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1Reading 1 Numbers 4:21–37Chapter page with footnotes →

The Duties of the Gershonites(Numbers 3:21–26; 1 Chronicles 23:7–11)

^4:21And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ²²Take the sum of the sons of Gershon also, by the house of their fathers, by their families; ²³from a son of thirty years and upward to a son of fifty years you shall number them, everyone who enters to wage the warfare of the host, to serve the service in the tent of appointed time (mo-ed).

²⁴This is the service of the families of the Gershonite, to serve and to bear burden: ²⁵and they shall bear the curtains of the tabernacle, and the tent of appointed time (mo-ed), its covering, and the covering of the tachash that is over it above, and the screen of the door of the tent of appointed time (mo-ed), ²⁶and the hangings of the court, and the screen of the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the vessels of their service, and all that is done for them; and they shall serve.

²⁷According to the mouth of Aaron and his sons shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonite, for all their burden and for all their service; and you shall appoint to them in charge all their burden. ²⁸This is the service of the families of the sons of the Gershonite in the tent of appointed time (mo-ed); and their charge shall be under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

The Duties of the Merarites

²⁹The sons of Merari, by their families, by the house of their fathers you shall number them; ³⁰from a son of thirty years and upward to a son of fifty years you shall number them, everyone who enters the host, to serve the service of the tent of appointed time (mo-ed).

³¹And this is the charge of their burden, for all their service in the tent of appointed time (mo-ed): the boards of the tabernacle, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets, ³²and the pillars of the court round about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, for all their vessels and for all their service; and by names you shall appoint the vessels of the charge of their burden.

³³This is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, for all their service in the tent of appointed time (mo-ed), under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

The Numbering of the Levite Clans

³⁴And Moses and Aaron and the princes of the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathite by their families and by the house of their fathers, ³⁵from a son of thirty years and upward to a son of fifty years, everyone who enters the host, for service in the tent of appointed time (mo-ed). ³⁶And those numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and fifty. ³⁷These are those numbered of the families of the Kohathite, everyone serving in the tent of appointed time (mo-ed), whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the mouth of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

2Reading 2 Numbers 4:38–49Chapter page with footnotes →

^4:38And those numbered of the sons of Gershon, by their families and by the house of their fathers, ³⁹from a son of thirty years and upward to a son of fifty years, everyone who enters the host, for service in the tent of appointed time (mo-ed), ⁴⁰and those numbered of them, by their families, by the house of their fathers, were two thousand and six hundred and thirty. ⁴¹These are those numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, everyone serving in the tent of appointed time (mo-ed), whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the mouth of the LORD.

⁴²And those numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by the house of their fathers, ⁴³from a son of thirty years and upward to a son of fifty years, everyone who enters the host, for service in the tent of appointed time (mo-ed), ⁴⁴and those numbered of them by their families were three thousand and two hundred. ⁴⁵These are those numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the mouth of the LORD by the hand of Moses.

⁴⁶All those numbered, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel numbered, the Levites, by their families and by the house of their fathers, ⁴⁷from a son of thirty years and upward to a son of fifty years, everyone who enters to serve the service of service and the service of burden in the tent of appointed time (mo-ed), ⁴⁸and those numbered of them were eight thousand and five hundred and eighty. ⁴⁹According to the mouth of the LORD he numbered them by the hand of Moses, each man to his service and to his burden; and they were his numbered ones, as the LORD commanded Moses.

3Reading 3 Numbers 5:1–10Chapter page with footnotes →

Cleansing the Camps

^5:1And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ²"Command the sons of Israel, that they send out from the camp every leper, and everyone who has a discharge, and everyone unclean by a soul. ³From male to female you shall send out; to outside the camp you shall send them, that they not defile their camps, in the midst of which I am dwelling."

⁴And the sons of Israel did so, and sent them to outside the camp; as the LORD spoke to Moses, so did the sons of Israel.

