Numbers 1 - 2, Acts 20 - 21, Psalm 89:1-29

The Census of Israel’s Warriors

1Then ¹Yahweh spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on ^athe first of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, ²“^aTake a ¹census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, every male, head by head ³from ^atwenty years old and upward, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel, you and Aaron shall ¹number them by their armies. ⁴“With you, moreover, there shall be a man of each tribe, ^aeach one head of his father’s household. ⁵“These then are the names of the men who shall stand with you: ^aof Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur;

⁶of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; ⁷of Judah, ^aNahshon the son of Amminadab; ⁸of Issachar, Nethanel the son of Zuar; ⁹of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon; ¹⁰of the sons of Joseph: of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur; ¹¹of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni; ¹²of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai; ¹³of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran; ¹⁴of Gad, Eliasaph the son of ^aDeuel; ¹⁵of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.

¹⁶“These are they who were ^acalled upon by the congregation, the leaders of their fathers’ tribes; they were the ^bheads of ¹divisions of Israel.”

¹⁷So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been designated by name, ¹⁸and they assembled all the congregation together on the ^afirst of the second month. Then they registered by ^bgenealogy in their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, head by head, ¹⁹just as ^aYahweh had commanded Moses. So he numbered them in the wilderness of Sinai.

²⁰^aNow the sons of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ²¹their numbered men of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.

²²^aOf the sons of Simeon, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, their numbered men, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, ^bwhoever was able to go out to war, ²³their numbered men of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.

²⁴^aOf the sons of Gad, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ²⁵their numbered men of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.

²⁶^aOf the sons of Judah, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ²⁷their numbered men of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.

²⁸^aOf the sons of Issachar, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ²⁹their numbered men of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.

³⁰^aOf the sons of Zebulun, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ³¹their numbered men of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.

³²^aOf the sons of Joseph, namely, of the sons of Ephraim, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ³³their numbered men of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.

³⁴^aOf the sons of Manasseh, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ³⁵their numbered men of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.

³⁶^aOf the sons of Benjamin, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ³⁷their numbered men of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.

³⁸^aOf the sons of Dan, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ³⁹their numbered men of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.

⁴⁰^aOf the sons of Asher, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ⁴¹their numbered men of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.

⁴²^aOf the sons of Naphtali, their genealogical registration by their families, by their fathers’ households, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war, ⁴³their numbered men of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.

⁴⁴These are the ones who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered, with the leaders of Israel, twelve men, each of whom was of his father’s household. ⁴⁵So all the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households, from twenty years old and upward, whoever was able to go out to war in Israel, ⁴⁶even all the numbered men were ^a603,550.

Levites Not Numbered in the Census

⁴⁷^aThe Levites, however, were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe. ⁴⁸Yahweh had spoken to Moses, saying, ⁴⁹“Only the tribe of Levi ^ayou shall not number, nor shall you take their ¹census among the sons of Israel. ⁵⁰“But you shall ^aappoint the Levites over the ¹tabernacle of the testimony and over all its furnishings and over all that belongs to it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall attend to it; they shall also camp around the tabernacle. ⁵¹“^aSo when the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it up. But ^bthe ¹layman who comes near shall be put to death. ⁵²“^aAnd the sons of Israel shall camp, each man by his own camp, and each man by his own standard, according to their armies. ⁵³“^aBut the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony so that there will be ^bno wrath on the congregation of the sons of Israel. ^cSo the Levites shall keep charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.” ⁵⁴Thus the sons of Israel did; according to all which Yahweh had commanded Moses, so they did.

Israel Camped by Their Standards

2Now Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²“^aThe sons of Israel shall camp, each by his own standard, with the ¹banners of their fathers’ households; they shall camp around the tent of meeting ²at a distance. ³“Now those who camp on the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah, by their armies, and the leader of the sons of Judah: ^aNahshon the son of Amminadab, ⁴and his army, even their ¹numbered men, 74,600. ⁵“Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, and the leader of the sons of Issachar: ^aNethanel the son of Zuar, ⁶and his army, even his numbered men, 54,400. ⁷“Then the tribe of Zebulun, and the leader of the sons of Zebulun: ^aEliab the son of Helon, ⁸and his army, even his numbered men, 57,400. ⁹“The total of the numbered men of the camp of Judah: 186,400, by their armies. ^aThey shall set out first.

