Category: DAB Readings

²⁹ “On the tenth day of the appointed month in early autumn,^[a] you must deny yourselves.^[b] Neither native-born Israelites nor foreigners living among you may do any kind of work. This is a permanent law for you. ³⁰ On that day offerings of purification will be made for you,^[c] and you will be purified in the Lord’s presence from all your sins. ³¹ It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. This is a permanent law for you. ³² In future generations, the purification^[d] ceremony will be performed by the priest who has been anointed and ordained to serve as high priest in place of his ancestor Aaron. He will put on the holy linen garments ³³ and purify the Most Holy Place, the Tabernacle, the altar, the priests, and the entire congregation. ³⁴ This is a permanent law for you, to purify the people of Israel from their sins, making them right with the Lord once each year.”

Moses followed all these instructions exactly as the Lord had commanded him.

Prohibitions against Eating Blood

17 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Give the following instructions to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel. This is what the Lord has commanded.

³ “If any native Israelite sacrifices a bull^[e] or a lamb or a goat anywhere inside or outside the camp ⁴ instead of bringing it to the entrance of the Tabernacle^[f] to present it as an offering to the Lord, that person will be as guilty as a murderer.^[g] Such a person has shed blood and will be cut off from the community. ⁵ The purpose of this rule is to stop the Israelites from sacrificing animals in the open fields. It will ensure that they bring their sacrifices to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle, so he can present them to the Lord as peace offerings. ⁶ Then the priest will be able to splatter the blood against the Lord’s altar at the entrance of the Tabernacle, and he will burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ⁷ The people must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering sacrifices to the goat idols.^[h] This is a permanent law for them, to be observed from generation to generation.

⁸ “Give them this command as well. If any native Israelite or foreigner living among you offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice ⁹ but does not bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle to offer it to the Lord, that person will be cut off from the community.

¹⁰ “And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you eats or drinks blood in any form, I will turn against that person and cut him off from the community of your people, ¹¹ for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord.^[i] It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible. ¹² That is why I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or drink blood—neither you nor the foreigners living among you.’

¹³ “And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you goes hunting and kills an animal or bird that is approved for eating, he must drain its blood and cover it with earth. ¹⁴ The life of every creature is in its blood. That is why I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or drink blood, for the life of any creature is in its blood.’ So whoever consumes blood will be cut off from the community.

¹⁵ “And if any native-born Israelites or foreigners eat the meat of an animal that died naturally or was torn up by wild animals, they must wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. They will remain ceremonially unclean until evening, but then they will be clean. ¹⁶ But if they do not wash their clothes and bathe themselves, they will be punished for their sin.”

Forbidden Sexual Practices

18 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the Lord your God. ³ So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life. ⁴ You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God. ⁵ If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the Lord.

⁶ “You must never have sexual relations with a close relative, for I am the Lord.

⁷ “Do not violate your father by having sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother; you must not have sexual relations with her.

⁸ “Do not have sexual relations with any of your father’s wives, for this would violate your father.

⁹ “Do not have sexual relations with your sister or half sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born into your household or someone else’s.

¹⁰ “Do not have sexual relations with your granddaughter, whether she is your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for this would violate yourself.

¹¹ “Do not have sexual relations with your stepsister, the daughter of any of your father’s wives, for she is your sister.

¹² “Do not have sexual relations with your father’s sister, for she is your father’s close relative.

¹³ “Do not have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s close relative.

¹⁴ “Do not violate your uncle, your father’s brother, by having sexual relations with his wife, for she is your aunt.

¹⁵ “Do not have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, so you must not have sexual relations with her.

¹⁶ “Do not have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, for this would violate your brother.

¹⁷ “Do not have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter. And do not take^[j] her granddaughter, whether her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, and have sexual relations with her. They are close relatives, and this would be a wicked act.

¹⁸ “While your wife is living, do not marry her sister and have sexual relations with her, for they would be rivals.

¹⁹ “Do not have sexual relations with a woman during her period of menstrual impurity.

²⁰ “Do not defile yourself by having sexual intercourse with your neighbor’s wife.

²¹ “Do not permit any of your children to be offered as a sacrifice to Molech, for you must not bring shame on the name of your God. I am the Lord.

²² “Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.

²³ “A man must not defile himself by having sex with an animal. And a woman must not offer herself to a male animal to have intercourse with it. This is a perverse act.

²⁴ “Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for the people I am driving out before you have defiled themselves in all these ways. ²⁵ Because the entire land has become defiled, I am punishing the people who live there. I will cause the land to vomit them out. ²⁶ You must obey all my decrees and regulations. You must not commit any of these detestable sins. This applies both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you.

²⁷ “All these detestable activities are practiced by the people of the land where I am taking you, and this is how the land has become defiled. ²⁸ So do not defile the land and give it a reason to vomit you out, as it will vomit out the people who live there now. ²⁹ Whoever commits any of these detestable sins will be cut off from the community of Israel. ³⁰ So obey my instructions, and do not defile yourselves by committing any of these detestable practices that were committed by the people who lived in the land before you. I am the Lord your God.”

The Faith of a Gentile Woman

²⁴ Then Jesus left Galilee and went north to the region of Tyre.^[a] He didn’t want anyone to know which house he was staying in, but he couldn’t keep it a secret. ²⁵ Right away a woman who had heard about him came and fell at his feet. Her little girl was possessed by an evil^[b] spirit, ²⁶ and she begged him to cast out the demon from her daughter.

Since she was a Gentile, born in Syrian Phoenicia, ²⁷ Jesus told her, “First I should feed the children—my own family, the Jews.^[c] It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁸ She replied, “That’s true, Lord, but even the dogs under the table are allowed to eat the scraps from the children’s plates.”

²⁹ “Good answer!” he said. “Now go home, for the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ And when she arrived home, she found her little girl lying quietly in bed, and the demon was gone.

Jesus Heals a Deaf Man

³¹ Jesus left Tyre and went up to Sidon before going back to the Sea of Galilee and the region of the Ten Towns.^{[d] 32} A deaf man with a speech impediment was brought to him, and the people begged Jesus to lay his hands on the man to heal him.

³³ Jesus led him away from the crowd so they could be alone. He put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then, spitting on his own fingers, he touched the man’s tongue. ³⁴ Looking up to heaven, he sighed and said, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Be opened!” ³⁵ Instantly the man could hear perfectly, and his tongue was freed so he could speak plainly!

³⁶ Jesus told the crowd not to tell anyone, but the more he told them not to, the more they spread the news. ³⁷ They were completely amazed and said again and again, “Everything he does is wonderful. He even makes the deaf to hear and gives speech to those who cannot speak.”

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

8 About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, ² “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. ³ If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.”

⁴ His disciples replied, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?”

⁵ Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”

“Seven loaves,” they replied.

⁶ So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. ⁷ A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.

⁸ They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. ⁹ There were about 4,000 men in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten. ¹⁰ Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.

Psalm 41

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

Bodily Discharges

15 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.

“Any man who has a bodily discharge is ceremonially unclean. ³ This defilement is caused by his discharge, whether the discharge continues or stops. In either case the man is unclean. ⁴ Any bed on which the man with the discharge lies and anything on which he sits will be ceremonially unclean. ⁵ So if you touch the man’s bed, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ⁶ If you sit where the man with the discharge has sat, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ⁷ If you touch the man with the discharge, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ⁸ If the man spits on you, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ⁹ Any saddle blanket on which the man rides will be ceremonially unclean. ¹⁰ If you touch anything that was under the man, you will be unclean until evening. You must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ¹¹ If the man touches you without first rinsing his hands, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ¹² Any clay pot the man touches must be broken, and any wooden utensil he touches must be rinsed with water.

¹³ “When the man with the discharge is healed, he must count off seven days for the period of purification. Then he must wash his clothes and bathe himself in fresh water, and he will be ceremonially clean. ¹⁴ On the eighth day he must get two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle^[a] and give his offerings to the priest. ¹⁵ The priest will offer one bird for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. Through this process, the priest will purify^[b] the man before the Lord for his discharge.

