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The LORD said to Moses,
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"Tell the people of Israel to give you twelve walking sticks, one from the leader of each tribe. Write each man's name on his stick
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and then write Aaron's name on the stick representing Levi. There will be one stick for each tribal leader.
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Take them to the Tent of my presence and put them in front of the Covenant Box, where I meet you.
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Then the stick of the man I have chosen will sprout. In this way I will put a stop to the constant complaining of these Israelites against you."
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So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and each of their leaders gave him a stick, one for each tribe, twelve in all, and Aaron's stick was put with them.
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Moses then put all the sticks in the Tent in front of the LORD's Covenant Box.
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The next day, when Moses went into the Tent, he saw that Aaron's stick, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted. It had budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!
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Moses took all the sticks and showed them to the Israelites. They saw what had happened, and each leader took his own stick back.
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The LORD said to Moses, "Put Aaron's stick back in front of the Covenant Box. It is to be kept as a warning to the rebel Israelites that they will die unless their complaining stops."
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Moses did as the LORD commanded.
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The people of Israel said to Moses, "Then that's the end of us!
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If anyone who even comes near the Tent must die, then we are all as good as dead!"
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The LORD said to Aaron, "You, your sons, and the Levites must suffer the consequences of any guilt connected with serving in the Tent of my presence; but only you and your sons will suffer the consequences of service in the priesthood.
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Bring in your relatives, the tribe of Levi, to work with you and help you while you and your sons are serving at the Tent.
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They are to fulfill their duties to you and their responsibilities for the Tent, but they must not have any contact with sacred objects in the Holy Place or with the altar. If they do, both they and you will be put to death.
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They are to work with you and fulfill their responsibilities for all the service in the Tent, but no unqualified person may work with you.
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You and your sons alone must fulfill the responsibilities for the Holy Place and the altar, so that my anger will not again break out against the people of Israel.
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I am the one who has chosen your relatives the Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you. They are dedicated to me, so that they can carry out their duties in the Tent.
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But you and your sons alone shall fulfill all the responsibilities of the priesthood that concern the altar and what is in the Most Holy Place. These things are your responsibility, because I have given you the gift of the priesthood. Any unqualified person who comes near the sacred objects shall be put to death."
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The LORD said to Aaron, "Remember that I am giving you all the special contributions made to me that are not burned as sacrifices. I am giving them to you and to your descendants as the part assigned to you forever.
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Of the most sacred offerings not burned on the altar, the following belong to you: the grain offerings, the sin offerings, and the repayment offerings. Everything that is presented to me as a sacred offering belongs to you and your sons.
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You must eat these things in a holy place, and only males may eat them; consider them holy.
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"In addition, any other special contributions that the Israelites present to me shall be yours. I am giving them to you, your sons, and your daughters for all time to come. Every member of your family who is ritually clean may eat them.
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"I am giving you all the best of the first produce which the Israelites give me each year: olive oil, wine, and grain.
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It all belongs to you. Every member of your family who is ritually clean may eat it.
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"Everything in Israel that has been unconditionally dedicated to me belongs to you.
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"Every first-born child or animal that the Israelites present to me belongs to you. But you must accept payment to buy back every first-born child, and must also accept payment for every first-born animal that is ritually unclean.
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Children shall be bought back at the age of one month for the fixed price of five pieces of silver, according to the official standard.
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But the first-born of cows, sheep, and goats are not to be bought back; they belong completely to me and are to be sacrificed. Throw their blood against the altar and burn their fat as a food offering, an odor pleasing to me.
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The meat from them belongs to you, like the breast and the right hind leg of the special offering.
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"I am giving to you, to your sons, and to your daughters, for all time to come, all the special contributions which the Israelites present to me. This is an unbreakable covenant that I have made with you and your descendants."
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The LORD said to Aaron, "You will not receive any property that can be inherited, and no part of the land of Israel will be assigned to you. I, the LORD, am all you need."
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The LORD said, "I have given to the Levites every tithe that the people of Israel present to me. This is in payment for their service in taking care of the Tent of my presence.
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The other Israelites must no longer approach the Tent and in this way bring on themselves the penalty of death.
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From now on only the Levites will take care of the Tent and bear the full responsibility for it. This is a permanent rule that applies also to your descendants. The Levites shall have no permanent property in Israel,
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because I have given to them as their possession the tithe which the Israelites present to me as a special contribution. That is why I told them that they would have no permanent property in Israel."
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The LORD commanded Moses
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to say to the Levites: "When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that the LORD gives you as your possession, you must present a tenth of it as a special contribution to the LORD.
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This special contribution will be considered as the equivalent of the offering which the farmer makes of new grain and new wine.
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In this way you also will present the special contribution that belongs to the LORD from all the tithes which you receive from the Israelites. You are to give this special contribution for the LORD to Aaron the priest.
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Give it from the best that you receive.
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When you have presented the best part, you may keep the rest, just as the farmer keeps what is left after he makes his offering.
