21. Ki Tissa

Parasha 21: Ki Tissa

Exodus 30:11–34:35 (LEB)

Instructions for Numbering the People

¹¹ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “_⌊When you take a census of_⌋ the _⌊Israelites_⌋ to count them, they will each give the ransom of his life for Yahweh when counting them, and a plague will not be among them when counting them. ¹³ This they will give, _⌊everyone who is counted_⌋, the half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which is twenty gerahs per shekel. The half shekel is a contribution for Yahweh. ¹⁴ _⌊Everyone who is counted_⌋ from _⌊twenty years old_⌋ and above will give the contribution of Yahweh. ¹⁵ The rich will not give more, and the poor will not give less than the half shekel to give the contribution of Yahweh to make atonement for their lives. ¹⁶ And you will take the atonement money from the _⌊Israelites_⌋ and give it to the service of the tent of assembly, and it will be as a memorial for the _⌊Israelites_⌋ before Yahweh to make atonement for your lives.”

Instructions for Making the Basin

¹⁷ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “And you will make a basin of bronze and its bronze stand for washing, and you will put it between the tent of assembly and the altar, and you will put water there. ¹⁹ And Aaron and his sons will wash their hands and their feet with it. ²⁰ When they come to the tent of assembly, they will wash with water so that they do not die, or when they approach the altar to serve by turning to smoke an offering made by fire to Yahweh. ²¹ And they will wash their hands and their feet so that they do not die, and it will be a lasting rule for them—to him and to his offspring throughout their generations.

Instructions for Making Anointing Oil and Incense

²² And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²³ “And take for yourself top quality balsam oils, five hundred shekels of flowing myrrh, half as much—two hundred and fifty shekels of fragrant cinnamon, and two hundred and fifty shekels of fragrant reed, ²⁴ and five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the sanctuary shekel, and a hin of olive oil. ²⁵ And you will make it into holy anointing oil, a spice blend of a fragrant ointment the work of a perfumer; it will be holy anointing oil. ²⁶ And you will anoint with it the tent of assembly and the ark of the testimony, ²⁷ and the table and all its equipment and the lampstand and its equipment and the incense altar, ²⁸ and the altar of burnt offering and all its equipment and the basin and its stand. ²⁹ And you will consecrate them, and they will be most holy things; _⌊anyone who_⌋ touches them will be holy. ³⁰ And you will anoint Aaron and his sons, and you will consecrate them to serve as priests for me.

³¹ “And you will speak to the _⌊Israelites_⌋, saying, ‘This will be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. ³² It will not be poured on human flesh, and with its measurements you will not make any like it; it is holy; it will be holy to you. ³³ Anyone who compounds perfume like it and who puts it on a stranger will be cut off from his people.’ ”

³⁴ And Yahweh said to Moses, “Take for yourself fragrant perfumes—stacte resin and onycha and galbanum—fragrant perfumes and pure frankincense, _⌊an equal part of each_⌋, ³⁵ and make it into a compound of incense, the work of a perfumer, salted, pure, holy. ³⁶ And you will grind part of it to powder, and you will put part of it before the testimony in the tent of assembly where I will meet with you; it will be a most holy thing to you. ³⁷ And the incense that you will make with its measurements you will not make for yourselves; it will be holy to you for Yahweh. ³⁸ Anyone who makes any like it to smell it will be cut off from his people.”

Provision of Skilled People

31 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. ³ And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with skill and with knowledge and with every kind of craftsmanship, ⁴ to devise designs, to work with gold and with silver and with bronze, ⁵ and in stonecutting for setting and in cutting wood, for doing every kind of craftsmanship. ⁶ And, look, I have given with him Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, and I have put skill in the heart of all the skilled of heart, and they will make all that I have commanded you— ⁷ the tent of assembly and the ark of the testimony and the atonement cover that is on it and all the equipment of the tent, ⁸ and the table and all its equipment, and the pure gold lampstand and all its equipment, and the incense altar, ⁹ and the altar of burnt offering and all its equipment, and the basin and its stand, ¹⁰ and the garments of woven material, and _⌊the garments of the sanctuary_⌋ for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons to serve as priests, ¹¹ and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the sanctuary. According to all that I have commanded you, they will make it.

