The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Friday February 17, 2023 (NIV)

The purification offering

4 The Lord said to Moses, ² Say to the Israelites: Do the following whenever someone sins unintentionally against any of the Lord’s commands, doing something that shouldn’t be done:

³ If it is the anointed priest who has sinned, making the people guilty of sin, he must present to the Lord a flawless bull from the herd as a purification offering^[a] for the sin he has committed. ⁴ He will bring the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the meeting tent and press his hand on the bull’s head. Then he will slaughter the bull before the Lord. ⁵ The anointed priest will take some of the bull’s blood and take it into the meeting tent. ⁶ The priest will dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord, toward the sanctuary’s inner curtain. ⁷ Then the priest will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of perfumed incense, which is in the meeting tent before the Lord. But he will pour out all the rest of the bull’s blood at the base of the altar of entirely burned offerings, which is at the meeting tent’s entrance. ⁸ Then he will remove all the fat from the bull for the purification offering: the fat that covers and surrounds the insides; ⁹ the two kidneys and the fat around them at the loins; and the lobe on the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys, ¹⁰ just as this is removed from the ox for the communal sacrifice of well-being. Then the priest will completely burn these on the altar of entirely burned offerings. ¹¹ But the bull’s hide and all of its flesh, along with its head, lower legs, entrails, and dung— ¹² all that remains of the bull—will be taken to a clean location outside the camp, to the ash heap. It should be burned there at the ash heap on a wood fire.

¹³ If it is the entire Israelite community that has done something wrong unintentionally and the deed escapes the assembly’s notice—but they’ve done something that shouldn’t be done in violation of the Lord’s commands, becoming guilty of sin— ¹⁴ once the sin that they committed becomes known, the assembly must present a bull from the herd as a purification offering. They will bring it before the meeting tent. ¹⁵ The community elders will press their hands on the bull’s head before the Lord and then slaughter it before the Lord. ¹⁶ The anointed priest will take some of the bull’s blood into the meeting tent. ¹⁷ The priest will dip his finger into the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord toward the inner curtain. ¹⁸ Then he will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar that is before the Lord in the meeting tent. But he will pour all the rest of the blood out at the base of the altar of entirely burned offerings that is at the meeting tent’s entrance. ¹⁹ Then he will remove all the fat from it and completely burn it on the altar. ²⁰ He will do the same with this bull as he did with the other bull for the purification offering; that is exactly what he must do. In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for them, and they will be forgiven. ²¹ Then the priest will take the bull outside the camp and burn it, just as the first bull was burned. It is the purification offering for the assembly.

²² If a leader sins by unintentionally breaking any of the commands of the Lord his God, doing something that shouldn’t be done, and becomes guilty of sin— ²³ once the sin that he committed is made known to him—he must bring as his offering a flawless male goat. ²⁴ He will press his hand on the goat’s head. It will be slaughtered^[b] at the place where an entirely burned offering would be slaughtered before the Lord. It is a purification offering. ²⁵ The priest will take some of the blood from the purification offering and, using his finger, will put it on the horns of the altar of entirely burned offerings. But he will pour the rest of the blood out at the base of the altar of entirely burned offerings. ²⁶ He will completely burn all of its fat on the altar just as the fat of the communal sacrifice of well-being is burned. In this way the priest will make reconciliation for the leader to remove his sin, and he will be forgiven.

²⁷ If any ordinary person^[c] sins unintentionally by breaking one of the Lord’s commands, doing something that shouldn’t be done, and becomes guilty of sin— ²⁸ once the sin they committed is made known to them—they must bring as their offering a flawless female goat because of the sin that was committed. ²⁹ They will press their hand on the head of the purification offering. It will be slaughtered^[d] at the place for the entirely burned offerings. ³⁰ The priest will take some of its blood and, using his finger, will put it on the horns of the altar of entirely burned offerings. But he will pour all the rest of the blood out at the base of the altar. ³¹ He will remove all of its fat, just as the fat from a communal sacrifice of well-being is removed. Then the priest will completely burn it on the altar as a soothing smell to the Lord. In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for them, and they will be forgiven.

³² If you offer a sheep as a purification offering, it must be a flawless female. ³³ You must press your hand on the head of the purification offering. It will be slaughtered^[e] as a purification offering in the place where the entirely burned offering is slaughtered. ³⁴ Then the priest will take some of the blood from the purification offering and, using his finger, will put it on the horns of the altar of entirely burned offerings. But he will pour all the rest of the blood out at the base of the altar. ³⁵ He will remove all of its fat, just as the fat of a sheep would be removed from the communal sacrifice of well-being. Then the priest will completely burn it on the altar along with the Lord’s food gifts. In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for you for the sin you committed, and you will be forgiven.