¹⁶ “Whenever a man has an emission of semen, he must bathe his entire body in water, and he will remain ceremonially unclean until the next evening.^{[c] 17} Any clothing or leather with semen on it must be washed in water, and it will remain unclean until evening. ¹⁸ After a man and a woman have sexual intercourse, they must each bathe in water, and they will remain unclean until the next evening.

¹⁹ “Whenever a woman has her menstrual period, she will be ceremonially unclean for seven days. Anyone who touches her during that time will be unclean until evening. ²⁰ Anything on which the woman lies or sits during the time of her period will be unclean. ²¹ If any of you touch her bed, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ²² If you touch any object she has sat on, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening. ²³ This includes her bed or any other object she has sat on; you will be unclean until evening if you touch it. ²⁴ If a man has sexual intercourse with her and her blood touches him, her menstrual impurity will be transmitted to him. He will remain unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies will be unclean.

²⁵ “If a woman has a flow of blood for many days that is unrelated to her menstrual period, or if the blood continues beyond the normal period, she is ceremonially unclean. As during her menstrual period, the woman will be unclean as long as the discharge continues. ²⁶ Any bed she lies on and any object she sits on during that time will be unclean, just as during her normal menstrual period. ²⁷ If any of you touch these things, you will be ceremonially unclean. You must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.

²⁸ “When the woman’s bleeding stops, she must count off seven days. Then she will be ceremonially clean. ²⁹ On the eighth day she must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons and present them to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle. ³⁰ The priest will offer one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. Through this process, the priest will purify her before the Lord for the ceremonial impurity caused by her bleeding.

³¹ “This is how you will guard the people of Israel from ceremonial uncleanness. Otherwise they would die, for their impurity would defile my Tabernacle that stands among them. ³² These are the instructions for dealing with anyone who has a bodily discharge—a man who is unclean because of an emission of semen ³³ or a woman during her menstrual period. It applies to any man or woman who has a bodily discharge, and to a man who has sexual intercourse with a woman who is ceremonially unclean.”

The Day of Atonement

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died after they entered the Lord’s presence and burned the wrong kind of fire before him. ² The Lord said to Moses, “Warn your brother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.

³ “When Aaron enters the sanctuary area, he must follow these instructions fully. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He must put on his linen tunic and the linen undergarments worn next to his body. He must tie the linen sash around his waist and put the linen turban on his head. These are sacred garments, so he must bathe himself in water before he puts them on. ⁵ Aaron must take from the community of Israel two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

⁶ “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord.^{[d] 7} Then he must take the two male goats and present them to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^{[e] 8} He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the Lord and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel. ⁹ Aaron will then present as a sin offering the goat chosen by lot for the Lord. ¹⁰ The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord. When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord.^[f]

¹¹ “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord. After he has slaughtered the bull as a sin offering, ¹² he will fill an incense burner with burning coals from the altar that stands before the Lord. Then he will take two handfuls of fragrant powdered incense and will carry the burner and the incense behind the inner curtain. ¹³ There in the Lord’s presence he will put the incense on the burning coals so that a cloud of incense will rise over the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—that rests on the Ark of the Covenant.^[g] If he follows these instructions, he will not die. ¹⁴ Then he must take some of the blood of the bull, dip his finger in it, and sprinkle it on the east side of the atonement cover. He must sprinkle blood seven times with his finger in front of the atonement cover.

¹⁵ “Then Aaron must slaughter the first goat as a sin offering for the people and carry its blood behind the inner curtain. There he will sprinkle the goat’s blood over the atonement cover and in front of it, just as he did with the bull’s blood. ¹⁶ Through this process, he will purify^[h] the Most Holy Place, and he will do the same for the entire Tabernacle, because of the defiling sin and rebellion of the Israelites. ¹⁷ No one else is allowed inside the Tabernacle when Aaron enters it for the purification ceremony in the Most Holy Place. No one may enter until he comes out again after purifying himself, his family, and all the congregation of Israel, making them right with the Lord.

¹⁸ “Then Aaron will come out to purify the altar that stands before the Lord. He will do this by taking some of the blood from the bull and the goat and putting it on each of the horns of the altar. ¹⁹ Then he must sprinkle the blood with his finger seven times over the altar. In this way, he will cleanse it from Israel’s defilement and make it holy.

²⁰ “When Aaron has finished purifying the Most Holy Place and the Tabernacle and the altar, he must present the live goat. ²¹ He will lay both of his hands on the goat’s head and confess over it all the wickedness, rebellion, and sins of the people of Israel. In this way, he will transfer the people’s sins to the head of the goat. Then a man specially chosen for the task will drive the goat into the wilderness. ²² As the goat goes into the wilderness, it will carry all the people’s sins upon itself into a desolate land.

²³ “When Aaron goes back into the Tabernacle, he must take off the linen garments he was wearing when he entered the Most Holy Place, and he must leave the garments there. ²⁴ Then he must bathe himself with water in a sacred place, put on his regular garments, and go out to sacrifice a burnt offering for himself and a burnt offering for the people. Through this process, he will purify himself and the people, making them right with the Lord. ²⁵ He must then burn all the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶ “The man chosen to drive the scapegoat into the wilderness of Azazel must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water. Then he may return to the camp.

²⁷ “The bull and the goat presented as sin offerings, whose blood Aaron takes into the Most Holy Place for the purification ceremony, will be carried outside the camp. The animals’ hides, internal organs, and dung are all to be burned. ²⁸ The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself in water before returning to the camp.

Jesus Teaches about Inner Purity

7 One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. ² They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. ³ (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands,^[a] as required by their ancient traditions. ⁴ Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands^[b] in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.^[c])

⁵ So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”

⁶ Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,

⁸ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

⁹ Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own tradition. ¹⁰ For instance, Moses gave you this law from God: ‘Honor your father and mother,’^[e] and ‘Anyone who speaks disrespectfully of father or mother must be put to death.’^{[f] 11} But you say it is all right for people to say to their parents, ‘Sorry, I can’t help you. For I have vowed to give to God what I would have given to you.’^{[g] 12} In this way, you let them disregard their needy parents. ¹³ And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.”

¹⁴ Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. ¹⁵ It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.^[h]”

¹⁷ Then Jesus went into a house to get away from the crowd, and his disciples asked him what he meant by the parable he had just used. ¹⁸ “Don’t you understand either?” he asked. “Can’t you see that the food you put into your body cannot defile you? ¹⁹ Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.” (By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

²⁰ And then he added, “It is what comes from inside that defiles you. ²¹ For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, ²² adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. ²³ All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.”

Cleansing from Skin Diseases

14 And the Lord said to Moses, ² “The following instructions are for those seeking ceremonial purification from a skin disease.^[a] Those who have been healed must be brought to the priest, ³ who will examine them at a place outside the camp. If the priest finds that someone has been healed of a serious skin disease, ⁴ he will perform a purification ceremony, using two live birds that are ceremonially clean, a stick of cedar,^[b] some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch. ⁵ The priest will order that one bird be slaughtered over a clay pot filled with fresh water. ⁶ He will take the live bird, the cedar stick, the scarlet yarn, and the hyssop branch, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. ⁷ The priest will then sprinkle the blood of the dead bird seven times on the person being purified of the skin disease. When the priest has purified the person, he will release the live bird in the open field to fly away.

⁸ “The persons being purified must then wash their clothes, shave off all their hair, and bathe themselves in water. Then they will be ceremonially clean and may return to the camp. However, they must remain outside their tents for seven days. ⁹ On the seventh day they must again shave all the hair from their heads, including the hair of the beard and eyebrows. They must also wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. Then they will be ceremonially clean.