Restitution for Trespasses

⁵And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ⁶"Speak to the sons of Israel: A man or woman, when they do any of the sins of the man, to commit a trespass against the LORD, and that soul is guilty, ⁷then they shall confess their sin which they have done, and he shall restore his guilt in its principal, and add to it its fifth, and give it to him to whom he is guilty.

⁸But if the man has no redeemer to restore the guilt to him, the guilt restored shall be the LORD's, to the priest; besides the ram of the atonements by which he makes atonement for him.

⁹And every heave-offering of all the holy things of the sons of Israel, which they bring near to the priest, shall be his. ¹⁰And every man's holy things shall be his; whatever a man gives to the priest, it shall be his."

4Reading 4 Numbers 5:11–6:27Chapter page with footnotes →

The Adultery Test

^5:11And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ¹²"Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them: Any man, if his wife goes astray and acts unfaithfully against him, ¹³and a man lies with her a lying of seed, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is concealed, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she was not caught, ¹⁴and a spirit of jealousy passes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is defiled; or a spirit of jealousy passes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is not defiled, ¹⁵then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and bring her offering for her, a tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil upon it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal-offering of jealousies, a meal-offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

¹⁶And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the LORD. ¹⁷And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and from the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.

¹⁸And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and loosen the head of the woman, and put on her palms the meal-offering of memorial—it is the meal-offering of jealousies; and in the hand of the priest shall be the bitter water that brings the curse. ¹⁹And the priest shall make her swear, and say to the woman: If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray to uncleanness under your husband, be free from this bitter water that brings the curse. ²⁰But you, if you have gone astray under your husband, and if you are defiled, and a man has given his lying in you besides your husband— ²¹then the priest shall make the woman swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall say to the woman: May the LORD make you a curse and an oath in the midst of your people, when the LORD makes your thigh fall and your belly swell; ²²and this water that brings the curse shall enter your bowels, to swell the belly and to make the thigh fall. And the woman shall say: Amen, Amen.

²³And the priest shall write these curses in a scroll, and blot them out into the bitter water. ²⁴And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her as bitterness. ²⁵And the priest shall take from the hand of the woman the meal-offering of jealousies, and wave the meal-offering before the LORD, and bring it near to the altar. ²⁶And the priest shall take a handful from the meal-offering, its memorial portion, and make it smoke on the altar, and afterward make the woman drink the water.

²⁷And when he has made her drink the water, then it shall be, if she is defiled and has acted unfaithfully against her husband, that the water that brings the curse shall enter into her as bitterness, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall fall, and the woman shall become a curse in the midst of her people. ²⁸And if the woman is not defiled, and she is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive seed.

²⁹This is the Torah of jealousies, when a woman goes astray under her husband and is defiled, ³⁰or when a spirit of jealousy passes over a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall do to her all this Torah. ³¹And the man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity.

The Nazirite Vow

^6:1And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ²"Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them: A man or woman, when he makes a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to consecrate himself to the LORD, ³from wine and strong drink he shall separate himself; vinegar of wine and vinegar of strong drink he shall not drink, and any liquor of grapes he shall not drink, and grapes fresh or dried he shall not eat. ⁴All the days of his consecration he shall not eat anything that is made from the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skin.

⁵All the days of the vow of his consecration a razor shall not pass over his head; until the days are fulfilled in which he consecrates himself to the LORD, he shall be holy, letting the locks of the hair of his head grow long.

⁶All the days of his consecrating himself to the LORD he shall not come near a dead soul. ⁷For his father or for his mother, for his brother or for his sister, he shall not make himself unclean for them at their death, because the consecration of his God is on his head. ⁸All the days of his consecration he is holy to the LORD.

⁹And if anyone dies beside him very suddenly, and he defiles his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing; on the seventh day he shall shave it. ¹⁰And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young of a dove to the priest, to the opening of the tent of appointed time (mo-ed). ¹¹And the priest shall make one for a sin-offering and one for a burnt-offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned regarding the soul; and he shall consecrate his head on that day. ¹²And he shall consecrate to the LORD the days of his consecration, and bring a lamb a son of its year for a guilt-offering; but the former days shall fall away, because his consecration was defiled.

