Category: DAB Readings

Psalm 23

The Good Shepherd

A psalm of David.

Acceptable Sacrifices

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹⁸ “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: Any man of the house of Israel or of the resident aliens^(A) in Israel who presents his offering^(B)—whether they present payment of vows or freewill gifts to the Lord as burnt offerings— ¹⁹ must offer an unblemished male^(C) from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for you to be accepted. ²⁰ You are not to present anything that has a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf.

²¹ “When a man presents a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or flock, it has to be unblemished to be acceptable; there must be no defect in it. ²² You are not to present any animal to the Lord that is blind, injured, maimed, or has a running sore, festering rash,^(D) or scabs; you may not put any of them on the altar as a fire offering to the Lord.^{(E) 23} You may sacrifice as a freewill offering any animal from the herd or flock that has an elongated or stunted limb, but it is not acceptable as a vow offering. ²⁴ You are not to present to the Lord anything that has bruised, crushed, torn, or severed testicles;^(F) you must not sacrifice them in your land. ²⁵ Neither you nor^[a] a foreigner are to present food to your God from any of these animals. They will not be accepted for you because they are deformed and have a defect.”^(G)

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses: ²⁷ “When an ox, sheep, or goat is born, it is to remain with^[b] its mother for seven days; from the eighth day^(H) on, it will be acceptable as an offering, a fire offering to the Lord. ²⁸ But you are not to slaughter an animal from the herd or flock on the same day as its young.^{(I) 29} When you sacrifice a thank offering^(J) to the Lord, sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. ³⁰ It is to be eaten on the same day.^(K) Do not let any of it remain until morning; I am the Lord.

³¹ “You are to keep my commands and do them; I am the Lord. ³² You must not profane my holy name; I must be treated as holy^(L) among the Israelites. I am the Lord who sets you apart, ³³ the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord.”

Holy Days

23 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: These are my appointed times,^(M) the times of the Lord that you will proclaim as sacred assemblies.^(N)

³ “Work may be done for six days, but on the seventh day there is to be a Sabbath of complete rest,^(O) a sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; it is a Sabbath^(P) to the Lord wherever you live.

⁴ “These are the Lord’s appointed times, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times. ⁵ The Passover^(Q) to the Lord comes in the first month, at twilight on the fourteenth day of the month. ⁶ The Festival of Unleavened Bread^(R) to the Lord is on the fifteenth day of the same month. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. ⁷ On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any daily work. ⁸ You are to present a fire offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day there will be a sacred assembly; do not do any daily work.”

⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you enter the land I am giving you and reap its harvest,^[c] you are to bring the first sheaf of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹ He will present the sheaf before the Lord so that you may be accepted; the priest is to present it on the day after the Sabbath. ¹² On the day you present the sheaf, you are to offer a year-old male lamb^[d] without blemish^(S) as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³ Its grain offering is to be four quarts^[e] of fine flour mixed with oil as a fire offering to the Lord, a pleasing aroma, and its drink offering will be one quart^[f] of wine. ¹⁴ You must not eat bread, roasted grain, or any new grain^[g] until this very day, and until you have brought the offering to your God. This is to be a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you live.

¹⁵ “You are to count seven^[h] complete weeks^[i](T) starting from the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the presentation offering.^{(U) 16} You are to count fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. ¹⁷ Bring two loaves of bread from your settlements as a presentation offering, each of them made from four quarts of fine flour, baked with yeast, as firstfruits^(V) to the Lord. ¹⁸ You are to present with the bread seven unblemished male lambs a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offerings and drink offerings, a fire offering of a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹ You are also to prepare one male goat as a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a fellowship sacrifice. ²⁰ The priest will present the lambs with the bread of firstfruits as a presentation offering before the Lord; the bread and the two lambs will be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ On that same day you are to make a proclamation and hold a sacred assembly. You are not to do any daily work. This is to be a permanent statute wherever you live throughout your generations. ²² When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap all the way to the edge of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the resident alien;^(W) I am the Lord your God.”

²³ The Lord spoke to Moses: ²⁴ “Tell the Israelites: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you are to have a day of complete rest, commemoration, and trumpet blasts^(X)—a sacred assembly.^{(Y) 25} You must not do any daily work, but you must present a fire offering to the Lord.”

²⁶ The Lord again spoke to Moses: ²⁷ “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement.^(Z) You are to hold a sacred assembly and practice self-denial;^(AA) you are to present a fire offering to the Lord. ²⁸ On this particular day you are not to do any work, for it is a Day of Atonement to make atonement for yourselves before the Lord your God. ²⁹ If any person does not practice self-denial on this particular day, he is to be cut off from his people. ³⁰ I will destroy among his people anyone who does any work on this same day. ³¹ You are not to do any work. This is a permanent statute throughout your generations wherever you live. ³² It will be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must practice self-denial. You are to observe your Sabbath from the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening.”

³³ The Lord spoke to Moses: ³⁴ “Tell the Israelites: The Festival of Shelters^[j](AB) to the Lord begins on the fifteenth day of this seventh month and continues for seven days. ³⁵ There is to be a sacred assembly on the first day; you are not to do any daily work. ³⁶ You are to present a fire offering to the Lord for seven days. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present a fire offering to the Lord. It is a solemn gathering;^(AC) you are not to do any daily work.

³⁷ “These are the Lord’s appointed times that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for presenting fire offerings to the Lord, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its designated day. ³⁸ These are in addition to the offerings for the Lord’s Sabbaths, your gifts, all your vow offerings, and all your freewill offerings that you give to the Lord.

³⁹ “You are to celebrate the Lord’s festival on the fifteenth day of the seventh month for seven days after you have gathered the produce of the land. There will be complete rest on the first day and complete rest on the eighth day. ⁴⁰ On the first day you are to take the product^(AD) of majestic trees—palm fronds,^(AE) boughs of leafy trees,^(AF) and willows of the brook^(AG)—and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ You are to celebrate it as a festival to the Lord seven days each year. This is a permanent statute for you throughout your generations; celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴² You are to live in shelters^(AH) for seven days. All the native-born of Israel must live in shelters, ⁴³ so that your generations may know that I made the Israelites live in shelters when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.” ⁴⁴ So Moses declared the Lord’s appointed times to the Israelites.

The Second Prediction of His Death

³⁰ Then^(A) they left that place and made their way through Galilee, but he did not want anyone to know it.^{(B) 31} For he was teaching^(C) his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man^(D) is going to be betrayed^[a] into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise^(E) three days later.”^{(F) 32} But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask him.^(G)

Who Is the Greatest?

³³ They^(H) came to Capernaum.^(I) When he was in the house,^(J) he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?”^{(K) 34} But they were silent,^(L) because on the way they had been arguing with one another about who was the greatest.^{(M) 35} Sitting down, he called the Twelve^(N) and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.”^{(O) 36} He took a child,^(P) had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever welcomes^[b] one little child such as this in my name^(Q) welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent^(R) me.”^(S)

In His Name

³⁸ John^(T) said to him, “Teacher,^(U) we saw someone^[c] driving out demons^(V) in your name,^(W) and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”^(X)

³⁹ “Don’t stop him,” said Jesus, “because there is no one who will perform a miracle^(Y) in my name who can soon afterward speak evil of me. ⁴⁰ For whoever is not against us is for us.^{(Z) 41} And whoever gives you a cup of water to drink^(AA) in my name, because you belong to Christ^(AB) —truly I tell you,^(AC) he will never lose his reward.^(AD)

Warnings from Jesus

⁴² “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away^(AE) —it would be better for him if a heavy millstone^(AF) were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

⁴³ “And if your hand causes you to fall away, cut it off.^(AG) It is better for you to enter life maimed^(AH) than to have two hands and go to hell, the unquenchable fire.^{[d](AI) 45} And if your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame^(AJ) than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.^{[e] 47} And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God^(AK) with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown^(AL) into hell,^{(AM) 48} where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.^{[f] 49} For everyone will be salted with fire.^{[g](AN)(AO) 50} Salt is good, but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you season it?^(AP) Have salt^(AQ) among yourselves, and be at peace^(AR) with one another.”

The Question of Divorce

10 He^(AS) set out from there and went to the region of Judea^(AT) and across the Jordan.^(AU) Then crowds converged on him again, and as was his custom he taught^(AV) them again.

² Some Pharisees^(AW) came to test^(AX) him, asking, “Is it lawful^(AY) for a man to divorce^(AZ) his wife?” ^(BA)

³ He replied to them, “What did Moses^(BB) command you?”

⁴ They said, “Moses permitted us to write divorce papers^(BC) and send her away.”^(BD)

⁵ But Jesus told them, “He wrote this command for you because of the hardness of your hearts. ^{(BE) 6} But from the beginning^(BF) of creation^(BG) God^[h] made them male and female.^{[i](BH) 7} For this reason a man will leave ^(BI) his father and mother ^{[j] 8} and the two will become one flesh.^[k](BJ) So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”^(BK)

¹⁰ When they were in the house again, the disciples questioned him about this matter. ¹¹ He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife^(BL) and marries^(BM) another commits adultery^(BN) against her. ¹² Also, if she divorces her husband^(BO) and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Psalm 44

Israel’s Complaint

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

Holiness in the Land

²² “You are to keep all my statutes and all my ordinances, and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.^{(A) 23} You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and I abhorred them.^{(B) 24} And I promised you: You will inherit their land, since I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey.^(C) I am the Lord your God who set you apart from the peoples. ²⁵ Therefore you are to distinguish the clean animal from the unclean one, and the unclean bird from the clean one. Do not become contaminated^(D) by any land animal, bird, or whatever crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you.^{(E) 26} You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be mine.^(F)

²⁷ “A man or a woman who is^[a] a medium or a spiritist must be put to death. They are to be stoned; their death is their own fault.”

The Holiness of the Priests

21 The Lord said to Moses: “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them: A priest is not to make himself ceremonially unclean for a dead person among his relatives,^{(G) 2} except for his immediate family: his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother. ³ He may make himself unclean for his unmarried virgin sister in his immediate family. ⁴ He is not to make himself unclean for those related to him by marriage^[b] and so defile himself.

⁵ “Priests may not make bald spots on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies.^{(H) 6} They are to be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God.^(I) For they present the fire offerings to the Lord, the food of their God, and they must be holy. ⁷ They are not to marry a woman defiled by prostitution.^[c](J) They are not to marry one divorced^(K) by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. ⁸ You are to consider him holy since he presents the food of your God. He will be holy to you because I, the Lord who sets you apart, am holy. ⁹ If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by promiscuity,^[d](L) she defiles her father; she must be burned to death.^(M)

¹⁰ “The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained^[e] to wear the clothes, must not dishevel his hair^[f] or tear his clothes.^{(N) 11} He must not go near any dead person or make himself unclean even for his father or mother.^{(O) 12} He must not leave the sanctuary or he will desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him;^(P) I am the Lord.

¹³ “He is to marry a woman who is a virgin. ¹⁴ He is not to marry a widow,^(Q) a divorced woman,^(R) or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people, ¹⁵ so that he does not corrupt his bloodline^[g] among his people, for I am the Lord who sets him apart.”

Physical Defects and Priests

¹⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses: ¹⁷ “Tell Aaron: None of your descendants throughout your generations who has a physical defect^(S) is to come near to present the food^(T) of his God. ¹⁸ No man who has any defect is to come near: no man who is blind, lame, facially disfigured, or deformed; ¹⁹ no man who has a broken foot or hand, ²⁰ or who is a hunchback or a dwarf,^[h](U) or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs,^(V) or a crushed testicle.^{(W) 21} No descendant of the priest Aaron who has a defect is to come near to present the fire offerings to the Lord. He has a defect and is not to come near to present the food of his God. ²² He may eat the food of his God from what is especially holy as well as from what is holy. ²³ But because he has a defect, he must not go near the curtain^(X) or approach the altar. He is not to desecrate my holy places, for I am the Lord who sets them apart.”^{(Y) 24} Moses said this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

Priests and Their Food

22 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Tell Aaron and his sons to deal respectfully with the holy offerings of the Israelites that they have consecrated to me, so they do not profane my holy name;^(Z) I am the Lord. ³ Say to them: If any man from any of your descendants throughout your generations is in a state of uncleanness yet approaches the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, that person will be cut off from my presence; I am the Lord. ⁴ No man of Aaron’s descendants who has a skin disease^[i] or a discharge is to eat from the holy offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything made unclean by a dead person or by a man who has an emission of semen, ⁵ or whoever touches any swarming creature that makes him unclean or any person who makes him unclean—whatever his uncleanness— ⁶ the man who touches any of these will remain unclean until evening^(AA) and is not to eat from the holy offerings unless he has bathed his body with water. ⁷ When the sun has set, he will become clean, and then he may eat from the holy offerings, for that is his food.^{(AB) 8} He must not eat an animal that died naturally or was mauled by wild beasts,^[j](AC) making himself unclean by it; I am the Lord. ⁹ They must keep my instruction,^(AD) or they will be guilty and die because they profane it; I am the Lord who sets them apart.

¹⁰ “No one outside a priest’s family^[k](AE) is to eat the holy offering. A foreigner staying with a priest or a hired worker is not to eat the holy offering. ¹¹ But if a priest purchases someone with his own silver, that person may eat it, and those born in his house may eat his food. ¹² If the priest’s daughter is married to a man outside a priest’s family,^[l] she is not to eat from the holy contributions.^{[m] 13} But if the priest’s daughter becomes widowed or divorced, has no children, and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she may share her father’s food. But no outsider may share it. ¹⁴ If anyone eats a holy offering in error,^(AF) he is to add a fifth to its value and give the holy offering to the priest.^{(AG) 15} The priests must not profane the holy offerings the Israelites give to the Lord ¹⁶ by letting the people eat their holy offerings and having them bear the penalty of restitution.^(AH) For I am the Lord who sets them apart.”

9 Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you,^(A) there are some standing here who will not taste death^(B) until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”^(C)

The Transfiguration

² After^(D) six days^(E) Jesus took Peter, James, and John^(F) and led them up a high mountain^(G) by themselves to be alone. He was transfigured^(H) in front of them, ³ and his clothes^(I) became dazzling—extremely white^(J) as no launderer on earth could whiten^(K) them. ⁴ Elijah^(L) appeared to them with Moses,^(M) and they were talking with Jesus. ⁵ Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi,^(N) it’s good^(O) for us to be here. Let us set up three shelters:^(P) one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— ⁶ because he did not know what to say,^(Q) since they were terrified.^(R)

⁷ A cloud^(S) appeared, overshadowing^(T) them, and a voice^(U) came from the cloud:^(V) “This is my beloved^(W) Son;^(X) listen to him!” ^(Y)

⁸ Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.

⁹ As^(Z) they were coming down the mountain,^(AA) he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen^(AB) until the Son of Man^(AC) had risen^(AD) from the dead.^{(AE) 10} They kept this word^(AF) to themselves, questioning what “rising from the dead” meant.

¹¹ Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes^(AG) say that Elijah must come first?” ^(AH)

¹² “Elijah does come first and restores^(AI) all things,”^(AJ) he replied. “Why then is it written^(AK) that the Son of Man must suffer^(AL) many things and be treated with contempt?^{(AM) 13} But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as it is written^(AN) about him.”

The Power of Faith over a Demon

¹⁴ When^(AO) they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing^(AP) with them. ¹⁵ When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran to greet him. ¹⁶ He asked them, “What are you arguing with them about?”

¹⁷ Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher,^(AQ) I brought my son to you. He has a spirit^(AR) that makes him unable to speak.^{(AS) 18} Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”

¹⁹ He replied to them, “You unbelieving^(AT) generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” ²⁰ So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. ²¹ “How long has this been happening to him?” Jesus asked his father.

“From childhood,” he said. ²² “And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy^(AU) him. But if you can do anything, have compassion^(AV) on us and help us.”

²³ Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’?^[a] Everything is possible^(AW) for the one who believes.”^(AX)

²⁴ Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

²⁵ When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked^(AY) the unclean^(AZ) spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf^(BA) spirit, I command you: Come out of him and never enter him again.”

²⁶ Then it came out, shrieking and throwing him^[b] into terrible convulsions.^(BB) The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He’s dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him,^(BC) and he stood up.

