1Now the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the chief fathers of the children of Israel. 2And they said: “The Lᴏʀᴅ commanded my lord Moses to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the Lᴏʀᴅ to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3Now if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so it will be taken from the lot of our inheritance. 4And when the Jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.” 5Then Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ, saying: “What the tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks is right. 6“This is what the Lᴏʀᴅ commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whom they think best, but they may marry only within the family of their father’s tribe.’ 7So the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not change hands from tribe to tribe, for every one of the children of Israel shall keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be the wife of one of the family of her father’s tribe, so that the children of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9Thus no inheritance shall change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children of Israel shall keep its own inheritance.” 10Just as the Lᴏʀᴅ commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad; 11for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to the sons of their father’s brothers. 12They were married into the families of the children of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s family. 13These are the commandments and the judgments which the Lᴏʀᴅ commanded the children of Israel by the hand of Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.
1To the Chief Musician. Set to ‘The Lilies.’ A Testimony of Asaph. A Psalm. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth! 2Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, Stir up Your strength, And come and save us! 3Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved! 4O Lᴏʀᴅ God of hosts, How long will You be angry Against the prayer of Your people? 5You have fed them with the bread of tears, And given them tears to drink in great measure. 6You have made us a strife to our neighbors, And our enemies laugh among themselves. 7Restore us, O God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved! 8You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it. 9You prepared room for it, And caused it to take deep root, And it filled the land. 10The hills were covered with its shadow, And the mighty cedars with its boughs. 11She sent out her boughs to the Sea, And her branches to the River. 12Why have You broken down her hedges, So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit? 13The boar out of the woods uproots it, And the wild beast of the field devours it. 14Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; Look down from heaven and see, And visit this vine 15And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, And the branch that You made strong for Yourself. 16It is burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance. 17Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. 18Then we will not turn back from You; Revive us, and we will call upon Your name. 19Restore us, O Lᴏʀᴅ God of hosts; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!
1Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower Which is at the head of the verdant valleys, To those who are overcome with wine! 2Behold, the Lᴏʀᴅ has a mighty and strong one, Like a tempest of hail and a destroying storm, Like a flood of mighty waters overflowing, Who will bring them down to the earth with His hand. 3The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, Will be trampled underfoot; 4And the glorious beauty is a fading flower Which is at the head of the verdant valley, Like the first fruit before the summer, Which an observer sees; He eats it up while it is still in his hand. 5In that day the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts will be For a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty To the remnant of His people, 6For a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, And for strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. 7But they also have erred through wine, And through intoxicating drink are out of the way; The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink, They are swallowed up by wine, They are out of the way through intoxicating drink; They err in vision, they stumble in judgment. 8For all tables are full of vomit and filth; No place is clean. 9“Whom will he teach knowledge? And whom will he make to understand the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just drawn from the breasts? 10For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little.” 11For with stammering lips and another tongue He will speak to this people, 12To whom He said, “This is the rest with which You may cause the weary to rest,” And, “This is the refreshing”; Yet they would not hear. 13But the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little,” That they might go and fall backward, and be broken And snared and caught. 14Therefore hear the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ, you scornful men, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, 15Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, It will not come to us, For we have made lies our refuge, And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.” 16Therefore thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ God: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily. 17Also I will make justice the measuring line, And righteousness the plummet; The hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, And the waters will overflow the hiding place. 18Your covenant with death will be annulled, And your agreement with Sheol will not stand; When the overflowing scourge passes through, Then you will be trampled down by it. 19As often as it goes out it will take you; For morning by morning it will pass over, And by day and by night; It will be a terror just to understand the report.” 20For the bed is too short to stretch out on, And the covering so narrow that one cannot wrap himself in it. 21For the Lᴏʀᴅ will rise up as at Mount Perazim, He will be angry as in the Valley of Gibeon— That He may do His work, His awesome work, And bring to pass His act, His unusual act. 22Now therefore, do not be mockers, Lest your bonds be made strong; For I have heard from the Lᴏʀᴅ God of hosts, A destruction determined even upon the whole earth. 23Give ear and hear my voice, Listen and hear my speech. 24Does the plowman keep plowing all day to sow? Does he keep turning his soil and breaking the clods? 25When he has leveled its surface, Does he not sow the black cummin And scatter the cummin, Plant the wheat in rows, The barley in the appointed place, And the spelt in its place? 26For He instructs him in right judgment, His God teaches him. 27For the black cummin is not threshed with a threshing sledge, Nor is a cartwheel rolled over the cummin; But the black cummin is beaten out with a stick, And the cummin with a rod. 28Bread flour must be ground; Therefore he does not thresh it forever, Break it with his cartwheel, Or crush it with his horsemen. 29This also comes from the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts, Who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in guidance.
1The Elder, To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known the truth, 2because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever: 3Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4I rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. 5And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: that we love one another. 6This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it. 7For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. 9Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. 12Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, that our joy may be full. 13The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen.