The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23 sAnd when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what tauthority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 24 Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” And they discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you unot believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From man,’ we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a vprophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the wtax collectors and the prostitutes xgo into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For yJohn came to you in the zway of arighteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
Greeting
1 Paul, a servant1 of Christ Jesus, acalled to be an apostle, bset apart for the cgospel of God, 2 which he dpromised beforehand ethrough his prophets fin the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was gdescended from David2 according to the flesh 4 and was hdeclared to be the iSon of God jin power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 kthrough whom we have received grace and lapostleship to bring about the mobedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are ncalled to belong to Jesus Christ,
7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and ocalled to be psaints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Longing to Go to Rome
8 First, qI thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because ryour faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For sGod is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that twithout ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 uFor I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual vgift to wstrengthen you— 12 that is, that we may xbe mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers,3 that I have often intended to come to you (but ythus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some zharvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 aI am under obligation both to Greeks and to bbarbarians,4 cboth to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager dto preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
The Righteous Shall Live by Faith
16 For I am not eashamed of the gospel, for it is the fpower of God for salvation to everyone who believes, gto the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the hrighteousness of God is irevealed from faith for faith,5 as it is written, j“The righteous shall live by faith.”6
Zion, the City of Our God
A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
1 vGreat is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God!
His holy mountain, 2 beautiful in elevation,
is wthe joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress.
4 For behold, the kings assembled;
they came on together.
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic; they took to flight.
6 Trembling took hold of them there,
anguish as of a woman in labor.
7 By the xeast wind you shattered
the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
in the ycity of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
which God will establish forever. Selah
9 We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.
10 zAs your name, O God,
so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Let Mount Zion be aglad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments!
12 Walk about Zion, go around her,
number her towers,
13 consider well her ramparts,
go through her citadels,
that you may btell the next generation
14 that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will guide us forever.1
A Census of Israel’s Warriors
1 The Lord spoke to Moses ain the wilderness of Sinai, bin the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Take a ccensus of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head. 3 dFrom twenty years old and upward, all in Israel who are able to go to war, you and Aaron shall list them, company by company. 4 And there shall be with you ea man from each tribe, each man being the head of the house of his fathers. 5 And these are the names of the men who shall assist you. From Reuben, fElizur the son of Shedeur; 6 from Simeon, gShelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; 7 from Judah, hNahshon the son of Amminadab; 8 from Issachar, iNethanel the son of Zuar; 9 from Zebulun, jEliab the son of Helon; 10 from the sons of Joseph, from Ephraim, kElishama the son of Ammihud, and from Manasseh, lGamaliel the son of Pedahzur; 11 from Benjamin, mAbidan the son of Gideoni; 12 from Dan, nAhiezer the son of Ammishaddai; 13 from Asher, oPagiel the son of Ochran; 14 from Gad, pEliasaph the son of Deuel; 15 from Naphtali, qAhira the son of Enan.” 16 These were the ones rchosen from the congregation, the schiefs of their ancestral tribes, the heads of the clans of Israel.
17 Moses and Aaron took these men who had been named, 18 and on the first day of the second month, they assembled the whole congregation together, who registered themselves by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names from twenty years old and upward, head by head, 19 as the Lord commanded Moses. So he listed them in the wilderness of Sinai.
20 The people of Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 21 tthose listed of the tribe of Reuben were 46,500.
22 Of the people of Simeon, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, those of them who were listed, according to the number of names, head by head, every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 23 uthose listed of the tribe of Simeon were 59,300.
24 Of the people of Gad, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go to war: 25 vthose listed of the tribe of Gad were 45,650.
26 Of the people of Judah, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 27 wthose listed of the tribe of Judah were 74,600.
28 Of the people of Issachar, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 29 xthose listed of the tribe of Issachar were 54,400.
30 Of the people of Zebulun, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 31 ythose listed of the tribe of Zebulun were 57,400.
