Category: DAB Readings

The Nazirite

6 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man or woman wants to make a special vow^(A), a vow of dedication^(B) to the Lord as a Nazirite,^{(C) 3} they must abstain from wine^(D) and other fermented drink and must not drink vinegar^(E) made from wine or other fermented drink. They must not drink grape juice or eat grapes^(F) or raisins. ⁴ As long as they remain under their Nazirite vow, they must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, not even the seeds or skins.

⁵ “‘During the entire period of their Nazirite vow, no razor^(G) may be used on their head.^(H) They must be holy until the period of their dedication to the Lord is over; they must let their hair grow long.

⁶ “‘Throughout the period of their dedication to the Lord, the Nazirite must not go near a dead body.^{(I) 7} Even if their own father or mother or brother or sister dies, they must not make themselves ceremonially unclean^(J) on account of them, because the symbol of their dedication to God is on their head. ⁸ Throughout the period of their dedication, they are consecrated to the Lord.

⁹ “‘If someone dies suddenly in the Nazirite’s presence, thus defiling the hair that symbolizes their dedication,^(K) they must shave their head on the seventh day—the day of their cleansing.^{(L) 10} Then on the eighth day^(M) they must bring two doves or two young pigeons^(N) to the priest at the entrance to the tent of meeting.^{(O) 11} The priest is to offer one as a sin offering^[a](P) and the other as a burnt offering^(Q) to make atonement^(R) for the Nazirite because they sinned by being in the presence of the dead body. That same day they are to consecrate their head again. ¹² They must rededicate themselves to the Lord for the same period of dedication and must bring a year-old male lamb^(S) as a guilt offering.^(T) The previous days do not count, because they became defiled during their period of dedication.

¹³ “‘Now this is the law of the Nazirite when the period of their dedication is over.^(U) They are to be brought to the entrance to the tent of meeting.^{(V) 14} There they are to present their offerings to the Lord: a year-old male lamb without defect^(W) for a burnt offering, a year-old ewe lamb without defect for a sin offering,^(X) a ram^(Y) without defect for a fellowship offering,^{(Z) 15} together with their grain offerings^(AA) and drink offerings,^(AB) and a basket of bread made with the finest flour and without yeast—thick loaves with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves brushed with olive oil.^(AC)

¹⁶ “‘The priest is to present all these^(AD) before the Lord^(AE) and make the sin offering and the burnt offering.^{(AF) 17} He is to present the basket of unleavened bread and is to sacrifice the ram as a fellowship offering^(AG) to the Lord, together with its grain offering^(AH) and drink offering.^(AI)

¹⁸ “‘Then at the entrance to the tent of meeting, the Nazirite must shave off the hair that symbolizes their dedication.^(AJ) They are to take the hair and put it in the fire that is under the sacrifice of the fellowship offering.

¹⁹ “‘After the Nazirite has shaved off the hair that symbolizes their dedication, the priest is to place in their hands a boiled shoulder of the ram, and one thick loaf and one thin loaf from the basket, both made without yeast.^{(AK) 20} The priest shall then wave these before the Lord as a wave offering;^(AL) they are holy^(AM) and belong to the priest, together with the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented.^(AN) After that, the Nazirite may drink wine.^(AO)

²¹ “‘This is the law of the Nazirite^(AP) who vows offerings to the Lord in accordance with their dedication, in addition to whatever else they can afford. They must fulfill the vows^(AQ) they have made, according to the law of the Nazirite.’”

The Priestly Blessing

²² The Lord said to Moses, ²³ “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless^(AR) the Israelites. Say to them:

²⁷ “So they will put my name^(AY) on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

Offerings at the Dedication of the Tabernacle

7 When Moses finished setting up the tabernacle,^(AZ) he anointed^(BA) and consecrated it and all its furnishings.^(BB) He also anointed and consecrated the altar and all its utensils.^{(BC) 2} Then the leaders of Israel,^(BD) the heads of families who were the tribal leaders in charge of those who were counted,^(BE) made offerings. ³ They brought as their gifts before the Lord six covered carts^(BF) and twelve oxen—an ox from each leader and a cart from every two. These they presented before the tabernacle.

⁴ The Lord said to Moses, ⁵ “Accept these from them, that they may be used in the work at the tent of meeting. Give them to the Levites as each man’s work requires.”

⁶ So Moses took the carts and oxen and gave them to the Levites. ⁷ He gave two carts and four oxen to the Gershonites,^(BG) as their work required, ⁸ and he gave four carts and eight oxen to the Merarites,^(BH) as their work required. They were all under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest. ⁹ But Moses did not give any to the Kohathites,^(BI) because they were to carry on their shoulders^(BJ) the holy things, for which they were responsible.

