Matthew 25; Numbers 32; Numbers 33; Numbers 34; Job 2

Matthew 25

1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom.

2 Five of them were foolish and five were sensible.

3 When the foolish took their lamps, they didn't take oil with them.

4 But the sensible ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps.

5 Since the groom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6 "In the middle of the night there was a shout: 'Here's the groom! Come out to meet him.'

7 "Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.

8 But the foolish ones said to the sensible ones, 'Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.'

9 "The sensible ones answered, 'No, there won't be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell, and buy oil for yourselves.'

10 "When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived. Then those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.

11 "Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, 'Master, master, open up for us!'

12 "But he replied, 'I assure you: I do not know you!'

13 "Therefore be alert, because you don't know either the day or the hour.

14 "For it is just like a man going on a journey. He called his own slaves and turned over his possessions to them.

15 To one he gave five talents; to another, two; and to another, one-to each according to his own ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately

16 the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more.

17 In the same way the man with two earned two more.

18 But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.

19 "After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.

20 The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. Look, I've earned five more talents.'

21 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master's joy!'

22 "Then the man with two talents also approached. He said, 'Master, you gave me two talents. Look, I've earned two more talents.'

23 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master's joy!'

24 "Then the man who had received one talent also approached and said, 'Master, I know you. You're a difficult man, reaping where you haven't sown and gathering where you haven't scattered seed.

25 So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you have what is yours.'

26 "But his master replied to him, 'You evil, lazy slave! If you knew that I reap where I haven't sown and gather where I haven't scattered,

27 then you should have deposited my money with the bankers. And when I returned I would have received my money back with interest.

28 " 'So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents.

29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

30 And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.

32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

33 He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on the left.

34 Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

35 For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;

36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.'

37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink?

38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You?

39 When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?'

40 "And the King will answer them, 'I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.'

41 Then He will also say to those on the left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his angels!

42 For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink;

43 I was a stranger and you didn't take Me in; I was naked and you didn't clothe Me, sick and in prison and you didn't take care of Me.'

44 "Then they too will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help You?'

45 "Then He will answer them, 'I assure you: Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me either.'

46 "And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Numbers 32

1 The Reubenites and Gadites had a very large number of livestock. When they surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, they saw that the region was a [good] one for livestock.

2 So the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the community and said:

3 "[The territory of] Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,

4 which the Lord struck down before the community of Israel, is [good] land for livestock, and your servants own livestock."

5 They said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Don't make us cross the Jordan."

6 But Moses asked the Gadites and Reubenites, "Should your brothers go to war while you stay here?

7 Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land the Lord has given them?

8 That's what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.

9 After they went up as far as Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them.

10 So the Lord's anger burned that day, and He swore an oath:

11 'Because they did not follow Me completely, none of the men 20 years old or more who came up from Egypt will see the land I swore [to give] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-

12 none except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, because they did follow the Lord completely.'

13 The Lord's anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness 40 years until the whole generation that had done what was evil in the Lord's sight was gone.

14 And here you, a brood of sinners, stand in your fathers' place adding even more to the Lord's burning anger against Israel.

15 If you turn back from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will destroy all of them."

16 Then they approached him and said, "We want to build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our dependents.

17 But we will arm ourselves and be ready [to go] ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our dependents will remain in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

18 We will not return to our homes until each of the Israelites has taken possession of his inheritance.

19 Yet we will not have an inheritance with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance will be across the Jordan to the east."

20 Moses replied to them, "If you do this-if you arm yourselves for battle before the Lord,

21 and every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven His enemies from His presence,

22 and the land is subdued before the Lord-afterwards you may return and be free from obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the Lord.

23 But if you don't do this, you will certainly sin against the Lord; be sure your sin will catch up with you.

24 Build cities for your dependents and folds for your flocks, but do what you have promised."

25 The Gadites and Reubenites answered Moses, "Your servants will do just as my lord commands.

26 Our little children, wives, livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead,

27 but your servants are equipped for war before the Lord and will go across to the battle as my lord orders."

28 So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the family leaders of the Israelite tribes.

29 Moses told them, "If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, every man in battle formation before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession.

30 But if they don't go across with you in battle formation, they must accept land in Canaan with you."

31 The Gadites and Reubenites replied, "What the Lord has spoken to your servants is what we will do.

32 We will cross over in battle formation before the Lord into the land of Canaan, but we will keep our hereditary possession across the Jordan."

33 So Moses gave them-the Gadites, Reubenites, and half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph-the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land including its cities with the territories surrounding them.

34 The Gadites rebuilt Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,

35 Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,

36 Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and [built] sheepfolds.

37 The Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,

38 as well as Nebo and Baal-meon (whose names were changed), and Sibmah. They gave names to the cities they rebuilt.

39 The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there.

40 So Moses gave Gilead to [the clan of] Machir son of Manasseh, and they settled in it.

41 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages, which he renamed Jair's Villages.

42 Nobah went and captured Kenath with its villages and called it Nobah after his own name.

Numbers 33

1 These were the stages of the Israelites' journey when they went out of the land of Egypt by their military divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

2 At the Lord's command, Moses wrote down the starting points for the stages of their journey; these are the stages [listed] by their starting points:

3 They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month. On the day after the Passover the Israelites went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians.

4 Meanwhile, the Egyptians were burying every firstborn male the Lord had struck down among them, for the Lord had executed judgment against their gods.

5 The Israelites departed from Rameses and camped at Succoth.

6 They departed from Succoth and camped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness.

7 They departed from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol.

8 They departed from Pi-hahiroth and crossed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They took a three-day journey into the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.