32 Of the people of Joseph, namely, of the people of Ephraim, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 33 zthose listed of the tribe of Ephraim were 40,500.
34 Of the people of Manasseh, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 35 athose listed of the tribe of Manasseh were 32,200.
36 Of the people of Benjamin, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 37 bthose listed of the tribe of Benjamin were 35,400.
38 Of the people of Dan, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 39 cthose listed of the tribe of Dan were 62,700.
40 Of the people of Asher, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 41 dthose listed of the tribe of Asher were 41,500.
42 Of the people of Naphtali, their generations, by their clans, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war: 43 ethose listed of the tribe of Naphtali were 53,400.
44 These are fthose who were listed, whom Moses and Aaron listed with the help of the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each representing his fathers’ house. 45 So all those listed of the people of Israel, by their fathers’ houses, from twenty years old and upward, every man able to go to war in Israel— 46 all those listed were g603,550.
Levites Exempted
47 But hthe Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. 48 For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 49 “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. 50 But appoint the Levites over ithe tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle. 51 When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall jtake it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall kset it up. And lif any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. 52 The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and meach man by his own standard. 53 But nthe Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, oso that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And pthe Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” 54 Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.
Arrangement of the Camp
1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 “The people of Israel shall camp qeach by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ houses. They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side. 3 Those to camp ron the east side toward the sunrise shall be of the standard of the camp of Judah by their companies, the chief of the people of Judah being sNahshon the son of Amminadab, 4 this company as listed being 74,600. 5 Those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar, the chief of the people of Issachar being uNethanel the son of Zuar, 6 vhis company as listed being 54,400. 7 Then the tribe of Zebulun, the chief of the people of Zebulun being wEliab the son of Helon, 8 xhis company as listed being 57,400. 9 All those listed of the camp of Judah, by their companies, were 186,400. yThey shall set out first on the march.
10 z“On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of Reuben by their companies, the chief of the people of Reuben being aElizur the son of Shedeur, 11 bhis company as listed being 46,500. 12 And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Simeon, the chief of the people of Simeon being cShelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, 13 dhis company as listed being 59,300. 14 Then the tribe of Gad, the chief of the people of Gad being eEliasaph the son of Reuel, 15 fhis company as listed being 45,650. 16 All those listed of the camp of Reuben, by their companies, were 151,450. gThey shall set out second.
17 h“Then the tent of meeting shall set out, with the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps; as they camp, so shall they set out, each in position, standard by standard.
18 i“On the west side shall be the standard of the camp of Ephraim by their companies, the chief of the people of Ephraim being jElishama the son of Ammihud, 19 khis company as listed being 40,500. 20 And next to him shall be the tribe of Manasseh, the chief of the people of Manasseh being lGamaliel the son of Pedahzur, 21 mhis company as listed being 32,200. 22 Then the tribe of Benjamin, the chief of the people of Benjamin being nAbidan the son of Gideoni, 23 ohis company as listed being 35,400. 24 All those listed of the camp of Ephraim, by their companies, were 108,100. pThey shall set out third on the march.
25 q“On the north side shall be the standard of the camp of Dan by their companies, the chief of the people of Dan being rAhiezer the son of Ammishaddai, 26 shis company as listed being 62,700. 27 And those to camp next to him shall be the tribe of Asher, the chief of the people of Asher being tPagiel the son of Ochran, 28 uhis company as listed being 41,500. 29 Then the tribe of Naphtali, the chief of the people of Naphtali being vAhira the son of Enan, 30 whis company as listed being 53,400. 31 All those listed of the camp of Dan were 157,600. xThey shall set out last, standard by standard.”
32 These are the people of Israel as listed by their fathers’ houses. All those listed in the camps by their companies were y603,550. 33 But the Levites were znot listed among the people of Israel, aas the Lord commanded Moses.
34 Thus did the people of Israel. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so they camped by their standards, and so they set out, each one in his clan, according to his fathers’ house.