¹⁰ When the altar was anointed,^(BK) the leaders brought their offerings for its dedication^(BL) and presented them before the altar. ¹¹ For the Lord had said to Moses, “Each day one leader is to bring his offering for the dedication of the altar.”

¹² The one who brought his offering on the first day was Nahshon^(BM) son of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah.

¹⁸ On the second day Nethanel son of Zuar,^(BZ) the leader of Issachar, brought his offering.

²⁴ On the third day, Eliab son of Helon,^(CB) the leader of the people of Zebulun, brought his offering.

³⁰ On the fourth day Elizur son of Shedeur,^(CC) the leader of the people of Reuben, brought his offering.

³⁶ On the fifth day Shelumiel son of Zurishaddai,^(CD) the leader of the people of Simeon, brought his offering.

⁴² On the sixth day Eliasaph son of Deuel,^(CE) the leader of the people of Gad, brought his offering.

⁴⁸ On the seventh day Elishama son of Ammihud,^(CF) the leader of the people of Ephraim, brought his offering.

⁵⁴ On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur,^(CH) the leader of the people of Manasseh, brought his offering.

⁶⁰ On the ninth day Abidan son of Gideoni,^(CI) the leader of the people of Benjamin, brought his offering.

⁶⁶ On the tenth day Ahiezer son of Ammishaddai,^(CJ) the leader of the people of Dan, brought his offering.

⁷² On the eleventh day Pagiel son of Okran,^(CK) the leader of the people of Asher, brought his offering.

⁷⁸ On the twelfth day Ahira son of Enan,^(CL) the leader of the people of Naphtali, brought his offering.

⁸⁴ These were the offerings of the Israelite leaders for the dedication of the altar when it was anointed:^(CM) twelve silver plates, twelve silver sprinkling bowls^(CN) and twelve gold dishes.^{(CO) 85} Each silver plate weighed a hundred and thirty shekels, and each sprinkling bowl seventy shekels. Altogether, the silver dishes weighed two thousand four hundred shekels,^[f] according to the sanctuary shekel.^{(CP) 86} The twelve gold dishes filled with incense weighed ten shekels each, according to the sanctuary shekel.^(CQ) Altogether, the gold dishes weighed a hundred and twenty shekels.^{[g] 87} The total number of animals for the burnt offering^(CR) came to twelve young bulls, twelve rams and twelve male lambs a year old, together with their grain offering.^(CS) Twelve male goats were used for the sin offering.^{(CT) 88} The total number of animals for the sacrifice of the fellowship offering^(CU) came to twenty-four oxen, sixty rams, sixty male goats and sixty male lambs^(CV) a year old. These were the offerings for the dedication of the altar after it was anointed.^(CW)

⁸⁹ When Moses entered the tent of meeting^(CX) to speak with the Lord,^(CY) he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the atonement cover^(CZ) on the ark of the covenant law.^(DA) In this way the Lord spoke to him.

Warning Against the Teachers of the Law

³⁸ As he taught, Jesus said, “Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, ³⁹ and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.^{(A) 40} They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

The Widow’s Offering^(B)

⁴¹ Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put^(C) and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. ⁴² But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

⁴³ Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”^(D)

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times^(E)

13 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

² “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”^(F)

³ As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives^(G) opposite the temple, Peter, James, John^(H) and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

⁵ Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.^{(I) 6} Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. ⁷ When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁸ Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹ “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues.^(J) On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. ¹⁰ And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. ¹¹ Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.^(K)

¹² “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.^{(L) 13} Everyone will hate you because of me,^(M) but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.^(N)

Psalm 49^[a]

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

The Kohathites

4 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ² “Take a census^(A) of the Kohathite branch of the Levites by their clans and families. ³ Count^(B) all the men from thirty to fifty years of age^(C) who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting.

⁴ “This is the work^(D) of the Kohathites^(E) at the tent of meeting: the care of the most holy things.^{(F) 5} When the camp is to move,^(G) Aaron and his sons are to go in and take down the shielding curtain^(H) and put it over the ark of the covenant law.^{(I) 6} Then they are to cover the curtain with a durable leather,^[a](J) spread a cloth of solid blue over that and put the poles^(K) in place.

⁷ “Over the table of the Presence^(L) they are to spread a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes and bowls, and the jars for drink offerings;^(M) the bread that is continually there^(N) is to remain on it. ⁸ They are to spread a scarlet cloth over them, cover that with the durable leather and put the poles^(O) in place.

⁹ “They are to take a blue cloth and cover the lampstand that is for light, together with its lamps, its wick trimmers and trays,^(P) and all its jars for the olive oil used to supply it. ¹⁰ Then they are to wrap it and all its accessories in a covering of the durable leather and put it on a carrying frame.^(Q)

¹¹ “Over the gold altar^(R) they are to spread a blue cloth and cover that with the durable leather and put the poles^(S) in place.

