Laws About Vows
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, If anyone omakes a special vow to the Lord involving the valuation of persons, 3 then the valuation of a male from twenty years old up to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels1 of silver, according to the pshekel of the sanctuary. 4 If the person is a female, the valuation shall be thirty shekels. 5 If the person is from five years old up to twenty years old, the valuation shall be for a male twenty shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 6 If the person is from a month old up to five years old, the valuation shall be for a male five shekels of silver, and for a female the valuation shall be three shekels of silver. 7 And if the person is sixty years old or over, then the valuation for a male shall be fifteen shekels, and for a female ten shekels. 8 And if someone is too poor to pay the valuation, then he shall be made to stand before the priest, and the priest shall value him; the priest shall value him according to what the vower can afford.
9 “If the vow2 is an animal that may be offered as an offering to the Lord, all of it that he gives to the Lord is holy. 10 qHe shall not exchange it or make a substitute for it, good for bad, or bad for good; and if he does in fact substitute one animal for another, then both it and the substitute shall be holy. 11 And if it is any unclean animal that may not be offered as an offering to the Lord, then he shall stand the animal before the priest, 12 and the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall be. 13 rBut if he wishes to redeem it, he shall add a sfifth to the valuation.
14 “When a man dedicates his house as a holy gift to the Lord, the priest shall value it as either good or bad; as the priest values it, so it shall stand. 15 tAnd if the donor wishes to redeem his house, he shall add a sfifth to the valuation price, and it shall be his.
16 “If a man dedicates to the Lord part of the land that is his possession, then the valuation shall be in proportion to its seed. A homer3 of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 17 If he dedicates his field from the year of jubilee, the valuation shall stand, 18 but if he dedicates his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall ucalculate the price according to the years that remain until the year of jubilee, and a deduction shall be made from the valuation. 19 vAnd if he who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, then he shall add a sfifth to its valuation price, and it shall remain his. 20 But if he does not wish to redeem the field, or if he has sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed anymore. 21 But the field, wwhen it is released in the jubilee, shall be a holy gift to the Lord, like a field that has been xdevoted. The priest shall be in ypossession of it. 22 If he dedicates to the Lord a field that he has bought, zwhich is not a part of his possession, 23 athen the priest shall calculate the amount of the valuation for it up to the year of jubilee, and the man shall give the valuation on that day as a holy gift to the Lord. 24 bIn the year of jubilee the field shall return to him from whom it was bought, to whom the land belongs as a possession. 25 Every valuation shall be according to cthe shekel of the sanctuary: dtwenty gerahs4 shall make a shekel.
26 “But a efirstborn of animals, which as a firstborn belongs to the Lord, no man may dedicate; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lord’s. 27 And if it is an unclean animal, then he shall buy it back at the valuation, fand add a fifth to it; or, if it is not redeemed, it shall be sold at the valuation.
28 “But gno devoted thing that a man devotes to the Lord, of anything that he has, whether man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord. 29 hNo one devoted, who is to be devoted for destruction5 from mankind, shall be ransomed; he shall surely be put to death.
30 i“Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is the Lord’s; it is holy to the Lord. 31 If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. 32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that jpass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to the Lord. 33 One shall not differentiate between good or bad, kneither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.”
34 lThese are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel mon Mount Sinai.
The Lord’s Faithfulness Endures Forever
1 cPraise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
2 For dgreat is his steadfast love toward us,
and ethe faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
bPraise the Lord!
A Man of God Confronts Jeroboam
1 And behold, la man of God came out of Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel. Jeroboam was standing by the altar mto make offerings. 2 nAnd the man cried against the altar by the word of the Lord and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, oJosiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’” 3 And he gave pa sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has spoken: ‘Behold, the altar shall be torn down, and the ashes that are on it shall be poured out.’” 4 And when the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar at Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him.” And his hand, which he stretched out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back to himself. 5 The altar also was torn down, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. 6 And the king said to the man of God, q“Entreat now the favor of the Lord your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me.” And the man of God entreated the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him and became as it was before. 7 And the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me, and refresh yourself, and rI will give you a reward.” 8 And the man of God said to the king, s“If you give me half your house, tI will not go in with you. And I will not eat bread or drink water in this place, 9 for so was it commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water nor return by the way that you came.’” 10 So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.
