent.
48 Then the officers from the military divisions, the commanders of the companies and battalions of men, came to Moses. 49 They said to him, “Sir, we have counted all the soldiers under our command, and not one of them is missing. 50 So we have brought as gifts to Yahweh the gold jewelry that each of us found—arm bands, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and pendants. We offer them to make peace with the Lord.”
51 Moses and the priest Eleazar took all the hand-crafted gold articles from them. 52 All the gold contributed to Yahweh by the commanders weighed about 420 pounds. 53 Each soldier kept his own loot. 54 Moses and the priest Eleazar took the gold from the commanders and brought it into Yahweh’s presence at the tent of meeting as a reminder to the Israelites.
The Devil Tempts Jesus(A)
4 Yeshua was filled with the Holy Spirit as he left the Jordan River. The Spirit led him while he was in the desert, 2 where he was tempted by the devil for 40 days. During those days Yeshua ate nothing, so when they were over, he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become a loaf of bread.”
4 Yeshua answered him, “Scripture says, ‘A person cannot live on bread alone.’”[a]
5 The devil took him to a high place and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in an instant. 6 The devil said to him, “I will give you all the power and glory of these kingdoms. All of it has been given to me, and I give it to anyone I please. 7 So if you will worship me, all this will be yours.”
8 Yeshua answered him, “Scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
9 Then the devil took him into Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest part of the temple. He said to Yeshua, “If you are the Son of God, jump from here! 10 Scripture says, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you to watch over you carefully. 11 They will carry you in their hands so that you never hit your foot against a rock.’”
12 Yeshua answered him, “It has been said, ‘Never tempt the Lord your God.’”[b]
13 After the devil had finished tempting Yeshua in every possible way, the devil left him until another time.
Nazareth Rejects Jesus(B)
14 Yeshua returned to Galilee. The power of the Spirit was with him, and the news about him spread throughout the surrounding country. 15 He taught in the synagogues, and everyone praised him.
16 Then Yeshua came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual he went into the synagogue on the day of worship. He stood up to read the lesson. 17 The attendant gave him the book of the prophet Isaiah. He opened it and found the place where it read:
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is with me.
He has anointed me
to tell the Good News to the poor.
He has sent me[c]
to announce forgiveness to the prisoners of sin
and the restoring of sight to the blind,
to forgive those who have been shattered by sin,
19 to announce the year of the Lord’s favor.”
20 Yeshua closed the book, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue watched him closely. 21 Then he said to them, “This passage came true today when you heard me read it.”
22 All the people spoke well of him. They were amazed to hear the gracious words flowing from his lips. They said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
23 So he said to them, “You’ll probably quote this proverb to me, ‘Doctor, cure yourself!’ and then say to me, ‘Do all the things in your hometown that we’ve heard you’ve done in Capernaum.’” 24 Then Yeshua added, “I can guarantee this truth: A prophet isn’t accepted in his hometown.
25 “I can guarantee this truth: There were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time. It had not rained for three-and-a-half years, and the famine was severe everywhere in the country. 26 But God didn’t send Elijah to anyone except a widow at Zarephath in the territory of Sidon. 27 There were also many people with skin diseases in Israel in the prophet Elisha’s time. But God cured no one except Naaman from Syria.”
28 Everyone in the synagogue became furious when they heard this. 29 Their city was built on a hill with a cliff. So they got up, forced Yeshua out of the city, and led him to the cliff. They intended to throw him off of it. 30 But Yeshua walked right by them and went away.
Psalm 63
A psalm by David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O Elohim, you are my Elohim.
At dawn I search for you.
My soul thirsts for you.
My body longs for you
in a dry, parched land where there is no water.
2 So I look for you in the holy place
to see your power and your glory.
3 My lips will praise you
because your mercy is better than life itself.
4 So I will thank you as long as I live.
I will lift up my hands to pray in your name.
5 You satisfy my soul with the richest foods.
My mouth will sing your praise with joyful lips.
6 As I lie on my bed, I remember you.
Through the long hours of the night, I think about you.
7 You have been my help.
In the shadow of your wings, I sing joyfully.
8 My soul clings to you.
Your right hand supports me.
9 But those who try to destroy my life
will go into the depths of the earth.
10 They will be cut down by swords.
Their dead bodies will be left as food for jackals.
11 But the king will find joy in Elohim.
Everyone who takes an oath by Elohim will brag,
but the mouths of liars will be shut.
20 Devious people are disgusting to Yahweh,
but he is delighted with those whose ways are innocent.
21 Certainly, an evil person will not go unpunished,
but the descendants of righteous people will escape.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.