20 Then he went ^ehome, and the crowd gathered again, ^fso that they could not even eat. 21 ^gAnd when ^hhis family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He ⁱis out of his mind.”

Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

22 And ^jthe scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ^k“He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 ^lAnd he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But ^mno one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. ⁿThen indeed he may plunder his house.

28 ^o“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever ^pblasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Jesus’ Mother and Brothers

31 ^qAnd his mother and his ^rbrothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers¹ are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And ^slooking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 ^tFor whoever ^udoes the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Principles for Marriage

1 Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: ^t“It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” 2 But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. 3 ^uThe husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. 4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 ^vDo not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, ^wso that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

6 Now as a concession, ^xnot a command, I say this.¹ 7 ^yI wish that all were ^zas I myself am. But ^aeach has his own gift from God, ^bone of one kind and one of another.

8 To the unmarried and the widows I say that ^cit is good for them to remain single, ^das I am. 9 But if they cannot exercise self-control, ^ethey should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.

10 To the married ^fI give this charge (not I, but the Lord): ^gthe wife should not separate from her husband 11 (but if she does, ^hshe should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and ^gthe husband should not divorce his wife.

12 To the rest I say (I, not the Lord) that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. 13 If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him. 14 For the unbelieving husband is made holy because of his wife, and the unbelieving wife is made holy because of her husband. ⁱOtherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. 15 But if the unbelieving partner separates, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you^{2 j}to peace. 16 For how do you know, wife, ^kwhether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife?

How Long, O Lord?

A Psalm of ^yAsaph.

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.