²⁸ After he had gone into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

²⁹ And he told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.”^[c](BD)

Psalm 43^[a]

Laws of Holiness

19 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Speak to the entire Israelite community and tell them: Be holy^(A) because I, the Lord your God, am holy.^(B)

³ “Each of you is to respect his mother and father.^(C) You are to keep my Sabbaths; I am the Lord your God. ⁴ Do not turn to idols^(D) or make cast images^(E) of gods for yourselves;^(F) I am the Lord your God.

⁵ “When you offer a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord, sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. ⁶ It is to be eaten on the day you sacrifice it or on the next day, but what remains on the third day must be burned.^{(G) 7} If any is eaten on the third day, it is a repulsive thing; it will not be accepted.^{(H) 8} Anyone who eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to the Lord. That person is to be cut off from his people.^(I)

⁹ “When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edge of your field or gather the gleanings^(J) of your harvest. ¹⁰ Do not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor^(K) and the resident alien;^(L) I am the Lord your God.

¹¹ “Do not steal.^(M) Do not act deceptively^(N) or lie^(O) to one another. ¹² Do not swear falsely by my name, profaning the name of your God;^(P) I am the Lord.

¹³ “Do not oppress^(Q) your neighbor or rob^(R) him. The wages due a hired worker^(S) must not remain with you until morning. ¹⁴ Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind,^(T) but you are to fear your God;^(U) I am the Lord.^(V)

¹⁵ “Do not act unjustly^(W) when deciding a case. Do not be partial^(X) to the poor or give preference to the rich;^(Y) judge your neighbor fairly. ¹⁶ Do not go about spreading slander^(Z) among your people; do not jeopardize^[a] your neighbor’s life; I am the Lord.

¹⁷ “Do not harbor hatred against your brother.^[b](AA) Rebuke your neighbor directly, and you will not incur guilt because of him.^{(AB) 18} Do not take revenge^(AC) or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself;^(AD) I am the Lord.

¹⁹ “You are to keep my statutes. Do not crossbreed two different kinds of your livestock, sow your fields with two kinds of seed, or put on a garment made of two kinds of material.^(AE)

²⁰ “If a man has sexual intercourse with a woman who is a slave designated for another man, but she has not been redeemed^(AF) or given her freedom, there must be punishment.^[c] They are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. ²¹ However, he must bring a ram as his guilt^[d] offering to the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting.^{(AG) 22} The priest will make atonement on his behalf before the Lord with the ram of the guilt offering for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven for the sin he committed.

²³ “When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you are to consider the fruit forbidden.^[e] It will be forbidden to you for three years; it is not to be eaten. ²⁴ In the fourth year all its fruit is to be consecrated as a praise offering^(AH) to the Lord. ²⁵ But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way its yield will increase for you;^(AI) I am the Lord your God.

²⁶ “You are not to eat anything with blood in it.^[f](AJ) You are not to practice divination^(AK) or witchcraft.^{(AL) 27} You are not to cut off the hair at the sides of your head or mar the edge of your beard.^{(AM) 28} You are not to make gashes on your bodies for the dead^(AN) or put tattoo marks on yourselves; I am the Lord.

²⁹ “Do not debase^[g](AO) your daughter by making her a prostitute,^(AP) or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity. ³⁰ Keep my Sabbaths and revere my sanctuary;^(AQ) I am the Lord.

³¹ “Do not turn to mediums^[h](AR) or consult spiritists,^[i](AS) or you will be defiled by them; I am the Lord your God.

³² “You are to rise in the presence of the elderly and honor the old.^(AT) Fear your God; I am the Lord.

³³ “When an alien resides with you in your land, you must not oppress^(AU) him. ³⁴ You will regard the alien who resides with you as the native-born among you. You are to love him as yourself,^(AV) for you were aliens in the land of Egypt;^(AW) I am the Lord your God.

³⁵ “Do not be unfair^(AX) in measurements of length, weight, or volume. ³⁶ You are to have honest balances,^(AY) honest weights, an honest dry measure,^[j] and an honest liquid measure;^[k](AZ) I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. ³⁷ Keep all my statutes and all my ordinances and do them; I am the Lord.”

Molech Worship and Spiritism

20 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Say to the Israelites: Any Israelite or alien residing in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech^(BA) must be put to death; the people of the country are to stone him.^{(BB) 3} I will turn^[l] against that man and cut him off from his people, because he gave his offspring to Molech, defiling my sanctuary^(BC) and profaning my holy name.^{(BD) 4} But if the people of the country look the other way when that man^[m] gives any of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, ⁵ then I will turn against that man and his family, and cut off from their people both him and all who follow^[n] him in prostituting^(BE) themselves with Molech.

⁶ “Whoever turns to mediums^[o](BF) or spiritists^[p] and prostitutes himself with them, I will turn against that person and cut him off from his people. ⁷ Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸ Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sets you apart.

Family and Sexual Offenses

⁹ “If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death.^(BG) He has cursed his father or mother; his death is his own fault.^[q]

¹⁰ “If a man commits adultery^(BH) with a married woman—if he commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. ¹¹ If a man sleeps with his father’s wife, he has violated the intimacy that belongs to his father.^[r](BI) Both of them must be put to death; their death is their own fault.^{[s] 12} If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law,^(BJ) both of them must be put to death. They have acted perversely; their death is their own fault. ¹³ If a man sleeps with a man as with a woman,^(BK) they have both committed a detestable act.^(BL) They must be put to death; their death is their own fault. ¹⁴ If a man marries^[t] a woman and her mother,^(BM) it is depraved. Both he and they must be burned,^(BN) so that there will be no depravity among you. ¹⁵ If a man has sexual intercourse with^[u] an animal, he must be put to death; you are also to kill the animal. ¹⁶ If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you are to kill the woman and the animal.^(BO) They must be put to death; their death is their own fault. ¹⁷ If a man marries his sister,^(BP) whether his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and they have sexual relations,^[v](BQ) it is a disgrace.^(BR) They are to be cut off publicly from their people. He has had sexual intercourse with his sister; he will bear his iniquity. ¹⁸ If a man sleeps with a menstruating woman and has sexual intercourse with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood.^(BS) Both of them are to be cut off from their people. ¹⁹ You must not have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister,^(BT) for it is exposing one’s own blood relative; both people will bear their iniquity. ²⁰ If a man sleeps with his aunt, he has violated the intimacy that belongs to his uncle;^[w](BU) they will bear their guilt and die childless. ²¹ If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is impurity.^(BV) He has violated the intimacy that belongs to his brother;^[x](BW) they will be childless.

The Leaven of the Pharisees and Herod

¹¹ The^(A) Pharisees^(B) came and began to argue with him, demanding of him a sign^(C) from heaven^(D) to test^(E) him. ¹² Sighing deeply in his spirit,^(F) he said, “Why does this generation^(G) demand a sign? Truly I tell you,^(H) no sign will be given to this generation.” ¹³ Then he left them, got back into the boat, and went to the other side.

¹⁴ The disciples had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ Then^(I) he gave them strict orders: “Watch out! Beware of the leaven^[a](J) of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”^{(K) 16} They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. ¹⁷ Aware of this, he said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact you have no bread? Don’t you understand or comprehend? Do you have hardened hearts?^{(L) 18} Do you have eyes and not see; do you have ears and not hear?^[b](M) And do you not remember?^{(N) 19} When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of leftovers did you collect?”

“Twelve,” they told him.

²⁰ “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many baskets full of pieces did you collect?”

“Seven,” they said.

²¹ And he said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?” ^(O)

Healing a Blind Man

²² They came to Bethsaida.^(P) They brought a blind^(Q) man to him and begged him to touch him. ²³ He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village. Spitting^(R) on his eyes and laying his hands on^(S) him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴ He looked up and said, “I see people—they look like trees walking.”^(T)

²⁵ Again Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes. The man looked intently and his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. ²⁶ Then he sent^(U) him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”^[c](V)

Peter’s Confession of the Messiah

²⁷ Jesus^(W) went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”

²⁸ They answered him, “John the Baptist;^(X) others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.”^(Y)

²⁹ “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”

Peter^(Z) answered him, “You are the Messiah.”^{(AA) 30} And he strictly warned^(AB) them to tell no one about him.

His Death and Resurrection Predicted

³¹ Then^(AC) he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man^(AD) to suffer many things and be rejected^(AE) by the elders,^(AF) chief priests, and scribes,^(AG) be killed, and rise^(AH) after three days.^{(AI) 32} He spoke openly about this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ³³ But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan!^(AJ) You are not thinking about God’s concerns^[d] but human concerns.”