Provision of Rest from Work

¹² And Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, ¹³ “And you, speak to the _⌊Israelites_⌋, saying, ‘Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, because it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, in order to know that I am Yahweh, who consecrates you. ¹⁴ And you must keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; defilers of it will surely be put to death, because anyone who does work on it—that person will be cut off from among his people. ¹⁵ On six days work can be done, and on the seventh _⌊is a Sabbath of complete rest_⌋, _⌊a holy day_⌋ for Yahweh; anyone doing work on the Sabbath day will surely be put to death. ¹⁶ The _⌊Israelites_⌋ will pay attention to the Sabbath in order to fulfill the Sabbath throughout their generations as a lasting covenant. ¹⁷ It is a sign between me and the _⌊Israelites_⌋ forever, because in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh he ceased and recovered.”

¹⁸ And when he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave to Moses the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets, written with the finger of God.

The Golden Calf

32 And the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, and the people gathered opposite Aaron, and they said to him, “Come, make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”

² And Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring it to me.” ³ And all the people took off the rings of gold that were on their ears and brought it to Aaron. ⁴ And he took from their hand, and he shaped it with a tool, and he made it a cast-image bull calf, and they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.”

⁵ And Aaron saw, and he built an altar before it, and Aaron called, and he said, “A feast for Yahweh tomorrow.” ⁶ And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel.

⁷ And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, go down because your people behave corruptly, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt. ⁸ They have turned aside quickly from the way that I commanded them; they have made for themselves a cast-image bull calf, and they bowed to it, and they sacrificed to it, and they said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.’ ”

⁹ And Yahweh said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and, indeed, they are a stiff-necked people. ¹⁰ And now leave me alone so that _⌊my anger may blaze_⌋ against them, and let me destroy them, and I will make you into a great nation.”

¹¹ And Moses _⌊implored Yahweh_⌋ his God, and he said, “Why, Yahweh, should _⌊your anger blaze_⌋ against your people whom you brought up from the land of Egypt with great power and with a strong hand? ¹² Why should the Egyptians _⌊say_⌋, ‘With evil intent he brought them out to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from _⌊your fierce anger_⌋ and relent concerning the disaster for your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself, and you told them, ‘I will multiply your offspring like the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I promised I will give to your offspring, and they will inherit it forever.’ ”

¹⁴ And Yahweh relented concerning the disaster that he had _⌊threatened_⌋ to do to his people. ¹⁵ And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the testimony were in his hand, tablets written on their two sides; _⌊on the front and on the back_⌋ they were written. ¹⁶ And the tablets, they were the work of God; and the writing, it was the writing of God engraved on the tablets.

¹⁷ And Joshua heard the sound of the people in their shouting, and he said to Moses, “A sound of war is in the camp.”

¹⁸ But he said, “There is not a sound of shouting of victory, and there is not a sound of shouting of defeat. I hear a sound of singing.”

¹⁹ _⌊And_⌋ as he came near to the camp, he saw the bull calf and dancing, and _⌊Moses became angry_⌋, and he threw the tablets from his hand, and he broke them under the mountain. ²⁰ And he took the bull calf that they had made, and he burned it with the fire, and he crushed it until it became fine, and he scattered it on the surface of the water, and he made the _⌊Israelites_⌋ drink.

²¹ And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you brought on them such a great sin?” ²² And Aaron said, “_⌊Let not my lord become angry_⌋. You yourself know the people, that _⌊they are intent on evil_⌋. ²³ And they said to me, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ ²⁴ And I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off.’ And they gave it to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this bull calf.”

²⁵ And Moses saw the people, that they were running wild because Aaron had allowed them to run wild, for a laughingstock among _⌊their enemies_⌋. ²⁶ And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and he said, “Whoever is for Yahweh, to me.” And all the sons of Levi were gathered to him. ²⁷ And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Put each his sword on his side. Go _⌊back and forth_⌋ from gate to gate in the camp, and kill, each his brother and each his friend and each his close relative.’ ” ²⁸ And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and from the people on that day about three thousand persons fell. ²⁹ And Moses said, “_⌊You are ordained_⌋ today for Yahweh, because each has been against his son and against his brother and so bringing on you today a blessing.”

³⁰ _⌊And_⌋ the next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

³¹ And Moses returned to Yahweh, and he said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin and made for themselves gods of gold. ³² And now if you will forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me from your scroll that you have written.” ³³ And Yahweh said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot him from my scroll. ³⁴ And now go, lead the people to where I spoke to you. Look, my angel will go before you, and on the day when I punish I will punish them for their sin.” ³⁵ And Yahweh afflicted the people because they had made the bull calf that Aaron had made.

