Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

"This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying: 'Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come.

You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him;

and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting.

Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: its hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned.

And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer.

Then the priest shall wash his clothes, he shall bathe in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; the priest shall be unclean until evening.

And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening.

Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin.

And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them.

'He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days.

He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.

Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD. That person shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him; his uncleanness is still on him.

'This is the law when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean seven days;

and every open vessel, which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean.

Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain by a sword or who has died, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

'And for an unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin, and running water shall be put on them in a vessel.

A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, the slain, the dead, or a grave.

The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe in water; and at evening he shall be clean.

'But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the LORD. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.

It shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who sprinkles the water of purification shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water of purification shall be unclean until evening.

Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.'"

Then the children of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the Wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh; and Miriam died there and was buried there.

Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and Aaron.

And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: "If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!

Why have you brought up the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here?

And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink."

So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the LORD appeared to them.

Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

"Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals."

So Moses took the rod from before the LORD as He commanded him.

And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?"

Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them."

This was the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel contended with the LORD, and He was hallowed among them.

Now Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom. "Thus says your brother Israel: 'You know all the hardship that has befallen us,

how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we dwelt in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers.

When we cried out to the LORD, He heard our voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border.

Please let us pass through your country. We will not pass through fields or vineyards, nor will we drink water from wells; we will go along the King's Highway; we will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.'"

Then Edom said to him, "You shall not pass through my land, lest I come out against you with the sword."

So the children of Israel said to him, "We will go by the Highway, and if I or my livestock drink any of your water, then I will pay for it; let me only pass through on foot, nothing more."

Then he said, "You shall not pass through." So Edom came out against them with many men and with a strong hand.

Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory; so Israel turned away from him.

Now the children of Israel, the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh and came to Mount Hor.

And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in Mount Hor by the border of the land of Edom, saying:

"Aaron shall be gathered to his people, for he shall not enter the land which I have given to the children of Israel, because you rebelled against My word at the water of Meribah.

Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up to Mount Hor;

and strip Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; for Aaron shall be gathered to his people and die there."

So Moses did just as the LORD commanded, and they went up to Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation.

Moses stripped Aaron of his garments and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.

Now when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, all the house of Israel mourned for Aaron thirty days.

Then He began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.

Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.

And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.

Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.

And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.

Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'

But those vinedressers said among themselves, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'

So they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.

"Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.

Have you not even read this Scripture:


' The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.

This was the LORD's doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

And they sought to lay hands on Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.

Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words.

When they had come, they said to Him, "Teacher, we know that You are true, and care about no one; for You do not regard the person of men, but teach the way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?

Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?"
But He, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, "Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it."

So they brought it.
And He said to them, "Whose image and inscription is this?" They said to Him, "Caesar's."

And Jesus answered and said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."
And they marveled at Him.

Then some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying:

"Teacher, Moses wrote to us that if a man's brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother.

Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring.

And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise.

So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also.

Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife."

Jesus answered and said to them, "Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?

For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

But concerning the dead, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'?

He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken."

Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.

Praise the LORD with the harp;
Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.

Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

For the word of the LORD is right,
And all His work is done in truth.

He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.

He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He lays up the deep in storehouses.

Let all the earth fear the LORD;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.

For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.

As a ring of gold in a swine's snout,
So is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.

The desire of the righteous is only good,
But the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

There is one who scatters, yet increases more;
And there is one who withholds more than is right,
But it leads to poverty.