The Command to Leave Horeb

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in ^athe Arabah opposite ^bSuph, between ^cParan and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to ^dKadesh-barnea. 3 ^eIn the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them, 4 after ^fhe had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ^gOg the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in ^hEdrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, ⁱin the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ^j‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to ^kthe hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in ^athe Arabah, ^lin the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and ^lby the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, ^mto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

Leaders Appointed

9 “At that time ⁿI said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. 10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, ^oyou are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11 ^pMay the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, ^qas he has promised you! 12 ^rHow can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? 13 ^sChoose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, ^tand set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and ^ujudge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. 17 ^vYou shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for ^wthe judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall ^xbring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land

19 “Then we set out from Horeb and ^ywent through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us. And ^zwe came to Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. ^aDo not fear or be dismayed.’ 22 Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ 23 The thing seemed good to me, and ^bI took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. 24 And ^cthey turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’

26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 And ^dyou murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord ^ehated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, ^fto give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? ^gOur brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, ^h“The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen ⁱthe sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you ^jwill himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God ^kcarried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this word ^lyou did not believe the Lord your God, 33 ^mwho went before you in the way ⁿto seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion

34 “And the Lord heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 ^o‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 ^pexcept Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!’ 37 Even with me ^qthe Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 ^rJoshua the son of Nun, ^rwho stands before you, he shall enter. ^sEncourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for ^tyour little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today ^uhave no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, ^vturn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’

41 “Then you answered me, ^w‘We have sinned against the Lord. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 And the Lord said to me, ^x‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, ^yfor I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ 43 So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the Lord and ^zpresumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 ^aThen the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you ^bas bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as ^cHormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 So ^dyou remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

Oh, That My People Would Listen to Me

To the choirmaster: according to ^fThe Gittith.¹ Of ^gAsaph.

Peter and John Before the Council

1 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and ^lthe captain of the temple and ^mthe Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming ⁿin Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and ^oput them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and ^pthe number of the men came to about five thousand.

5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with ^qAnnas the high priest and ^rCaiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, ^s“By what power or ^tby what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, ^ufilled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today ^vconcerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that ^wby the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, ^xwhom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 ^yThis Jesus¹ is the stone that was ^zrejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.² 12 And there is ^asalvation ^bin no one else, for ^cthere is no other ^dname under heaven given among men³ by which we must be saved.”

13 ^eNow when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 But seeing the man who was healed ^fstanding beside them, ^gthey had nothing to say in opposition. 15 But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another, 16 saying, ^h“What shall we do with these men? For that ⁱa notable sign has been performed through them is evident to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them ^jto speak no more to anyone in this name.” 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, ^k“Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for ^lwe cannot but speak of what ^mwe have seen and heard.” 21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, ⁿbecause of the people, for all were praising God ^ofor what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

The Believers Pray for Boldness

23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices ^ptogether to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, ^qwho made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant,⁴ said by the Holy Spirit,

27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your ^uholy servant Jesus, ^vwhom you anointed, both ^wHerod and ^xPontius Pilate, along ^ywith the Gentiles and ^zthe peoples of Israel, 28 ^ato do whatever your hand and ^byour plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, ^clook upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all ^dboldness, 30 while ^eyou stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed ^fthrough the name of your ^gholy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, ^hthe place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and ⁱthey were all filled with the Holy Spirit and ^jcontinued to speak the word of God with boldness.

They Had Everything in Common

32 Now the full number of those who believed were of ^kone heart and ^lsoul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but ^mthey had everything in common. 33 And with great ⁿpower the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and ^ogreat grace was upon them all. 34 ^pThere was not a needy person among them, for ^qas many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and ^rlaid it at the apostles’ feet, and ^sit was distributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means ^tson of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and ^ulaid it at the apostles’ feet.