¹Then the Lᴏʀᴅ spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan to its boundaries. ³Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of the Salt Sea; ⁴your border shall turn from the southern side of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and be on the south of Kadesh Barnea; then it shall go on to Hazar Addar, and continue to Azmon; ⁵the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea. ⁶‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your western border. ⁷‘And this shall be your northern border: From the Great Sea you shall mark out your border line to Mount Hor; ⁸from Mount Hor you shall mark out your border to the entrance of Hamath; then the direction of the border shall be toward Zedad; ⁹the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern border. ¹⁰‘You shall mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham; ¹¹the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; the border shall go down and reach to the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth; ¹²the border shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries.’ ” ¹³Then Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying: “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the Lᴏʀᴅ has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. ¹⁴For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and the half-tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance. ¹⁵The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, across from Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.” ¹⁶And the Lᴏʀᴅ spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷“These are the names of the men who shall divide the land among you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. ¹⁸And you shall take one leader of every tribe to divide the land for the inheritance. ¹⁹These are the names of the men: from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; ²⁰from the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud; ²¹from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon; ²²a leader from the tribe of the children of Dan, Bukki the son of Jogli; ²³from the sons of Joseph: a leader from the tribe of the children of Manasseh, Hanniel the son of Ephod, ²⁴and a leader from the tribe of the children of Ephraim, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan; ²⁵a leader from the tribe of the children of Zebulun, Elizaphan the son of Parnach; ²⁶a leader from the tribe of the children of Issachar, Paltiel the son of Azzan; ²⁷a leader from the tribe of the children of Asher, Ahihud the son of Shelomi; ²⁸and a leader from the tribe of the children of Naphtali, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” ²⁹These are the ones the Lᴏʀᴅ commanded to divide the inheritance among the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.

¹A Contemplation of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. ²I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, ³Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. ⁴We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lᴏʀᴅ, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. ⁵For He established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which He commanded our fathers, That they should make them known to their children; ⁶That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, ⁷That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments; ⁸And may not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not set its heart aright, And whose spirit was not faithful to God. ⁹The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, Turned back in the day of battle. ¹⁰They did not keep the covenant of God; They refused to walk in His law, ¹¹And forgot His works And His wonders that He had shown them. ¹²Marvelous things He did in the sight of their fathers, In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. ¹³He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; And He made the waters stand up like a heap. ¹⁴In the daytime also He led them with the cloud, And all the night with a light of fire. ¹⁵He split the rocks in the wilderness, And gave them drink in abundance like the depths. ¹⁶He also brought streams out of the rock, And caused waters to run down like rivers. ¹⁷But they sinned even more against Him By rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness. ¹⁸And they tested God in their heart By asking for the food of their fancy. ¹⁹Yes, they spoke against God: They said, “Can God prepare a table in the wilderness? ²⁰Behold, He struck the rock, So that the waters gushed out, And the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide meat for His people?” ²¹Therefore the Lᴏʀᴅ heard this and was furious; So a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also came up against Israel, ²²Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation. ²³Yet He had commanded the clouds above, And opened the doors of heaven, ²⁴Had rained down manna on them to eat, And given them of the bread of heaven. ²⁵Men ate angels’ food; He sent them food to the full. ²⁶He caused an east wind to blow in the heavens; And by His power He brought in the south wind. ²⁷He also rained meat on them like the dust, Feathered fowl like the sand of the seas; ²⁸And He let them fall in the midst of their camp, All around their dwellings. ²⁹So they ate and were well filled, For He gave them their own desire. ³⁰They were not deprived of their craving; But while their food was still in their mouths, ³¹The wrath of God came against them, And slew the stoutest of them, And struck down the choice men of Israel. ³²In spite of this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wondrous works. ³³Therefore their days He consumed in futility, And their years in fear. ³⁴When He slew them, then they sought Him; And they returned and sought earnestly for God. ³⁵Then they remembered that God was their rock, And the Most High God their Redeemer. ³⁶Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, And they lied to Him with their tongue; ³⁷For their heart was not steadfast with Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant. ³⁸But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, And did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, And did not stir up all His wrath; ³⁹For He remembered that they were but flesh, A breath that passes away and does not come again. ⁴⁰How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! ⁴¹Yes, again and again they tempted God, And limited the Holy One of Israel. ⁴²They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy, ⁴³When He worked His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan; ⁴⁴Turned their rivers into blood, And their streams, that they could not drink. ⁴⁵He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, And frogs, which destroyed them. ⁴⁶He also gave their crops to the caterpillar, And their labor to the locust. ⁴⁷He destroyed their vines with hail, And their sycamore trees with frost. ⁴⁸He also gave up their cattle to the hail, And their flocks to fiery lightning. ⁴⁹He cast on them the fierceness of His anger, Wrath, indignation, and trouble, By sending angels of destruction among them. ⁵⁰He made a path for His anger; He did not spare their soul from death, But gave their life over to the plague, ⁵¹And destroyed all the firstborn in Egypt, The first of their strength in the tents of Ham. ⁵²But He made His own people go forth like sheep, And guided them in the wilderness like a flock; ⁵³And He led them on safely, so that they did not fear; But the sea overwhelmed their enemies. ⁵⁴And He brought them to His holy border, This mountain which His right hand had acquired. ⁵⁵He also drove out the nations before them, Allotted them an inheritance by survey, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents. ⁵⁶Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God, And did not keep His testimonies, ⁵⁷But turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers; They were turned aside like a deceitful bow. ⁵⁸For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images. ⁵⁹When God heard this, He was furious, And greatly abhorred Israel, ⁶⁰So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men, ⁶¹And delivered His strength into captivity, And His glory into the enemy’s hand. ⁶²He also gave His people over to the sword, And was furious with His inheritance. ⁶³The fire consumed their young men, And their maidens were not given in marriage. ⁶⁴Their priests fell by the sword, And their widows made no lamentation. ⁶⁵Then the Lᴏʀᴅ awoke as from sleep, Like a mighty man who shouts because of wine. ⁶⁶And He beat back His enemies; He put them to a perpetual reproach. ⁶⁷Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, ⁶⁸But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. ⁶⁹And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has established forever. ⁷⁰He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; ⁷¹From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance. ⁷²So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