Take Up Your Cross

³⁴ Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself,^(AK) take up his cross,^(AL) and follow me.^{(AM) 35} For whoever wants to save^(AN) his life will lose it,^(AO) but whoever loses^(AP) his life^(AQ) because of me^(AR) and the gospel^(AS) will save it.^{(AT) 36} For what does it benefit^(AU) someone to gain^(AV) the whole world^(AW) and yet lose^(AX) his life?^{(AY) 37} What can anyone give in exchange for his life?^{(AZ) 38} For whoever is ashamed^(BA) of me and my words^(BB) in this adulterous and sinful^(BC) generation,^(BD) the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory^(BE) of his Father^(BF) with the holy^(BG) angels.”^(BH)

BOOK II

(Psalms 42—72)

Psalm 42

Longing for God

For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.

²⁹ “This is to be a permanent statute^(A) for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month you are to practice self-denial^(B) and do no work,^(C) both the native and the alien^(D) who resides among you. ³⁰ Atonement will be made for you on this day to cleanse you,^(E) and you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. ³¹ It is a Sabbath^(F) of complete rest for you,^(G) and you must practice self-denial; it is a permanent statute. ³² The priest who is anointed and ordained^[a](H) to serve as high priest^(I) in place of his father will make atonement. He will put on the linen garments, the holy garments, ³³ and make atonement for the most holy place. He will make atonement for the tent of meeting and the altar and will make atonement for the priests and all the people of the assembly. ³⁴ This is to be a permanent statute for you, to make atonement for the Israelites once a year^(J) because of all their sins.” And all this was done as the Lord commanded Moses.

Forbidden Sacrifices

17 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and tell them: This is what the Lord has commanded: ³ Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters^(K) an ox, sheep, or goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside the camp, ⁴ instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before his tabernacle—that person will be considered guilty.^[b](L) He has shed blood^(M) and is to be cut off from his people.^{(N) 5} This is so the Israelites will bring to the Lord the sacrifices^(O) they have been offering in the open country. They are to bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting and offer them as fellowship sacrifices^(P) to the Lord. ⁶ The priest will then splatter the blood on the Lord’s altar at the entrance to the tent of meeting and burn the fat as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ⁷ They must no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat-demons^(Q) that they have prostituted^(R) themselves with. This will be a permanent statute^(S) for them throughout their generations.

⁸ “Say to them: Anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens^(T) who reside among them who offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice ⁹ but does not bring it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to the Lord, that person is to be cut off from his people.

Eating Blood and Carcasses Prohibited

¹⁰ “Anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens who reside among them who eats any blood,^(U) I will turn^[c] against that person who eats blood and cut him off from his people. ¹¹ For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for^[d] your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.^{(V) 12} Therefore I say to the Israelites: None of you and no alien who resides among you may eat blood.

¹³ “Any Israelite or alien residing among them, who hunts^(W) down a wild animal or bird that may be eaten must drain its blood^(X) and cover it with dirt. ¹⁴ Since the life of every creature is its blood, I have told the Israelites: You are not to eat the blood of any creature,^(Y) because the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it must be cut off.

¹⁵ “Every person, whether the native or the resident alien,^(Z) who eats an animal that died a natural death or was mauled by wild beasts^(AA) is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening; then he will be clean. ¹⁶ But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, he will bear his iniquity.”

Prohibited Pagan Practices

18 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: I am the Lord your God.^{(AB) 3} Do not follow the practices of the land of Egypt,^(AC) where you used to live, or follow the practices of the land of Canaan,^(AD) where I am bringing you. You must not follow their customs.^{(AE) 4} You are to practice my ordinances^(AF) and you are to keep my statutes^(AG) by following them; I am the Lord your God. ⁵ Keep my statutes and ordinances; a person will live^(AH) if he does them.^(AI) I am the Lord.

⁶ “You are not to come near^(AJ) any close relative^[e] for sexual intercourse;^(AK) I am the Lord. ⁷ You are not to violate the intimacy that belongs to your father^(AL) and mother.^[f] She is your mother; you must not have sexual intercourse with her. ⁸ You are not to have sex with your father’s wife;^(AM) she is your father’s family.^{(AN) 9} You are not to have sexual intercourse with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s,^(AO) whether born at home or born elsewhere. You are not to have sex with her. ¹⁰ You are not to have sexual intercourse with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for they are your family.^{[g] 11} You are not to have sexual intercourse with your father’s wife’s daughter, who is adopted by^[h] your father; she is your sister. ¹² You are not to have sexual intercourse with your father’s sister;^(AP) she is your father’s close relative. ¹³ You are not to have sexual intercourse with your mother’s sister,^(AQ) for she is your mother’s close relative. ¹⁴ You are not to violate the intimacy that belongs to^[i] your father’s brother by approaching his wife to have sexual intercourse; she is your aunt.^{(AR) 15} You are not to have sexual intercourse with your daughter-in-law.^(AS) She is your son’s wife; you are not to have sex with her. ¹⁶ You are not to have sexual intercourse with your brother’s wife; she is your brother’s family.^{(AT) 17} You are not to have sexual intercourse with a woman and her daughter.^(AU) You are not to marry her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter and have sex with her. They are close relatives; it is depraved.^{(AV) 18} You are not to marry a woman as a rival to her sister and have sexual intercourse with her during her sister’s lifetime.^(AW)

¹⁹ “You are not to approach^(AX) a woman during her menstrual impurity to have sexual intercourse with her.^{(AY) 20} You are not to have sexual intercourse with^[j] your neighbor’s wife, defiling yourself with her.^(AZ)

²¹ “You are not to sacrifice any of your children in the fire^[k] to Molech.^(BA) Do not profane the name^(BB) of your God; I am the Lord. ²² You are not to sleep with a man as with a woman;^(BC) it is detestable.^{(BD) 23} You are not to have sexual intercourse with^[l] any animal, defiling yourself with it; a woman is not to present herself to an animal to mate with it;^(BE) it is a perversion.

²⁴ “Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves by all these things. ²⁵ The land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its iniquity, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.^{(BF) 26} But you are to keep my statutes and ordinances. You must not commit any of these detestable acts—not the native or the alien who resides among you. ²⁷ For the people who were in the land prior to you have committed all these detestable acts, and the land has become defiled. ²⁸ If you defile the land, it will vomit^(BG) you out as it has vomited out the nations that were before you. ²⁹ Any person who does any of these detestable practices is to be cut off from his people. ³⁰ You must keep my instruction to not do any of the detestable customs^(BH) that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them; I am the Lord your God.”

A Gentile Mother’s Faith

²⁴ He got up and departed from^(A) there to the region of Tyre.^[a](B) He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but he could not escape notice. ²⁵ Instead, immediately after hearing about him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit^(C) came and fell at his feet.^{(D) 26} The woman was a Gentile,^[b](E) a Syrophoenician by birth, and she was asking him to cast the demon^(F) out of her daughter. ²⁷ He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”^(G)

²⁸ But she replied to him, “Lord,^(H) even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹ Then he told her, “Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.

Jesus Does Everything Well

³¹ Again, leaving the region of Tyre,^(I) he went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee,^(J) through^[c] the region of the Decapolis.^{(K) 32} They brought to him a deaf^(L) man who had difficulty speaking^(M) and begged Jesus to lay his hand on^(N) him. ³³ So he took him away from the crowd in private. After putting his fingers in the man’s ears and spitting,^(O) he touched his tongue. ³⁴ Looking up to heaven,^(P) he sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha!”^[d] (that is, “Be opened!”). ³⁵ Immediately his ears were opened,^(Q) his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly.^{(R) 36} He ordered them to tell no one,^(S) but the more he ordered them, the more they proclaimed it.^(T)

³⁷ They were extremely astonished and said, “He has done everything well.^(U) He even makes the deaf^(V) hear and the mute speak.”^(W)

Feeding Four Thousand

8 In^(X) those days there was again a large crowd, and they had nothing to eat. He called^(Y) the disciples^(Z) and said to them, ² “I have compassion^(AA) on the crowd, because they’ve already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. ³ If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way,^(AB) and some of them have come a long distance.”

⁴ His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread here in this desolate place to feed^(AC) these people?”

⁵ “How many loaves do you have?” he asked them.

