The Question About the Resurrection.^* 18Some Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him and put this question to him, 19saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us, ‘If someone’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.’^g 20Now there were seven brothers. The first married a woman and died, leaving no descendants. 21So the second married her and died, leaving no descendants, and the third likewise. 22And the seven left no descendants. Last of all the woman also died. 23At the resurrection [when they arise] whose wife will she be? For all seven had been married to her.” 24Jesus said to them, “Are you not misled because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God? 25When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven. 26As for the dead being raised, have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God told him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, [the] God of Isaac, and [the] God of Jacob’?^h 27He is not God of the dead but of the living. You are greatly misled.”

10^f So Joshua commanded the officers of the people: 11“Go through the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for three days from now you shall cross the Jordan here, to march in and possess the land the LORD, your God, is giving as your possession.’”

The Transjordan Tribes. 12^g Joshua addressed the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh: 13“Remember what Moses, the servant of the LORD, commanded you when he said, ‘The LORD, your God, is about to give you rest; he will give you this land.’ 14Your wives, your children, and your livestock may remain in the land Moses gave you here beyond the Jordan. But all the warriors among you must cross over armed, ahead of your kindred, and you must help them 15until the LORD has settled your kindred, and they like you possess the land the LORD, your God, is giving them. Afterward you may return and possess your own land, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, has given you east of the Jordan.”^h 16They answered Joshua, “We will do all you have commanded us, and we will go wherever you send us. 17As completely as we obeyed Moses, we will obey you. Only, may the LORD, your God, be with you as God was with Moses. 18Anyone who rebels against your orders and does not obey all your commands shall be put to death. Only be strong and steadfast.”

12Who has measured with his palm the waters,

marked off the heavens with a span,

held in his fingers the dust of the earth,

weighed the mountains in scales

and the hills in a balance?^*

13Who has directed the spirit of the LORD,

or instructed him as his counselor?^e

14Whom did he consult to gain knowledge?

Who taught him the path of judgment,

or showed him the way of understanding?

15See, the nations count as a drop in the bucket,

as a wisp of cloud on the scales;

the coastlands weigh no more than a speck.^*

16Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,^*

nor its animals be enough for burnt offerings.

17Before him all the nations are as nought,

as nothing and void he counts them.

18To whom can you liken God?^f

With what likeness can you confront him?

19An idol? An artisan casts it,

the smith plates it with gold,

fits it with silver chains.^{* g}

20Is mulberry wood the offering?

A skilled artisan picks out

a wood that will not rot,

Seeks to set up for himself

an idol that will not totter.^h

10I rejoice greatly in the Lord that now at last you revived your concern for me. You were, of course, concerned about me but lacked an opportunity.ⁱ 11Not that I say this because of need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I find myself, to be self-sufficient.^j 12I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need. 13I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me.^k 14Still, it was kind of you to share in my distress.