The Abomination of Desolation

15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation ^wspoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in ^xthe holy place (^ylet the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 ^zLet the one who is on ^athe housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And ^balas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be ^cgreat tribulation, ^dsuch as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for ^ethe sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 ^fThen if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For ^gfalse christs and ^hfalse prophets will arise and ⁱperform great signs and wonders, ^hso as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, ^jI have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, ^khe is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 ^lFor as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be ^mthe coming of the Son of Man. 28 ⁿWherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

29 “Immediately after ^othe tribulation of those days ^pthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^qthe stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then ^rwill appear in heaven ^sthe sign of the Son of Man, and then ^tall the tribes of the earth will mourn, and ^uthey will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven ^vwith power and great glory. 31 And ^whe will send out his angels with a loud ^xtrumpet call, and they will ^ygather ^zhis elect from ^athe four winds, ^bfrom one end of heaven to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, ^cat the very gates. 34 ^dTruly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 ^eHeaven and earth will pass away, but ^fmy words will not pass away.

Released from the Law

1 Or do you not know, brothers¹—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For ^ea married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.² 3 Accordingly, ^fshe will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

4 Likewise, my brothers, ^gyou also have died ^hto the law ⁱthrough the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, ^jin order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work ^kin our members ^lto bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the ^mnew way of ⁿthe Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.³

The Law and Sin

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, ^oI would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if ^pthe law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, ^qseizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. ^rFor apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment ^sthat promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, ^tseizing an opportunity through the commandment, ^udeceived me and through it killed me. 12 So ^vthe law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to ⁱDo Not Destroy. A ^jMiktam¹ of David, when he fled from Saul, in ^kthe cave.

Balaam’s First Oracle

1 And Balaam said to Balak, ⁱ“Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 2 Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam ^joffered on each altar a bull and a ram. 3 And Balaam said to Balak, ^k“Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come ^lto meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, 4 ^mand God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5 And the Lord ⁿput a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 6 And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. 7 And Balaam ^otook up his discourse and said,

11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? ^xI took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” 12 And he answered and said, ^y“Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”

Balaam’s Second Oracle

13 And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a fraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” 14 And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, ^zand built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Balaam said to Balak, ^a“Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.” 16 And the Lord met Balaam and ^bput a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” 17 And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” 18 And Balaam took up his discourse and said,

25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” 26 But Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell you, ^m‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” 27 And Balak said to Balaam, ⁿ“Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of ^oPeor, which overlooks ^pthe desert.² 29 And Balaam said to Balak, ^q“Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 ^rAnd Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.

Balaam’s Third Oracle

1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he did not go, as at ^sother times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel ^tcamping tribe by tribe. And ^uthe Spirit of God came upon him, 3 and he ^vtook up his discourse and said,

10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he ⁱstruck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, ^j“I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have blessed them these three times. 11 Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, ^k‘I will certainly honor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13 ^l‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad ^mof my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’? 14 And now, behold, I am going to my people. Come, ⁿI will let you know what this people will do to your people ^oin the latter days.”

Balaam’s Final Oracle

15 ^pAnd he took up his discourse and said,

20 Then he looked on Amalek and ^ytook up his discourse and said,

21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his discourse and said,

23 And he took up his discourse and said,

25 Then Balaam rose and ^dwent back to his place. And Balak also went his way.

Baal Worship at Peor

1 While Israel lived in ^eShittim, ^fthe people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 ^gThese invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, ^h“Take all the chiefs of the people and ⁱhang⁶ them in the sun before the Lord, ^jthat the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to ^kthe judges of Israel, ^l“Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were ^mweeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 ⁿWhen Phinehas ^othe son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Nevertheless, ^pthose who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

The Zeal of Phinehas

10 And the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he ^qwas jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in ^rmy jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ^s‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to ^this descendants after him the covenant of ^ua perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father’s house belonging to the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of ^vZur, who was the tribal head of a father’s house in Midian.

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 ^w“Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18 for they have harassed you with their ^xwiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of ^yPeor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”