March 22
40At that time the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard that the people of Israel were approaching his land.
41Meanwhile, the Israelites left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.
42Then they left Zalmonah and camped at Punon.
43They left Punon and camped at Oboth.
44They left Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim on the border of Moab.
45They left Iye-abarim* and camped at Dibon‑gad.
46They left Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim.
47They left Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains east of the river, near Mount Nebo.
48They left the mountains east of the river and camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho. 49Along the Jordan River they camped from Beth-jeshimoth as far as the meadows of Acacia* on the plains of Moab. 50While they were camped near the Jordan River on the plains of Moab opposite Jericho, the Lord said to Moses, 51“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: When you cross the Jordan River into the land of Canaan,
52you must drive out all the people living there. You must destroy all their carved and molten images and demolish all their pagan shrines. 53Take possession of the land and settle in it, because I have given it to you to occupy. 54You must distribute the land among the clans by sacred lot and in proportion to their size. A larger portion of land will be allotted to each of the larger clans, and a smaller portion will be allotted to each of the smaller clans. The decision of the sacred lot is final. In this way, the portions of land will be divided among your ancestral tribes.
55But if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land, those who remain will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land where you live. 56And I will do to you what I had planned to do to them.”
Chapter 34
1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2“Give these instructions to the Israelites: When you come into the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your special possession, these will be the boundaries. 3The southern portion of your country will extend from the wilderness of Zin, along the edge of Edom. The southern boundary will begin on the east at the Dead Sea. 4It will then run south past Scorpion Pass in the direction of Zin. Its southernmost point will be Kadesh-barnea, from which it will go to Hazar-addar, and on to Azmon.
5From Azmon the boundary will turn toward the Brook of Egypt and end at the Mediterranean Sea. 6“Your western boundary will be the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. 7“Your northern boundary will begin at the Mediterranean Sea and run east to Mount Hor, 8then to Lebo-hamath, and on through Zedad 9and Ziphron to Hazar-enan. This will be your northern boundary. 10“The eastern boundary will start at Hazar-enan and run south to Shepham, 11then down to Riblah on the east side of Ain. From there the boundary will run down along the eastern edge of the Sea of Galilee,
12and then along the Jordan River to the Dead Sea. These are the boundaries of your land.” 13Then Moses told the Israelites, “This territory is the homeland you are to divide among yourselves by sacred lot. The Lord has commanded that the land be divided among the nine and a half remaining tribes. 14The families of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received their grants of land 15on the east side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho toward the sunrise.”
16And the Lord said to Moses, 17“Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun are the men designated to divide the grants of land among the people. 18Enlist one leader from each tribe to help them with the task. 19These are the tribes and the names of the leaders:
Tribe Leader
Judah Caleb son of Jephunneh
20 Simeon Shemuel son of Ammihud
21 Benjamin Elidad son of Kislon
22 Dan Bukki son of Jogli
23Manasseh son of Joseph Hanniel son of Ephod
24Ephraim son of Joseph Kemuel son of Shiphtan
25Zebulun Elizaphan son of Parnach
26Issachar Paltiel son of Azzan
27Asher Ahihud son of Shelomi
28Naphtali Pedahel son of Ammihud
29These are the men the Lord has appointed to divide the grants of land in Canaan among the Israelites.”
Chapter 35
1 While Israel was camped beside the Jordan on the plains of Moab across from Jericho, the Lord said to Moses, 2“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites from their property certain towns to live in, along with the surrounding pasturelands. 3These towns will be for the Levites to live in, and the surrounding lands will provide pasture for their cattle, flocks, and other livestock. 4The pastureland assigned to the Levites around these towns will extend 1,500 feet* from the town walls in every direction.
5Measure off 3,000 feet outside the town walls in every direction—east, south, west, north—with the town at the center. This area will serve as the larger pastureland for the towns. 6“Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can flee for safety. In addition, give them forty-two other towns. 7In all, forty-eight towns with the surrounding pastureland will be given to the Levites. 8These towns will come from the property of the people of Israel. The larger tribes will give more towns to the Levites, while the smaller tribes will give fewer. Each tribe will give property in proportion to the size of its land.”
9The Lord said to Moses, 10“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. “When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11designate cities of refuge to which people can flee if they have killed someone accidentally. 12These cities will be places of protection from a dead person’s relatives who want to avenge the death. The slayer must not be put to death before being tried by the community. 13Designate six cities of refuge for yourselves, 14three on the east side of the Jordan River and three on the west in the land of Canaan.