¹² “They are to take all the articles^(T) used for ministering in the sanctuary, wrap them in a blue cloth, cover that with the durable leather and put them on a carrying frame.^(U)

¹³ “They are to remove the ashes^(V) from the bronze altar^(W) and spread a purple cloth over it. ¹⁴ Then they are to place on it all the utensils^(X) used for ministering at the altar, including the firepans,^(Y) meat forks,^(Z) shovels^(AA) and sprinkling bowls.^(AB) Over it they are to spread a covering of the durable leather and put the poles^(AC) in place.

¹⁵ “After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move,^(AD) only then are the Kohathites^(AE) to come and do the carrying.^(AF) But they must not touch the holy things^(AG) or they will die.^(AH) The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the tent of meeting.

¹⁶ “Eleazar^(AI) son of Aaron, the priest, is to have charge of the oil for the light,^(AJ) the fragrant incense,^(AK) the regular grain offering^(AL) and the anointing oil. He is to be in charge of the entire tabernacle and everything in it, including its holy furnishings and articles.”

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ¹⁸ “See that the Kohathite tribal clans are not destroyed from among the Levites. ¹⁹ So that they may live and not die when they come near the most holy things,^(AM) do this for them: Aaron and his sons^(AN) are to go into the sanctuary and assign to each man his work and what he is to carry.^{(AO) 20} But the Kohathites must not go in to look^(AP) at the holy things, even for a moment, or they will die.”

The Gershonites

²¹ The Lord said to Moses, ²² “Take a census also of the Gershonites by their families and clans. ²³ Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age^(AQ) who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting.

²⁴ “This is the service of the Gershonite clans in their carrying and their other work: ²⁵ They are to carry the curtains of the tabernacle,^(AR) that is, the tent of meeting,^(AS) its covering^(AT) and its outer covering of durable leather, the curtains for the entrance to the tent of meeting, ²⁶ the curtains of the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and altar,^(AU) the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard,^(AV) the ropes and all the equipment^(AW) used in the service of the tent. The Gershonites are to do all that needs to be done with these things. ²⁷ All their service, whether carrying or doing other work, is to be done under the direction of Aaron and his sons.^(AX) You shall assign to them as their responsibility^(AY) all they are to carry. ²⁸ This is the service of the Gershonite clans^(AZ) at the tent of meeting. Their duties are to be under the direction of Ithamar^(BA) son of Aaron, the priest.

The Merarites

²⁹ “Count^(BB) the Merarites by their clans and families.^{(BC) 30} Count all the men from thirty to fifty years of age who come to serve in the work at the tent of meeting. ³¹ As part of all their service at the tent, they are to carry the frames of the tabernacle, its crossbars, posts and bases,^{(BD) 32} as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard with their bases, tent pegs, ropes,^(BE) all their equipment and everything related to their use. Assign to each man the specific things he is to carry. ³³ This is the service of the Merarite clans as they work at the tent of meeting under the direction of Ithamar^(BF) son of Aaron, the priest.”

The Numbering of the Levite Clans

³⁴ Moses, Aaron and the leaders of the community counted the Kohathites^(BG) by their clans and families. ³⁵ All the men from thirty to fifty years of age^(BH) who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting, ³⁶ counted by clans, were 2,750. ³⁷ This was the total of all those in the Kohathite clans^(BI) who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

³⁸ The Gershonites^(BJ) were counted by their clans and families. ³⁹ All the men from thirty to fifty years of age who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting, ⁴⁰ counted by their clans and families, were 2,630. ⁴¹ This was the total of those in the Gershonite clans who served at the tent of meeting. Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord’s command.

⁴² The Merarites were counted by their clans and families. ⁴³ All the men from thirty to fifty years of age^(BK) who came to serve in the work at the tent of meeting, ⁴⁴ counted by their clans, were 3,200. ⁴⁵ This was the total of those in the Merarite clans.^(BL) Moses and Aaron counted them according to the Lord’s command through Moses.

⁴⁶ So Moses, Aaron and the leaders of Israel counted^(BM) all the Levites by their clans and families. ⁴⁷ All the men from thirty to fifty years of age^(BN) who came to do the work of serving and carrying the tent of meeting ⁴⁸ numbered 8,580.^{(BO) 49} At the Lord’s command through Moses, each was assigned his work and told what to carry.

Thus they were counted,^(BP) as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Purity of the Camp

5 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has a defiling skin disease^[b](BQ) or a discharge^(BR) of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean^(BS) because of a dead body.^{(BT) 3} Send away male and female alike; send them outside the camp so they will not defile their camp, where I dwell among them.^(BU)” ⁴ The Israelites did so; they sent them outside the camp. They did just as the Lord had instructed Moses.