The Prophet’s Disobedience
11 Now uan old prophet lived in Bethel. And his sons1 came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told to their father the words that he had spoken to the king. 12 And their father said to them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone. 13 And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted it. 14 And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” 15 Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” 16 And he said, v“I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, 17 for it was said to me wby the word of the Lord, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.’” 18 And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him. 19 So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.
20 And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back. 21 And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God commanded you, 22 but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’” 23 And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24 And as he went away xa lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body. 25 And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where ythe old prophet lived.
26 And when the prophet who had brought him back from the way heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the word of the Lord; therefore the Lord has given him to the lion, which has torn him and killed him, according to the word that the Lord spoke to him.” 27 And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And they saddled it. 28 And he went and found his body thrown in the road, and the donkey and the lion standing beside the body. The lion had not eaten the body or torn the donkey. 29 And the prophet took up the body of the man of God and laid it on the donkey and brought it back to the city2 to mourn and to bury him. 30 And he laid the body in his own grave. And they mourned over him, saying, z“Alas, my brother!” 31 And after he had buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave in which the man of God is buried; alay my bones beside his bones. 32 bFor the saying that he called out by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against call the houses of the high places that are in the cities of dSamaria shall surely come to pass.”
33 After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests for the high places again from among all the people. Any who would, he ordained to be priests of the high places. 34 eAnd this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, fso as to cut it off and to destroy it from the face of the earth.
The Utter Destruction of Babylon
1 Thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will stir up nthe spirit of a destroyer
against Babylon,
against the inhabitants of Leb-kamai,1
2 and I will send to Babylon winnowers,
and othey shall winnow her,
and they shall empty her land,
when they come against her from every side
pon the day of trouble.
3 qLet not the archer bend his bow,
and let him not stand up in his armor.
Spare not her young men;
rdevote to destruction2 all her army.
4 They shall fall down slain in the land of the Chaldeans,
sand wounded in her streets.
5 tFor Israel and Judah have not been forsaken
by their God, the Lord of hosts,
but the land of the Chaldeans3 is full of guilt
against the Holy One of Israel.
6 u“Flee from the midst of Babylon;
let every one save his life!
vBe not cut off in her punishment,
wfor this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance,
the repayment he is rendering her.
7 Babylon was xa golden cup in the Lord’s hand,
ymaking all the earth drunken;
zthe nations drank of her wine;
therefore the nations went mad.
8 aSuddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
bwail for her!
cTake balm for her pain;
perhaps she may be healed.
9 We would have healed Babylon,
but she was not healed.
each to his own country,
for fher judgment has reached up to heaven
and has been lifted up even to the skies.
10 gThe Lord has brought about our vindication;
hcome, let us declare in Zion
the work of the Lord our God.
11 i“Sharpen the arrows!
Take up the shields!
jThe Lord has stirred up the spirit of the kings of kthe Medes, because lhis purpose concerning Babylon is to destroy it, mfor that is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance for mhis temple.
12 n“Set up a standard against the walls of Babylon;
omake the watch strong;
set up watchmen;
prepare the ambushes;
lfor the Lord has both planned and done
what he spoke concerning the inhabitants of Babylon.
13 pO you who dwell by many waters,
rich in treasures,
your end has come;
the thread of your life is cut.
14 qThe Lord of hosts has sworn by himself:
Surely I will fill you with men, ras many as locusts,
sand they shall raise the shout of victory over you.
15 t“It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.
16 When he utters his voice there is a tumult of waters in the heavens,
and he makes the mist rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
and he brings forth the wind from his storehouses.