“Seven,” they said. ⁶ He commanded the crowd to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves, he gave thanks, broke^(AD) them, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. So they served them to the crowd. ⁷ They also had a few small fish, and after he had blessed them, he said these were to be served as well. ⁸ They ate and were satisfied. Then they collected seven large baskets of leftover pieces. ⁹ About four thousand were there. He dismissed them. ¹⁰ And he immediately got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

Psalm 41

Victory in Spite of Betrayal

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

Bodily Discharges

15 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: ² “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any man has a discharge^(A) from his member, he is unclean. ³ This is uncleanness of his discharge: Whether his member secretes the discharge or retains it, he is unclean. All the days that his member secretes or retains anything because of his discharge,^[a] he is unclean. ⁴ Any bed the man with the discharge lies on will be unclean, and any furniture he sits on will be unclean. ⁵ Anyone who touches his bed is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ⁶ Whoever sits on furniture that the man with the discharge was sitting on is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ⁷ Whoever touches the body^[b] of the man with a discharge is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ⁸ If the man with the discharge spits on anyone who is clean, he is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ⁹ Any saddle the man with the discharge rides on will be unclean.^{(B) 10} Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening, and whoever carries such things is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ¹¹ If the man with the discharge touches anyone without first rinsing his hands in water,^(C) the person who was touched is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ¹² Any clay pot that the man with the discharge touches must be broken, while any wooden utensil is to be rinsed with water.^(D)

¹³ “When the man with the discharge has been cured of it, he is to count seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in fresh water; he will be clean. ¹⁴ He must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons on the eighth day, come before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and give them to the priest. ¹⁵ The priest is to sacrifice them, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.^(E) In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the Lord because of his discharge.

¹⁶ “When a man has an emission of semen,^(F) he is to bathe himself completely with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ¹⁷ Any clothing or leather on which there is an emission of semen is to be washed with water, and it will remain unclean until evening. ¹⁸ If a man sleeps with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them are to bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening.^(G)

¹⁹ “When a woman has a discharge, and it consists of blood from her body, she will be unclean because of her menstruation^(H) for seven days. Everyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. ²⁰ Anything she lies on during her menstruation will become unclean, and anything she sits on will become unclean. ²¹ Everyone who touches her bed is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ²² Everyone who touches any furniture she was sitting on is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ²³ If discharge is on the bed or the furniture she was sitting on, when he touches it he will be unclean until evening. ²⁴ If a man sleeps with her, and blood from her menstruation gets on him, he will be unclean for seven days, and every bed he lies on will become unclean.^(I)

²⁵ “When a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days, though it is not the time of her menstruation, or if she has a discharge beyond her period, she will be unclean all the days of her unclean discharge, as she is during the days of her menstruation. ²⁶ Any bed she lies on during the days of her discharge will be like her bed during menstrual impurity; any furniture she sits on will be unclean as in her menstrual period. ²⁷ Everyone who touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ²⁸ When she is cured of her discharge, she is to count seven days, and after that she will be clean.^{(J) 29} On the eighth day she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ³⁰ The priest is to sacrifice one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her before the Lord because of her unclean discharge.

³¹ “You must keep the Israelites from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling my tabernacle^(K) that is among them. ³² This is the law for someone with a discharge: a man who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean by it; ³³ a woman who is in her menstrual period; anyone who has a discharge, whether male or female; and a man who sleeps with a woman who is unclean.”

The Day of Atonement

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence^(L) of^[c] the Lord and died.^{(M) 2} The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants into the holy place^(N) behind the curtain^(O) in front of the mercy seat^(P) on the ark or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud^(Q) above the mercy seat.^(R)

³ “Aaron is to enter the most holy place^(S) in this way: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.^{(T) 4} He is to wear a holy linen tunic, and linen undergarments are to be on his body. He is to tie a linen sash around him and wrap his head with a linen turban.^(U) These are holy garments; he must bathe his body with water before he wears them. ⁵ He is to take from the Israelite community two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.^(V)

⁶ “Aaron will present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household. ⁷ Next he will take the two goats and place them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁸ After Aaron casts lots^(W) for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other for an uninhabitable place,^{[d][e](X) 9} he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering.^{(Y) 10} But the goat chosen by lot for an uninhabitable place is to be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement with it by sending it into the wilderness^(Z) for an uninhabitable place.

¹¹ “When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he will slaughter the bull for his sin offering. ¹² Then he is to take a firepan full of blazing coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense,^(AA) and bring them inside the curtain.^{(AB) 13} He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud^(AC) of incense covers the mercy seat that is over the testimony,^(AD) or else he will die.^{(AE) 14} He is to take some of the bull’s blood^(AF) and sprinkle it with his finger against the east side of the mercy seat; then he will sprinkle some of the blood with his finger before the mercy seat seven times.^(AG)

¹⁵ “When he slaughters the male goat for the people’s sin offering and brings its blood inside the curtain, he will do the same with its blood as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it. ¹⁶ He will make atonement for the most holy place in this way for all their sins because of the Israelites’ impurities and rebellious acts.^(AH) He will do the same for the tent of meeting that remains among them, because it is surrounded by their impurities. ¹⁷ No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the most holy place until he leaves after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel.^{(AI) 18} Then he will go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on the horns on all sides of the altar. ¹⁹ He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse and set it apart^(AJ) from the Israelites’ impurities.^(AK)

²⁰ “When he has finished making atonement for the most holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he is to present the live male goat. ²¹ Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess^(AL) over it all the Israelites’ iniquities^(AM) and rebellious acts—all their sins.^(AN) He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness^(AO) by the man appointed for the task.^{[f] 22} The goat will carry all their iniquities into a desolate land,^(AP) and the man will release it there.

²³ “Then Aaron is to enter the tent of meeting, take off the linen garments^(AQ) he wore when he entered the most holy place, and leave them there. ²⁴ He will bathe his body with water in a holy place^(AR) and put on his clothes.^(AS) Then he must go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering; he will make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵ He is to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. ²⁶ The man who released the goat for an uninhabitable place is to wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; afterward he may reenter the camp. ²⁷ The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the most holy place to make atonement, must be brought outside the camp^(AT) and their hide,^(AU) flesh, and waste burned.^{(AV) 28} The one who burns them is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.

The Traditions of the Elders

7 The^(A) Pharisees^(B) and some of the scribes^(C) who had come from Jerusalem^(D) gathered around him. ² They observed that some of his disciples were eating bread with unclean^(E)—that is, unwashed—hands. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, keeping the tradition of the elders. ⁴ When they come from the marketplace,^(F) they do not eat unless they have washed.^(G) And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and dining couches.^[a](H)) ⁵ So the Pharisees^(I) and the scribes^(J) asked him, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders,^(K) instead of eating bread with ceremonially unclean^[b] hands?”

⁶ He answered them, “Isaiah^(L) prophesied^(M) correctly about you hypocrites,^(N) as it is written: ^(O)

⁸ Abandoning the command of God, you hold on to human tradition.”^{[d] 9} He also said to them, “You have a fine way of invalidating God’s command in order to set up^[e] your tradition! ¹⁰ For Moses^(T) said: Honor your father and your mother; ^[f](U) and Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.^{(V)(W) 11} But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit^(X) you might have received from me is corban’” (that is, an offering^(Y) devoted to God), ¹² “you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. ¹³ You nullify the word of God^(Z) by your tradition that you have handed^(AA) down. And you do many other similar things.”

¹⁴ Summoning^(AB) the crowd again, he told them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand:^{(AC) 15} Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”^[g]

¹⁷ When he went into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach^(AD) and is eliminated” (thus he declared all foods clean^[h](AE)). ²⁰ And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹ For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities,^(AF) thefts, murders,^{(AG) 22} adulteries,^(AH) greed,^(AI) evil actions, deceit,^(AJ) self-indulgence,^(AK) envy,^[i] slander,^(AL) pride,^(AM) and foolishness.^{(AN) 23} All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

Bodily Discharges

15 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: ² “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any man has a discharge^(A) from his member, he is unclean. ³ This is uncleanness of his discharge: Whether his member secretes the discharge or retains it, he is unclean. All the days that his member secretes or retains anything because of his discharge,^[a] he is unclean. ⁴ Any bed the man with the discharge lies on will be unclean, and any furniture he sits on will be unclean. ⁵ Anyone who touches his bed is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ⁶ Whoever sits on furniture that the man with the discharge was sitting on is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ⁷ Whoever touches the body^[b] of the man with a discharge is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ⁸ If the man with the discharge spits on anyone who is clean, he is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ⁹ Any saddle the man with the discharge rides on will be unclean.^{(B) 10} Whoever touches anything that was under him will be unclean until evening, and whoever carries such things is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ¹¹ If the man with the discharge touches anyone without first rinsing his hands in water,^(C) the person who was touched is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ¹² Any clay pot that the man with the discharge touches must be broken, while any wooden utensil is to be rinsed with water.^(D)

¹³ “When the man with the discharge has been cured of it, he is to count seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in fresh water; he will be clean. ¹⁴ He must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons on the eighth day, come before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and give them to the priest. ¹⁵ The priest is to sacrifice them, one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering.^(E) In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the Lord because of his discharge.

