Old/New Testament
29 “The Festival of Trumpets shall be celebrated on the fifteenth day of September[a] each year; there shall be a solemn assembly of all the people on that day, and no hard work may be done. 2 On that day you shall offer a burnt sacrifice consisting of one young bull, one ram, and seven yearling male lambs—all without defect. These are sacrifices which the Lord will appreciate and enjoy. 3-4 A grain offering of nine quarts of fine flour mingled with oil shall be offered with the bull, six quarts with the ram, and three quarts with each of the seven lambs. 5 In addition, there shall be a male goat sacrificed as a sin offering, to make atonement for you. 6 These special sacrifices are in addition to the regular monthly burnt offering for that day,[b] and also in addition to the regular daily burnt sacrifices, which are to be offered with the respective grain offerings and drink offerings, as specified by the ordinances governing them.
7 “Ten days later[c] another convocation of all the people shall be held. This will be a day of solemn humility before the Lord, and no work of any kind may be done. 8 On that day you shall offer a burnt sacrifice to the Lord—it will be very pleasant to him—of one young bull, one ram, seven yearling male lambs—each without defect— 9-10 and their accompanying grain offerings. Nine quarts of fine flour mixed with oil are to be offered with the bull, six with the ram, and three with each of the seven lambs. 11 You are also to sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering. This is in addition to the sin offering of the Day of Atonement offered annually on that day,[d] and in addition to the regular daily burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, and drink offerings.
12 “Five days later[e] there shall be yet another assembly of all the people, and on that day no hard work shall be done; it is the beginning of a seven-day festival before the Lord. 13 Your special burnt sacrifice that day, which will give much pleasure to the Lord, shall be thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male yearling lambs—each without defect— 14 accompanied by the usual grain offerings—nine quarts of fine flour mingled with oil for each of the thirteen young bulls; six quarts for each of the two rams; 15 and three quarts for each of the fourteen lambs. 16 There must also be a male goat sacrificed for a sin offering, in addition to the regular daily burnt sacrifice with its accompanying grain offerings and drink offerings.
17 “On the second day of this seven-day festival you shall sacrifice twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male yearling lambs—each without defect— 18 accompanied by the usual grain offerings and drink offerings. 19 Also, in addition to the regular daily burnt sacrifice, you are to sacrifice a male goat with its accompanying grain offering and drink offering for a sin offering.
20 “On the third day of the festival, offer eleven young bulls, two rams, fourteen male yearling lambs—each without defect— 21 and the usual grain offering and drink offering with each sacrifice. 22 And in addition to the regular daily burnt sacrifices, sacrifice a male goat for a sin offering, with its accompanying grain offering and drink offering.
23 “On the fourth day of the festival, you are to sacrifice ten young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male yearling lambs—each without defect— 24 each with its accompanying grain offering and drink offering; 25 also a male goat as a sin offering (along with the usual grain and drink offerings) in addition to the regular daily sacrifices.
26-27 “On the fifth day of the festival, sacrifice nine young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male yearling lambs—each without defect—accompanied by the usual grain offerings and drink offerings; 28 also sacrifice a male goat with the usual grain and drink offerings, as a special sin offering, in addition to the usual daily sacrifices.
29 “On the sixth day of the festival, you must sacrifice eight young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male yearling lambs—each without defect— 30 along with their usual grain and drink offerings. 31 In addition to the usual daily sacrifices, sacrifice a male goat and the usual grain and drink offerings as a sin offering.
32 “On the seventh day of the festival, sacrifice seven young bulls, two rams, and fourteen male yearling lambs—each without defect— 33 each with its customary grain and drink offerings; 34 also sacrifice an extra sin offering of one male goat, with the usual grain and drink offerings, in addition to the regular daily sacrifices.
35 “On the eighth day summon the people to another solemn assembly; you must do no hard work that day. 36 Sacrifice a burnt offering—they are very pleasant to the Lord—of one young bull, one ram, seven male yearling lambs—each without defect— 37 and the customary grain and drink offerings. 38 Sacrifice also one male goat with the usual grain and drink offerings for a sin offering, in addition to the regular daily sacrifices. 39 These offerings are compulsory at the times of your annual feasts, and are in addition to sacrifices and offerings you present in connection with vows, or as freewill offerings, burnt sacrifices, grain offerings, drink offerings, or peace offerings.”