¹³And this is the Torah of the Nazirite: in the day the days of his consecration are fulfilled, he shall bring him to the opening of the tent of appointed time (mo-ed). ¹⁴And he shall bring near his offering to the LORD: one male lamb a son of its year, without blemish, for a burnt-offering, and one ewe-lamb a daughter of its year, without blemish, for a sin-offering, and one ram without blemish for peace-offerings, ¹⁵and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and wafers of unleavened bread anointed with oil, and their meal-offering and their drink-offerings.

¹⁶And the priest shall bring them near before the LORD, and make his sin-offering and his burnt-offering. ¹⁷And the ram he shall make a sacrifice of peace-offerings to the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread; and the priest shall make its meal-offering and its drink-offering.

¹⁸And the Nazirite shall shave at the opening of the tent of appointed time (mo-ed) his consecrated head, and take the hair of his consecrated head and put it on the fire that is under the sacrifice of the peace-offerings. ¹⁹And the priest shall take the boiled shoulder from the ram, and one unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and put them on the palms of the Nazirite after he has shaved his consecration. ²⁰And the priest shall wave them, a wave-offering before the LORD; it is holy for the priest, with the breast of the wave-offering and the thigh of the heave-offering; and afterward the Nazirite may drink wine.

²¹This is the Torah of the Nazirite who vows, his offering to the LORD for his consecration, besides what his hand attains; according to his vow which he vows, so he shall do upon the Torah of his consecration."

Aaron’s Blessing

²²And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ²³"Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying: Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel; say to them:

²⁴The LORD bless you and keep you;

²⁵The LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;

²⁶The LORD lift up His face toward you and give you peace."

²⁷And they shall put My name upon the sons of Israel, and I will bless them.

5Reading 5 Numbers 7:1–41Chapter page with footnotes →

Offerings of Dedication

^7:1And it came to pass on the day Moses finished setting up the tabernacle, that he anointed it and sanctified it, and all its vessels, and the altar and all its vessels; and he anointed them and sanctified them. ²And the leaders of Israel brought near, the heads of the house of their fathers — they are the leaders of the tribes, they who were standing over those who were numbered. ³And they brought their offering before the LORD: six covered wagons and twelve oxen — a wagon for two of the leaders, and an ox for each one; and they brought them near before the tabernacle.

⁴And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: ⁵Take from them, and they shall be to serve the service of the tent of appointed time (mo-ed); and you shall give them to the Levites, each man according to his service.

⁶And Moses took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. ⁷The two wagons and the four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to their service. ⁸And the four wagons and the eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. ⁹But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the holy things was upon them; upon the shoulder they would carry.

¹⁰And the leaders brought near the dedication-offering of the altar in the day it was anointed; and the leaders brought near their offering before the altar. ¹¹And the LORD said to Moses: One leader for the day, one leader for the day, they shall bring near their offering for the dedication of the altar.

¹²And it came to pass, he who brought near his offering on the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah. ¹³And his offering was one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty, one silver basin of seventy shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain-offering; ¹⁴one pan of ten of gold, full of incense; ¹⁵one bull, son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, son of its year, for a burnt-offering; ¹⁶one he-goat of the goats for a sin-offering; ¹⁷and for a sacrifice of the peace-offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab.

¹⁸On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, leader of Issachar, brought near. ¹⁹He brought near his offering: one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty, one silver basin of seventy shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain-offering; ²⁰one pan of ten of gold, full of incense; ²¹one bull, son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, son of its year, for a burnt-offering; ²²one he-goat of the goats for a sin-offering; ²³and for a sacrifice of the peace-offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zuar.

²⁴On the third day the leader of the sons of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon. ²⁵His offering was one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty, one silver basin of seventy shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain-offering; ²⁶one pan of ten of gold, full of incense; ²⁷one bull, son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, son of its year, for a burnt-offering; ²⁸one he-goat of the goats for a sin-offering; ²⁹and for a sacrifice of the peace-offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon.

