Acts 7 Cross References - LEB

¹ And the high priest said, "Is it so concerning these things?" ² So he said, "Men—brothers and fathers—listen: The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he* was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, ³ and said to him, 'Go out from your land and from your relatives and come to the land that I will show you.' ⁴ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and* settled in Haran. And from there, after his father died, he caused him to move to this land in which you now live. ⁵ And he did not give him an inheritance in it—not even a footstep*—and he promised to give it* to him for his possession, and to his descendants after him, _⌊although he did not have_⌋** a child. ⁶ But God spoke like this: 'His descendants will be foreigners in a foreign land, and they will enslave them and mistreat them* four hundred years, ⁷ and the nation _⌊that_⌋* they will serve as slaves, I will judge,' God said, 'and after these things they will come out* and will worship me in this place.'* ⁸ And he gave him the covenant of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him on the eighth day, and Isaac did so with* Jacob, and Jacob did so with* the twelve patriarchs. ⁹ And the patriarchs, because they* were jealous of Joseph, sold him* into Egypt. And God was with him, ¹⁰ and rescued him from all his afflictions and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he appointed him ruler over Egypt and all* his household. ¹¹ And a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan and great affliction, and our fathers could not find food. ¹² So when* Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. ¹³ And on the second visit* Joseph was made known to his brothers, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ So Joseph sent and* summoned his father Jacob and all his* relatives, seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵ And Jacob went down to Egypt and died, he and our fathers. ¹⁶ And they were brought back to Shechem and buried in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a sum of silver from the sons of Hamor in Shechem. ¹⁷ "But as the time of the promise that God had made to Abraham was drawing near, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt ¹⁸ until another king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. ¹⁹ This man deceitfully took advantage of our* people and* mistreated our ancestors, _⌊causing them to abandon their infants_⌋* so that they would not be kept alive. ²⁰ At this time Moses was born, and he was beautiful to God. _⌊He_⌋* was brought up for three months in his* father's house, ²¹ and when* he was abandoned, the daughter of Pharaoh took him up and brought him up _⌊as her own son_⌋.* ²² And Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was powerful in his words and deeds. ²³ "But when _⌊he was forty years old_⌋,* it entered in his heart to visit his brothers, the sons of Israel. ²⁴ And when he* saw one of them being unjustly harmed, he defended him* and _⌊avenged_⌋* the one who had been oppressed by* striking down the Egyptian. ²⁵ And he thought his* brothers would understand that God was granting deliverance to them by his hand, but they did not understand. ²⁶ And on the following day, he made an appearance to them while they* were fighting and was attempting to reconcile* them in peace, saying, 'Men and brothers, why are you doing wrong to one another?' ²⁷ But the one who was doing wrong to his* neighbor pushed him aside, saying, 'Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ You do not want to do away with me _⌊the same way_⌋* you did away with the Egyptian yesterday, do you?'* ²⁹ And at this statement, Moses fled and became a foreigner in the land of Midian, where he became the father of two sons. ³⁰ "And when* forty years had been completed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning bush. ³¹ And when* Moses saw it,* he was astonished at the sight, and when* he approached to look at it,* the voice of the Lord came: ³² 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob!'* So Moses began trembling and* did not dare to look at it.* ³³ And the Lord said to him, 'Untie the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. ³⁴ _⌊I have certainly seen_⌋* the mistreatment of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.'* ³⁵ This Moses whom they had repudiated, saying, 'Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?'*—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer with _⌊the help_⌋* of the angel who appeared to him in the bush. ³⁶ This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years. ³⁷ "This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, 'God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.'* ³⁸ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and who with our fathers received living oracles to give to us, ³⁹ to whom our fathers were not willing to become obedient, but rejected him* and turned back in their hearts to Egypt, ⁴⁰ saying to Aaron, 'Make us gods who will go on before us! For this Moses, who led us out from the land of Egypt—we do not know what has happened to him!'* ⁴¹ And they manufactured a calf in those days, and offered up a sacrifice to the idol, and began rejoicing* in the works of their hands. ⁴² But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, just as it is written in the book of the prophets:
'You did not bring offerings and sacrifices to me for forty years in the wilderness, did you,* house of Israel? ⁴³ And you took along the tabernacle* of Moloch and the star of the god* Rephan, the images that you made, to worship them, and I will deport you beyond Babylon!'* ⁴⁴ The tabernacle of the testimony _⌊belonged_⌋* to our fathers in the wilderness, just as the one who spoke to Moses directed him* to make it according to the design that he had seen, ⁴⁵ and which, after* receiving it* in turn, our fathers brought in with Joshua _⌊when they dispossessed the_⌋* nations that God drove out from the presence of our fathers, until the days of David, ⁴⁶ who found favor in the sight of God and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob.* ⁴⁷ But Solomon built a house for him. ⁴⁸ But the Most High does not live in houses* made by human hands, just as the prophet says, ⁴⁹ 'Heaven is my throne and earth is the footstool for my feet. What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? ⁵⁰ Did not my hand make all these things?'* ⁵¹ "You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your* ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so also do you! ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become, ⁵³ you who received the law by directions of angels and have not observed it!" ⁵⁴ Now when they* heard these things, they were infuriated in their hearts and gnashed their* teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and* saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!" ⁵⁷ But crying out with a loud voice, they stopped their ears and rushed at him with one purpose. ⁵⁸ And after they* had driven him* out of the city, they began to stone* him,* and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And they kept on stoning Stephen as he* was calling out and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" ⁶⁰ And falling to his* knees, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them!" And after he* said this, he fell asleep.*

⁶¹ and* said, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it* within three days.'" ⁶² And the high priest stood up and* said to him, "Do you reply nothing? What are these people testifying against you?"

⁵⁸ "We heard him saying, 'I will destroy this temple made by hands, and within three days I will build another not made by hands." ⁵⁹ And their testimony was not even consistent about this. ⁶⁰ And the high priest stood up in the midst of them and* asked Jesus, saying, "Do you not reply anything? What are these people testifying against you?"

¹⁹ So the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching. ²⁰ Jesus replied to him, "I have spoken openly to the world. I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple courts* where all the Jews assemble, and I have said nothing in secret. ²¹ Why are you asking me? Ask those who heard what I have said to them! Behold, these people know what I said."

³³ Then Pilate entered again into the governor's residence and summoned Jesus and said to him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" ³⁴ Jesus replied, "Do you say this from yourself, or have others said this* to you about me?" ³⁵ Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I?* Your people and the chief priests handed you over to me! What have you done?"

¹³ And they put forward false witnesses who said, "This man does not stop speaking words against the holy place* and the law! ¹⁴ For we have heard him saying that this Nazarene Jesus will destroy this place and will change the customs that Moses handed down to us."

³¹ And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, _⌊his grandson_⌋,* and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son, and went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to Haran, and they settled there.

¹ And Yahweh said to Abram, "Go out from your land and from your relatives, and from the house of your father, to the land that I will show you.

⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot _⌊his nephew_⌋,* and all their possessions that they had gathered, and all the persons that they had acquired in Haran, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to the land of Canaan.

⁷ And he said to him, "I am Yahweh, who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give this land to you, to possess it."

⁴ And Jacob said to them, "My brothers, where are you from?" And they said, "We are from Haran."

² And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says Yahweh the God of Israel: '_⌊Long ago_⌋* your ancestors*—Terah the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor—lived beyond the river,* and they served other gods.

⁷ You are Yahweh, the God who chose Abram and brought him from Ur of the Chaldeans and named him Abraham.

⁷ Lift up your heads, O gates, and rise up, O ancient doorways, that the king of glory* may enter.

¹⁰ Who is the king of glory?* Yahweh of hosts, He is the king of glory!* Selah

³ The voice of Yahweh is over the waters; the God of glory thunders. Yahweh is over many waters.

³ And the one called to the other and said,
"Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts! The _⌊whole earth is full of his glory_⌋."*

² Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah; she brought you forth. For I called him _⌊alone_⌋,* but* I blessed him and made him numerous."

¹³ And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.*

¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people _⌊with whom he is pleased_⌋!"*

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.

⁴¹ Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory, and he spoke about him.

¹ "Men—brothers and fathers—listen to my defense to you now!"

⁷ And when* he said this, a dispute developed between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.

⁸ which none of the rulers of this age knew. For if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

⁴ among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they would not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. ⁵ For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus* as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. ⁶ For God who said, "Light will shine out of darkness,"* is the one who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.*

¹³ looking forward to the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

³ who is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, sustaining all things by the word of power.* When he* had made purification for sins through him, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

¹¹ "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created."

¹² saying with a loud voice,
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" ¹³ And I heard every creature that is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and in the sea and everything in them saying,
"To the one who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power* _⌊forever and ever_⌋*."

¹⁴ And Yahweh said to Abram after Lot had separated from him, "Now, lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are to the north, and to the south, and to the east and to the west, ¹⁵ for all the land which you see I will give to you, and to your descendants, forever. ¹⁶ I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth which, if anyone were able to count the dust of the earth, your descendants would be so counted. ¹⁷ Arise, go through the length of the land and through its breadth, for I will give it to you."

³ I took your ancestor* Abraham from beyond the river* and led him through all the land of Canaan, and I increased his offspring; I gave him Isaac,

⁸ You found his heart faithful before you and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite and the Girgashite—to give it to his seed. And you have kept your word because you are righteous.

³⁷ The one who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and the one who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

³³ In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce all his own possessions _⌊cannot be_⌋* my disciple.

¹⁷ Therefore "come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord, "and do not touch what is unclean,* and I will welcome you,*

⁸ By faith Abraham, when he* was called, obeyed to go out to a place that he was going to receive for an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

³¹ And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, _⌊his grandson_⌋,* and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son, and went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to Haran, and they settled there. ³² And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

⁴ And Abram went out as Yahweh had told him, and Lot went with him. Now Abram _⌊was seventy-five years old_⌋* when he went out from Haran. ⁵ And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot _⌊his nephew_⌋,* and all their possessions that they had gathered, and all the persons that they had acquired in Haran, and they went out to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to the land of Canaan.

² Who has roused salvation from the east, summoned* him to his foot, gives nations _⌊in his presence_⌋,* and subjugates kings? He makes* them like the dust with his sword, like scattered stubble with his bow.

⁹ you whom I grasped from the ends of the earth and called from its remotest parts and told, "You are my servant; I have chosen you and I have not rejected you."

⁷ And Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, "To your offspring I will give this land." And he built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.

¹⁵ for all the land which you see I will give to you, and to your descendants, forever.

² Then* Abram said, "O Yahweh, my Lord, what will you give me? _⌊I continue to be_⌋* childless, and _⌊my heir_⌋* is Eliezer of Damascus." ³ And Abram said, "Look, you have not given me a descendant, and here, _⌊a member of my household_⌋* is _⌊my heir_⌋."* ⁴ And behold, the word of Yahweh came to him saying, "This person will not _⌊be your heir_⌋,* but _⌊your own son will be your heir_⌋."* ⁵ And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them." And he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

¹⁸ On that day Yahweh _⌊made_⌋* a covenant with Abram saying, "To your offspring I will give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates river,

² And Sarai said to Abram, "Look, please, Yahweh has prevented me from bearing children. Please go in to my servant; perhaps _⌊I will have children by her_⌋."* And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai.

⁸ And I will give to you and to your offspring after you _⌊the land in which you are living as an alien_⌋,* all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting property. And I will be to them as God."

¹⁶ And I will bless her; moreover, I give to you from her a son. And I will bless her, and _⌊she shall give rise to nations_⌋.* Kings of peoples shall come* from her." ¹⁷ And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And he said in his heart, "_⌊Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old_⌋,* or _⌊can Sarah bear a child at ninety_⌋?"* ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!" ¹⁹ And God said, "No, but Sarah your wife shall bear a son for you, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant to his offspring after him.

⁴ "I am a stranger and an alien among you; give to me _⌊my own burial site_⌋* among you so that I may bury my dead from before me."

³ Dwell as an alien in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham you father.

¹³ And behold, Yahweh was standing beside him,* and he said, "I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you were sleeping I will give to you and to your descendants. ¹⁴ Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants. ¹⁵ Now behold, I am with you, and I will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you."

⁷ And I will take you _⌊as my people_⌋,* and I will be _⌊your God_⌋,* and you will know that I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out from under the _⌊forced labor_⌋* of Egypt. ⁸ And I will bring you to the land _⌊that I swore_⌋* to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, and I will give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh."

⁵ Do not get involved in battle* with them, for I will not give you any of their land, not even _⌊a foot's breadth_⌋* of it; since I have given Mount Seir as a possession for Esau.

¹⁰ "And then it will happen that when Yahweh your God will bring you to the land that he swore to your ancestors,* to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to you large and fine cities that you did not build, ¹¹ and houses full of all sorts of good things* that you did not fill, and hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant, and _⌊you have eaten your fill_⌋,*

⁵ It is not because of your righteousness and because of the uprightness of your heart that you are coming to take possession of their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God is driving them _⌊before you_⌋,* and in order to confirm the _⌊promise_⌋* that Yahweh swore to your ancestors,* to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

¹¹ And Yahweh said to me, '_⌊Come, continue_⌋* your journey _⌊before the people_⌋, * so that you may go and take possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors* to give to them.'

⁹ so that _⌊you may live long_⌋* on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors,* to give it to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey.

⁴ And Yahweh said to him, "This is the land that I swore to Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'To your offspring I will give it.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross _⌊into it_⌋."*

⁸ He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded for a thousand generations, ⁹ that he made with Abraham, and by his oath swore to Isaac. ¹⁰ He then confirmed it to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, ¹¹ saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan as the allotment that is your* inheritance." ¹² When they were _⌊few in number_⌋*— a trifle—and were sojourners in it,

⁹ By faith he lived in the land of promise as a stranger, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the fellow heirs of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was expecting the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

¹³ These all died in faith without receiving the promises, but seeing them from a distance and welcoming them, and admitting that they were strangers and temporary residents on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things make clear that they are seeking a homeland. ¹⁵ And if they remember* that land from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

¹³ And he said to Abram, "_⌊You must surely know_⌋* that your descendants shall be as aliens in a land _⌊not their own_⌋.* And they shall serve them* and they* shall oppress them four hundred years.

¹⁶ And the fourth generation shall return here, for the guilt of the Amorites _⌊is not yet complete_⌋."*

⁴⁰ And the period of dwelling of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* that they dwelled in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. ⁴¹ And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on this exact day, all of Yahweh's divisions went out from the land of Egypt.

¹⁷ Now I am saying this: the law, that came after four hundred and thirty years, does not revoke a covenant previously ratified by God, in order to nullify the promise.

¹⁴ And also the nation that they* serve I will judge. Then* afterward they shall go out with great possessions. ¹⁵ And as for you, you shall go to your ancestors* in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶ And the fourth generation shall return here, for the guilt of the Amorites _⌊is not yet complete_⌋."*

¹² And he said, "Because I am with you, and this will be the sign for you that I myself have sent you: When you bring the people out from Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain."

¹ And Yahweh said to Moses, "See, I have made you as a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. ² You will speak all that I will command you, and Aaron your brother will speak to Pharaoh, and he will release the _⌊Israelites_⌋* from his land. ³ And I myself will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and I will make my signs and my wonders numerous in the land of Egypt. ⁴ And Pharaoh will not listen to you, and I will put my hand into Egypt and bring out my divisions, my people, the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* from the land of Egypt with great punishments. ⁵ And the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand over Egypt and bring the _⌊Israelites_⌋* out from their midst." ⁶ And Moses and Aaron did it; as Yahweh commanded them, so they did. ⁷ (And Moses was _⌊eighty years old_⌋,* and Aaron was _⌊eighty-three years old_⌋* when they spoke to Pharaoh.) ⁸ And Yahweh said to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ⁹ "When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, 'Do a wonder for yourselves,' you will say to Aaron, 'Take your staff and throw it before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.'" ¹⁰ And Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded. And Aaron threw his staff before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a snake. ¹¹ And Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did likewise with their secret arts. ¹² Each threw down his staff, and they became snakes, and Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. ¹³ And Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had said. ¹⁴ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Pharaoh's heart is _⌊insensitive_⌋;* he refuses to release the people.

⁹ "You saw the misery of our ancestors* in Egypt, and you heard their shout at the Red Sea. ¹⁰ You gave signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all of his servants, and all of the people of his land because you knew that they acted arrogantly against them. You made a name for yourself, as it is this day. ¹¹ And you divided the sea before them, and they passed through the sea on dry ground, but their pursuers you threw into the depths like a stone into mighty waters.

¹² But God has been my king from long ago, working salvation in the midst of the earth. ¹³ You split open the sea by your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. ¹⁴ You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food to the desert dwelling creatures.

⁴³ how he performed* his signs in Egypt and his wonders in the region of Zoan, ⁴⁴ when he turned their rivers* to blood so they could not drink from their streams. ⁴⁵ He sent among them flies that devoured them and frogs that destroyed them. ⁴⁶ And he gave their crop to the locusts and their labor to the locust.* ⁴⁷ He destroyed their vines with hail and their sycamore trees with sleet.* ⁴⁸ He also handed their cattle over to the hail and their livestock to the lightning bolts. ⁴⁹ He sent against them his fierce anger, rage and indignation and trouble, a band of _⌊destroying_⌋* angels. ⁵⁰ He cleared a path for his anger. He did not spare them* from death but handed their life over to the plague. ⁵¹ And he struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, the first of their virility in the tents of Ham.

²⁷ They set before them the words concerning his signs and portents in the land of Ham. ²⁸ He sent darkness and made it dark, and they did not rebel against his words. ²⁹ He turned their waters into blood and it killed their fish. ³⁰ Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings. ³¹ He spoke, and there came flies and gnats throughout all their territory.* ³² He gave hail for their rains and the fire of lightning in their land. ³³ And he struck their vines and fig trees, and shattered the trees of their territory. ³⁴ He spoke and there came locusts and young locusts without number. ³⁵ And they ate up all the vegetation in their land, and they ate up the fruit of their ground. ³⁶ And he struck down all the firstborn in their land, the first of all their virility.