¹⁰ “On the eighth day each person being purified must bring two male lambs and a one-year-old female lamb, all with no defects, along with a grain offering of six quarts^[c] of choice flour moistened with olive oil, and a cup^[d] of olive oil. ¹¹ Then the officiating priest will present that person for purification, along with the offerings, before the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^{[e] 12} The priest will take one of the male lambs and the olive oil and present them as a guilt offering, lifting them up as a special offering before the Lord. ¹³ He will then slaughter the male lamb in the sacred area where sin offerings and burnt offerings are slaughtered. As with the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest. It is a most holy offering. ¹⁴ The priest will then take some of the blood of the guilt offering and apply it to the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified.

¹⁵ “Then the priest will pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand. ¹⁶ He will dip his right finger into the oil in his palm and sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the Lord. ¹⁷ The priest will then apply some of the oil in his palm over the blood from the guilt offering that is on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified. ¹⁸ The priest will apply the oil remaining in his hand to the head of the person being purified. Through this process, the priest will purify^[f] the person before the Lord.

¹⁹ “Then the priest must present the sin offering to purify the person who was cured of the skin disease. After that, the priest will slaughter the burnt offering ²⁰ and offer it on the altar along with the grain offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the person who was healed, and the person will be ceremonially clean.

²¹ “But anyone who is too poor and cannot afford these offerings may bring one male lamb for a guilt offering, to be lifted up as a special offering for purification. The person must also bring two quarts^[g] of choice flour moistened with olive oil for the grain offering and a cup of olive oil. ²² The offering must also include two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whichever the person can afford. One of the pair must be used for the sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. ²³ On the eighth day of the purification ceremony, the person being purified must bring the offerings to the priest in the Lord’s presence at the entrance of the Tabernacle. ²⁴ The priest will take the lamb for the guilt offering, along with the olive oil, and lift them up as a special offering to the Lord. ²⁵ Then the priest will slaughter the lamb for the guilt offering. He will take some of its blood and apply it to the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified.

²⁶ “The priest will also pour some of the olive oil into the palm of his own left hand. ²⁷ He will dip his right finger into the oil in his palm and sprinkle some of it seven times before the Lord. ²⁸ The priest will then apply some of the oil in his palm over the blood from the guilt offering that is on the lobe of the right ear, the thumb of the right hand, and the big toe of the right foot of the person being purified. ²⁹ The priest will apply the oil remaining in his hand to the head of the person being purified. Through this process, the priest will purify the person before the Lord.

³⁰ “Then the priest will offer the two turtledoves or the two young pigeons, whichever the person can afford. ³¹ One of them is for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering, to be presented along with the grain offering. Through this process, the priest will purify the person before the Lord. ³² These are the instructions for purification for those who have recovered from a serious skin disease but who cannot afford to bring the offerings normally required for the ceremony of purification.”

Treatment of Contaminated Houses

³³ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ³⁴ “When you arrive in Canaan, the land I am giving you as your own possession, I may contaminate some of the houses in your land with mildew.^{[h] 35} The owner of such a house must then go to the priest and say, ‘It appears that my house has some kind of mildew.’ ³⁶ Before the priest goes in to inspect the house, he must have the house emptied so nothing inside will be pronounced ceremonially unclean. ³⁷ Then the priest will go in and examine the mildew on the walls. If he finds greenish or reddish streaks and the contamination appears to go deeper than the wall’s surface, ³⁸ the priest will step outside the door and put the house in quarantine for seven days. ³⁹ On the seventh day the priest must return for another inspection. If he finds that the mildew on the walls of the house has spread, ⁴⁰ the priest must order that the stones from those areas be removed. The contaminated material will then be taken outside the town to an area designated as ceremonially unclean. ⁴¹ Next the inside walls of the entire house must be scraped thoroughly and the scrapings dumped in the unclean place outside the town. ⁴² Other stones will be brought in to replace the ones that were removed, and the walls will be replastered.

⁴³ “But if the mildew reappears after all the stones have been replaced and the house has been scraped and replastered, ⁴⁴ the priest must return and inspect the house again. If he finds that the mildew has spread, the walls are clearly contaminated with a serious mildew, and the house is defiled. ⁴⁵ It must be torn down, and all its stones, timbers, and plaster must be carried out of town to the place designated as ceremonially unclean. ⁴⁶ Those who enter the house during the period of quarantine will be ceremonially unclean until evening, ⁴⁷ and all who sleep or eat in the house must wash their clothing.

⁴⁸ “But if the priest returns for his inspection and finds that the mildew has not reappeared in the house after the fresh plastering, he will pronounce it clean because the mildew is clearly gone. ⁴⁹ To purify the house the priest must take two birds, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch. ⁵⁰ He will slaughter one of the birds over a clay pot filled with fresh water. ⁵¹ He will take the cedar stick, the hyssop branch, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, and dip them into the blood of the slaughtered bird and into the fresh water. Then he will sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² When the priest has purified the house in exactly this way, ⁵³ he will release the live bird in the open fields outside the town. Through this process, the priest will purify the house, and it will be ceremonially clean.

⁵⁴ “These are the instructions for dealing with serious skin diseases,^[i] including scabby sores; ⁵⁵ and mildew,^[j] whether on clothing or in a house; ⁵⁶ and a swelling on the skin, a rash, or discolored skin. ⁵⁷ This procedure will determine whether a person or object is ceremonially clean or unclean.

“These are the instructions regarding skin diseases and mildew.”

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

³⁰ The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. ³¹ Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.

³² So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. ³³ But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. ³⁴ Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

³⁵ Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. ³⁶ Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.”

³⁷ But Jesus said, “You feed them.”

“With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money^[a] to buy food for all these people!”

³⁸ “How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.”

They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”

³⁹ Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred.

⁴¹ Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share. ⁴² They all ate as much as they wanted, ⁴³ and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. ⁴⁴ A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed.^[b]

Jesus Walks on Water

⁴⁵ Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home. ⁴⁶ After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray.

⁴⁷ Late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. ⁴⁸ He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning^[c] Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost. ⁵⁰ They were all terrified when they saw him.

But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!^[d]” ⁵¹ Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed, ⁵² for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.

⁵³ After they had crossed the lake, they landed at Gennesaret. They brought the boat to shore ⁵⁴ and climbed out. The people recognized Jesus at once, ⁵⁵ and they ran throughout the whole area, carrying sick people on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ Wherever he went—in villages, cities, or the countryside—they brought the sick out to the marketplaces. They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.

Psalm 40

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

Serious Skin Diseases

13 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “If anyone has a swelling or a rash or discolored skin that might develop into a serious skin disease,^[a] that person must be brought to Aaron the priest or to one of his sons.^{[b] 3} The priest will examine the affected area of the skin. If the hair in the affected area has turned white and the problem appears to be more than skin-deep, it is a serious skin disease, and the priest who examines it must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean.

⁴ “But if the affected area of the skin is only a white discoloration and does not appear to be more than skin-deep, and if the hair on the spot has not turned white, the priest will quarantine the person for seven days. ⁵ On the seventh day the priest will make another examination. If he finds the affected area has not changed and the problem has not spread on the skin, the priest will quarantine the person for seven more days. ⁶ On the seventh day the priest will make another examination. If he finds the affected area has faded and has not spread, the priest will pronounce the person ceremonially clean. It was only a rash. The person’s clothing must be washed, and the person will be ceremonially clean. ⁷ But if the rash continues to spread after the person has been examined by the priest and has been pronounced clean, the infected person must return to be examined again. ⁸ If the priest finds that the rash has spread, he must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean, for it is indeed a skin disease.

⁹ “Anyone who develops a serious skin disease must go to the priest for an examination. ¹⁰ If the priest finds a white swelling on the skin, and some hair on the spot has turned white, and there is an open sore in the affected area, ¹¹ it is a chronic skin disease, and the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean. In such cases the person need not be quarantined, for it is obvious that the skin is defiled by the disease.

