Wives for the Benjamites

21 The men of Israel had taken an oath^(A) at Mizpah:^(B) “Not one of us will give^(C) his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”

² The people went to Bethel,^[a] where they sat before God until evening, raising their voices and weeping bitterly. ³ “Lord, God of Israel,” they cried, “why has this happened to Israel? Why should one tribe be missing^(D) from Israel today?”

⁴ Early the next day the people built an altar and presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.^(E)

⁵ Then the Israelites asked, “Who from all the tribes of Israel^(F) has failed to assemble before the Lord?” For they had taken a solemn oath that anyone who failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah was to be put to death.

⁶ Now the Israelites grieved for the tribe of Benjamin, their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe is cut off from Israel,” they said. ⁷ “How can we provide wives for those who are left, since we have taken an oath^(G) by the Lord not to give them any of our daughters in marriage?” ⁸ Then they asked, “Which one of the tribes of Israel failed to assemble before the Lord at Mizpah?” They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead^(H) had come to the camp for the assembly. ⁹ For when they counted the people, they found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead were there.

¹⁰ So the assembly sent twelve thousand fighting men with instructions to go to Jabesh Gilead and put to the sword those living there, including the women and children. ¹¹ “This is what you are to do,” they said. “Kill every male^(I) and every woman who is not a virgin.^(J)” ¹² They found among the people living in Jabesh Gilead four hundred young women who had never slept with a man, and they took them to the camp at Shiloh^(K) in Canaan.

¹³ Then the whole assembly sent an offer of peace^(L) to the Benjamites at the rock of Rimmon.^{(M) 14} So the Benjamites returned at that time and were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there were not enough for all of them.

¹⁵ The people grieved for Benjamin,^(N) because the Lord had made a gap in the tribes of Israel. ¹⁶ And the elders of the assembly said, “With the women of Benjamin destroyed, how shall we provide wives for the men who are left? ¹⁷ The Benjamite survivors must have heirs,” they said, “so that a tribe of Israel will not be wiped out.^{(O) 18} We can’t give them our daughters as wives, since we Israelites have taken this oath:^(P) ‘Cursed be anyone who gives^(Q) a wife to a Benjamite.’ ¹⁹ But look, there is the annual festival of the Lord in Shiloh,^(R) which lies north of Bethel^(S), east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem,^(T) and south of Lebonah.”

²⁰ So they instructed the Benjamites, saying, “Go and hide in the vineyards ²¹ and watch. When the young women of Shiloh come out to join in the dancing,^(U) rush from the vineyards and each of you seize one of them to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin. ²² When their fathers or brothers complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Do us the favor of helping them, because we did not get wives for them during the war. You will not be guilty of breaking your oath because you did not give^(V) your daughters to them.’”

²³ So that is what the Benjamites did. While the young women were dancing,^(W) each man caught one and carried her off to be his wife. Then they returned to their inheritance^(X) and rebuilt the towns and settled in them.^(Y)

²⁴ At that time the Israelites left that place and went home to their tribes and clans, each to his own inheritance.

²⁵ In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.^(Z)

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

3 In those days John the Baptist^(B) came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven^(C) has come near.” ³ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

⁴ John’s^(E) clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.^(F) His food was locusts^(G) and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized^(H) by him in the Jordan River.

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers!^(I) Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?^{(J) 8} Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.^{(K) 9} And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’^(L) I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.^(M)

¹¹ “I baptize you with^[b] water for repentance.^(N) But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with^[c] the Holy Spirit^(O) and fire.^{(P) 12} His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”^(Q)

The Baptism of Jesus^(R)

¹³ Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.^{(S) 14} But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

¹⁵ Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

¹⁶ As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened,^(T) and he saw the Spirit of God^(U) descending like a dove and alighting on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven^(V) said, “This is my Son,^(W) whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”^(X)

Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness^(Y)

4 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted^[d](Z) by the devil.^{(AA) 2} After fasting forty days and forty nights,^(AB) he was hungry. ³ The tempter^(AC) came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God,^(AD) tell these stones to become bread.”

⁴ Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’^[e]”^(AE)

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city^(AF) and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. ⁶ “If you are the Son of God,”^(AG) he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

⁷ Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’^[g]”^(AI)

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ⁹ “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

¹⁰ Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan!^(AJ) For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’^[h]”^(AK)

¹¹ Then the devil left him,^(AL) and angels came and attended him.^(AM)

Jesus Begins to Preach

¹² When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison,^(AN) he withdrew to Galilee.^{(AO) 13} Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum,^(AP) which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— ¹⁴ to fulfill^(AQ) what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁷ From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven^(AS) has come near.”

Jesus Calls His First Disciples^(AT)

¹⁸ As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee,^(AU) he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter^(AV) and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ “Come, follow me,”^(AW) Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ²⁰ At once they left their nets and followed him.^(AX)

²¹ Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John.^(AY) They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.^(AZ)

Jesus Heals the Sick

²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee,^(BA) teaching in their synagogues,^(BB) proclaiming the good news^(BC) of the kingdom,^(BD) and healing every disease and sickness among the people.^{(BE) 24} News about him spread all over Syria,^(BF) and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed,^(BG) those having seizures,^(BH) and the paralyzed;^(BI) and he healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis,^[j] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.^(BJ)