³⁰On the fourth day the leader of the sons of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur. ³¹His offering was one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty, one silver basin of seventy shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain-offering; ³²one pan of ten of gold, full of incense; ³³one bull, son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, son of its year, for a burnt-offering; ³⁴one he-goat of the goats for a sin-offering; ³⁵and for a sacrifice of the peace-offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Elizur the son of Shedeur.

³⁶On the fifth day the leader of the sons of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. ³⁷His offering was one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty, one silver basin of seventy shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain-offering; ³⁸one pan of ten of gold, full of incense; ³⁹one bull, son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, son of its year, for a burnt-offering; ⁴⁰one he-goat of the goats for a sin-offering; ⁴¹and for a sacrifice of the peace-offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.

6Reading 6 Numbers 7:42–71Chapter page with footnotes →

^7:42On the sixth day the leader of the sons of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel. ⁴³His offering was one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty, one silver basin of seventy shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain-offering; ⁴⁴one pan of ten of gold, full of incense; ⁴⁵one bull, son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, son of its year, for a burnt-offering; ⁴⁶one he-goat of the goats for a sin-offering; ⁴⁷and for a sacrifice of the peace-offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Eliasaph the son of Deuel.

⁴⁸On the seventh day the leader of the sons of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud. ⁴⁹His offering was one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty, one silver basin of seventy shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain-offering; ⁵⁰one pan of ten of gold, full of incense; ⁵¹one bull, son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, son of its year, for a burnt-offering; ⁵²one he-goat of the goats for a sin-offering; ⁵³and for a sacrifice of the peace-offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud.

⁵⁴On the eighth day the leader of the sons of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. ⁵⁵His offering was one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty, one silver basin of seventy shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain-offering; ⁵⁶one pan of ten of gold, full of incense; ⁵⁷one bull, son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, son of its year, for a burnt-offering; ⁵⁸one he-goat of the goats for a sin-offering; ⁵⁹and for a sacrifice of the peace-offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur.

⁶⁰On the ninth day the leader of the sons of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni. ⁶¹His offering was one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty, one silver basin of seventy shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain-offering; ⁶²one pan of ten of gold, full of incense; ⁶³one bull, son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, son of its year, for a burnt-offering; ⁶⁴one he-goat of the goats for a sin-offering; ⁶⁵and for a sacrifice of the peace-offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.

⁶⁶On the tenth day the leader of the sons of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. ⁶⁷His offering was one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty, one silver basin of seventy shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain-offering; ⁶⁸one pan of ten of gold, full of incense; ⁶⁹one bull, son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, son of its year, for a burnt-offering; ⁷⁰one he-goat of the goats for a sin-offering; ⁷¹and for a sacrifice of the peace-offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.

7Reading 7 Numbers 7:72–89Chapter page with footnotes →

^7:72On the eleventh day the leader of the sons of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran. ⁷³His offering was one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty, one silver basin of seventy shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain-offering; ⁷⁴one pan of ten of gold, full of incense; ⁷⁵one bull, son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, son of its year, for a burnt-offering; ⁷⁶one he-goat of the goats for a sin-offering; ⁷⁷and for a sacrifice of the peace-offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Pagiel the son of Ochran.

⁷⁸On the twelfth day the leader of the sons of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan. ⁷⁹His offering was one silver dish, its weight a hundred and thirty, one silver basin of seventy shekels by the shekel of the sanctuary, both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a grain-offering; ⁸⁰one pan of ten of gold, full of incense; ⁸¹one bull, son of the herd, one ram, one lamb, son of its year, for a burnt-offering; ⁸²one he-goat of the goats for a sin-offering; ⁸³and for a sacrifice of the peace-offerings: two oxen, five rams, five he-goats, five lambs, sons of a year. This was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.

