Week 125

• Torah (T): Bemidbar (Numbers) 35:9 – 36:13
• Prophets (P): Joshua 20:1-9
• Apostolic (A): John 8:12-59
• Additional (ADD): Sirach 11:1-34

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Genesis 9:4-6 (T)
• Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17 (T)
• Matthew 5:21-24 (T)
• Exodus 22:1-4 (T)
• Deuteronomy 19:1-21 (T)
• Deuteronomy 4:41-43 (T)
• Deuteronomy 21:1-9 (T)
• Genesis 4:1-16 (T)
• Psalms 59:1-4 (T)
• Proverbs 1:10-19 (T)
• Jeremiah 5:25-28 (T)
• Hosea 7:1-7 (T)
• Micah 7:1-4 (T)
• Acts 23:1-35 (T)
• Matthew 18:15-20 (T)
• 2 Corinthians 13:1-10 (T)
• Hebrews 10:26-31 (T)
• Psalms 106:32-42 (T)
• 2 Kings 24:1-4 (T)
• Isaiah 26:21 (T)
• Ezekiel 22:24-27 (T)
• Hosea 4:1-9 (T)
• Matthew 23:13-39 (T)
• Luke 11:29-54 (T, A)
• Numbers 26:52-56 (T)
• Numbers 27:1-11 (T)
• Numbers 33:50-56 (T)
• Joshua 17:1-6 (T)

RELATED ADDITIONAL REA.D.INGS

• Jubilees 4:1-7, 29-32 (T)
• Jubilees 6:1-9 (T)
• Wisdom of Solomon 2:12 (T)
• Enoch 22:1-7 (T)
• Sirach 5:14; Sirach 8:11 (T)
• Numbers 35:9 – 36:13 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Genesis 4:1-16 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (ADD)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 4.7.4-5 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

Numbers 35:9 – 36:13

35:9 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you will appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the murderer who kills any person in error [unintentionally]^(LXX) may flee there. 12 The cities will be for your refuge from the redeemer, that the murderer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 The cities which you will give will be for you six cities of refuge. 14 You will give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you will give three cities in the land of Canaan. They will be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities will be refuge for the sons of Israel, for the stranger, and for the foreigner living among them, that everyone who kills any person in error [unintentionally]^(LXX) may flee there. 16 But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer will 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 will 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 will surely be put to death; the one who struck him is a murderer,]^(DSS) the murderer will surely be put to death. 19 The redeemer of the blood will himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he will put him to death. 20 If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled something at him [so that he dies, lying in wait]^(DSS) 21 or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him will surely be put to death. He is a murderer, [the murderer will surely be put to death;]^(DSS) the redeemer of the blood [himself]^(DSS) will 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 [a weapon of ]^(DSS) 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 and not seeking his harm, 24 then the congregation will judge between the striker and the redeemer of the blood according to these judgments. 25 The congregation will deliver the murderer out of the hand of the redeemer of the blood, and the congregation will restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He will dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the murderer will at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees, 27 and the redeemer of the blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the redeemer of the blood kills the murderer, he will 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 murderer will return into the land of his possession. 29 These things will be for a statute and judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 30 Whoever kills any person, the murderer will be slain based on the mouth of witnesses; but one witness will not testify alone against any person so that he dies. 31 Moreover you will take no atonement for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death. He will surely be put to death. 32 You will take no atonement for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land before the death of the [high]^(LXX)(SP) priest. 33 So you will not pollute the land where you live; 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 will not defile the land which you inhabit, where I dwell; for I, YHWH, dwell among the sons of Israel.’ ”

36:1 The heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the sons 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 Eleazar the priest]^(DSS)(LXX) and before the lifted up ones, the heads of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel. 2 They said, “YHWH commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the sons of Israel. My lord was commanded by YHWH 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 sons of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they will belong. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 When the jubilee of the sons of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they will belong. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.” [And they spoke before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the leaders, the heads of he fathers’ houses of the sons of Israel; and they said, “YHWH commanded my lord, and Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, to give the land as an inheritance.”]^(DSS) 5 Moses commanded the sons of Israel according to the word of YHWH, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speak what is right. 6 This is the thing which YHWH commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them [surely]^(DSS) marry whomever seems good in their eyes, only they will marry into the family of the tribe of their father. 7 So will no inheritance of the sons of Israel move from tribe to tribe; for the sons of Israel will all cling to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the sons of Israel will be woman to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the sons of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So will no inheritance move from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the sons of Israel will each cling to his own inheritance.’ ” 10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as YHWH commanded Moses: 11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noaḥ, 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 judgments which YHWH commanded by Moses to the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

Prophets Portion (P)

Joshua 20:1-9

20:1 YHWH spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses, 3 that the murderer who kills any person in error without knowledge may flee there. They will be to you for a refuge from the redeemer of the blood. 4 He will flee to one of those cities, and will stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his case in the ears of the elders of that city. They will take him into the city with them, and give him a place, that he may live among them. 5 If the redeemer of the blood pursues him, then they will not deliver up the murderer into his hand; because he struck his neighbor without knowledge, and didn’t hate him before. 6 He will dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that will be in those days. Then the murderer will return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city he fled from.’ ” 7 They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba, also called Hebron, in the hill country of Judah. 8 Beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel, and for the sojourner who lives among them, that whoever kills any person in error might flee there, and not die by the hand of the redeemer of the blood, until he stands trial before the congregation.

