Worship in the Splendor of Holiness

24 So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord. ^bAnd he gathered seventy men of the elders of the people and placed them around the tent. 25 Then ^cthe Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. And as soon as the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied. But they did not continue doing it.

26 Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they ^dhad not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 And ^eJoshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, ^fstop them.” 29 But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? ^gWould that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”

Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

1 Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. 2 And they said, “Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? ^oHas he not spoken through us also?” And ^pthe Lord heard it. 3 Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. 4 And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, “Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.” And the three of them came out. 5 And ^qthe Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. 6 And he said, “Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him ^rin a vision; I speak with him ^sin a dream. 7 Not so with ^tmy servant Moses. ^uHe is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I speak ^vmouth to mouth, clearly, and not in ^wriddles, and he beholds ^xthe form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” 9 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.

10 When the cloud removed from over the tent, behold, ^yMiriam was ^zleprous,¹ like snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. 11 And Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, ^ado not punish us² because we have done foolishly and have sinned. 12 Let her not be as one dead, whose flesh is half eaten away when he comes out of his mother’s womb.” 13 And Moses cried to the Lord, “O God, please heal her—please.” 14 But the Lord said to Moses, “If her father had but ^bspit in her face, should she not be shamed seven days? Let her be ^cshut outside the camp seven days, and after that she may be brought in again.” 15 So Miriam ^dwas shut outside the camp seven days, and the people did not set out on the march till Miriam was brought in again. 16 After that the people set out from ^eHazeroth, and camped in ^fthe wilderness of Paran.

The Coming of the Kingdom

20 Being asked by the Pharisees ^uwhen the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God ^vis not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor ^wwill they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”¹

22 And he said to the disciples, ^x“The days are coming when you will desire ^yto see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 ^zAnd they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 ^aFor as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be ^bin his day.² 25 But first ^che must suffer many things and ^cbe rejected by this generation. 26 ^dJust as it was in the days of ^eNoah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 ^fThey were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of ^gLot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 ^hbut on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be ⁱon the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, ^jlet the one who is on ^kthe housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 ^lRemember Lot’s wife. 33 ^mWhoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will ⁿkeep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 ^oThere will be two women ^pgrinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”³ 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, ^q“Where the corpse⁴ is, there the vultures⁵ will gather.”