9 They departed from Marah and came to Elim. There were 12 springs of water and 70 date palms at Elim, so they camped there.

10 They departed from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.

11 They departed from the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin.

12 They departed from the Wilderness of Sin and camped in Dophkah.

13 They departed from Dophkah and camped at Alush.

14 They departed from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

15 They departed from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai.

16 They departed from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.

17 They departed from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

18 They departed from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

19 They departed from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez.

20 They departed from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah.

21 They departed from Libnah and camped at Rissah.

22 They departed from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

23 They departed from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

24 They departed from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

25 They departed from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

26 They departed from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

27 They departed from Tahath and camped at Terah.

28 They departed from Terah and camped at Mithkah.

29 They departed from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.

30 They departed from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

31 They departed from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan.

32 They departed from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad.

33 They departed from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

34 They departed from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

35 They departed from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber.

36 They departed from Ezion-geber and camped in the Wilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh).

37 They departed from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor on the edge of the land of Edom.

38 At the Lord's command, Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor and died there on the first [day] of the fifth month in the fortieth year after the Israelites went out of the land of Egypt.

39 Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

40 At that time the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard the Israelites were coming.

41 They departed from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

42 They departed from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

43 They departed from Punon and camped at Oboth.

44 They departed from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim on the border of Moab.

45 They departed from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad.

46 They departed from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim.

47 They departed from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the Abarim [range] facing Nebo.

48 They departed from the Abarim [range] and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan [across from] Jericho.

49 They camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth to Acacia Meadows on the plains of Moab.

50 The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan [across from] Jericho,

51 "Tell the Israelites: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

52 you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you, destroy all their stone images and cast images, and demolish all their high places.

53 You are to take possession of the land and settle in it because I have given you the land to possess.

54 You are to receive the land as an inheritance by lot according to your clans. Increase the inheritance for a large clan and decrease it for a small one. Whatever place the lot indicates for someone will be his. You will receive an inheritance according to your ancestral tribes.

55 But if you don't drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become thorns in your eyes and in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you will live.

56 And what I had planned to do to them, I will do to you."

Numbers 34

1 The Lord spoke to Moses,

2 "Command the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, it will be allotted to you as an inheritance with these borders:

3 Your southern side will be from the Wilderness of Zin along the boundary of Edom. Your southern border on the east will begin at the east end of the Dead Sea.

4 Your border will turn south of the Ascent of Akrabbim, proceed to Zin, and end south of Kadesh-barnea. It will go to Hazar-addar and proceed to Azmon.

5 The border will turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, where it will end at the Mediterranean Sea.

6 Your western border will be the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea; this will be your western border.

7 This will be your northern border: From the Mediterranean Sea draw a line to Mount Hor;

8 from Mount Hor draw a line to the entrance of Hamath, and the border will reach Zedad.

9 Then the border will go to Ziphron and end at Hazar-enan. This will be your northern border.

10 For your eastern border, draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham.

11 The border will go down from Shepham to Riblah east of Ain. It will continue down and reach the eastern slope of the Sea of Chinnereth.

12 Then the border will go down to the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea. This will be your land [defined] by its borders on all sides."

13 So Moses commanded the Israelites, "This is the land you are to receive by lot as an inheritance, which the Lord commanded to be given to the nine and a half tribes.

14 For the tribe of the Reubenites and the tribe of the Gadites have received [their inheritance] according to their ancestral houses, and half the tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance.

15 The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan from Jericho, eastward toward the sunrise."

16 The Lord spoke to Moses,

17 "These are the names of the men who are to distribute the land as an inheritance for you: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.

18 Take one leader from each tribe to distribute the land.

19 These are the names of the men: Caleb son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;

20 Shemuel son of Ammihud from the tribe of Simeon;

21 Elidad son of Chislon from the tribe of Benjamin;

22 Bukki son of Jogli, a leader from the tribe of Dan;

23 from the sons of Joseph: Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh,

24 Kemuel son of Shiphtan, a leader from the tribe of Ephraim;

25 Eli-zaphan son of Parnach, a leader from the tribe of Zebulun;

26 Paltiel son of Azzan, a leader from the tribe of Issachar;

27 Ahihud son of Shelomi, a leader from the tribe of Asher;

28 Pedahel son of Ammihud, a leader from the tribe of Naphtali."

29 These are the ones the Lord commanded to distribute the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

Job 2

1 One day the sons of God came again to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before the Lord.

2 The Lord asked Satan, "Where have you come from?" "From roaming through the earth," Satan answered Him, "and walking around on it."

3 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil. He still retains his integrity, even though you incited Me against him, to destroy him without just cause."

4 "Skin for skin!" Satan answered the Lord. "A man will give up everything he owns in exchange for his life.

5 But stretch out Your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse You to Your face."

6 "Very well," the Lord told Satan, "he is in your power; only spare his life."

7 So Satan left the Lord's presence and infected Job with incurable boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.

8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself while he sat among the ashes.

9 His wife said to him, "Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!"

10 "You speak as a foolish woman speaks," he told her. "Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?" Throughout all this Job did not sin in what he said.

11 Now when Job's three friends-Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite-heard about all this adversity that had happened to him, each of them came from his home. They met together to go and offer sympathy and comfort to him.

12 When they looked from a distance, they could [barely] recognize him. They wept aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust into the air and on his head.

13 Then they sat on the ground with him seven days and nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw that his suffering was very intense.