Apostolic Portion (A)

John 8:12-59

8:12 Again, therefore, Yeshua spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 The Pharisees therefore said to him, “You testify about yourself. Your witness is not valid.” 14 Yeshua answered them, “Even if I testify about myself, my witness is true, for I know where I came from, and where I am going; but you don’t know where I came from, or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh. I judge no one. 16 Even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent me. 17 It’s also written in your Torah that the witness of two people is valid. (cf. Numbers 35:29; Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15) 18 I am one who testifies about myself, and the Father who sent me testifies about me.” 19 They said therefore to him, “Where is your Father?” Yeshua answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20 Yeshua spoke these words in the treasury, as he taught in the temple. Yet no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. 21 Yeshua said therefore again to them, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sins. Where I go, you can’t come.” 22 The Judeans therefore said, “Will he kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going, you can’t come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from beneath. I am from above. You are of this world. I am not of this world. 24 I said therefore to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.” 25 They said therefore to him, “Who are you?” Yeshua said to them, “Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you. However, he who sent me is true; and the things which I heard from him, these I say to the world.” 27 They didn’t understand that he spoke to them about the Father. 28 Yeshua therefore said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing of myself, but as [the]^(mss) Father taught me, I say these things. 29 He who sent me is with me. The Father hasn’t left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he spoke these things, many believed in him. 31 Yeshua therefore said to those Judeans who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are Abraham’s seed, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How do you say, ‘You will be made free’?” 34 Yeshua answered them, “Amen, amen, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is the bondservant of sin. 35 A bondservant doesn’t live in the house forever. A son remains forever. 36 If therefore the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s seed, yet you seek to kill me, because my word finds no place in you. 38 I say the things which I have seen with my Father; and you also do the things which you have [heard from]^(mss) your father.” 39 They answered him, “Our father is Abraham.” Yeshua said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth which I heard from Elohim. Abraham didn’t do this. 41 You do the works of your father.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father, Elohim.” 42 Therefore Yeshua said to them, “If Elohim were your father, you would love me, for I came out and have come from Elohim. For I haven’t come of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand my speech? Because you can’t hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks on his own; for he is a liar, and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you don’t believe me. 46 Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 He who is of Elohim hears the words of Elohim. For this cause you don’t hear, because you are not of Elohim.” 48 Then the Judeans answered him, “Don’t we say well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon?” 49 Yeshua answered, “I don’t have a demon, but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 But I don’t seek my own glory. There is one who seeks and judges. 51 Amen, amen, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death.” 52 Then the Judeans said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, ‘If a man keeps my word, he will never taste of death.’ 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died. Who do you make yourself out to be?” 54 Yeshua answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is our Elohim. 55 You have not known him, but I know him. If I said, ‘I don’t know him,’ I would be like you, a liar. But I know him and keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it and was glad.” 57 The Judeans therefore said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?” 58 Yeshua said to them, “Amen, amen, I tell you, before Abraham was, I was.” 59 Therefore they took up stones to throw at him, but Yeshua was hid himself and went out of the temple ,having gone through the middle of them, and so passed by.^(mss)

Additional Portion (ADD)

Sirach, or Wisdom of Sirach, and also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus (abbreviated Ecclus.) or Ben Sira, is a work of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 B.C., written by the Jewish scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his father Joshua son of Sirach, sometimes called Jesus son of Sirach or Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira. The Sirach was almost completely uncovered in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls, at Masada, and the Cairo Geniza. The multiplicity of manuscript fragments uncovered in the Cairo Genizah evidence its authoritative status among Egyptian Jewry until the Middle Ages. Quotes from Sirach can be found in Rabbinic literature in multiple places  including the Talmud in Bava Kamma 92b:13 and Hagigah 13a:2. Additionally, the Gospels and other Apostolic Scriptures quote from the Book of Sirach including the Song of Miriam in Luke 1:52 (cf. Sirach 10:14); the description of the seed in Mark 4:5, 16–17 (cf. Sirach 40:15); the statement by Yeshua in Matthew 7:16,20 (cf. Sirach 27:6); and Ya’aqov (James) 1:19 (cf. Sirach 5:11).

Sirach 11:1-34

11:1 The wisdom of the lowly will lift up his head, and make him sit in the midst of great men. 2 Don’t commend a man for his good looks. Don’t abhor a man for his outward appearance. 3 The bee is little among flying creatures, but what it produces is the best of confections. 4 Don’t boast about the clothes you wear, and don’t exalt yourself in the day of honor; for the Lord’s works are wonderful, and his works are hidden among men. 5 Many tyrants have sat down upon the ground, but one who was never thought of has worn a crown. 6 Many mighty men have been greatly disgraced. Men of renown have been delivered into other men’s hands. 7 Don’t blame before you investigate. Understand first, and then rebuke. 8 Don’t answer before you have heard. Don’t interrupt while someone else is speaking. 9 Don’t argue about a matter that doesn’t concern you. Don’t sit with sinners when they judge. 10 My son, don’t be busy about many matters; for if you meddle much, you will not be unpunished. If you pursue, you will not overtake, and you will not escape by fleeing. 11 There is one who toils, labors, and hurries, and is even more behind. 12 There is one who is sluggish, and needs help, lacking in strength, and who abounds in poverty, but the Lord’s eyes looked upon him for good, and he raised him up from his low condition, 13 and lifted up his head so that many marveled at him. 14 Good things and bad, life and death, poverty and riches, are from the Lord. 15 [… …] 16 [… …] 17 The Lord’s gift remains with the pious. His good pleasure will prosper forever. 18 One grows rich by his diligence and self-denial, and this is the portion of his reward: 19 when he says, “I have found rest, and now I will eat of my goods!” he doesn’t know how much time will pass until he leaves them to others and dies. 20 Be steadfast in your covenant and be doing it, and grow old in your work. 21 Don’t marvel at the works of a sinner, but trust the Lord and stay in your labor; for it is an easy thing in the sight of the Lord to swiftly and suddenly make a poor man rich. 22 The Lord’s blessing is in the reward of the pious. He makes his blessing flourish in an hour that comes swiftly. 23 Don’t say, “What use is there of me? What further good things can be mine?” 24 Don’t say, “I have enough. What harm could happen to me now?” 25 In the day of good things, bad things are forgotten. In the day of bad things, a man will not remember things that are good. 26 For it is an easy thing in the sight of the Lord to reward a man in the day of death according to his ways. 27 The affliction of an hour causes delights to be forgotten. In the end, a man’s deeds are revealed. 28 Call no man happy before his death. A man will be known in his children. 29 Don’t bring every man into your house, for many are the tricks of a deceitful man. 30 Like a decoy partridge in a cage, so is the heart of a proud man. Like a spy, he looks for your weakness. 31 For he lies in wait to turn things that are good into evil, and assigns blame in things that are praiseworthy. 32 From a spark of fire, a heap of many coals is kindled, and a sinful man lies in wait to shed blood. 33 Take heed of an evil-doer, for he plans wicked things, lest perhaps he ruin your reputation forever. 34 Receive a stranger into your house, and he will distract you with arguments and estrange you from your own family.

