Numbers 5 - 6 - Legacy Standard Bible

Numbers 5 - 6

Unclean Sent Outside the Camp

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel that they send away from the camp every leper and everyone having a discharge and everyone who is unclean because of a dead person. 3 You shall send away both male and female; you shall send them outside the camp so that they will not defile their camp where I dwell in their midst.” 4 And the sons of Israel did so and sent them outside the camp; just as Yahweh had spoken to Moses, thus the sons of Israel did.

Restitution for Sins

5 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Speak to the sons of Israel, ‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against Yahweh, and that person is guilty, 7 then he shall confess his sins which he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it and give it to him whom he has wronged. 8 But if the man has no kinsman redeemer to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to Yahweh for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him. 9 Also every contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they bring near to the priest, shall be his. 10 So every man’s holy gifts shall be his; whatever any man gives to the priest, it becomes his.’”

The Statutes of Jealousy

11 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13 and a man lies sexually with her, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected; but she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, and she has not been caught in the act, 14 if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife and she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife but she has not defiled herself, 15 the man shall then bring his wife to the priest and shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of remembrance, a reminder of iniquity. 16 ‘Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before Yahweh, 17 and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel; and the priest shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18 The priest shall then have the woman stand before Yahweh and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and he shall place the grain offering of remembrance in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings curses. 19 Then the priest shall have her swear an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray into defilement, being under the authority of your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings curses; 20 if you, however, have gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself, and a man other than your husband has lain with you” 21 (then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people by Yahweh making your thigh fall away and your abdomen swell; 22 and this water that brings curses shall go into your stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thigh fall away.” And the woman shall say, “Amen. Amen.” 23 ‘The priest shall then write these curses on a scroll, and he shall wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24 Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings curses, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her to cause bitterness. 25 And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before Yahweh and bring it near to the altar; 26 and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as its memorial offering and offer it up in smoke on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water. 27 So he will have her drink the water, and it will be that, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings curses will go into her to cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will fall away, and the woman will become a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will then be free and conceive a seed. 29 ‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, being under the authority of her husband, goes astray and defiles herself, 30 or when a spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then make the woman stand before Yahweh, and the priest shall apply all this law to her. 31 Moreover, the man will be free from guilt, but that woman shall bear her guilt.’”

The Nazirite Vow

Again Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When a man or woman makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to dedicate himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh, 3 he shall abstain as a Nazirite from wine and strong drink; he shall drink no vinegar, whether made from wine or strong drink, nor shall he drink any grape juice nor eat fresh or dried grapes. 4 All the days of his Nazirite vow he shall not eat anything that is produced by the grape vine, from the seeds even to the skin. 5 ‘All the days of his vow as a Nazirite no razor shall pass over his head. He shall be holy until the days are fulfilled for which he dedicated himself as a Nazirite to Yahweh; he shall let the locks of hair on his head grow long. 6 ‘All the days of his dedication as a Nazirite to Yahweh he shall not go near to a dead person. 7 He shall not defile himself for his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, when they die, because the Nazirite vow to his God is on his head. 8 All the days of his Nazirite vow he is holy to Yahweh. 9 ‘But if a man dies very suddenly beside him and he defiles the head of hair during his Nazirite vow, then he shall shave his head on the day when he becomes clean; he shall shave it on the seventh day. 10 Then on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 11 And the priest shall offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering and make atonement for him concerning his sin because of the dead person. And that same day he shall set apart his head as holy, 12 and shall dedicate to Yahweh the days of his Nazirite vow and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a guilt offering; but the former days will be void because his Nazirite vow was defiled. 13 ‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the days of his Nazirite vow are fulfilled: he shall bring the offering to the doorway of the tent of meeting. 14 And he shall bring his offering near to Yahweh: one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering and one ewe-lamb a year old without blemish for a sin offering and one ram without blemish for a peace offering, 15 and a basket of unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil and unleavened wafers spread with oil, along with their grain offering and their drink offering. 16 Then the priest shall bring them near before Yahweh and shall offer his sin offering and his burnt offering. 17 He shall also offer with the ram a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, together with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall likewise offer its grain offering and its drink offering. 18 The Nazirite shall then shave the head of hair for his Nazirite vow at the doorway of the tent of meeting and take the hair of his head of his Nazirite vow and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings. 19 And the priest shall take the ram’s shoulder when it has been boiled, and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaved the hair of his Nazirite vow. 20 Then the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. It is holy for the priest, together with the breast offered by waving and the thigh offered by raising up; and afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.’ 21 “This is the law of the Nazirite who vows his offering to Yahweh according to his Nazirite vow, in addition to what else he can afford; according to his vow which he takes, so he shall do according to the law of his Nazirite vow.”

