The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday February 16, 2023 (NIV)

1 Then the Lord called to Moses and said to him from the meeting tent, ² Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When any of you present a livestock offering to the Lord, you can present it from either the herd or the flock.

The entirely burned offering

³ If the offering is an entirely burned offering from the herd, you must present a flawless male, bringing it to the meeting tent’s entrance for its acceptance before the Lord. ⁴ You must press your hand on the head of the entirely burned offering so that it will be accepted for you, to make reconciliation for you. ⁵ Then you will slaughter the bull before the Lord. Aaron’s sons the priests will present the blood and toss it against every side of the altar at the meeting tent’s entrance. ⁶ Then the entirely burned offering will be skinned and cut up into pieces. ⁷ The sons of Aaron the priest^[a] will light the altar and lay wood on the fire. ⁸ Then Aaron’s sons the priests will arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat on the wood that is on the altar fire, ⁹ but the animal’s insides and lower legs must be washed with water. The priest will then completely burn all of it on the altar as an entirely burned offering, a food gift^[b] of soothing smell to the Lord.

¹⁰ If the offering is an entirely burned offering from the flock—whether sheep or goat—you must present a flawless male. ¹¹ You must slaughter it on the north side of the altar before the Lord. Aaron’s sons the priests will toss its blood against every side of the altar. ¹² Once it has been cut into pieces, including the head and the fat, the priest will arrange these out on the wood that is on the altar fire, ¹³ but its insides and lower legs must be washed with water. Then the priest will present all of it and completely burn it on the altar. It is an entirely burned offering, a food gift of soothing smell to the Lord.

¹⁴ If the offering for the Lord is an entirely burned offering from the birds, you can present your offering from the doves or pigeons. ¹⁵ The priest will bring it to the altar. He will tear off its head and completely burn it on the altar. Its blood will be drained against the side of the altar. ¹⁶ Then the priest will remove its throat along with its contents^[c] and throw it by the east side of the altar, into the place for the ashes. ¹⁷ He will then tear the bird open by its wings, without splitting it. The priest will completely burn it on the altar, on the wood that is on the altar fire. It is an entirely burned offering, a food gift of soothing smell to the Lord.

The grain offering

2 When anyone presents a grain offering to the Lord, the offering must be of choice flour. They must pour oil on it and put frankincense on it, ² then bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. A priest will take a handful of its choice flour and oil, along with all of its frankincense, and will completely burn this token portion on the altar as a food gift of soothing smell to the Lord. ³ The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons as a most holy portion from the Lord’s food gifts.

⁴ When you present a grain offering baked in an oven, it must be of choice flour: unleavened flatbread mixed with oil or unleavened wafers spread with oil. ⁵ If your offering is grain prepared on a griddle, it must be of choice flour mixed with oil and it must be unleavened. ⁶ Crumble it into pieces and pour oil on it; it is a grain offering. ⁷ If your offering is grain prepared in a pan, it must be made of choice flour with oil. ⁸ You will bring the grain offering made in one of these ways to the Lord, presenting it to the priest, who will then bring it to the altar. ⁹ The priest will remove from the grain offering the token portion and completely burn it on the altar as a food gift of soothing smell to the Lord. ¹⁰ The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons as a most holy portion from the Lord’s food gifts.

¹¹ No grain offering that you give to the Lord can be made with yeast. You must not completely burn any yeast or honey as a food gift for the Lord. ¹² You can present those as first-choice offerings to the Lord, but they must not be entirely burned up on the altar as a soothing smell.

¹³ You must season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not omit the salt of your God’s covenant from your grain offering. You must offer salt with all your offerings.

¹⁴ If you present a grain offering to the Lord from the first produce, you must make such an offering from the crushed heads of newly ripe grain, roasted with fire. ¹⁵ You must put oil and frankincense on it; it is a grain offering. ¹⁶ The priest will completely burn the token portion—some of the crushed new grain and oil along with all of the frankincense—as a food gift for the Lord.

