Water from the Rock

¹wAll the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. ²xTherefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you ytest the Lord?” ³But the people thirsted there for water, and zthe people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” ⁴So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready ato stone me.” ⁵And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with bwhich you struck the Nile, and go. ⁶cBehold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. ⁷And he called the name of the place dMassah1 and eMeribah,2 because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

Israel Defeats Amalek

⁸fThen Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. ⁹So Moses said to gJoshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with hthe staff of God in my hand.” ¹⁰So gJoshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and iHur went up to the top of the hill. ¹¹Whenever Moses jheld up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. ¹²But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and iHur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. ¹³And gJoshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

¹⁴Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of gJoshua, that kI will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵And Moses lbuilt an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, ¹⁶saying, “A hand upon the throne3 of the Lord! kThe Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

¹hOne day, ias Jesus1 was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, jthe chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up ²and said to him, “Tell us kby what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” ³He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, ⁴was the baptism of John lfrom heaven or from man?” ⁵And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, m‘Why did you not believe him?’ ⁶But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was na prophet.” ⁷So they answered that they did not know where it came from. ⁸And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

⁹oAnd he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted pa vineyard and qlet it out to tenants and rwent into another country for a long while. ¹⁰When the time came, he sent a servant2 to the tenants, so that qthey would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. sBut the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹tAnd she sent another servant. But they also beat and utreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹²sAnd he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. ¹³Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my vbeloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ ¹⁴But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, w‘This is the heir. xLet us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ ¹⁵And they ythrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶zHe will acome and destroy those tenants and bgive the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” ¹⁷But he clooked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

d“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone’?3

¹⁸eEveryone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls fon anyone, it will crush him.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

¹⁹hThe 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. ²⁰iSo they jwatched him and sent spies, who kpretended to be sincere, that they might lcatch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of mthe governor. ²¹So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and oshow no partiality,4 but truly teach pthe way of God. ²²Is it lawful for us to give qtribute to rCaesar, or not?” ²³But he perceived their scraftiness, and said to them, ²⁴“Show me ta denarius.5 Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar's.” ²⁵He said to them, “Then urender to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.” ²⁶And they were not able in the presence of the people vto catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

²⁷There came to him wsome Sadducees, xthose who deny that there is a resurrection, ²⁸and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us ythat if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man6 must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. ²⁹Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. ³⁰And the second ³¹and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. ³²Afterward the woman also died. ³³In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

³⁴And Jesus said to them, z“The sons of this age amarry and aare given in marriage, ³⁵but those who are bconsidered worthy to attain to cthat age and to the resurrection from the dead dneither marry dnor are given in marriage, ³⁶for ethey cannot die anymore, because they are fequal to angels and gare hsons of God, being isons7 of the resurrection. ³⁷But that the dead are raised, jeven Moses showed, in kthe passage about the bush, where he calls lthe Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. ³⁸Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all mlive to him.” ³⁹Then some of the scribes nanswered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” ⁴⁰For othey no longer dared to ask him any question.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

⁴¹pBut he said to them, “How can they say that qthe Christ is qDavid's son? ⁴²For David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

r“‘The Lord said to my Lord,

“Sit at my right hand,

⁴³until I make your enemies syour footstool.”’

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

Beware of the Scribes

⁴⁵uAnd in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, ⁴⁶“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and vthe places of honor at feasts, ⁴⁷wwho devour widows' houses and xfor a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

Elihu Condemns Job

¹And Elihu answered and said:

²“Do you think this to be just?

Do you say, v‘It is my right before God,’

³that you ask, w‘What advantage have I?

How am I better off than if I had sinned?’

⁴I will answer you

and xyour friends with you.

⁵yLook at the heavens, and see;

and behold the clouds, which are higher than you.

⁶If you have sinned, zwhat do you accomplish against him?

And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?

⁷aIf you are righteous, what do you give to him?

Or what does he receive from your hand?

⁸Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself,

and your righteousness ba son of man.

⁹“Because of the multitude of coppressions people dcry out;

they call for help because of the arm of ethe mighty.1

¹⁰But none says, ‘Where is God my fMaker,

who gives gsongs in the night,

¹¹who teaches us hmore than the beasts of the earth

and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’

¹²There they icry out, but he does not answer,

because of the pride of evil men.

¹³Surely God does not hear an empty cry,

nor does the Almighty regard it.

¹⁴How much less when you say that you jdo not see him,

that the case is before him, and you are kwaiting for him!

¹⁵And now, because lhis anger does not punish,

and he does not take much note of transgression,2

¹⁶Job opens his mouth in empty talk;

he mmultiplies words nwithout knowledge.”

Our Heavenly Dwelling

¹For we know that if kthe tent that is lour earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, ma house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ²For in this tent nwe groan, longing to oput on our heavenly dwelling, ³if indeed by putting it on1 we may not be found naked. ⁴For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal pmay be swallowed up by life. ⁵He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, qwho has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.2

⁶So we are always of good courage. We know that rwhile we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, ⁷for swe walk by faith, not tby sight. ⁸Yes, we are of good courage, and we uwould rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ⁹So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to vplease him. ¹⁰For wwe must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, xso that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹¹Therefore, knowing ythe fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But zwhat we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. ¹²aWe are not commending ourselves to you again but bgiving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. ¹³For if we care beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴For the love of Christ dcontrols us, because we have concluded this: that eone has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵and he died for all, fthat those who live might no longer live for themselves but gfor him who for their sake died and was raised.

¹⁶From now on, therefore, hwe regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is iin Christ, he is ja new creation.3 kThe old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ¹⁸All this is from God, lwho through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us mthe ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling4 the world to himself, nnot counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us mthe message of reconciliation. ²⁰Therefore, owe are ambassadors for Christ, pGod making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ²¹qFor our sake he made him to be sin rwho knew no sin, so that in him we might become sthe righteousness of God.