15These cities are for the protection of Israelites, foreigners living among you, and traveling merchants. Anyone who accidentally kills someone may flee there for safety. 16“But if someone strikes and kills another person with a piece of iron, it is murder, and the murderer must be executed. 17Or if someone with a stone in his hand strikes and kills another person, it is murder, and the murderer must be put to death. 18Or if someone strikes and kills another person with a wooden object, it is murder, and the murderer must be put to death.
19The victim’s nearest relative is responsible for putting the murderer to death. When they meet, the avenger must put the murderer to death. 20So if someone hates another person and pushes him or throws a dangerous object at him and he dies, it is murder. 21Or if someone hates another person and hits him with a fist and he dies, it is murder. In such cases, the avenger must put the murderer to death when they meet. 22“But suppose someone pushes another person without having shown previous hostility, or throws something that unintentionally hits another person,
23or accidentally drops a huge stone on someone, though they were not enemies, and the person dies. 24If this should happen, the community must follow these regulations in making a judgment between the slayer and the avenger, the victim’s nearest relative: 25The community must protect the slayer from the avenger and must escort the slayer back to live in the city of refuge to which he fled. There he must remain until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the sacred oil.
26“But if the slayer ever leaves the limits of the city of refuge, 27and the avenger finds him outside the city and kills him, it will not be considered murder. 28The slayer should have stayed inside the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to his own property. 29These are legal requirements for you to observe from generation to generation, wherever you may live.
30“All murderers must be put to death, but only if evidence is presented by more than one witness. No one may be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
31Also, you must never accept a ransom payment for the life of someone judged guilty of murder and subject to execution; murderers must always be put to death. 32And never accept a ransom payment from someone who has fled to a city of refuge, allowing a slayer to return to his property before the death of the high priest. 33This will ensure that the land where you live will not be polluted, for murder pollutes the land. And no sacrifice except the execution of the murderer can purify the land from murder. 34You must not defile the land where you live, for I live there myself. I am the Lord, who lives among the people of Israel.”
Luke 5:12-28
12In one of the villages, Jesus met a man with an advanced case of leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground, begging to be healed. “Lord,” he said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” 13Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. 14Then Jesus instructed him not to tell anyone what had happened. He said, “Go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy.* This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”
15But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. 16But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. 17One day while Jesus was teaching, some Pharisees and teachers of religious law were sitting nearby. (It seemed that these men showed up from every village in all Galilee and Judea, as well as from Jerusalem.) And the Lord’s healing power was strongly with Jesus.
18Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to take him inside to Jesus, 19but they couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. 20Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.” 21But the Pharisees and teachers of religious law said to themselves, “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”
22Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts? 23Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? 24So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!” 25And immediately, as everyone watched, the man jumped up, picked up his mat, and went home praising God. 26Everyone was gripped with great wonder and awe, and they praised God, exclaiming, “We have seen amazing things today!”
27Later, as Jesus left the town, he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. 28So Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
Psalm 65:1-13
For the choir director: A song. A psalm of David.
1 What mighty praise, O God,
belongs to you in Zion.
We will fulfill our vows to you,
2 for you answer our prayers.
All of us must come to you.
3 Though we are overwhelmed by our sins,
you forgive them all.
4 What joy for those you choose to bring near,
those who live in your holy courts.
What festivities await us
inside your holy Temple.
5 You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds,
O God our savior.
You are the hope of everyone on earth,
even those who sail on distant seas.
6 You formed the mountains by your power
and armed yourself with mighty strength.
7 You quieted the raging oceans
with their pounding waves
and silenced the shouting of the nations.
8 Those who live at the ends of the earth
stand in awe of your wonders.
From where the sun rises to where it sets,
you inspire shouts of joy.
9 You take care of the earth and water it,
making it rich and fertile.
The river of God has plenty of water;
it provides a bountiful harvest of grain,
for you have ordered it so.
10 You drench the plowed ground with rain,
melting the clods and leveling the ridges.
You soften the earth with showers
and bless its abundant crops.
11 You crown the year with a bountiful harvest;
even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.
12 The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture,
and the hillsides blossom with joy.
13 The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep,
and the valleys are carpeted with grain.
They all shout and sing for joy!
Proverbs 11:23
23 The godly can look forward to a reward,
while the wicked can expect only judgmen