Numbers 35–36
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying: 2 Command the children of Israel, and they will give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in, and you will give the Levites pasturelands around the city. 3 The cities will be for them to dwell in, and their pasturelands will be for their livestock, and for their property, and for all their animals.
4 The pasturelands of the cities, which you will give to the Levites, will reach from the wall of the city and beyond one thousand cubits all around. 5 You will measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, and the city will be in the middle. This will be for them the pasturelands of the cities.
6 Among the cities which you will give to the Levites there will be six cities of refuge, which you will appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee there, and to them you will add forty-two cities. 7 So all the cities which you will give to the Levites will be forty-eight cities. You will give them with their pasturelands. 8 The cities which you shall give shall be from the possession of the children of Israel. From the larger tribes you shall give many, and from the smaller tribes you shall give few. Each tribe, in proportion to the inheritance that it receives, shall give of its cities to the Levites.
9 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 10 Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you are crossing over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall designate cities as your cities of refuge, so that a manslayer who unintentionally kills a person may flee there. 12 The cities will be for you a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer does not die until he stands trial before the assembly. 13 The cities which you designate shall be your six cities of refuge. 14 You will give three cities across the Jordan, and three cities you will give in the land of Canaan, which will be cities of refuge. 15 For the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the foreign sojourner among them will be six cities. These will be for a refuge. Everyone that unintentionally kills any person may flee there.
16 If he strikes him with an instrument of iron, so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 17 If he strikes him with a stone in hand, by which he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 18 Or if he strikes him with a weapon of wood in hand, by which he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood himself will slay the murderer. When he meets him, he will slay him. 20 But if he pushed him out of hatred, or threw something at him, lying in wait, so he dies, 21 or in hatred struck him with his hand, so he died, he that struck him shall surely be put to death, because he is a murderer. The avenger of blood will slay the murderer when he meets him.
22 But if he pushed him suddenly without hatred, or threw anything at him without lying in wait, 23 or used a stone that may cause death, unintentionally throwing it at him, resulting in death, though they were not enemies, and was not trying to harm him, 24 then the assembly will judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments. 25 And the assembly will deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the assembly will restore him to the city of his refuge where he fled, and he will dwell in it until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
26 But if the manslayer will go out at any time beyond the border of the city of his refuge where he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he will not be guilty of blood, 28 because the manslayer should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.
29 So these things will be for a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
30 Whoever kills a person, the murderer will be put to death by the testimony of witnesses, but one witness will not testify against a person for death.
31 And you will not take a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he will surely be put to death.
32 You will not take a ransom for him who fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come out again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.
33 So you will not defile the land which you are in, because blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him that shed it. 34 So do not defile the land which you are dwelling in, where I am residing, because I the Lord am residing among the children of Israel.
Chapter 36
1 And the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the chief fathers of the children of Israel. 2 And they said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 If they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they are married, so will it be taken from the lot of our inheritance. 4 When the jubilee of the children of Israel happens, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they are married, so their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5 Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying: “The tribe of the sons of Joseph has spoken right. 6 This is the thing which the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry whom they think best. But they may marry only within a clan of their father’s tribe. 7 So the inheritance of the children of Israel will not turn from tribe to tribe, because every one of the children of Israel will keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 Every daughter that possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel will be wife to one of the families of the tribe of her father, so every man of the children of Israel may enjoy the inheritance of his fathers. 9 Thus no inheritance will turn from one tribe to another tribe, but every tribe of the children of Israel will keep its own inheritance.’”
10 Just as the Lord commanded Moses, thus the daughters of Zelophehad did, 11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their uncles’ sons. 12 And they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
13 These are the commandments and the judgments which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.
Mark 10:1–31
1 He arose and went from there to the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan, and the people came to Him again. And again, as was His custom, He taught them.
2 The Pharisees came to test Him, asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?”
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to divorce her.”
5 Jesus answered them, “Due to the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. 6 But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, 8 and the two shall be one flesh.’ So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”
10 In the house His disciples asked Him concerning this matter again. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. 12 And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
13 They brought young children to Him, that He might touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, He was very displeased and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter it.” 16 And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.
17 When He set out on His way, a man came running and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
18 He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good, except God alone. 19 You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.”
20 He answered Him, “Teacher, all these have I observed from my youth.”
21 Then Jesus, looking upon him, loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, take up the cross and follow Me.”
22 He was saddened by that word, and he went away grieving. For he had many possessions.
23 Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 They were astonished beyond measure, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God. For with God all things are possible.”
28 Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we have left everything and have followed You.”
29 Jesus answered, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left a house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30 who shall not receive a hundred times as much now in this age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, with persecution, and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”