⁸ Who struck the firstborn of Egypt, both of humans* and animals.* ⁹ He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants.

¹⁰ To him who struck Egypt through their firstborn, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹¹ And he brought Israel out from among them, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹² With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹³ To him who divided the _⌊Red Sea_⌋* in two, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹⁴ And he let Israel cross over through the midst of it, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹⁵ But he tossed Pharaoh and his army into the _⌊Red Sea_⌋,* for his loyal love endures forever.

⁹ Awake! Awake; put on strength, O arm of Yahweh! Awake as in days of long ago, the generations of a long time back! Are you not the one who cut Rahab in pieces, the one who pierced the sea-dragon? ¹⁰ Are you not the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, the one who _⌊made_⌋* the depths of the sea a way for those who are redeemed to cross over?

⁹ And God said to Abraham, "Now as for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you, throughout their generations. ¹⁰ This is my covenant which you shall keep, between me and you, and also with* your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. ¹¹ And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. ¹² And _⌊at eight days of age_⌋* you shall yourselves circumcise every male belonging to your generations and _⌊the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner_⌋* who is not from your offspring. ¹³ _⌊You must certainly circumcise_⌋* _⌊the servant born in your house and the one bought from any foreigner_⌋.* And my covenant shall be with your flesh as an everlasting covenant. ¹⁴ And as for any uncircumcised male who has not circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his* people. He has broken my covenant.

¹ And Yahweh visited Sarah as he had said. And Yahweh did to Sarah as he had promised. ² And she conceived, and Sarah bore to Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. ³ And Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac. ⁴ And Abraham circumcised Isaac his son when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.

²¹ And Isaac prayed to Yahweh on behalf of his wife, for she was barren. And Yahweh responded to his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²² And the children in her womb jostled each other, and she said, "_⌊If it is going to be like this, why be pregnant_⌋?"* And she went to inquire of Yahweh. ²³ And Yahweh said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples _⌊from birth_⌋* shall be divided. And _⌊one people shall be stronger than the other_⌋.* And the elder shall serve the younger." ²⁴ And when her days to give birth were completed,* then—behold—twins were in her womb. ²⁵ And the first came out red, all _⌊his body_⌋* was like a hairy coat, so they called his name Esau. ²⁶ And afterward his brother came out, and his hand grasped the heel of Esau, so his name was called Jacob. And Isaac _⌊was sixty years old_⌋* at their birth.

³¹ When Yahweh saw that Leah was unloved he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren.

¹⁶ Then they journeyed from Bethel. And _⌊when they were still some distance_⌋* from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor. And she had hard labor.

¹⁸ And it happened that when her life was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-Oni.* But his father called him Benjamin.*

²³ The sons of Leah: The firstborn of Jacob was Reuben. Then Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. ²⁴ The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. ²⁵ The sons of Bilhah, the female servant of Rachel: Dan and Naphtali. ²⁶ The sons of Zilpah, the female servant of Leah: Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-Aram.

¹ And these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt; with Jacob, they each came with his _⌊family_⌋:* ² Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah; ³ Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin; ⁴ Dan and Naphtali, Gad and Asher.

³⁴ Abraham fathered Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel.

¹ These are the sons of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, ² Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

² Abraham became the father of Isaac, and Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of Judah and his brothers,

²² Because of this Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.

²⁹ "Men and brothers, it is possible to speak with confidence to you about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us until this day.

¹⁰ How then was it credited? While he* was _⌊circumcised_⌋* or _⌊uncircumcised_⌋*? Not _⌊while circumcised_⌋* but _⌊while uncircumcised_⌋*!

⁹ For the statement of the promise is this: "At this time I will return and _⌊Sarah will have_⌋* a son."* ¹⁰ And not only this, but also when* Rebecca conceived children by one man,* Isaac our father— ¹¹ for although they* had not yet been born, or done anything good or evil, in order that the purpose of God according to election might remain, ¹² not by works but by the one who calls—it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger,"* ¹³ just as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."*

¹⁵ Brothers, I am speaking according to a human perspective. Nevertheless, when* the covenant of a man has been ratified, no one declares it invalid or adds additional provisions to it.

⁴ But see how great this man was, to whom Abraham* the patriarch gave a tenth from the spoils!

⁴ When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and were not able to speak peaceably to him. ⁵ And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers. And _⌊they hated him even more_⌋.* ⁶ And he said to them, "Listen now to this dream that I dreamed. ⁷ Now behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field and, behold, my sheaf stood up and it remained standing. Then behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf." ⁸ Then his brothers said to him, "Will you really rule over us?" And _⌊they hated him even more_⌋* on account of his dream and because of his words. ⁹ Then he dreamed yet another dream and told it to his brothers. And he said, "Behold, I dreamed a dream again, and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me." ¹⁰ And he told it to his father and to his brothers. And his father rebuked him and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the ground to you?" ¹¹ And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

¹⁸ And they saw him from a distance. And before he drew near to them, they conspired against him to kill him. ¹⁹ And each said to his brothers, "Look, this master of dreams is coming. ²⁰ Now then, come, let us kill him and throw him in one of the pits. Then we will say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what his dreams become." ²¹ And Reuben heard it and delivered him from their hand and said, "We must not take his life." ²² And Reuben said to them, "You must not shed blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the desert, but do not lay a hand on him"—so that he might rescue him from their hand to return him to his father. ²³ And it happened that as Joseph came to his brothers they stripped Joseph of his robe, the robe with long sleeves,* that was upon him. ²⁴ And they took him and threw him into the pit (the pit was empty; there was no water in it). ²⁵ Then they sat down to eat some food. And they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead. And their camels were carrying aromatic gum and balm and spices _⌊on the way_⌋* to Egypt. ²⁶ Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is there if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷ Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, but our hand shall not be against him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers agreed. ²⁸ Then Midianite traders passed by. And they* drew Joseph up and brought him up from the pit, and they sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. And they brought Joseph to Egypt. ²⁹ Then Reuben returned to the pit and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit. And he tore his clothes.

² And Yahweh was with Joseph, and he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.

⁵ And it happened that from the time he appointed him over his house and over all that he had, Yahweh blessed the house of the Egyptian on account of Joseph. And the blessing of Yahweh was upon all that he had in the house and in the field.

²¹ And Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed loyal love to him, and gave him favor in the eyes of the chief of the prison. ²² And the chief of the prison put all the prisoners that were in the prison into the hand of Joseph. And everything that was done there, he was the one who did it. ²³ The chief of the prison _⌊did not worry about_⌋* anything in his* hand, since Yahweh was with him. And whatever he did Yahweh made it successful.

⁴ So Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." And they drew near. And he said, "I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

²³ _⌊The archers_⌋* fiercely attacked him. They shot arrows at him and were hostile to him. ²⁴ But his bow remained in a steady position; _⌊his arms_⌋* were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob. From there is the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.

¹⁵ And when the brothers of Joseph saw that their father was dead, they said, "It may be that Joseph will hold a grudge against us and pay us back dearly for all the evil that we did to him." ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph saying, "Your father commanded us before his death, saying, ¹⁷ "Thus you must say to Joseph, 'O, please now forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you.' So now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸ Then his brothers went also and fell before him and said, "Behold, we are your servants." ¹⁹ Then Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God? ²⁰ As for you, you planned evil against me, but God planned it for good, in order to do this—to keep many people alive—as it is today.

¹⁷ He sent a man on ahead of them; Joseph was sold as a slave.

¹⁰ You must not fear, for I am with you; you must not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, indeed I will help you, indeed I will take hold of you with the right hand of my salvation.

² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not flow over you. When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not scorch* you.

¹⁸ (For he knew that they had handed him over because of envy.

¹² And there with us was a young man, a Hebrew servant of the chief of the guard, and we told him the dream, and he interpreted our dreams for us, each according to his dream he interpreted. ¹³ And it happened just as he interpreted to us, so it was. He* restored me to my office, and him* he* hanged." ¹⁴ Then Pharaoh sent and called for Joseph, and they brought him quickly from the prison. And he shaved and changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh. ¹⁵ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I dreamed a dream, but there is none to interpret it. Now, I have heard concerning you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it." ¹⁶ Then Joseph answered Pharaoh saying, "_⌊It is not in my power_⌋;* God will answer concerning the well-being of Pharaoh." ¹⁷ And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Now in my dream, behold, I was standing on the bank of the Nile, ¹⁸ and behold, seven cows, _⌊well built and fat_⌋,* were coming up from the Nile, and they grazed among the reeds. ¹⁹ And behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, very _⌊ugly and gaunt_⌋*—never have I seen any as them in all the land of Egypt for ugliness. ²⁰ And the thin and ugly cows ate the former seven healthy cows. ²¹ But when they went into their bellies* it could not be known that they went into their bellies,* for their appearance was as ugly as at the beginning. Then I awoke. ²² Then I saw in my dream and behold, seven ears of grain were coming out of one stalk, full and good. ²³ And behold, seven withered ears of grain, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them. ²⁴ And the thin ears of grain swallowed up the seven good ears of grain. And I told the magicians,* but there was none to explain it to me." ²⁵ Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dreams of Pharaoh are one. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁶ The seven good cows, they are seven years, and the seven good ears of grain, they are seven years. The dreams are one. ²⁷ And the seven thin and ugly cows coming up after them, they are seven years, and the seven empty ears of grain, scorched by the east wind, they are also seven years of famine. ²⁸ This is the word that I have spoken to Pharaoh; God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. ²⁹ Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the whole land of Egypt. ³⁰ Then seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will consume the land. ³¹ Abundance in the land will not be known because of the famine _⌊that follows_⌋,* for it will be very heavy. ³² Now concerning the repetition of the dream twice to Pharaoh, it is because the matter is established by God, and God will do it quickly. ³³ Now then, let Pharaoh select a man who is discerning and wise, and let him set him over the land of Egypt. ³⁴ Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint supervisors over the land, and let him take one-fifth from the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. ³⁵ Then let them gather all the food of these coming good years and let them pile up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. ³⁶ Then the food shall be as a deposit for the land for the seven years of the famine that will be in the land of Egypt, that the land will not perish on account of the famine." ³⁷ And the plan* was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his servants. ³⁸ Then Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find a man like this in whom is the spirit of God?" ³⁹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Since God has made all of this known to you there is no one as discerning and wise as you. ⁴⁰ You shall be over my house, and to your word* all my people shall submit. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you." ⁴¹ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt." ⁴² Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his finger and put it on the finger of Joseph. And he clothed him with garments of fine linen, and he put a chain of gold around his neck. ⁴³ And he had him ride in his second chariot. And they cried out before him, "Kneel!" And Pharaoh set him over all the land of Egypt. ⁴⁴ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your consent no one will lift his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt." ⁴⁵ And Pharaoh called the name of Joseph Zaphenath-paneah and gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, as a wife. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. ⁴⁶ Now Joseph _⌊was thirty years old_⌋* when he stood before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and traveled through the whole land of Egypt.

⁶ Now Joseph was the governor over the land. He was the one who sold food to all the people of the land. And the brothers of Joseph came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground.

¹⁸ But Judah drew near to him and said, "Please my lord, let your servant speak a word in the ears of my lord, and _⌊let not your anger burn_⌋* against your servant, for _⌊you are like Pharaoh himself_⌋.*

⁸ So now, you yourselves did not send me here, but God put me here as father to Pharaoh and as master of all his household, and a ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry, and go up to my father and say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me and do not delay.

¹⁶ The angel who redeemed me from all evil, may he bless the boys. And through them let my name be perpetuated,* and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac. And let them multiply into many in the midst of the earth.

²⁴ because he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and has not hid his face from him; but he listened to him when he cried for help.

¹⁷ They* cry out and Yahweh hears and delivers them from all of their troubles. ¹⁸ Yahweh is near to those who are heartbroken and saves those who are crushed in spirit. ¹⁹ Many are the distresses of the righteous, but Yahweh delivers him out of them all.

⁴⁰ And Yahweh helps them and he rescues them. He rescues them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.

¹ For the music director. Of David. A psalm.*
I waited patiently for Yahweh, And he inclined to me and heard my cry for help. ² And so he brought me up from the roaring pit,* from the miry clay. And he put my feet upon a rock; he made my steps steady. ³ Then he put a new song in my mouth, a praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and will trust Yahweh.

¹⁹ Until the time his word came about, the word of Yahweh tested* him. ²⁰ The king sent and he freed him; the ruler of the peoples sent and let him loose. ²¹ He made him lord of his house and ruler of all his possessions, ²² to obligate* his officials _⌊as he saw fit_⌋* and teach his elders wisdom.

⁶ For Yahweh will give wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

⁴ And you shall find favor and good sense* in the eyes of God and humankind.

⁷ When the ways of a man are pleasing to Yahweh, even his enemies he will cause to make peace with him.

¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will save me for his heavenly kingdom, to whom be the glory _⌊forever and ever_⌋*. Amen.

¹¹ Behold, we consider blessed those who have endured. You have heard about the patient endurance of Job, and you saw the outcome from the Lord, that the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

¹⁴ And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me,
"These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

⁵⁴ And the seven years of famine began to come as Joseph had said. And there was famine in all of the countries, but in the land of Egypt there was food. ⁵⁵ And when all the land of Egypt was hungry the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. And Pharaoh said to all the land of Egypt, "Go to Joseph; what he says to you, you must do." ⁵⁶ And the famine was over the whole land, and Joseph opened all the storehouses* and sold food to the Egyptians. And the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. ⁵⁷ And every land came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, for the famine was severe in every land.

⁵ Then the sons of Israel went to buy grain amid those other people who went as well, for there was famine in the land of Canaan.

¹ Now the famine in the land was severe.

⁵ So now, do not be distressed and do not be angry _⌊with yourselves_⌋* that you sold me here, for God sent me as deliverance before you. ⁶ For these two years the famine has been in the midst of the land, but there will be five more years where there is no plowing or harvest.

¹¹ And I will provide for you there, because there are still five years of famine—lest you and your household and all that you have become destitute.'

¹³ Now there was no food in all the land, for the famine was very severe. And the land of Egypt languished, with the land of Canaan, on account of the famine. ¹⁴ And Joseph collected all the money found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan in exchange for the grain that they were buying. And Joseph brought the money into the house of Pharaoh. ¹⁵ And when the money was spent in the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan, all of Egypt came to Joseph, saying, "Give us food! Why should we die before you? For the money is used up."

¹⁶ Then he called for a famine upon the land; he broke every _⌊supply_⌋* of bread.

¹ When Jacob realized that there was grain in Egypt, Jacob said to his sons, "Why do you look at one another?" ² Then he said, "Look, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us there that we may live and not die." ³ And the ten brothers of Joseph went down to buy grain from Egypt. ⁴ But Jacob did not send Benjamin, the brother of Joseph, for _⌊he feared harm would come to him_⌋.* ⁵ Then the sons of Israel went to buy grain amid those other people who went as well, for there was famine in the land of Canaan. ⁶ Now Joseph was the governor over the land. He was the one who sold food to all the people of the land. And the brothers of Joseph came and bowed down to him with their faces to the ground. ⁷ And Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he pretended to be a stranger to them. And he spoke with them harshly and said to them, "From where have you come?" And they said, "From the land of Canaan to buy food." ⁸ And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. ⁹ And Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed concerning them, and he said to them, "You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!" ¹⁰ And they said to him, "No, my lord, but your servants have come to buy food. ¹¹ We all are sons of one man. We are honest men. We, your servants, are not spies." ¹² Then he said to them, "No, but you have come to see the nakedness of the land." ¹³ Then they said, "We, your servants, are twelve brothers, the sons of one man in the land of Canaan, but behold, the youngest is with our father today, and one is no more." ¹⁴ But Joseph said to them, "It is what I said to you—you are spies. ¹⁵ By this you shall be tested. By the life of Pharaoh you will not go out from here unless your youngest brother comes here. ¹⁶ Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, but you will be kept in prison so that your words might be tested to see if there is truth with you. And if not, by the life of Pharaoh surely you are spies." ¹⁷ Then he gathered them into the prison for three days. ¹⁸ On the third day Joseph said to them, "Do this and you will live; I fear God. ¹⁹ If you are honest, let one of your brothers be kept in prison _⌊where you are now being kept_⌋,* but the rest of you go, carry grain for the famine for your households. ²⁰ You must bring your youngest brother to me, and then your words will be confirmed and you will not die." And they did so. ²¹ Then each said to his brother, "Surely we are guilty on account of our brother when we saw the anguish of his soul when he pleaded for mercy to us and we would not listen. Therefore this trouble has come to us." ²² Then Reuben answered them, saying, "Did I not say to you, do not sin against the boy? But you did not listen, and now, behold, his blood has been sought." ²³ Now they did not know that Joseph understood, for the interpreter was between them. ²⁴ And he turned away from them and wept. Then he returned to them and spoke to them, and took Simeon from them and tied him up in front of them.

² And it happened that as they finished eating the grain which they had brought from Egypt their father said to them, "Return and buy a little food for us."

¹ Then Joseph was not able to control himself before all who were standing by him. And he cried out, "Make every man go out from me!" So no one stood with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. ² And _⌊he wept loudly_⌋,* so that the Egyptians heard it and the household of Pharaoh heard it. ³ Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?" And his brothers were unable to answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. ⁴ So Joseph said to his brothers, "Come near to me, please." And they drew near. And he said, "I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ So now, do not be distressed and do not be angry _⌊with yourselves_⌋* that you sold me here, for God sent me as deliverance before you. ⁶ For these two years the famine has been in the midst of the land, but there will be five more years where there is no plowing or harvest. ⁷ And God sent me before you all to preserve for you a remnant in the land and to keep alive among you many survivors. ⁸ So now, you yourselves did not send me here, but God put me here as father to Pharaoh and as master of all his household, and a ruler over all the land of Egypt. ⁹ Hurry, and go up to my father and say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me and do not delay. ¹⁰ You shall settle in the land of Goshen so that you will be near me, you and your children and your grandchildren, and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. ¹¹ And I will provide for you there, because there are still five years of famine—lest you and your household and all that you have become destitute.' ¹² Now behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that _⌊it is I_⌋* who am speaking to you. ¹³ And you must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt and all that you have seen. Now hurry and bring my father here." ¹⁴ Then he fell upon the neck of his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. ¹⁵ And he kissed all his brothers and wept upon them. And afterward his brothers spoke with him. ¹⁶ Then the report was heard in the house of Pharaoh, saying, "Joseph's brothers have come." And it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. ¹⁷ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say to your brothers: 'Do this—load your donkeys and go back to the land of Canaan, ¹⁸ and take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.'