Related Scriptures

Genesis 9:4-6 (T)

9:4 But flesh with its life, that is, its blood, you shall not eat. 5 I will surely seek accounting for your life’s blood. At the hand of every animal I will seek it. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, I will seek the soul of man. 6 Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for Elohim made man in his own image.

Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17 (T)

“You will not murder.”

Matthew 5:21-24 (T)

5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘Do not murder’ (cf. Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17) and ‘whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, ‘Reka!’ will be in danger of the council. Whoever says, ‘Naval!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehinnom. 23 “If therefore you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Exodus 22:1-4 (T)

Exodus 22:1 If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and kills it or sells it, he will pay five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep. 2 If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there will be no guilt of bloodshed for him. 3 If the sun has risen on him, he is guilty of bloodshed. He will make restitution. If he has nothing [to make restitution], then he will be sold for his theft. 4 If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he will pay double.

Exodus 22:1-4 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan When a man stealeth an ox or a sheep, and killeth or selleth it, five oxen will he make good for one ox, because he hath hindered him from his ploughing; and four sheep for one, because he hath impoverished him by his theft, and not done service by it. If a thief be found in a window of the wall, and be smitten and die, there will not be on his account the guilt of the shedding of innocent blood. If the thing be as clear as the sun that he was not entering to destroy life, and one hath killed him, the guilt of the shedding of innocent blood is upon him; and if spared from his hand, restoring he will restore. If he have not wherewith to restore, the beth din will sell him for his theft until the year of release. If before witnesses, the thing stolen was found in his possession, from an ox or a donkey, unto a sheep alive, he will restore two for one.

Deuteronomy 19:1-21 (T)

19:1 When YHWH your Elohim cuts off the nations whose land YHWH your Elohim gives you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2 you will set apart three cities for yourselves in the middle of your land, which YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess. 3 You will prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which YHWH your Elohim causes you to inherit into three parts, that every murderer may flee there. 4 This is the case of the murderer who will flee there and live: Whoever kills his neighbor without knowledge, and didn’t hate him in time past— 5 as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood and his hand swings the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbor so that he dies—he will flee to one of these cities and live. 6 Otherwise, the redeemer of the blood might pursue the murderer while hot anger is in his heart and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally, even though he was not worthy of death, because he didn’t hate him in time past. 7 Therefore I command you to set apart three cities for yourselves. 8 If YHWH your Elohim enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers; 9 and if you guard all this commandment to do it, which I command you today, to love YHWH your Elohim, and to walk ever in his ways, then you will add three cities more for yourselves, in addition to these three. 10 This is so that innocent blood will not be shed in the middle of your land which YHWH your Elohim gives you for an inheritance, leaving blood guilt on you. 11 But if any man hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities; 12 then the elders of his city will send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the redeemer of the blood, that he may die. 13 Your eye will not pity him, but you will purge the innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with you. 14 You will not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit, in the land that YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess. 15 One witness will not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, will a matter be established. 16 If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 then both the men, between whom the controversy is, will stand before YHWH, before the priests and the judges who will be in those days; 18 and the judges will make diligent inquisition; and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has witnessed falsely against his brother, 19 then you will do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you will remove the evil from among you. 20 Those who remain will hear, and fear, and will never again commit any such evil among you. 21 Your eyes will not pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 4:41-43 (T)

4:41 Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, 42 that the murderer might flee there, who kills his neighbor without knowledge and didn’t hate him in time past, and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43 Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, for the ones of Reuben; and Ramoth in Gilead for the ones of Gad; and Golan in Bashan for the ones of Manasseh.

Deuteronomy 21:1-9 (T)

21:1 If someone is found slain in the land which YHWH your Elohim gives you to possess, lying in the field, and it isn’t known who has struck him, 2 then your elders and your judges will come out, and they will measure to the cities which are around him who is slain. 3 It will be that the elders of the city which is nearest to the slain man will take a heifer of the herd, which hasn’t been worked with and which has not drawn in the yoke. 4 The elders of that city will bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and will break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 The priests the sons of Levi will come near, for them YHWH your Elohim has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of YHWH; and according to their word will every controversy and every assault be decided. 6 All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man will wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. 7 They will answer and say, “Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. 8 Forgive, YHWH, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don’t allow innocent blood among your people Israel.” The blood will be forgiven them. 9 So you will put away the innocent blood from among you, when you will do that which is right in the eyes of YHWH.

Genesis 4:1-16 (T)

4:1 The man knew Chavah his wife. She conceived, and gave birth to Cain, and said, “I have purchased a man, YHWH.” 2 Again she gave birth, to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel was a feeder of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 As time passed, Cain brought an offering to YHWH from the fruit of the ground. 4 Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and of its fat. YHWH respected Abel and his offering, 5 but he didn’t respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and the expression on his face fell. 6 YHWH said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why has the expression of your face fallen? 7 If you do well, won’t it be lifted up? If you don’t do well, sin crouches at the door. Its desire is for you, but you are to rule over it.” 8 Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.” While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. 9 YHWH said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s guard?” 10 YHWH said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground. 11 Now you are cursed because of the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 From now on, when you till the ground, it won’t yield its strength to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the land.” 13 Cain said to YHWH, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, you have driven me out today from the surface of the ground. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer in the land. Whoever finds me will kill me.” 15 YHWH said to him, “Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” YHWH appointed a sign for Cain, so that anyone finding him would not strike him. 16 Cain left YHWH’s face, and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Psalms 59:1-4 (T, A)

59:1 Deliver me from my enemies, my Elohim. Set me on high from those who rise up against me. 2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity. Save me from the bloodthirsty men. 3 For, behold, they lie in wait for my soul. The mighty gather themselves together against me, not for my disobedience, nor for my sin, YHWH. 4 I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me. Rise up, behold, and help me!

Proverbs 1:10-19 (T)

1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, don’t consent. 11 If they say, “Come with us. Let’s lie in wait for blood. Let’s lurk secretly for the innocent without cause. 12 Let’s swallow them up alive like Sheol,† and whole, like those who go down into the pit. 13 We’ll find all valuable wealth. We’ll fill our houses with plunder. 14 You will cast your lot among us. We’ll all have one purse”— 15 my son, don’t walk on the path with them. Withhold your foot from their path, 16 for their feet run to evil. They hurry to shed blood. 17 For the net is spread in vain in the sight of any bird; 18 but these lay in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives. 19 So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.