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You and your families may eat the rest anywhere, because it is your wages for your service in the Tent.
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You will not become guilty when you eat it, as long as you have presented the best of it to the LORD. But be sure not to profane the sacred gifts of the Israelites by eating any of the gifts before the best part is offered; if you do, you will be put to death."
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Praise the LORD, you heavenly beings; praise his glory and power.
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Praise the LORD's glorious name; bow down before the Holy One when he appears.
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The voice of the LORD is heard on the seas; the glorious God thunders, and his voice echoes over the ocean.
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The voice of the LORD is heard in all its might and majesty.
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The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars, even the cedars of Lebanon.
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He makes the mountains of Lebanon jump like calves and makes Mount Hermon leap like a young bull.
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The voice of the LORD makes the lightning flash.
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His voice makes the desert shake; he shakes the desert of Kadesh.
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The LORD's voice shakes the oaks and strips the leaves from the trees while everyone in his Temple shouts, "Glory to God!"
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The LORD rules over the deep waters; he rules as king forever.
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The LORD gives strength to his people and blesses them with peace.
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Again Jesus began to teach beside Lake Galilee. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it. The boat was out in the water, and the crowd stood on the shore at the water's edge.
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He used parables to teach them many things, saying to them:
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"Listen! Once there was a man who went out to sow grain.
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As he scattered the seed in the field, some of it fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
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Some of it fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. The seeds soon sprouted, because the soil wasn't deep.
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Then, when the sun came up, it burned the young plants; and because the roots had not grown deep enough, the plants soon dried up.
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Some of the seed fell among thorn bushes, which grew up and choked the plants, and they didn't bear grain.
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But some seeds fell in good soil, and the plants sprouted, grew, and bore grain: some had thirty grains, others sixty, and others one hundred."
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And Jesus concluded, "Listen, then, if you have ears!"
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When Jesus was alone, some of those who had heard him came to him with the twelve disciples and asked him to explain the parables.
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"You have been given the secret of the Kingdom of God," Jesus answered. "But the others, who are on the outside, hear all things by means of parables,
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so that, 'They may look and look, yet not see; they may listen and listen, yet not understand. For if they did, they would turn to God, and he would forgive them.' "
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Then Jesus asked them, "Don't you understand this parable? How, then, will you ever understand any parable?
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The sower sows God's message.
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Some people are like the seeds that fall along the path; as soon as they hear the message, Satan comes and takes it away.
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Other people are like the seeds that fall on rocky ground. As soon as they hear the message, they receive it gladly.
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But it does not sink deep into them, and they don't last long. So when trouble or persecution comes because of the message, they give up at once.
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Other people are like the seeds sown among the thorn bushes. These are the ones who hear the message,
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but the worries about this life, the love for riches, and all other kinds of desires crowd in and choke the message, and they don't bear fruit.
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But other people are like seeds sown in good soil. They hear the message, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred."
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Jesus continued, "Does anyone ever bring in a lamp and put it under a bowl or under the bed? Isn't it put on the lampstand?
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Whatever is hidden away will be brought out into the open, and whatever is covered up will be uncovered.
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Listen, then, if you have ears!"
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He also said to them, "Pay attention to what you hear! The same rules you use to judge others will be used by God to judge you---but with even greater severity.
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Those who have something will be given more, and those who have nothing will have taken away from them even the little they have."
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Jesus went on to say, "The Kingdom of God is like this. A man scatters seed in his field.
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He sleeps at night, is up and about during the day, and all the while the seeds are sprouting and growing. Yet he does not know how it happens.
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The soil itself makes the plants grow and bear fruit; first the tender stalk appears, then the head, and finally the head full of grain.
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When the grain is ripe, the man starts cutting it with his sickle, because harvest time has come.
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"What shall we say the Kingdom of God is like?" asked Jesus. "What parable shall we use to explain it?
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It is like this. A man takes a mustard seed, the smallest seed in the world, and plants it in the ground.
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After a while it grows up and becomes the biggest of all plants. It puts out such large branches that the birds come and make their nests in its shade."
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Jesus preached his message to the people, using many other parables like these; he told them as much as they could understand.
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He would not speak to them without using parables, but when he was alone with his disciples, he would explain everything to them.
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On the evening of that same day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let us go across to the other side of the lake."
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So they left the crowd; the disciples got into the boat in which Jesus was already sitting, and they took him with them. Other boats were there too.
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Suddenly a strong wind blew up, and the waves began to spill over into the boat, so that it was about to fill with water.
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Jesus was in the back of the boat, sleeping with his head on a pillow. The disciples woke him up and said, "Teacher, don't you care that we are about to die?"
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Jesus stood up and commanded the wind, "Be quiet!" and he said to the waves, "Be still!" The wind died down, and there was a great calm.
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Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Why are you frightened? Do you still have no faith?"
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But they were terribly afraid and began to say to one another, "Who is this man? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