Restitution for Wrongs

⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ⁶ “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any man or woman who wrongs another in any way^[c] and so is unfaithful^(BV) to the Lord is guilty^{(BW) 7} and must confess^(BX) the sin they have committed. They must make full restitution^(BY) for the wrong they have done, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the person they have wronged. ⁸ But if that person has no close relative to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution belongs to the Lord and must be given to the priest, along with the ram^(BZ) with which atonement is made for the wrongdoer.^{(CA) 9} All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him.^{(CB) 10} Sacred things belong to their owners, but what they give to the priest will belong to the priest.^(CC)’”

The Test for an Unfaithful Wife

¹¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹² “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man’s wife goes astray^(CD) and is unfaithful to him ¹³ so that another man has sexual relations with her,^(CE) and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), ¹⁴ and if feelings of jealousy^(CF) come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure—or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure— ¹⁵ then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah^[d](CG) of barley flour^(CH) on her behalf. He must not pour olive oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy,^(CI) a reminder-offering^(CJ) to draw attention to wrongdoing.

¹⁶ “‘The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord. ¹⁷ Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. ¹⁸ After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair^(CK) and place in her hands the reminder-offering, the grain offering for jealousy,^(CL) while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse.^{(CM) 19} Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no other man has had sexual relations with you and you have not gone astray^(CN) and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse^(CO) not harm you. ²⁰ But if you have gone astray^(CP) while married to your husband and you have made yourself impure by having sexual relations with a man other than your husband”— ²¹ here the priest is to put the woman under this curse^(CQ)—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse^[e] among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. ²² May this water^(CR) that brings a curse^(CS) enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.”

“‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.^(CT)”

²³ “‘The priest is to write these curses on a scroll^(CU) and then wash them off into the bitter water. ²⁴ He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering will enter her. ²⁵ The priest is to take from her hands the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord^(CV) and bring it to the altar. ²⁶ The priest is then to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial^[f] offering^(CW) and burn it on the altar; after that, he is to have the woman drink the water. ²⁷ If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse.^{(CX) 28} If, however, the woman has not made herself impure, but is clean, she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children.

²⁹ “‘This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray^(CY) and makes herself impure while married to her husband, ³⁰ or when feelings of jealousy^(CZ) come over a man because he suspects his wife. The priest is to have her stand before the Lord and is to apply this entire law to her. ³¹ The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences^(DA) of her sin.’”

Marriage at the Resurrection^(A)

¹⁸ Then the Sadducees,^(B) who say there is no resurrection,^(C) came to him with a question. ¹⁹ “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.^{(D) 20} Now there were seven brothers. The first one married and died without leaving any children. ²¹ The second one married the widow, but he also died, leaving no child. It was the same with the third. ²² In fact, none of the seven left any children. Last of all, the woman died too. ²³ At the resurrection^[a] whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures^(E) or the power of God? ²⁵ When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.^{(F) 26} Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’^[b]?^{(G) 27} He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!”

The Greatest Commandment^(H)

²⁸ One of the teachers of the law^(I) came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

²⁹ “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.^{[c] 30} Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’^{[d](J) 31} The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’^[e](K) There is no commandment greater than these.”

³² “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.^{(L) 33} To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”^(M)

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”^(N) And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.^(O)

Whose Son Is the Messiah?^(P)(Q)

³⁵ While Jesus was teaching in the temple courts,^(R) he asked, “Why do the teachers of the law say that the Messiah is the son of David?^{(S) 36} David himself, speaking by the Holy Spirit,^(T) declared:

³⁷ David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

The large crowd^(V) listened to him with delight.

Psalm 48^[a]

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.

The Arrangement of the Tribal Camps

2 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: ² “The Israelites are to camp around the tent of meeting some distance from it, each of them under their standard^(A) and holding the banners of their family.”

³⁴ So the Israelites did everything the Lord commanded Moses; that is the way they encamped under their standards, and that is the way they set out, each of them with their clan and family.

The Levites

3 This is the account of the family of Aaron and Moses^(AH) at the time the Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai.^(AI)

² The names of the sons of Aaron were Nadab the firstborn^(AJ) and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.^{(AK) 3} Those were the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests,^(AL) who were ordained to serve as priests. ⁴ Nadab and Abihu, however, died before the Lord^(AM) when they made an offering with unauthorized fire before him in the Desert of Sinai.^(AN) They had no sons, so Eleazar and Ithamar^(AO) served as priests during the lifetime of their father Aaron.^(AP)