Jeremiah 5:25-28 (T)

5:25 “Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you. 26 For wicked men are found among my people. They watch, as fowlers lie in wait. They set a trap. They catch men. 27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit. Therefore they have become great, and grew rich. 28 They have grown fat. They shine; yes, they excel in deeds of wickedness. They don’t plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and they don’t defend the rights of the needy.

Hosea 7:1-7 (T)

7:1 When I would heal Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim is uncovered, also the wickedness of Samaria; for they commit falsehood, and the thief enters in, and the gang of robbers ravages outside. 2 They don’t consider in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness. Now their own deeds have engulfed them. They are before my face. 3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the rulers with their lies. 4 They are all adulterers. They are burning like an oven that the baker stops stirring, from the kneading of the dough, until it is leavened. 5 On the day of our king, the rulers made themselves sick with the heat of wine. He joined his hand with mockers. 6 For they have prepared their heart like an oven, while they lie in wait. Their anger smolders all night. In the morning it burns as a flaming fire. 7 They are all hot as an oven, and devour their judges. All their kings have fallen. There is no one among them who calls to me.

Micah 7:1-4 (T)

7:1 Misery is mine! Indeed, I am like one who gathers the summer fruits, as gleanings of the vineyard. There is no cluster of grapes to eat. My soul desires to eat the early fig. 2 The pious man has perished out of the land, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net. 3 Their hands are on that which is evil to do it diligently. The ruler and judge ask for a bribe. The powerful man dictates the evil desire of his soul. Thus they conspire together. 4 The best of them is like a brier. The most upright is worse than a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, even your inspection, has come; now is the time of their confusion.

Acts 23:1-35 (T)

23:1 3 Paul, looking steadfastly at the council, said, “Brothers, I have lived before Elohim in all good conscience until today.” 2 The high priest, Ananias, commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “Elohim will strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to judge me according to the Torah, and command me to be struck contrary to the Torah?” 4 Those who stood by said, “Do you malign Elohim’s high priest?” 5 Paul said, “I didn’t know, brothers, that he was high priest. For it is written, ‘You will not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ” (cf. Exodus 22:28) 6 But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. Concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!” 7 When he had said this, an argument arose between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the crowd was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess all of these. 9 A great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ part stood up, and contended, saying, “We find no evil in this man. But if a spirit or angel has spoken to him, let’s not fight against Elohim!” 10 When a great argument arose, the commanding officer, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and bring him into the barracks. 11 The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Cheer up, Paul, for as you have witnessed about me at Jerusalem, so you must testify also at Rome.” 12 When it was day, some of the Judeans banded together and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty people who had made this conspiracy. 14 They came to the chief priests and the elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great curse to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. 15 Now therefore, you with the council inform the commanding officer that he should bring him down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to judge his case more exactly. We are ready to kill him before he comes near.” 16 But Paul’s sister’s son heard they were lying in wait, and he came and entered into the barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul summoned one of the centurions and said, “Bring this young man to the commanding officer, for he has something to tell him.” 18 So he took him and brought him to the commanding officer and said, “Paul, the prisoner, summoned me and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.” 19 The commanding officer took him by the hand, and going aside, asked him privately, “What is it that you have to tell me?” 20 He said, “The Judeans have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though intending to inquire somewhat more accurately concerning him. 21 Therefore don’t yield to them, for more than forty men lie in wait for him, who have bound themselves under a curse to neither eat nor drink until they have killed him. Now they are ready, looking for the promise from you.” 22 So the commanding officer let the young man go, charging him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.” 23 He called to himself two of the centurions, and said, “Prepare two hundred soldiers to go as far as Caesarea, with seventy horsemen and two hundred men armed with spears, at the third hour of the night.” 24 He asked them to provide mounts, that they might set Paul on one, and bring him safely to Felix the governor. 25 He wrote a letter like this: 26 “Claudius Lysias to the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings. 27 “This man was seized by the Judeans, and was about to be killed by them when I came with the soldiers and rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. 28 Desiring to know the cause why they accused him, I brought him down to their council. 29 I found him to be accused about questions of their law, but not to be charged with anything worthy of death or of imprisonment. 30 When I was told that the Judeans lay in wait for the man, I sent him to you immediately, charging his accusers also to bring their accusations against him before you. Farewell.” 31 So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 32 But on the next day they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned to the barracks. 33 When they came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. 34 When the governor had read it, he asked what province he was from. When he understood that he was from Cilicia, he said, 35 “I will hear you fully when your accusers also arrive.” He commanded that he be kept in Herod’s palace.

Matthew 18:15-20 (T)

18:15 “If your brother sins, go, show him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained back your brother. 16 But if he doesn’t listen, take one or two more with you, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. (cf. Deuteronomy 19:15) 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the assembly. If he refuses to hear the assembly also, let him be to you as a Gentile or a tax collector. 18 Amen, amen, I tell you, whatever things you bind on land will have been bound in the heavens, and whatever things you release on land will have been released in the heavens. 19 Again, assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on land concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in the heavens. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the middle of them.”

2 Corinthians 13:1-10 (T)

13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. “At the mouth of two or three witnesses will every word be established.” (cf. Numbers 35:29; Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15) 2 I have warned previously, and I warn again, as when I was present the second time, so now, being absent, I write to those who have sinned before now and to all the rest that if I come again, I will not spare, 3 seeing that you seek a proof of Messiah who speaks in me who is not weak, but is powerful in you. 4 For he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives through the power of Elohim. For we also are weak in him, but we will live with him through the power of Elohim toward you. 5 Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know about your own selves, that Yeshua the Messiah is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified. 6 But I hope that you will know that we aren’t disqualified. 7 Now I pray to Elohim that you do no evil; not that we may appear approved, but that you may do that which is honorable, though we may seem to have failed. 8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 9 For we rejoice when we are weak and you are strong. We also pray for this: your becoming perfect. 10 For this cause I write these things while absent, that I may not deal sharply when present, according to the authority which the Lord gave me for building up and not for tearing down.

Hebrews 10:26-31 (T)

10:26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a slaughter for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries. 28 A man who disregards the Torah of Moses dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think he will be judged worthy of who has trodden under foot the Son of Elohim, and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance belongs to me. I will repay,” says the Lord. (cf. Deuteronomy 32:35) Again, “The Lord will judge his people.” (cf. Deuteronomy 32:36; Psalms 135:14) 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living Elohim.

