The Death of Miriam

1 And the people of Israel, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of ^lZin in the first month, and the people stayed in ^mKadesh. And Miriam died there and was buried there.

The Waters of Meribah

2 ⁿNow there was ^ono water for the congregation. And they assembled themselves together ^pagainst Moses and against Aaron. 3 And the people ^qquarreled with Moses and said, ^r“Would that we had perished ^swhen our brothers perished before the Lord! 4 ^tWhy have you brought the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we should die here, both we and our cattle? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? ^uIt is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” 6 Then Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting and ^vfell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord ^wappeared to them, 7 and the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and ^xtell the rock before their eyes to yield its water. So you shall bring water out of the rock for them and give drink to the congregation and their cattle.” 9 And Moses took the staff ^yfrom before the Lord, as he commanded him.

Moses Strikes the Rock

10 Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you ^zrebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation ^adrank, and their livestock. 12 And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ^b“Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” 13 These are the waters of ^cMeribah,¹ where the people of Israel quarreled with the Lord, and through them he ^dshowed himself holy.

Edom Refuses Passage

14 ^eMoses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: 15 how our fathers ^fwent down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt ^ga long time. And the Egyptians ^hdealt harshly with us and our fathers. 16 And when we ⁱcried to the Lord, he ^jheard our voice and sent an ^kangel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory. 17 Please ^llet us pass through your land. We will not pass through field or vineyard, or drink water from a well. We will go along the King’s Highway. We will not turn aside to the right hand or to the left until we have passed through your territory.” 18 ^mBut Edom said to him, “You shall not pass through, lest I come out with the sword against you.” 19 And the people of Israel said to him, “We will go up by the highway, and if we drink of your water, I and my livestock, then I will ⁿpay for it. Let me only pass through on foot, nothing more.” 20 But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. 21 Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, ^oso Israel turned away from him.

Paying Taxes to Caesar

19 ^vThe scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 20 So they ^wwatched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. 21 So they asked him, “Teacher, ^xwe know that you speak and teach rightly, and ^yshow no partiality,¹ but truly teach the way of God. 22 Is it lawful for us to give ^ztribute to Caesar, or not?” 23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them, 24 “Show me a denarius.² Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 He said to them, “Then ^arender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26 And they were not able in the presence of the people to ^bcatch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

27 ^cThere came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a ^dresurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, ^eMoses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man³ must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the ^fresurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they ^gcannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are ^hsons of God, being sons⁴ of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, ⁱin the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord ^jthe God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for ^kall live to him.” 39 Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

41 ^lBut he said to them, “How can they say that the ^mChrist is David’s son? 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

44 David thus calls him Lord, so how is he his son?”