⁵ The Lord said to Moses, ⁶ “Bring the tribe of Levi^(AQ) and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him.^{(AR) 7} They are to perform duties for him and for the whole community^(AS) at the tent of meeting by doing the work^(AT) of the tabernacle. ⁸ They are to take care of all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, fulfilling the obligations of the Israelites by doing the work of the tabernacle. ⁹ Give the Levites to Aaron and his sons;^(AU) they are the Israelites who are to be given wholly to him.^{[b] 10} Appoint Aaron^(AV) and his sons to serve as priests;^(AW) anyone else who approaches the sanctuary is to be put to death.”^(AX)

¹¹ The Lord also said to Moses, ¹² “I have taken the Levites^(AY) from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring^(AZ) of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine,^{(BA) 13} for all the firstborn are mine.^(BB) When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the Lord.”^(BC)

¹⁴ The Lord said to Moses in the Desert of Sinai,^{(BD) 15} “Count^(BE) the Levites by their families and clans. Count every male a month old or more.”^{(BF) 16} So Moses counted them, as he was commanded by the word of the Lord.

These were the Levite clans, according to their families.

²¹ To Gershon^(BO) belonged the clans of the Libnites and Shimeites;^(BP) these were the Gershonite clans. ²² The number of all the males a month old or more who were counted was 7,500. ²³ The Gershonite clans were to camp on the west, behind the tabernacle.^{(BQ) 24} The leader of the families of the Gershonites was Eliasaph son of Lael. ²⁵ At the tent of meeting the Gershonites were responsible for the care of the tabernacle^(BR) and tent, its coverings,^(BS) the curtain at the entrance^(BT) to the tent of meeting,^{(BU) 26} the curtains of the courtyard^(BV), the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard surrounding the tabernacle and altar,^(BW) and the ropes^(BX)—and everything^(BY) related to their use.

²⁷ To Kohath^(BZ) belonged the clans of the Amramites, Izharites, Hebronites and Uzzielites;^(CA) these were the Kohathite^(CB) clans. ²⁸ The number of all the males a month old or more^(CC) was 8,600.^[c] The Kohathites were responsible^(CD) for the care of the sanctuary.^{(CE) 29} The Kohathite clans were to camp on the south side^(CF) of the tabernacle. ³⁰ The leader of the families of the Kohathite clans was Elizaphan^(CG) son of Uzziel. ³¹ They were responsible for the care of the ark,^(CH) the table,^(CI) the lampstand,^(CJ) the altars,^(CK) the articles^(CL) of the sanctuary used in ministering, the curtain,^(CM) and everything related to their use.^{(CN) 32} The chief leader of the Levites was Eleazar^(CO) son of Aaron, the priest. He was appointed over those who were responsible^(CP) for the care of the sanctuary.^(CQ)

³³ To Merari belonged the clans of the Mahlites and the Mushites;^(CR) these were the Merarite clans.^{(CS) 34} The number of all the males a month old or more^(CT) who were counted was 6,200. ³⁵ The leader of the families of the Merarite clans was Zuriel son of Abihail; they were to camp on the north side of the tabernacle.^{(CU) 36} The Merarites were appointed^(CV) to take care of the frames of the tabernacle,^(CW) its crossbars,^(CX) posts,^(CY) bases, all its equipment, and everything related to their use,^{(CZ) 37} as well as the posts of the surrounding courtyard^(DA) with their bases, tent pegs^(DB) and ropes.

³⁸ Moses and Aaron and his sons were to camp to the east^(DC) of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, in front of the tent of meeting.^(DD) They were responsible for the care of the sanctuary^(DE) on behalf of the Israelites. Anyone else who approached the sanctuary was to be put to death.^(DF)

³⁹ The total number of Levites counted^(DG) at the Lord’s command by Moses and Aaron according to their clans, including every male a month old or more, was 22,000.^(DH)

⁴⁰ The Lord said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn Israelite males who are a month old or more^(DI) and make a list of their names.^{(DJ) 41} Take the Levites for me in place of all the firstborn of the Israelites,^(DK) and the livestock of the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites. I am the Lord.”^(DL)

⁴² So Moses counted all the firstborn of the Israelites, as the Lord commanded him. ⁴³ The total number of firstborn males a month old or more,^(DM) listed by name, was 22,273.^(DN)

⁴⁴ The Lord also said to Moses, ⁴⁵ “Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites are to be mine.^(DO) I am the Lord.^{(DP) 46} To redeem^(DQ) the 273 firstborn Israelites who exceed the number of the Levites, ⁴⁷ collect five shekels^[d](DR) for each one, according to the sanctuary shekel,^(DS) which weighs twenty gerahs.^{(DT) 48} Give the money for the redemption^(DU) of the additional Israelites to Aaron and his sons.”^(DV)

⁴⁹ So Moses collected the redemption money^(DW) from those who exceeded the number redeemed by the Levites. ⁵⁰ From the firstborn of the Israelites^(DX) he collected silver weighing 1,365 shekels,^[e](DY) according to the sanctuary shekel. ⁵¹ Moses gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, as he was commanded by the word of the Lord.