³¹ Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, "I will go up and report to Pharaoh, and I will say to him, 'My brothers and my father's household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me.

⁹ Hurry, and go up to my father and say to him, 'Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me and do not delay. ¹⁰ You shall settle in the land of Goshen so that you will be near me, you and your children and your grandchildren, and your flocks and your herds and all that you have. ¹¹ And I will provide for you there, because there are still five years of famine—lest you and your household and all that you have become destitute.'

¹² The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah (but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan). And the sons of Perez were Hezron and Hamul.

²⁶ All the persons belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt _⌊who were his descendants_⌋,* not including the wives of the sons of Jacob were sixty-six persons in all. ²⁷ And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were seventy.

⁵ And _⌊all those who descended from Jacob_⌋* were seventy individuals,* and Joseph was in Egypt.

²² With only seventy persons your ancestors* went down to Egypt, but now Yahweh your God has made you as the stars of the heaven _⌊with respect to multitude_⌋.*

⁵ The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. ⁶ The sons of Zerah: Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Dara, five in all.

²³ Then Israel came to Egypt, and Jacob was a sojourner in the land of Ham.

³ Then he said, "I am the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. ⁴ I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I myself will also bring you up. And Joseph will place his hand over your eyes." ⁵ So Jacob arose from Beersheba. And the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, and their little ones and their wives in the wagons Pharaoh had sent to transport him. ⁶ And they took their livestock and their possessions that they had acquired in the land of Canaan. And they came to Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, ⁷ his sons and his sons' sons with him, his daughters and his daughters' daughters with him, into Egypt.

³³ When Jacob finished instructing his sons he drew his feet up to the bed. Then he took his last breath and was gathered to his people.

⁶ And Joseph died and all of his brothers and all of that generation.

¹⁵ our ancestors* went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt _⌊a long time_⌋,* and the Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors.*

⁵ And _⌊you shall declare_⌋* and you shall say _⌊before_⌋* your God, 'My ancestor* was a wandering Aramean, and he went down to Egypt, and there he dwelt as an alien _⌊few in number_⌋,* and there he became a great nation, mighty and numerous.

⁴ and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. To Esau I gave the hill country of Seir to possess, but Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.

²¹ By faith Jacob, as he* was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. ²² By faith Joseph, as he* was dying, mentioned about the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his bones.

¹⁶ Then Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed for Ephron the silver that he had named* in the hearing of the Hittites:* four hundred shekels of silver _⌊at the merchants' current rate_⌋.*

⁹ Then Esau said, "_⌊I have enough_⌋* my brother; _⌊keep what you have_⌋."* ¹⁰ And Jacob said, "No, please, if I have found favor in your eyes, you must take my gift from my hand, for then I have seen your face which is like seeing the face of God, and you have received me. ¹¹ Please take my gift which has been brought to you, for God has dealt graciously with me, and because _⌊I have enough_⌋."* And he urged him, so he took it. ¹² Then he* said, "Let us journey and go on, and I will go ahead of you." ¹³ But he said to him, "My lord knows that the children are frail, and the flocks and the cattle which are nursing are a concern to me. Now if they drove them hard for a day all the flocks would die. ¹⁴ Let my lord pass on before his servant and I will move along slowly at the pace* of the livestock that are ahead of me, and at the pace* of the children until I come to my lord in Seir." ¹⁵ And Esau said, "Let me leave some of my people with you." But he said, "_⌊What need is there_⌋?* Let me find favor in the eyes of my lord." ¹⁶ So Esau turned that day on his way to Seir. ¹⁷ But Jacob traveled on to Succoth, and he built for himself a house, and he made shelters for his livestock. Therefore he called the name of the place Succoth. ¹⁸ And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan, _⌊on his way_⌋* from Paddan-Aram. And he camped before the city. ¹⁹ And he bought a piece of land where he pitched his tent for one hundred pieces of money* from the hand of the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem. ²⁰ And there he erected an altar and called it "El Elohe Israel."*

² And Shechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her. And he took her and lay with her and raped her. ³ And his soul clung to Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the girl and spoke _⌊tenderly_⌋* to the girl. ⁴ So Shechem said to Hamor his father, saying, "Get this girl for me as a wife." ⁵ And Jacob heard that Dinah his daughter had been defiled, but his sons were with his flocks in the field. And Jacob kept silent until they came. ⁶ And Hamor, father of Shechem, went out to Jacob to speak with him. ⁷ And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it. And the men were distressed and very angry because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by having sexual relations with the daughter of Jacob—_⌊something that_⌋* should not be done. ⁸ And Hamor spoke with them saying, "Shechem my son _⌊is in love with_⌋* your daughter. Please give her to him for a wife. ⁹ Make marriages with us. Give us your daughters and take our daughters for yourselves. ¹⁰ You shall dwell with us and the land shall be before you; settle and trade in it, and acquire property in it." ¹¹ Then Shechem said to her father and to her brothers, "Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will do. ¹² _⌊Make the bride price and gift as high as you like_⌋;* I will give what you say to me. But give me the girl as a wife." ¹³ Then the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and his father Hamor speaking deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister. ¹⁴ And they said to them, "We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who is uncircumcised, for that is a disgrace for us. ¹⁵ Only on this condition will we give consent to you; if you will become like us—every male among you to be circumcised. ¹⁶ Then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take for ourselves your daughters, and we will live with you and become one family. ¹⁷ But if you will not listen to us, to be circumcised, then we will take our daughters and we will go." ¹⁸ And their words were good in the eyes of Hamor and in the eyes of Shechem, the son of Hamor. ¹⁹ And the young man did not delay to do the thing, for he wanted the daughter of Jacob. Now he was the most honored of his father's house. ²⁰ Then Hamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the men of their city, saying, ²¹ "These men are at peace with us. Let them dwell in the land and let them trade in it. Now, behold, the land is _⌊broad enough for them_⌋.* Let us take their daughters as wives, and let us give our daughters to them. ²² Only on this condition will they give consent to us, to live with us and to become one family—when every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised. ²³ Will not their livestock and their property and all their animals be ours? Only let us give consent to them so they will live among us." ²⁴ And all those who went out of the gate of his city listened to Hamor and Shechem. Every male was circumcised, all those who went out of the gate of his city. ²⁵ And it happened that on the third day, while they were in pain, two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dinah, each took his sword and came against the unsuspecting city and killed all the males. ²⁶ They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword, and they took Dinah from the house of Shechem and went out. ²⁷ The other sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had defiled their sister. ²⁸ They took their flocks and their cattle and their donkeys, and whatever was in the field. ²⁹ They captured and plundered all that was in the houses—all their wealth, their little ones, and their women. ³⁰ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me, making me stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites! I am few in number! If they gather against me and attack me, I will be destroyed—I and my household!" ³¹ But they said, "Shall he treat our sister like a prostitute?"

¹⁹ And Rachel died and she was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).

²⁹ Then he instructed them and said to them, "I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me among my ancestors* in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, ³⁰ in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah that is before* Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. ³¹ There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife. And there I buried Leah— ³² the purchase of the field and the cave which was in it from the Hittites."

¹³ And his sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which field Abraham had bought as a burial site from Ephron the Hittite before* Mamre.

¹⁹ And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph* had made the _⌊Israelites_⌋* solemnly swear an oath, saying, "God will surely attend to you, and you will take up my bones from here with you."

³² The bones of Jacob, which the _⌊Israelites_⌋* had brought out from Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in a piece of land that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money;* it became an inheritance for the descendants* of Joseph.

¹³ And he said to Abram, "_⌊You must surely know_⌋* that your descendants shall be as aliens in a land _⌊not their own_⌋.* And they shall serve them* and they* shall oppress them four hundred years.

⁷ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋* were fruitful and multiplied and were many and were very, very numerous, and the land was filled with them. ⁸ And a new king rose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. ⁹ And he said to his people, "Look, the people of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* are greater and more numerous than us. ¹⁰ Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, lest they become many, and when war happens, they also will join our enemies and will fight against us and go up from the land." ¹¹ And they appointed commanders of forced labor over them in order to oppress them with their _⌊forced labor_⌋,* and they built storage cities for Pharaoh—Pithom and Rameses. ¹² And as he oppressed them, so they became many, and so they spread out, and the Egyptians were afraid because of the presence of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.*

²⁰ And God did the midwives good, and the Israelite people became many and were very numerous.

²⁴ And he* made his people very fruitful. He also made them* stronger than their* enemies. ²⁵ He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal deceitfully against his servants.

⁶ But God spoke like this: 'His descendants will be foreigners in a foreign land, and they will enslave them and mistreat them* four hundred years,

¹⁷ The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and exalted the people during their* stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.

⁸ Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that one day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. ⁹ The Lord is not delaying the promise, as some consider slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he* does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance.

⁸ And a new king rose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. ⁹ And he said to his people, "Look, the people of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* are greater and more numerous than us. ¹⁰ Come, we must deal shrewdly with them, lest they become many, and when war happens, they also will join our enemies and will fight against us and go up from the land." ¹¹ And they appointed commanders of forced labor over them in order to oppress them with their _⌊forced labor_⌋,* and they built storage cities for Pharaoh—Pithom and Rameses. ¹² And as he oppressed them, so they became many, and so they spread out, and the Egyptians were afraid because of the presence of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* ¹³ And the Egyptians ruthlessly compelled the _⌊Israelites_⌋* to work. ¹⁴ And they made their lives bitter with hard work with mortar and with bricks and with all sorts of work in the field—with all their work in which they ruthlessly enslaved them. ¹⁵ And the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives—of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the second was Puah— ¹⁶ and he said, "When you help the Hebrews give birth, you will look upon the pairs of testicles; if he is a son, you will put him to death, and if she is a daughter, she will live." ¹⁷ But the midwives feared God, and they did not do as the king of Egypt had said to them. They let the boys live. ¹⁸ And the king of Egypt summoned the midwives, and he said to them, "Why have you done this thing and let the boys live?" ¹⁹ And the midwives said to Pharaoh, "Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women, because they are vigorous; before the midwife comes to them, they have given birth." ²⁰ And God did the midwives good, and the Israelite people became many and were very numerous. ²¹ _⌊And so_⌋* because the midwives feared God, he gave them _⌊families_⌋.* ²² And Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, "Every son who is born you will throw into the Nile, and every daughter you will let live."

⁴ They say, "Come, let us annihilate them from being a nation, so that the name of Israel will be remembered no more." ⁵ For they have consulted together _⌊with a unified purpose_⌋.* They have made a covenant against you:

²⁵ He turned their heart to hate his people, to deal deceitfully against his servants.

¹ A song of ascents.*
"Too often* they have attacked me from my youth." Let Israel say, ² "Too often* they have attacked me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me. ³ On my back plowmen have plowed. They have made their furrows* long."

⁴ And his tail swept away a third of the stars from heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, in order that whenever she gave birth to her child he could devour it. ⁵ And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod,* and her child was snatched away to God and to his throne.

² And the woman conceived, and she gave birth to a son, and she saw him, that he was a fine baby, and she hid him three months. ³ But when she could no longer hide him, she got a papyrus basket for him, and she coated it with tar and with pitch, and she placed the boy in it, and she placed it among the reeds on the bank of the Nile. ⁴ And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. ⁵ And the daughter of Pharaoh went down to wash at the Nile, while her maidservants were walking alongside the Nile, and she saw the basket in the midst of the reeds, and she sent her slave woman for it and took it ⁶ and opened it and saw him—the boy—and it was a lad weeping, and she had compassion for him and said, "This must be from the boys of the Hebrews."* ⁷ And his sister said to the daughter of Pharaoh, "Shall I go and call for you a woman from the Hebrews who is nursing so that she will nurse the boy for you?" ⁸ And the daughter of Pharaoh said to her, "Go." And the girl went, and she called the mother of the boy. ⁹ And the daughter of Pharaoh said, "Take this boy and nurse him for me, and I myself will give you wages, and the woman took the boy, and she nursed him. ¹⁰ And the boy grew, and she brought him to the daughter of Pharaoh, and he became her son, and she called his name Moses, and she said, "Because I drew him out from the water."

¹² So he sent and brought him. Now he was ruddy with beautiful eyes and of _⌊handsome_⌋* appearance. And Yahweh said, "Arise, anoint him, for this is he."

²³ By faith Moses, when he* was born, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw the child was handsome, and they were not afraid of the edict of the king.

²⁶ I thought, "I will wipe them out; _⌊I will make people forget they ever existed_⌋."*

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he* was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,

²⁹ God gave wisdom to Solomon and very great discernment, as well as _⌊breadth of understanding_⌋,* as the sand which is on the edge of the seashore. ³⁰ The wisdom of Solomon was greater than the wisdom of all the people* of the east and more than all the wisdom of Egypt.

²² Thus King Solomon was greater than all the kings of the earth in wealth and wisdom.

¹¹ Surely the princes of Zoan are foolish; the wise of the counselors of Pharaoh give senseless counsel. How can you say to Pharaoh, "I myself am a son of sages, a _⌊descendant_⌋* of ancient kings"?

⁴ youths who _⌊have no physical defect_⌋,* and who are _⌊handsome_⌋,* and who are prudent* in all wisdom and _⌊endowed with knowledge_⌋,* and who understand insight, and who have the _⌊ability_⌋* in them to serve in the palace of the king. And the king ordered him to teach them the literature and the language of the Chaldeans.

¹⁷ _⌊And as for these four young men_⌋,* God* gave to them knowledge and insight into all literature and wisdom, and Daniel had insight into all visions* and dreams. ¹⁸ And at the end of the time the king had set to bring them, the commander of the court officials brought them in _⌊before_⌋* Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹ And the king spoke with them, _⌊and among all of them no one was found like_⌋* Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah; then they stood _⌊before_⌋* the king. ²⁰ And in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired from them, he found them ten times better than all of the magicians* and conjurers* that _⌊were in his entire kingdom_⌋.*

¹⁹ And he said to them, "What things?" So they said to him, "The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene, a man who was a prophet, powerful in deed and word before God and all the people,

¹¹ _⌊And then_⌋* in those days when Moses had grown up, he went out to his brothers, and he saw their _⌊forced labor_⌋,* and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man, one of his brothers.* ¹² And he turned here and there, and he saw no one,* and he struck the Egyptian, and he hid him in the sand.

¹⁸ And Moses went, and he returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and he said to him, "Please let me go, and let me return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and let me see whether they are yet alive. And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace."

²¹ And they came—every man whose heart lifted him and every man whose spirit impelled him—they brought Yahweh's contribution for the work of the tent of assembly and for all its service and for the holy garments.

²⁹ Every man and woman whose heart impelled them to bring for all the work to be done that Yahweh had commanded _⌊by the agency of_⌋* Moses—the _⌊Israelites_⌋* brought freely to Yahweh.

¹⁷ And I know, my God, that you yourself test the heart and are pleased with uprightness. I, in the uprightness of my heart, have willingly offered all these things, and now I have seen your people who are found here willingly offer to you. ¹⁸ O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our ancestors,* keep this forever as a plan and thoughts of the heart of your people, and establish their heart toward you. ¹⁹ Grant to Solomon my son a heart of peace to keep your commands, your statutes, and your regulations to do everything, and to build the citadel for which I have provided."

¹² The hand of God was also upon Judah, to give them one heart to obey the command of the king and the princes concerning the word of Yahweh.

¹ In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to accomplish the word of Yahweh by the mouth of Jeremiah, Yahweh stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia and he sent a message to all of his kingdom and also put the message in writing:

⁵ So the heads of the _⌊families_⌋* for Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites—to all whose spirit God had stirred—prepared to go up and build the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem.

²⁷ Blessed be Yahweh the God of our ancestors,* who put this in the heart of the king to glorify the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem

¹ Streams of water are the heart* of a king in the hand of Yahweh; _⌊wherever_⌋* he will desire, he will turn.

³⁶ And after some days, Paul said to Barnabas, "Come then,let us return and* visit the brothers in every town in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing."

¹⁶ But thanks be to God, who has put in the heart of Titus the same devotion _⌊on your behalf_⌋*,

¹² Therefore my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. ¹³ For the one at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure, is God.

²⁴ By faith Moses, when he* was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵ choosing instead to be mistreated with the people of God rather than to experience the transitory enjoyment of sin, ²⁶ considering _⌊reproach endured for the sake of Christ_⌋* greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of change.

¹⁷ For God put into their hearts to carry out his purpose and to make _⌊a unanimous decision_⌋* and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.

¹⁰ Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the slave of the high priest and cut off his right ear. (Now the name of the slave was Malchus.) ¹¹ So Jesus said to Peter, "Put the sword into its* sheath! The cup that the Father has given me—shall I not drink it?"

²⁵ Now Simon Peter was standing there and warming himself. So they said to him, "You are not also one of his disciples, are you?"* He denied it* and said, "I am not!" ²⁶ One of the slaves of the high priest, who was related to the one whose ear Peter had cut off, said, "Did I not see you in the garden with him?" ²⁷ So Peter denied it* again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

²⁸ You do not want to do away with me _⌊the same way_⌋* you did away with the Egyptian yesterday, do you?'*

⁴⁵ But the army said to Saul, "Must Jonathan die, who accomplished this great victory in Israel? Far from it! As Yahweh lives, not a hair from his head will fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day." So the army ransomed Jonathan and he did not die.