¹⁰“On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their armies, and the leader of the sons of Reuben: ^aElizur the son of Shedeur, ¹¹and his army, even his numbered men, 46,500. ¹²“And those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, and the leader of the sons of Simeon: ^aShelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, ¹³and his army, even their numbered men, 59,300. ¹⁴“Then the tribe of Gad, and the leader of the sons of Gad: ^aEliasaph the son of ¹Deuel, ¹⁵and his army, even their numbered men, 45,650. ¹⁶“The total of the numbered men of the camp of Reuben: 151,450 by their armies. And ^athey shall set out second.

¹⁷“^aThen the tent of meeting shall set out with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; just as they camp, so they shall set out, every man in his place by their standards.

¹⁸“On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of ^aEphraim by their armies, and the leader of the sons of Ephraim: ^bElishama the son of Ammihud, ¹⁹and his army, even their numbered men, 40,500. ²⁰“Next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, and the leader of the sons of Manasseh: ^aGamaliel the son of Pedahzur, ²¹and his army, even their numbered men, 32,200. ²²“Then the tribe of ^aBenjamin, and the leader of the sons of Benjamin: ^bAbidan the son of Gideoni, ²³and his army, even their numbered men, 35,400. ²⁴“The total of the numbered men of the camp of Ephraim: 108,100, by their armies. And ^athey shall set out third.

²⁵“On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their armies, and the leader of the sons of Dan: ^aAhiezer the son of Ammishaddai, ²⁶and his army, even their numbered men, 62,700. ²⁷“Those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, and the leader of the sons of Asher: ^aPagiel the son of Ochran, ²⁸and his army, even their numbered men, 41,500. ²⁹“Then the tribe of ^aNaphtali, and the leader of the sons of Naphtali: ^bAhira the son of Enan, ³⁰and his army, even their numbered men, 53,400. ³¹“The total of the numbered men of the camp of Dan was 157,600. ^aThey shall set out last by their standards.”

³²These are the numbered men of the sons of Israel by their fathers’ households; the total of the numbered men of the camps by their armies, ^a603,550. ³³^aThe Levites, however, were not numbered among the sons of Israel, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ³⁴Thus the sons of Israel did; according to all that Yahweh commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, every one by his family according to his father’s household.

Through Macedonia and Greece

20Now after the uproar had ceased, Paul having summoned and exhorted ^athe disciples, said farewell and left ^bto go to ^cMacedonia. ²And when he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece. ³And there he spent three months, and when ^aa plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for ^bSyria, he decided to return through ^cMacedonia. ⁴And he was accompanied by Sopater of ^aBerea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by ^bAristarchus and Secundus of the ^cThessalonians, and ^dGaius of ^eDerbe, and ^fTimothy, and ^gTychicus and Trophimus of ¹Asia. ⁵But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for ^aus at ^bTroas. ⁶^aAnd we sailed from ^bPhilippi after ^cthe days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at ^dTroas within five days; and there we stayed seven days.

Eutychus Raised from the Dead in Troas

⁷And on ^athe first day of the week, when ^bwe were gathered together to ^cbreak bread, Paul began speaking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his ¹message until midnight. ⁸Now there were many ^alamps in the ^bupper room where we were gathered together. ⁹And there was a young man named ¹Eutychus sitting on the windowsill, sinking into a deep sleep. And as Paul kept on talking, he sunk into that sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. ¹⁰But Paul went down and ^afell upon him, and after embracing him, he ^bsaid, “¹Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.” ¹¹And when he had gone back up and had ^abroken the bread and ¹eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. ¹²And they took away the boy alive, and were not a little comforted.

Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders

¹³But ^awe, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go ¹by land. ¹⁴And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. ¹⁵And sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos; and the day following we came to ^aMiletus. ¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past ^aEphesus so that he would not have to spend time in ¹^,^bAsia; for he was hurrying ^cto be in Jerusalem, if possible, ^don the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷Now from Miletus he sent to ^aEphesus and called to him ^bthe elders of the church. ¹⁸And when they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, ^afrom the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, ¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me ¹through ^athe plots of the Jews; ²⁰how I ^adid not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and ¹from house to house, ²¹solemnly ^atestifying to both Jews and Greeks about ^brepentance toward God and ^cfaith in our Lord Jesus Christ. ²²“And now, behold, bound by the ¹Spirit, ^aI am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, ²³except that ^athe Holy Spirit solemnly ^btestifies to me in every city, saying that ^cchains and afflictions await me. ²⁴“But ^aI do not make my life of any account nor dear to myself, so that I may ^bfinish my course and ^cthe ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to ^dtestify solemnly of the gospel of ^ethe grace of God.