¹⁶ “When a man has an emission of semen,^(F) he is to bathe himself completely with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ¹⁷ Any clothing or leather on which there is an emission of semen is to be washed with water, and it will remain unclean until evening. ¹⁸ If a man sleeps with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them are to bathe with water, and they will remain unclean until evening.^(G)

¹⁹ “When a woman has a discharge, and it consists of blood from her body, she will be unclean because of her menstruation^(H) for seven days. Everyone who touches her will be unclean until evening. ²⁰ Anything she lies on during her menstruation will become unclean, and anything she sits on will become unclean. ²¹ Everyone who touches her bed is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ²² Everyone who touches any furniture she was sitting on is to wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ²³ If discharge is on the bed or the furniture she was sitting on, when he touches it he will be unclean until evening. ²⁴ If a man sleeps with her, and blood from her menstruation gets on him, he will be unclean for seven days, and every bed he lies on will become unclean.^(I)

²⁵ “When a woman has a discharge of her blood for many days, though it is not the time of her menstruation, or if she has a discharge beyond her period, she will be unclean all the days of her unclean discharge, as she is during the days of her menstruation. ²⁶ Any bed she lies on during the days of her discharge will be like her bed during menstrual impurity; any furniture she sits on will be unclean as in her menstrual period. ²⁷ Everyone who touches them will be unclean; he must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will remain unclean until evening. ²⁸ When she is cured of her discharge, she is to count seven days, and after that she will be clean.^{(J) 29} On the eighth day she must take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ³⁰ The priest is to sacrifice one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering. In this way the priest will make atonement for her before the Lord because of her unclean discharge.

³¹ “You must keep the Israelites from their uncleanness, so that they do not die by defiling my tabernacle^(K) that is among them. ³² This is the law for someone with a discharge: a man who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean by it; ³³ a woman who is in her menstrual period; anyone who has a discharge, whether male or female; and a man who sleeps with a woman who is unclean.”

The Day of Atonement

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of two of Aaron’s sons when they approached the presence^(L) of^[c] the Lord and died.^{(M) 2} The Lord said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he may not come whenever he wants into the holy place^(N) behind the curtain^(O) in front of the mercy seat^(P) on the ark or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud^(Q) above the mercy seat.^(R)

³ “Aaron is to enter the most holy place^(S) in this way: with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.^{(T) 4} He is to wear a holy linen tunic, and linen undergarments are to be on his body. He is to tie a linen sash around him and wrap his head with a linen turban.^(U) These are holy garments; he must bathe his body with water before he wears them. ⁵ He is to take from the Israelite community two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering.^(V)

⁶ “Aaron will present the bull for his sin offering and make atonement for himself and his household. ⁷ Next he will take the two goats and place them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁸ After Aaron casts lots^(W) for the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other for an uninhabitable place,^{[d][e](X) 9} he is to present the goat chosen by lot for the Lord and sacrifice it as a sin offering.^{(Y) 10} But the goat chosen by lot for an uninhabitable place is to be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement with it by sending it into the wilderness^(Z) for an uninhabitable place.

¹¹ “When Aaron presents the bull for his sin offering and makes atonement for himself and his household, he will slaughter the bull for his sin offering. ¹² Then he is to take a firepan full of blazing coals from the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense,^(AA) and bring them inside the curtain.^{(AB) 13} He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud^(AC) of incense covers the mercy seat that is over the testimony,^(AD) or else he will die.^{(AE) 14} He is to take some of the bull’s blood^(AF) and sprinkle it with his finger against the east side of the mercy seat; then he will sprinkle some of the blood with his finger before the mercy seat seven times.^(AG)

¹⁵ “When he slaughters the male goat for the people’s sin offering and brings its blood inside the curtain, he will do the same with its blood as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it. ¹⁶ He will make atonement for the most holy place in this way for all their sins because of the Israelites’ impurities and rebellious acts.^(AH) He will do the same for the tent of meeting that remains among them, because it is surrounded by their impurities. ¹⁷ No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the most holy place until he leaves after he has made atonement for himself, his household, and the whole assembly of Israel.^{(AI) 18} Then he will go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it. He is to take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on the horns on all sides of the altar. ¹⁹ He is to sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse and set it apart^(AJ) from the Israelites’ impurities.^(AK)

²⁰ “When he has finished making atonement for the most holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he is to present the live male goat. ²¹ Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess^(AL) over it all the Israelites’ iniquities^(AM) and rebellious acts—all their sins.^(AN) He is to put them on the goat’s head and send it away into the wilderness^(AO) by the man appointed for the task.^{[f] 22} The goat will carry all their iniquities into a desolate land,^(AP) and the man will release it there.

²³ “Then Aaron is to enter the tent of meeting, take off the linen garments^(AQ) he wore when he entered the most holy place, and leave them there. ²⁴ He will bathe his body with water in a holy place^(AR) and put on his clothes.^(AS) Then he must go out and sacrifice his burnt offering and the people’s burnt offering; he will make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵ He is to burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar. ²⁶ The man who released the goat for an uninhabitable place is to wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; afterward he may reenter the camp. ²⁷ The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought into the most holy place to make atonement, must be brought outside the camp^(AT) and their hide,^(AU) flesh, and waste burned.^{(AV) 28} The one who burns them is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may reenter the camp.

The Traditions of the Elders

7 The^(A) Pharisees^(B) and some of the scribes^(C) who had come from Jerusalem^(D) gathered around him. ² They observed that some of his disciples were eating bread with unclean^(E)—that is, unwashed—hands. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, keeping the tradition of the elders. ⁴ When they come from the marketplace,^(F) they do not eat unless they have washed.^(G) And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and dining couches.^[a](H)) ⁵ So the Pharisees^(I) and the scribes^(J) asked him, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders,^(K) instead of eating bread with ceremonially unclean^[b] hands?”

⁶ He answered them, “Isaiah^(L) prophesied^(M) correctly about you hypocrites,^(N) as it is written: ^(O)

⁸ Abandoning the command of God, you hold on to human tradition.”^{[d] 9} He also said to them, “You have a fine way of invalidating God’s command in order to set up^[e] your tradition! ¹⁰ For Moses^(T) said: Honor your father and your mother; ^[f](U) and Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.^{(V)(W) 11} But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit^(X) you might have received from me is corban’” (that is, an offering^(Y) devoted to God), ¹² “you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. ¹³ You nullify the word of God^(Z) by your tradition that you have handed^(AA) down. And you do many other similar things.”

¹⁴ Summoning^(AB) the crowd again, he told them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand:^{(AC) 15} Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”^[g]

¹⁷ When he went into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. ¹⁸ He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach^(AD) and is eliminated” (thus he declared all foods clean^[h](AE)). ²⁰ And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹ For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities,^(AF) thefts, murders,^{(AG) 22} adulteries,^(AH) greed,^(AI) evil actions, deceit,^(AJ) self-indulgence,^(AK) envy,^[i] slander,^(AL) pride,^(AM) and foolishness.^{(AN) 23} All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

Cleansing of Skin Diseases

14 The Lord spoke to Moses: ² “This is the law^(A) concerning the person afflicted with a skin disease on the day of his cleansing.^(B) He is to be brought to the priest,^{(C) 3} who will go outside the camp^(D) and examine him.^(E) If the skin disease has disappeared from the afflicted person,^{[a] 4} the priest will order that two live clean birds,^(F) cedar wood,^(G) scarlet^(H) yarn, and hyssop^(I) be brought for the one who is to be cleansed. ⁵ Then the priest will order that one of the birds be slaughtered over fresh water in a clay pot. ⁶ He is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them all into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water. ⁷ He will then sprinkle the blood seven times on the one who is to be cleansed from the skin disease. He is to pronounce him clean and release the live bird over the open countryside.^{(J) 8} The one who is to be cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and bathe with water; he is clean. Afterward he may enter the camp, but he must remain outside his tent for seven days. ⁹ He is to shave off all his hair again on the seventh day: his head, his beard, his eyebrows, and the rest of his hair. He is to wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; he is clean.