Psalms 106:32-42 (T)

106:32 They angered him also at the waters of Meribah, so that Moses was troubled for their sakes; 33 because they were rebellious against his spirit, he spoke rashly with his lips. 34 They didn’t destroy the peoples, as YHWH commanded them, 35 but mixed themselves with the nations, and learned their works. 36 They served their idols, which became a snare to them. 37 Yes, they slaughtered their sons and their daughters to demons. 38 They shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they slaughtered to the idols of Canaan. The land was polluted with blood. 39 Thus they were defiled with their works, and prostituted themselves in their deeds. 40 Therefore YHWH burned with anger against his people. He abhorred his inheritance. 41 He gave them into the hand of the nations. Those who hated them ruled over them. 42 Their enemies also oppressed them. They were brought into subjection under their hand.

2 Kings 24:1-4 (T)

24:1 In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 YHWH sent against him bands of the Kasdim, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the sons of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of YHWH, which he spoke by his servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of YHWH this came on Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did, 4 and also for the innocent blood that he shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and YHWH would not pardon.

Isaiah 26:21 (T)

26:21 For, behold, YHWH comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the land for their iniquity. The land also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain.

Ezekiel 22:24-27 (T)

22:24 “Son of man, tell her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.’ 25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets within it, like a roaring lion ravening the prey. They have devoured souls. They take treasure and precious things. They have made many widows within it. 26 Her priests have done violence to my Torah, and have profaned my holy. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths. So I am profaned among them. 27 Her rulers within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.

Hosea 4:1-9 (T)

4:1 Hear the word of YHWH, you sons of Israel; for YHWH has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of Elohim in the land. 2 There is cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break boundaries, and bloodshed causes bloodshed. 3 Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells in it will waste away, with all living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the heavens; yes, the fish of the sea also die. 4 Yet let no man bring a charge, neither let any man accuse; for your people are like those who bring charges against a priest. 5 You will stumble in the day, and the prophet will also stumble with you in the night; and I will destroy your mother. 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your Elohim’s Torah, I will also forget your sons. 7 As they were multiplied, so they sinned against me. I will change their glory into shame. 8 They feed on the sin of my people, and set their heart on their iniquity. 9 It will be, like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and will repay them for their deeds.

Matthew 23:13-39 (T)

23:13 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. 14 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you shut up the reign of the heavens against men; for you don’t enter in yourselves, neither do you allow those who are entering in to enter. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of Gehinnom as yourselves. 16 Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obligated.’ 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obligated?’ 19 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift? 20 He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it. 21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who has been living in it. 22 He who swears by the heavens, swears by the throne of Elohim and by him who sits on it. 23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have left undone the weightier matters of the Torah: justice, mercy, and faith. But you ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. 24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel! 25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and unrighteousness. 26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the platter, that its outside may become clean also. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the tombs of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ 31 Therefore you testify to yourselves that you are children of those who killed the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You nachashim, you seed of vipers, how will you escape the judgment of Gehinnom? 34 Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, wise men, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify; and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the land, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah, whom you killed between the sanctuary and the altar. 36 Amen, amen, I tell you, all these things will come upon this generation. 37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I would have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not! 38 Behold, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”

Luke 11:29-54 (T, A)

11:29 When the multitudes were gathering together to him, he began to say, “This is an evil generation. It seeks after a sign. No sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah, the prophet. 30 For even as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so the Son of Man will also be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and will condemn them: for she came from the ends of the land to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, one greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it: for they repented at the proclaiming of Jonah, and behold, one greater than Jonah is here. 33 No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, that those who come in may see the light. 34 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore when your eye is good, your whole body is also full of light; but when it is evil, your body also is full of darkness. 35 Therefore see whether the light that is in you isn’t darkness. 36 If therefore your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly full of light, as when the lamp with its bright shining gives you light.” 37 Now as he spoke, a certain Pharisee asked him to dine with him. He went in and sat at the table. 38 When the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed himself before dinner. 39 The Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. 40 You foolish ones, didn’t he who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give for gifts to the needy those things which are within, and behold, all things will be clean to you. 42 But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, but you bypass justice and Elohim’s love. You ought to have done these, and not to have left the other undone. 43 Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues, and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like hidden graves, and the men who walk over them don’t know it.” 45 One of the Torah scholars answered him, “Rabbi, in saying this you insult us also.” 46 He said, “Woe to you Torah scholars also! For you load men with burdens that are difficult to carry, and you yourselves won’t even lift one finger to help carry those burdens. 47 Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. 48 So you testify and consent to the works of your fathers. For they killed them, and you build their tombs. 49 Therefore also the wisdom of Elohim said, ‘I will send to them prophets and emissaries; and some of them they will kill and persecute, 50 that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary.’ Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation. 52 Woe to you Torah scholars! For you took away the key of knowledge. You didn’t enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in, you hindered.” 53 As he said these things to them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be terribly angry, and to draw many things out of him; 54 lying in wait for him, and seeking to catch him in something he might say, that they might accuse him.

Numbers 26:52-56 (T)

26:52 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 53 “To these the land will be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. 54 To the more you will give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you will give the less inheritance. To every man according to those who were registered of him will his inheritance be given. 55 Notwithstanding, the land will be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they will inherit. 56 According to the lot will their inheritance be divided between the more and the fewer.”

Numbers 27:1-11 (T)

27:1 Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of [Hopher],^(DSS) the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph came near. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah [and]^(DSS) Noaḥ, Hoglah, Milcah, and [Torzah].^(DSS) 2 They stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the lifted up ones and all the congregation, at the door of the Appointed Tent, saying, 3 “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against YHWH in the company of Qorach, but he died in his own sin and he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession among the brothers of our father.” 5 Moses brought their cause before YHWH. 6 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad speak right. You will surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers. You will cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. 8 You will speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies, and has no son, then you will cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 9 If he has no daughter, then you will give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 If he has no brothers, then you will give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 If his father has no brothers, then you will give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him of his family, and he will possess it. This will be a statute and judgment for the sons of Israel, as YHWH commanded Moses.’ ”

Numbers 33:50-56 (T)

33:50 YHWH spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them, “When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you will drive out [the inhabitants]^(DSS) of the land from before you, destroy all their stone idols, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places. 53 You will take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 You will inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger groups you will give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you will give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that will be his. You will inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them will be like pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell. 56 It will happen that as I thought to do to them, so I will do to you.”