The Authority of Jesus Questioned^(A)

²⁷ They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. ²⁸ “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ³⁰ John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin? Tell me!”

³¹ They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ³² But if we say, ‘Of human origin’ …” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)^(B)

³³ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

The Parable of the Tenants^(C)

12 Jesus then began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard.^(D) He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. ² At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. ³ But they seized him, beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ⁴ Then he sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. ⁵ He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed.

⁶ “He had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all,^(E) saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

⁷ “But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ ⁸ So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.

⁹ “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others. ¹⁰ Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture:

¹² Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd;^(H) so they left him and went away.^(I)

Paying the Imperial Tax to Caesar^(J)

¹³ Later they sent some of the Pharisees and Herodians^(K) to Jesus to catch him^(L) in his words. ¹⁴ They came to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are; but you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it right to pay the imperial tax^[b] to Caesar or not? ¹⁵ Should we pay or shouldn’t we?”

But Jesus knew their hypocrisy. “Why are you trying to trap me?” he asked. “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” ¹⁶ They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

“Caesar’s,” they replied.

¹⁷ Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”^(M)

And they were amazed at him.

Psalm 47^[a]

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

¹⁴ When a man consecrates his house as holy to the Lord, then the priest shall set its value, whether good or bad, according to the equivalent value set by the priest, so shall it be established. ¹⁵ If he who consecrates the house should redeem it, then he shall add one-fifth to its equivalent value, and it shall be his.

¹⁶ If a man shall consecrate to the Lord some of his land, then the equivalent value shall be according to the seed needed to sow it: fifty shekels of silver per homer^[a] of barley seed. ¹⁷ If he consecrates his field from the Year of Jubilee, the equivalent value shall stay fixed, ¹⁸ but if he consecrates his field after the Jubilee, then the priest shall calculate for him the price according to the years that remain until the next Year of Jubilee, and the equivalent value shall be reduced. ¹⁹ And if he who consecrated the field plans on redeeming it, then he shall add one-fifth to the equivalent value, and it will be established as his. ²⁰ If he does not redeem the field, but rather sells the field to another man, it may not be redeemed again. ²¹ But when the field is released in the Jubilee, it shall be holy to the Lord as a devoted field; it shall become the possession of the priest.

²² If a man consecrates to the Lord a field that he purchased, which is not part of his land property, ²³ then the priest shall calculate for him the amount of the valuation, up to the Year of Jubilee, and he shall give your valuation on that day as a holy thing to the Lord. ²⁴ In the Year of Jubilee the field shall return to the one from whom it was bought, to him to whom the property of land belongs. ²⁵ All your estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: Twenty gerahs^[b] shall be one shekel.

²⁶ A firstborn of animals, which as firstborn belongs to the Lord, no man may consecrate; whether ox or sheep, it is the Lord’s. ²⁷ If it is among the unclean animals, then he shall ransom it at the equivalent value and shall add one-fifth to it, but if it is not redeemed, then it shall be sold at the equivalent value.

²⁸ Anything that a man shall devote to the Lord from all that he has, whether human, animal, or land, shall not be sold or redeemed. Every devoted thing is most holy to the Lord.

²⁹ No one devoted of men, who shall be doomed to death, shall be redeemed; he shall surely be put to death.

³⁰ Any tithe of the land, whether seed of the land or fruit of the trees, belongs to the Lord. It is holy to the Lord. ³¹ If a man plans on redeeming some of his tithe, he shall add one-fifth to it. ³² Any tithe of herd or flock, all that passes under the counting staff, the tenth one shall be holy to the Lord. ³³ A person shall not differentiate between good or bad, nor shall he make a substitute for it, but if he does, then both it and its substitute shall be holy. It shall not be redeemed.

³⁴ These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Israel’s First Census

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai in the tent of meeting on the first day of the second month in the second year after they went out from the land of Egypt, saying: ² Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of their names, every male by their polls, ³ from twenty years old and upward, all who are able to go out to war in Israel. You and Aaron will number them by their armies. ⁴ With you there will be a man of every tribe, each one the head of his father’s house. ⁵ These are the names of the men who will stand with you:

¹⁶ These were the renowned of the congregation, leaders of the tribes of their fathers, heads of thousands in Israel.

¹⁷ Moses and Aaron took these men who had been mentioned by name, ¹⁸ and they assembled all the congregation on the first day of the second month, and they declared their pedigrees according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls. ¹⁹ As the Lord commanded Moses, so he numbered them in the Wilderness of Sinai.

