The Cities of Refuge

1 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, ^j‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand ^kat the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them. 5 And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past. 6 And he shall remain in that city ^luntil he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’”

7 So they set apart ^mKedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and ⁿShechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and ^oKiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) ^pin the hill country of Judah. 8 And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed ^qBezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and ^rRamoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and ^sGolan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and ^tfor the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.

Cities and Pasturelands Allotted to Levi

1 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites came ^uto Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. 2 And they said to them ^vat Shiloh in the land of Canaan, ^w“The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.” 3 So by command of the Lord the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasturelands out of their inheritance.

4 The lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest ^xreceived by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.

5 And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot ^yfrom the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

6 The ^zGershonites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

7 The ^aMerarites according to their clans received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

8 These cities and their pasturelands the people of Israel ^bgave by lot to the Levites, ^cas the Lord had commanded through Moses.

9 Out of the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name, 10 which went to ^dthe descendants of Aaron, one of the clans of the Kohathites who belonged to the people of Levi; since the lot fell to them first. 11 ^eThey gave them ^fKiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, ^gin the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it. 12 But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

13 And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, ^hthe city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, ⁱLibnah with its pasturelands, 14 Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, 15 Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, 16 Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities out of these two tribes; 17 then out of the tribe of Benjamin, ^jGibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands, 18 Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four cities. 19 The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.

20 ^kAs to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite clans of the Levites, the cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim. 21 To them were given Shechem, ^lthe city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands, 22 Kibzaim with its pasturelands, Beth-horon with its pasturelands—four cities; 23 and out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands, 24 Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities; 25 and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—two cities. 26 The cities of the clans of the rest of the Kohathites were ten in all with their pasturelands.

27 ^mAnd to the Gershonites, one of the clans of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands, ^lthe city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two cities; 28 and out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands, 29 Jarmuth with its pasturelands, En-gannim with its pasturelands—four cities; 30 and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, 31 Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities; 32 and out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, ^lthe city of refuge for the manslayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three cities. 33 The cities of the several clans of the Gershonites were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.

34 ⁿAnd to the rest of the Levites, the Merarite clans, were given out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands, 35 Dimnah with its pasturelands, Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities; 36 and out of the tribe of Reuben, ^oBezer with its pasturelands, Jahaz with its pasturelands, 37 Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities; 38 and out of the tribe of Gad, ^oRamoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, ^pMahanaim with its pasturelands, 39 ^pHeshbon with its pasturelands, Jazer with its pasturelands—four cities in all. 40 As for the cities of the several Merarite clans, that is, the remainder of the clans of the Levites, those allotted to them were in all twelve cities.

41 ^qThe cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasturelands. 42 These cities each had its pasturelands around it. So it was with all these cities.

43 ^rThus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. 44 ^sAnd the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. ^tNot one of all their enemies had withstood them, for ^uthe Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. 45 ^vNot one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1 In the first book, O ^aTheophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began ^bto do and teach, 2 until the day when ^che was taken up, after he ^dhad given commands ^ethrough the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 ^fHe presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

4 And while staying¹ with them ^ghe ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for ^hJohn baptized with water, ^hbut you will be baptized ⁱwith² the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Ascension

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, ^jwill you at this time ^krestore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, ^l“It is not for you to know ^mtimes or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive ⁿpower ^owhen the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and ^pyou will be ^qmy witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and ^rSamaria, and ^sto the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, ^the was lifted up, and ^ua cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, ^vtwo ^wmen stood by them in ^xwhite robes, 11 and said, ^y“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, ^zwill ^acome in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

12 Then ^bthey returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to ^cthe upper room, where they were staying, ^dPeter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon ^ethe Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these ^fwith one accord ^gwere devoting themselves to prayer, together with ^hthe women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and ⁱhis brothers.³

15 In those days Peter stood up among ^jthe brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, ^kthe Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, ^lwho became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For ^mhe was numbered among us and was allotted his share in ⁿthis ministry.” 18 (Now this man ^oacquired a field with ^pthe reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong⁴ he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called ^qin their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms,

and

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during ^tall the time that the Lord Jesus ^uwent in and out among us, 22 ^vbeginning from the baptism of John until the day when ^whe was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us ^xa witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called ^yBarsabbas, who was also called ^zJustus, and ^aMatthias. 24 And ^bthey prayed and said, “You, Lord, ^cwho know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in ^dthis ministry and ^eapostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Idols and the Living God

1 Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. 2 Thus says the Lord:

11 Thus shall you say to them: ^w“The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth ^xshall perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”³

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple

1 ^tJesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, ^uthere will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Signs of the End of the Age

3 As he sat on ^vthe Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him ^wprivately, saying, “Tell us, ^xwhen will these things be, and what will be the sign of your ^ycoming and of ^zthe end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, ^a“See that no one leads you astray. 5 For ^bmany will come in my name, saying, ‘I am ^cthe Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you ^dare not alarmed, for this ^emust take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For ^fnation will rise against nation, and ^gkingdom against kingdom, and there will be ^hfamines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of ⁱthe birth pains.

9 “Then ^jthey will deliver you up ^kto tribulation and ^lput you to death, and ^myou will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away¹ and ⁿbetray one another and hate one another. 11 And many ^ofalse prophets will arise ^pand lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, ^qthe love of many will grow cold. 13 ^rBut the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom ^swill be proclaimed throughout the whole world ^tas a testimony ^uto all nations, and ^vthen the end will come.

The Abomination of Desolation

15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation ^wspoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in ^xthe holy place (^ylet the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 ^zLet the one who is on ^athe housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And ^balas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be ^cgreat tribulation, ^dsuch as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for ^ethe sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 ^fThen if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For ^gfalse christs and ^hfalse prophets will arise and ⁱperform great signs and wonders, ^hso as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, ^jI have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, ^khe is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 ^lFor as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be ^mthe coming of the Son of Man. 28 ⁿWherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

29 “Immediately after ^othe tribulation of those days ^pthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and ^qthe stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then ^rwill appear in heaven ^sthe sign of the Son of Man, and then ^tall the tribes of the earth will mourn, and ^uthey will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven ^vwith power and great glory. 31 And ^whe will send out his angels with a loud ^xtrumpet call, and they will ^ygather ^zhis elect from ^athe four winds, ^bfrom one end of heaven to the other.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, ^cat the very gates. 34 ^dTruly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 ^eHeaven and earth will pass away, but ^fmy words will not pass away.

No One Knows That Day and Hour

36 “But concerning that day and hour ^gno one knows, not even the angels of heaven, ^hnor the Son,^{2 i}but the Father only. 37 ^jFor as were the days of Noah, ^kso will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 ^jFor as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, ^lmarrying and giving in marriage, until ^mthe day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, ^kso will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 ⁿTwo women will be grinding ^oat the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, ^pstay awake, for you do not know on what day ^qyour Lord is coming. 43 ^rBut know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night ^sthe thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ^tready, for ^uthe Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.