¹In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: “We have a strong city; God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. ²Open the gates, That the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. ³You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. ⁴Trust in the Lᴏʀᴅ forever, For in Yah, the Lᴏʀᴅ, is everlasting strength. ⁵For He brings down those who dwell on high, The lofty city; He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He brings it down to the dust. ⁶The foot shall tread it down— The feet of the poor And the steps of the needy.” ⁷The way of the just is uprightness; O Most Upright, You weigh the path of the just. ⁸Yes, in the way of Your judgments, O Lᴏʀᴅ, we have waited for You; The desire of our soul is for Your name And for the remembrance of You. ⁹With my soul I have desired You in the night, Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early; For when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. ¹⁰Let grace be shown to the wicked, Yet he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, And will not behold the majesty of the Lᴏʀᴅ. ¹¹Lord, when Your hand is lifted up, they will not see. But they will see and be ashamed For their envy of people; Yes, the fire of Your enemies shall devour them. ¹²Lord, You will establish peace for us, For You have also done all our works in us. ¹³O Lᴏʀᴅ our God, masters besides You Have had dominion over us; But by You only we make mention of Your name. ¹⁴They are dead, they will not live; They are deceased, they will not rise. Therefore You have punished and destroyed them, And made all their memory to perish. ¹⁵You have increased the nation, O Lᴏʀᴅ, You have increased the nation; You are glorified; You have expanded all the borders of the land. ¹⁶Lord, in trouble they have visited You, They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them. ¹⁷As a woman with child Is in pain and cries out in her pangs, When she draws near the time of her delivery, So have we been in Your sight, O Lᴏʀᴅ. ¹⁸We have been with child, we have been in pain; We have, as it were, brought forth wind; We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth, Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen. ¹⁹Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead. ²⁰Come, my people, enter your chambers, And shut your doors behind you; Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, Until the indignation is past. ²¹For behold, the Lᴏʀᴅ comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, And will no more cover her slain.

¹Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ²By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. ⁴You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. ⁵They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. ⁶We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. ⁷Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. ¹³By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. ¹⁵Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. ¹⁷Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. ¹⁹We love Him because He first loved us. ²⁰If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? ²¹And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.