Numbers 35 - 36 - Legacy Standard Bible

Numbers 35 - 36

Cities for the Levites

Now Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities. 3 And the cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their herds and for all their beasts. 4 “And the pasture lands of the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward one thousand cubits around. 5 You shall also measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the center. This shall become theirs as pasture lands for the cities.

Cities of Refuge

6 And the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. 7 All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, together with their pasture lands. 8 Now as for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take less from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his possession which he inherits.” 9 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, that the manslayer who has struck down any person unintentionally may flee there. 12 And the cities shall be for you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 And the cities which you are to give shall be your six cities of refuge. 14 You shall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the sons of Israel and for the sojourner and for the foreign resident among them; that anyone who strikes a person down unintentionally may flee there. 16 ‘But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. 17 And if he struck him down with a stone in the hand, by which he would die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand, by which he would die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. 19 The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he shall put him to death when he meets him. 20 And if he pushed him of hatred or threw something at him lying in wait and as a result he died, 21 or if he struck him down with his hand in enmity, and as a result he died, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer; the blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. 22 ‘But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity or threw something at him without lying in wait, 23 or with any stone—by which one might die, yet without seeing—and it fell upon him, and he died, but he was not his enemy nor seeking his injury, 24 then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the blood avenger according to these legal judgments. 25 And the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the blood avenger, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he fled; and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the manslayer at any time goes beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he may flee, 27 and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the blood avenger kills the manslayer, he will not be guilty of blood 28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return to the land of his possession. 29 ‘And these things shall be for a statutory judgment to you throughout your generations in all your places of habitation. 30 ‘If anyone strikes down a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the mouth of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. 32 And you shall not take ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest. 33 So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land, and no propitiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. 34 And you shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell; for I Yahweh am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’”

Inheritance Through Marriage

And the heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, 2 and they said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they marry one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; thus it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance. 4 And when the jubilee of the sons of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.” 5 Then Moses commanded the sons of Israel according to the word of Yahweh, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph are right in their statements. 6 This is what Yahweh has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whoever is good in their sight; only they must marry within the family of the tribe of their father.’ 7 Thus no inheritance of the sons of Israel shall be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any tribe of the sons of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that the sons of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 Thus no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another tribe, for the tribes of the sons of Israel shall each hold to his own inheritance.” 10 Just as Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: 11 And Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad married their uncles’ sons. 12 They married those from the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained with the tribe of the family of their father. 13 These are the commandments and the judgments which Yahweh commanded to the sons of Israel by the hand of Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho.

Romans 13

Be Subject to Government

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist have been appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists that authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of that authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword in vain, for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of that wrath, but also because of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. 8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For this, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does not work evil against a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law. 11 And do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. 12 The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Psalm 106:1 - 106:27

Remember Me, O Yahweh

Praise Yah!

Oh give thanks to Yahweh, for He is good;

For His lovingkindness endures forever.

Who can speak of the mighty deeds of Yahweh,

Or can make all His praise to be heard?

How blessed are those who keep justice,

And he who does righteousness at all times!

Remember me, O Yahweh, in Your favor toward Your people;

Visit me with Your salvation,

That I may see the goodness of Your chosen ones,

That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,

That I may boast with Your inheritance.

We have sinned with our fathers,

We have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly.

Our fathers in Egypt did not consider Your wondrous deeds;

They did not remember Your abundant lovingkindnesses,

But they rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

Yet He saved them for the sake of His name,

That He might make His might known.

Thus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up,

And He led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness.

So He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them,

And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

The waters covered their adversaries;

Not one of them was left.

Then they believed His words;

They sang His praise.

They quickly forgot His works;

They did not wait for His counsel,

But craved intensely in the wilderness,

And put God to the test in the wasteland.

So He gave them their request,

But sent a wasting disease against their lives.

Then they became envious of Moses in the camp,

And of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh,

The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,

And covered up the company of Abiram.

And a fire burned up in their company;

The flame consumed the wicked.

They made a calf in Horeb

And worshiped a molten image.

Thus they exchanged their glory

For the image of an ox that eats grass.

They forgot God their Savior,

Who had done great things in Egypt,

Wondrous deeds in the land of Ham

And awesome things by the Red Sea.

Therefore He said that He would destroy them,

Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,

To turn away His wrath from eradicating them.

Then they despised the pleasant land;

They did not believe in His word,

But grumbled in their tents;

They did not listen to the voice of Yahweh.

So He swore to them

To make them fall in the wilderness,

And to make their seed fall among the nations

And to scatter them in the lands.