¹⁰ “On the eighth day he must take two unblemished^(K) male lambs, an unblemished year-old ewe lamb, a grain offering of six quarts^[b] of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and one-third of a quart^[c] of olive oil. ¹¹ The priest who performs the cleansing will place the person who is to be cleansed, together with these offerings, before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ¹² The priest is to take one male lamb and present it as a guilt offering,^(L) along with the one-third quart of olive oil, and he will present them as a presentation offering^(M) before the Lord. ¹³ He is to slaughter the male lamb at the place in the sanctuary area where the sin offering^(N) and burnt offering^(O) are slaughtered,^(P) for like the sin offering, the guilt offering belongs to the priest;^(Q) it is especially holy.^{(R) 14} The priest is to take some of the blood from the guilt offering and put it on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.^{(S) 15} Then the priest will take some of the one-third quart of olive oil and pour it into his left palm. ¹⁶ The priest will dip his right finger into the oil in his left palm and sprinkle some of the oil with his finger seven times before the Lord. ¹⁷ From the oil remaining in his palm the priest will put some on the lobe of the right ear of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on top of the blood of the guilt offering.^{(T) 18} What is left of the oil in the priest’s palm he is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed. In this way the priest will make atonement for him before the Lord. ¹⁹ The priest is to sacrifice the sin offering and make atonement for the one to be cleansed from his uncleanness.^(U) Afterward he will slaughter the burnt offering. ²⁰ The priest is to offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. The priest will make atonement for him, and he will be clean.^(V)

²¹ “But if he is poor^(W) and cannot afford these,^(X) he is to take one male lamb for a guilt offering to be presented in order to make atonement for him, along with two quarts^[d] of fine flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering, one-third of a quart of olive oil, ²² and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, whatever he can afford, one to be a sin offering and the other a burnt offering. ²³ On the eighth day he is to bring these things for his cleansing to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting before the Lord. ²⁴ The priest will take the male lamb for the guilt offering and the one-third quart of olive oil, and present them as a presentation offering before the Lord. ²⁵ After he slaughters the male lamb for the guilt offering, the priest is to take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁶ Then the priest will pour some of the oil into his left palm. ²⁷ With his right finger the priest will sprinkle some of the oil in his left palm seven times before the Lord. ²⁸ The priest will also put some of the oil in his palm on the right earlobe of the one to be cleansed, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot, on the same place as the blood of the guilt offering. ²⁹ What is left of the oil in the priest’s palm he is to put on the head of the one to be cleansed to make atonement for him before the Lord.^{(Y) 30} He is to then sacrifice one type of what he can afford, either the turtledoves or young pigeons, ³¹ one as a sin offering and the other as a burnt offering, sacrificing what he can afford together with the grain offering. In this way the priest will make atonement before the Lord for the one to be cleansed. ³² This is the law for someone who has^[e] a skin disease and cannot afford the cost of his cleansing.”

Cleansing of Contaminated Objects

³³ The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: ³⁴ “When you enter the land of Canaan^(Z) that I am giving you as a possession,^(AA) and I place a mildew contamination in a house in the land you possess,^{[f] 35} the owner of the house is to come and tell the priest: Something like mildew contamination has appeared^[g] in my house. ³⁶ The priest must order them to clear the house before he enters to examine the contamination, so that nothing in the house becomes unclean. Afterward the priest will come to examine the house. ³⁷ He will examine it, and if the contamination in the walls of the house consists of green or red indentations^[h] that appear to be beneath the surface of the wall, ³⁸ the priest is to go outside the house to its doorway and quarantine the house for seven days. ³⁹ The priest is to return on the seventh day and examine it. If the contamination has spread on the walls of the house, ⁴⁰ the priest must order that the stones with the contamination be pulled out and thrown into an unclean place outside the city. ⁴¹ He is to have the inside of the house completely scraped, and have the plaster^[i] that is scraped off dumped in an unclean place outside the city. ⁴² Then they are to take different stones to replace the former ones and take additional plaster to replaster the house.

⁴³ “If the contamination reappears in the house after the stones have been pulled out, and after the house has been scraped and replastered, ⁴⁴ the priest is to come and examine it. If the contamination has spread in the house, it is harmful mildew; the house is unclean. ⁴⁵ It must be torn down with its stones, its beams, and all its plaster, and taken outside the city to an unclean place. ⁴⁶ Whoever enters the house during any of the days the priest quarantines it will be unclean until evening. ⁴⁷ Whoever lies down in the house is to wash his clothes, and whoever eats in it is to wash his clothes.

⁴⁸ “But when the priest comes and examines it, if the contamination has not spread in the house after it was replastered, he is to pronounce the house clean because the contamination has disappeared.^{[j] 49} He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house, ⁵⁰ and he is to slaughter one of the birds over a clay pot containing fresh water. ⁵¹ He will take the cedar wood, the hyssop, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, dip them in the blood of the slaughtered bird and the fresh water, and sprinkle the house seven times. ⁵² He will purify the house with the blood of the bird, the fresh water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the scarlet yarn. ⁵³ Then he is to release the live bird into the open countryside^(AB) outside the city. In this way he will make atonement for the house, and it will be clean.

⁵⁴ “This is the law for any skin disease or mildew, for a scaly outbreak, ⁵⁵ for mildew in clothing or on a house, ⁵⁶ and for a swelling, scab, or spot, ⁵⁷ to determine when something is unclean or clean. This is the law regarding skin disease and mildew.”

Feeding of the Five Thousand

³⁰ The^(A) apostles^(B) gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught. ³¹ He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

³² So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place, ³³ but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.^[a]

³⁴ When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion^(C) on them, because they were like sheep^(D) without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.

³⁵ When it grew late, his disciples^(E) approached him and said, “This place is deserted,^(F) and it is already late. ³⁶ Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.”

³⁷ “You give them something to eat,” he responded.

They said to him, “Should we go and buy two hundred denarii^[b] worth of bread and give them something to eat?”

³⁸ He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”

When they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ Then he instructed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. ⁴¹ He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. ⁴² Everyone ate and was satisfied.^{(G) 43} They picked up twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and fish. ⁴⁴ Now those who had eaten the loaves were five thousand men.

Walking on the Water

⁴⁵ Immediately^(H) he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida,^(I) while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ After he said good-bye to them, he went away to the mountain^(J) to pray.^{(K) 47} Well into the night, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ He saw them straining^(L) at the oars,^[c] because the wind was against them. Very early in the morning^[d] he came toward them walking on the sea and wanted to pass by them. ⁴⁹ When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost^(M) and cried out, ⁵⁰ because they all saw him and were terrified.^(N) Immediately he spoke with them and said, “Have courage!^(O) It is I.^(P) Don’t be afraid.”^{(Q) 51} Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. They were completely astounded, ⁵² because they had not understood about the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.^(R)

Miraculous Healings

⁵³ When they had crossed over, they came to shore at Gennesaret^(S) and anchored there.

⁵⁴ As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized him. ⁵⁵ They hurried throughout that region and began to carry the sick^(T) on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ Wherever he went, into villages, towns, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch just the end^(U) of his robe.^(V) And everyone who touched it was healed.

Psalm 40

Thanksgiving and a Cry for Help

For the choir director. A psalm of David.

Regulations About Defiling Skin Diseases

13 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ² “When anyone has a swelling^(A) or a rash or a shiny spot^(B) on their skin that may be a defiling skin disease,^[a](C) they must be brought to Aaron the priest^(D) or to one of his sons^[b] who is a priest. ³ The priest is to examine the sore on the skin, and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the sore appears to be more than skin deep, it is a defiling skin disease. When the priest examines that person, he shall pronounce them ceremonially unclean.^{(E) 4} If the shiny spot^(F) on the skin is white but does not appear to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to isolate the affected person for seven days.^{(G) 5} On the seventh day^(H) the priest is to examine them,^(I) and if he sees that the sore is unchanged and has not spread in the skin, he is to isolate them for another seven days. ⁶ On the seventh day the priest is to examine them again, and if the sore has faded and has not spread in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them clean;^(J) it is only a rash. They must wash their clothes,^(K) and they will be clean.^{(L) 7} But if the rash does spread in their skin after they have shown themselves to the priest to be pronounced clean, they must appear before the priest again.^{(M) 8} The priest is to examine that person, and if the rash has spread in the skin, he shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease.