Joshua 17:1-6 (T)

17:1 This was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. As for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan. 2 So this was for the rest of the sons of Manasseh according to their families: for the sons of Abiezer, for the sons of Helek, for the sons of Asriel, for the sons of Shechem, for the sons of Hepher, and for the sons of Shemida. These were the male sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families. 3 But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noaḥ, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They came to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the lifted up ones, saying, “YHWH commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” Therefore according to the commandment of YHWH he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. 5 Ten parts fell to Manasseh, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan; 6 because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

Related Additional Readings​

Jubilees 4:1-7, 29-32 (T)

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

4:1 And in the third week in the second jubilee [64-70 A.M.] she gave birth to Cain, and in the fourth [71-77 A.M.] she gave birth to Abel, and in the fifth [78-84 A.M.] she gave birth to her daughter Âwân. 2. And in the first (year) of the third jubilee [99-105 A.M.], Cain slew Abel because (Elohim) accepted the slaughter of Abel, and did not accept the offering of Cain. 3. And he slew him in the field: and his blood cried from the ground to the heavens, complaining because he had slain him. 4. And the Lord reproved Cain because of Abel, because he had slain him, and he made him a fugitive on the land because of the blood of his brother, and he cursed him upon the land. 5. And on this account it is written on the heavenly tables, ‘Cursed is, he who smites his neighbour treacherously, and let all who have seen and heard say, So be it; and the man who has seen and not declared (it), let him be accursed as the other.’ 6. And for this reason we announce when we come before the Lord our Elohim all the sin which is committed in the heavens and on land, and in light and in darkness, and everywhere. 7. And Adam and his wife mourned for Abel four weeks of years, [99-127 A.M] and in the fourth year of the fifth week [130 A.M.] they became joyful, and Adam knew his wife again, and she bare him a son, and he called his name Seth; for he said ‘Elohim has raised up a second seed unto us on the land instead of Abel; for Cain slew him.’

4:29 And at the close of the nineteenth jubilee, in the seventh week in the sixth year thereof, [930 A.M.] Adam died, and all his sons buried him in the land of his creation, and he was the first to be buried in the land. 30. And he lacked seventy years of one thousand years; for one thousand years are as one day in the witness of the heavens and therefore was it written concerning the tree of knowledge: “On the day that ye eat thereof ye will die.” For this reason he did not complete the years of this day; for he died during it. 31. At the close of this jubilee Cain was killed after him in the same year; for his house fell upon him and he died in the midst of his house, and he was killed by its stones, for with a stone he had killed Abel, and by a stone was he killed in righteous judgment. 32. For this reason it was ordained on the heavenly tables: “With the instrument with which a man killeth his neighbour with the same will he be killed; after the manner that he wounded him, in like manner will they deal with him.”

Jubilees 6:1-9 (T)

6:1 And on the new moon of the third new moon he went forth from the ark, and built an altar on that mountain. 2. And he made atonement for the land, and took a kid and made atonement by its blood for all the guilt of the land; for everything that had been on it had been destroyed, save those that were in the ark with Noaḥ. 3. And he placed the fat thereof on the altar, and he took an ox, and a goat, and a sheep and kids, and salt, and a turtle-dove, and the young of a dove, and placed a burnt slaughter on the altar, and poured thereon an offering mingled with oil, and sprinkled wine and strewed frankincense over everything, and caused a goodly savour to arise, acceptable before the Lord. 4. And the Lord smelt the goodly savour, and He cut a covenant with him that there should not be any more a flood to destroy the land; that all the days of the land seed-time and harvest should never cease; cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night should not change their order, nor cease for ever. 5. “And you, increase ye and multiply upon the land, and become many upon it, and be a blessing upon it. The fear of you and the dread of you I will inspire in everything that is on land and in the sea. 6. And behold I have given unto you all beasts, and all winged things, and everything that moveth on the land, and the fish in the waters, and all things for food; as the green herbs, I have given you all things to eat. 7. But flesh, with the life thereof, with the blood, ye will not eat; for the life of all flesh is in the blood, lest your blood of your lives be required. At the hand of every man, at the hand of every (beast), will I require the blood of man. 8. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood by man will his blood be shed; for in the image of Elohim made He man.

The Book of Enoch (also known as 1 Enoch) was written during the second century B.C. The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) of the text are estimated to date from about 300–200 B.C., and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to 100 B.C. Various Aramaic fragments found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as Koine Greek and Latin fragments, were proof that The Book of Enoch was known by early Jews and Christians.

You will note some abbreviations, brackets, and symbols specially used in the translation of 1 Enoch:

• ⌈ ⌉. The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are found in the Greek Version preserved In Syncellus but not in the Ethiopic Version.
• ⌈⌈ ⌉⌉. The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are found in E the Ethiopic Version but not in the Greek Version preserved In Syncellus or the Greek Version discovered at Akhmîm.
• 〉. The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are restored.
• [ ] The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are interpolations.
• ( ). The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are supplied by the editor.
• The use of thick type denotes that the words so printed are emended.
• † † corruption in the text.
• . . . = some words which have been lost.

22:1 And thence I went to another place, and he showed me in the west ⌈another⌉ great and high mountain [and] of hard rock. 2 And there was in it †four† hollow places, deep and wide and very smooth. †How† smooth are the hollow places and deep and dark to look at. 3. Then Raphael answered, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said unto me: ‘These hollow places have been created for this very purpose, that the spirits of the souls of the dead should assemble therein, yea that all the souls of the children of men should assemble here. And these places have been made to receive them till the day of their judgement and till their appointed period ⌈till the period appointed⌉, till the great judgement (comes) upon them.’ 5. I saw the spirits of the children of men who were dead, and their voice went forth to the heavens and made suit. 6. Then I asked Raphael the angel who was with me, and I said unto him: ‘This spirit–whose is it whose voice goeth forth and maketh suit?’ 7. And he answered me saying: ‘This is the spirit which went forth from Abel, whom his brother Cain slew, and he makes his suit against him till his seed is destroyed from the face of the land, and his seed is annihilated from amongst the seed of men.’

