Provision for Priests and Levites

1 “The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, ⁿshall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They ^oshall eat the Lord’s food offerings¹ as their² inheritance. 2 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them. 3 And this shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: ^pthey shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4 ^qThe firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him. 5 For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes ^rto stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time.

6 “And if a Levite comes from any of your towns out of all Israel, ^swhere he lives—and he may come when he desires³—^tto the place that the Lord will choose, 7 and ministers in the name of the Lord his God, ^ulike all his fellow Levites who stand to minister there before the Lord, 8 then he may have equal ^vportions to eat, besides what he receives from the sale of his patrimony.⁴

Abominable Practices

9 “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, ^wyou shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone ^xwho burns his son or his daughter as an offering,⁵ anyone who ^ypractices divination or ^ztells fortunes or interprets omens, or ^aa sorcerer 11 or a charmer or ^ba medium or a necromancer or ^cone who inquires of the dead, 12 ^dfor whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And ^ebecause of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.

A New Prophet like Moses

15 ^f“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb ^gon the day of the assembly, when you said, ^h‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ 17 And the Lord said to me, ⁱ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 ^fI will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. ^jAnd I will put my words in his mouth, and ^khe shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 ^lAnd whoever will ^mnot listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 ⁿBut the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or⁶ who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 ^owhen a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; ⁿthe prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge

1 “When ^pthe Lord your God cuts off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2 ^qyou shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3 You shall measure the distances⁷ and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them.

4 “This is the provision for ^rthe manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— 5 as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, 6 lest ^sthe avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. 7 Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. 8 ^tAnd if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, ^uas he has sworn to your fathers, and ^vgives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— 9 provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways—^wthen you shall add three other cities to these three, 10 lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you.

11 “But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him ^xand strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. 13 ^yYour eye shall not pity him, ^zbut you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood⁸ from Israel, so that it may be well with you.

Property Boundaries

14 ^a“You shall not move your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

Laws Concerning Witnesses

15 “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. ^bOnly on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. 16 If ^ca malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, 17 then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, ^dbefore the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18 The judges shall ^einquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19 ^fthen you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil⁹ from your midst. 20 And the rest ^gshall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. 21 ^yYour eye shall not pity. ^hIt shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Laws Concerning Warfare

1 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and see ⁱhorses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is ^jwith you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And when you draw near to the battle, ^kthe priest shall come forward and speak to the people 3 and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, 4 for the Lord your God is he who goes with you ^lto fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.’ 5 Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. 6 And is there any man who has planted a vineyard and has not ^menjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit. 7 ⁿAnd is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’ 8 And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ^o‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’ 9 And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people.

10 “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, ^poffer terms of peace to it. 11 And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you. 12 But if it makes no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, ^qyou shall put all its males to the sword, 14 ^rbut the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you ^sshall take as plunder for yourselves. And ^tyou shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here. 16 But ^uin the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, 17 but ^vyou shall devote them to complete destruction,¹⁰ the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded, 18 that ^wthey may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you ^xsin against the Lord your God.

19 “When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, ^yyou shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you? 20 Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.

Barnabas and Saul Sent Off

1 Now there were in the church at Antioch ⁿprophets and ⁿteachers, ^oBarnabas, Simeon who was called Niger,¹ Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of ^pHerod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, ^qthe Holy Spirit said, ^r“Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul ^sfor the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and ^tpraying they laid their hands on them and ^usent them off.

Barnabas and Saul on Cyprus

4 So, being sent out ^vby the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God ^win the synagogues of the Jews. And they had ^xJohn to ^yassist them. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain ^zmagician, ^aa Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. 7 He was with ^bthe proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the ^zmagician (for that is the meaning of his name) ^copposed them, seeking to turn ^dthe proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, ^efilled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You ^fson of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and ^gvillainy, will you not stop ^hmaking crooked ⁱthe straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, ^jthe hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking ^kpeople to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished at ^lthe teaching of the Lord.

Paul and Barnabas at Antioch in Pisidia

13 Now Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. And ^mJohn left them and returned ⁿto Jerusalem, 14 but they went on from Perga and came to Antioch in Pisidia. And ^oon the Sabbath day ^pthey went into the synagogue and sat down. 15 After ^qthe reading from ^rthe Law and the Prophets, ^sthe rulers of the synagogue sent a message to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any ^tword of encouragement for the people, say it.” 16 So Paul stood up, and ^umotioning with his hand said:

“Men of Israel and ^vyou who fear God, listen. 17 ^wThe God of this people Israel ^xchose our fathers and ^ymade the people great ^zduring their stay in the land of Egypt, and ^awith uplifted arm he led them out of it. 18 And for about ^bforty years ^che put up with² them in the wilderness. 19 And ^dafter destroying ^eseven nations in the land of Canaan, ^fhe gave them their land as an inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years. And after that ^ghe gave them judges until ^hSamuel the prophet. 21 Then ⁱthey asked for a king, and God gave them Saul ^jthe son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And ^kwhen he had removed him, ^lhe raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ^m‘I have found in David the son of Jesse ⁿa man after my heart, ^owho will do all my will.’ 23 ^pOf this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel ^qa Savior, Jesus, ^ras he promised. 24 Before his coming, ^sJohn had proclaimed ^ta baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John was finishing his course, ^uhe said, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not he. No, but behold, after me one is coming, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’

26 “Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you ^vwho fear God, to us has been sent ^wthe message of ^xthis salvation. 27 For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because ^ythey did not recognize him nor understand ^zthe utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, ^afulfilled them by condemning him. 28 And ^bthough they found in him no guilt worthy of death, ^cthey asked Pilate to have him executed. 29 And when ^dthey had carried out all that was written of him, ^ethey took him down from ^fthe tree and laid him in a tomb. 30 But ^gGod raised him from the dead, 31 and for many days ^hhe appeared to those ⁱwho had come up with him ^jfrom Galilee to Jerusalem, ^kwho are now ^lhis witnesses to the people. 32 And we bring you the good news ^mthat what God promised to the fathers, 33 ⁿthis he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

34 And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, ^pqno more to return to corruption, he has spoken in this way,

35 Therefore he says also in another psalm,

36 For David, after he had ^tserved the purpose of God in his own generation, ^ufell asleep and ^vwas laid with his fathers and saw corruption, 37 but he whom ^wGod raised up did not see corruption. 38 Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, ^xthat through this man ^yforgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, 39 and by him ^zeveryone who believes is freed³ from everything ^afrom which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. 40 Beware, therefore, lest what is said in the Prophets should come about:

42 As they went out, the people begged that these things might be told them the next Sabbath. 43 And after the meeting of the synagogue broke up, many Jews and ^cdevout ^dconverts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who, as they spoke with them, urged them ^eto continue in ^fthe grace of God.

44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 ^gBut ^hwhen the Jews⁴ saw the crowds, they were filled with ⁱjealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, ^jreviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God ^kbe spoken first to you. ^lSince you thrust it aside and judge yourselves ^munworthy of eternal life, behold, we ⁿare turning to the Gentiles. 47 ^oFor so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and ^sglorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 ^tBut the Jews incited the devout ^uwomen of high standing and the leading men of the city, ^vstirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and ^wdrove them out of their district. 51 But they ^xshook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled ^ywith joy and ^zwith the Holy Spirit.