Yahweh Blesses the Sons of Israel

22 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 23 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them: 24

Yahweh bless you, and keep you;

Yahweh make His face shine on you,

And be gracious to you;

Yahweh lift up His face on you,

And give you peace.’

27 So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”

Acts 24 - 25

Paul’s Trial Before Felix the Governor

Now after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders, with an attorney named Tertullus, and they brought charges to the governor against Paul. 2 And after Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, “As we have attained much peace through you—and because by your provision reforms are being carried out for this nation— 3 we welcome this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. 4 But, that I may not weary you any further, I plead with you by your forbearance to hear us briefly. 5 For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. 6 And he even tried to desecrate the temple; and then we arrested him. [We wanted to judge him according to our own Law. 7 But Lysias the commander came along, and with much violence took him out of our hands, 8 ordering his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to ascertain the things of which we accuse him.” 9 And the Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so. 10 And when the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul answered: “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense, 11 since you are able to ascertain the fact that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12 And neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor across the city did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot. 13 Nor are they able to prove to you of what they are now accusing me. 14 But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets; 15 having a hope in God, for which these men are waiting, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. 16 In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a conscience without fault both before God and before men. 17 Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and offerings; 18 in which they found me, having been purified in the temple, without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from Asia— 19 who ought to have been present before you and to make accusation, if they should have anything against me. 20 Or else let these men themselves tell what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the Sanhedrin, 21 other than for this one statement which I shouted out while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.’” 22 But Felix, having a more accurate knowledge about the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.” 23 Then he gave orders to the centurion for him to be kept in custody and yet have some rest, and not to prevent any of his friends from ministering to him. 24 But some days later Felix arrived with Drusilla, his wife who was a Jewess, and summoned Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and answered, “Go away for the present, and when I find time I will call for you.” 26 At the same time, he was also hoping that money would be given him by Paul; therefore he also used to summon for him quite often and converse with him. 27 But after two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, and wishing to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul imprisoned.

Paul Before Festus

Festus then, having arrived in the province, after three days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. 2 And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with him, 3 requesting a favor against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem (while they set an ambush to kill him on the way). 4 Festus then answered that Paul was being kept in custody at Caesarea and that he himself was about to leave shortly. 5 “Therefore,” he *said, “let the influential men among you go down there with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them accuse him.” 6 And after he had spent not more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on the judgment seat and ordered Paul to be brought. 7 And after Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him which they could not prove, 8 while Paul said in his own defense, “I have committed no sin either against the Law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.” 9 But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and to be tried before me on these matters?” 10 But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. 11 If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar.” 12 Then when Festus had conferred with his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go.”

Festus and Agrippa Discuss Paul’s Trial

13 Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. 14 And while they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix; 15 and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. 16 I answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. 17 So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on the judgment seat and ordered the man to be brought before me. 18 When the accusers stood up, they were not bringing any charges against him for the evil deeds I was expecting, 19 but they had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, a dead man whom Paul asserted to be alive. 20 And being perplexed about how to investigate such matters, I was asking whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there to be tried on these matters. 21 But when Paul appealed to be held in custody for the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.” 22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he *said, “you shall hear him.”

Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice

23 So, on the next day when Agrippa came together with Bernice amid great pomp, and entered the hall accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the order of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24 And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that he ought not to live any longer. 25 But I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and since he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him. 26 Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. 27 For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him.”

Psalm 90

From Everlasting to Everlasting, You Are God

A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.

Lord, You have been our dwelling place from generation to generation.

Before the mountains were born

Or You brought forth the earth and the world,

Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

You turn man back into dust

And say, “Return, O sons of men.”

For a thousand years in Your sight

Are like yesterday when it passes by,

Or as a watch in the night.

You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep;

In the morning they are like grass which sprouts anew.

In the morning it blossoms and sprouts anew;

Toward evening it withers away and dries up.

For we have been consumed by Your anger

And by Your wrath we have been dismayed.

You have set our iniquities before You,

Our secret sins in the light of Your presence.

For all our days have declined in Your fury;

We have finished our years like a sigh.

As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years,

Or if due to might, eighty years,

Yet their pride is but labor and wickedness;

For soon it is gone and we fly away.

Who knows the power of Your anger

And Your fury, according to the fear that is due You?

So teach us to number our days,

That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

Return, O Yahweh; how long will it be?

And be sorry for Your slaves.

O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness,

That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Make us glad according to the days You have afflicted us,

And the years we have seen evil.

Let Your work appear to Your slaves

And Your majesty to their sons.

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;

And establish for us the work of our hands;

Establish the work of our hands.