¹² “Now suppose the disease has spread all over the person’s skin, covering the body from head to foot. ¹³ When the priest examines the infected person and finds that the disease covers the entire body, he will pronounce the person ceremonially clean. Since the skin has turned completely white, the person is clean. ¹⁴ But if any open sores appear, the infected person will be pronounced ceremonially unclean. ¹⁵ The priest must make this pronouncement as soon as he sees an open sore, since open sores indicate the presence of a skin disease. ¹⁶ However, if the open sores heal and turn white like the rest of the skin, the person must return to the priest ¹⁷ for another examination. If the affected areas have indeed turned white, the priest will then pronounce the person ceremonially clean by declaring, ‘You are clean!’

¹⁸ “If anyone has a boil on the skin that has started to heal, ¹⁹ but a white swelling or a reddish white spot develops in its place, that person must go to the priest to be examined. ²⁰ If the priest examines it and finds it to be more than skin-deep, and if the hair in the affected area has turned white, the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean. The boil has become a serious skin disease. ²¹ But if the priest finds no white hair on the affected area and the problem appears to be no more than skin-deep and has faded, the priest must quarantine the person for seven days. ²² If during that time the affected area spreads on the skin, the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean, because it is a serious disease. ²³ But if the area grows no larger and does not spread, it is merely the scar from the boil, and the priest will pronounce the person ceremonially clean.

²⁴ “If anyone has suffered a burn on the skin and the burned area changes color, becoming either reddish white or shiny white, ²⁵ the priest must examine it. If he finds that the hair in the affected area has turned white and the problem appears to be more than skin-deep, a skin disease has broken out in the burn. The priest must then pronounce the person ceremonially unclean, for it is clearly a serious skin disease. ²⁶ But if the priest finds no white hair on the affected area and the problem appears to be no more than skin-deep and has faded, the priest must quarantine the infected person for seven days. ²⁷ On the seventh day the priest must examine the person again. If the affected area has spread on the skin, the priest must pronounce that person ceremonially unclean, for it is clearly a serious skin disease. ²⁸ But if the affected area has not changed or spread on the skin and has faded, it is simply a swelling from the burn. The priest will then pronounce the person ceremonially clean, for it is only the scar from the burn.

²⁹ “If anyone, either a man or woman, has a sore on the head or chin, ³⁰ the priest must examine it. If he finds it is more than skin-deep and has fine yellow hair on it, the priest must pronounce the person ceremonially unclean. It is a scabby sore of the head or chin. ³¹ If the priest examines the scabby sore and finds that it is only skin-deep but there is no black hair on it, he must quarantine the person for seven days. ³² On the seventh day the priest must examine the sore again. If he finds that the scabby sore has not spread, and there is no yellow hair on it, and it appears to be only skin-deep, ³³ the person must shave off all hair except the hair on the affected area. Then the priest must quarantine the person for another seven days. ³⁴ On the seventh day he will examine the sore again. If it has not spread and appears to be no more than skin-deep, the priest will pronounce the person ceremonially clean. The person’s clothing must be washed, and the person will be ceremonially clean. ³⁵ But if the scabby sore begins to spread after the person is pronounced clean, ³⁶ the priest must do another examination. If he finds that the sore has spread, the priest does not need to look for yellow hair. The infected person is ceremonially unclean. ³⁷ But if the color of the scabby sore does not change and black hair has grown on it, it has healed. The priest will then pronounce the person ceremonially clean.

³⁸ “If anyone, either a man or woman, has shiny white patches on the skin, ³⁹ the priest must examine the affected area. If he finds that the shiny patches are only pale white, this is a harmless skin rash, and the person is ceremonially clean.

⁴⁰ “If a man loses his hair and his head becomes bald, he is still ceremonially clean. ⁴¹ And if he loses hair on his forehead, he simply has a bald forehead; he is still clean. ⁴² However, if a reddish white sore appears on the bald area on top of his head or on his forehead, this is a skin disease. ⁴³ The priest must examine him, and if he finds swelling around the reddish white sore anywhere on the man’s head and it looks like a skin disease, ⁴⁴ the man is indeed infected with a skin disease and is unclean. The priest must pronounce him ceremonially unclean because of the sore on his head.

⁴⁵ “Those who suffer from a serious skin disease must tear their clothing and leave their hair uncombed.^[c] They must cover their mouth and call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ ⁴⁶ As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean. They must live in isolation in their place outside the camp.

Treatment of Contaminated Clothing

⁴⁷ “Now suppose mildew^[d] contaminates some woolen or linen clothing, ⁴⁸ woolen or linen fabric, the hide of an animal, or anything made of leather. ⁴⁹ If the contaminated area in the clothing, the animal hide, the fabric, or the leather article has turned greenish or reddish, it is contaminated with mildew and must be shown to the priest. ⁵⁰ After examining the affected spot, the priest will put the article in quarantine for seven days. ⁵¹ On the seventh day the priest must inspect it again. If the contaminated area has spread, the clothing or fabric or leather is clearly contaminated by a serious mildew and is ceremonially unclean. ⁵² The priest must burn the item—the clothing, the woolen or linen fabric, or piece of leather—for it has been contaminated by a serious mildew. It must be completely destroyed by fire.

⁵³ “But if the priest examines it and finds that the contaminated area has not spread in the clothing, the fabric, or the leather, ⁵⁴ the priest will order the object to be washed and then quarantined for seven more days. ⁵⁵ Then the priest must examine the object again. If he finds that the contaminated area has not changed color after being washed, even if it did not spread, the object is defiled. It must be completely burned up, whether the contaminated spot^[e] is on the inside or outside. ⁵⁶ But if the priest examines it and finds that the contaminated area has faded after being washed, he must cut the spot from the clothing, the fabric, or the leather. ⁵⁷ If the spot later reappears on the clothing, the fabric, or the leather article, the mildew is clearly spreading, and the contaminated object must be burned up. ⁵⁸ But if the spot disappears from the clothing, the fabric, or the leather article after it has been washed, it must be washed again; then it will be ceremonially clean.

⁵⁹ “These are the instructions for dealing with mildew that contaminates woolen or linen clothing or fabric or anything made of leather. This is how the priest will determine whether these items are ceremonially clean or unclean.”

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

6 Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. ² The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” ³ Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary^[a] and the brother of James, Joseph,^[b] Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

⁴ Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” ⁵ And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. ⁶ And he was amazed at their unbelief.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples

Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people. ⁷ And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two, giving them authority to cast out evil^[c] spirits. ⁸ He told them to take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money.^{[d] 9} He allowed them to wear sandals but not to take a change of clothes.

¹⁰ “Wherever you go,” he said, “stay in the same house until you leave town. ¹¹ But if any place refuses to welcome you or listen to you, shake its dust from your feet as you leave to show that you have abandoned those people to their fate.”

¹² So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. ¹³ And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil.

The Death of John the Baptist

¹⁴ Herod Antipas, the king, soon heard about Jesus, because everyone was talking about him. Some were saying,^[e] “This must be John the Baptist raised from the dead. That is why he can do such miracles.” ¹⁵ Others said, “He’s the prophet Elijah.” Still others said, “He’s a prophet like the other great prophets of the past.”

¹⁶ When Herod heard about Jesus, he said, “John, the man I beheaded, has come back from the dead.”

¹⁷ For Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John as a favor to Herodias. She had been his brother Philip’s wife, but Herod had married her. ¹⁸ John had been telling Herod, “It is against God’s law for you to marry your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ So Herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But without Herod’s approval she was powerless, ²⁰ for Herod respected John; and knowing that he was a good and holy man, he protected him. Herod was greatly disturbed whenever he talked with John, but even so, he liked to listen to him.

²¹ Herodias’s chance finally came on Herod’s birthday. He gave a party for his high government officials, army officers, and the leading citizens of Galilee. ²² Then his daughter, also named Herodias,^[f] came in and performed a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests. “Ask me for anything you like,” the king said to the girl, “and I will give it to you.” ²³ He even vowed, “I will give you whatever you ask, up to half my kingdom!”

²⁴ She went out and asked her mother, “What should I ask for?”

Her mother told her, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist!”