17 Every man is stupid and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols,
for his images are false,
and there is no breath in them.
18 They are worthless, a work of delusion;
at the time of their punishment they shall perish.
19 Not like these is he who is the portion of Jacob,
for he is the one who formed all things,
and Israel is the tribe of his inheritance;
the Lord of hosts is his name.
20 “You are my hammer and weapon of war:
with you I ubreak nations in pieces;
with you I destroy kingdoms;
21 with you I break in pieces the horse and his rider;
with you I break in pieces the chariot and the charioteer;
22 with you I break in pieces man and woman;
with you I break in pieces vthe old man and the youth;
with you I break in pieces vthe young man and the young woman;
23 with you I break in pieces the shepherd and his flock;
with you I break in pieces the farmer and his team;
with you I break in pieces wgovernors and commanders.
24 x“I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea before your very eyes for all the evil that they have done in Zion, declares the Lord.
25 “Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain,
declares the Lord,
which destroys the whole earth;
I will stretch out my hand against you,
and roll you down from the crags,
yand make you a burnt mountain.
26 No zstone shall be taken from you for a corner
and no stone for a foundation,
but you shall be aa perpetual waste,
declares the Lord.
27 b“Set up a standard on the earth;
cblow the trumpet among the nations;
dprepare ethe nations for war against her;
summon against her fthe kingdoms,
gArarat, Minni, and hAshkenaz;
appoint a imarshal against her;
jbring up horses like bristling locusts.
28 dPrepare ethe nations for war against her,
the kings of kthe Medes, lwith their governors land deputies,
and every mland under their dominion.
29 nThe land trembles and writhes in pain,
ofor the Lord’s purposes against Babylon stand,
to make the land of Babylon a desolation,
without inhabitant.
30 The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting;
they remain in their strongholds;
their strength has failed;
pthey have become women;
qher dwellings are on fire;
rher bars are broken.
31 One srunner runs to meet another,
and one messenger to meet another,
to tell the king of Babylon
that his city is taken on every side;
32 the fords have been tseized,
the marshes are burned with fire,
and the soldiers are in panic.
33 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel:
uThe daughter of Babylon is like ua threshing floor
at the time when it is trodden;
yet a little while
and vthe time of her harvest will come.”
34 “Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon whas devoured me;
he has crushed me;
he has made me an empty vessel;
xhe has swallowed me like ya monster;
he has filled his stomach with my delicacies;
he has rinsed me out.4
35 The violence done to me and to my kinsmen be upon Babylon,”
let the inhabitant of Zion say.
“My blood be upon the inhabitants of Chaldea,”
let Jerusalem say.
36 Therefore thus says the Lord:
“Behold, zI will plead your cause
and take vengeance for you.
aI will dry up her sea
and bmake her fountain dry,
37 and Babylon shall become ca heap of ruins,
dthe haunt of jackals,
without inhabitant.
38 f“They shall roar together glike lions;
they shall growl like lions’ cubs.
39 hWhile they are inflamed hI will prepare them a feast
and imake them drunk, that they may become merry,
ithen sleep a perpetual sleep
and not wake, declares the Lord.
40 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter,
like rams and male goats.
kthe praise of the whole earth lseized!
How Babylon has become
a horror among the nations!
42 mThe sea has come up on Babylon;
she is covered with its tumultuous waves.
43 Her cities have become a horror,
na land of drought and a desert,
oa land in which no one dwells,
and through which no son of man passes.
44 And I will punish pBel in Babylon,
and qtake out of his mouth rwhat he has swallowed.
sThe nations shall no longer flow to him;
tthe wall of Babylon has fallen.
45 “Go out of the midst of her, umy people!
Let every one save his life
from vthe fierce anger of the Lord!
46 Let not your heart faint, and be not fearful
wat the report heard in the land,
xwhen a report comes in one year
and afterward a report in another year,
and violence is in the land,
xand ruler is against ruler.
