One Year Bible.

The Altar on Mount Ebal

¹Then Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Keep all the commandments I am giving you today.

²And on the day you cross the Jordan into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, set up large stones and coat them with plaster. ³Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land that the LORD your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you. ⁴And when you have crossed the Jordan, you are to set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I am commanding you today, and you are to coat them with plaster.

⁵Moreover, you are to build there an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones. You must not use any iron tool on them. ⁶You shall build the altar of the LORD your God with uncut stones and offer upon it burnt offerings to the LORD your God. ⁷There you are to sacrifice your peace offerings, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the LORD your God. ⁸And you shall write distinctly upon these stones all the words of this law.”

⁹Then Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel: “Be silent, O Israel, and listen! This day you have become the people of the LORD your God. ¹⁰You shall therefore obey the voice of the LORD your God and follow His commandments and statutes I am giving you today.”

Curses Pronounced from Ebal

¹¹On that day Moses commanded the people: ¹²“When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin. ¹³And these tribes shall stand on Mount Ebal to deliver the curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

¹⁴Then the Levites shall proclaim in a loud voice to every Israelite:

¹⁵‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image — an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman — and sets it up in secret.’

And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

¹⁶‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or mother.’

And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

¹⁷‘Cursed is he who moves his neighbor’s boundary stone.’

And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

¹⁸‘Cursed is he who lets a blind man wander in the road.’

And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

¹⁹‘Cursed is he who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless, or the widow.’

And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

²⁰‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, for he has violated his father’s marriage bed.’

And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

²¹‘Cursed is he who lies with any animal.’

And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

²²‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’

And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

²³‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his mother-in-law.’

And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

²⁴‘Cursed is he who strikes down his neighbor in secret.’

And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

²⁵‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.’

And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’

²⁶‘Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice.’

And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’[’’]

Freedom in Christ

¹It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.

²Take notice: I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. ⁴You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.

⁵But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the hope of righteousness. ⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.

⁷You were running so well. Who has obstructed you from obeying the truth? ⁸Such persuasion does not come from the One who calls you. ⁹A little leaven works through the whole batch of dough. ¹⁰I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is troubling you will bear the judgment, whoever he may be.

¹¹Now, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. ¹²As for those who are agitating you, I wish they would proceed to emasculate themselves!

¹³For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love. ¹⁴The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵But if you keep on biting and devouring one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.

Walking by the Spirit

¹⁶So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

¹⁹The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, and rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.

Waters from under the Temple

¹Then the man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water flowing from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.

²Next he brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and there I saw the water trickling out from the south side.

³As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through ankle-deep water.

⁴Then he measured off a thousand cubits and led me through knee-deep water.

Again he measured a thousand cubits and led me through waist-deep water.

⁵Once again he measured off a thousand cubits, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough for swimming — a river that could not be crossed on foot.

⁶“Son of man, do you see this?” he asked. Then he led me back to the bank of the river.

⁷When I arrived, I saw a great number of trees along both banks of the river. ⁸And he said to me, “This water flows out to the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah. When it empties into the Dead Sea, the water there becomes fresh. ⁹Wherever the river flows, there will be swarms of living creatures and a great number of fish, because it flows there and makes the waters fresh; so wherever the river flows, everything will flourish.

¹⁰Fishermen will stand by the shore; from En-gedi to En-eglaim they will spread their nets to catch fish of many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea.

¹¹But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt.

¹²Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of all kinds will grow. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for healing.”

The Borders of the Land

¹³This is what the Lord GOD says: “These are the boundaries by which you are to divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall receive two portions. ¹⁴You are to divide it equally among them. Because I swore with an uplifted hand to give it to your forefathers, this land will fall to you as an inheritance.

¹⁵This shall be the boundary of the land:

On the north side it will extend from the Great Sea by way of Hethlon through Lebo-hamath to Zedad, ¹⁶Berothah, and Sibraim (which is on the border between Damascus and Hamath), as far as Hazer-hatticon, which is on the border of Hauran. ¹⁷So the border will run from the Sea to Hazar-enan, along the northern border of Damascus, with the territory of Hamath to the north. This will be the northern boundary.

¹⁸On the east side the border will run between Hauran and Damascus, along the Jordan between Gilead and the land of Israel, to the Eastern Sea and as far as Tamar. This will be the eastern boundary.

¹⁹On the south side it will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, and along the Brook of Egypt to the Great Sea. This will be the southern boundary.