²⁵ So the girl hurried back to the king and told him, “I want the head of John the Baptist, right now, on a tray!”

²⁶ Then the king deeply regretted what he had said; but because of the vows he had made in front of his guests, he couldn’t refuse her. ²⁷ So he immediately sent an executioner to the prison to cut off John’s head and bring it to him. The soldier beheaded John in the prison, ²⁸ brought his head on a tray, and gave it to the girl, who took it to her mother. ²⁹ When John’s disciples heard what had happened, they came to get his body and buried it in a tomb.

Psalm 39

For Jeduthun, the choir director: A psalm of David.

Ceremonially Clean and Unclean Animals

11 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.

“Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food. ³ You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud. ⁴ You may not, however, eat the following animals^[a] that have split hooves or that chew the cud, but not both. The camel chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. ⁵ The hyrax^[b] chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. ⁶ The hare chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. ⁷ The pig has evenly split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean. ⁸ You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses. They are ceremonially unclean for you.

⁹ “Of all the marine animals, these are ones you may use for food. You may eat anything from the water if it has both fins and scales, whether taken from salt water or from streams. ¹⁰ But you must never eat animals from the sea or from rivers that do not have both fins and scales. They are detestable to you. This applies both to little creatures that live in shallow water and to all creatures that live in deep water. ¹¹ They will always be detestable to you. You must never eat their meat or even touch their dead bodies. ¹² Any marine animal that does not have both fins and scales is detestable to you.

¹³ “These are the birds that are detestable to you. You must never eat them: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, ¹⁴ the kite, falcons of all kinds, ¹⁵ ravens of all kinds, ¹⁶ the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the seagull, hawks of all kinds, ¹⁷ the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸ the barn owl, the desert owl, the Egyptian vulture, ¹⁹ the stork, herons of all kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ “You must not eat winged insects that walk along the ground; they are detestable to you. ²¹ You may, however, eat winged insects that walk along the ground and have jointed legs so they can jump. ²² The insects you are permitted to eat include all kinds of locusts, bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers. ²³ All other winged insects that walk along the ground are detestable to you.

²⁴ “The following creatures will make you ceremonially unclean. If any of you touch their carcasses, you will be defiled until evening. ²⁵ If you pick up their carcasses, you must wash your clothes, and you will remain defiled until evening.

²⁶ “Any animal that has split hooves that are not evenly divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. If you touch the carcass of such an animal, you will be defiled. ²⁷ Of the animals that walk on all fours, those that have paws are unclean. If you touch the carcass of such an animal, you will be defiled until evening. ²⁸ If you pick up its carcass, you must wash your clothes, and you will remain defiled until evening. These animals are unclean for you.

²⁹ “Of the small animals that scurry along the ground, these are unclean for you: the mole rat, the rat, large lizards of all kinds, ³⁰ the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. ³¹ All these small animals are unclean for you. If any of you touch the dead body of such an animal, you will be defiled until evening. ³² If such an animal dies and falls on something, that object will be unclean. This is true whether the object is made of wood, cloth, leather, or burlap. Whatever its use, you must dip it in water, and it will remain defiled until evening. After that, it will be ceremonially clean and may be used again.

³³ “If such an animal falls into a clay pot, everything in the pot will be defiled, and the pot must be smashed. ³⁴ If the water from such a container spills on any food, the food will be defiled. And any beverage in such a container will be defiled. ³⁵ Any object on which the carcass of such an animal falls will be defiled. If it is an oven or hearth, it must be destroyed, for it is defiled, and you must treat it accordingly.

³⁶ “However, if the carcass of such an animal falls into a spring or a cistern, the water will still be clean. But anyone who touches the carcass will be defiled. ³⁷ If the carcass falls on seed grain to be planted in the field, the seed will still be considered clean. ³⁸ But if the seed is wet when the carcass falls on it, the seed will be defiled.

³⁹ “If an animal you are permitted to eat dies and you touch its carcass, you will be defiled until evening. ⁴⁰ If you eat any of its meat or carry away its carcass, you must wash your clothes, and you will remain defiled until evening.

⁴¹ “All small animals that scurry along the ground are detestable, and you must never eat them. ⁴² This includes all animals that slither along on their bellies, as well as those with four legs and those with many feet. All such animals that scurry along the ground are detestable, and you must never eat them. ⁴³ Do not defile yourselves by touching them. You must not make yourselves ceremonially unclean because of them. ⁴⁴ For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves with any of these small animals that scurry along the ground. ⁴⁵ For I, the Lord, am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. Therefore, you must be holy because I am holy.

⁴⁶ “These are the instructions regarding land animals, birds, marine creatures, and animals that scurry along the ground. ⁴⁷ By these instructions you will know what is unclean and clean, and which animals may be eaten and which may not be eaten.”

Purification after Childbirth

12 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. If a woman becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son, she will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her menstrual period. ³ On the eighth day the boy’s foreskin must be circumcised. ⁴ After waiting thirty-three days, she will be purified from the bleeding of childbirth. During this time of purification, she must not touch anything that is set apart as holy. And she must not enter the sanctuary until her time of purification is over. ⁵ If a woman gives birth to a daughter, she will be ceremonially unclean for two weeks, just as she is unclean during her menstrual period. After waiting sixty-six days, she will be purified from the bleeding of childbirth.

⁶ “When the time of purification is completed for either a son or a daughter, the woman must bring a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a young pigeon or turtledove for a purification offering. She must bring her offerings to the priest at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^{[c] 7} The priest will then present them to the Lord to purify her.^[d] Then she will be ceremonially clean again after her bleeding at childbirth. These are the instructions for a woman after the birth of a son or a daughter.

⁸ “If a woman cannot afford to bring a lamb, she must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons. One will be for the burnt offering and the other for the purification offering. The priest will sacrifice them to purify her, and she will be ceremonially clean.”

Jesus Heals in Response to Faith

²¹ Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. ²² Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, ²³ pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.”

²⁴ Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him. ²⁵ A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. ²⁷ She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. ²⁸ For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.

³⁰ Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”

³¹ His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

³² But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. ³⁴ And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”

³⁵ While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”

³⁶ But Jesus overheard^[a] them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”

³⁷ Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). ³⁸ When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. ³⁹ He went inside and asked, “Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”

⁴⁰ The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. ⁴¹ Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” ⁴² And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. ⁴³ Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.

Psalm 38

A psalm of David, asking God to remember him.

⁷ Moses said to Aaron, “Come up to the altar and perform your purification offering and your entirely burned offering, making reconciliation for yourself and the people. Then perform the people’s offering in order to make reconciliation for them, just as the Lord commanded.”

⁸ Aaron went to the altar and slaughtered the young bull for his purification offering. ⁹ Then Aaron’s sons presented the blood to him, and he dipped his finger into the blood and put it on the altar’s horns. He poured the rest of the blood out at the altar’s base. ¹⁰ He completely burned on the altar the fat, kidneys, and lobe of the liver from the purification offering, just as the Lord commanded Moses. ¹¹ But he burned the flesh and hide with fire outside the camp.

¹² Then Aaron slaughtered the entirely burned offering. Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, and he tossed it against all sides of the altar. ¹³ They handed him the entirely burned offering in pieces, including the head, and he completely burned them on the altar. ¹⁴ Then he washed the insides and lower legs and completely burned them on the altar along with the rest of the entirely burned offering.

¹⁵ Next, Aaron presented the people’s offering. He took the male goat for the people’s purification offering, slaughtered it, and offered it as a purification offering like the first purification offering. ¹⁶ He presented the entirely burned offering and did with it according to the regulation. ¹⁷ Then he presented the grain offering, took a handful from it, and completely burned it on the altar, in addition to the morning’s entirely burned offering.

