Then ¹  he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy contained in this book, because the time is near.

“Command Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering is to remain on the hearth ¹  on the altar all night until morning, and the fire of the altar must be kept burning on it. ² 

“Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is the law of the sin offering. In the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered the sin offering must be slaughtered before the Lord. It is most holy. ¹ 

“This is the law ¹  of the Nazirite who vows to the Lord his offering according to his separation, as well as whatever else he can provide. ²  Thus he must fulfill ³  his vow that he makes, according to the law of his separation.”

“Command the Israelites: ¹  ‘With regard to my offering, ²  be sure to offer ³  my food for my offering made by fire, as a pleasing aroma to me at its appointed time.’ ⁴ 

Now these are the commandments, ¹  statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed ² 

Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: ¹  “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” ²  They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. ³ 

Joshua sent men from Jericho ¹  to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel ² ) and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land.” So the men went up and spied on Ai.

Caleb son of Jephunneh was assigned Kiriath Arba (that is Hebron) within the tribe of Judah, according to the Lord’s instructions to Joshua. (Arba was the father of Anak.) ¹ 

And you didn’t stop there, O Lord God! You have also spoken about the future of your servant’s family. ¹  Is this your usual way of dealing with men, ²  O Lord God?

So I have decided ¹  to build a temple to honor the Lord ²  my God, as the Lord instructed my father David, ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, is the one who will build a temple to honor me.’ ³ 

So he went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, as the prophet had instructed. ¹  His skin became as smooth as a young child’s ²  and he was healed.

No one must enter the Lord’s temple except the priests and Levites who are on duty. They may enter because they are ceremonially pure. All the others should carry out their assigned service to the Lord.

I will not make Israel again leave the land I gave to their ancestors, ¹  provided that they carefully obey all I commanded them, the whole law, the rules and regulations given to Moses.”

They reserved the burnt offerings and the cattle for the family divisions of the people to present to the Lord, as prescribed in the scroll of Moses. ¹ 

Then Jeshua the son of Jozadak ¹  and his priestly colleagues ²  and Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and his colleagues ³  started to build ⁴  the altar of the God of Israel so they could offer burnt offerings on it as required by ⁵  the law of Moses the man of God.

Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah – all of whom were Levites ¹  – were teaching the people the law, as the people remained standing.

Esther was still not divulging her lineage or her people, ¹  just as Mordecai had instructed her. ²  Esther continued to do whatever Mordecai said, just as she had done when he was raising her.

I said, ¹  “Who is wise enough to understand why this has happened? ²  Who has a word from the Lord that can explain it? ³  Why does the land lie in ruins? Why is it as scorched as a desert through which no one travels?”

Then ¹  he ordered the man ²  to tell no one, ³  but commanded him, ⁴  “Go ⁵  and show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering ⁶  for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, ⁷  as a testimony to them.” ⁸