40 So Moses gave all of these instructions to the people of Israel.
30 1-2 Now Moses summoned the leaders of the tribes and told them, “The Lord has commanded that when anyone makes a promise to the Lord, either to do something or to quit doing something, that vow must not be broken: the person making the vow must do exactly as he has promised.
3 “If a woman promises the Lord to do or not do something, and she is still a girl at home in her father’s home, 4 and her father hears that she has made a vow with penalties, but says nothing, then her vow shall stand. 5 But if her father refuses to let her make the vow, or feels that the penalties she has agreed to are too harsh, then her promise will automatically become invalid. Her father must state his disagreement on the first day he hears about it; and then Jehovah will forgive her because her father would not let her do it.
6 “If she takes a vow or makes a foolish pledge, and later marries, 7 and her husband learns of her vow and says nothing on the day he hears of it, her vow shall stand. 8 But if her husband refuses to accept her vow or foolish pledge, his disagreement makes it void, and Jehovah will forgive her.
9 “But if the woman is a widow or is divorced, she must fulfill her vow.
10 “If she is married and living in her husband’s home when she makes the vow, 11 and her husband hears of it and does nothing, the vow shall stand; 12 but if he refuses to allow it on the first day he hears of it, her vow is void and Jehovah will forgive her. 13 So her husband may either confirm or nullify her vow, 14 but if he says nothing for a day, then he has already agreed to it. 15 If he waits more than a day and then refuses to permit the vow, whatever penalties to which she agreed shall come upon him—he shall be responsible.”
16 These, then, are the commandments the Lord gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife and between a father and his daughter who is living at home.
31 1-2 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take vengeance on the Midianites for leading you into idolatry, and then you must die.”
3 Moses said to the people, “Some of you must take arms to wage Jehovah’s war against Midian. 4-5 Conscript 1,000 men from each tribe.” So this was done; and out of the many thousands of Israel, 12,000 armed men were sent to battle by Moses. 6 Phinehas (son of Eleazar the priest) led them into battle, accompanied by the Ark,[f] with trumpets blaring. 7 And every man of Midian was killed. 8 Among those killed were all five of the Midianite kings—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. Balaam, the son of Beor, was also killed.
9-11 Then the Israeli army took as captives all the women and children, and seized the cattle and flocks and a lot of miscellaneous booty. All of the cities, towns, and villages of Midian were then burned. 12 The captives and other war loot were brought to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the rest of the people of Israel who were camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho. 13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the people went out to meet the victorious army, 14 but Moses was very angry with the army officers and battalion leaders.
15 “Why have you let all the women live?” he demanded. 16 “These are the very ones who followed Balaam’s advice and caused the people of Israel to worship idols on Mount Peor, and they are the cause of the plague that destroyed us. 17 Now kill all the boys and all the women who have had sexual intercourse. 18 Only the little girls may live; you may keep them for yourselves. 19 Now stay outside of the camp for seven days, all of you who have killed anyone or touched a dead body. Then purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days. 20 Remember also to purify all your garments and everything made of leather, goat’s hair, or wood.”
21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men who were in the battle, “This is the commandment Jehovah has given Moses: 22 ‘Anything that will stand heat—such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead— 23 shall be passed through fire in order to be made ceremonially pure; it must then be further purified with the purification water. But anything that won’t stand heat shall be purified by the water alone.’ 24 On the seventh day you must wash your clothes and be purified, and then you may come back into the camp.”
25 And the Lord said to Moses, 26 “You and Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the tribes are to make a list of all the loot, including the people and animals; 27 then divide it into two parts. Half of it is for the men who were in the battle, and the other half is to be given to the people of Israel. 28 But first, the Lord gets a share of all the captives, oxen, donkeys, and flocks kept by the army. His share is one out of every five hundred. 29 Give this share to Eleazar the priest to be presented to the Lord by the gesture of waving before the altar. 30 Also levy a 2 percent tribute of all the captives, flocks, and cattle that are given to the people of Israel. Present this to the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle, for it is the Lord’s portion.”
31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded. 32-35 The total booty (besides the jewelry, clothing, etc., which the soldiers kept for themselves) was 675,000 sheep; 72,000 oxen; 61,000 donkeys; and 32,000 young girls.
