Boundaries of Promise, Bridles of the Tongue

1. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2. “Command the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders), 3. then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward. 4. Your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and it shall pass southward of Kadesh Barnea; and it shall go from there to Hazar Addar, and pass along to Azmon. 5. The border shall turn about from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the sea. 6. “‘For the western border, you shall have the great sea and its border. This shall be your west border. 7. “‘This shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall mark out for yourselves Mount Hor. 8. From Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the border shall pass by Zedad. 9. Then the border shall go to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your north border. 10. “‘You shall mark out your east border from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11. The border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain. The border shall go down, and shall reach to the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward. 12. The border shall go down to the Jordan, and end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders around it.’” 13. Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, “This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe; 14. for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers’ houses, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers’ houses, have received, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received, their inheritance. 15. The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.” 16. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17. “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. 18. You shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance. 19. These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20. Of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. 21. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22. Of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23. Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24. Of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25. Of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26. Of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27. Of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28. Of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29. These are they whom Yahweh commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Israel in the land of Canaan. 1. Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2. “Command the children of Israel to give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in. You shall give suburbs for the cities around them to the Levites. 3. They shall have the cities to dwell in. Their suburbs shall be for their livestock, and for their possessions, and for all their animals. 4. “The suburbs of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits around it. 5. You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall be the suburbs of their cities. 6. “The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the man slayer to flee to. Besides them you shall give forty-two cities. 7. All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities together with their suburbs. 8. Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many; and from the few you shall take few. Everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give some of his cities to the Levites.” 9. Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10. “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11. then you shall appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man slayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. 12. The cities shall be to you for refuge from the avenger, that the man slayer not die, until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13. The cities which you shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge. 14. You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge. 15. For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the foreigner living among them, shall these six cities be for refuge; that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. 16. “‘But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 17. If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 18. Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 19. The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20. If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21. or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him. 22. “‘But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, 23. or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm; 24. then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. 25. The congregation shall deliver the man slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. 26. “‘But if the man slayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge, where he flees, 27. and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood, 28. because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the man slayer shall return into the land of his possession. 29. “‘These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 30. “‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify against any person that he die. 31. “‘Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; but he shall surely be put to death. 32. “‘You shall take no ransom for him who is fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. 33. “‘So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it. 34. You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, in the middle of which I dwell; for I, Yahweh, dwell in the middle of the children of Israel.’” 1. The heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spoke before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel. 2. They said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel. My lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3. If they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So will it be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4. When the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then will their inheritance be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.” 5. Moses commanded the children of Israel according to Yahweh’s word, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks right. 6. This is the thing which Yahweh does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them be married to whom they think best; only they shall marry into the family of the tribe of their father. 7. So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel move from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall all keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8. Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9. So shall no inheritance move from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall each keep his own inheritance.’” 10. The daughters of Zelophehad did as Yahweh commanded Moses: 11. for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father’s brothers’ sons. 12. They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph. Their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father. 13. These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

1. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations, 3. knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4. Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him. 6. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. 7. For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord. 8. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9. But let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position; 10. and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away. 11. For the sun arises with the scorching wind, and withers the grass, and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in his pursuits. 12. Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him. 13. Let no man say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God can’t be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust, and enticed. 15. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin; and the sin, when it is full grown, produces death. 16. Don’t be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow. 18. Of his own will he gave birth to us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. 19. So, then, my beloved brothers, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; 20. for the anger of man doesn’t produce the righteousness of God. 21. Therefore, putting away all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness, receive with humility the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. 22. But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves. 23. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror; 24. for he sees himself, and goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25. But he who looks into the perfect law of freedom, and continues, not being a hearer who forgets, but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in what he does. 26. If anyone among you thinks himself to be religious while he doesn’t bridle his tongue, but deceives his heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27. Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world. 1. My brothers, don’t hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with partiality. 2. For if a man with a gold ring, in fine clothing, comes into your synagogue, and a poor man in filthy clothing also comes in; 3. and you pay special attention to him who wears the fine clothing, and say, “Sit here in a good place”; and you tell the poor man, “Stand there,” or “Sit by my footstool”; 4. haven’t you shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5. Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him? 6. But you have dishonored the poor man. Don’t the rich oppress you, and personally drag you before the courts? 7. Don’t they blaspheme the honorable name by which you are called? 8. However, if you fulfill the royal law, according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. 9. But if you show partiality, you commit sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. 10. For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. 11. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not commit murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12. So speak, and so do, as men who are to be judged by a law of freedom. 13. For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 14. What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? 15. And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, 16. and one of you tells them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled”; and yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? 17. Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. 18. Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my faith. 19. You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder. 20. But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? 21. Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22. You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected; 23. and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”; and he was called the friend of God. 24. You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not only by faith. 25. In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way? 26. For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead. 1. Let not many of you be teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive heavier judgment. 2. For in many things we all stumble. If anyone doesn’t stumble in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also. 3. Indeed, we put bits into the horses’ mouths so that they may obey us, and we guide their whole body. 4. Behold, the ships also, though they are so big and are driven by fierce winds, are yet guided by a very small rudder, wherever the pilot desires. 5. So the tongue is also a little member, and boasts great things. See how a small fire can spread to a large forest! 6. And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by Gehenna. 7. For every kind of animal, bird, creeping thing, and sea creature, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind; 8. but nobody can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9. With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who are made in the image of God. 10. Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11. Does a spring send out from the same opening fresh and bitter water? 12. Can a fig tree, my brothers, yield olives, or a vine figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh water. 13. Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom. 14. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth. 15. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. 16. For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed. 17. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. 18. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

1. Sing to Yahweh a new song! Sing to Yahweh, all the earth. 2. Sing to Yahweh! Bless his name! Proclaim his salvation from day to day! 3. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. 4. For great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised! He is to be feared above all gods. 5. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but Yahweh made the heavens. 6. Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. 7. Ascribe to Yahweh, you families of nations, ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength. 8. Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due to his name. Bring an offering, and come into his courts. 9. Worship Yahweh in holy array. Tremble before him, all the earth. 10. Say among the nations, “Yahweh reigns.” The world is also established. It can’t be moved. He will judge the peoples with equity. 11. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. Let the sea roar, and its fullness! 12. Let the field and all that is in it exult! Then all the trees of the woods shall sing for joy 13. before Yahweh; for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, the peoples with his truth.