⁵ He put his life in his hand and attacked the Philistine, and Yahweh brought about a great victory for all of Israel, and you saw it and rejoiced! Now why should you sin against innocent blood by killing David without cause?"

¹ Now Naaman was the commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man before his master and _⌊highly regarded_⌋,* for by him Yahweh had given victory to Aram. Now the man was a mighty warrior, but he was afflicted with a skin disease.

⁷ Our ancestors* in Egypt did not understand your wonderful works. They did not remember your many acts of loyal love, and so they rebelled by the sea at _⌊the Red Sea_⌋.*

³² But they did not understand the statement, and they were afraid to ask him.

⁴⁵ But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them so that they could not understand it. And they were afraid to ask him about this statement.

³⁴ And they understood none of these things, and this saying was concealed from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

²⁷ And when they* arrived and called the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith for the Gentiles.*

⁴ And when they* arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and reported all that God had done with them.

⁷ And after* there was much debate, Peter stood up and* said to them, "Men and brothers, you know that in the early days* God chose among you through my mouth that the Gentiles should hear the message of the gospel and believe.

¹⁹ And after* greeting them, he began to relate* _⌊one after the other_⌋* the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

¹⁸ For I will not dare to speak about anything except that which Christ has accomplished through me, resulting in the obedience of the Gentiles by word and deed,

⁹ For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been in vain, but I labored even more than all of them, and not I, but the grace of God with me.

¹ Now because we* are fellow workers, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

²⁹ for which purpose also I labor, striving according to his working which is at work powerfully in me.

⁸ Then Abram said to Lot, "Please, let there not be quarreling between me and you, and between my shepherds and your shepherds, for we men are brothers.

²⁴ Then he sent his brothers away, and when they departed he said to them, "Do not be agitated on the journey."

¹³ And he went out on the second day, and there were two Hebrew men fighting, and he said to the guilty one, "Why do you strike your neighbor?" ¹⁴ And he said, "Who _⌊appointed you as a commander_⌋* and a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?" And Moses was afraid, and he said, "Surely the matter has become known." ¹⁵ And Pharaoh heard this matter, and he sought to kill Moses, and Moses fled from Pharaoh, and he lived in the land of Midian, and he lived at _⌊a certain well_⌋.*

¹ A song of ascents. Of David.*
Look, how good and how pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.

¹⁹ A brother who is offended is worse than a city of strength, and quarrels are like the bars of a fortification.

¹⁷ These things I command you: that you love one another. ¹⁸ If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated* you.

⁶ But brother goes to court with brother, and this before unbelievers! ⁷ Therefore it is already completely a loss for you that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? ⁸ But you wrong and defraud, and do this to brothers!

¹ Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,

³ Do nothing according to selfish ambition or according to empty conceit, but in humility considering one another better than yourselves,

¹¹ For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another, ¹² not as Cain, who was of the evil one and violently murdered his brother. And _⌊for what reason_⌋* did he violently murder him? Because his deeds were evil and the deeds of his brother were righteous. ¹³ Do not marvel,* brothers, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed over from death to life because we love the brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵ Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that every murderer does not have eternal life residing in him.

¹⁹ Behold, your servant has found favor in your eyes and _⌊you have shown me great kindness_⌋* in saving my life. But I cannot flee to the mountains, lest the disaster overtake me and I die.

¹⁴ But a young man of the servants told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, "Look, David sent messengers from the desert to greet* our master, but he addressed them angrily, ¹⁵ even though the men were very good to us; we were not mistreated and did not miss anything all the days we went about with them _⌊while we were_⌋* in the field.

⁷ He who corrects a scoffer gains abuse for himself, and he who rebukes the wicked _⌊gets hurt_⌋.* ⁸ Do not rebuke a scoffer, lest he hate you; rebuke the wise and he will love you.

²³ And after* he arrived at the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him while he* was teaching, saying, "By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?"

¹⁴ But he said to him, "Man, who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you?"

³⁶ Jesus replied, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here." ³⁷ Then Pilate said to him, "So then you are a king!" Jesus replied, "You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I have come into the world: in order that I can testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice."

¹² From this point on Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews shouted, saying, "If you release this man, you are not a friend of Caesar! Everyone who makes himself out to be a king opposes Caesar!" ¹³ So Pilate, when he* heard these words, brought Jesus outside and sat down on the judgment seat, in the place called The Stone Pavement (but Gabbatha in Aramaic). ¹⁴ (Now it was the day of preparation of the Passover; it was about the sixth hour.) And he said to the Jews, "Behold your king!" ¹⁵ Then those shouted, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests replied, "We do not have a king except Caesar!"

¹³ The God of Abraham and of Isaac* and of Jacob,* the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, after* he had decided to release him.* ¹⁴ But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and demanded that a man—a murderer—be granted to you. ¹⁵ And you killed the originator of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses!

⁷ And they made them stand in their* midst and* began to ask,* "By what power or by what name did you do this?"

¹¹ This one* is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, that has become _⌊the cornerstone_⌋.* ¹² And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given among people by which we must be saved."

³³ Now when* they heard this,* they were infuriated, and were wanting to execute them.

³⁵ This Moses whom they had repudiated, saying, 'Who appointed you a ruler and a judge?'*—this man God sent as both ruler and redeemer with _⌊the help_⌋* of the angel who appeared to him in the bush.

³⁹ to whom our fathers were not willing to become obedient, but rejected him* and turned back in their hearts to Egypt,

⁵⁴ Now when they* heard these things, they were infuriated in their hearts and gnashed their* teeth at him.

¹⁴ And he said, "Who _⌊appointed you as a commander_⌋* and a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?" And Moses was afraid, and he said, "Surely the matter has become known." ¹⁵ And Pharaoh heard this matter, and he sought to kill Moses, and Moses fled from Pharaoh, and he lived in the land of Midian, and he lived at _⌊a certain well_⌋.* ¹⁶ Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.* ¹⁷ And the shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and came to their rescue and watered their flock. ¹⁸ And they came to Reuel, their father, and he said, "_⌊Why have you come so quickly_⌋* today?" ¹⁹ And they said, "An Egyptian man delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he even drew water for us and watered the flock." ²⁰ And he said to his daughters, "Where is he? _⌊Why then_⌋* have you left the man? _⌊Call him so that he can eat some food_⌋."* ²¹ And Moses agreed to stay with the man, and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses. ²² And she bore a son, and he called his name Gershom because he said, "I am an alien in a foreign land."*

¹⁹ And Yahweh said to Moses in Midian, "Go, return to Egypt because all the men have died who were seeking your life." ²⁰ And Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on the donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt, and Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

² And Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, took Zipporah the wife of Moses after her sending away, ³ and her two sons—the one whose name was Gershom, for he had said, "I have been an alien in a foreign land," ⁴ and the one whose name was Eliezer, for "the God of my father was my help, and he delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh."

⁷ And the angel of Yahweh found her at a spring of water in the wilderness, at the spring by the road of Shur. ⁸ And he said to Hagar, the servant of Sarai, "_⌊From where_⌋* have you come, and where are you going?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the presence of Sarai my mistress." ⁹ Then* the angel of Yahweh said to her, "Return to your mistress and submit yourself under _⌊her authority_⌋."* ¹⁰ And the angel of Yahweh said to her, "_⌊I will greatly multiply_⌋* your offspring, so that they cannot be counted for their abundance." ¹¹ And the angel of Yahweh said to her:
"Behold, you are pregnant and shall have a son. And you shall call his name Ishmael, for Yahweh has listened to your suffering. ¹² And he shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand will be against everyone, and the hand of everyone will be against him, and he will live _⌊in hostility with all his brothers_⌋."* ¹³ So* she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, "You are El-Roi,"* for she said, "Here I have seen after he who sees me."

¹⁵ And the angel of Yahweh called to Abraham a second time from heaven. ¹⁶ And he said, "I swear by myself, declares Yahweh, that because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only child, ¹⁷ that I will certainly bless you and greatly multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the shore of the sea. And your offspring will take possession of the gate of his enemies. ¹⁸ All the nations of the earth will be blessed through your offspring, because you have listened to my voice."

²⁴ And Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the dawn. ²⁵ And when he* saw that he could not prevail against him, he struck his hip socket, so that Jacob's hip socket was sprained as he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he* said, "Let me go, for dawn is breaking." But he answered, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." ²⁷ Then he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." ²⁸ And he said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,* for you have struggled with God and with men and have prevailed." ²⁹ Then Jacob asked and said, "Please tell me your name." And he said, "Why do you ask this—for my name?" And he blessed him there. ³⁰ Then Jacob called the name of the place Peniel which means "I have seen God face to face and my life was spared."

¹⁵ And he blessed Joseph and said,
"The God before whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, The God who shepherded me _⌊all my life_⌋* unto this day, ¹⁶ The angel who redeemed me from all evil, may he bless the boys. And through them let my name be perpetuated,* and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac. And let them multiply into many in the midst of the earth.

¹ And Moses was a shepherd with the flock* of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the west of the desert, and he came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. ² And the angel of Yahweh appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush, and he looked, and there was the bush burning with fire, but the bush was not being consumed.

⁶ And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face because he was afraid of looking at God.

⁷ (And Moses was _⌊eighty years old_⌋,* and Aaron was _⌊eighty-three years old_⌋* when they spoke to Pharaoh.)

¹ In the third month after the _⌊Israelites_⌋* went out from the land of Egypt, on this day they came to the Sinai desert. ² They set out from Rephidim, and they came to the desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain.

²⁰ But Yahweh has taken you and brought you out from the furnace of iron, from Egypt, to be a people of inheritance to* him, _⌊as it is this day_⌋.*

¹⁶ and with* the choice things of the earth and its fullness, and the favor of the one _⌊who dwelt_⌋* in the bush.* Let them come to the head of Joseph, and to the crown of the prince among his brothers.

⁸ So he got up, ate, drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights up to Horeb, the mountain of God.

¹² You let men* ride over our heads. We went through fire and through water, but you have brought us out to the place of abundance.*

⁹ In all their distress, _⌊there was no distress_⌋,* and the messenger of his _⌊presence_⌋* saved them, in his love and compassion he himself redeemed them, and he lifted them up, and he supported them all the days of old.

²⁷ And the satraps, the prefects, the governors and the advisors of the king were assembling, and they saw these men, that the fire had no power over their bodies, and the hair of their heads was* not singed, and their garments were not harmed, and the smell of fire did not come from them.

³ In the womb he deceived his brother, and in his manhood he struggled with God. ⁴ He struggled with the angel and prevailed; he pleaded for his mercy. He met him at Bethel, and there he spoke with him.* ⁵ Yahweh the God of hosts, Yahweh is his renowned name!

¹ "Look! I am going to send my messenger,* and he will prepare* the way _⌊before me_⌋.* And the Lord whom you are seeking will come suddenly to his temple, and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you are taking pleasure—look!—he is about to come," says Yahweh of hosts.

²⁶ Now concerning the dead, that they are raised, have you not read in the book of Moses _⌊in the passage about the bush_⌋* how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob'?*

³⁷ But that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed in the passage about* the bush, when he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

¹⁷ "But as the time of the promise that God had made to Abraham was drawing near, the people increased and multiplied in Egypt

³² 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob!'* So Moses began trembling and* did not dare to look at it.*

²⁵ Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is a slave with her children.

³ And Moses said, "Let me turn aside and see this great sight. Why does the bush not burn up?" ⁴ And Yahweh saw that he turned aside to see, and God called to him from the midst of the bush, and he said, "Moses, Moses." And he said, "Here I am."

¹³ And behold, Yahweh was standing beside him,* and he said, "I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you were sleeping I will give to you and to your descendants. ¹⁴ Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants. ¹⁵ Now behold, I am with you, and I will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you." ¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely Yahweh _⌊is indeed_⌋* in this place and I did not know!" ¹⁷ Then he was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! _⌊This is nothing else than the house of God_⌋,* and this is the gate of heaven!"

²⁴ And Joseph said to his brothers, "I am about to die, but God will certainly visit you and bring you up from this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob."

¹⁵ And God said again to Moses, "So you must say to the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* 'Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my remembrance from generation to generation.'

⁵ "so that they may believe that Yahweh, the God of their ancestors,* appeared to you, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

²⁰ But he said, "You are not able to see my face, because a human will not see me and live."

¹³ It happened at the moment Elijah heard, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, "_⌊Elijah, why are you here_⌋?"*

¹⁴ dread met me, and trembling, and it made many of my bones shake.

¹ "About this also my heart trembles, and it leaps from its place. ² Listen carefully to his voice's thunder and the rumbling that goes out from his mouth.

⁵ By the ear's hearing I heard of you, but* now my eye has seen you. ⁶ Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."

⁷ a God feared greatly in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all surrounding him?

¹ In the year of the death of Uzziah the king, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and raised throne, and the hem of his robe was filling the temple. ² Seraphs were standing above him. _⌊Each had six wings_⌋:* with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And the one called to the other and said,
"Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh of hosts! The _⌊whole earth is full of his glory_⌋."* ⁴ And the pivots of the thresholds shook from the sound of those who called, and the house* was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said, "Woe to me! For I am destroyed!* For I am a man _⌊of unclean lips_⌋,* and I am living among* a people _⌊of unclean lips_⌋,* for my eyes have seen the king, Yahweh of hosts!"

⁷ And I saw, I, Daniel _⌊alone_⌋,* the vision; and the people who were with me _⌊did not see_⌋* the vision; nevertheless, a great trembling fell upon them and they fled in order to hide themselves. ⁸ And I myself, Daniel, alone saw this great vision, and as a result _⌊no strength was left in me_⌋* and _⌊my complexion grew deathly pale_⌋,* and I did not retain any strength.

⁶ And when* the disciples heard this,* they fell down on their faces and were extremely frightened.

³² "I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob"?* He is not the God of the dead, but of the living!"

⁸ And when he* saw it,* Simon Peter fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, Lord, because I am _⌊a sinful man_⌋!"*

¹³ The God of Abraham and of Isaac* and of Jacob,* the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and denied in the presence of Pilate, after* he had decided to release him.*

⁴ And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" ⁵ So he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting! ⁶ But get up and enter into the city, and it will be told to you _⌊what you must do_⌋."*

¹⁶ But now they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

¹⁷ And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead person, and he placed his right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last,

⁵ And he said, "You must not come near to here. Take off your sandals from on your feet, because the place on which you are standing, it is holy ground."

¹⁵ The commander of Yahweh's army said to Joshua, "Take off your sandals* from your feet,* for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so.

¹ * Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; draw near to listen rather than to offer a sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

¹⁸ And we ourselves heard this voice brought from heaven when we* were with him on the holy mountain,

⁵ Then* Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that _⌊humankind_⌋* was building.

⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand _⌊each other's language_⌋."*

²¹ I will go down and I will see. Have they done altogether according to its cry of distress which has come to me? If not, I will know."

²³ _⌊And then_⌋* during those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the _⌊Israelites_⌋* groaned because of the work, and they cried out, and their cry for help because of the work went up to God. ²⁴ And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, ²⁵ and God saw the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and God took notice.*

⁷ And Yahweh said, "Surely I have seen the misery of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry of distress because of their oppressors, for I know their sufferings. ⁸ And I have come down to deliver them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from this land to a good and wide land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites* and the Hittites* and the Amorites* and the Perizzites* and the Hivites* and the Jebusites.* ⁹ And now, look, the cry of distress of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* has come to me, and also I see the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them. ¹⁰ And now come, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and you must bring my people, the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* out from Egypt."

¹⁴ And God said to Moses, "I am that I am." And he said, "So you must say to the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* 'I am sent me to you.'"

³¹ And the people believed when they heard that Yahweh had attended to the _⌊Israelites_⌋* and that he had seen their misery, and they knelt down and they worshiped.

⁵ but also I myself heard the groaning of the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* whom the Egyptians are making to work, and I remembered my covenant. ⁶ Therefore say to the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* 'I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the _⌊forced labor_⌋* of Egypt, and I will deliver you from their slavery, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great punishments.

¹⁷ I will come down and speak with you there; I will take away from the spirit that is on you, and I will place it on them; and they will bear the burdens of the people with you; you will not bear it alone.

¹⁸ And when Yahweh raised leaders* for them, Yahweh was with the leader,* and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the leader,* for Yahweh was moved by their groaning because of their persecutors and oppressors.

¹⁵ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋* said to Yahweh, "We have sinned; _⌊do to us accordingly as you see fit_⌋;* only please deliver us this day." ¹⁶ So they removed the foreign gods from their midst and served Yahweh; and _⌊he could no longer bear_⌋* the misery of Israel.

⁹ "You saw the misery of our ancestors* in Egypt, and you heard their shout at the Red Sea.

²⁶ He sent his servant Moses, together with Aaron whom he had chosen.

⁴⁴ Yet he looked upon their distress when he heard their cry.

⁵ O Yahweh, bow the heavens and come down; touch the mountains so that they smoke.

⁸ And he said, "Surely my people are children; they will not break faith." And he became a Savior to them. ⁹ In all their distress, _⌊there was no distress_⌋,* and the messenger of his _⌊presence_⌋* saved them, in his love and compassion he himself redeemed them, and he lifted them up, and he supported them all the days of old.

¹ * Would that you would tear the heavens and come down; the mountains would quake before you,

¹³ And by a prophet Yahweh brought Israel up from Egypt, and by a prophet he* was watched over.

⁴ For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and from the house of slavery I redeemed you. And I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before you.

¹³ And no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.

³⁸ because I have come down from heaven not that I should do my will, but the will of the one who sent me.

¹⁹ And the angel of God who was going before the camp of Israel set out and went behind them. And the column of cloud set out ahead of them, and it stood still behind them,

²⁴ And during the morning watch, Yahweh looked down to the Egyptian camp from in the column of fire and cloud, and he threw the Egyptian camp into a panic.

²⁰ " 'Look, I am about to send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. ²¹ Be attentive to him and listen to his voice; do not rebel against him, because he will not forgive your transgression, for my name is in him. ²² But if you listen attentively to his voice and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. ²³ When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites* and the Hittites* and the Perizzites* and the Canaanites* and the Hivites* and the Jebusites,* I will wipe them out.

