Old/New Testament
Festival of Trumpets
29 “There will be a special meeting on the first day of the seventh month. You will not do any work on that day. That is the day for blowing the trumpets.[a] 2 You will offer burnt offerings. Their smell will please the Lord. You will offer 1 bull, 1 ram, and 7 lambs that are one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. 3 You will also offer 24 cups[b] of fine flour mixed with oil with the bull, 16 cups[c] with the ram, 4 and 8 cups[d] with each of the 7 lambs. 5 Also offer a male goat as a sin offering to make you pure. 6 These offerings are in addition to the New Moon sacrifice and its grain offering. And they are in addition to the daily sacrifice and its grain offerings and drink offerings. These must be done according to the rules. They will be sweet-smelling gifts to the Lord.
The Day of Atonement
7 “There will be a special meeting on the tenth day of the seventh month. During that day you must not eat any food,[e] and you must not do any work. 8 You will offer burnt offerings. Their smell will please the Lord. You must offer 1 bull, 1 ram, and 7 lambs that are one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. 9 You must also offer 24 cups of fine flour mixed with olive oil with the bull, 16 cups with the ram, 10 and 8 cups with each of the 7 lambs. 11 You will also offer 1 male goat as a sin offering. This will be in addition to the sin offering for the Day of Atonement. This will also be in addition to the daily sacrifice and its grain offerings and drink offerings.
Festival of Shelters
12 “There will be a special meeting on the 15th day of the seventh month.[f] You must not do any work on that day. You must celebrate a special festival for the Lord for seven days. 13 You will offer burnt offerings as sweet-smelling gifts to the Lord. You will offer 13 bulls, 2 rams, and 14 lambs that are one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. 14 You must also offer 24 cups of fine flour mixed with oil with each of the 13 bulls, 16 cups with each of the 2 rams, 15 and 8 cups with each of the 14 lambs. 16 You must also offer 1 male goat. This must be in addition to the daily sacrifice and its grain offerings and drink offerings.
17 “On the second day of this festival, you must offer 12 bulls, 2 rams, and 14 lambs that are one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. 18 You must also give the right amount of grain and drink offerings with the bulls, rams, and lambs. 19 You must also offer 1 male goat as a sin offering. This must be in addition to the daily sacrifice and its grain offerings and drink offerings.
20 “On the third day of this festival, you must offer 11 bulls, 2 rams, and 14 lambs that are one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. 21 You must also give the right amount of grain and drink offerings with the bulls, rams, and lambs. 22 You must also give 1 goat as a sin offering. This must be in addition to the daily sacrifice and its grain offerings and drink offerings.
23 “On the fourth day of this festival, you must offer 10 bulls, 2 rams, and 14 lambs that are one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. 24 You must also give the right amount of grain and drink offerings with the bulls, rams, and lambs. 25 You must also give 1 male goat as a sin offering. This must be in addition to the daily sacrifice and its grain offerings and drink offerings.
26 “On the fifth day of this festival, you must offer 9 bulls, 2 rams, and 14 lambs that are one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. 27 You must also give the right amount of grain and drink offerings with the bulls, rams, and lambs. 28 You must also give 1 male goat as a sin offering. This must be in addition to the daily sacrifice and its grain offerings and drink offerings.
29 “On the sixth day of this festival, you must offer 8 bulls, 2 rams, and 14 lambs that are one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. 30 You must also give the right amount of grain and drink offerings for the bulls, rams, and lambs. 31 You must also give 1 male goat as a sin offering. This must be in addition to the daily sacrifice and its grain offerings and drink offerings.
32 “On the seventh day of this festival, you must offer 7 bulls, 2 rams, and 14 lambs that are one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. 33 You must also give the right amount of grain and drink offerings with the bulls, rams, and lambs. 34 You must also give 1 male goat as a sin offering. This must be in addition to the daily sacrifice and its grain offerings and drink offerings.
35 “The eighth day of this festival is a very special meeting for you. You must not do any work on that day. 36 You must offer a burnt offering as a sweet-smelling gift to the Lord. You must offer 1 bull, 1 ram, and 7 lambs that are one year old. There must be nothing wrong with them. 37 You must also give the right amount of grain and drink offerings with the bull, ram, and lambs. 38 You must also give 1 male goat as a sin offering. This must be in addition to the daily sacrifice and its grain offerings and drink offerings.
39 “At the special festivals you must bring your burnt offerings, grain offerings, drink offerings, and fellowship offerings. You must give these offerings to the Lord. They are in addition to any special gift you might want to give him and any offering that is part of a special promise you make.”
40 Moses told the Israelites everything the Lord had commanded him.
Special Promises
30 Moses spoke with all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and told them about these commands from the Lord:
2 “If a man makes a special promise to the Lord or makes a promise with an oath, he must not break his promise. He must do everything he said he would do.
