Numbers 35 - 36, Romans 13, Psalm 106:1-27

Cities for the Levites

35^aNow 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 ¹outward ²one thousand cubits around. ⁵“You shall also measure outside the city on the east side ¹two 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 ^asix 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 ^aforty-eight cities, ¹together with their pasture lands. ⁸“^aNow 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.”

⁹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰“^aSpeak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹^athen you shall select for yourselves cities to be your ^bcities of refuge, that the manslayer who has struck down any person ^cunintentionally may flee there. ¹²‘^aAnd 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 ^ashall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities ¹in 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 ^aunintentionally may flee there.

¹⁶‘^aBut 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 ^ashall 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‘^aAnd if he pushed him of hatred or threw something at him ^blying in wait and as a result he died, ²¹or 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‘^aBut if he pushed him suddenly without enmity or threw something at him without lying in wait, ²³or 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, ²⁴then ^athe congregation shall judge between the ¹slayer 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, ²⁷and 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 ²⁸because 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 ^astatutory judgment to you throughout your generations in all your places of habitation.

³⁰‘^aIf anyone strikes down a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the mouth of witnesses, but ^bno 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 ¹before the death of the priest. ³³‘^aSo 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 ^bby the blood of him who shed it. ³⁴‘And you shall not ^adefile the land in which you live, in the midst of which ^bI dwell; for I Yahweh am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’”

Inheritance Through Marriage

36^aAnd 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, ²and they said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land by lot to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord ^awas commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. ³“But if they ¹marry 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 ^ajubilee of the sons of Israel ¹comes, 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.”

⁵Then Moses commanded the sons of Israel according to the ¹word of Yahweh, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph are right in their statements. ⁶“^aThis is ¹what 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 ^ano inheritance of the sons of Israel shall ¹be transferred from tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each ²hold to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. ⁸“^aAnd 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 ¹be transferred from one tribe to another tribe, for the tribes of the sons of Israel shall each ²hold to his own inheritance.”

¹⁰Just as Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: ¹¹^aAnd Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad married their uncles’ sons. ¹²They married those from the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance ¹remained with the tribe of the family of their father.

¹³^aThese 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.

Be Subject to Government

13Every ¹^,^aperson is to be in ^bsubjection to the governing authorities. For ^cthere is no authority except ²from God, and those which exist have been appointed by God. ²Therefore ¹whoever resists that authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. ³For ^arulers are not a cause of fear for ¹good 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; ⁴for 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 ^aavenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. ⁵Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of that wrath, but also because of ^aconscience. ⁶For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. ⁷^aRender to all what is due them: ^btax to whom tax is due; ^ccustom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

⁸Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for ^ahe who loves ¹his neighbor has fulfilled the law. ⁹For this, “^aYou 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, “^bYou shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰Love does not work evil against a neighbor; therefore ^alove is the fulfillment of the Law.

¹¹And do this, knowing the time, that it is ^aalready the hour for you to ^bawaken from sleep; for now ¹salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. ¹²^aThe night is almost gone, and ^bthe day is at hand. Therefore let us lay aside ^cthe deeds of darkness and put on ^dthe armor of light. ¹³Let us ^awalk properly as in the day, ^bnot in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. ¹⁴But ^aput on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh ^bin regard to its lusts.

Remember Me, O Yahweh

106¹Praise Yah!Oh ^agive thanks to Yahweh, for He ^bis good;For ^cHis lovingkindness endures forever.²Who can speak of the ^amighty deeds of Yahweh,Or can make all His praise to be heard?³How blessed are those who keep ¹justice,²And he who ^adoes righteousness at all times!⁴Remember me, O Yahweh, in Your ^afavor ¹toward Your people;Visit me with Your salvation,⁵That I may see the ^agoodness of Your chosen ones,That I may ^brejoice in the gladness of Your nation,That I may ^cboast with Your ¹inheritance.⁶^aWe have sinned ^bwith our fathers,We have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly.⁷Our fathers in Egypt did not consider Your wondrous deeds;They ^adid not remember Your abundant lovingkindnesses,But they ^brebelled by the sea, at the ¹Red Sea.⁸Yet He saved them ^afor the sake of His name,That He might ^bmake His might known.⁹Thus He ^arebuked the ¹Red Sea and it ^bdried up,And He ^cled them through the deeps, as through the wilderness.¹⁰So He ^asaved them from the ¹hand of the one who hated them,And ^bredeemed them from the ²hand of the enemy.¹¹^aThe waters covered their adversaries;Not one of them was left.¹²Then they ^abelieved His words;They ^bsang His praise.¹³They quickly ^aforgot His works;They ^bdid not wait for His counsel,¹⁴But ^acraved intensely in the wilderness,And ^bput God to the test in the wasteland.¹⁵So He ^agave them their request,But ^bsent a ¹wasting disease against their lives.¹⁶Then they became ^aenvious of Moses in the camp,And of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh,¹⁷The ^aearth opened and swallowed up Dathan,And covered up the ¹company of Abiram.¹⁸And a ^afire burned up in their company;The flame consumed the wicked.¹⁹They ^amade a calf in HorebAnd worshiped a molten image.²⁰Thus they ^aexchanged their gloryFor the image of an ox that eats grass.²¹They ^aforgot God their Savior,Who had done ^bgreat things in Egypt,²²^aWondrous deeds in the land of HamAnd awesome things by the ¹Red Sea.²³Therefore ^aHe said that He would destroy them,Had not ^bMoses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,To turn away His wrath from ¹eradicating them.²⁴Then they ^adespised the ^bpleasant land;They ^cdid not believe in His word,²⁵But ^agrumbled in their tents;They did not listen to the voice of Yahweh.²⁶So He ¹^,^aswore to themTo make them fall in the wilderness,²⁷And to ^amake their seed fall among the nationsAnd to ^bscatter them in the lands.