Old/New Testament
Chapter 35
The Levites’ Share. 1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the plain of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel to give cities to the Levites from the inheritance that they will possess. Also give the Levites pastures around the cities. 3 They are to have cities in which they can dwell as well as pastures for their cattle, their flocks, and all their other animals. 4 The pastures that you will give the Levites around the cities will extend one thousand cubits[a] from the city wall.
5 “Outside of the city, measure two thousand cubits on the east side, two thousand cubits on the south side, two thousand cubits on the west side, and two thousand cubits on the north side, with the city in the middle. This will be the pastures for the city.
6 “Six of the cities that you give to the Levites will be established as cities of refuge to which a person who has killed another can flee. In addition, there are to be another forty-two cities. 7 In all you will give the Levites forty-eight cities along with their pastures. 8 The cities that you will give the Levites from the possession of Israel will be given according to the inheritance that they have inherited. Those who have more will give more and those who have less will give less.”
Cities of Refuge. 9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 choose cities that will be your cities of refuge to which a person who has accidentally killed another person can flee. 12 These will be cities of refuge from the kinsman avenger[b] so that the killer will not die until he has received judgment before the assembly. 13 These six cities that you give will be your cities of refuge. 14 Give three cities across the Jordan and give three cities in the land of Canaan to be your cities of refuge. 15 These six cities will be a refuge for the people of Israel, for foreigners, and for foreigners dwelling among them, to which a person who has killed accidentally can flee.
16 Treatment of Murderers.“ ‘If someone strikes another with an iron object to kill him, then he is a murderer. The murderer will be put to death. 17 If someone strikes another with a stone in his hand to kill him, then he is a murderer. The murderer will be put to death. 18 If someone strikes another with a wooden object in his hand to kill him, then he is a murderer. The murderer will be put to death. 19 The kinsman avenger of blood will kill him. When he meets the murderer, he will put him to death. 20 If anyone pushes another person out of hatred or lays in wait and throws something at him in order to kill him, 21 or if with bitterness he strikes someone with his hand in order to kill him, then that person will be put to death, for he is a murderer. The kinsman avenger of blood will kill the murderer when he meets him.
22 “ ‘But if someone without bitterness pushes another person or throws something at him without his lying in wait, 23 or he has a deadly stone object and he does not see the other, but drops it on him causing him to die, and he was not an enemy nor was he seeking to harm the other person, 24 then the assembly will judge between the killer and the kinsman avenger of blood according to these ordinances: 25 the assembly will save the killer from the hands of the kinsman avenger of blood. The assembly will send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He will live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with holy oil.
26 “ ‘But if the killer at any time crosses over the boundary of the city of refuge to which he has fled, 27 and the kinsman avenger of blood finds him outside of the boundary of the city of refuge, and the kinsman avenger of blood kills the killer, he will not be considered to have blood guilt. 28 He should have remained in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. After the death of the high priest, the killer can return to the land of his possession. 29 These things will be a statute and an ordinance for you for all of your generations and in all of your dwellings.
30 “ ‘If a person kills another, the murderer will be put to death upon the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of a single witness. 31 You are not to accept a ransom for the murderer who is guilty of death; he is to be put to death. 32 You are not to take a ransom from someone who has fled to his city of refuge who wants to return to live in the land before the death of the priest.
33 “ ‘You are not to pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed upon it except through the blood of the person who shed it. 34 You are not to pollute the land in which you dwell, for I dwell in it; I, the Lord, dwell among the people of Israel.’ ”
Chapter 36
The Daughters of Zelophehad. 1 The family heads of the clan of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses, before the leaders, and before the family heads of the people of Israel. 2 They said, “When the Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, the Lord commanded my lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 If they marry members of another Israelite tribe, then the inheritance of our ancestral tribe will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they have married. It will be taken from the portion of our inheritance. 4 During the Jubilee of the people of Israel their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they were received. Thus, their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”
5 Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of Joseph is correct in what they have said. 6 This is what the Lord has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whomever they wish, only they are to marry within the ancestral tribe of their father. 7 Thus, no inheritance among the people of Israel will be transferred from one tribe to another. The people of Israel will hold on to the inheritance of their ancestral tribe. 8 Every daughter who comes into the possession of an inheritance of any tribe among the people of Israel will marry someone from the family of the tribe of her father. This way, each Israelite will inherit the inheritance of his fathers. 9 No inheritance will pass from one tribe to another. Each Israelite tribe is to keep its own inheritance.’ ”
10 Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord had commanded Moses.[c] 11 Zelophehad’s daughters, Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, married their cousins on their father’s side. 12 They married within the clans of the tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. Their inheritance remained within their clan and their tribe. 13 These are the commandments and the ordinances that the Lord commanded the people of Israel through Moses while they were in the plain of Moab, near the Jordan, across from Jericho.
Chapter 10
Marriage and Divorce.[a] 1 After departing from there, Jesus came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan.[b] Again the crowds gathered around him, and, as was his custom, he began to teach them.
2 Some Pharisees came forward and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He replied, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and dismiss her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “It was because of the hardness of your hearts that he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the very beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, 8 and the two become one flesh.’ And so they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were again in the house, the disciples once more questioned Jesus about this. 11 He said to them, “If a man divorces his wife and marries another, he commits adultery against her. 12 In the same way, if a wife divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
13 Jesus Receives Little Children.[c] People were bringing little children to him so that he might touch them, and the disciples sternly rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus became aware of this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not hinder them. For it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Amen, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took them up into his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
17 The Rich Young Man.[d] As Jesus was starting out on a journey, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not kill. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and your mother.’ ”
20 The man said to him, “Teacher, I have observed all these since I was a child.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus was moved with love and said, “You need to do one further thing. Go and sell what you own, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 When he heard these words, the man’s face fell and he went away grieving, for he possessed great wealth.
23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who are rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were astounded on hearing his words, but Jesus insisted: “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 The disciples were even more greatly astonished, and they said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “For men it is impossible, but not for God. For God all things are possible.”
28 Reward for Following Jesus.[e] Peter said to him, “We have given up everything to follow you.” 29 Jesus answered, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel 30 who will not receive in this age a hundred times more houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and lands—as well as persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
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