³⁴ And now go, lead the people to where I spoke to you. Look, my angel will go before you, and on the day when I punish I will punish them for their sin."

² And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites,* the Amorites,* and the Hittites* and the Perizzites,* the Hivites,* and the Jebusites,*

¹² And Moses said to Yahweh, "See, you are saying to me, 'Take this people up.' But you have not let me know whom you will send with me, and you yourself have said, 'I know you by name, and you also have found favor in my eyes.' ¹³ And now if I have found favor in your eyes, make known to me, please, your way, and so I may know you so that I can find favor in your eyes. And see that this nation is your people." ¹⁴ And he said, "My presence will go, and I will give you rest." ¹⁵ And he said to him, "If your presence is not going, do not bring us up from here.

¹⁶ Then we cried to Yahweh, and he heard our voice; he sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt. And look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.

⁷ Then Yahweh said to Samuel, "Listen to the voice of the people concerning all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. ⁸ Like all the deeds they have done from the day I brought them up from Egypt until this day, they have forsaken me and have served other gods—so they are doing to you also.

²⁷ However, some _⌊worthless men_⌋* said, "How can this man deliver us?" So they despised him and brought no gift to him, but he kept silent.*

⁸ "When Jacob came to Egypt, your ancestors* cried out to Yahweh, so he sent Moses and Aaron, and they brought your ancestors* out from Egypt and settled them in this place.

¹⁰ You gave signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all of his servants, and all of the people of his land because you knew that they acted arrogantly against them. You made a name for yourself, as it is this day. ¹¹ And you divided the sea before them, and they passed through the sea on dry ground, but their pursuers you threw into the depths like a stone into mighty waters. ¹² You led them by day with a column of cloud and with a column of fire by night, to give them light on the way that they were to go. ¹³ Then you came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right judgments and true teachings, good regulations and commandments. ¹⁴ You made known your holy Sabbath to them and gave them commandments, regulations, and law* by the hand of your servant Moses.

⁷ rather God is the judge; one he brings low, and another he lifts up.

²⁰ You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

⁷ He raises the helpless from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, ⁸ to seat them with princes, with the princes of his people.

²² The stone the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. ²³ This is from Yahweh; it is wonderful in our eyes.

¹¹ Then* his people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is the one who led up them from the sea with the shepherds of his flock? Where is the one who puts _⌊his Holy Spirit_⌋* inside him, ¹² _⌊who made_⌋* his magnificent arm move _⌊at_⌋* the right hand of Moses, _⌊who divided_⌋* the waters _⌊before them_⌋,* to make an everlasting name for himself,

¹⁴ But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to be king over us!'

⁴⁰ Then they shouted again, saying, "Not this man, but Barabbas!" (Now Barabbas was a revolutionary.)*

¹⁵ Then those shouted, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your king?" The chief priests replied, "We do not have a king except Caesar!"

³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt, that God has made him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified!"

²² Moses said, 'The Lord God* will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him in everything that he says to you.*

³¹ This one God has exalted to his right hand as Leader and Savior to grant repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

⁹ And the patriarchs, because they* were jealous of Joseph, sold him* into Egypt. And God was with him, ¹⁰ and rescued him from all his afflictions and granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And he appointed him ruler over Egypt and all* his household. ¹¹ And a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan and great affliction, and our fathers could not find food. ¹² So when* Jacob heard there was grain in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first. ¹³ And on the second visit* Joseph was made known to his brothers, and the family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ So Joseph sent and* summoned his father Jacob and all his* relatives, seventy-five persons in all. ¹⁵ And Jacob went down to Egypt and died, he and our fathers.

²⁷ But the one who was doing wrong to his* neighbor pushed him aside, saying, 'Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us? ²⁸ You do not want to do away with me _⌊the same way_⌋* you did away with the Egyptian yesterday, do you?'*

³⁰ "And when* forty years had been completed, an angel appeared to him in the desert of Mount Sinai in the flame of a burning bush.

⁵¹ "You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your* ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so also do you!

¹⁵ who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all* creation,

² For if the word spoken through angels was binding and every transgression and act of disobedience received a just penalty,

³ And they were singing the song of Moses, the slave of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:
"Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God All-Powerful; righteous and true are your ways, King of the ages!*

⁴¹ And at the end of four hundred and thirty years, on this exact day, all of Yahweh's divisions went out from the land of Egypt.

²¹ And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh moved the sea* with a strong east wind all night, and he made the sea become dry ground, and the waters were divided.

²⁷ And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned _⌊at daybreak_⌋* to its normal level, and the Egyptians were fleeing _⌊because of it_⌋,* and Yahweh swept the Egyptians into the middle of the sea. ²⁸ And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the charioteers—all the army of Pharaoh coming after them into the sea. Not _⌊even_⌋* one survived among them. ²⁹ But the _⌊Israelites_⌋* walked on the dry land in the middle of the sea. The waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left.

²³ And they came to Marah, and they were not able to drink water from Marah because it was bitter. Therefore _⌊it was named_⌋* Marah. ²⁴ And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?" ²⁵ And he cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh showed him a piece of wood, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There he made a rule and regulation for them, and there he tested them.

¹ And they set out from Elim, and all the community of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* came to the desert of Sin, which is between Elim _⌊and Sinai_⌋,* in the fifteenth day of the second month of their going out from the land of Egypt. ² And all the community of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* grumbled against Moses and against Aaron in the desert. ³ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋* said to them, "_⌊If only we had died_⌋* by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots* of meat, when we ate bread _⌊until we were full_⌋,* because you have brought us out to this desert to kill all of this assembly with hunger." ⁴ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Look, I am going to rain down for you bread from the heavens, and the people will go out and gather enough for the day on its day; in that way I will test them: Will they go according to my law or not? ⁵ And then on the sixth day, they will prepare what they bring, and it will be twice over what they will gather every other day." ⁶ And Moses and Aaron said to all the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* "In the evening, you will know that Yahweh has brought you out from the land of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning, you will see the glory of Yahweh, _⌊for he hears_⌋* your grumblings against Yahweh, and what are we that you grumble against us?" ⁸ And Moses said, "When in the evening Yahweh gives you meat to eat and bread in the morning _⌊to fill up on_⌋,* _⌊for he hears_⌋* your grumblings that you grumble against him—and what are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against Yahweh." ⁹ And Moses said to Aaron, "Say to all the community of the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* 'Come near before Yahweh because he has heard your grumblings.'" ¹⁰ And at the moment of Aaron's speaking to all the community of the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* they turned to the desert, _⌊and just then_⌋* the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² "I have heard the grumblings of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* Speak to them, saying, '_⌊At twilight_⌋* you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be full with bread, and you will know that I am Yahweh your God.'" ¹³ And so it was, in the evening, the quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning, a layer of dew was all around the camp. ¹⁴ And the layer of dew came up, _⌊and there_⌋* on the face of the desert was a fine granular substance, fine like frost on the ground. ¹⁵ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋* saw, and they said _⌊to each other_⌋,* "What is this?" because they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "That is the bread that Yahweh has given to you as food. ¹⁶ This is the word that Yahweh commanded, 'Gather from it, _⌊each according to what he can eat_⌋,* an omer per person* according to the number of you.* You each shall take enough for whoever is in his tent.'" ¹⁷ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋* did so, and they gathered, some more and some less.

³⁵ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋* ate the manna forty years, until their coming to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until their coming to the border of the land of Canaan.

¹ In the third month after the _⌊Israelites_⌋* went out from the land of Egypt, on this day they came to the Sinai desert. ² They set out from Rephidim, and they came to the desert of Sinai, and they camped in the desert, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain. ³ And Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you will say to the house of Jacob and you will tell the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* ⁴ 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I bore you on eagles' wings and I brought you to me. ⁵ And now if you will carefully listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be a treasured possession for me out of all the peoples, _⌊for all the earth is mine_⌋,* ⁶ but you, you will belong to me as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you will speak to the _⌊Israelites_⌋."* ⁷ And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and he placed before them all these words that Yahweh had commanded him. ⁸ And all the people together answered and said, "All that Yahweh has spoken we will do." And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahweh. ⁹ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Look, I am going to come to you in _⌊a thick cloud_⌋* in order that the people will hear when I speak with you and will also trust in you forever." And Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh. ¹⁰ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes, ¹¹ and they must be prepared for the third day, because on the third day, Yahweh will go down on Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people. ¹² And you must set limits for the people all around, saying, 'Guard yourselves _⌊against_⌋* going up to the mountain and touching its edge. Anyone touching the mountain will certainly be put to death. ¹³ Not a hand will touch it, because he will certainly be stoned or certainly be shot; whether an animal or a man, he will not live.' At the blowing of the ram's horn they may go up to the mountain." ¹⁴ And Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and he consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ And he said to the people, "Be ready _⌊for the third day_⌋.* Do not go near to a woman." ¹⁶ _⌊And_⌋* on the third day, when it was morning, there was thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud over the mountain and a very loud ram's horn sound, and all the people who were in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ And Moses brought the people out from the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ And Mount Sinai was all wrapped in smoke because Yahweh went down on it in the fire, and its smoke went up like the smoke of a smelting furnace, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. ¹⁹ And the sound of the ram's horn became _⌊louder and louder_⌋,* and Moses would speak, and God would answer him with a voice. ²⁰ And Yahweh went down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, and Yahweh called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your offspring.'

¹⁵ And on a day setting up the tabernacle, the cloud covered the tent of the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; in the evening it was on the tabernacle as an appearance of fire until morning. ¹⁶ So it was* continually; the cloud would cover it and the appearance of fire by night. ¹⁷ Whenever the cloud lifted up from on the tent, after that the _⌊Israelites_⌋* would set out, and in the place where the cloud dwelled, there the _⌊Israelites_⌋* camped. ¹⁸ On the _⌊command of Yahweh_⌋* the _⌊Israelites_⌋* would set out, and on the _⌊command of Yahweh_⌋* they encamped; all the days that the cloud dwelled on the tabernacle they encamped. ¹⁹ And when the cloud prolonged on the tabernacle many days the _⌊Israelites_⌋* kept the kept requirement of Yahweh and did not set out. ²⁰ When the cloud _⌊remained_⌋* a number of days on the tabernacle, on the _⌊command of Yahweh_⌋* they encamped; and on the _⌊command of Yahweh_⌋* they set out. ²¹ When the cloud _⌊remained_⌋* from evening until morning, and the cloud lifted up in the morning, they would set out, or if it remained in the daytime and at night, when the cloud lifted up they set out. ²² When it was two days, a month, _⌊or a year_⌋* that the cloud prolonged to dwell on the tabernacle, the _⌊Israelites_⌋* encamped, and they did not set out; when it lifted up they set out. ²³ On the _⌊command of Yahweh_⌋* they encamped, and on the _⌊command of Yahweh_⌋* they set out. They kept the requirement of Yahweh, on the _⌊command of Yahweh_⌋* in the hand of Moses.*

¹ And it happened, the people were like those who _⌊complain of hardship_⌋* _⌊in the hearing_⌋* of Yahweh, and Yahweh _⌊became angry_⌋,* and the fire of Yahweh burned among them, and it consumed the edge of the camp. ² Then the people cried out to Moses, and Moses prayed to Yahweh, and the fire died down. ³ And he called the name of that place Taberah* because the fire of Yahweh burned among them. ⁴ The riff-raff that were in their midst _⌊had a strong desire_⌋;* and the _⌊Israelites_⌋* turned back and also wept, and they said, "Who will feed us meat? ⁵ We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumber, melon, leek, the onions, and the garlic. ⁶ But now _⌊our strength is dried up_⌋;* there is nothing whatsoever except _⌊for the manna before us_⌋."* ⁷ Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its outward appearance was like that of bdellium-gum. ⁸ The people went about and gathered it, and they ground it with mills or crushed it with mortar. Then they boiled it in a pot and made it into bread-cakes; and it tasted like olive oil cakes. ⁹ When the dew came down on the camp at night, the manna came down with it. ¹⁰ Moses heard the people weeping according to their* clans, each at the doorway of their tents. Then _⌊Yahweh became very angry_⌋,* and in the eyes of Moses it was bad. ¹¹ And Moses said to Yahweh, "Why have you brought trouble to your servant? Why have I not found favor in your eyes, that the burdens of all these people have been placed on me? ¹² Did I conceive all these people? If I have fathered them,* that you could say to me, 'Carry them* in your lap, just as a foster-father carries the suckling on the land that you swore an oath to their ancestors?'* ¹³ From where do I have meat to give all these people? They weep before me, saying, 'Give us meat and let us eat!' ¹⁴ I am not able to carry all these people along alone; they are too heavy for me. ¹⁵ If this is how you are going to treat me, please kill me immediately if I find favor in your eyes, and do not let me see my misery." ¹⁶ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Gather for me seventy men from the elders of Israel whom you know are elders of the people and their* officials; take them to the tent of assembly, and they will stand there with you. ¹⁷ I will come down and speak with you there; I will take away from the spirit that is on you, and I will place it on them; and they will bear the burdens of the people with you; you will not bear it alone. ¹⁸ And you will say to the people, 'Sanctify yourselves tomorrow, for you will eat meat because you have wept in the ears of Yahweh, saying, "Who will feed us good meat? It was good for us in Egypt." Yahweh will give to you meat, and you will eat. ¹⁹ You will eat, not one day, or two days, or five days, or ten days, or twenty days, ²⁰ _⌊but for a whole month_⌋,* until it comes out from your nose and becomes as nausea to you; because you have rejected Yahweh, who is in your midst, and you wept before _⌊his presence_⌋,* saying, "Why did we ever leave Egypt?" '" ²¹ But Moses said, "There are six hundred thousand on foot, among whom I am in the midst, and you yourself said, 'I will give meat to them, and they will eat for a whole month.' ²² Should flocks and cattle be slaughtered for them? Should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be enough for them?" ²³ And Yahweh said to Moses, "_⌊Is Yahweh's power limited_⌋?* Now you will see if my word will happen or not." ²⁴ So Moses went out, and he spoke the words of Yahweh to the people, and he gathered together seventy men from the elders of the people, and he _⌊made them stand_⌋* all around the tent. ²⁵ Then Yahweh went down in the cloud and spoke to him, and he took away the spirit that was on him, and he _⌊put it_⌋* on the seventy elders. And as soon as the spirit was resting on them they prophesied, but they did not do it again. ²⁶ But two men were left in the camp; the name of one was Eldad, and the name of the second was Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those who were written down, but they did not go out to the tent, so they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ So a boy* ran and told Moses and said, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp." ²⁸ And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from time of his youth, answered, "Moses, my lord, stop them." ²⁹ But Moses said to him, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that he* give all Yahweh's people prophets, that Yahweh put his spirit on them!" ³⁰ Then Moses and the elders of Israel were gathered to the camp. ³¹ Then a wind set out from Yahweh, and it drove quails from the west, and he spread them out on the camp about a day's journey on one side and about a day's journey on the other, all around the camp, about two cubits on the surface of the land. ³² And so the people _⌊worked_⌋* all day and all night and all the next day, and they gathered the quail (the least of the ones collecting gathered ten homers).* ³³ While the meat was still between their teeth, before it was consumed, Yahweh was angry with the people, and Yahweh struck a very great plague among the people. ³⁴ And he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah* because they buried the people that _⌊were greedy_⌋.* ³⁵ From Kibroth Hattaavah* the people set out to Hazeroth; and they stayed* in Hazeroth.