Command to Resume Travel

33 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, “Go, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your offspring.’ ² And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, and the Hittites and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, ³ Go to a land flowing with milk and honey, but I will not go up among you, because you are a stiff-necked people, lest I destroy you on the way.” ⁴ And the people heard this troubling word, and they mourned, and they each did not put their ornaments on themselves.

⁵ And Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to the _⌊Israelites_⌋, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if one moment I were to go up among you, I would destroy you. And now take down your ornaments from on you, and I will _⌊decide_⌋ what I will do to you.” ⁶ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋ stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward.

The Tent outside the Camp

⁷ And Moses took the tent and pitched it outside the camp far from the camp, and he called it the tent of assembly, _⌊and_⌋ all seeking Yahweh would go out to the tent of assembly, which was outside the camp. ⁸ _⌊And_⌋ at the going out of Moses to the tent, all the people would rise and stand, each at the opening of his tent, and gaze after Moses until his entering the tent. ⁹ _⌊And_⌋ at the entering of Moses into the tent the column of cloud would descend and stand at the opening of the tent, and he would speak with Moses. ¹⁰ And all the people would see the column of cloud standing at the opening of the tent, and all the people would rise and bow in worship, each at the opening of his tent. ¹¹ And Yahweh would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his neighbor. And he would return to the camp, and his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not leave the middle of the tent.

Presence and Glory

¹² And Moses said to Yahweh, “See, you are saying to me, ‘Take this people up.’ But you have not let me know whom you will send with me, and you yourself have said, ‘I know you by name, and you also have found favor in my eyes.’ ¹³ And now if I have found favor in your eyes, make known to me, please, your way, and so I may know you so that I can find favor in your eyes. And see that this nation is your people.” ¹⁴ And he said, “My presence will go, and I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ And he said to him, “If your presence is not going, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶ And by what will it be known then that I have found favor in your eyes, I and your people? Is it not by your going with us? And so we will be distinguished, I and your people, from all the people who are on the face of the ground.”

¹⁷ And Yahweh said to Moses, “Also I will do this thing that you have spoken, because you have found favor in my eyes and I have known you by name.”

¹⁸ And he said, “Please show me your glory.”

¹⁹ And he said, “I myself will cause all my goodness to pass over before you, and I will proclaim the name of Yahweh before you, and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will show compassion to whom I will show compassion.” ²⁰ But he said, “You are not able to see my face, because a human will not see me and live.” ²¹ And Yahweh said, “There is a place with me, and you will stand on the rock. ²² _⌊And_⌋ when my glory passes over, I will put you in the rock’s crevice, and I will cover you with my hand until I pass over. ²³ And I will remove my hand, and you will see my back, but my face will not be visible.”

Yahweh’s Description of Himself

34 And Yahweh said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. ² And be ready for the morning, and go up in the morning to Mount Sinai and present yourself to me there on the top of the mountain. ³ And no one will go up with you, and neither let anyone be seen on all the mountain, nor let the sheep and goats and the cattle graze _⌊opposite_⌋ that mountain.”

⁴ And Moses cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and he started early in the morning, and he went up to Mount Sinai, as Yahweh had commanded him, and he took in his hand the two stone tablets. ⁵ And Yahweh descended in the cloud, and he stood with him there, and he proclaimed the name of Yahweh. ⁶ And Yahweh passed over before him, and he proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, God, who is compassionate and gracious, _⌊slow to anger_⌋, and abounding with loyal love and faithfulness, ⁷ keeping loyal love to the thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and he does not leave utterly unpunished, punishing the guilt of fathers on sons and on sons of sons on third and fourth generations.”

⁸ And Moses hurried and knelt down to the earth and worshiped. ⁹ And he said, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, Lord, let my Lord, please, go among us—indeed it is a stiff-necked people—and forgive our iniquity and our sin and _⌊take us as your possession_⌋.”

Covenant Stipulations

¹⁰ And he said, “Look, I am about to make a covenant. In front of all your people I will do wonders that have not been created on all the earth and among all the nations, and all the people among whom you are will see Yahweh’s work, because what I am about to do with you will be awesome.