⁹ “When anyone has a defiling skin disease, they must be brought to the priest. ¹⁰ The priest is to examine them, and if there is a white swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white and if there is raw flesh in the swelling, ¹¹ it is a chronic skin disease^(N) and the priest shall pronounce them unclean. He is not to isolate them, because they are already unclean.

¹² “If the disease breaks out all over their skin and, so far as the priest can see, it covers all the skin of the affected person from head to foot, ¹³ the priest is to examine them, and if the disease has covered their whole body, he shall pronounce them clean. Since it has all turned white, they are clean. ¹⁴ But whenever raw flesh appears on them, they will be unclean. ¹⁵ When the priest sees the raw flesh, he shall pronounce them unclean. The raw flesh is unclean; they have a defiling disease.^{(O) 16} If the raw flesh changes and turns white, they must go to the priest. ¹⁷ The priest is to examine them, and if the sores have turned white, the priest shall pronounce the affected person clean;^(P) then they will be clean.

¹⁸ “When someone has a boil^(Q) on their skin and it heals, ¹⁹ and in the place where the boil was, a white swelling or reddish-white^(R) spot^(S) appears, they must present themselves to the priest. ²⁰ The priest is to examine it, and if it appears to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has turned white, the priest shall pronounce that person unclean. It is a defiling skin disease^(T) that has broken out where the boil was. ²¹ But if, when the priest examines it, there is no white hair in it and it is not more than skin deep and has faded, then the priest is to isolate them for seven days. ²² If it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling disease. ²³ But if the spot is unchanged and has not spread, it is only a scar from the boil, and the priest shall pronounce them clean.^(U)

²⁴ “When someone has a burn on their skin and a reddish-white or white spot appears in the raw flesh of the burn, ²⁵ the priest is to examine the spot, and if the hair in it has turned white, and it appears to be more than skin deep, it is a defiling disease that has broken out in the burn. The priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease.^{(V) 26} But if the priest examines it and there is no white hair in the spot and if it is not more than skin deep and has faded, then the priest is to isolate them for seven days.^{(W) 27} On the seventh day the priest is to examine that person,^(X) and if it is spreading in the skin, the priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease. ²⁸ If, however, the spot is unchanged and has not spread in the skin but has faded, it is a swelling from the burn, and the priest shall pronounce them clean; it is only a scar from the burn.^(Y)

²⁹ “If a man or woman has a sore on their head^(Z) or chin, ³⁰ the priest is to examine the sore, and if it appears to be more than skin deep and the hair in it is yellow and thin, the priest shall pronounce them unclean; it is a defiling skin disease on the head or chin. ³¹ But if, when the priest examines the sore, it does not seem to be more than skin deep and there is no black hair in it, then the priest is to isolate the affected person for seven days.^{(AA) 32} On the seventh day the priest is to examine the sore,^(AB) and if it has not spread and there is no yellow hair in it and it does not appear to be more than skin deep, ³³ then the man or woman must shave themselves, except for the affected area, and the priest is to keep them isolated another seven days. ³⁴ On the seventh day the priest is to examine the sore,^(AC) and if it has not spread in the skin and appears to be no more than skin deep, the priest shall pronounce them clean. They must wash their clothes, and they will be clean.^{(AD) 35} But if the sore does spread in the skin after they are pronounced clean, ³⁶ the priest is to examine them, and if he finds that the sore has spread in the skin, he does not need to look for yellow hair; they are unclean.^{(AE) 37} If, however, the sore is unchanged so far as the priest can see, and if black hair has grown in it, the affected person is healed. They are clean, and the priest shall pronounce them clean.

³⁸ “When a man or woman has white spots on the skin, ³⁹ the priest is to examine them, and if the spots are dull white, it is a harmless rash that has broken out on the skin; they are clean.

⁴⁰ “A man who has lost his hair and is bald^(AF) is clean. ⁴¹ If he has lost his hair from the front of his scalp and has a bald forehead, he is clean. ⁴² But if he has a reddish-white sore on his bald head or forehead, it is a defiling disease breaking out on his head or forehead. ⁴³ The priest is to examine him, and if the swollen sore on his head or forehead is reddish-white like a defiling skin disease, ⁴⁴ the man is diseased and is unclean. The priest shall pronounce him unclean because of the sore on his head.

⁴⁵ “Anyone with such a defiling disease must wear torn clothes,^(AG) let their hair be unkempt,^[c] cover the lower part of their face^(AH) and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’^{(AI) 46} As long as they have the disease they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp.^(AJ)

Regulations About Defiling Molds

⁴⁷ “As for any fabric that is spoiled with a defiling mold—any woolen or linen clothing, ⁴⁸ any woven or knitted material of linen or wool, any leather or anything made of leather— ⁴⁹ if the affected area in the fabric, the leather, the woven or knitted material, or any leather article, is greenish or reddish, it is a defiling mold and must be shown to the priest.^{(AK) 50} The priest is to examine the affected area^(AL) and isolate the article for seven days. ⁵¹ On the seventh day he is to examine it,^(AM) and if the mold has spread in the fabric, the woven or knitted material, or the leather, whatever its use, it is a persistent defiling mold; the article is unclean.^{(AN) 52} He must burn the fabric, the woven or knitted material of wool or linen, or any leather article that has been spoiled; because the defiling mold is persistent, the article must be burned.^(AO)

⁵³ “But if, when the priest examines it, the mold has not spread in the fabric, the woven or knitted material, or the leather article, ⁵⁴ he shall order that the spoiled article be washed. Then he is to isolate it for another seven days. ⁵⁵ After the article has been washed, the priest is to examine it again, and if the mold has not changed its appearance, even though it has not spread, it is unclean. Burn it, no matter which side of the fabric has been spoiled. ⁵⁶ If, when the priest examines it, the mold has faded after the article has been washed, he is to tear the spoiled part out of the fabric, the leather, or the woven or knitted material. ⁵⁷ But if it reappears in the fabric, in the woven or knitted material, or in the leather article, it is a spreading mold; whatever has the mold must be burned. ⁵⁸ Any fabric, woven or knitted material, or any leather article that has been washed and is rid of the mold, must be washed again. Then it will be clean.”

⁵⁹ These are the regulations concerning defiling molds in woolen or linen clothing, woven or knitted material, or any leather article, for pronouncing them clean or unclean.

A Prophet Without Honor^(A)

6 Jesus left there and went to his hometown,^(B) accompanied by his disciples. ² When the Sabbath came,^(C) he began to teach in the synagogue,^(D) and many who heard him were amazed.^(E)

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? ³ Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph,^[a] Judas and Simon?^(F) Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.^(G)

⁴ Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.”^{(H) 5} He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on^(I) a few sick people and heal them. ⁶ He was amazed at their lack of faith.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve^(J)

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.^{(K) 7} Calling the Twelve to him,^(L) he began to send them out two by two^(M) and gave them authority over impure spirits.^(N)

⁸ These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. ⁹ Wear sandals but not an extra shirt. ¹⁰ Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹ And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet^(O) as a testimony against them.”

¹² They went out and preached that people should repent.^{(P) 13} They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil^(Q) and healed them.

John the Baptist Beheaded^(R)(S)

¹⁴ King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying,^[b] “John the Baptist^(T) has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”

¹⁵ Others said, “He is Elijah.”^(U)

And still others claimed, “He is a prophet,^(V) like one of the prophets of long ago.”^(W)

¹⁶ But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”

¹⁷ For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison.^(X) He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. ¹⁸ For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”^{(Y) 19} So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, ²⁰ because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man.^(Z) When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled^[c]; yet he liked to listen to him.

²¹ Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet^(AA) for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee.^{(AB) 22} When the daughter of^[d] Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.

The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” ²³ And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”^(AC)

²⁴ She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”

“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.

²⁵ At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

²⁶ The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, ²⁸ and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. ²⁹ On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.