¹ Then all the community _⌊lifted up their voices_⌋,* and the people wept during that night. ² And all the _⌊Israelites_⌋* grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and all the community said to them, "If only we had died in the land of Egypt or in this desert! ³ Why did Yahweh bring us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little children will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" ⁴ _⌊They said to each other_⌋,* "Let us appoint a leader, and we will return to Egypt." ⁵ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces _⌊before_⌋* the assembly of the community of the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* ⁶ Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, from the explorers of the land, tore their garments. ⁷ And they said to all the community of the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* "The land that we went through to explore is an _⌊exceptionally good land_⌋.* ⁸ If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and he will give it to us, a land that is flowing with milk and honey. ⁹ Only do not rebel against Yahweh, and you will not fear the people of the land, because they will be our food. _⌊Their protection_⌋* has been turned from them; Yahweh is with us. You should not fear them." ¹⁰ And all the community said to stone them with stones, but the glory of Yahweh appeared in the tent of assembly among the _⌊Israelites_⌋.* ¹¹ And Yahweh said to Moses, "How long until this people will despise me, and how long until they will not believe in me, and in all the signs that I have done in their* midst? ¹² I will strike them* with disease, and I will dispossess them;* I will make you into a greater and stronger nation than them."* ¹³ And Moses said to Yahweh, "Then the Egyptians will hear that you brought up this people from their* midst in your power, ¹⁴ and they will _⌊tell it_⌋* to the inhabitants of this land. They heard that you, Yahweh, are in the midst of this people, that you are seen eye to eye, and your cloud is standing over them, and in a column of cloud you go before them by day and in a column of fire at night. ¹⁵ But if you destroy this people _⌊all at once_⌋,* the nations that will have heard your message will say, ¹⁶ 'Yahweh was unable to bring this people in the land that he swore by an oath, and he slaughtered them in the desert.' ¹⁷ But now, please, let the power of my Lord be great, just has you spoke, ¹⁸ 'Yahweh is _⌊slow to anger_⌋* and great of loyal love, _⌊forgiving_⌋* sin and rebellion; but surely he leaves nothing unpunished, visiting the sin of the fathers on the sons to the third and fourth generations.' ¹⁹ Please forgive the sin of this people according to the greatness of your loyal love, just as you _⌊forgave_⌋* this people, from Egypt until now." ²⁰ Yahweh said, "I have forgiven them according to your word; ²¹ but as I am alive, the glory of Yahweh will fill all the earth. ²² But because all the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the desert yet tested me these ten times and did not listen to my voice, ²³ they will not see the land that I swore by oath to their ancestors,* and all those who despised me will not see it. ²⁴ But my servant Caleb, because another spirit was with him, he remained true after me, and I will bring him into the land that _⌊he entered_⌋,* and his offspring will take possession of it. ²⁵ And the Amalekites and the Canaanites live in the valleys; tomorrow turn and set out for the desert by way of the _⌊Red Sea_⌋."* ²⁶ And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²⁷ "How long will I bear this evil community who are grumbling against me? I have heard the grumbling of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* which _⌊they are making_⌋* against me. ²⁸ Say to them, 'Surely as I live,' _⌊declares_⌋* Yahweh, 'just as you spoke _⌊in my hearing_⌋,* so I will do to you; ²⁹ in this desert your corpses will fall, and all your counted ones, according to all your number, from _⌊twenty years old_⌋* and above who grumbled against me. ³⁰ You yourselves will not come into the land that _⌊I swore by oath_⌋* to make you to dwell in it, but Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. ³¹ But your little children, whom you said would be plunder, I will bring them, and they will know the land that you rejected. ³² But for you, all your corpses will fall in this desert. ³³ And your children will be shepherds in the desert forty years,* and you will bear your unfaithfulness until _⌊all your corpses have fallen_⌋* in the desert. ³⁴ According to the number of the days* that you explored the land, forty days,* _⌊a day for each year_⌋,* you will bear your sins forty years,* and you will know my opposition.' ³⁵ I, Yahweh, have spoken; I will surely do this to all this evil community who has banded together against me. In this desert they will come to an end, and there they will die." ³⁶ As for the men whom Moses sent to explore the land, who returned and made the community grumble against him by spreading a report over the land, ³⁷ the men who spread the evil report of the land died by the plague _⌊before Yahweh_⌋.* ³⁸ But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh lived from among the men who went to explore the land. ³⁹ And Moses spoke words to all the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* and the people mourned greatly. ⁴⁰ They rose early in the morning and went to the top of the mount, saying, "Here we are. We will go up to the place that Yahweh said, because we have sinned." ⁴¹ But Moses said, "Why are you going against the command of Yahweh? It will not succeed. ⁴² You should not go up because Yahweh is not in your midst; do not let yourselves be defeated in the presence of your enemies, ⁴³ because the Amalekites* and the Canaanites* are there _⌊before you_⌋,* and you will fall by the sword; because you have turned back from Yahweh, and Yahweh will not be with you." ⁴⁴ But they dared to go to the top of the mountain, and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh and Moses did not depart from the midst of the camp. ⁴⁵ So the Amalekites* and the Canaanites* who were living on the mountain descended, and they beat them down, up to Hormah.

¹ Now Korah son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth, the descendants* of Reuben, ² took two hundred and fifty men from the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* leaders of the community summoned from the assembly, _⌊renowned men_⌋,* and _⌊they confronted_⌋* Moses. ³ They were assembled in front of Moses and Aaron, and they said to them, "_⌊You take too much upon yourselves_⌋!* All of the community is holy, every one of them, and Yahweh is in their midst, so why do you raise yourselves over the assembly of Yahweh?" ⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell on his face. ⁵ And he said to Korah and to his entire company, saying, "Tomorrow morning Yahweh will make known who is his and who is holy, and he will bring him near to him, whomever he chooses he will bring near to him. ⁶ Do this: take for yourselves censers, Korah and all of your company;* ⁷ tomorrow put fire in them and place incense on them _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh; the man whom Yahweh chooses will be the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, sons of Levi!" ⁸ And Moses said to Korah, "Please listen, sons of Levi! ⁹ Is it too little for you that the God of Israel set you apart from the community of Israel _⌊to allow you to approach him_⌋* to do the work of the tabernacle of Yahweh, to stand _⌊before_⌋* the community to serve them? ¹⁰ _⌊He has allowed you to approach him_⌋,* you with all your brothers, the descendants* of Levi, but yet you also seek the priesthood. ¹¹ Therefore you and your company that has banded together against Yahweh. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?" ¹² Moses sent to call for Dathan and Abiram son of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come!* ¹³ Is it too little that you have brought us from a land that flows with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, and that you also appoint yourself as a ruler over us? ¹⁴ Surely, you have not brought us to a land that flows with milk and honey, and you have not given us the inheritance of fields and a vineyard. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come!"* ¹⁵ Then Moses became angry, and he said to Yahweh, "Do not notice their grain offering. I have not offered one donkey from them, and I have not mistreated one of them." ¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, "You and your entire company will be _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh tomorrow, you and they and Aaron. ¹⁷ Each one take his censer, and put incense on it* and you will present it _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh, and each of you bring his censer, two hundred and fifty censers, you and Aaron, each his censer."

¹ Then the entire community of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* came to the desert of Zin on the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; Miriam died and was buried there. ² There was no water for the community, and they were gathered before Moses and Aaron. ³ And the people quarreled with Moses and spoke, saying, "If only we died when our brothers were dying _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh! ⁴ Why have you brought the assembly of Yahweh, us and our livestock, into this desert to die here? ⁵ Why have you brought us from Egypt to bring us to this bad place? It is not a place of seed or figs* or vines* or pomegranate trees,* and there is not water to drink." ⁶ And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the doorway of the tent of assembly. They fell on their faces, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them. ⁷ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ⁸ "Take the staff and summon the community, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will give water. Bring out for them water from the rock, and let the community and their livestock drink." ⁹ So Moses took the staff from _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh just as he command him, ¹⁰ and Moses and Aaron summoned the assembly to the presence of the rock, and he said to them, "Please listen, you rebels; can we bring out water for you from this rock?" ¹¹ Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice. And abundant water went out, and the community and their livestock drank. ¹² But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you have not trusted in me, to regard me as holy _⌊in the sight of_⌋* the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* you will not bring this assembly into the land that I have given to them." ¹³ Those were the waters of Meribah, where the _⌊Israelites_⌋* quarreled with Yahweh, and he showed himself holy among them. ¹⁴ From Kadesh Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom: "Thus your brother Israel has said, 'You know all the hardship that has found us; ¹⁵ our ancestors* went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt _⌊a long time_⌋,* and the Egyptians mistreated us and our ancestors.* ¹⁶ Then we cried to Yahweh, and he heard our voice; he sent an angel and brought us out from Egypt. And look, we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. ¹⁷ Please let us go through your land. We will not go through a field or vineyard, and we will not drink water from a well. We will go along the road of the king; we will not turn aside right or left until we have gone through your territory.'" ¹⁸ Then Edom said to him, "You will not pass through us* lest _⌊we will go out_⌋* to meet you with the sword." ¹⁹ The _⌊Israelites_⌋* said to him, "We will go up on the main road, and if we* and our livestock* drink your water, we will pay for it.* It is only a small matter; let us pass through on our feet."* ²⁰ But he said, "You will not go through." And Edom went out to meet _⌊them_⌋* with a large army and a strong hand. ²¹ So Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, and Israel turned aside from him.

²⁵ This day I will begin to place _⌊the dread of you_⌋* and the fear of you _⌊before_⌋* the peoples under all the heavens. They will hear _⌊the report about you_⌋,* and so they will shake and tremble _⌊because of you_⌋.' * ²⁶ "So I sent messengers from the wilderness* of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon; I sent terms of peace, _⌊saying_⌋,* ²⁷ 'Let me cross through your land and _⌊only along the road_⌋* I will go; I will not turn aside to the right or to the left. ²⁸ Food for money you shall sell me, so that I may eat, and water for money you will give to me, so that I may drink; just let me cross on foot. ²⁹ Just as the descendants* of Esau did for me, who live in Seir, and the Moabites, who live in Ar, until I cross the Jordan into the land that Yahweh our God is giving to us.' ³⁰ But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing to let us cross through his territory because Yahweh your God hardened his spirit and _⌊made him obstinate_⌋* _⌊in order to give him_⌋* into your hand, _⌊just as he has now done_⌋.* ³¹ Yahweh said to me, 'Look! I have begun to give _⌊over to you_⌋* Sihon and his land; begin _⌊to take possession of his land_⌋.'* ³² Then Sihon and all his people came out to meet us for battle at Jahaz. ³³ And so Yahweh our God gave him over _⌊to us_⌋,* and we struck him down, and his sons* and all of his people. ³⁴ So we captured all of his cities at that time, and we destroyed each town of males and the women and the children; we did not leave behind a survivor. ³⁵ We took only the livestock as spoil for ourselves,* and also the booty of the cities that we had captured. ³⁶ From Aroer, which is on the edge of the wadi* of Arnon and the city that was in the wadi* on up to Gilead, there was not a city that was inaccessible to us; Yahweh our God gave _⌊everything_⌋* _⌊to us_⌋.* ³⁷ Only the land of _⌊the Ammonites_⌋* you did not approach, all along the whole upper region of the Jabbok _⌊River_⌋* and the towns of the hill country, according to all that Yahweh our God had instructed.

³³ Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, just as you heard it, and lived? ³⁴ Or has a god ever attempted to go to take for himself* a nation from the midst of a nation, using trials and signs and wonders and war, with an outstretched arm and with great and awesome deeds, like all that Yahweh your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵ You yourselves* were shown this wonder in order for you to acknowledge that Yahweh is the God;* there is no other God _⌊besides him_⌋.* ³⁶ From heaven he made you hear his voice to teach you, and on the earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from the midst of the fire. ³⁷ And because he loved your ancestors* he chose their _⌊descendants_⌋* after them. And he brought you forth from Egypt _⌊with his own presence_⌋,* by his great strength,

²¹ Then you shall say to your child,* 'We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us out from Egypt with a strong hand. ²² And Yahweh gave great and awesome signs and wonders in Egypt against Pharaoh and against his entire household _⌊in our presence_⌋.*

⁴ Your clothing did not wear out _⌊on you_⌋,* and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

¹⁰ You gave signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all of his servants, and all of the people of his land because you knew that they acted arrogantly against them. You made a name for yourself, as it is this day.

¹² You led them by day with a column of cloud and with a column of fire by night, to give them light on the way that they were to go. ¹³ Then you came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right judgments and true teachings, good regulations and commandments. ¹⁴ You made known your holy Sabbath to them and gave them commandments, regulations, and law* by the hand of your servant Moses. ¹⁵ You gave them bread from heaven for their starvation, and you caused water to go out from a rock for their thirst. You told them to go in order to take into possession the land that you have sworn by your hand to give to them.

¹⁸ Even when they made for themselves a molten idol of a calf and said, 'This is your God who brought you out from Egypt,' and committed great blasphemies. ¹⁹ But you in your many mercies did not abandon them in the desert. The column of cloud that was over them in the day did not cease to leave them on the way, and the column of fire by night that gave light to them on the way that they went. ²⁰ And you gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. ²¹ Forty years you sustained them in the desert—they were not in need. Their clothing did not wear out and their feet did not swell. ²² And you gave them kingdoms and nations and allotted them a portion. They took into possession the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and the land of Og king of Bashan.

¹² In front of their ancestors* he did a wonder, in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan. ¹³ He split the sea and caused them to go over, and he caused waters to stand like a heap. ¹⁴ And he led them with the cloud by day, and all night with a fiery light. ¹⁵ He caused rocks to split in the wilderness and provided drink abundantly as from the depths. ¹⁶ And he brought streams out of the rock and caused water to flow down like rivers. ¹⁷ But they sinned still further against him by rebelling against the Most High in the desert. ¹⁸ And they tested God in their heart by asking food _⌊for their craving_⌋.* ¹⁹ And they spoke against God. They said, "Is God able to prepare a table in the wilderness? ²⁰ Yes, he struck the rock and water flowed and streams gushed out, but can he also give food or provide meat for his people?" ²¹ Therefore Yahweh heard and he was very angry, and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and his anger also rose up against Israel, ²² because they did not believe God, and they did not trust his salvation. ²³ Nevertheless, he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, ²⁴ and rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. ²⁵ Humankind ate the bread of _⌊angels_⌋.* He sent them food enough to be satisfied. ²⁶ He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens and drove along the south wind by his strength. ²⁷ Then he rained meat on them like dust, even winged birds* like the sand of the seas. ²⁸ He caused them to fall in the midst of his camp, all around his dwellings. ²⁹ So they ate and were well filled, and he brought about what they craved. ³⁰ They had not yet turned aside from their craving, while their food was still in their mouth, ³¹ the anger of God rose against them, and he killed some of the stoutest of them, even the young men of Israel he caused to bow down in death. ³² In spite of all this they sinned further and did not believe his wonders. ³³ And he consumed their days with futility * their years with terror.*

⁴² And they did not remember his _⌊power_⌋* _⌊when_⌋* he redeemed them from the enemy,

¹⁰ For forty years I loathed that generation, and said, 'They are a people whose heart wanders. And my ways they do not know.'

³⁹ He spread out a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light at night. ⁴⁰ They* asked, and he brought quail, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. ⁴¹ He opened the rock and waters flowed; they coursed* through the dry places like a river. ⁴² For he remembered his holy _⌊promise_⌋;* he remembered Abraham his servant. ⁴³ And so he brought out his people with joy, his chosen ones with rejoicing. ⁴⁴ And he gave to them the lands of the nations, and they inherited the labor of the peoples, ⁴⁵ so that they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise Yah.*

⁸ Yet he saved them for the sake of his name, to make known his might. ⁹ So he rebuked _⌊the Red Sea_⌋,* and it dried up, and he led them through the deep as through a desert. ¹⁰ Thus he saved them from the hand of the hater and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. ¹¹ But waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived.

¹⁷ The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and it covered over the gang of Abiram. ¹⁸ Also fire burned in their assembly; the flame devoured the wicked.

⁸ Who struck the firstborn of Egypt, both of humans* and animals.* ⁹ He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants. ¹⁰ Who struck many nations and killed mighty kings— ¹¹ Sihon the king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan— ¹² and he gave their land as an inheritance, an inheritance for his people Israel.

⁹ The moon and stars to rule the night, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹⁰ To him who struck Egypt through their firstborn, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹¹ And he brought Israel out from among them, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹² With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹³ To him who divided the _⌊Red Sea_⌋* in two, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹⁴ And he let Israel cross over through the midst of it, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹⁵ But he tossed Pharaoh and his army into the _⌊Red Sea_⌋,* for his loyal love endures forever. ¹⁶ To him who led his people through the wilderness, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹⁷ To him who struck great kings, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹⁸ And he killed mighty kings, for his loyal love endures forever. ¹⁹ Sihon the king of the Amorites, for his loyal love endures forever. ²⁰ And Og the king of Bashan, for his loyal love endures forever. ²¹ And he gave their land as an inheritance, for his loyal love endures forever.

⁴² But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, just as it is written in the book of the prophets:
'You did not bring offerings and sacrifices to me for forty years in the wilderness, did you,* house of Israel?

¹⁸ And for a period of time of about forty years, he put up with them in the wilderness.

⁹ not like the covenant which I made with their fathers on the day I took hold of them by my hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord.

¹⁵ "Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst, from your countrymen,* and to him you shall listen. ¹⁶ This is _⌊according to all that you asked_⌋* from Yahweh your God at Horeb, on the day of the assembly, _⌊saying_⌋,* '_⌊I do not want again to hear_⌋* the voice of Yahweh my God, and I do not want to see again this great fire, so that I may not die!' ¹⁷ And Yahweh said to me, 'They are right in what they have said. ¹⁸ I will raise up a prophet for them _⌊from among their countrymen_⌋* like you, and I will place* my words into his mouth, and he shall speak to them _⌊everything that I command him_⌋.* ¹⁹ _⌊And then_⌋* the man that will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I will hold accountable.

²² And in the time of his distress, King Ahaz continued to act unfaithfully against Yahweh.

¹³ Then _⌊they responded_⌋* and said before the king, "Daniel, who is from _⌊the exiles_⌋* of Judah,* _⌊is not paying any attention_⌋* to you, O king, or to the decree that you have signed, _⌊and three times daily_⌋* he says his prayer."

³ And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. ⁴ So Peter answered and* said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good that we are here! If you want, I will make here three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." ⁵ While* he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!"

⁷ And a cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud, "This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!"

³⁰ And behold, two men were talking with him, who were Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and* were speaking about his departure which he was about to fulfill* in Jerusalem.

³⁵ And a voice came from the cloud, saying, "This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him!"

⁴⁶ Who among you convicts me concerning sin? If I am telling the truth, _⌊why_⌋* do you not believe me? ⁴⁷ The one who is from God listens to the words of God. Because of this you do not listen—because you are not of God."

³⁷ Then Pilate said to him, "So then you are a king!" Jesus replied, "You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I have come into the world: in order that I can testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice."

²² Moses said, 'The Lord God* will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You will listen to him in everything that he says to you.* ²³ And it will be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet will be destroyed utterly from the people.'*

³⁸ This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and who with our fathers received living oracles to give to us,

³ And Moses went up to God, and Yahweh called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you will say to the house of Jacob and you will tell the _⌊Israelites_⌋,* ⁴ 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I bore you on eagles' wings and I brought you to me. ⁵ And now if you will carefully listen to my voice and keep my covenant, you will be a treasured possession for me out of all the peoples, _⌊for all the earth is mine_⌋,* ⁶ but you, you will belong to me as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you will speak to the _⌊Israelites_⌋."* ⁷ And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and he placed before them all these words that Yahweh had commanded him. ⁸ And all the people together answered and said, "All that Yahweh has spoken we will do." And Moses brought back the words of the people to Yahweh. ⁹ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Look, I am going to come to you in _⌊a thick cloud_⌋* in order that the people will hear when I speak with you and will also trust in you forever." And Moses told the words of the people to Yahweh. ¹⁰ And Yahweh said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. They must wash their clothes, ¹¹ and they must be prepared for the third day, because on the third day, Yahweh will go down on Mount Sinai before the eyes of all the people. ¹² And you must set limits for the people all around, saying, 'Guard yourselves _⌊against_⌋* going up to the mountain and touching its edge. Anyone touching the mountain will certainly be put to death. ¹³ Not a hand will touch it, because he will certainly be stoned or certainly be shot; whether an animal or a man, he will not live.' At the blowing of the ram's horn they may go up to the mountain." ¹⁴ And Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and he consecrated the people, and they washed their clothes. ¹⁵ And he said to the people, "Be ready _⌊for the third day_⌋.* Do not go near to a woman." ¹⁶ _⌊And_⌋* on the third day, when it was morning, there was thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud over the mountain and a very loud ram's horn sound, and all the people who were in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ And Moses brought the people out from the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain.