The well-being sacrifice

3 If the offering is a communal sacrifice of well-being,^[d] the one who offers the herd animal—whether it is male or female—must present a flawless specimen before the Lord. ² You must press your hand on the head of the offering and slaughter it at the meeting tent’s entrance. Aaron’s sons the priests will toss the blood against every side of the altar. ³ Then you can offer a food gift to the Lord from the communal sacrifice of well-being: the fat that covers and surrounds the insides; ⁴ the two kidneys and the fat around them at the loins; and the lobe on the liver, which should be removed with the kidneys. ⁵ Aaron’s sons will completely burn all of this on the altar—along with the entirely burned offering on the wood that is on the altar fire—as a food gift of soothing smell to the Lord.

⁶ If the offering for a communal sacrifice of well-being for the Lord is from the flock—whether it is male or female—you must present a flawless specimen. ⁷ If you present a sheep as the offering, you must present it before the Lord. ⁸ You must press your hand on the head of the offering and slaughter it before the meeting tent. Aaron’s sons will toss the blood against every side of the altar. ⁹ Then you may offer the fat from the communal sacrifice of well-being as a food gift for the Lord: the whole fat tail, which should be removed close to the tailbone; the fat that covers and surrounds the insides; ¹⁰ the two kidneys and the fat around them at the loins; and the lobe on the liver, which should be removed with the kidneys. ¹¹ The priest will then completely burn all of this on the altar as food—as a food gift for the Lord.

¹² If the offering is a goat, you must present it before the Lord. ¹³ You must press your hand on its head and slaughter it before the meeting tent. Aaron’s sons will toss its blood against every side of the altar. ¹⁴ Then you may present as your offering—a food gift for the Lord—the fat that covers and surrounds the insides; ¹⁵ the two kidneys and the fat around them at the loins; and the lobe on the liver, which should be removed with the kidneys. ¹⁶ The priest will then completely burn all of this on the altar as food—as a food gift for a soothing smell.

All fat belongs to the Lord. ¹⁷ This is a permanent rule for your future generations, wherever you live: you must not eat any fat or blood.

Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law

²⁹ After leaving the synagogue, Jesus, James, and John went home with Simon and Andrew. ³⁰ Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed, sick with a fever, and they told Jesus about her at once. ³¹ He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she served them.

Jesus’ ministry spreads

³² That evening, at sunset, people brought to Jesus those who were sick or demon-possessed. ³³ The whole town gathered near the door. ³⁴ He healed many who were sick with all kinds of diseases, and he threw out many demons. But he didn’t let the demons speak, because they recognized him.

³⁵ Early in the morning, well before sunrise, Jesus rose and went to a deserted place where he could be alone in prayer. ³⁶ Simon and those with him tracked him down. ³⁷ When they found him, they told him, “Everyone’s looking for you!”

³⁸ He replied, “Let’s head in the other direction, to the nearby villages, so that I can preach there too. That’s why I’ve come.” ³⁹ He traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and throwing out demons.

A man with a skin disease

⁴⁰ A man with a skin disease approached Jesus, fell to his knees, and begged, “If you want, you can make me clean.”

⁴¹ Incensed,^[a] Jesus reached out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do want to. Be clean.” ⁴² Instantly, the skin disease left him, and he was clean. ⁴³ Sternly, Jesus sent him away, ⁴⁴ saying, “Don’t say anything to anyone. Instead, go and show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifice for your cleansing that Moses commanded. This will be a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵ Instead, he went out and started talking freely and spreading the news so that Jesus wasn’t able to enter a town openly. He remained outside in deserted places, but people came to him from everywhere.

Healing and forgiveness

2 After a few days, Jesus went back to Capernaum, and people heard that he was at home. ² So many gathered that there was no longer space, not even near the door. Jesus was speaking the word to them. ³ Some people arrived, and four of them were bringing to him a man who was paralyzed. ⁴ They couldn’t carry him through the crowd, so they tore off part of the roof above where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they lowered the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying. ⁵ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven!”

⁶ Some legal experts were sitting there, muttering among themselves, ⁷ “Why does he speak this way? He’s insulting God. Only the one God can forgive sins.”

⁸ Jesus immediately recognized what they were discussing, and he said to them, “Why do you fill your minds with these questions? ⁹ Which is easier—to say to a paralyzed person, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk’? ¹⁰ But so you will know that the Human One^[b] has authority on the earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed, ¹¹ “Get up, take your mat, and go home.”

¹² Jesus raised him up, and right away he picked up his mat and walked out in front of everybody. They were all amazed and praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”

“Woman Folly’s” invitation