36-40 So the half given to the army totaled: 337,500 sheep (of which 675 were given to the Lord); 36,000 oxen (of which 72 were given to the Lord); 30,500 donkeys (of which 61 were given to the Lord); 16,000 girls (of whom 32 went to the Levites[g]).
41 All of the Lord’s portion was given to Eleazar the priest, as the Lord had directed Moses.
42-46 The half of the booty assigned to the people of Israel—Moses had separated it from the half belonging to the warriors—amounted to: 337,500 sheep, 36,000 oxen, 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 girls.
47 In accordance with the Lord’s directions, Moses gave 2 percent of these to the Levites.
48-49 Then the officers and battalion leaders came to Moses and said, “We have accounted for all the men who went out to battle, and not one of us is missing! 50 So we have brought a special thank offering to the Lord from our loot—gold jewelry, bracelets, anklets, rings, earrings, and necklaces. This is to make atonement for our souls before the Lord.”
51-52 Moses and Eleazar the priest received this special offering from the captains and battalion leaders and company commanders, and found its total value to be more than $300,000. 53 (The soldiers had also kept personal loot for themselves.) 54 The offering was taken into the Tabernacle and kept there before the Lord as a memorial of the people of Israel.
9 Jesus went on to say to his disciples, “Some of you who are standing here right now will live to see the Kingdom of God arrive in great power!”
2 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James and John to the top of a mountain. No one else was there.
Suddenly his face began to shine with glory, 3 and his clothing became dazzling white, far more glorious than any earthly process could ever make it! 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared and began talking with Jesus!
5 “Teacher, this is wonderful!” Peter exclaimed. “We will make three shelters here, one for each of you. . . . ”
6 He said this just to be talking, for he didn’t know what else to say and they were all terribly frightened.
7 But while he was still speaking these words, a cloud covered them, blotting out the sun, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
8 Then suddenly they looked around and Moses and Elijah were gone, and only Jesus was with them.
9 As they descended the mountainside he told them never to mention what they had seen until after he had risen[a] from the dead. 10 So they kept it to themselves, but often talked about it, and wondered what he meant by “rising from the dead.”
11 Now they began asking him about something the Jewish religious leaders often spoke of, that Elijah must return before the Messiah could come.[b] 12-13 Jesus agreed that Elijah must come first and prepare the way—and that he had, in fact, already come! And that he had been terribly mistreated, just as the prophets had predicted. Then Jesus asked them what the prophets could have been talking about when they predicted that the Messiah[c] would suffer and be treated with utter contempt.
14 At the bottom of the mountain they found a great crowd surrounding the other nine disciples, as some Jewish leaders argued with them. 15 The crowd watched Jesus in awe as he came toward them, and then ran to greet him. 16 “What’s all the argument about?” he asked.
17 One of the men in the crowd spoke up and said, “Teacher, I brought my son for you to heal—he can’t talk because he is possessed by a demon. 18 And whenever the demon is in control of him it dashes him to the ground and makes him foam at the mouth and grind his teeth and become rigid.[d] So I begged your disciples to cast out the demon, but they couldn’t do it.”
19 Jesus said to his disciples,[e] “Oh, what tiny faith you have; how much longer must I be with you until you believe? How much longer must I be patient with you? Bring the boy to me.”
20 So they brought the boy, but when he saw Jesus, the demon convulsed the child horribly, and he fell to the ground writhing and foaming at the mouth.
21 “How long has he been this way?” Jesus asked the father.
And he replied, “Since he was very small, 22 and the demon often makes him fall into the fire or into water to kill him. Oh, have mercy on us and do something if you can.”
23 “If I can?” Jesus asked.
24 The father instantly replied, “I do have faith; oh, help me to have more!”
25 When Jesus saw the crowd was growing, he rebuked the demon.
“O demon of deafness and dumbness,” he said, “I command you to come out of this child and enter him no more!”
26 Then the demon screamed terribly and convulsed the boy again and left him; and the boy lay there limp and motionless, to all appearance dead. A murmur ran through the crowd—“He is dead.” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet and he stood up and was all right! 28 Afterwards, when Jesus was alone in the house with his disciples, they asked him, “Why couldn’t we cast that demon out?”
29 Jesus replied, “Cases like this require prayer.”[f]
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.