¹⁹ And they said to Moses, "You speak with us, and we will listen, but let not God speak with us, lest we die." ²⁰ And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you so that his fear will be before you so that you do not sin."

¹ "And these are the regulations that you will set before them. ² 'If you buy a Hebrew slave, he will serve six years, and in the seventh he will go out as free for nothing.* ³ If he comes in single, he will go out single. If he is the husband of a wife, his wife will go out with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears for him sons or daughters, the wife and her children will belong to her master, and the slave will go out single. ⁵ But if the slave explicitly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," ⁶ his master will present him to God* and bring him to the door or to the doorpost, and his master will pierce his ear with an awl, and he will serve him forever. ⁷ " 'And if a man sells his daughter as a slave woman, she will not go out as male slaves go out. ⁸ If _⌊she does not please her master_⌋* who selected her, he will allow her to be redeemed; he has no authority to sell her to foreign people, since he has dealt treacherously with her. ⁹ And if he selects her for his son, he shall do for her according to the regulations for daughters. ¹⁰ If he takes for himself another, he will not reduce her food, her clothing, or her right of cohabitation. ¹¹ And if he does not do for her these three, she shall go out for nothing; there will not be silver* paid for her.

³ They were assembled in front of Moses and Aaron, and they said to them, "_⌊You take too much upon yourselves_⌋!* All of the community is holy, every one of them, and Yahweh is in their midst, so why do you raise yourselves over the assembly of Yahweh?" ⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell on his face. ⁵ And he said to Korah and to his entire company, saying, "Tomorrow morning Yahweh will make known who is his and who is holy, and he will bring him near to him, whomever he chooses he will bring near to him. ⁶ Do this: take for yourselves censers, Korah and all of your company;* ⁷ tomorrow put fire in them and place incense on them _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh; the man whom Yahweh chooses will be the holy one. You take too much upon yourselves, sons of Levi!" ⁸ And Moses said to Korah, "Please listen, sons of Levi! ⁹ Is it too little for you that the God of Israel set you apart from the community of Israel _⌊to allow you to approach him_⌋* to do the work of the tabernacle of Yahweh, to stand _⌊before_⌋* the community to serve them? ¹⁰ _⌊He has allowed you to approach him_⌋,* you with all your brothers, the descendants* of Levi, but yet you also seek the priesthood. ¹¹ Therefore you and your company that has banded together against Yahweh. What is Aaron that you grumble against him?" ¹² Moses sent to call for Dathan and Abiram son of Eliab, but they said, "We will not come!* ¹³ Is it too little that you have brought us from a land that flows with milk and honey to kill us in the desert, and that you also appoint yourself as a ruler over us? ¹⁴ Surely, you have not brought us to a land that flows with milk and honey, and you have not given us the inheritance of fields and a vineyard. Will you gouge out the eyes of these men? We will not come!"* ¹⁵ Then Moses became angry, and he said to Yahweh, "Do not notice their grain offering. I have not offered one donkey from them, and I have not mistreated one of them." ¹⁶ And Moses said to Korah, "You and your entire company will be _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh tomorrow, you and they and Aaron. ¹⁷ Each one take his censer, and put incense on it* and you will present it _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh, and each of you bring his censer, two hundred and fifty censers, you and Aaron, each his censer." ¹⁸ So each of them took his censer, and they put fire on them, and they placed incense on them; they stood at the doorway of the tent of the assembly of Moses and Aaron. ¹⁹ And Korah summoned them, the entire community, by the doorway of the tent of assembly, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to all the community. ²⁰ And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, ²¹ "Separate yourselves from the midst of this community, that I can destroy them in a moment." ²² And they fell on their faces, and they said, "God, God of the spirits of all flesh, will one man sin and you become angry toward the entire community?" ²³ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ "Speak to the community, saying, 'Move away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.'" ²⁵ So Moses stood up and went to Dathan and Abiram; the elders of Israel followed after him. ²⁶ He said to the community, saying, "Please turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and do not touch anything _⌊that belongs to them_⌋,* or you will be destroyed with all their sins." ²⁷ And so they moved away from around the dwellings* of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram; and Dathan and Abiram came out standing at the doorway of their tents, with their wives, sons, and little children. ²⁸ And Moses said, "In this you will know that Yahweh has sent me to do all these works; it is not from my heart. ²⁹ _⌊If they die a natural death_⌋* or _⌊if a natural fate is visited upon them_⌋,* Yahweh has not sent me. ³⁰ But if Yahweh creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up and _⌊all that belongs to them_⌋,* and they go down alive to Sheol, and you will know that these men have despised Yahweh." ³¹ And it happened, as soon as he finished _⌊speaking_⌋* all these words, the ground that was under them split open. ³² The land opened its mouth and swallowed them up with their houses and every person _⌊that belonged to Korah_⌋* and all the property. ³³ They went down alive to Sheol, they and all that belonged to them, and the land covered over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly. ³⁴ All Israel who were around them fled at their cry, because they said, "Lest the land swallow us up!" ³⁵ And fire went out from Yahweh, and it consumed the two hundred and fifty men presenting the incense.

⁴¹ The next day all the community of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* grumbled against Moses and Aaron, saying, "You have killed the people of Yahweh!" ⁴² Then, when the community had gathered against Moses and Aaron, they turned to the tent of assembly, and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of Yahweh appeared.

²⁷ You go near and hear _⌊everything_⌋* that Yahweh our God will say; and then you tell us all that Yahweh our God tells you, and we will listen, and we will do it.' ²⁸ "And Yahweh heard the sound of your words _⌊when you spoke to me_⌋,* and Yahweh said to me, 'I have heard the sound of the words of this people that they have spoken to you; they are right with respect to all that they have spoken. ²⁹ _⌊If only_⌋* _⌊they had such a mind_⌋';* that is, to fear me and to keep all my commandments _⌊at all times_⌋,* so that _⌊it will go well_⌋* for them and for their children _⌊forever_⌋.* ³⁰ Go! Say to them, "Return to your tents." ³¹ But you stand here with me, and let me tell you all of the commandments and the rules and the regulations that you shall teach them, so that they may do them in the land that I am giving to them to take possession of it.'

¹ "Now this is the commandment, the rules and the regulations, that Yahweh your God charged to teach to you for you _⌊to observe_⌋* in the land that you are about to cross over into* to take possession of it, ² so that you may revere Yahweh your God by keeping all his statutes and his commandments that I am commanding you, you and your children and _⌊grandchildren_⌋,* all the days of your life and so you may live long* lives. ³ And you shall hear, Israel, and be careful to observe these instructions, so that _⌊it may go well for you_⌋* and that you may multiply greatly, just as Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,* _⌊promised_⌋* you, in a land with milk and honey.

¹⁹ I invoke as a witness against you _⌊today_⌋* the heaven and the earth: life and death I have set _⌊before you_⌋,* blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you may live, you and your offspring,* ²⁰ by loving Yahweh your God by listening to his voice and by clinging to him, for he is your life and the length of your days in order for you to live on the land that Yahweh swore to your ancestors,* to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them."

⁴⁶ then he said to them, "_⌊Take to heart all the words_⌋* that I am admonishing against you _⌊today_⌋* concerning which you should instruct them with respect to your children* _⌊so that they will observe diligently_⌋* all the words of this law, ⁴⁷ for it is not a trifling matter among you, but it is your life, and through this word _⌊you will live long in the land_⌋* that you are about to cross the Jordan to get there to take possession of it."

⁴ A law Moses instructed for us, as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

⁵ For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law* in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors* to teach to their children, ⁶ so that the next generation might know— children yet to be born— that they might rise up and tell their children, ⁷ that they might set their confidence in God, and not forget the deeds of God, but keep his commandments, ⁸ and not be like their ancestors,* a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not make ready its heart, whose spirit was not faithful to God. ⁹ The sons of Ephraim, _⌊armed with archers_⌋,* turned back on the day of battle.

¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.

⁶³ The Spirit is the one who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

⁵³ you who received the law by directions of angels and have not observed it!"

² Much in every way. For first, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.

⁴ who are Israelites, to whom belong the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the temple service, and the promises,

⁶ But the righteousness from faith speaks like this: "Do not say in your heart,* 'Who will ascend into heaven?'"* (that is, to bring Christ down), ⁷ or "Who will descend into the abyss?"* (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸ But what does it say? "The word is near to you, in your mouth and in your heart"* (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim), ⁹ that* if you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation.

¹⁹ Why then the law? It was added on account of transgressions, until the descendant should come to whom it had been promised, having been ordered through angels by the hand of a mediator.

¹² For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the reflections and thoughts of the heart.

¹² For indeed, although you* ought to be teachers _⌊by this time_⌋*, you have need of someone to teach you again the beginning elements of the oracles of God, and _⌊you have need of_⌋* milk, not* solid food.

¹¹ If anyone speaks, let it be as the oracles of God; if anyone serves, let it be as by the strength that God provides, so that in all things God will be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the power _⌊forever and ever_⌋*. Amen.

¹¹ And they said to Moses, "Because there are no graves in Egypt? Is that why you have taken us to die in the desert? What is this you have done to us by bringing us out from Egypt! ¹² Isn't this the word we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone so that we can serve Egypt!' because serving Egypt is better for us than our dying in the desert."

³ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋* said to them, "_⌊If only we had died_⌋* by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots* of meat, when we ate bread _⌊until we were full_⌋,* because you have brought us out to this desert to kill all of this assembly with hunger."

³ And the people thirsted for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, "Why _⌊ever_⌋* did you bring us up from Egypt to kill me* and my sons and my cattle with thirst?"

⁵ We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt for nothing, the cucumber, melon, leek, the onions, and the garlic.

³ Why did Yahweh bring us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little children will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?" ⁴ _⌊They said to each other_⌋,* "Let us appoint a leader, and we will return to Egypt."

⁵ The people spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the desert? There is no food and no water, and our hearts detest this miserable food."

² Gilead's wife also bore for him sons; and the sons of his wife grew up and drove Jephthah away, and they said to him, "You will not inherit the house of our father because you are the son of another woman."

²⁷ So Solomon banished Abiathar from being priest to Yahweh, thus fulfilling the word which Yahweh had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.

¹⁶ "But they and our ancestors* acted arrogantly and stiffened their neck and did not listen to your commandments. ¹⁷ They refused to listen and did not remember your wonders that you did among them. They stiffened their neck and in their rebellion _⌊determined_⌋* to return to their slavery. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, _⌊slow to anger_⌋,* abundant in loyal love, so you did not abandon them.

¹⁶ And they were jealous of Moses in the camp, and of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh.

³² They also angered God at the waters of Meribah, and it went badly for Moses on account of them, ³³ because they rebelled against his Spirit,* and he spoke thoughtlessly with his lips.

⁶ On that day _⌊I swore_⌋* to them to bring them out from the land of Egypt to the land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey—it is the most beautiful of all of the lands. ⁷ Then I said to them, 'Let each one throw away the detestable things of his eyes, and you must not make yourselves unclean with the idols of Egypt! I am Yahweh your God.' ⁸ But they rebelled against me, and they were not willing to listen to me; each one _⌊did not throw away_⌋* the detestable things of their eyes; and _⌊they did not abandon_⌋* the idols of Egypt, and I decided to pour out my rage on them, to fully vent my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. ⁹ "But* I acted for the sake of my name _⌊to keep it from being profaned_⌋* before the eyes of the nations _⌊among whom they lived_⌋,* where I made known to them before their eyes, to bring them out from the land of Egypt. ¹⁰ And I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and I brought them to the desert, ¹¹ and I gave my statutes to them, and my regulations I made known to them, which, if a person does them, then he will live by them. ¹² And also my Sabbaths I gave to them to be a sign between me and between them _⌊so they would know_⌋* that I, Yahweh, am the one sanctifying them. ¹³ "But* in the desert the house of Israel rebelled against me; _⌊they did not walk in my statutes_⌋,* and they rejected my regulations, which, if a person does them, he will live by them, and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths, and I decided to pour out my rage on them in the desert to destroy them, ¹⁴ and I acted for the sake of my name, that it not be profaned before the eyes of the nations _⌊before whom I brought them out_⌋.*

²⁷ But the one who was doing wrong to his* neighbor pushed him aside, saying, 'Who appointed you a ruler and a judge over us?

⁵¹ "You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your* ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so also do you! ⁵² Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become,

¹ And the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, and the people gathered opposite Aaron, and they said to him, "Come,* make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him."

²³ And they said to me, 'Make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.'

² And Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring it to me." ³ And all the people took off the rings of gold that were on their ears and brought it to Aaron. ⁴ And he took from their hand, and he shaped it with a tool, and he made it a cast-image bull calf, and they said, "These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." ⁵ And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, "A feast for Yahweh tomorrow." ⁶ And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel. ⁷ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, "Go, go down because your people behave corruptly, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt. ⁸ They have turned aside quickly from the way that I commanded them; they have made for themselves a cast-image bull calf, and they bowed to it, and they sacrificed to it, and they said, 'These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.'"

¹⁷ And Joshua heard the sound of the people in their shouting, and he said to Moses, "A sound of war is in the camp." ¹⁸ But he said, "There is not a sound of shouting of victory, and there is not a sound of shouting of defeat. I hear a sound of singing." ¹⁹ _⌊And_⌋* as he came near to the camp, he saw the bull calf and dancing, and _⌊Moses became angry_⌋,* and he threw the tablets from his hand, and he broke them under the mountain. ²⁰ And he took the bull calf that they had made, and he burned it with the fire, and he crushed it until it became fine, and he scattered it on the surface of the water, and he made the _⌊Israelites_⌋* drink.

¹² And Yahweh said to me, 'Come now, go down quickly from this mountain because your people behave corruptly whom you brought out from Egypt, for they turned quickly from the way that I commanded them to follow; they have made for themselves a cast image.' ¹³ And Yahweh spoke to me, _⌊saying_⌋,* 'I have seen this people, and look! _⌊They are a stubborn people_⌋.* ¹⁴ Leave me alone, and let me destroy them, and let me blot out their name from under heaven, and let me make you into a nation mightier and more numerous than they!' ¹⁵ "And I turned, and I went down the mountain, as the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. ¹⁶ And I looked,* and indeed you had sinned against Yahweh your God; you had made for yourselves an image of a calf of cast metal; * you had turned quickly from the way that Yahweh had commanded for you. ¹⁷ And I took hold of the two tablets, and I threw them out _⌊of_⌋* my two hands and smashed them before your eyes. ¹⁸ And then I lay prostrate _⌊before_⌋* Yahweh, as earlier, forty days* and forty nights;* I did not eat food and I did not drink water because of all your sins that you committed, by doing evil in the eyes of Yahweh and so provoking him.

¹⁸ Even when they made for themselves a molten idol of a calf and said, 'This is your God who brought you out from Egypt,' and committed great blasphemies.

¹⁹ They made a calf at Horeb and bowed down to a cast image. ²⁰ And so they exchanged their glory for an image of an ox that eats grass. ²¹ They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt,

⁸ Its land is filled with idols; they bow down to the work of their* hands, to what they made with their* fingers. ⁹ So humanity is humbled; everyone is humbled, and you must not forgive them.

⁹ All those who form an idol are nothing, and their delightful things do not profit. And their witnesses do not see or know, so they will be ashamed. ¹⁰ Who would form a god and cast an image of which he cannot profit? ¹¹ Look! all his companions shall be ashamed, and the artisans are human! Let all of them assemble; let them stand up. They shall tremble;* they shall be ashamed together. ¹² The _⌊ironsmith_⌋* works in the coals with his tool and forms it with hammers. And he makes it with _⌊his strong arm_⌋;* indeed, he becomes hungry, and _⌊he lacks_⌋* strength; he does not drink water, and he is faint. ¹³ The _⌊woodworker_⌋* stretches out a line; he makes an outline of it with a marker. He makes it with a knife and makes an outline of it with a compass. He makes it like the image of a man, like the beauty of a human, to dwell in a temple.* ¹⁴ Cutting down cedars for himself, he _⌊chooses_⌋* a holm tree and an oak, and he lets it grow strong for him among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar, and the rain makes it grow. ¹⁵ And it _⌊becomes fuel for a human_⌋,* and he takes some of it and grows warm; also, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also, he makes a god and bows in worship; he makes himself an image and bows down to it! ¹⁶ He burns half of it in the fire; he eats meat over half of it; he roasts a roast and is satisfied. Also he grows warm and says, "Ah! I am warm! I see the fire!" ¹⁷ And he makes the remainder of it into a god! He bows down to his idol, and he bows in worship and prays to him, and he says, "Save me, for you are my god!" ¹⁸ They do not know, and they do not understand, for their eyes are besmeared _⌊so that they cannot see_⌋,* their _⌊minds_⌋* _⌊so that they have no insight_⌋.* ¹⁹ And _⌊no one takes it to heart_⌋,* and there is no knowledge and no understanding to say, "I burned half of it in the fire and also I baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat, and I have eaten. And I shall make the rest of it into an abomination! I shall bow down to a block of wood!" ²⁰ He feeds on ashes; a _⌊deceived mind_⌋* misleads him. And he cannot save _⌊himself_⌋,* and he cannot say, "Is this not an illusion in my right hand?"

¹ Do not rejoice, O Israel, do not exult like the nations! For you played the whore, departing from your God; you loved a harlot's wage on all the threshing floors of grain.