¹¹ “Keep for yourself what I myself have commanded you today. Look, I am about to drive from before you the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. ¹² Be careful for yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, lest it be a snare among you. ¹³ Rather, you will tear down their altars, and you will break their stone pillars, and you will cut off their Asherah poles. ¹⁴ For you will not bow in worship to another god, for ‘Yahweh Is Jealous’ is his name, he is a jealous God, ¹⁵ lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they prostitute themselves after their gods, and they sacrifice to their gods, and they invite you, and you eat their sacrifice, ¹⁶ and you take from their daughters for your sons, and their daughters prostitute themselves after their gods, and they cause your sons to prostitute themselves after their gods. ¹⁷ You will not make gods of cast metal for yourself.

¹⁸ “You will keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you will eat unleavened bread, which I commanded you, at the appointed time of the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out from Egypt. ¹⁹ Every first offspring of a womb is for me—all of your male livestock, the first offspring of cattle and small livestock. ²⁰ But the first offspring of a donkey you will redeem with small livestock, and if you will not redeem it, you will break its neck. Every firstborn of your sons you will redeem, and you will not appear before me empty-handed. ²¹ Six days you will work, and on the seventh day you will rest; in the time of plowing and in the time of harvest you will rest. ²² And _⌊you yourself_⌋ will observe the Feast of Weeks—the firstfruits of the wheat harvest—and the Feast of Harvest Gathering at the turn of the year. ²³ Three times in the year all your males will appear before the Lord, Yahweh, the God of Israel, ²⁴ because I will evict nations before you, and I will enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up to appear before Yahweh your God three times in the year.

²⁵ “You will not slaughter the blood of my sacrifice on food with yeast, and the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover will not stay overnight to the morning. ²⁶ The beginning of the firstfruits of your land you will bring to the house of Yahweh your God. You will not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

²⁷ And Yahweh said to Moses, “Write for yourself these words, because _⌊according to_⌋ these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

The Shining Face of Moses

²⁸ And he was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights. He ate no food and drank no water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten words. ²⁹ _⌊And_⌋ when Moses came down from Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony were in the hand of Moses at his coming down from the mountain; and Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with him. ³⁰ And Aaron and all the _⌊Israelites_⌋ saw Moses, and, _⌊to their amazement_⌋, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid of coming near to him. ³¹ And Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the community returned to him, and Moses spoke to them. ³² And afterward all the _⌊Israelites_⌋ came near, and he commanded them all that Yahweh had spoken with him on Mount Sinai. ³³ And Moses finished speaking with them, and he put a veil on his face. ³⁴ And when Moses came before Yahweh to speak with him, he would remove the veil until he went out, and he would go out and would speak to the _⌊Israelites_⌋ what he had been commanded. ³⁵ And the _⌊Israelites_⌋ would see the face of Moses, that the skin of the face of Moses shone, and Moses would put back the veil on his face until his coming to speak with him.

PROPHETS

1 Kings 18:1–39 (LEB)

War between Elijah and the Prophets of Baal

18 It happened many days later that the word of Yahweh came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab so that I may give rain on the surface of the earth.” ² So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. ³ Ahab summoned Obadiah who was over the house. (Now Obadiah was fearing Yahweh greatly. ⁴ It had happened that when Jezebel killed the prophets of Yahweh, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them _⌊by fifties_⌋ in the cave and sustained them with food and water.) ⁵ Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the wadis. Perhaps we may find green grass that we may keep horses and mules alive and that we might not lose any of the animals.” ⁶ So they divided the land for themselves in order to pass through it; Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.

⁷ It happened that Obadiah was on the way, and suddenly Elijah was there to meet him. When he recognized him, he fell on his face and said, “Is this you, my lord Elijah?” ⁸ He said to him, “I am. Go, say to your lord, ‘Elijah is here.’ ” ⁹ He said, “How have I sinned that you are giving your servant into the hand of Ahab to kill me? ¹⁰ _⌊As Yahweh your God lives_⌋, surely there is not a nation or a kingdom to which my lord has not sent me to seek you. If they would say, ‘He is not here,’ then he would make the kingdom or the nation swear that it could not find you. ¹¹ Now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your lord: “Elijah is here.” ’ ¹² And it will happen that I will go from you and the Spirit of Yahweh will carry you up to where I do not know. Then I will come to tell Ahab, but he will not find you, and then he will kill me, even though your servant has feared Yahweh from my youth. ¹³ Has it not been told to my lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of Yahweh? I hid a hundred men of the prophets of Yahweh _⌊by fifties_⌋ in the cave, and I sustained them with food and water. ¹⁴ Now you are saying, ‘Go, say to your lord: “Elijah is here,” ’ and he will kill me.” ¹⁵ Elijah said, “_⌊As Yahweh of hosts lives_⌋, before whom I stand, I will certainly show myself to him today.”