¹⁸ Aaron then slaughtered the ox and the ram—the people’s communal sacrifice of well-being. Aaron’s sons handed him the blood, which he tossed against all sides of the altar, ¹⁹ and the fat pieces of the ox and ram—the fat tail, the covering fat, the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver. ²⁰ They placed these fat pieces on the animals’ breasts, and Aaron completely burned them on the altar. ²¹ But Aaron lifted up the breasts and the right thigh as an uplifted offering before the Lord, just as Moses had commanded.

²² Aaron then raised his hands toward the people and blessed them. After performing the purification offering, the entirely burned offering, and the well-being sacrifice, he came down. ²³ Moses and Aaron then entered the meeting tent. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the Lord’s glorious presence appeared to all the people. ²⁴ Fire flew out from before the Lord and devoured the entirely burned offering and the fat pieces on the altar. All the people saw it. They shouted for joy and fell facedown.

Nadab and Abihu

10 Now Nadab and Abihu, two of Aaron’s sons, each took an incense pan. They put fire and incense on them and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. ² Then fire flew out from before the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.

³ Moses said to Aaron, “When the Lord said, ‘I will show that I am holy among those near me, and before all the people I will manifest my glorious presence,’ this is what he meant!” But Aaron was silent.

⁴ Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan the sons of Uzziel, Aaron’s uncle, and told them, “Go carry your relatives out from the front of the sanctuary to a place outside the camp.” ⁵ So they went forward and carried Nadab and Abihu out by their tunics to a place outside the camp, just as Moses had ordered. ⁶ Moses then said to Aaron and his sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Don’t dishevel your hair and don’t rip your clothes into pieces, or you will die and bring anger upon the whole community. Your family—all of Israel’s house—will mourn the burning the Lord has done. ⁷ But you must not leave the meeting tent, or you will die because the Lord’s anointing oil is on you.” So they did what Moses ordered.

Priestly drinking and eating

⁸ The Lord said to Aaron: ⁹ Both you and your sons must not drink wine or beer when you enter the meeting tent so that you don’t die—this is a permanent rule throughout your future generations— ¹⁰ so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, ¹¹ and so that you can teach the Israelites all the rules that the Lord spoke to them through Moses.

¹² Moses then told Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the Lord’s food gifts and eat it unleavened next to the altar, because it is most holy. ¹³ You must eat it in a holy place because it is your portion and your sons’ portion from the Lord’s food gifts, as I have been commanded. ¹⁴ You must eat the breast for the uplifted offering and the thigh for the gift offering in a clean place—both you and your sons and daughters. These things are designated as your portion and your children’s portion from the Israelites’ communal sacrifices of well-being. ¹⁵ The Israelites must bring the thigh for the gift and the breast for the uplifted offering along with the food gifts of the fat pieces, to be lifted up as an uplifted offering before the Lord. These will belong to both you and your children as a permanent portion, just as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶ Then Moses asked about the male goat for the purification offering, and discovered that it had already been burned. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked, ¹⁷ “Why didn’t you eat the purification offering in the holy area? It’s most holy, and it was assigned to you for bearing the community’s punishment by making reconciliation for them before the Lord. ¹⁸ Since its blood wasn’t brought into the sanctuary’s interior, you were to have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I was commanded.”^[a]

¹⁹ “Look,” Aaron said to Moses, “today they offered their purification offerings and their entirely burned offerings before the Lord, but these things still happened to me! Would the Lord have approved if I had eaten a purification offering today?” ²⁰ When Moses heard that, he approved.^[b]

More parables about God’s kingdom

²⁶ Then Jesus said, “This is what God’s kingdom is like. It’s as though someone scatters seed on the ground, ²⁷ then sleeps and wakes night and day. The seed sprouts and grows, but the farmer doesn’t know how. ²⁸ The earth produces crops all by itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full head of grain. ²⁹ Whenever the crop is ready, the farmer goes out to cut the grain because it’s harvesttime.”

³⁰ He continued, “What’s a good image for God’s kingdom? What parable can I use to explain it? ³¹ Consider a mustard seed. When scattered on the ground, it’s the smallest of all the seeds on the earth; ³² but when it’s planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all vegetable plants. It produces such large branches that the birds in the sky are able to nest in its shade.”

³³ With many such parables he continued to give them the word, as much as they were able to hear. ³⁴ He spoke to them only in parables, then explained everything to his disciples when he was alone with them.

Jesus stops a storm

³⁵ Later that day, when evening came, Jesus said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” ³⁶ They left the crowd and took him in the boat just as he was. Other boats followed along.

³⁷ Gale-force winds arose, and waves crashed against the boat so that the boat was swamped. ³⁸ But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?”

³⁹ He got up and gave orders to the wind, and he said to the lake, “Silence! Be still!” The wind settled down and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ Jesus asked them, “Why are you frightened? Don’t you have faith yet?”

⁴¹ Overcome with awe, they said to each other, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”

Jesus frees a demon-possessed man

5 Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes. ² As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out of the tombs. ³ This man lived among the tombs, and no one was ever strong enough to restrain him, even with a chain. ⁴ He had been secured many times with leg irons and chains, but he broke the chains and smashed the leg irons. No one was tough enough to control him. ⁵ Night and day in the tombs and the hills, he would howl and cut himself with stones. ⁶ When he saw Jesus from far away, he ran and knelt before him, ⁷ shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!”

⁸ He said this because Jesus had already commanded him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”

⁹ Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

He responded, “Legion is my name, because we are many.” ¹⁰ They pleaded with Jesus not to send them out of that region.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside. ¹² “Send us into the pigs!” they begged. “Let us go into the pigs!” ¹³ Jesus gave them permission, so the unclean spirits left the man and went into the pigs. Then the herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned.

¹⁴ Those who tended the pigs ran away and told the story in the city and in the countryside. People came to see what had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and saw the man who used to be demon-possessed. They saw the very man who had been filled with many demons sitting there fully dressed and completely sane, and they were filled with awe. ¹⁶ Those who had actually seen what had happened to the demon-possessed man told the others about the pigs. ¹⁷ Then they pleaded with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ While he was climbing into the boat, the one who had been demon-possessed pleaded with Jesus to let him come along as one of his disciples. ¹⁹ But Jesus wouldn’t allow it. “Go home to your own people,” Jesus said, “and tell them what the Lord has done for you and how he has shown you mercy.” ²⁰ The man went away and began to proclaim in the Ten Cities all that Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed.

²⁸ The Lord said to Moses: ²⁹ Say to the Israelites: If you wish to offer a communal sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, you are allowed to bring your offering to the Lord as your communal sacrifice of well-being.^{[a] 30} Your own hands must bring the Lord’s food gifts. You will bring the fat with the breast so that the breast can be lifted as an uplifted offering before the Lord. ³¹ The priest will completely burn the fat on the altar, but the breast will go to Aaron and his sons. ³² You will give the right thigh of your communal sacrifice of well-being to the priest as a gift. ³³ The right thigh will belong to the son of Aaron who offers the blood and fat of the well-being offering. ³⁴ I have taken the breast of the uplifted offering and the thigh that is given by the Israelites from their communal sacrifices of well-being, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as a permanent portion from the Israelites.

³⁵ This is what Aaron and his sons are allotted from the Lord’s food gifts once they have been presented to serve the Lord as priests. ³⁶ The Lord commanded that these things be given to the priests by the Israelites, following their anointment. It is their permanent portion throughout their future generations.

Conclusion concerning offerings

³⁷ This concludes the Instructions for the entirely burned offering, the grain offering, the purification offering, the compensation offering, the ordination offering, and the communal sacrifice of well-being, ³⁸ which the Lord commanded Moses at Mount Sinai on the day when he ordered the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord, in the Sinai desert.

The priests’ ordination

8 The Lord said to Moses, ² Take Aaron and his sons with him, the priestly clothing, the anointing oil, a bull for the purification offering, two rams, and a basket of unleavened bread, ³ and assemble the whole community at the meeting tent’s entrance.

