And He rose up from there and came into the  ¹borders of Judea and beyond the Jordan; and again crowds came together to Him, and as He was accustomed, again He  ²taught them.

 ¹And some  ²Pharisees came and asked Him whether it was lawful for a man to  ³divorce a wife, so as to tempt Him.

And He answered and said to them, What did Moses command you?

And they said, Moses allowed us to write a certificate of divorce and divorce her.

And Jesus said to them, Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you.

But from the beginning of creation, He made them male and female.

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother  ¹and shall be joined to his wife;

And the two shall be one flesh. So then they are no longer two, but one flesh.

Therefore what God has yoked together, let man not separate.

And in the house the disciples questioned Him again concerning this.

And He said to them, Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.

And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.

And they brought little children to Him so that He might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.

But Jesus, seeing it, was  ¹indignant and said to them,  ²Allow the little children to come to Me. Do not forbid them, for of  ³such is the kingdom of God.

Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child shall by no means enter into it.

And taking them into His arms, He fervently blessed them, laying His hands on them.

 ¹And as He went out into the road, someone ran to Him and kneeling before Him asked Him, Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?

And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One — God.

You know the commandments: “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.”

And he said to Him, Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.

And Jesus, looking upon him, was  ¹moved with love for him and said to him, One thing you lack: go; the things you have, sell and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow  ²Me.

And at the word his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowing, for he had many possessions.

And Jesus, looking around, said to His disciples, How difficult it will be for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

And the disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus again answered and said to them, Children, how difficult it is  ¹for those who trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!

It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

But they were astonished beyond measure and said  ¹among themselves, Then who can be saved?

Looking upon them, Jesus said, With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.

Peter began to say to Him, Behold, we have left all and followed You.

Jesus said, Truly I say to you, There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel's sake,

But that he shall receive a hundred times as much now at this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, with persecutions, and in the coming age, eternal  ¹life.

But many first will be last, and the last first.

Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Speak to the children of Israel, and take from them  ¹rods, one for each father's house, twelve rods from all their leaders according to their fathers' houses; you shall write everyone's name upon his rod.

And you shall write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi, for there shall be one rod for the head of each of their fathers' houses.

And you shall place them in the Tent of Meeting before the  ¹Testimony, where I meet with you.

And the rod of the man whom I choose shall bud, and I will put a stop to the murmurings of the children of Israel against Me, which they murmur against you.

So Moses spoke to the children of Israel. And every one of their leaders gave him a rod, one rod for each leader according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods, with the rod of Aaron among their rods.

And Moses placed the rods before Jehovah in the Tent of the Testimony.

And on the next day Moses went into the Tent of the Testimony, and there was the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi: it had  ¹budded; it even put forth buds and produced blossoms and bore ripe almonds.

And Moses brought out all the rods from before Jehovah to all the children of Israel, and they looked; and each one took his rod.

Then Jehovah said to Moses,  ¹Put back the rod of Aaron before the Testimony to be kept as a sign against the rebels, so that you may put an end to their murmurings against Me, and they not die.

And Moses did so; just as Jehovah commanded him, so he did.

And the children of Israel spoke to Moses, saying, Alas, we  ¹die out; we perish; all of us perish.

Everyone who comes near, who comes near to the tabernacle of Jehovah, dies. Are we to completely die out?

Then Jehovah  ¹said to Aaron, You and your sons and your father's household with you shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and you and your sons with you shall bear the  ²iniquity of your priesthood.

And your brothers also, the tribe of  ¹Levi, the tribe of your father, bring near with you, so that they may be joined to you and minister to you, while you and your sons with you are before the Tent of the Testimony.

And they shall keep your charge and the charge of all the tent, but they shall not come near to the furnishings of the sanctuary and to the altar, so that they do not die, neither they nor you.

And they shall be joined to you and keep the charge of the Tent of Meeting for all the service of the tent, but a stranger shall not come near to you.

And you shall keep the charge of the  ¹sanctuary and the charge of the  ¹altar, so that there may be no more wrath upon the children of Israel.

And I Myself have taken your brothers the Levites from among the children of Israel. They are a  ¹gift to you, given to Jehovah, to do the service of the Tent of Meeting.

But you and your sons with you shall attend to your priesthood for everything concerning the altar and within the veil, and you shall carry out your service. I give you the priesthood as a service of  ¹gift, but the stranger who comes near shall be put to death.

Then Jehovah spoke to Aaron, And I Myself have given you charge of My heave offerings, even all the holy things of the children of Israel; I have given them to you because of the anointing, and to your sons, as a perpetual statute.