¹⁶ So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and he told him, so Ahab went to meet Elijah. ¹⁷ When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is this you who throws Israel into confusion?” ¹⁸ He said, “I did not throw Israel into confusion; rather you and the house of your father have by forsaking the commands of Yahweh when you went after the Baals! ¹⁹ So then, send word and assemble all of Israel to me on Mount Carmel, with the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at the table of Jezebel.”

²⁰ So Ahab sent word among the _⌊Israelites_⌋, and he assembled the prophets to Mount Carmel. ²¹ Elijah approached to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping over two opinions? If Yahweh is God, go after him; but if Baal, go after him.” But the people did not answer him a word. ²² Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of Yahweh, but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men. ²³ Let them give us two bulls, and let them choose for themselves one bull, cut him in pieces, and put it on the wood, but don’t let them start a fire on it. I will prepare the other bull and set it on the wood, but I will put no fire on it. ²⁴ Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and it shall be that the god who answers by fire, he is God.” Then all the people answered and said, “The word is good!”

²⁵ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are the majority, and call on the name of your god, but don’t set fire under it.” ²⁶ So they took the bull that he allowed to them, prepared it, and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice and there was no answer, so they limped about the altar which they had made. ²⁷ It happened at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god! Perhaps he is meditating, or _⌊is using the bathroom_⌋, or is on a journey. Perhaps he is asleep and must wake up!” ²⁸ So they called out with a loud voice, and they cut themselves with swords and with spears as was their custom, until the blood poured out over them. ²⁹ It happened as noon passed, they raged until the time of the evening offering, but there was no voice, there was no answer, and no one paid attention.

³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me,” so all the people came closer to him. He repaired the altar of Yahweh that had been destroyed. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of God came, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” ³² With them, he built an altar in the name of Yahweh, and he made a trench _⌊which would have held_⌋ about two seahs of seed, all around the altar. ³³ And he arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces, and placed it on the wood. Then he said, “Fill four jars with water, and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” ³⁴ He said, “Do it again!” They did it again. He said, “Do it a third time!” So they did it a third time. ³⁵ The water went all around the altar, and the trench also was filled with water.

³⁶ It happened at the offering of the evening oblation, Elijah the prophet went near, and he said, “O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel; let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and that I have done all of these things by your words. ³⁷ Answer me, O Yahweh, answer me; that this people may know that you, O Yahweh, are God and that you have turned their hearts back again.” ³⁸ Then the fire of Yahweh fell, and it consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust; and the water which was in the trench it licked up! ³⁹ When all the people saw, they fell on their faces and said, “Yahweh, he is God! Yahweh, he is God!”

GOSPELS

Luke 11:14–20 (LEB)

A House Divided Cannot Stand

¹⁴ And he was expelling a mute demon. Now it happened that when* the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were astonished. ¹⁵ But some of them said, “By Beelzebul the ruler of demons he expels demons!” ¹⁶ And others, in order to* test him,* were demanding from him a sign from heaven. ¹⁷ But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and _⌊a divided household_⌋ falls. ¹⁸ So if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I expel demons by Beelzebul. ¹⁹ But if I expel demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons expel them?* For this reason they will be your judges! ²⁰ But if I expel demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you!

Mark 9:1–10 (LEB)

And he said to them, “Truly I say to you, that there are some of those standing here who will never experience death until they see the kingdom of God having come with power.”

The Transfiguration

² And after six days, Jesus took along Peter and James and John, and led them to a high mountain by themselves alone. And he was transfigured before them, ³ and his clothing became radiant—extremely white, like no cloth refiner on earth can _⌊make so white_⌋. ⁴ And Elijah appeared to them together with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵ And Peter answered and* said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! And let us make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” ⁶ (For he did not know what he should answer, because they were terrified.) ⁷ And a cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” ⁸ And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus alone.

⁹ And as* they were coming down from the mountain, he ordered them that they should tell no one the things that they had seen, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. ¹⁰ And they kept the matter to themselves, discussing what this rising from the dead _⌊meant_⌋.