3 “A young woman might still be living in her father’s house. And that young woman might make a special promise to give something to the Lord. 4 If her father hears about the promise and agrees, the young woman must do what she promised. 5 But if her father hears about the promise and does not agree, she is free from her promise. She does not have to do what she promised. Her father stopped her, so the Lord will forgive her.
6 “A woman might make a special promise to give something to the Lord and then get married. 7 If the husband hears about the promise and does not object, the woman must do what she promised. 8 But if the husband hears about the promise and refuses to let her keep her promise, the wife does not have to do what she promised. Her husband broke the promise—he did not let her do what she said. So the Lord will forgive her.
9 “A widow or a divorced woman might make a special promise. If she does, she must do exactly what she promised.
10 “A married woman might make a promise to give something to the Lord. 11 If her husband hears about the promise and lets her keep her promise, she must do exactly what she promised. She must give everything she promised. 12 But if her husband hears about the promise and refuses to let her keep the promise, she does not have to do what she promised. It doesn’t matter what she promised to do; if her husband is against it, this ends her duty to do it. And the Lord will forgive her. 13 A married woman might promise to give something to the Lord, or she might promise to do without something,[g] or she might make some other special promise to God. The husband can stop any of these promises, and the husband can let her keep any of these promises. 14 How does the husband let his wife keep her promises? If he hears about the promises and does not stop them, the woman must do exactly what she promised. 15 But if the husband hears about the promises and stops them, he is responsible for breaking her promises.”[h]
16 These are the commands that the Lord gave to Moses. These are the commands about a man and his wife, and about a father and his daughter who is still young and living at home in her father’s house.
Israel Fights Back Against the Midianites
31 The Lord spoke to Moses and said, 2 “Moses, tell the Israelites this: ‘Go and attack the Midianites, and do to them what they did to you.’ After that Moses, you will die.”[i]
3 So Moses spoke to the people. He said, “Choose some of your men to be soldiers. The Lord will use these men to do to the Midianites what they did to you. 4 Choose 1000 men from each of the tribes of Israel. 5 There will be a total of 12,000 soldiers from the tribes of Israel.”
6 Moses sent these 12,000 men to war. He sent Phinehas son of Eleazar with them as the priest. Phinehas took the holy things and the horns and trumpets with him. 7 The Israelites fought the Midianites as the Lord had commanded. They killed all the Midianite men. 8 Among the people who they killed were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with a sword.
9 The Israelites took the Midianite women and children as prisoners. They also took all their sheep, cattle, and other things. 10 Then they burned all their towns and villages. 11 They took all the people and animals 12 and brought them to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the other Israelites. They brought all the things they took in war to the camp of Israel. The Israelites were camped in the Jordan Valley in Moab, on the east side of the Jordan River across from Jericho. 13 Then Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the people went out of the camp to meet with the soldiers.
14 Moses was very angry with the leaders of the army, the commanders of 1000 men, and the commanders of 100 men, who came back from the war. 15 Moses said to them, “Why did you let the women live? 16 These are the women who listened to Balaam and caused the men of Israel to turn away from the Lord that time at Peor. The disease will come to the Lord’s people again. 17 Now, kill all the Midianite boys, and kill all the Midianite women who have had sexual relations with a man. 18 You can let all the young girls live—but only if they never had sexual relations with any man. 19 And then, all you men who killed other people must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must stay outside the camp even if you just touched a dead body. On the third day you and your prisoners must make yourselves pure. You must do the same thing again on the seventh day. 20 You must wash all of your clothes. You must wash anything made with leather, wool, or wood. You must purify yourselves.”
21 Then Eleazar the priest spoke to the soldiers. He said, “These are the rules that the Lord gave to Moses for soldiers coming back from war. 22-23 You must put gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead into the fire and then wash these things with the special water to make them pure. If something can be put in the fire, you must put it in fire to purify it. If things cannot be put in fire, you must still wash them with the special water. 24 On the seventh day you must wash all of your clothes. Then you will be pure. After that you can come into camp.”
25 Then the Lord said to Moses, 26 “You, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders should count all the prisoners, animals, and everything the soldiers took in war. 27 Then divide these things between the soldiers who went to war and the rest of the Israelites. 28 Take part of these things from the soldiers who went to war. That part will belong to the Lord. His share is one from every 500 items. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, and sheep. 29 Take that share from the soldiers’ half of the things they took in war. Then give these things to Eleazar the priest. That part will belong to the Lord. 30 And then, from the people’s half, take one thing for every 50 items. This includes people, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or any other animal. Give that share to the Levites, because they take care of the Lord’s Holy Tent.”