²⁰And on the west side, the Great Sea will be the boundary up to a point opposite Lebo-hamath. This will be the western boundary.

²¹You are to divide this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. ²²You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners who dwell among you and who have children. You are to treat them as native-born Israelites; along with you, they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel. ²³In whatever tribe a foreigner dwells, you are to assign his inheritance there,” declares the Lord GOD.

The Portions for the Tribes

¹“Now these are the names of the tribes:

At the northern frontier, Dan will have one portion bordering the road of Hethlon to Lebo-hamath and running on to Hazar-enan on the border of Damascus with Hamath to the north, and extending from the east side to the west side.

²Asher will have one portion bordering the territory of Dan from east to west.

³Naphtali will have one portion bordering the territory of Asher from east to west.

⁴Manasseh will have one portion bordering the territory of Naphtali from east to west.

⁵Ephraim will have one portion bordering the territory of Manasseh from east to west.

⁶Reuben will have one portion bordering the territory of Ephraim from east to west.

⁷Judah will have one portion bordering the territory of Reuben from east to west.

The Portions for the Priests and Levites

⁸Bordering the territory of Judah, from east to west, will be the portion you are to set apart. It will be 25,000 cubits wide, and the length of a tribal portion from east to west. In the center will be the sanctuary.

⁹The special portion you set apart to the LORD shall be 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide.

¹⁰This will be the holy portion for the priests. It will be 25,000 cubits long on the north side, 10,000 cubits wide on the west side, 10,000 cubits wide on the east side, and 25,000 cubits long on the south side. In the center will be the sanctuary of the LORD. ¹¹It will be for the consecrated priests, the descendants of Zadok, who kept My charge and did not go astray as the Levites did when the Israelites went astray. ¹²It will be a special portion for them set apart from the land, a most holy portion adjacent to the territory of the Levites.

¹³Bordering the territory of the priests, the Levites shall have an area 25,000 cubits long and 10,000 cubits wide. The whole length will be 25,000 cubits, and the width 10,000 cubits. ¹⁴They must not sell or exchange any of it, and they must not transfer this best part of the land, for it is holy to the LORD.

The Common Portion

¹⁵The remaining area, 5,000 cubits wide and 25,000 cubits long, will be for common use by the city, for houses, and for pastureland. The city will be in the center of it ¹⁶and will have these measurements: 4,500 cubits on the north side, 4,500 cubits on the south side, 4,500 cubits on the east side, and 4,500 cubits on the west side.

¹⁷The pastureland of the city will extend 250 cubits to the north, 250 cubits to the south, 250 cubits to the east, and 250 cubits to the west.

¹⁸The remainder of the length bordering the holy portion and running adjacent to it will be 10,000 cubits on the east side and 10,000 cubits on the west side. Its produce will supply food for the workers of the city. ¹⁹The workers of the city who cultivate it will come from all the tribes of Israel.

²⁰The entire portion will be a square, 25,000 cubits by 25,000 cubits. You are to set apart the holy portion, along with the city property.

The Portion for the Prince

²¹The remaining area on both sides of the holy portion and of the property of the city will belong to the prince. He will own the land adjacent to the tribal portions, extending eastward from the 25,000 cubits of the holy district toward the eastern border, and westward from the 25,000 cubits to the western border. And in the center of them will be the holy portion and the sanctuary of the temple.

²²So the Levitical property and the city property will lie in the center of the area belonging to the prince— the area between the borders of Judah and Benjamin.

The Portions for the Remaining Tribes

²³As for the rest of the tribes:

Benjamin will have one portion extending from the east side to the west side.

²⁴Simeon will have one portion bordering the territory of Benjamin from east to west.

²⁵Issachar will have one portion bordering the territory of Simeon from east to west.

²⁶Zebulun will have one portion bordering the territory of Issachar from east to west.

²⁷And Gad will have one portion bordering the territory of Zebulun from east to west.

²⁸The southern border of Gad will run from Tamar to the waters of Meribath-kadesh, then along the Brook of Egypt and out to the Great Sea. ²⁹This is the land you are to allot as an inheritance to the tribes of Israel, and these will be their portions,” declares the Lord GOD.

The City Gates and Dimensions

³⁰“These will be the exits of the city:

Beginning on the north side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, ³¹the gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel. On the north side there will be three gates: the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi.

³²On the east side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan.

³³On the south side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun.

³⁴And on the west side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali.

³⁵The perimeter of the city will be 18,000 cubits, and from that day on the name of the city will be:

THE LORD IS THERE.”