Wisdom of Solomon 2:12

The Wisdom of Solomon or Book of Wisdom is a Jewish work, written in Greek, and most likely composed in Alexandria, Egypt. Generally dated to the mid first century B.C. It is uncertain whether the book has a single author or comes from a school of writers, but recent scholarship has favored regarding it as a unified work. Fragments of the Wisdom of Solomon were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls in the first discovered and excavated cave at Qumran in 1949.

2:12 But let’s lie in wait for the righteous man, because he annoys us, is contrary to our works, reproaches us with sins against the law, and charges us with sins against our training.

Sirach 5:14; Sirach 8:11 (T)

Sirach, or Wisdom of Sirach, and also known as the Book of Ecclesiasticus (abbreviated Ecclus.) or Ben Sira, is a work of ethical teachings, from approximately 200 to 175 B.C., written by the Jewish scribe Ben Sira of Jerusalem, on the inspiration of his father Joshua son of Sirach, sometimes called Jesus son of Sirach or Yeshua ben Eliezer ben Sira. The Sirach was almost completely uncovered in Hebrew in the Dead Sea Scrolls, at Masada, and the Cairo Geniza. The multiplicity of manuscript fragments uncovered in the Cairo Genizah evidence its authoritative status among Egyptian Jewry until the Middle Ages. Quotes from Sirach can be found in Rabbinic literature in multiple places  including the Talmud in Bava Kamma 92b:13 and Hagigah 13a:2. Additionally, the Gospels and other Apostolic Scriptures quote from the Book of Sirach including the Song of Miriam in Luke 1:52 (cf. Sirach 10:14); the description of the seed in Mark 4:5, 16–17 (cf. Sirach 40:15); the statement by Yeshua in Matthew 7:16,20 (cf. Sirach 27:6); and Ya’aqov (James) 1:19 (cf. Sirach 5:11).

Sirach 5:14 Don’t be called a whisperer. Don’t lie in wait with your tongue; for shame is on the thief, and an evil condemnation is on him who has a double tongue.

Sirach 8:11 Don’t rise up from the face of an insolent man, lest he lie in wait as an ambush for your mouth.

Numbers 35:9 – 36:13 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 35:9 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying: Speak with the sons of Israel, and say to them, When you have passed over Jordan unto the land of Kenaan, you will provide you cities with streets and houses of living (boarding houses), cities of refuge will they be to you, that thither the manslayer may flee who hath killed a man inadvertently. And they will be to you for cities of refuge for the manslayer from the avenger of blood, that the man may not be put to death till he will have stood before the congregation for judgment. And these cities which you give will be six cities of refuge for the manslayer; three you will appoint beyond Jordan, and three in the land of Kenaan; cities of refuge will they be. For the sons of Israel and the sojourners among you will be these six cities of refuge, that thither whoever hath killed a man through ignorance may flee. But if he smote him with an instrument of iron and killed him, he is a murderer; and the murderer will be surely put to death. Or if, filling his hand with a stone large enough to kill any one, he struck him, and killed him, he is a murderer, and the murderer dying will die. Or if, filling his hand with an instrument of wood sufficient to kill any one, he struck him, and killed him, he is a murderer; the murderer will be put to death. The avenger of blood may himself kill the manslayer, if he meet him outside of these cities; he may kill him in judgment. But if (the manslayer) had assaulted in enmity and intentionally with a club or staff, or thrown stones upon him with purpose of heart, and killed him; or cherishing enmity had struck him with his hand and killed him; he is a murderer; dying he will die. The avenger of blood may slay the homicide when he hath been condemned. But if in ignorance, without keeping of malice, he let any thing fall upon him, having no intention to kill; or if without intention he let a stone sufficient to kill any one, or any other thing, fall upon him, and kill him, without having hated, or purposed to do him harm, then the congregation will judge between him who had smitten him, and the avenger of blood, according to these judgments; and the congregation will release the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and make him return to his city of refuge whither he had fled; and he will dwell there until the time that the high priest die, whom the multitude (sagia) had anointed with the oil of anointing; because he did not pray on the Day of Atonement in the Holy of Holies concerning the three great transgressions, that the people of the house of Israel might not be smitten for strange worship, or impure connections, or the shedding of innocent blood, when it was in his power to obviate them by his prayer, and he prayed not, therefore hath he been condemned to die in that year. But if, while the high priest is yet alive, the manslayer goeth out indeed from the bounds, of his city of refuge whither he had fled, and the avenger of blood find him without the bounds of his city of refuge, he may kill the manslayer, without being guilty of death, for he should have abode in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; but after the high priest is dead he may return to the land of his inheritance. And these indications will be to you a decree of judgment for your generations in all your dwellings: Whosoever killeth a man, according to the word of witnesses fit to give witness against him, the avenger of blood, or the house of judgment, will put him to death. But one witness only will not testify against a man to put him to death. You may not take a ransom for the release of a murderer who is guilty of death, for dying he will die. Neither may you take ransom for him who hath fled to his city of refuge, so that he may return to dwell in the land before the time of the high priest’s decease. Nor contaminate ye the land in which you are, because innocent blood which hath not been avenged will overflow the land, and there is no atonement made for the land upon which innocent blood hath been shed, but by the shedding of the blood of him who shed it. Therefore defile not the land in which you are; for My Shekinah dwelleth in the midst of it; for I am the Lord whose Shekinah dwelleth among the sons of Israel.

Chapter 36 And the heads of the fathers of the family of the Beni Gilead bar Makir bar Menasheh, even the family of the Beni Gilead bar Joseph, came to the house of judgment, and spake before Mosheh and the princes, the chief fathers of the Beni Israel, and said: The Lord commanded Rabboni {our lord} to give the land an inheritance by lot to the sons of Israel, and Rabboni was commanded before the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. But if these marry into any of the tribes of the sons of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from that of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe which will have become theirs, and our lot will be diminished. And at the Jubilee of the Beni Israel their inheritance will be added to that of their tribe in which they will be; and their possession will have been withdrawn from the inheritance of our father’s tribe. Then Mosheh commanded the sons of Israel by the Word of the Lord, saying: The tribe of the Beni Joseph have said well. This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded,-not for the generations that will arise after the division of the land, but for the daughters of Zelophehad, saying: They may be the wives of them who are proper in their eyes, only such must be of the families of their father’s tribe. That the inheritance of the sons of Israel may not pass about from one tribe to another: for the sons of Israel will every one keep to the inheritance of their father’s tribe. As the Lord commanded Mosheh, so did the daughters of Zelophehad; and Mahalah, Thirzah, Hogelab, Milchah and Nohah, the daughters of Zelophehad, became wives of sons of their kindred; of the family of the sons of Menasheh bar Joseph were they wives, and their inheritance was with the tribe of their father’s family. These are the commandments and orders of judgments which the Lord commanded the sons of Israel, by Mosheh, in the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho.

