The Holy District

45 “When ^(A)you allot the land as an inheritance, ^(B)you shall set apart for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, 25,000 cubits^[a] long and 20,000^[b] cubits broad. It shall be holy throughout its whole extent. ^2 (C)Of this a square plot of 500 by 500 cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for ^(D)an open space around it. ³ And ^(E)from this measured district you shall measure off a section 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 broad, ^(F)in which shall be the sanctuary, ^(G)the Most Holy Place. ^4 (H)It shall be the holy portion of the land. It shall be for the priests, who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. ^5 (I)Another section, 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits broad, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their possession for cities to live in.^[c]

⁶ “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district ^(J)you shall assign for the property of the city an area 5,000 cubits broad and 25,000 cubits long. ^(K)It shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

The Portion for the Prince

^7 (L)“And to ^(M)the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the property of the city, alongside the holy district and the property of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions, and extending from the western to the eastern boundary ⁸ of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And ^(N)my princes shall no more oppress my people, but ^(O)they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.

⁹ “Thus says the Lord God: ^(P)Enough, O princes of Israel! Put away violence and oppression, and execute justice and righteousness. Cease ^(Q)your evictions of my people, declares the Lord God.

^10 (R)“You shall have just balances, a just ephah, and a just bath.^{[d] 11} The ephah and the bath shall be ^(S)of the same measure, ^(T)the bath containing one tenth of a homer,^[e] and the ephah one tenth of a homer; the homer shall be the standard measure. ^12 (U)The shekel shall be twenty gerahs;^[f] twenty shekels plus twenty-five shekels plus fifteen shekels shall be your mina.^[g]

^13 (V)“This is the offering that you shall make: one sixth of an ephah from each homer of wheat, and one sixth of an ephah from each homer of barley, ¹⁴ and as the fixed portion of oil, measured in baths, one tenth of a bath from each cor^[h] (the cor, like the homer, contains ^(W)ten baths).^{[i] 15} And one sheep from every flock of two hundred, from the watering places of Israel for grain offering, burnt offering, and peace offerings, ^(X)to make atonement for them, declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ All the people of the land shall be obliged to give this offering to the prince in Israel. ^17 (Y)It shall be the prince's duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel.

¹⁸ “Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, ^(Z)on the first day of the month, you shall take a bull from the herd without blemish, and ^(AA)purify the sanctuary. ^19 (AB)The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it ^(AC)on the doorposts of the temple, the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and the posts of the gate of the inner court. ²⁰ You shall do the same on the seventh day of the month for anyone who has sinned through error or ignorance; so you shall make atonement for the temple.

^21 (AD)“In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall celebrate the Feast of the Passover, and for seven days unleavened bread shall be eaten. ²² On that day the prince ^(AE)shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a young bull for a sin offering. ²³ And on ^(AF)the seven days of the festival he shall provide as a burnt offering to the Lord seven young bulls and seven rams without blemish, on each of the seven days; and ^(AG)a male goat daily for a sin offering. ²⁴ And ^(AH)he shall provide as ^(AI)a grain offering an ephah for each bull, an ephah for each ram, and a hin^[j] of oil to each ephah. ^25 (AJ)In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month and for the seven days of the feast, ^(AK)he shall make the same provision for sin offerings, burnt offerings, and grain offerings, and for the oil.

My Help and My Deliverer

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Test the Spirits

4 Beloved, ^(A)do not believe every spirit, but ^(B)test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ^(C)many ^(D)false prophets ^(E)have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(F)every spirit that confesses that ^(G)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit ^(H)that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and ^(I)now is in the world already. ⁴ Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for ^(J)he who is in you is greater than ^(K)he who is in the world. ^5 (L)They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and ^(M)the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God. ^(N)Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^(O)the Spirit of truth and ^(P)the spirit of error.

God Is Love

⁷ Beloved, ^(Q)let us love one another, for love is from God, and ^(R)whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ^8 (S)Anyone who does not love does not know God, because ^(T)God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that ^(U)God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, ^(V)not that we have loved God ^(W)but that he loved us and sent his Son to be ^(X)the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ^12 (Y)No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and ^(Z)his love is perfected in us.

^13 (AA)By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And ^(AB)we have seen and testify that ^(AC)the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of ^(AD)the world. ^15 (AE)Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ So ^(AF)we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. ^(AG)God is love, and ^(AH)whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this ^(AI)is love perfected with us, so that ^(AJ)we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because ^(AK)as he is so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but ^(AL)perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not ^(AM)been perfected in love. ^19 (AN)We love because he first loved us. ^20 (AO)If anyone says, “I love God,” and ^(AP)hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot^[a] love God ^(AQ)whom he has not seen. ²¹ And ^(AR)this commandment we have from him: ^(AS)whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Overcoming the World

5 ^(AT)Everyone who believes that ^(AU)Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and ^(AV)everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. ^2 (AW)By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. ³ For ^(AX)this is the love of God, that we ^(AY)keep his commandments. And ^(AZ)his commandments are not burdensome. ⁴ For ^(BA)everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—^(BB)our faith. ⁵ Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes ^(BC)that Jesus is the Son of God?

Testimony Concerning the Son of God

⁶ This is he who came ^(BD)by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And ^(BE)the Spirit is the one who testifies, because ^(BF)the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three that testify: ⁸ the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. ^9 (BG)If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God ^(BH)that he has borne concerning his Son. ¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God ^(BI)has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God ^(BJ)has made him a liar, ^(BK)because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. ¹¹ And this is the testimony, that God gave us ^(BL)eternal life, and ^(BM)this life is in his Son. ^12 (BN)Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

That You May Know

¹³ I write ^(BO)these things to you who ^(BP)believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ And this is ^(BQ)the confidence that we have toward him, that ^(BR)if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and ^(BS)God^[b] will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. ^(BT)There is sin that leads to death; ^(BU)I do not say that one should pray for that. ^17 (BV)All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

¹⁸ We know that ^(BW)everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but ^(BX)he who was born of God ^(BY)protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

¹⁹ We know that we are from God, and ^(BZ)the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come and ^(CA)has given us understanding, so that we may know ^(CB)him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and ^(CC)eternal life. ²¹ Little children, ^(CD)keep yourselves from idols.