31 So Moses and Eleazar did what the Lord commanded Moses. 32 The soldiers had taken 675,000 sheep, 33 72,000 cattle, 34 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 women. (These are only the women who had not had sexual relations with any man.) 36 The soldiers who went to war got 337,500 sheep. 37 They gave 675 sheep to the Lord. 38 The soldiers got 36,000 cattle. They gave 72 cattle to the Lord. 39 The soldiers got 30,500 donkeys. They gave 61 donkeys to the Lord. 40 The soldiers got 16,000 women. They gave 32 women to the Lord. 41 Moses gave all these gifts for the Lord to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had commanded him.
42 Then Moses counted the people’s half. This was their share that Moses had taken from the soldiers who had gone to war. 43 The people got 337,500 sheep, 44 36,000 cattle, 45 30,500 donkeys, 46 and 16,000 women. 47 Moses took one out of every 50 women and animals. He gave them to the Levites because they took care of the Lord’s Holy Tent. Moses did this as the Lord had commanded.
48 Then the leaders of the army (the leaders over 1000 men and the leaders over 100 men) came to Moses. 49 They told Moses, “We, your servants, have counted our soldiers. We have not missed any of them. 50 So we are bringing the Lord’s gift from every soldier. We are bringing things that are made of gold—armbands, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces. This gift to the Lord is to make us pure.”
51 So Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted all these gold items from them. 52 The gold that the commanders[j] and captains[k] gave to the Lord weighed about 424 pounds.[l] 53 The soldiers kept the rest of their share of the things they took in war. 54 Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders and captains and then put that gold in the Meeting Tent. This present was a memorial[m] before the Lord for the Israelites.
9 Then Jesus said, “Believe me when I say that some of you people standing here will see God’s kingdom come with power before you die.”
Jesus Is Seen With Moses and Elijah(A)
2 Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John and went up on a high mountain. They were all alone there. While these followers watched him, Jesus was changed. 3 His clothes became shining white—whiter than anyone on earth could make them. 4 Then two men were there talking with Jesus. They were Elijah and Moses.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, it is good that we are here. We will put three tents here—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 Peter did not know what to say, because he and the other two followers were so afraid.
7 Then a cloud came and covered them. A voice came from the cloud and said, “This is my Son, the one I love. Obey him!”
8 The followers looked, but they saw only Jesus there alone with them.
9 As Jesus and the followers were walking back down the mountain, he gave them these instructions: “Don’t tell anyone about what you saw on the mountain. Wait until after the Son of Man rises from death. Then you can tell people what you saw.”
10 So the followers waited to say anything about what they saw. But they discussed among themselves what Jesus meant about rising from death. 11 They asked him, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come[a] first?”
12 Jesus answered, “They are right to say that Elijah must come first. Elijah makes all things the way they should be. But why do the Scriptures say that the Son of Man will suffer much and that people will think he is worth nothing? 13 I tell you that Elijah has already come. And people did to him all the bad things they wanted to do. The Scriptures said this would happen to him.”
Jesus Frees a Boy From an Evil Spirit(B)
14 Then Jesus, Peter, James, and John went to the other followers. They saw many people around them. The teachers of the law were arguing with the followers. 15 When the people saw Jesus, they were very surprised and ran to welcome him.
16 Jesus asked, “What are you arguing about with the teachers of the law?”
17 A man answered, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He is controlled by an evil spirit that keeps him from talking. 18 The spirit attacks him and throws him on the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes very stiff. I asked your followers to force the evil spirit out, but they could not.”
19 Jesus answered, “You people today don’t believe! How long must I stay with you? How long must I be patient with you? Bring the boy to me!”
20 So the followers brought the boy to Jesus. When the evil spirit saw Jesus, it attacked the boy. The boy fell down and rolled on the ground. He was foaming at the mouth.
21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been happening to him?”
The father answered, “Since he was very young. 22 The spirit often throws him into a fire or into water to kill him. If you can do anything, please have pity on us and help us.”
23 Jesus said to the father, “Why did you say ‘if you can’? All things are possible for the one who believes.”
24 Immediately the father shouted, “I do believe. Help me to believe more!”
25 Jesus saw that all the people were running there to see what was happening. So he spoke to the evil spirit. He said, “You evil spirit that makes this boy deaf and stops him from talking—I command you to come out of him and never enter him again!”
26 The evil spirit screamed. It caused the boy to fall on the ground again, and then it came out. The boy looked as if he was dead. Many people said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took hold of his hand and helped him stand up.
28 Then Jesus went into the house. His followers were alone with him there. They said, “Why weren’t we able to force that evil spirit out?”
29 Jesus answered, “That kind of spirit can be forced out only with prayer.[b]”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International