²⁵“And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about ^apreaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. ²⁶“Therefore, I ¹testify to you this day that ^aI am ²innocent of the blood of all. ²⁷“For I ^adid not shrink from declaring to you the whole ^bpurpose of God. ²⁸“Be on guard for yourselves and for all ^athe flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you ¹overseers, to shepherd ^bthe church of God which ^cHe ²purchased ³with His own blood. ²⁹“I know that after my departure ^asavage wolves will come in among you, not sparing ^bthe flock; ³⁰and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away ^athe disciples after them. ³¹“Therefore be watchful, remembering that night and day for a period of ^athree years I did not cease to admonish each one ^bwith tears. ³²“And now I ^acommend you to God and to ^bthe word of His grace, which is able to ^cbuild you up and to give you ^dthe inheritance among all those who have been sanctified. ³³“^aI have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. ³⁴“You yourselves know that ^athese hands ministered to my own needs and to those ^bwho were with me. ³⁵“In everything I showed you that by laboring in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶And when he had said these things, he ^aknelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷And ¹they began to weep aloud and ^afalling on Paul’s neck, they were kissing him, ³⁸being in agony especially over ^athe word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were ^baccompanying him to the ship.

Paul Sets Out for Jerusalem

21Now when ^awe had parted from them and had set sail, we came by ^ba straight course to Cos and the next day to Rhodes and from there to Patara; ²and having found a ship crossing over to ^aPhoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. ³And when we came in sight of ^aCyprus, leaving it on the left, we kept sailing to ^bSyria and landed at ^cTyre; for there the ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴And after looking up ^athe disciples, we stayed there seven days; and they kept telling Paul ^bthrough the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. ⁵And when ¹our days there were ended, we left and started on our journey, while they all, with wives and children, ^aescorted us until we were out of the city. After ^bkneeling down on the beach and praying, we said farewell to one another. ⁶Then we went on board the ship, and they returned ^ahome again.

⁷And when we had finished the voyage from ^aTyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting ^bthe brothers, we stayed with them for a day. ⁸And on the next day we left and came to ^aCaesarea, and entering the house of ^bPhilip the ^cevangelist, who was ^done of the seven, we stayed with him. ⁹Now this man had four virgin daughters who ^aprophesied. ¹⁰And as we were staying there for some days, a prophet named ^aAgabus came down from Judea. ¹¹And coming to us, he ^atook Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This ^bis what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will ^cbind the man who owns this belt and ^ddeliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” ¹²And when we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him ^anot to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, crying and breaking my heart? For ^aI am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for ^bthe name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, saying, “^aThe will of the Lord be done!”

¹⁵Now after these days we got ready and ^astarted on our way up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶And some of ^athe disciples from ^bCaesarea also came with us, taking us to Mnason of ^cCyprus, an ^dearly disciple with whom we were to lodge.

In Jerusalem

¹⁷And after we arrived in Jerusalem, ^athe brothers welcomed us gladly. ¹⁸And the following day Paul went in with us to ^aJames, and all ^bthe elders were present. ¹⁹And after he had greeted them, he ^abegan to relate one by one the things which God did among the Gentiles through his ^bministry. ²⁰And when they heard it they began ^aglorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many ¹thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all ^bzealous for the Law; ²¹and they have been told about you, that you are ^ateaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them ^bnot to circumcise their children nor to ¹walk according to ^cthe customs. ²²“What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. ²³“Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who ¹^,^aare under a vow; ²⁴take them and ^apurify yourself along with them, and ¹pay their expenses so that they may ^bshave their ²heads. Then all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. ²⁵“But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, ^ahaving decided that they should keep from ¹meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from sexual immorality.” ²⁶Then Paul ¹took the men, and the next day, ^apurifying himself along with them, ^bwent into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.

