Towns for the Levites^(A)

21 Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribal families of Israel^{(B) 2} at Shiloh^(C) in Canaan and said to them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that you give us towns^(D) to live in, with pasturelands for our livestock.”^{(E) 3} So, as the Lord had commanded, the Israelites gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own inheritance:

⁴ The first lot came out for the Kohathites,^(F) according to their clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin.^{(G) 5} The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten towns from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and half of Manasseh.^(H)

⁶ The descendants of Gershon^(I) were allotted thirteen towns from the clans of the tribes of Issachar,^(J) Asher,^(K) Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷ The descendants of Merari,^(L) according to their clans, received twelve^(M) towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.^(N)

⁸ So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these towns and their pasturelands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

⁹ From the tribes of Judah and Simeon they allotted the following towns by name ¹⁰ (these towns were assigned to the descendants of Aaron who were from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them):

¹⁹ The total number of towns^(AD) for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands.^(AE)

²⁰ The rest of the Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted towns from the tribe of Ephraim:

²⁶ All these ten towns and their pasturelands were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.^(AN)

²⁷ The Levite clans of the Gershonites were given:

²⁸ from the tribe of Issachar,^(AQ)

³⁰ from the tribe of Asher,^(AV)

³² from the tribe of Naphtali,

³³ The total number of towns of the Gershonite^(BB) clans came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands.

³⁴ The Merarite clans (the rest of the Levites) were given:

³⁶ from the tribe of Reuben,

³⁸ from the tribe of Gad,

⁴⁰ The total number of towns allotted to the Merarite clans, who were the rest of the Levites, came to twelve.^(BM)

⁴¹ The towns of the Levites in the territory held by the Israelites were forty-eight in all, together with their pasturelands.^{(BN) 42} Each of these towns had pasturelands surrounding it; this was true for all these towns.

⁴³ So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors,^(BO) and they took possession^(BP) of it and settled there.^{(BQ) 44} The Lord gave them rest^(BR) on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies^(BS) withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies^(BT) into their hands.^{(BU) 45} Not one of all the Lord’s good promises^(BV) to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

Eastern Tribes Return Home

22 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh ² and said to them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded,^(BW) and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded. ³ For a long time now—to this very day—you have not deserted your fellow Israelites but have carried out the mission the Lord your God gave you. ⁴ Now that the Lord your God has given them rest^(BX) as he promised, return to your homes^(BY) in the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.^{(BZ) 5} But be very careful to keep the commandment^(CA) and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord^(CB) your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands,^(CC) to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.^(CD)”

⁶ Then Joshua blessed^(CE) them and sent them away, and they went to their homes. ⁷ (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan,^(CF) and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on the west side^(CG) of the Jordan along with their fellow Israelites.) When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them,^{(CH) 8} saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock,^(CI) with silver, gold, bronze and iron,^(CJ) and a great quantity of clothing—and divide^(CK) the plunder^(CL) from your enemies with your fellow Israelites.”

⁹ So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh^(CM) in Canaan to return to Gilead,^(CN) their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.

¹⁰ When they came to Geliloth^(CO) near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar^(CP) there by the Jordan. ¹¹ And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, ¹² the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh^(CQ) to go to war against them.

¹³ So the Israelites sent Phinehas^(CR) son of Eleazar,^(CS) the priest, to the land of Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. ¹⁴ With him they sent ten of the chief men, one from each of the tribes of Israel, each the head of a family division among the Israelite clans.^(CT)

¹⁵ When they went to Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh—they said to them: ¹⁶ “The whole assembly of the Lord says: ‘How could you break faith^(CU) with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the Lord and build yourselves an altar in rebellion^(CV) against him now? ¹⁷ Was not the sin of Peor^(CW) enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the Lord! ¹⁸ And are you now turning away from the Lord?

“‘If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community^(CX) of Israel. ¹⁹ If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the Lord’s land, where the Lord’s tabernacle^(CY) stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar^(CZ) for yourselves, other than the altar of the Lord our God. ²⁰ When Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful in regard to the devoted things,^[a](DA) did not wrath^(DB) come on the whole community^(DC) of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.’”^(DD)

The Authority of Jesus Questioned^(A)

20 One day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts^(B) and proclaiming the good news,^(C) the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the elders, came up to him. ² “Tell us by what authority you are doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”^(D)

³ He replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: ⁴ John’s baptism^(E)—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

⁵ They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ ⁶ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ all the people^(F) will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was a prophet.”^(G)

⁷ So they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”

⁸ Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The Parable of the Tenants^(H)

⁹ He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard,^(I) rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.^{(J) 10} At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. ¹² He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

¹³ “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love;^(K) perhaps they will respect him.’

¹⁴ “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ¹⁵ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and kill those tenants^(L) and give the vineyard to others.”

When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”

¹⁷ Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:

¹⁸ Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”^(N)

¹⁹ The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him^(O) immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.^(P)

Paying Taxes to Caesar^(Q)

²⁰ Keeping a close watch on him, they sent spies, who pretended to be sincere. They hoped to catch Jesus in something he said,^(R) so that they might hand him over to the power and authority of the governor.^{(S) 21} So the spies questioned him: “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach what is right, and that you do not show partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth.^{(T) 22} Is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

²³ He saw through their duplicity and said to them, ²⁴ “Show me a denarius. Whose image and inscription are on it?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

²⁵ He said to them, “Then give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s,^(U) and to God what is God’s.”

²⁶ They were unable to trap him in what he had said there in public. And astonished by his answer, they became silent.

Psalm 89^[a]

A maskil^[b] of Ethan the Ezrahite.