The Abomination of Desolation
15 u“So when you see vthe abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet wDaniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee xto the mountains. 17 yLet the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and zlet the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And aalas 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 bgreat tribulation, such 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 the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 cThen if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great dsigns and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the elightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 fWherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
The Coming of the Son of Man
29 g“Immediately after the tribulation of those days hthe sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the istars will fall from heaven, and the jpowers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then kall the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man lcoming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud mtrumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
32 n“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 onear, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, pthis generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Released from the Law
1 Or do you not know, brothers1—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For ga married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.2 3 Accordingly, she will be called an hadulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have idied to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful jpassions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit kfor death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve lin the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the mwritten code.3
The Law and Sin
7 nWhat then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! oYet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, p“You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. qFor apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment rthat promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So sthe law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth
To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Miktam1 of David, uwhen he fled from Saul, vin the cave.
1 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
win the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God who xfulfills his purpose for me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who ytramples on me. Selah
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4 My soul is in the midst of zlions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 aBe exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 They set a net for my steps;
my soul was bowed down.
They bdug a pit in my way,
but they have cfallen into it themselves. Selah
7 dMy heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
eI will sing and make melody!
8 Awake, my glory!2
Awake, O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
9 fI will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your steadfast love is great gto the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
Balaam’s First Oracle
1 And Balaam said to Balak, l“Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here mseven bulls and seven rams.” 2 Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam offered on each altar a bull and a ram. 3 And Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, 4 and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5 And the Lord nput a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 6 And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. 7 And Balaam otook up his discourse and said,
“From Aram Balak has brought me,
the king of Moab from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, curse Jacob for me,
and come, denounce Israel!’
8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 For from the top of the crags I see him,
from the hills I behold him;
behold, a people dwelling palone,
and qnot counting itself among the nations!
10 Who can count the rdust of Jacob
or number the fourth part1 of Israel?
Let me die the death of the upright,
and let my end be like his!”
11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? sI took you to curse my enemies, and behold, tyou have done nothing but bless them.” 12 And he answered and said, “Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
Balaam’s Second Oracle
13 And Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place, from which you may see them. You shall see only a ufraction of them and shall not see them all. Then curse them for me from there.” 14 And he took him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars and offered a bull and a ram on each altar. 15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stand here beside your burnt offering, while I meet the Lord over there.” 16 And the Lord met Balaam and put a word in his mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus shall you speak.” 17 And he came to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?” 18 And Balaam took up his discourse and said,
“Rise, Balak, and hear;
give ear to me, O son of Zippor:
19 vGod is not man, that he should wlie,
or a son of man, that he should xchange his mind.
yHas he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
20 Behold, I received a command to bless:
he has blessed, and I cannot revoke it.
21 He has not beheld misfortune in Jacob,
nor has he seen trouble in Israel.
The Lord their God is zwith them,
and the shout of a king is among them.
22 aGod brings them out of Egypt
and is for them like the horns of the wild ox.
23 For there is no enchantment against Jacob,
no bdivination against Israel;
now it shall be said of Jacob and Israel,
‘What has God wrought!’
24 Behold, a people! cAs a lioness it rises up
and as a lion it lifts itself;
it does not lie down until it has ddevoured the prey
and drunk the blood of the slain.”
25 And Balak said to Balaam, “Do not curse them at all, and do not bless them at all.” 26 But Balaam answered Balak, e“Did I not tell you, ‘All that the Lord says, that I must do’?” 27 And Balak said to Balaam, “Come now, I will take you to another place. Perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” 28 So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, which overlooks the desert.2 29 And Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 30 And Balak did as Balaam had said, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
Balaam’s Third Oracle
1 When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to fbless Israel, he did not go, gas at other times, to look for omens, but set his face toward the wilderness. 2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes and saw Israel hcamping tribe by tribe. And ithe Spirit of God came upon him, 3 jand he ktook up his discourse and said,
l“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,3
4 the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down with his eyes uncovered:
5 How lovely are your tents, O Jacob,
your encampments, O Israel!
6 Like palm groves4 that stretch afar,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes that the Lord has mplanted,
like cedar trees nbeside the waters.
7 Water shall flow from his buckets,
and his seed shall be in many waters;
his king shall be higher than oAgag,
and his kingdom shall be pexalted.
8 qGod brings him out of Egypt
and is for him like the horns of the wild ox;
he shall reat up the nations, his adversaries,
and shall break their bones in pieces
and pierce them through with his sarrows.
9 He crouched, he lay down tlike a lion
and like a lioness; who will rouse him up?
uBlessed are those who bless you,
and cursed are those who curse you.”
10 And Balak’s anger was kindled against Balaam, and he struck his hands together. And Balak said to Balaam, v“I called you to curse my enemies, and behold, wyou have blessed them these three times. 11 Therefore now flee to your own place. I said, x‘I will certainly yhonor you,’ but the Lord has held you back from honor.” 12 And Balaam said to Balak, z“Did I not tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13 ‘If Balak should give me his house full of silver and gold, I would not be able to go beyond the word of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own will. What the Lord speaks, that will I speak’? 14 And now, behold, I am going to my people. aCome, I will let you know what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”
Balaam’s Final Oracle
15 And he took up his discourse and said,
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eye is opened,
16 the oracle of him who hears the words of God,
and knows the knowledge of the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling down with his eyes uncovered:
17 bI see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
a cstar shall come out of Jacob,
and a dscepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the eforehead5 of Moab
and break down all the sons of Sheth.
18 fEdom shall be dispossessed;
gSeir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.
Israel is hdoing valiantly.
19 And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion
and destroy the survivors of cities!”
20 Then he looked on Amalek and took up his discourse and said,
“Amalek was the first among the nations,
but iits end is utter destruction.”
21 And he looked on the jKenite, and took up his discourse and said,
“Enduring is your dwelling place,
and your nest is set in the rock.
22 Nevertheless, Kain shall be burned
when Asshur takes you away captive.”
23 And he took up his discourse and said,
“Alas, who shall live when God does this?
24 But ships shall come from kKittim
and shall afflict Asshur and Eber;
and he too shall come to utter destruction.”
25 Then Balaam rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way.
Baal Worship at Peor
1 lWhile Israel lived in mShittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 2 These ninvited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4 And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and ohang6 them in the sun before the Lord, pthat the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 And Moses said to the judges of Israel, q“Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”
6 And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When rPhinehas the son of sEleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, the rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand 8 and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the uplague on the people of Israel was stopped. 9 Nevertheless, vthose who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.
The Zeal of Phinehas
10 And the Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my wcovenant of xpeace, 13 and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a yperpetual priesthood, because he was zjealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”
14 The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father’s house belonging to the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of aZur, who was the tribal head of a father’s house in Midian.
16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18 for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”
