One Year Bible.

Laws about Vows

¹Then Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ²If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.

³And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge, ⁴and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁵But if her father prohibits her on the day he hears about it, then none of the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. The LORD will absolve her because her father has prohibited her.

⁶If a woman marries while under a vow or rash promise by which she has bound herself, ⁷and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her on that day, then the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ⁸But if her husband prohibits her when he hears of it, he nullifies the vow that binds her or the rash promise she has made, and the LORD will absolve her.

⁹Every vow a widow or divorced woman pledges to fulfill is binding on her.

¹⁰If a woman in her husband’s house has made a vow or put herself under an obligation with an oath, ¹¹and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her and does not prohibit her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. ¹²But if her husband nullifies them on the day he hears of them, then nothing that came from her lips, whether her vows or pledges, shall stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will absolve her.

¹³Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow or any sworn pledge to deny herself. ¹⁴But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all the vows and pledges that bind her. He has confirmed them, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard about them. ¹⁵But if he nullifies them after he hears of them, then he will bear her iniquity.”

¹⁶These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the relationship between a man and his wife, and between a father and a young daughter still in his home.

Vengeance on Midian

¹And the LORD said to Moses, ²“Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

³So Moses told the people, “Arm some of your men for war, that they may go against the Midianites and execute the LORD’s vengeance on them. ⁴Send into battle a thousand men from each tribe of Israel.”

⁵So a thousand men were recruited from each tribe of Israel— twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶And Moses sent the thousand from each tribe into battle, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took with him the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

⁷Then they waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. ⁸Among the slain were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba— the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

⁹The Israelites captured the Midianite women and their children, and they plundered all their herds, flocks, and goods. ¹⁰Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites had lived, as well as all their encampments, ¹¹and carried away all the plunder and spoils, both people and animals.

¹²They brought the captives, spoils, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho. ¹³And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp.

¹⁴But Moses was angry with the officers of the army — the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds — who were returning from the battle. ¹⁵“Have you spared all the women?” he asked them. ¹⁶“Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD. ¹⁷So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man, ¹⁸but spare for yourselves every girl who has never had relations with a man.

¹⁹All of you who have killed a person or touched the dead are to remain outside the camp for seven days. On the third day and the seventh day you are to purify both yourselves and your captives. ²⁰And purify every garment and leather good, everything made of goat’s hair, and every article of wood.”

²¹Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, “This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses: ²²Only the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead— ²³everything that can withstand the fire— must be put through the fire, and it will be clean. But it must still be purified with the water of purification. And everything that cannot withstand the fire must pass through the water. ²⁴On the seventh day you are to wash your clothes, and you will be clean. After that you may enter the camp.”

Division of the Spoils

²⁵The LORD said to Moses, ²⁶“You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the congregation are to take a count of what was captured, both of man and beast. ²⁷Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to battle and the rest of the congregation.

²⁸Set aside a tribute for the LORD from what belongs to the soldiers who went into battle: one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, or sheep. ²⁹Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD.

³⁰From the Israelites’ half, take one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or other animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.”

³¹So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD had commanded Moses, ³²and this plunder remained from the spoils the soldiers had taken:

675,000 sheep,

³³72,000 cattle,

³⁴61,000 donkeys,

³⁵and 32,000 women who had not slept with a man.

³⁶This was the half portion for those who had gone to war:

337,500 sheep, ³⁷including a tribute to the LORD of 675,

³⁸36,000 cattle, including a tribute to the LORD of 72,

³⁹30,500 donkeys, including a tribute to the LORD of 61,

⁴⁰and 16,000 people, including a tribute to the LORD of 32.

⁴¹Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as an offering for the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

⁴²From the Israelites’ half, which Moses had set apart from the men who had gone to war, ⁴³this half belonged to the congregation:

337,500 sheep,

⁴⁴36,000 cattle,

⁴⁵30,500 donkeys,

⁴⁶and 16,000 people.

⁴⁷From the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty persons and animals and gave them to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded him.

The Voluntary Offering

⁴⁸Then the officers who were over the units of the army — the commanders of thousands and of hundreds — approached Moses ⁴⁹and said, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one of us is missing. ⁵⁰So we have brought to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man acquired— armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces— to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”

⁵¹So Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them all the articles made out of gold. ⁵²All the gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds presented as an offering to the LORD weighed 16,750 shekels. ⁵³Each of the soldiers had taken plunder for himself. ⁵⁴And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD.

A Lament for Pharaoh King of Egypt

¹In the twelfth year, on the first day of the twelfth month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, take up a lament for Pharaoh king of Egypt and say to him:

‘You are like a lion among the nations;

you are like a monster in the seas.

You thrash about in your rivers,

churning up the waters with your feet

and muddying the streams.’

³This is what the Lord GOD says:

‘I will spread My net over you

with a company of many peoples,

and they will draw you up in My net.

⁴I will abandon you on the land

and hurl you into the open field.

I will cause all the birds of the air

to settle upon you,

and all the beasts of the earth

to eat their fill of you.

⁵I will put your flesh on the mountains

and fill the valleys with your remains.

⁶I will drench the land

with the flow of your blood,

all the way to the mountains —

the ravines will be filled.

⁷When I extinguish you,

I will cover the heavens

and darken their stars.