⁴ Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the community assembled at the meeting tent’s entrance. ⁵ Moses said to the community, “This is what the Lord has commanded us to do.” ⁶ Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons forward and washed them in water. ⁷ Moses put the tunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, and dressed him in the robe. Moses then put the priestly vest on Aaron, tied the woven waistband of the vest around him, and secured the vest to him with it. ⁸ Then Moses placed the chest piece on Aaron and set the Urim and Thummim into the chest piece. ⁹ Moses placed the turban on Aaron’s head and put the gold flower ornament, the holy crown, on the turban’s front, just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁰ Moses then took the anointing oil and anointed the dwelling^[b] and everything in it, making them holy by doing so. ¹¹ He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its equipment, as well as the basin and its base, to make them holy. ¹² He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head, thereby anointing him to make him holy. ¹³ Then Moses brought Aaron’s sons forward, dressed them in tunics, tied sashes around them, and wrapped headbands on them, just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁴ Next Moses brought forward the bull for the purification offering. Aaron and his sons pressed their hands on its head. ¹⁵ Moses slaughtered it, then took the blood and, using his finger, put it on all of the altar’s horns, purifying the altar. He poured the rest of the blood out at the altar’s base. Then he made the altar holy so that reconciliation could be performed on it.^{[c] 16} Moses removed all the fat that was around the insides, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and their fat, and he completely burned it on the altar. ¹⁷ But the rest of the bull, including its hide, its flesh, and its dung, he burned with fire outside the camp just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁸ Then Moses presented the ram for the entirely burned offering, and Aaron and his sons pressed their hands on its head. ¹⁹ Moses slaughtered it, then tossed the blood against all sides of the altar. ²⁰ He cut up the ram into pieces, and then completely burned the head, pieces, and fat. ²¹ After he washed the insides and lower legs with water, Moses completely burned the whole ram on the altar. It was an entirely burned offering for a soothing smell; it was a food gift for the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²² Moses then presented the second ram, the ram for ordination, and Aaron and his sons pressed their hands on its head. ²³ Moses slaughtered it, then took some of its blood and put it on Aaron’s right earlobe, on his right thumb, and on his right big toe. ²⁴ Then Moses brought forward Aaron’s sons and put some of the blood on their right earlobes, their right thumbs, and their right big toes. Moses tossed the rest of the blood against all of the altar’s sides. ²⁵ Then he took the fat—the fat tail, all the fat that was around the insides, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and their fat—as well as the right thigh. ²⁶ From the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord, he took one loaf of unleavened flatbread, one loaf of flatbread made with oil, and one unleavened wafer, and he placed these on the fat pieces and on the right thigh. ²⁷ Moses set all of this in Aaron’s and his sons’ hands, then lifted them as an uplifted offering before the Lord. ²⁸ Next Moses took this out of their hands and completely burned it on the altar, along with the entirely burned offering. This was an ordination offering for a soothing smell; it was a food gift for the Lord. ²⁹ Next Moses took the breast from the ram for the ordination offering and lifted it as an uplifted offering before the Lord. It belonged to Moses as his portion, just as the Lord had commanded him. ³⁰ Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his clothes, and on his sons and their clothes as well. In this way, Moses made holy Aaron, his clothing, and Aaron’s sons and their clothing.

³¹ Moses said to Aaron and his sons: “Cook the meat at the meeting tent’s entrance. You may eat it there along with the bread that is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I was commanded,^[d] ‘Aaron and his sons can eat it.’ ³² But you must burn whatever is left over of the meat and bread with fire. ³³ You must not leave the meeting tent’s entrance for seven days, until the period of your ordination is completed, because your ordination takes seven days. ³⁴ What was done today was commanded by the Lord, to make reconciliation for you. ³⁵ You must stay at the meeting tent’s entrance for seven days, day and night, observing the Lord’s requirement so you don’t die, because that’s what I was commanded.”

³⁶ Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord commanded through Moses.

The priests’ initiation

9 On the eighth day, Moses called for Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and Israel’s elders. ² He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull from the herd as a purification offering and a ram as an entirely burned offering, both flawless animals, and bring them before the Lord. ³ Then tell the Israelites, ‘Take a male goat as a purification offering; a young bull and a sheep—both one-year-old flawless animals—as an entirely burned offering; ⁴ an ox and a ram as a well-being sacrifice before the Lord; and a grain offering mixed with oil, because today the Lord will appear to you.’”

⁵ They brought what Moses had commanded to the front of the meeting tent. Then the whole community came forward and stood before the Lord. ⁶ Moses said, “The Lord has ordered you to do this so that the Lord’s glorious presence will appear to you.”

³¹ His mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside and sent word to him, calling for him. ³² A crowd was seated around him, and those sent to him said, “Look, your mother, brothers, and sisters are outside looking for you.”

³³ He replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ³⁴ Looking around at those seated around him in a circle, he said, “Look, here are my mother and my brothers. ³⁵ Whoever does God’s will is my brother, sister, and mother.”

Parable of the soils

4 Jesus began to teach beside the lake again. Such a large crowd gathered that he climbed into a boat there on the lake. He sat in the boat while the whole crowd was nearby on the shore. ² He said many things to them in parables. While teaching them, he said, ³ “Listen to this! A farmer went out to scatter seed. ⁴ As he was scattering seed, some fell on the path; and the birds came and ate it. ⁵ Other seed fell on rocky ground where the soil was shallow. They sprouted immediately because the soil wasn’t deep. ⁶ When the sun came up, it scorched the plants; and they dried up because they had no roots. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorny plants. The thorny plants grew and choked the seeds, and they produced nothing. ⁸ Other seed fell into good soil and bore fruit. Upon growing and increasing, the seed produced in one case a yield of thirty to one, in another case a yield of sixty to one, and in another case a yield of one hundred to one.” ⁹ He said, “Whoever has ears to listen should pay attention!”

Jesus explains his parable

¹⁰ When they were alone, the people around Jesus, along with the Twelve, asked him about the parables. ¹¹ He said to them, “The secret of God’s kingdom has been given to you, but to those who are outside everything comes in parables. ¹² This is so that they can look and see but have no insight, and they can hear but not understand. Otherwise, they might turn their lives around and be forgiven.

¹³ “Don’t you understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? ¹⁴ The farmer scatters the word. ¹⁵ This is the meaning of the seed that fell on the path: When the word is scattered and people hear it, right away Satan comes and steals the word that was planted in them. ¹⁶ Here’s the meaning of the seed that fell on rocky ground: When people hear the word, they immediately receive it joyfully. ¹⁷ Because they have no roots, they last for only a little while. When they experience distress or abuse because of the word, they immediately fall away. ¹⁸ Others are like the seed scattered among the thorny plants. These are the ones who have heard the word; ¹⁹ but the worries of this life, the false appeal of wealth, and the desire for more things break in and choke the word, and it bears no fruit. ²⁰ The seed scattered on good soil are those who hear the word and embrace it. They bear fruit, in one case a yield of thirty to one, in another case sixty to one, and in another case one hundred to one.”

Parables about lamps and measures

²¹ Jesus said to them, “Does anyone bring in a lamp in order to put it under a basket or a bed? Shouldn’t it be placed on a lampstand? ²² Everything hidden will be revealed, and everything secret will come out into the open. ²³ Whoever has ears to listen should pay attention!”

²⁴ He said to them, “Listen carefully! God will evaluate you with the same standard you use to evaluate others. Indeed, you will receive even more. ²⁵ Those who have will receive more, but as for those who don’t have, even what they don’t have will be taken away from them.”

6 ^[a] The Lord said to Moses, ² If you sin:

⁴ at that point, once you have sinned and become guilty of sin, you must return the property you took by robbery or fraud, or the deposit that was left with you for safekeeping, or the lost property that you found, ⁵ or whatever it was that you swore falsely about. You must make amends for the principal amount and add one-fifth to it. You must give it to the owner on the day you become guilty. ⁶ You must bring to the priest as your compensation to the Lord a flawless ram from the flock at the standard value as a compensation offering. ⁷ The priest will make reconciliation for you before the Lord, and you will be forgiven for anything you may have done that made you guilty.