This shall be yours of the most holy things,  ¹kept from the fire. Every offering of theirs, even every meal  ²offering of theirs and every sin offering of theirs and every trespass offering of theirs, which they shall render to Me, shall be  ³most holy for you and for your sons.

As the most holy things you shall eat it; every  ¹male shall eat it; it shall be holy to you.

This also is yours, the heave offering of their gift, even all the wave offerings of the children of Israel. I have given them to you and to your  ¹sons and to your  ¹daughters with you, as a perpetual statute; everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.

All the  ¹best of the oil, and all the  ¹best of the new wine and of the grain, their firstfruits that they give to Jehovah, I have given to you.

The firstfruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to Jehovah, shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house may eat it.

Everything devoted in Israel shall be yours.

Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, which they present to Jehovah, whether human or animal, shall be yours; nevertheless the firstborn of human beings you shall surely  ¹redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem.

And those who are to be redeemed from a month old you shall redeem, according to your estimation, for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.

But the firstborn of a cow or the firstborn of a sheep or the firstborn of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall sprinkle their blood upon the altar and burn their fat as an offering by fire for a satisfying fragrance to Jehovah.

But their flesh shall be yours; like the breast of the wave offering and like the right thigh, it shall be yours.

All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer to Jehovah, I have given to you and to your sons and your daughters with you, as a perpetual statute. It is a  ¹covenant of salt forever before Jehovah for you and for your descendants with you.

And Jehovah said to Aaron, You shall have  ¹no inheritance in their land, nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel.

And to the children of Levi I have now given every  ¹tithe in Israel for an inheritance in return for their service which they carry out, the service of the Tent of Meeting.

From now on the children of Israel shall not come near the Tent of Meeting, so that they do not incur sin and die.

But the Levites shall do the service of the Tent of Meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. And among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

For the tithe of the children of Israel, which they offer as a heave offering to Jehovah, I have given to the Levites for an inheritance; therefore I have said to them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance.

Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

Moreover you shall speak to the Levites and say to them, When you take from the children of Israel the tithe which I have given you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up a  ¹heave offering from it for Jehovah, a tithe of the tithe.

And your heave offering shall be reckoned to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor and the fullness of the wine press.

Thus you shall also offer a heave offering to Jehovah from all your tithes, which you receive from the children of Israel; and from it you shall give Jehovah's heave offering to  ¹Aaron the priest.

Out of all your gifts you shall offer every heave offering of Jehovah, from all the best of it, the sanctified portion of it from them.

Therefore you shall say to them, When you heave from it the best of it, then it shall be reckoned to the Levites as though it were the produce of the threshing floor and the produce of the wine press.

And you may eat it in every place, you and your households, for it is your  ¹reward in return for your service in the Tent of Meeting.

And you shall bear no sin by reason of it, when you have heaved from it the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy things of the children of Israel, so that you do not die.

Then Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,

This is the statute of the law which Jehovah has commanded, saying, Tell the children of Israel to bring you a  ¹red heifer without defect, in which is no blemish and upon which a yoke has never come.

And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and someone shall bring it  ¹outside the camp and slaughter it in his presence.

And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle its blood toward the front of the Tent of Meeting seven times.

And the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin and its flesh and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned.

And the priest shall take  ¹cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet strands, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; but the priest shall be unclean until the evening.

And he who burns  ¹the heifer shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water, and shall be unclean until the evening.

And a man who is clean shall gather up the  ¹ashes of the heifer and place them outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the assembly of the children of Israel as water for  ²impurity; it is a sin offering.

And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And it shall be a perpetual statute to the children of Israel and to the stranger who sojourns among them.

One who touches the dead body of any human being shall be unclean seven days.

He shall purify himself with it on the  ¹third day and on the  ¹seventh day, and then he shall be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he shall not be clean.

Whoever touches a dead person, the body of a human being who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Jehovah; and that person shall be cut off from Israel. Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

This is the law when a man dies in a tent: Anyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days.

And every open vessel, which has no covering tied down on it, is unclean.

And whoever in the open field touches one who has been slain with a sword or a dead body or a human bone or a grave shall be unclean seven days.

And for the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering, and  ¹running water shall be added to them in a vessel;

And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there, or on the one who touched the bone or the one slain or the one who died or the grave.

And the clean person shall sprinkle on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day, and on the seventh day he shall purify him. And he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and shall be clean in the evening.

But the man who shall be unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the congregation, because he has defiled the sanctuary of Jehovah; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.

So it shall be a perpetual statute for them. And he who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.

And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.