⁴⁴ These are those who were numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the leaders of Israel, being twelve men. Each one was for the house of his fathers. ⁴⁵ So were all those who were numbered of the children of Israel, by the house of their fathers, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go out to war in Israel. ⁴⁶ Even all they who were numbered were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

⁴⁷ But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them. ⁴⁸ For the Lord had spoken to Moses, saying: ⁴⁹ Only you will not number the tribe of Levi, nor take the census of them among the children of Israel, ⁵⁰ but you will appoint the Levites over the tent of the testimony, and over all its vessels, and over all things that belong to it. They will carry the tabernacle, and all its vessels, and they will minister to it, and will camp around the tabernacle. ⁵¹ When the tabernacle sets out, the Levites will take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites will set it up, and the foreigner that approaches will be put to death. ⁵² The children of Israel will pitch their tents, every man by his own camp, and every man by his own standard, throughout their armies. ⁵³ But the Levites will camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so there will be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel. And the Levites will keep the charge of the tabernacle of the testimony.

⁵⁴ Thus the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.

The Triumphant Entry Into Jerusalem^(A)

11 When they drew near Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, He sent out two of His disciples ² and said to them, “Go into the village opposite you. As soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say ‘The Lord has need of it,’ and immediately he will send it here.”

⁴ They went their way and found the colt tied by the door outside on the street. And they untied it. ⁵ Some of those who stood there said to them, “What are you doing untying the colt?” ⁶ They answered just as Jesus had commanded. And they let them go. ⁷ They brought the colt to Jesus and threw their garments on it. And He sat upon it. ⁸ Many spread their garments on the street. And others cut down branches off the trees and scattered them on the street. ⁹ Those who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. When He had looked around at everything, as the hour was now late, He went out to Bethany with the twelve.

The Cursing of the Fig Tree^(B)

¹² On the next day when they had returned from Bethany, He was hungry. ¹³ Seeing from afar a fig tree with leaves, He went to see if perhaps He might find anything on it. When He came to it, He found nothing except leaves, for it was not the season for figs. ¹⁴ Jesus said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And His disciples heard it.

The Cleansing of the Temple^(C)

¹⁵ And they came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the temple and began to drive out those who sold and bought in the temple, and He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves. ¹⁶ And He would not allow anyone to carry any vessel through the temple. ¹⁷ And He taught them, and said, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’^[b]? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’^[c] ”

¹⁸ The scribes and chief priests heard it and looked for a way to kill Him. For they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.

¹⁹ When evening came, He went out of the city.

The Lesson From the Fig Tree^(D)

²⁰ In the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. ²¹ Peter, calling to remembrance, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.”

²² Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. ²³ For truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. ²⁴ Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you will have them. ²⁵ And when you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you your sins. ²⁶ But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins.”

Psalm 46

For the Music Director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song.

⁴⁷ If a sojourner or foreigner becomes rich by you, and your brother who dwells beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the foreigner or sojourner with you, or to a member of the stranger’s family, ⁴⁸ then after he is sold he may be redeemed again. One of his brothers may redeem him, ⁴⁹ or either his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or any who is near of kin to him of his family may redeem him. Or if he is able, he may redeem himself. ⁵⁰ He shall calculate with him who bought him from the year that he was sold to the Year of Jubilee, and the price of his sale shall be according to the number of years, according to the time of a hired servant. ⁵¹ If there are still many years left until the Jubilee, he shall pay the price proportionately for his redemption as some of the price that he was bought for. ⁵² If there remain but a few years until the Year of Jubilee, then he shall calculate and pay the price proportionately for his redemption according to his years of service. ⁵³ As a yearly hired servant he shall be treated, and the other shall not rule harshly over him in your sight.

⁵⁴ If he is not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the Year of Jubilee, both he and his children with him. ⁵⁵ For to Me the children of Israel are servants. They are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

Rewards for Obedience

26 You shall not make for yourselves idols; neither set up a carved image nor a standing stone, nor shall you set up any sculpted stone in your land to bow down to it, for I am the Lord your God.

² You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the Lord.

³ If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments and do them, ⁴ then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. ⁵ Your threshing shall last till the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last till the time for sowing, and you shall eat your bread till you are full and dwell in your land safely.

⁶ I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down for sleep, and none shall make you afraid; I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land. ⁷ You shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. ⁸ Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

⁹ I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will confirm My covenant with you. ¹⁰ You shall eat the old harvest long stored, and clear out the old to make way for the new. ¹¹ I will set My tabernacle among you, and I shall not abhor you. ¹² I will walk among you, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people. ¹³ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves, and I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk upright.

Punishment for Disobedience

¹⁴ But if you will not listen to Me, and will not do all these commandments, ¹⁵ if you despise My statutes, or if you abhor My judgments, so that you will not do all My commandments, but you break My covenant, ¹⁶ then I will do this to you: I will visit you with terror, with wasting disease, and with a fever that shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart, and you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. ¹⁷ I will set My face against you, and you shall be slain before your enemies. They that hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you.

