Old/New Testament
The Levites’ Towns
35 The Lord spoke to Moses. This was in the Jordan Valley in Moab, near the Jordan River, across from Jericho. He said, 2 “Tell the Israelites that they should give some of the cities in their part of the land to the Levites. The Israelites should give these cities and the pastures around them to the Levites. 3 The Levites will be able to live in them. And all the cattle and other animals that belong to the Levites will be able to eat from the pastures around these cities. 4 How much of your land should you give to the Levites? From the walls of the cities, go out 1500 feet[a]—all of that land will belong to the Levites. 5 Measure off an area around the city for the Levites. Start at the northeast corner and measure 3000 feet[b] to the south. Then from this corner, measure 3000 feet to the west. From there measure 3000 feet to the north and from that corner, 3000 feet to the east. The city will be in the center of this area. 6 Six of those cities will be cities of safety. If a person accidentally kills someone, that person can run to those towns for safety. In addition to those six cities, you will also give 42 more cities to the Levites. 7 So you will give a total of 48 cities to the Levites. You will also give them the land around those cities. 8 The large tribes of Israel will get large pieces of land. The small tribes of Israel will get small pieces of land. So the large tribes will give more cities and the small tribes will give fewer cities to the Levites.”
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, 10 “Tell the people this: You will cross the Jordan River and go into the land of Canaan. 11 You must choose towns to be cities of safety. If someone accidentally kills another person, that person can run to one of those towns for safety. 12 That person will be safe from anyone from the dead man’s family who wants to punish the killer until that person is judged in court. 13 There will be six cities of safety. 14 Three of them will be east of the Jordan River and three of them will be in the land of Canaan, west of the Jordan River. 15 These cities will be places of safety for citizens of Israel and for foreigners and travelers. Any of these people will be able to run to one of these cities if they accidentally kill someone.
16 “If you use an iron weapon[c] to kill someone, you are a murderer, and you must die. 17 If you use a rock large enough to kill someone and you kill another person, you are a murderer, and you must die. 18 If you use a piece of wood large enough to kill someone and you kill another person, you are a murderer, and you must die. 19 A member of the dead person’s family[d] can chase you and kill you.
20-21 “You might hit someone with your hand or push someone or throw something at them and kill them. If you did that from hate, you are a murderer, and you must be killed. A member of the dead person’s family can chase you and kill you.
22 “You might accidentally kill someone, maybe by pushing or by accidentally hitting them with a tool or weapon. 23 Perhaps you threw a rock that was large enough to kill, but it hit someone you didn’t see and killed them. You didn’t plan to kill anyone. You didn’t hate the person you killed—it was only an accident. 24 If that happens, the community must decide what to do. The court must decide if a member of the dead person’s family can kill you. 25 If the community decides to protect you from the dead person’s family, the community must take you back to your city of safety. You must stay there until the official high priest[e] dies.
26-27 “You must never go outside the limits of your city of safety. If you do and if a member of the dead person’s family catches you and kills you, that family member will not be guilty of murder. 28 Whoever accidentally killed someone must stay in their city of safety until the high priest dies. After the high priest dies, that person can go back to their own land. 29 These rules will be the law forever in all the towns of your people.
30 “A killer should be put to death as a murderer only if there are witnesses. No one can be put to death if there is only one witness.
31 “A murderer must be put to death. Don’t take money to change the punishment. That murderer must be killed.
32 “If a person killed someone and then ran to one of the cities of safety, don’t take money to let that person go home. That person must stay in that city until the high priest dies.
33 “Don’t let your land be polluted with innocent blood. If a person murders someone, the only payment for that crime is that the murderer must be killed! There is no other payment that will free the land from that crime. 34 I am the Lord. I will be living in your country with the Israelites, so don’t make it unclean with the blood of innocent people.”
