Old/New Testament
Cities for the Levites
35 (A)Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities. 3 The cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their equipment and for all their other animals.
4 “The pasture lands of the cities which you are to give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city [a]outward a thousand cubits around. 5 You shall also measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the center. This shall become theirs as pasture lands for the cities.
Cities of Refuge
6 The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the (B)six cities of refuge, which you shall provide for the one who commits manslaughter to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. 7 The total number of the cities which you are to give to the Levites shall be (C)forty-eight cities, [b]together with their pasture lands. 8 (D)As for the cities which you shall give them from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take fewer from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his inheritance which he possesses.”
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “(E)Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 (F)then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your (G)cities of refuge, so that the one who commits manslaughter by [c]killing a person (H)unintentionally may flee there. 12 (I)The cities shall [d]serve you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who commits manslaughter does not die until he stands before the congregation for [e]trial. 13 So the cities which you are to provide shall be six cities of refuge for you. 14 You (J)shall provide three cities across the Jordan, and three cities [f]in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be a refuge for the sons of Israel, for the stranger, and for the foreign resident among them; so that anyone who [g]kills a person (K)unintentionally may flee there.
16 ‘(L)But if he struck him with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. 17 And if he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which he would die, and as a result he did die, he is a murderer; the murderer (M)must be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand, by which he would die, and as a result he did die, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. 19 The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he himself shall put him to death when he meets him. 20 Now (N)if he pushed him in hatred, or he threw something at him [h](O)with malicious intent, and as a result he died, 21 or if he struck him with his hand with hostility, and as a result he died, the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer. The blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22 ‘(P)But if he pushed him suddenly, without hostility, or threw any object at him without [i]malicious intent, 23 or had any [j]deadly stone, and without looking he dropped it on him so that he died, while he was not his enemy nor was he seeking [k]to harm him, 24 then (Q)the congregation shall judge between the one who fatally struck the victim and the blood avenger in accordance with these ordinances. 25 And the congregation shall save the one who committed manslaughter from the hand of the blood avenger, and the congregation shall return him to his city of refuge to which he fled; and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if at any time [l]he goes beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he flees, 27 and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the blood avenger kills [m]him, he [n]will not be guilty of bloodshed, 28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the one who committed manslaughter may return to the land of his property.
29 ‘These things shall be a (R)statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
30 ‘(S)If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the [o]testimony of witnesses, but (T)no person shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is [p]condemned to death, but he must be put to death. 32 And you shall not accept a ransom for one who has fled to his city of refuge, so that he may return to live in the land [q]before the death of the priest. 33 (U)So you shall not defile the land in which you live; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except (V)by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 So you shall not (W)defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which (X)I dwell; for I the Lord am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’”
Inheritance by Marriage
36 (Y)Now the heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came forward and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, 2 and they said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord (Z)was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 But if they [r]marry one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance. 4 And when the (AA)jubilee of the sons of Israel takes place, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5 Then Moses commanded the sons of Israel in accordance with the [s]word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph is right in its statements. 6 (AB)This is [t]what the Lord has commanded regarding the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry [u]whomever they wish; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.’ 7 So (AC)no inheritance of the sons of Israel will [v]be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each [w]retain possession of the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 (AD)And every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall marry one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So no inheritance will [x]be transferred from one tribe to another tribe, for the tribes of the sons of Israel shall each [y]retain possession of its own inheritance.”
10 Just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: 11 (AE)Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad married their uncles’ sons. 12 They married those from the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance [z]remained with the tribe of the family of their father.
13 (AF)These are the commandments and the ordinances which the Lord commanded to the sons of Israel through Moses in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Jesus’ Teaching about Divorce
10 (A)Setting out from there, Jesus *went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan; crowds *gathered to Him again, and, (B)as He was accustomed, He once more began to teach them.
2 And some Pharisees came up to Jesus, testing Him, and began questioning Him whether it was lawful for a man to [a]divorce his wife. 3 And He answered and said to them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “(C)Moses permitted a man to write a [b]certificate of divorce and [c]send his wife away.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “[d](D)Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But (E)from the beginning of creation, God (F)created them male and female. 7 (G)For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother[e], 8 (H)and the two shall become one flesh; so they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore, what God has joined together, no person is to separate.”
10 And in the house the disciples again began questioning Him about this. 11 And He *said to them, “(I)Whoever [f]divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her; 12 and (J)if she herself [g]divorces her husband and marries another man, she is committing adultery.”
Jesus Blesses Little Children
13 (K)And they were bringing children to Him so that He would touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Allow the children to come to Me; do not [h]forbid them, (L)for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I say to you, (M)whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” 16 And He (N)took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.
The Rich Young Ruler
17 (O)As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and (P)knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do so that I may (Q)inherit eternal life?” 18 But Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘(R)Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not give false testimony, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept (S)all these things from my youth.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus showed love to him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have (T)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But he [i]was deeply dismayed by [j]these words, and he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.
23 And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “(U)How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples (V)were amazed at His words. But Jesus responded again and *said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 (W)It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were even more astonished, and said to Him, “[k]Then who can be saved?” 27 Looking at them, Jesus *said, “(X)With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
28 (Y)Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and have followed You.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, (Z)there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30 [l]but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in [m]the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in (AA)the age to come, eternal life. 31 But (AB)many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”
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