Cities for the Levites
1 The Lord spoke to Moses in sthe plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2 t“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. 3 The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. 4 The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits1 all around. 5 And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two 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, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.
6 “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be uthe six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. 7 All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be vforty-eight, with their pasturelands. 8 And as for the cities that you shall give wfrom the possession of the people of Israel, xfrom the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”
Cities of Refuge
9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, yWhen you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 zthen you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 And the cities that you give shall be your asix cities of refuge. 14 bYou shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and cfor the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.
16 d“But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 17 And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 19 eThe avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, flying in wait, so that he died, 21 or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. eThe avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22 “But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him gwithout lying in wait 23 or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, 24 then hthe congregation shall judge between the manslayer and ethe avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. 25 And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it iuntil the death of the high priest jwho was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, 27 and ethe avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. 28 For he must remain in his city of refuge iuntil the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. 29 And these things shall be for ka statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
30 “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the levidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. 33 You shall not mpollute the land in which you live, for blood mpollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except nby the blood of the one who shed it. 34 oYou shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, pfor I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”
Marriage of Female Heirs
1 The heads of the fathers’ houses of the clan of the qpeople of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel. 2 They said, r“The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and smy lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when tthe jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5 And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph uis right. 6 This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, vonly they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7 The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel wshall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And xevery daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’”
10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses, 11 yfor Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.
13 These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel zin the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
Restore Us, O God
To the choirmaster: according to eLilies. A Testimony. Of fAsaph, a Psalm.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead gJoseph like ha flock.
You who are ienthroned upon the cherubim, jshine forth.
2 Before kEphraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
lstir up your might
and mcome to save us!
olet your face shine, that we may be saved!
4 O pLord God of hosts,
qhow long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
5 You have fed them with rthe bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6 sYou make us an object of contention for our sneighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 nRestore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
8 You brought ta vine out of Egypt;
you udrove out the nations and planted it.
9 You vcleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its branches to wthe sea
and its shoots to wthe River.2
12 Why then have you xbroken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 yThe boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, O God of hosts!
zLook down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
15 the stock that your right hand planted,
and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
16 They have aburned it with fire; they have acut it down;
may they perish at bthe rebuke of your face!
17 But clet your hand be on the man of your right hand,
the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
18 Then we shall not turn back from you;
dgive us life, and we will call upon your name!
19 eRestore us, O Lord God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
The Lame Beggar Healed
1 Now Peter and John were ogoing up to the temple at pthe hour of prayer, qthe ninth hour.1 2 And a man rlame from birth was being carried, swhom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate tto ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, u“I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. vIn the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And wleaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And xall the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Peter Speaks in Solomon’s Portico
11 yWhile he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in zthe portico called Solomon’s. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 aThe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, bthe God of our fathers, cglorified his servant2 Jesus, whom dyou delivered over and edenied in the presence of Pilate, fwhen he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied gthe Holy and hRighteous One, and iasked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed jthe Author of life, kwhom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And lhis name—by mfaith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is nthrough Jesus3 has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
17 “And now, brothers, I know that oyou acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God pforetold qby the mouth of all the prophets, that rhis Christ would ssuffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 tRepent therefore, and uturn back, that vyour sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ wappointed for you, Jesus, 21 xwhom heaven must receive until the time for yrestoring all the things about which zGod spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you aa prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen bto him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet cshall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And dall the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 eYou are the sons of the prophets and of fthe covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, g‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 hGod, ihaving raised up his servant, sent him to you first, jto bless you kby turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