Paul Is Arrested

²⁷Now when ^athe seven days were almost over, ^bthe Jews from ¹^,^cAsia, upon noticing him in the temple, began to throw all the crowd into confusion and laid hands on him, ²⁸crying out, “Men of Israel, help! ^aThis is the man who teaches to everyone everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides, he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has ^bdefiled this holy place.” ²⁹For they had previously seen ^aTrophimus the ^bEphesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. ³⁰Then all the city was stirred, and ¹the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they ^adragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut. ³¹While they were seeking to kill him, a report came up to the ¹commander of the ^aRoman ²cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. ³²At once he ^atook along soldiers and centurions and ran down to them; and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³Then the commander came up and took hold of him, and ordered him to be ^abound with ^btwo chains; and he began asking who he was and what he had done. ³⁴But among the crowd ^asome were shouting one thing and some another, and when he could not find out the ¹facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into ^bthe barracks. ³⁵And when he got to ^athe stairs, he actually was carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd; ³⁶for the multitude of the people kept following them, shouting, “^aAway with him!”

Paul’s Defense Before the Jews

³⁷As Paul was about to be brought into ^athe barracks, he said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” And he *said, “Do you know Greek? ³⁸“Then you are not ^athe Egyptian who some ¹time ago raised a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out ^binto the wilderness?” ³⁹But Paul said, “^aI am a Jew of Tarsus in ^bCilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city; and I beg you, allow me to speak to the people.” ⁴⁰And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on ^athe stairs, ^bmotioned to the people with his hand; and when there ¹was a great hush, he spoke to them in the ^cHebrew language, saying,

Sing of the Lovingkindness of Yahweh Forever

A ¹Maskil of ²Ethan ³the Ezrahite.

I will ^asing of the lovingkindnesses of Yahweh forever;From generation to generation I will ^bmake known Your ^cfaithfulness with my mouth.²For I have said, “^aLovingkindness will be built up forever;In the heavens You will establish Your ^bfaithfulness.”³“I have cut a covenant with ^aMy chosen;I have ^bsworn to David My ¹servant,⁴I will establish your ^aseed foreverAnd build up your ^bthrone from generation to generation.” ¹ Selah.⁵The ^aheavens will praise Your wonders, O Yahweh;Your faithfulness also ^bin the assembly of the ^choly ones.⁶For ^awho in the sky is comparable to Yahweh?Who among the ¹^,^bsons of the mighty is like Yahweh,⁷A God ^agreatly dreaded in the council of the ^bholy ones,And ¹^,^cfearsome above all those who are around Him?⁸O Yahweh God of hosts, ^awho is like You, O mighty Yah?Your faithfulness also surrounds You.⁹You rule the swelling of the sea;When its waves rise, You ^astill them.¹⁰You Yourself crushed ¹^,^aRahab like one who is slain;You ^bscattered Your enemies with Your strong arm.¹¹The ^aheavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;The ^bworld and its fullness, You have founded them.¹²The ^anorth and the south, You have created them;^bTabor and ^cHermon ^dsing with joy at Your name.¹³You have a mighty arm;Your hand is strong, Your ^aright hand is exalted.¹⁴^aRighteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;^bLovingkindness and ¹truth go before You.¹⁵How blessed are the people who know the ^aloud shout of joy!O Yahweh, they walk in the ^blight of Your face.¹⁶In ^aYour name they rejoice all the day,And by Your righteousness they are exalted.¹⁷For You are the beauty of ^atheir strength,And by Your favor ¹our ^bhorn is exalted.¹⁸For our ^ashield belongs to Yahweh,¹And our king to the ^bHoly One of Israel.¹⁹Formerly You spoke in vision to Your ¹holy ²ones,And said, “I have bestowed help to a ^amighty one;I have exalted one ^bchosen from the people.²⁰“I have ^afound David My ¹servant;With My holy ^boil I have anointed him,²¹With whom ^aMy hand will be established;My arm also will ^bstrengthen him.²²“The enemy will not ¹deceive him,Nor the ²^,^ason of unrighteousness afflict him.²³“But I shall ^acrush his adversaries before him,And strike those who hate him.²⁴“My ^afaithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him,And in My name his ^bhorn will be exalted.²⁵“I shall also set his hand ^aon the seaAnd his right hand on the rivers.²⁶“He will call to Me, ‘You are ^amy Father,My God, and the ^brock of my salvation.’²⁷“I also shall make him My ^afirstborn,The ^bhighest of the kings of the earth.²⁸“My ^alovingkindness I will keep for him forever,And My ^bcovenant shall be confirmed to him.²⁹“So I will set up his ^aseed to endure foreverAnd his ^bthrone ^cas the days of heaven.