⁸⁴This was the dedication-offering of the altar, in the day it was anointed, from the leaders of Israel: twelve silver dishes, twelve silver basins, twelve golden pans;

⁸⁵a hundred and thirty the weight of the one silver dish, and seventy the one basin; all the silver of the vessels two thousand and four hundred by the shekel of the sanctuary;

⁸⁶twelve golden pans, full of incense, ten, ten the pan by the shekel of the sanctuary; all the gold of the pans a hundred and twenty;

⁸⁷all the oxen for the burnt-offering twelve bulls, the rams twelve, the lambs, sons of a year, twelve, and their grain-offering; and he-goats of the goats twelve for a sin-offering;

⁸⁸and all the oxen for the sacrifice of the peace-offerings twenty and four bulls, the rams sixty, the he-goats sixty, the lambs, sons of a year, sixty. This was the dedication-offering of the altar after it was anointed.

⁸⁹And when Moses went into the tent of appointed time (mo-ed) to speak with him, then he heard the voice speaking to him from above the cover which is upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and He spoke to him.

PJudges 13:2–25Chapter page with footnotes →

^13:2And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had not borne. ³And the messenger of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her: Behold now, you are barren and have not borne, but you shall conceive and bear a son. ⁴And now beware, please, and do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean. ⁵For behold, you are conceiving and bearing a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for a Nazirite of God shall the boy be from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.

⁶And the woman came and said to her husband, saying: A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the messenger of God, very awesome; and I did not ask him from where he was, and his name he did not tell me. ⁷And he said to me: Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; and now do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat any uncleanness, for a Nazirite of God shall the boy be from the womb to the day of his death.

⁸And Manoah entreated the LORD and said: Oh, my Lord, let the man of God whom you sent come again, please, to us, and teach us what we shall do for the boy that is to be born.

⁹And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the messenger of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, and Manoah her husband was not with her. ¹⁰And the woman hurried and ran and told her husband, and said to him: Behold, the man has appeared to me, who came that day to me.

¹¹And Manoah arose and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said to him: Are you the man who spoke to the woman? And he said: I am.

¹²And Manoah said: Now let your words come to pass. What shall be the judgment of the boy and his work?

¹³And the messenger of the LORD said to Manoah: Of all that I said to the woman let her beware. ¹⁴Of all that comes out of the vine of wine she shall not eat, and wine or strong drink let her not drink, and any uncleanness let her not eat; all that I commanded her let her observe.

¹⁵And Manoah said to the messenger of the LORD: Let us detain you, please, and let us prepare before you a kid of the goats.

¹⁶And the messenger of the LORD said to Manoah: If you detain me, I will not eat of your bread; and if you prepare a burnt offering, you shall offer it up to the LORD. For Manoah did not know that he was the messenger of the LORD.

¹⁷And Manoah said to the messenger of the LORD: What is your name, that when your word comes to pass we may honor you?

¹⁸And the messenger of the LORD said to him: Why do you ask thus for my name, seeing it is wonderful?

¹⁹And Manoah took the kid of the goats and the meal offering, and offered it up upon the rock to the LORD; and He did wondrously, while Manoah and his wife were looking on. ²⁰And it came to pass, as the flame went up from off the altar toward the heavens, that the messenger of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar; and Manoah and his wife were looking on, and they fell on their faces to the earth. ²¹And the messenger of the LORD did not appear again to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the messenger of the LORD.

²²And Manoah said to his wife: We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

²³And his wife said to him: If the LORD had delighted to kill us, He would not have taken from our hand a burnt offering and a meal offering, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor at this time have let us hear such as this.

²⁴And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. ²⁵And the spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

AActs 21:17–26Chapter page with footnotes →

Paul’s Arrival at Jerusalem

^21:17After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. ¹⁸And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

²⁰And when they heard it they began glorifying the Lord; and they said to him, "You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law; ²¹and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. ²²What, then, is to be done? A multitude must certainly come together, for they will hear that you have come.

²³Therefore do this that we tell you: we have four men who are under a vow; ²⁴take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the law.

²⁵But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should observe no such thing, except that they keep themselves from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from sexual immorality."

²⁶Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.