I will cover the sun with a cloud,

and the moon will not give its light.

⁸All the shining lights in the heavens

I will darken over you,

and I will bring darkness

upon your land,’

declares the Lord GOD.

⁹‘I will trouble the hearts of many peoples,

when I bring about your destruction among the nations,

in countries you do not know.

¹⁰I will cause many peoples

to be appalled over you,

and their kings will shudder in horror because of you

when I brandish My sword before them.

On the day of your downfall

each of them will tremble

every moment for his life.’

¹¹For this is what the Lord GOD says:

‘The sword of the king of Babylon

will come against you!

¹²I will make your hordes fall

by the swords of the mighty,

the most ruthless of all nations.

They will ravage the pride of Egypt

and all her multitudes will be destroyed.

¹³I will slaughter all her cattle

beside the abundant waters.

No human foot will muddy them again,

and no cattle hooves will disturb them.

¹⁴Then I will let her waters settle

and will make her rivers flow like oil,’

declares the Lord GOD.

¹⁵‘When I make the land of Egypt a desolation

and empty it of all that filled it,

when I strike down all who live there,

then they will know that I am the LORD.’

¹⁶This is the lament they will chant for her; the daughters of the nations will chant it. Over Egypt and all her multitudes they will chant it, declares the Lord GOD.”

Egypt Cast into the Pit

¹⁷In the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ¹⁸“Son of man, wail for the multitudes of Egypt, and consign her and the daughters of the mighty nations to the depths of the earth with those who descend to the Pit:

¹⁹Whom do you surpass in beauty?

Go down and be placed with the uncircumcised!

²⁰They will fall among those slain by the sword.

The sword is appointed!

Let them drag her away

along with all her multitudes.

²¹Mighty chiefs will speak from the midst of Sheol

about Egypt and her allies:

‘They have come down and lie with the uncircumcised,

with those slain by the sword.’

²²Assyria is there with her whole company;

her graves are all around her.

All of them are slain,

fallen by the sword.

²³Her graves are set in the depths of the Pit,

and her company is all around her grave.

All of them are slain,

fallen by the sword—

those who once spread terror

in the land of the living.

²⁴Elam is there

with all her multitudes around her grave.

All of them are slain,

fallen by the sword—

those who went down uncircumcised

to the earth below,

who once spread their terror

in the land of the living.

They bear their disgrace

with those who descend to the Pit.

²⁵Among the slain they prepare

a resting place for Elam

with all her hordes,

with her graves all around her.

All of them are uncircumcised,

slain by the sword,

although their terror was once spread

in the land of the living.

They bear their disgrace

with those who descend to the Pit.

They are placed among the slain.

²⁶Meshech and Tubal are there

with all their multitudes,

with their graves all around them.

All of them are uncircumcised,

slain by the sword,

because they spread their terror

in the land of the living.

²⁷They do not lie down

with the fallen warriors of old,

who went down to Sheol

with their weapons of war,

whose swords were placed under their heads,

whose shields rested on their bones,

although the terror of the mighty

was once in the land of the living.

²⁸But you too will be shattered

and lie down among the uncircumcised,

with those slain by the sword.

²⁹Edom is there,

and all her kings and princes,

who despite their might

are laid among those slain by the sword.

They lie down with the uncircumcised,

with those who descend to the Pit.

³⁰All the leaders of the north

and all the Sidonians are there;

they went down in disgrace with the slain,

despite the terror of their might.

They lie uncircumcised

with those slain by the sword

and bear their shame

with those who descend to the Pit.

³¹Pharaoh will see them

and be comforted over all his multitude—

Pharaoh and all his army,

slain by the sword,

declares the Lord GOD.

³²For I will spread My terror

in the land of the living,

so that Pharaoh and all his multitude

will be laid to rest among the uncircumcised,

with those slain by the sword,

declares the Lord GOD.”

The Two Witnesses

¹Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the number of worshipers there. ²But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months. ³And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

⁴These witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. ⁵If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants to harm them must be killed. ⁶These witnesses have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall during the days of their prophecy, and power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.

The Witnesses Killed and Raised

⁷When the two witnesses have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will wage war with them, and will overpower and kill them. ⁸Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city — figuratively called Sodom and Egypt — where their Lord was also crucified. ⁹For three and a half days all peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will view their bodies and will not permit them to be laid in a tomb. ¹⁰And those who dwell on the earth will gloat over them and celebrate and send one another gifts, because these two prophets had tormented them.

¹¹But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered the two witnesses, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who saw them. ¹²And the witnesses heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched them.

¹³And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand were killed in the quake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

¹⁴The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is coming shortly.

The Seventh Trumpet

¹⁵Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven:

“The kingdom of the world

has become the kingdom of our Lord

and of His Christ,

and He will reign forever and ever.”

¹⁶And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, ¹⁷saying:

“We give thanks to You, O Lord God Almighty,

the One who is and who was,

because You have taken Your great power

and have begun to reign.

¹⁸The nations were enraged,

and Your wrath has come.

The time has come to judge the dead

and to reward Your servants the prophets,

as well as the saints and those who fear Your name,

both small and great—

and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”

¹⁹Then the temple of God in heaven was opened, and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple. And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.