The Land of Zelophehad’s Daughters
36 Manasseh was Joseph’s son. Makir was Manasseh’s son. Gilead was Makir’s son. The leaders of Gilead’s family went to talk to Moses and the leaders of the tribes of Israel. 2 They said, “Sir, the Lord commanded us to get our land by throwing lots. And sir, the Lord commanded that the land of Zelophehad our brother be given to his daughters. 3 Maybe a man from one of the other tribes will marry one of Zelophehad’s daughters. Will that land leave our family? Will the people of that other tribe get the land? Will we lose the land that we got by throwing lots? 4 People might sell their land, but in the Jubilee year, all the land is returned to the tribe that really owns it. At that time who will get the land that belongs to Zelophehad’s daughters? Will our tribe lose that land forever?”
5 Moses gave this command from the Lord to the Israelites: “These men from the tribe of Joseph are right. 6 This is the Lord’s command to Zelophehad’s daughters: If you want to marry someone, you must marry someone from your own tribe. 7 In this way land will not be passed from tribe to tribe among the Israelites. Each Israelite will keep the land that belonged to their own ancestors. 8 And if a woman gets her father’s land, she must marry someone from her own tribe. That way everyone will keep the land that belonged to his ancestors. 9 So the land must not be passed from tribe to tribe among the Israelites. Each Israelite will keep the land that belonged to their own ancestors.”
10 So Zelophehad’s daughters obeyed the Lord’s command to Moses. 11 Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah—married their cousins on their father’s side of the family. 12 Their husbands were from Manasseh’s family groups, so their land remained within their father’s family group and tribe.
13 So these are the laws and commands that the Lord gave to Moses in the Jordan Valley in Moab by the Jordan River, across from Jericho.
Jesus Teaches About Divorce(A)
10 Then Jesus left there and went into the area of Judea and across the Jordan River. Again, many people came to him, and Jesus taught them as he always did.
2 Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to make him say something wrong. They asked him, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 Jesus answered, “What did Moses command you to do?”
4 The Pharisees said, “Moses allowed a man to divorce his wife by writing a certificate of divorce.”[a]
5 Jesus said, “Moses wrote that command for you because you refused to accept God’s teaching. 6 But when God made the world, ‘he made people male and female.’[b] 7 ‘That is why a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. 8 And the two people will become one.’[c] So they are no longer two, but one. 9 God has joined them together, so no one should separate them.”
10 Later, when the followers and Jesus were in the house, they asked him again about the question of divorce. 11 He said, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another woman has sinned against his wife. He is guilty of adultery. 12 And the woman who divorces her husband and marries another man is also guilty of adultery.”
Jesus Welcomes Children(B)
13 People brought their small children to Jesus so that he could lay his hands on them to bless them. But the followers told the people to stop bringing their children to him. 14 Jesus saw what happened. He did not like his followers telling the children not to come. So he said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because God’s kingdom belongs to people who are like these little children. 15 The truth is, you must accept God’s kingdom like a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it.” 16 Then Jesus held the children in his arms. He laid his hands on them and blessed them.
A Rich Man Refuses to Follow Jesus(C)
17 Jesus started to leave, but a man ran to him and bowed down on his knees before him. The man asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get the life that never ends?”
18 Jesus answered, “Why do you call me good? Only God is good. 19 And you know his commands: ‘You must not murder anyone, you must not commit adultery, you must not steal, you must not lie, you must not cheat, you must respect your father and mother ….’[d]”
20 The man said, “Teacher, I have obeyed all these commands since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at the man in a way that showed how much he cared for him. He said, “There is still one thing you need to do. Go and sell everything you have. Give the money to those who are poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come and follow me.”
22 The man was upset when Jesus told him to give away his money. He didn’t want to do this, because he was very rich. So he went away sad.
23 Then Jesus looked at his followers and said to them, “It will be very hard for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom!”
24 The followers were amazed at what Jesus said. But he said again, “My children, it is very hard[e] to enter God’s kingdom! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom!”
26 The followers were even more amazed and said to each other, “Then who can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “That is something people cannot do, but God can. He can do anything.”
28 Peter said to Jesus, “We left everything to follow you!”
29 Jesus said, “I can promise that everyone who has left their home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or farm for me and for the Good News about me 30 will get a hundred times more than they left. Here in this world they will get more homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and farms. And with these things they will have persecutions. But in the world that is coming they will also get the reward of eternal life. 31 Many people who have the highest place now will have the lowest place in the future. And the people who have the lowest place now will have the highest place then.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International