Genesis 4:1-16 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (ADD)

Chapter 4 And Adam knew Hava his wife, who had desired the Angel; and she conceived, and bare Kain; and she said, I have acquired a man, the Angel of the Lord. And she added to bear from her husband Adam his twin, even Habel. And Habel was a shepherd of the flock, but Kain was a man working in the land. And it was at the end of days, on the fourteenth of Nisan, that Kain brought of the produce of the land, the seed of cotton (or line), an oblation of first things before the Lord; and Habel brought of the firstlings of the flock, and of their fat; and it was pleasing before the Lord, and He gave (His) countenance to Habel and to his oblation; but to Kain and to his oblation He gave no countenance. And Kain was angered greatly, and the features of his face were downcast. And the Lord said to Kain, Why hast thou anger, and why are the features of thy face downcast? If thou doest thy work well, will not thy guilt be forgiven thee? But if thou doest not thy work well in this world, thy sin is retained unto the day of the great judgment, and at the doors of thy heart lieth thy sin. And into thy hand have I delivered the power over evil passion, and unto thee will be the inclination thereof, that thou mayest have authority over it to become righteous, or to sin. And Kain said to Habel his brother, Come, and let us two go forth into the field. And it was that when they two had gone forth into the field, Kain answered and said to Habel, I perceive that the world was created in goodness, but it is not governed (or conducted) according to the fruit of good works, for there is respect to persons in judgment; therefore it is that thy offering was accepted, and mine not accepted with good will. Habel answered and said to Kain, In goodness was the world created, and according to the fruit of good works is it governed; and there is no respect of persons in judgment; but because the fruits of my works were better than thine, my oblation, before thine, hath been accepted with good will. Kain answered and said to Habel, There is neither judgment nor Judge, nor another world; nor will good reward be given to the righteous, nor vengeance be taken of the wicked. And Habel answered and said to Kain, There is a judgment, and there is a Judge; and there is another world, and a good reward given to the righteous, and vengeance taken of the wicked. And because of these words they had contention upon the face of the field; and Kain arose against Habel his brother, and drave a stone into his forehead, and killed him. And the Lord said to Kain, Where is Habel thy brother? And he said, I know not; am I the keeper of my brother? And He said, What hast thou done? The voice of the bloods of the murder of thy brother which are swallowed up in the sod, crieth before Me from the land. And now because thou hast killed him, thou art cursed from the land, which hath opened the mouth, and received the bloods of thy brother from thy hand. When thou tillest the land, it will not add to give strength to its fruits for thee. A wanderer and an exile shalt thou be in the land. And Kain said before the Lord, More heavy is my rebellion than can be borne (away). Yet is there power before Thee to forgive it. Behold, Thou hast cast me forth to-day from the face of the land, and from before Thee is it possible to be hidden? And because I am a wanderer and an exile in the land, any just one who findeth me will kill me. And the Lord said to him, Behold now, any one who killeth Kain, unto seven generations vengeance will be taken of him. And the Lord sealed upon the face of Kain the mark of the Name great and honourable, that any one who might find him should not kill him when he saw it upon him. [JERUSALEM. 7. If thou makest thy work good in this world, will it not be forgiven and remitted thee in the world to come? But if thou doest not make thy work good in this world, thy sin is retained unto the day of the great judgment; and at the door of thy heart it lieth. Yet into thy hand have I delivered power over evil passion, and to thee may be dominion over it, to become righteous or to sin……8. And Kain said to Habel his brother, Come, and let us go forth upon the face of the field. And it was when they had gone out upon the face of the field, Kain answered and said to Habel his brother, There is neither judgment nor Judge, nor another world; neither is a good reward given to the righteous, nor will vengeance be taken of the wicked. Nor was the world created in goodness, nor in goodness is it conducted. Therefore it is that thy oblation was accepted with good will, and mine not accepted with good will. Habel answered and said to Kain, There is a judgment, and there is a Judge: there is another world, and a good reward is given to the righteous, and vengeance taken of the wicked. And in goodness was the world created, and in goodness is it conducted. But according to the fruit of good works is it conducted. Because my works were better ordered than thine, my offering was accepted with good will, and thine was not accepted with good will. And as they two disputed on the face of the field, Kain arose against Habel his brother, and killed him……10. The voice of the blood of the multitude of the righteous who were to arise from Habel thy brother……13. And Kain said before the Lord, My sins are greater than can be borne. Nevertheless there is power before Thee to absolve and forgive me.] And Kain went out from before the Lord, and dwelt in the land of the wandering of his exile, which had been made for him from before, as the garden of Eden.

Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 4.7.4-5 (T)

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

4.7.4. Moses also now built those ten cities which were to be of the number of the forty-eight [for the Levites;]; three of which he allotted to those that slew any person involuntarily, and fled to them; and he assigned the same time for their banishment with that of the life of that high priest under whom the slaughter and flight happened; after which death of the high priest he permitted the slayer to return home. During the time of his exile, the relations of him that was slain may, by this law, kill the manslayer, if they caught him without the bounds of the city to which he fled, though this permission was not granted to any other person. Now the cities which were set apart for this flight were these: Bezer, at the borders of Arabia; Ramoth, of the land of Gilead; and Golan, in the land of Bashan. There were to be also, by Moses’s command, three other cities allotted for the habitation of these fugitives out of the cities of the Levites, but not till after they should be in possession of the land of Canaan.

4.7.5. At this time the chief men of the tribe of Manasseh came to Moses, and informed him that there was an eminent man of their tribe dead, whose name was Zelophehad, who left no male children, but left daughters; and asked him whether these daughters might inherit his land or not. He made this answer, That if they will marry into their own tribe, they will carry their estate along with them; but if they dispose of themselves in marriage to men of another tribe, they will leave their inheritance in their father’s tribe. And then it was that Moses ordained, that every one’s inheritance should continue in his own tribe.