Bible Reading Plan

The Census

¹ The Lord spoke to Moses in the tent of meeting^(a) in the Desert of Sinai^(b) on the first day of the second month^(c) of the second year after the Israelites came out of Egypt.^(d) He said: ² "Take a census^(e) of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families,^(f) listing every man by name,^(g) one by one. ³ You and Aaron^(h) are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more⁽ⁱ⁾ and able to serve in the army.^{(j) 4} One man from each tribe,^(k) each of them the head of his family,^(l) is to help you.^{(m) 5} These are the names⁽ⁿ⁾ of the men who are to assist you:

¹⁶ These were the men appointed from the community, the leaders^(am) of their ancestral tribes.^(an) They were the heads of the clans of Israel.^(ao)

¹⁷ Moses and Aaron took these men whose names had been specified, ¹⁸ and they called the whole community together on the first day of the second month.^(ap) The people registered their ancestry^(aq) by their clans and families,^(ar) and the men twenty years old or more^(as) were listed by name, one by one, ¹⁹ as the Lord commanded Moses. And so he counted^(at) them in the Desert of Sinai:

⁴⁴ These were the men counted by Moses and Aaron^(bv) and the twelve leaders of Israel, each one representing his family. ⁴⁵ All the Israelites twenty years old or more^(bw) who were able to serve in Israel's army were counted according to their families.^{(bx) 46} The total number was 603,550.^(by)

⁴⁷ The ancestral tribe of the Levites,^(bz) however, was not counted^(ca) along with the others. ⁴⁸ The Lord had said to Moses: ⁴⁹ "You must not count the tribe of Levi or include them in the census of the other Israelites. ⁵⁰ Instead, appoint the Levites to be in charge of the tabernacle^(cb) of the covenant law^(cc)—over all its furnishings^(cd) and everything belonging to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings; they are to take care of it and encamp around it. ⁵¹ Whenever the tabernacle^(ce) is to move,^(cf) the Levites are to take it down, and whenever the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall do it.^(cg) Anyone else who approaches it is to be put to death.^{(ch) 52} The Israelites are to set up their tents by divisions, each of them in their own camp under their standard.^{(ci) 53} The Levites, however, are to set up their tents around the tabernacle^(cj) of the covenant law so that my wrath will not fall^(ck) on the Israelite community. The Levites are to be responsible for the care of the tabernacle of the covenant law.^(cl)"

⁵⁴ The Israelites did all this just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Chapter 12

The Parable of the Tenants^(a)

¹ Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard.^(b) He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. ² At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ³ But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. ⁵ He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

⁶ "He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all,^(c) saying, ‘They will respect my son.'

⁷ "But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' ⁸ So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹ "What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Haven't you read this passage of Scripture:

¹² Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd;^(f) so they left him and went away.^(g)

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar^(h)

¹³ Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians⁽ⁱ⁾ to Jesus to catch him^(j) in his words. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, "Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren't swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax^[b] to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay or shouldn't we?"

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. "Why are you trying to trap me?" he asked. "Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." ¹⁶ They brought the coin, and he asked them, "Whose image is this? And whose inscription?"

"Caesar's," they replied.

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's."^(k)

And they were amazed at him.

Marriage at the Resurrection^(l)

¹⁸ Then the Sadducees,^(m) who say there is no resurrection,⁽ⁿ⁾ came to him with a question. ¹⁹ "Teacher," they said, "Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.^{(o) 20} Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹ The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²² In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³ At the resurrection^[c] whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?"

²⁴ Jesus replied, "Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures^(p) or the power of God? ²⁵ When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.^{(q) 26} Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'^[d]?^{(r) 27} He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!"