Priestly instructions

^8 [b] The Lord said to Moses: ⁹ Command Aaron and his sons: This is the Instruction for the entirely burned offering—the entirely burned offering that must remain on the altar hearth all night until morning, while the fire is kept burning. ¹⁰ The priest will dress in his linen robe, with linen undergarments on his body. Because the fire will have devoured the entirely burned offering on the altar, he must remove the ashes and place them beside the altar. ¹¹ The priest will then take off his clothes, dress in a different set of clothes, and take the ashes outside the camp to a clean location. ¹² The altar fire must be kept burning; it must not go out. Each morning the priest will burn wood on it, will lay out the entirely burned offering on it, and will completely burn the fat of the well-being offering on it. ¹³ A continuous fire must be kept burning on the altar; it must not go out.

¹⁴ This is the Instruction for the grain offering: Aaron’s sons will present it before the Lord in front of the altar. ¹⁵ The priest will remove a handful of the choice flour and oil from the grain offering, and all of the frankincense that is on it, and burn this token portion completely on the altar as a soothing smell to the Lord. ¹⁶ Aaron and his sons will eat the rest of it. It must be eaten as unleavened bread in a holy place; the priests must eat it in the meeting tent’s courtyard. ¹⁷ It must not be baked with leaven. I have made it the priests’ share from my food gifts. It is most holy like the purification offering and the compensation offering. ¹⁸ Only the males from Aaron’s descendants can eat it as a permanent portion from the Lord’s food gifts throughout your future generations. Anything that touches these food gifts will become holy.

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁰ This is the offering that Aaron and his sons must present to the Lord on the day of his anointment: one-tenth of an ephah^[c] of choice flour as a regular grain offering, half in the morning and half in the evening. ²¹ It must be prepared on a griddle with oil. You must bring it thoroughly mixed up and must present it as a grain offering of crumbled pieces^[d] as a soothing smell to the Lord. ²² The priest who is anointed from among Aaron’s sons to succeed him will prepare the offering as a permanent portion for the Lord. It will be completely burned as a complete offering. ²³ Every priestly grain offering must be a complete offering; it must not be eaten.

²⁴ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁵ Say to Aaron and his sons: This is the Instruction for the purification offering: The purification offering must be slaughtered before the Lord at the same place the entirely burned offering is slaughtered; it is most holy. ²⁶ The priest who offers it as a purification offering will eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place, in the meeting tent’s courtyard. ²⁷ Anything that touches the purification offering’s flesh will become holy. If some of its blood splashes on a garment, you must wash the bloodied part in a holy place. ²⁸ A pottery container in which the purification offering is cooked must be broken, but if it is cooked in a bronze container, that must be scrubbed and rinsed with water. ²⁹ Any male priest can eat it; it is most holy. ³⁰ But no purification offering can be eaten if blood from it is brought into the meeting tent to make reconciliation in the holy place; it must be burned with fire.

7 This is the Instruction for the compensation offering: It is most holy. ² The compensation offering must be slaughtered at the same place where the entirely burned offering is slaughtered, and its blood must be tossed against all sides of the altar. ³ All of its fat will be offered: the fat tail; the fat that covers the insides; ⁴ the two kidneys and the fat around them at the loins; and the lobe on the liver, which must be removed with the kidneys. ⁵ The priest must burn them completely on the altar as a food gift for the Lord; it is a compensation offering. ⁶ Any male priest can eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy.

⁷ The compensation offering is like the purification offering—they share the same Instruction: It belongs to the priest who makes reconciliation with it. ⁸ The hide of the entirely burned offering that a priest has offered belongs to the priest who offered it. ⁹ Any grain offering that is baked in an oven or that is prepared in a pan or on a griddle also belongs to the priest who offered it. ¹⁰ But every other grain offering, whether mixed with oil or dry, will belong to all of Aaron’s sons equally.

¹¹ This is the Instruction for the communal sacrifice of well-being that someone may offer to the Lord: ¹² If you are offering it for thanksgiving, you must offer the following with the communal sacrifice of thanksgiving: unleavened flatbread mixed with oil, unleavened thin loaves spread with oil, and flatbread of choice flour thoroughly mixed with oil. ¹³ You must present this offering, plus the leavened flatbread, with the communal thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being. ¹⁴ From this you will present one of each kind of offering as a gift to the Lord. It will belong to the priest who tosses the blood of the well-being offering.

¹⁵ The flesh of your communal thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being must be eaten on the day you offer it; you cannot save any of it until morning. ¹⁶ But if your communal sacrifice of well-being is payment for a solemn promise or if it is a spontaneous gift, it may be eaten on the day you offer it as your communal sacrifice, and whatever is left over can be eaten the next day. ¹⁷ But whatever is left over of the flesh of the communal sacrifice on the third day must be burned with fire. ¹⁸ If any of it is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted. It will not be credited to the one who offered it. It will be considered foul, and the person who eats of it will be liable to punishment.

¹⁹ Flesh that touches any unclean thing must not be eaten; it must be burned with fire. Any clean person may eat the flesh, ²⁰ but anyone who eats the flesh of a communal sacrifice of well-being that belongs to the Lord while in an unclean state will be cut off from their people. ²¹ Whenever anyone touches any unclean thing—whether it is human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any unclean and disgusting creature—and then eats the flesh of a communal sacrifice of well-being that belongs to the Lord, that person will be cut off from their people.

²² The Lord said to Moses: ²³ Tell the Israelites: You must not eat the fat of an ox, sheep, or goat. ²⁴ The fat of an animal that has died naturally or the fat of an animal that was killed by another animal may be put to any use, but you must definitely not eat it. ²⁵ If anyone eats the fat of an animal from which a food gift could be offered to the Lord, that person will be cut off from their people. ²⁶ You must not consume any blood whatsoever—whether bird or animal blood—wherever you may live. ²⁷ Any person who consumes any blood whatsoever will be cut off from their people.

Healing and throwing demons out

⁷ Jesus left with his disciples and went to the lake. A large crowd followed him because they had heard what he was doing. They were from Galilee, ⁸ Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the area surrounding Tyre and Sidon. ⁹ Jesus told his disciples to get a small boat ready for him so the crowd wouldn’t crush him. ¹⁰ He had healed so many people that everyone who was sick pushed forward so that they could touch him. ¹¹ Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down at his feet and shouted, “You are God’s Son!” ¹² But he strictly ordered them not to reveal who he was.

Jesus appoints twelve apostles

¹³ Jesus went up on a mountain and called those he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴ He appointed twelve and called them apostles. He appointed them to be with him, to be sent out to preach, ¹⁵ and to have authority to throw out demons. ¹⁶ He appointed twelve: Peter, a name he gave Simon; ¹⁷ James and John, Zebedee’s sons, whom he nicknamed Boanerges, which means “sons of Thunder”; ¹⁸ and Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, Alphaeus’ son; Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean;^{[a] 19} and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

Misunderstandings about Jesus

²⁰ Jesus entered a house. A crowd gathered again so that it was impossible for him and his followers even to eat. ²¹ When his family heard what was happening, they came to take control of him. They were saying, “He’s out of his mind!”

²² The legal experts came down from Jerusalem. Over and over they charged, “He’s possessed by Beelzebul. He throws out demons with the authority of the ruler of demons.”

²³ When Jesus called them together he spoke to them in a parable: “How can Satan throw Satan out? ²⁴ A kingdom involved in civil war will collapse. ²⁵ And a house torn apart by divisions will collapse. ²⁶ If Satan rebels against himself and is divided, then he can’t endure. He’s done for. ²⁷ No one gets into the house of a strong person and steals anything without first tying up the strong person. Only then can the house be burglarized. ²⁸ I assure you that human beings will be forgiven for everything, for all sins and insults of every kind. ²⁹ But whoever insults the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. That person is guilty of a sin with consequences that last forever.” ³⁰ He said this because the legal experts were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.”

Psalm 37^[a]

Of David.

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

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