¹⁰ Like the grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like early ripened fruit on the fig tree in the first season,* I saw your ancestors.* They themselves came to Baal Peor, and they consecrated themselves to shame. And they became detestable things, like _⌊the thing they love_⌋.*

¹⁸ What value is an idol when its carver has fashioned it, a molten idol, a teacher of lies? For he who fashioned his creation trusts in it, though making mute idols! ¹⁹ Woe to him who says to the wood, 'Wake up!' And to a lifeless stone, 'Arise!' Can he teach? Look, it is covered with gold and silver, and there is no breath within it. ²⁰ But Yahweh is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him."

²⁰ And the rest of humanity who were not killed by these plagues did not repent of the works of their hands, _⌊in order not to worship_⌋* the demons and the gold and silver and bronze and stone and wooden idols, which are able neither to see nor to hear nor to walk,

¹⁹ _⌊And do this so that you do not lift_⌋* your eyes toward heaven and _⌊observe_⌋* the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of the heaven, and be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that Yahweh your God has allotted to all of the peoples under all of the heaven.

³ and by going and serving other gods and so he bows down to them and to the sun or to the moon or to any of the host of heaven _⌊which I have forbidden_⌋,*

²⁰ If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster to you; he will destroy you after he has done good to you."

¹⁶ They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal.

³ He returned and rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal and made a pole of Asherah worship just as Ahab king of Israel had made, and he bowed down to all of the host of heaven and served them.

²⁶ if I looked at the sun when it shone or* at the moon moving in splendor, ²⁷ and _⌊I was secretly enticed_⌋,* and _⌊my hand threw them a kiss_⌋,* ²⁸ this also is an iniquity to be judged, for I have deceived God above.

¹¹ But my people did not listen to my voice, and Israel did not yield to me. ¹² So I let them* go in the stubbornness of their heart; they walked in their counsels.

²³ You have not brought me your sheep for a burnt offering nor* honored me with your sacrifice. I have not made you serve with offerings,* nor have I made you weary with frankincense.

¹⁰ But* they _⌊were the ones who_⌋* rebelled, and they grieved _⌊his Holy Spirit_⌋,* so* he _⌊became an enemy to them_⌋;* he himself fought against them.

⁴ Indeed, I myself I will choose their ill treatment, and I will bring them objects of their dread, because I called, and _⌊no one answered_⌋;* I spoke and they did not listen, but* they did the evil in my eyes, and they chose that in which I do not delight."

¹³ And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah will be unclean like the place of Topheth, all the houses where they made smoke offerings upon their roofs to all the host of heaven, and where they poured out libations to other gods." '"

¹⁶ And he brought me to the inner courtyard of the house of Yahweh, and look, at the doorway of the temple of Yahweh, between the portico and the altar, there were about twenty-five men with their backs to the temple of Yahweh and their faces toward the east, and they were bowing down toward the east before the sun.

⁷ For _⌊each person_⌋* from the house of Israel, and from the alien who dwells as an alien in Israel, who separates himself _⌊from following me_⌋* and brings up his idols into his heart and _⌊places before himself_⌋* a stumbling block of his guilt*, and yet he comes to the prophet to consult him concerning me, I Yahweh will answer* him myself. ⁸ And I will set my face against that person, and I will make him to* be a sign and make him into* the subject of proverbs; and I will cut him off from the midst of my people, and you will know I am Yahweh. ⁹ And the prophet, if he is deceived and he speaks a word, I Yahweh, I have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him, and I will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. ¹⁰ And they will bear their guilt, like* the guilt of the inquirer so* the guilt of the prophet will be,

²⁵ And in turn I gave to them rules that were not good and regulations _⌊by which they will not live_⌋.*

³⁹ And you, house of Israel, thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Let each one go serve his idols now and after, if you are not listening to me, but _⌊my holy name_⌋* you will not profane any longer with your gifts and with your idols.

¹⁷ Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.

²⁵ Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings those forty years in the desert, O house of Israel? ²⁶ And you will take up Sikkuth, your king, and Kaiwan, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.

³⁶ This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and at the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to immorality, that their bodies would be dishonored among themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged the truth of God with a lie, and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed for eternity. Amen. ²⁶ Because of this, God gave them over to degrading passions, for their females exchanged the natural relations for those contrary to nature, ²⁷ and likewise also the males, abandoning the natural relations with the female, were inflamed in their desire toward one another, males with males committing the shameless deed, and receiving in themselves the penalty that was necessary for their error. ²⁸ And just as they did not see fit _⌊to recognize God_⌋*, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do the things that are not proper,

¹⁰ and with every unrighteous deception against those who are perishing, in place of which they did not accept the love of the truth, so that they would be saved. ¹¹ And because of this, God sends them _⌊a powerful delusion_⌋* so that they will believe the lie, ¹² in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but delighted in unrighteousness.

⁹ where your fathers tested me by trial and saw my works

¹⁵ _⌊while it is said_⌋*,
"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."* ¹⁶ For who, when they* heard it, were disobedient? Surely it was not all who went out from Egypt through Moses? ¹⁷ And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness?

⁴ "You shall not make for yourself a divine image with any form that is in the heavens above or that is in the earth below or that is in the water below the earth. ⁵ You will not bow down to them, and you will not serve them, because I am Yahweh your God, a jealous God, punishing the guilt of the parents on the children on the third and on the fourth generations* of those hating me,

²¹ " 'And you shall not give _⌊any of_⌋* your offspring* in order to sacrifice them to Molech, nor* shall you profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

² "And to the _⌊Israelites_⌋* you shall say, 'If there is _⌊anyone_⌋* from the _⌊Israelites_⌋* or* from the alien who is dwelling in Israel, who gives _⌊any of_⌋* his offspring to Molech, he must surely be put to death; the people of the land must stone him with stones.* ³ And I myself will set my face against that man, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people, because he has given _⌊some of_⌋* his offspring to Molech, so that _⌊he makes my sanctuary unclean_⌋* and profanes* _⌊my holy name_⌋.* ⁴ And if the people of the land ever shut their eyes from* that man at his giving _⌊some of_⌋* his offspring to Molech, not putting him to death, ⁵ then* I myself will set my face against that man and against his clan, and I will cut him off and all those from the midst of their people who prostitute after Molech.

¹⁶ so that you do not _⌊ruin yourselves_⌋* and make for yourselves a divine image in a form of any image, a replica of male or female, ¹⁷ a replica of any animal that is upon the earth, a replica of any winged bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸ a replica of any creeping thing on the ground, a replica of any fish that is in the water _⌊below_⌋* the earth.

⁸ 'You shall not make for yourself a divine image of any type of form that is in the heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. ⁹ 'You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them, for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous God, punishing the guilt of fathers upon their children and upon the third and upon the fourth generation of those hating me,

⁶ In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported Israel to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, in Habor, in the river regions of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

¹⁶ They abandoned all the commands of Yahweh their God and made for themselves two molten calf-shaped idols; they made a pole of Asherah worship and bowed down to the army of the heavens and served Baal. ¹⁷ They made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, they practiced divination and read omens, and they sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him. ¹⁸ So Yahweh was very angry with Israel and he removed them from his presence; none remained except the tribe of Judah alone.

¹¹ Then the king of Assyria deported Israel to Assyria and settled them in Halah, in Habor, in the river regions of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes,

⁶ He made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying and divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He increased the doing of evil in the eyes of Yahweh to provoke him.

²⁶ And you will take up Sikkuth, your king, and Kaiwan, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. ²⁷ And I will deport you beyond Damascus," says Yahweh—the God of hosts is his name.

⁸ And make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell in the midst of them, ⁹ according to all that I show you—the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its equipment—and so you will do.

⁴⁰ And see and make all according to their pattern, which you were shown in the mountain.

³⁰ And you will erect the tabernacle according to its plan, which you have been shown on the mountain.

²¹ These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which were recorded at the _⌊command of_⌋* Moses, the work of the Levites, in the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

⁵⁰ You will _⌊appoint_⌋* them over the tabernacle of the testimony,* over all its vessels, and over all that belongs to it. They will carry the tabernacle and all its vessels, and they will care for it; and they will camp around the tabernacle. ⁵¹ And when the tabernacle is set out, the Levites will _⌊take it down_⌋,* and when encamping the tabernacle the Levites will set it up; the stranger* that approaches it will be put to death. ⁵² The _⌊Israelites_⌋* will encamp, each in their own camp, and each by their* own banner according to their divisions. ⁵³ But the Levites will encamp around the tabernacle of the testimony,* and there will not be wrath on the community of the _⌊Israelites_⌋;* and the Levites will keep the requirements of the tabernacle of the testimony."*

¹⁵ And on a day setting up the tabernacle, the cloud covered the tent of the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony; in the evening it was on the tabernacle as an appearance of fire until morning.

¹¹ And it happened, in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month the cloud was lifted from upon the tabernacle of the testimony.*

⁷ And Moses put the staffs before Yahweh in the tent of testimony. ⁸ Then the next day, Moses went into the tent of the testimony, and behold the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi blossomed and put forth a flower and produced blossoms, and it produced almonds.

² Moreover, bring your brothers with you, the tribe of Levi the tribe of your father, that they may be joined to you and minister to you, you and your sons with you before the tent of testimony.

¹ The entire congregation of the _⌊Israelites_⌋* assembled at Shiloh, and they set up there the tent of meeting, and the land was subdued before them.*

¹¹ Then David gave to Solomon his son the plan of the vestibule and of its houses, its treasuries, its upper rooms, its inner chambers, and of the house of the lid of the ark,

¹⁹ "All this I give you in writing; from the hand of Yahweh he instructed me about all the workings of this plan."

⁶ So the king called Jehoiada the chief, and he said to him, "Why have you not required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax of Moses, the servant of Yahweh, and of the assembly of Israel for the tent of the testimony?"

² a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord set up, not man.

⁵ who serve a sketch and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned when he* was about to complete the tabernacle, for he says, "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain."*

⁴⁹ "Go up to this mountain of the Abarim range, Mount Nebo, which is _⌊opposite Jericho_⌋,* and see the land of Canaan that I am giving to the _⌊Israelites_⌋* as a possession.

⁶ And Joshua said to the priests, "Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over _⌊ahead of the people_⌋."* And they took up the ark of the covenant and went _⌊ahead of the people_⌋.* ⁷ Then Yahweh said to Joshua, "This day I will begin exalting you _⌊in the sight_⌋* of all Israel, that they may know that I was with Moses, and I will be with you.

¹¹ Look! The ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth* is about to cross over ahead of you into the Jordan. ¹² So then, take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, _⌊one from each tribe_⌋.* ¹³ When the soles of the feet of the priests carrying the ark of Yahweh, Lord of all the earth,* rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off _⌊upstream_⌋,* and they will stand still in one heap. ¹⁴ And it happened, when the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant were _⌊ahead of the people_⌋.* ¹⁵ When those carrying the ark came up to the Jordan, and the priests carrying the ark dipped their feet in the edge of the water (the Jordan was flowing over its banks during all the days of harvest), ¹⁶ the waters flowing down from above stood still; they stood up in one heap very far from Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while the waters flowing down to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea,* _⌊were completely cut off_⌋;* and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ And the priests carrying the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firmly on the dry land in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation finished crossing the Jordan.

⁹ Yahweh has driven out before you great and strong nations; and as for you, _⌊nobody has withstood_⌋* you to this day.

¹⁸ And Yahweh drove out all the people before us, the Amorites* who live* in the land. We will serve Yahweh, for he is our God."

³¹ So they set up for themselves the carved divine image that Micah had made, all the days that the house of God was in Shiloh.

⁴ So the army sent to Shiloh and brought from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of hosts who sits between the cherubim. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.

¹ David again gathered all the chosen men in Israel, thirty thousand. ² David got up and went and all the people who were with him, from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God which is called the name, the name of Yahweh of hosts, _⌊upon which the cherubim sit_⌋.* ³ They loaded the ark of God on a new utility cart, and they carried it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Now Uzza and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new utility cart along. ⁴ So they brought it out from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill with the ark of God, and Ahio was going before the ark. ⁵ Now David and all the house of Israel were dancing before Yahweh, with all kinds of musical instruments made from ash trees, and with zithers, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals. ⁶ When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzza reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it, because the oxen had stumbled. ⁷ _⌊Then the anger of Yahweh was kindled_⌋* against Uzza, and God struck him down there because of the indiscretion,* and he died there beside the ark of God. ⁸ _⌊David was angry_⌋* because Yahweh had burst out against Uzza, and he called that place Perez-Uzza until this day. ⁹ But David feared Yahweh on that day and said, "How can the ark of Yahweh come to me?" ¹⁰ However, David was not willing to bring the ark of Yahweh to himself, to the city of David, so David caused it to turn to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. ¹¹ So the ark of Yahweh remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom and all his household. ¹² It was told to King David, "Yahweh has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and all that is his because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with jubilation. ¹³ It happened that when the carriers of the ark of Yahweh had marched six steps that he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. ¹⁴ Now David was dancing with all his might before Yahweh, and David was wearing* a linen ephod. ¹⁵ So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of Yahweh with shouts of joyful acclaim and with the sound of the trumpet. ¹⁶ It happened that when the ark of Yahweh came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked down through the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before Yahweh, and she despised him in her heart. ¹⁷ They brought the ark of Yahweh and set it in its place in the middle of the tent which David had pitched for it. Then David offered up burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in the presence of Yahweh. ¹⁸ When David had finished from the sacrificing of the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of hosts. ¹⁹ Then he distributed to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, from man to woman, to each: one ring-shaped piece of bread, one cake of dates, and one cake of raisins; and all the people went each to his house. ²⁰ When David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David. She said, "How the king of Israel honored himself today _⌊by uncovering himself_⌋* before the eyes of the maids of his servants, _⌊as the total exposure of a worthless one_⌋."* ²¹ So David said to Michal, "In the presence of Yahweh who chose me _⌊over_⌋* your father and _⌊over_⌋* his household, to appoint me as leader over the people of Yahweh, over Israel, I have celebrated before Yahweh. ²² I will demean myself again more than this, and I will be abased in my eyes, but with the maids whom you mentioned, with them I will be honored." ²³ So for Michal the daughter of Saul, she had no child until the day of her death.

⁴ So they brought up the ark of Yahweh and the tent of assembly* and all of the holy vessels that were in the tent; the priests and the Levites brought them up.

¹ And David built houses for himself in the city of David, and he established a place for the ark of God. And he pitched a tent for it. ² Then David ordered that none except the Levites should carry the ark of God, for Yahweh had chosen them to carry the ark of Yahweh and to serve him forever. ³ And David gathered all Israel to Jerusalem to bring up the ark of Yahweh to its place that he had established for it. ⁴ And David gathered the sons of Aaron and the Levites. ⁵ Of the sons of Kohath: Uriel the chief and one hundred and twenty of his brothers. ⁶ Of the sons of Merari: Asaiah the chief and two hundred and twenty of his brothers. ⁷ Of the sons of Gershom: Joel the chief and one hundred and thirty of his brothers. ⁸ Of the sons of Elizaphan: Shemaiah the chief and two hundred of his brothers. ⁹ Of the sons of Hebron: Eliel the chief and eighty of his brothers. ¹⁰ Of the sons of Uzziel: Amminadab the chief and one hundred and twelve of his brothers. ¹¹ Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. ¹² And he said to them, "You are the heads of the _⌊families_⌋* for the Levites. Sanctify yourselves and your brothers and bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel, to the place I have established for it. ¹³ Because the first time you did not, and Yahweh our God burst out against us, for we did not care for it according to the law." ¹⁴ Then the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ And the sons of the Levites carried the ark of God according to what Moses commanded, according to the word of Yahweh, on their shoulders with the carrying poles upon them. ¹⁶ Then David ordered the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers with instruments of song, musical instruments, stringed instruments, and cymbals, _⌊raising their voices for joy_⌋.* ¹⁷ So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel, and from his brothers, Asaph the son of Berekiah, and from the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah;

³⁹ And he left Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests before the tabernacle of Yahweh at the high place which was at Gibeon

²⁹ Now the tabernacle of Yahweh that Moses had made in the desert and the altar of burnt offering were at that time at the high place of Gibeon.

²⁴ So the children* went in and took possession of the land. You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites; you gave them into their hand, and their kings and the nations of the land to do with them according to their pleasure.

² You with your hand drove out the nations, but them* you planted. You harmed the peoples, but them* you let spread out.

⁵⁵ And he drove out nations before them and allocated them for an inheritance by boundary line, and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

¹⁹ And after* destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave their land to his people* as an inheritance.

⁸ For if Joshua had caused them to rest, he would not have spoken about another day after these things.

²⁸ Then Samuel said to him, "Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor _⌊who is better than you_⌋.*

¹ Then Yahweh said to Samuel, "_⌊How long_⌋* will you mourn about Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel! Fill up your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have chosen a king for myself among his sons."

¹¹ Then Samuel said to Jesse, "_⌊Are all the young men here_⌋?"* And he said, "The youngest still remains, but look, he is shepherding the flock." And Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and bring him, for we cannot _⌊sit down_⌋* until he comes here." ¹² So he sent and brought him. Now he was ruddy with beautiful eyes and of _⌊handsome_⌋* appearance. And Yahweh said, "Arise, anoint him, for this is he." ¹³ So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. Then the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon David from that day _⌊on_⌋.* Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.

²¹ So David said to Michal, "In the presence of Yahweh who chose me _⌊over_⌋* your father and _⌊over_⌋* his household, to appoint me as leader over the people of Yahweh, over Israel, I have celebrated before Yahweh.

¹ It happened that the king settled in his house. (Now Yahweh had given rest to him from all his enemies all around.) ² And the king said to Nathan the prophet, "Look, please, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God is staying in the middle of the tent." ³ Nathan said to the king, "Go and do all that is in your heart, for Yahweh is with you." ⁴ But it happened _⌊that night_⌋,* the word of Yahweh came* to Nathan, saying, ⁵ "Go and tell my servant David, 'Thus says Yahweh: "Are you the one to build for me a house for my dwelling?