David's Census Brings Pestilence

¹fThen gSatan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. ²So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.” ³But Joab said, “May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are! Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord's servants? Why then should my lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel?” ⁴But the king's word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. ⁵And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel there were h1,100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah h470,000 who drew the sword. ⁶iBut he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king's command was abhorrent to Joab.

⁷But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel. ⁸And David said to God, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please jtake away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.” ⁹And the Lord spoke to Gad, David's kseer, saying, ¹⁰“Go and say to David, ‘Thus says the Lord, Three things I offer you; choose one of them, that I may do it to you.’” ¹¹So Gad came to David and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Choose what you will: ¹²either lthree years of famine, or three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel.’ Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me.” ¹³Then David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.”

¹⁴So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell. ¹⁵And God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it, but as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw, and he mrelented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁶And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, nclothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. ¹⁷And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father's house. But do not let the plague be on your people.”

David Builds an Altar

¹⁸Now othe angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. ¹⁹So David went up at Gad's word, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. ²⁰Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. ²¹As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground. ²²And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the Lord—give it to me at its full price—that the plague may be averted from the people.” ²³Then Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.” ²⁴But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” ²⁵So David paid Ornan p600 shekels1 of gold by weight for the site. ²⁶And David built there an altar to the Lord and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the Lord, and the Lord2 qanswered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷Then the Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.

²⁸At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. ²⁹For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering rwere at that time in the high place at Gibeon, ³⁰but David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.

A Living Stone and a Holy People

¹jSo put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. ²kLike newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual lmilk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— ³if indeed you have mtasted that the Lord is good.

⁴As you come to him, a living stone nrejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵oyou yourselves like living stones are being built up as pa spiritual house, to be qa holy priesthood, rto offer spiritual sacrifices sacceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶For it stands in Scripture:

t“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone chosen and precious,

uand whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

⁷So the honor is for you who vbelieve, but for those who vdo not believe,

w“The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone,”1

⁸and

x“A stone of stumbling,

and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, yas they were destined to do.

⁹But you are za chosen race, aa royal bpriesthood, ca holy nation, da people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you eout of darkness into fhis marvelous light. ¹⁰gOnce you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹Beloved, I urge you has sojourners and exiles ito abstain from the passions of the flesh, jwhich wage war against your soul. ¹²kKeep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, lthey may see your good deeds and glorify God on mthe day of visitation.

Submission to Authority

¹³nBe subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution,2 whether it be to the emperor3 as supreme, ¹⁴or to governors as sent by him oto punish those who do evil and pto praise those who do good. ¹⁵For this is the will of God, qthat by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶rLive as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but sliving as servants4 of God. ¹⁷tHonor everyone. uLove the brotherhood. vFear God. Honor the emperor.

¹⁸wServants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. ¹⁹For this is a gracious thing, when, xmindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. ²⁰For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But yif when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. ²¹For zto this you have been called, ybecause Christ also suffered for you, aleaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. ²²bHe committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. ²³cWhen he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, dbut continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. ²⁴eHe himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we fmight die to sin and glive to righteousness. hBy his wounds you have been healed. ²⁵For iyou were straying like sheep, but have now returned to jthe Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Jonah's Anger and the Lord's Compassion

¹But it displeased Jonah exceedingly,1 and yhe was angry. ²And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? zThat is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a agracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and arelenting from disaster. ³bTherefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, cfor it is better for me to die than to live.” ⁴And the Lord said, d“Do you do well to be angry?”

⁵Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and emade a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. ⁶Now the Lord God appointed a plant2 and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.3 So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. ⁷But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. ⁸When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching feast wind, gand the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he hwas faint. And he asked that he might die and said, c“It is better for me to die than to live.” ⁹But God said to Jonah, i“Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” ¹⁰And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. ¹¹And should not I pity jNineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much kcattle?”

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

¹mAnd he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, ²nand he sent them out to oproclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. ³pAnd he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, qno staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.1 ⁴And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. ⁵And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town rshake off the dust from your feet sas a testimony tagainst them.” ⁶uAnd they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus

⁷vNow wHerod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that xJohn had been raised from the dead, ⁸xby some that Elijah had appeared, and xby others that one of the prophets of old had risen. ⁹Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And yhe sought to see him.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹⁰On their return zthe apostles told him all that they had done. aAnd he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he bwelcomed them and cspoke to them of the kingdom of God and ccured those who had need of healing. ¹²Now dthe day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, e“Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” ¹³But he said to them, f“You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than gfive loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵And they did so, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶And taking the five loaves and the two fish, hhe looked up to heaven and isaid a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

¹⁸jNow it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹And they answered, k“John the Baptist. But others say, lElijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” ²⁰Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, m“The Christ of God.”

Jesus Foretells His Death

²¹nAnd he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, ²²osaying, p“The Son of Man must qsuffer many things and rbe rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on sthe third day be raised.”

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

²³And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him tdeny himself and utake up his cross vdaily and follow me. ²⁴For uwhoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ²⁵wFor what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶For xwhoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed ywhen he comes in zhis glory and the glory of the Father and of athe holy angels. ²⁷But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not btaste death cuntil they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

²⁸dNow about eight days after these sayings he took with him ePeter and John and James and fwent up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was galtered, and hhis clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,2 which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³²Now Peter and those who were with him iwere heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake jthey saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three ktents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—lnot knowing what he said. ³⁴As he was saying these things, ma cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵And ma voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, nmy Chosen One;3 olisten to him!” ³⁶And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. pAnd they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

³⁷qOn the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for rhe is my only child. ³⁹And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. ⁴⁰And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but sthey could not.” ⁴¹Jesus answered, “O tfaithless and twisted generation, uhow long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴²While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus vrebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and wgave him back to his father. ⁴³And all were astonished at xthe majesty of God.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

yBut while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus4 said zto his disciples, ⁴⁴“Let these words sink into your ears: zThe Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” ⁴⁵aBut they did not understand this saying, and bit was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Who Is the Greatest?

⁴⁶cAn argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side ⁴⁸and said to them, d“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and dwhoever receives me receives him who sent me. For ehe who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

⁴⁹fJohn answered, “Master, we saw someone gcasting out demons in your name, and hwe tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” ⁵⁰But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, ifor the one who is not against you is for you.”

A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus

⁵¹When the days drew near for jhim to be taken up, khe set his face lto go to Jerusalem. ⁵²And mhe sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of nthe Samaritans, to make preparations for him. ⁵³But othe people did not receive him, because phis face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell qfire to come down from heaven and consume them?”5 ⁵⁵But he turned and rebuked them.6 ⁵⁶And they went on to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

⁵⁷As they were going ralong the road, ssomeone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰And Jesus7 said to him, “Leave tthe dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and uproclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, vbut let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶²Jesus said to him, w“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”