Unintentional sin

5 If you sin:

⁵ at that point, when you have become guilty of sin in one of these ways, you must confess how you have sinned ⁶ and bring to the Lord as compensation for the sin that was committed a female from the flock, either a sheep or goat, as a purification offering. The priest will then make reconciliation for you, to remove your sin.

Alternative offerings

⁷ If you can’t afford an animal from the flock, you can bring to the Lord as compensation for your sin two doves or two pigeons, one as a purification offering and the other as an entirely burned offering. ⁸ You will bring them to the priest, who will first present the one for the purification offering. He will pinch off its head at the back of its neck without splitting it. ⁹ Then he will sprinkle some of the blood of the purification offering on the side of the altar. The rest of the blood will be drained out at the base of the altar. It is a purification offering. ¹⁰ Then, with the second bird, the priest will perform an entirely burned offering according to the regulation. In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for you because of the sin you committed, and you will be forgiven.

¹¹ If you cannot afford two doves or two pigeons, you can bring as the offering for your sin a tenth of an ephah^[f] of choice flour as a purification offering. You must not put any oil on it, nor any frankincense, because it is a purification offering. ¹² You will bring it to the priest, and the priest will take a handful from it—the token portion—and will burn it completely on the altar along with the food gifts for the Lord. It is a purification offering. ¹³ In this way, the priest will make reconciliation for you for whichever one of the sins you committed, and you will be forgiven. The rest of the offering will belong to the priest like the grain offering.

The compensation offering

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁵ Whenever you commit wrongdoing, unintentionally sinning against any of the Lord’s holy things, you must bring to the Lord as your compensation a flawless ram from the flock, its value calculated in silver shekels according to the sanctuary’s shekel, as a compensation offering. ¹⁶ You will make amends for the way you have sinned against the holy thing: you will add one-fifth to its value and give it to the priest. Then the priest will make reconciliation for you with the ram for the compensation offering, and you will be forgiven.

¹⁷ If you sin by breaking any of the Lord’s commands, but without realizing it, doing something that shouldn’t be done, and then become guilty and liable to punishment, ¹⁸ you must bring a flawless ram from the flock, at the standard value, as a compensation offering to the priest. The priest will make reconciliation for you for the unintentional fault that you committed, even though you didn’t realize it, and you will be forgiven. ¹⁹ It is a compensation offering. You have definitely become guilty before the Lord.

Eating with sinners

¹³ Jesus went out beside the lake again. The whole crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. ¹⁴ As he continued along, he saw Levi, Alphaeus’ son, sitting at a kiosk for collecting taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Levi got up and followed him.

¹⁵ Jesus sat down to eat at Levi’s house. Many tax collectors and sinners were eating with Jesus and his disciples. Indeed, many of them had become his followers. ¹⁶ When some of the legal experts from among the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples, “Why is he eating with sinners and tax collectors?”

¹⁷ When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor, but sick people do. I didn’t come to call righteous people, but sinners.”

When to fast

¹⁸ John’s disciples and the Pharisees had a habit of fasting. Some people asked Jesus, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but yours don’t?”

¹⁹ Jesus said, “The wedding guests can’t fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they can’t fast. ²⁰ But the days will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.

²¹ “No one sews a piece of new, unshrunk cloth on old clothes; otherwise, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and makes a worse tear. ²² No one pours new wine into old leather wineskins; otherwise, the wine would burst the wineskins and the wine would be lost and the wineskins destroyed. But new wine is for new wineskins.”

Scripture and the Sabbath

²³ Jesus went through the wheat fields on the Sabbath. As the disciples made their way, they were picking the heads of wheat. ²⁴ The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look! Why are they breaking the Sabbath law?”

²⁵ He said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what David did when he was in need, when he and those with him were hungry? ²⁶ During the time when Abiathar was high priest, David went into God’s house and ate the bread of the presence, which only the priests were allowed to eat. He also gave bread to those who were with him.” ²⁷ Then he said, “The Sabbath was created for humans; humans weren’t created for the Sabbath. ²⁸ This is why the Human One^[a] is Lord even over the Sabbath.”

Healing on the Sabbath

3 Jesus returned to the synagogue. A man with a withered hand was there. ² Wanting to bring charges against Jesus, they were watching Jesus closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. ³ He said to the man with the withered hand, “Step up where people can see you.” ⁴ Then he said to them, “Is it legal on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they said nothing. ⁵ Looking around at them with anger, deeply grieved at their unyielding hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he did, and his hand was made healthy. ⁶ At that, the Pharisees got together with the supporters of Herod to plan how to destroy Jesus.

Psalm 36

For the music leader. Of the Lord’s servant David.

Proverbs of Solomon