The Wilderness Years

1 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, ^eas the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. 2 Then the Lord said to me, 3 ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country ^flong enough. Turn northward 4 and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of ^gyour brothers, the people of Esau, ^hwho live in Seir; and ⁱthey will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because ^hI have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 ^jYou shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. ^kHe knows your going through this great wilderness. ^lThese forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ 8 So ^mwe went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from ⁿthe Arabah road from ^oElath and ^pEzion-geber.

“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And the Lord said to me, ^q‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given ^rAr to ^sthe people of Lot for a possession.’ 10 (^tThe Emim formerly lived there, ^ua people great and many, and tall ^vas the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim they are also counted as ^wRephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 ^xThe Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, ^yas Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.) 13 ‘Now rise up and go over ^zthe brook Zered.’ So we went over ^zthe brook Zered. 14 And the time from our leaving ^aKadesh-barnea until we crossed ^bthe brook Zered was thirty-eight years, ^cuntil the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

16 “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. 19 And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, ^ddo not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to ^ethe sons of Lot for a possession.’ 20 (It is also counted as a land of ^fRephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— 21 ^ga people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites,¹ and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, 22 as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed ^hthe Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. 23 As for ⁱthe Avvim, who lived in villages as far as ^jGaza, ^kthe Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) 24 ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and ^lgo over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of ^mHeshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and ⁿcontend with him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put ^othe dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

The Defeat of King Sihon

26 “So I sent messengers from the wilderness of ^pKedemoth to Sihon the king of ^mHeshbon, ^qwith words of peace, saying, 27 ^r‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. 28 ^sYou shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot, 29 ^tas the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us.’ 30 But ^uSihon the king of ^mHeshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God ^vhardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day. 31 And the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.’ 32 Then ^wSihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. 33 And ^xthe Lord our God gave him over to us, and ^ywe defeated him and his sons and all his people. 34 And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction² every ^zcity, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. 35 Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. 36 ^aFrom Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from ^bthe city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. ^cThe Lord our God gave all into our hands. 37 Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river ^dJabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the Lord our God had forbidden us.

The Defeat of King Og

1 “Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan. And ^eOg the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at ^fEdrei. 2 But the Lord said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to ^gSihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.’ 3 So the Lord our God gave into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people, ^hand we struck him down until he had no survivor left. 4 And we took all his cities at that time—there was not a city that we did not take from them—sixty cities, ⁱthe whole region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, besides very many unwalled villages. 6 And ^jwe devoted them to destruction,³ as we did to Sihon the king of Heshbon, devoting to destruction every ^kcity, men, women, and children. 7 But all the livestock and the spoil of the cities we took as our plunder. 8 So we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon 9 (the Sidonians call ^lHermon ^mSirion, while the Amorites call it ⁿSenir), 10 all the cities of the ^otableland and all Gilead and all Bashan, as far as ^pSalecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 (For ^qonly Og the king of Bashan was left of the remnant of ^rthe Rephaim. Behold, his bed was a bed of iron. Is it not in ^sRabbah of the Ammonites? Nine cubits⁴ was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the ^tcommon cubit.⁵)

12 “When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning ^uat Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with ^vits cities. 13 ^wThe rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, ^xall the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (All that portion of Bashan is called the land of ^rRephaim. 14 ^yJair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of ^zthe Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages ^aafter his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) 15 To Machir ^bI gave Gilead, 16 and to the Reubenites ^cand the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the Valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a border, as far over as the river Jabbok, ^dthe border of the Ammonites; 17 the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the border, from ^eChinnereth as far as ^fthe Sea of the Arabah, ^gthe Salt Sea, under ^hthe slopes of Pisgah on the east.

18 “And I commanded you at that time, saying, ‘The Lord your God has given you this land to possess. ⁱAll your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel. 19 Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock ^j(I know that you have much livestock) shall remain in the cities that I have given you, 20 ^kuntil the Lord gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also occupy the land that the Lord your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you.’ 21 And I commanded ^lJoshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. 22 You shall not fear them, for it is ^mthe Lord your God who fights for you.’

Moses Forbidden to Enter the Land

23 “And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, 24 ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant ⁿyour greatness and your mighty hand. For ^owhat god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? 25 Please let me go over and see ^pthe good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and ^qLebanon.’ 26 But ^rthe Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ^s‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. 27 ^tGo up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. 28 But ^ucharge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ 29 So we remained in ^vthe valley opposite Beth-peor.

Rescue the Weak and Needy

A Psalm of ^lAsaph.

Ananias and Sapphira

1 But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, 2 and with his wife’s knowledge ^vhe kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and ^wlaid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has ^xSatan filled your heart to lie ^yto the Holy Spirit and ^zto keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? 4 While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but ^ato God.” 5 When Ananias heard these words, he ^bfell down and breathed his last. And ^cgreat fear came upon all who heard of it. 6 The young men rose and ^dwrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.

7 After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you¹ sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together ^eto test ^fthe Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 And ^ggreat fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.

Many Signs and Wonders Done

12 Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people ^hby the hands of the apostles. And they were all ⁱtogether in ^jSolomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but ^kthe people held them in high esteem. 14 And ^lmore than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 ^mso that they even ⁿcarried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by ^oat least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, ^pbringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

The Apostles Arrested and Freed

17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of ^qthe Sadducees), and filled with ^rjealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and ^sput them in the public prison. 19 But during the night ^tan angel of the Lord ^uopened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all ^vthe words of ^wthis ^xLife.” 21 And when they heard this, ^ythey entered the temple ^zat daybreak and began to teach.

Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when ^athe captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison ^bare standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then ^cthe captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for ^dthey were afraid of being stoned by the people.

27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, ^e“We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you ^fintend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, ^g“We must obey God rather than men. 30 ^hThe God of our fathers ⁱraised Jesus, ^jwhom you killed by hanging him on ^ka tree. 31 God exalted ^lhim at his right hand as ^mLeader and ⁿSavior, ^oto give ^prepentance to Israel and ^oforgiveness of sins. 32 And ^qwe are witnesses to these things, and ^rso is the Holy Spirit, ^swhom God has given to those who obey him.”

33 When they heard this, they ^twere enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 But a Pharisee in the council named ^uGamaliel, ^va teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For ^wbefore these days Theudas rose up, ^xclaiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of ^ythe census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for ^zif this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but ^aif it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You ^bmight even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, 40 and ^cwhen they had called in the apostles, ^dthey beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, ^erejoicing that they were counted worthy ^fto suffer dishonor for ^gthe name. 42 And every day, ^hin the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and ⁱpreaching ^jthat the Christ is Jesus.