Numbers 1
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting in the desert of Sinai on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Israelites departed from the land of Egypt. He said: 2 “Take a census of the entire Israelite community by their clans and families, counting the name of every individual male. 3 You and Aaron are to number all in Israel who can serve in the army, those who are twenty years old or older, by their divisions. 4 And to help you there is to be a man from each tribe, each man the head of his family. 5 Now these are the names of the men who are to help you:
from Reuben, Elizur son of Shedeur;
6 from Simeon, Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai;
7 from Judah, Nahshon son of Amminadab;
8 from Issachar, Nethanel son of Zuar;
9 from Zebulun, Eliab son of Helon;
10 from the sons of Joseph:
from Ephraim, Elishama son of Ammihud;
from Manasseh, Gamaliel son of Pedahzur;
11 from Benjamin, Abidan son of Gideoni;
12 from Dan, Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai;
13 from Asher, Pagiel son of Ocran;
14 from Gad, Eliasaph son of Deuel;
15 from Naphtali, Ahira son of Enan.”
16 These were the ones chosen from the community, leaders of their ancestral tribes. They were the heads of the thousands of Israel.
17 So Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned specifically by name, 18 and they assembled the entire community together on the first day of the second month. Then the people recorded their ancestry by their clans and families, and the men who were twenty years old or older were listed by name individually, 19 just as the Lord had commanded Moses. And so he numbered them in the desert of Sinai.
20 And they were as follows:
The descendants of Reuben, the firstborn son of Israel: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name individually. 21 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.
22 From the descendants of Simeon: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males numbered of them twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name individually. 23 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.
24 From the descendants of Gad: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 25 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Gad were 45,650.
26 From the descendants of Judah: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 27 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Judah were 74,600.
28 From the descendants of Issachar: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 29 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.
30 From the descendants of Zebulun: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 31 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.
32 From the sons of Joseph:
From the descendants of Ephraim: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 33 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500. 34 From the descendants of Manasseh: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 35 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.
36 From the descendants of Benjamin: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 37 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.
38 From the descendants of Dan: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 39 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Dan were 62,700.
40 From the descendants of Asher: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 41 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Asher were 41,500.
42 From the descendants of Naphtali: According to the records of their clans and families, all the males twenty years old or older who could serve in the army were listed by name. 43 Those of them who were numbered from the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.
44 These were the men whom Moses and Aaron numbered along with the twelve leaders of Israel, each of whom was from his own family. 45 All the Israelites who were twenty years old or older, who could serve in Israel’s army, were numbered according to their families. 46 And all those numbered totaled 603,550.
47 But the Levites, according to the tribe of their fathers, were not numbered among them. 48 The Lord had said to Moses, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi you must not number or count with the other Israelites. 50 But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, over all its furnishings and over everything in it. They must carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; and they must attend to it and camp around it. 51 Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites must take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be reassembled, the Levites must set it up. Any unauthorized person who approaches it must be killed.
52 “The Israelites will camp according to their divisions, each man in his camp, and each man by his standard. 53 But the Levites must camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that the Lord’s anger will not fall on the Israelite community. The Levites are responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the testimony.”
54 The Israelites did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses—that is what they did.
Psalms 35
1 O Lord, fight those who fight with me.
Attack those who attack me.
2 Grab your small shield and large shield,
and rise up to help me.
3 Use your spear and lance against those who chase me.
Assure me with these words: “I am your deliverer.”
4 May those who seek my life be embarrassed and humiliated.
May those who plan to harm me be turned back and ashamed.
5 May they be like wind-driven chaff,
as the angel of the Lord attacks them.
6 May their path be dark and slippery,
as the angel of the Lord chases them.
7 I did not harm them, but they hid a net to catch me
and dug a pit to trap me.
8 Let destruction take them by surprise.
Let the net they hid catch them.
Let them fall into destruction.
9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord
and be happy because of his deliverance.
10 With all my strength I will say,
“O Lord, who can compare to you?
You rescue the oppressed from those who try to overpower them,
the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them.”
11 Violent men perjure themselves,
and falsely accuse me.
12 They repay me evil for the good I have done;
I am overwhelmed with sorrow.
13 When they were sick, I wore sackcloth,
and refrained from eating food.
(If I am lying, may my prayers go unanswered.)
14 I mourned for them as I would for a friend or my brother.
I bowed down in sorrow as if I were mourning for my mother.
15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together;
they gathered together to ambush me.
They tore at me without stopping to rest.
16 When I tripped, they taunted me relentlessly,
and tried to bite me.
17 O Lord, how long are you going to watch this?
Rescue me from their destructive attacks;
guard my life from the young lions.
18 Then I will give you thanks in the great assembly;
I will praise you before a large crowd of people.
19 Do not let those who are my enemies for no reason gloat over me.
Do not let those who hate me without cause carry out their wicked schemes.
20 For they do not try to make peace with others,
but plan ways to deceive those who live peacefully in the land.
21 They are ready to devour me;
they say, “Aha! Aha! We’ve got you!”
22 But you take notice, Lord; do not be silent!
O Lord, do not remain far away from me.
23 Rouse yourself, wake up and vindicate me.
My God and Lord, defend my just cause.
24 Vindicate me by your justice, O Lord my God.
Do not let them gloat over me.
25 Do not let them say to themselves, “Aha! We have what we wanted!”
Do not let them say, “We have devoured him.”
26 May those who rejoice in my troubles be totally embarrassed and ashamed.
May those who arrogantly taunt me be covered with shame and humiliation.
27 May those who desire my vindication shout for joy and rejoice.
May they continually say, “May the Lord be praised, for he wants his servant to be secure.”
28 Then I will tell others about your justice,
and praise you all day long.
Ecclesiastes 11
1 Send your grain overseas,
for after many days you will get a return.
2 Divide your merchandise among seven or even eight investments,
for you do not know what calamity may happen on earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth,
and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls.
4 He who watches the wind will not sow,
and he who observes the clouds will not reap.
5 Just as you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman,
so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
6 Sow your seed in the morning,
and do not stop working until the evening;
for you do not know which activity will succeed—
whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally.
7 Light is sweet,
and it is pleasant for a person to see the sun.
8 So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all,
but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many—all that is about to come is obscure.
9 Rejoice, young man, while you are young,
and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth.
Follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes,
but know that God will judge your motives and actions.
10 Banish emotional stress from your mind.
and put away pain from your body;
for youth and the prime of life are fleeting.
Titus 3
1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. 2 They must not slander anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people. 3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another. 4 But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us in full measure through Jesus Christ our Savior. 7 And so, since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.”
8 This saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on such truths, so that those who have placed their faith in God may be intent on engaging in good works. These things are good and beneficial for all people. 9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, quarrels, and fights about the law, because they are useless and empty. 10 Reject a divisive person after one or two warnings. 11 You know that such a person is twisted by sin and is conscious of it himself.
12 When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13 Make every effort to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; make sure they have what they need. 14 Here is another way that our people can learn to engage in good works to meet pressing needs and so not be unfruitful. 15 Everyone with me greets you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.