47 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming
when yI will punish the images of Babylon;
zher whole land shall be put to shame,
and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her.
48 aThen the heavens and the earth,
and all that is in them,
shall sing for joy over Babylon,
bfor the destroyers shall come against them out of the north,
declares the Lord.
49 Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel,
cjust as for Babylon have fallen the slain of all the earth.
50 d“You who have escaped from the sword,
go, do not stand still!
Remember the Lord from far away,
and let Jerusalem come into your mind:
51 e‘We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach;
edishonor has covered our face,
ffor foreigners have come
into the holy places of the Lord’s house.’
52 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when yI will execute judgment upon her images,
gand through all her land
the wounded shall groan.
53 Though Babylon should hmount up to heaven,
and though she should ifortify her strong height,
yet destroyers would come from me against her,
declares the Lord.
54 j“A voice! A cry from Babylon!
The noise of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans!
55 For the Lord is laying Babylon waste
and stilling her mighty voice.
kTheir waves roar like many waters;
the noise of their voice is raised,
56 for a destroyer has come upon her,
upon Babylon;
her warriors are taken;
their bows are broken in pieces,
lfor the Lord is a God of recompense;
he will surely repay.
57 mI will make drunk her officials and her wise men,
nher governors, her commanders, and her warriors;
they shall sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake,
declares othe King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.
58 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
The broad pwall of Babylon
shall be leveled to the ground,
qand her high gates
shall be burned with fire.
rThe peoples labor for nothing,
and sthe nations weary themselves only for fire.”
59 The word that Jeremiah the prophet commanded Seraiah tthe son of Neriah, son of Mahseiah, when he went with Zedekiah king of Judah to Babylon, uin the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. 60 vJeremiah wrote in a book all the disaster that should come upon Babylon, wall these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah: “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, 62 and say, ‘O Lord, you have said concerning this place that you will cut it off, so xthat nothing shall dwell in it, neither man nor beast, and it shall be ydesolate forever.’ 63 When you finish reading this book, zatie a stone to it zand cast it into the midst of the Euphrates, 64 and say, z‘Thus shall Babylon sink, to rise no more, because of the disaster that I am bringing upon her, band they shall become exhausted.’”
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
Paul on Malta
1 After we were brought safely through, lwe then learned that mthe island was called Malta. 2 nThe native people1 showed us unusual okindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When pthe native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, q“No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, rJustice2 has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, sshook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, tthey changed their minds and usaid that he was a god.
7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and vprayed, and wputting his hands on him, healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly,3 and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.
Paul Arrives at Rome
11 After three months we set sail in xa ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods4 as a figurehead. 12 Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. 13 And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. 14 There we found ybrothers5 and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. 15 And ythe brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. On seeing them, zPaul thanked God and took courage. 16 And when we came into Rome, aPaul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.
Paul in Rome
17 After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Brothers, bthough I had done nothing against our people or cthe customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 18 When they had examined me, they dwished to set me at liberty, ebecause there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. 19 But because the Jews objected, I was compelled fto appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against gmy nation. 20 For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is hbecause of ithe hope of Israel that I am wearing jthis kchain.” 21 And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of lthe brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. 22 But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this msect we know that everywhere nit is spoken against.”
23 When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening ohe expounded to them, testifying to pthe kingdom of God and qtrying to convince them about Jesus rboth from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. 24 And ssome were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. 25 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: t“The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:
26 u“‘Go to this people, and say,
v“You will indeed hear but never understand,
and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
27 wFor this people’s heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed;
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
and xturn, and I would heal them.’
28 Therefore let it be known to you that ythis zsalvation of God ahas been sent to the Gentiles; bthey will listen.”6
30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense,7 and cwelcomed all who came to him, 31 dproclaiming ethe kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ fwith all boldness and gwithout hindrance.