¹⁸ If you will not yet listen to Me after all this, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. ¹⁹ I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heaven as iron and your land as bronze. ²⁰ Your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield her increase, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruits.

²¹ If you continue to walk contrary to Me and will not listen to Me, I will bring seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins. ²² I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number. And your roads shall be desolate.

²³ And if by these things you are not turned to Me, but walk contrary to Me, ²⁴ then I will also walk contrary to you and will punish you yet seven times for your sins. ²⁵ I will bring a sword upon you that shall extract vengeance for My covenant. And when you are gathered together within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. ²⁶ When I have broken the supply of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall ration your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

²⁷ If you will not listen to Me for all this, but walk contrary to Me, ²⁸ then I will walk contrary to you also in fury, and I Myself will chastise you seven times for your sins. ²⁹ You shall eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters. ³⁰ I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your funeral offerings on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I shall abhor you. ³¹ I will make your cities a waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your fragrant offerings. ³² I will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies that dwell there shall be astonished at it. ³³ I will scatter you among the nations and I will draw out a sword after you. And your land shall be desolate and your cities a waste. ³⁴ Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. ³⁵ As long as it lies desolate it shall rest because it did not rest during your sabbaths when you lived upon it.

³⁶ And on those who are left alive of you I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; and the sound of a shaken leaf shall make them flee, and they shall flee as from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues. ³⁷ They shall fall one upon one another, as to escape before the sword, though no one pursues, and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. ³⁸ You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall consume you. ³⁹ And those who are left of you shall rot away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers, they shall rot away with them.

⁴⁰ But if they confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their treachery that they committed against Me, and also that they have walked contrary to Me, ⁴¹ and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they then accept the punishment of their iniquity, ⁴² then will I remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. ⁴³ But the land shall be abandoned by them, and enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They shall make amends for their iniquity, because they despised My judgments and because they abhorred My statutes. ⁴⁴ Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor will I abhor them to destroy them utterly and to break My covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵ But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their fathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.

⁴⁶ These are the statutes and judgments and laws that the Lord made between Himself and the children of Israel on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.

Laws About Vows

27 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When a man makes a special vow to the Lord based on the equivalent value^[a] of persons, ³ then the equivalent value of a male from twenty to sixty years old shall be fifty shekels^[b] of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel.^{[c] 4} If the person is a female, then the equivalent value shall be thirty shekels.^{[d] 5} If the person is five to twenty years old, then the equivalent value shall be twenty shekels^[e] for a male and ten shekels^[f] for a female. ⁶ If the person is one month to five years old, then the equivalent value shall be five shekels^[g] for a male and three shekels^[h] of silver for a female. ⁷ If the person is sixty years old or older, then the equivalent value shall be fifteen shekels^[i] for a male and ten shekels for a female. ⁸ But if he is too poor to afford the equivalent value, then he shall present himself before the priest and the priest shall set his value. According to what the person making the vow can afford, so the priest shall set his value.

⁹ And if it be an animal, of which men bring an offering to the Lord, all that any man gives of such to the Lord shall be holy. ¹⁰ He shall not exchange it nor substitute it, good for bad or bad for good. If he in fact substitutes an animal for another, then both it and its substitute shall be holy. ¹¹ If it is any sort of unclean animal that is not permitted as an offering to the Lord, then he shall present the animal before the priest. ¹² And the priest shall set its value, whether good or bad; according to the equivalent value set by the priest, so shall it be. ¹³ But if he plans on redeeming it, then he shall add one-fifth to the equivalent value.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection a Third Time^(A)

³² They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus went ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. Again, He took the twelve aside and began to tell them what would happen to Him, ³³ saying, “Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn Him to death and hand Him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴ They will mock Him, and scourge Him, and spit on Him, and kill Him. Then after three days He will rise.”

The Request of James and John^(B)

³⁵ Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him, saying, “Teacher, we want that whatever we may ask, You would do for us.”

³⁶ He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

³⁷ They said to Him, “Grant us to sit, one at Your right hand and the other at Your left hand, in Your glory.”

³⁸ But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”

³⁹ They said to Him, “We can.”

Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink the cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. ⁴⁰ But to sit at My right hand or at My left hand is not Mine to grant. It is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

⁴¹ When the ten heard it, they began to be very displeased with James and John. ⁴² But Jesus called them together, and said, “You know that those who are appointed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ⁴³ But it shall not be so among you. Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ⁴⁴ and whoever among you would be greatest must be servant of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus^(C)

⁴⁶ Then they came to Jericho. And as He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat along the way begging. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁸ Many ordered him to keep silent. But he cried out even more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁹ Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called.

So they called the blind man, saying, “Be of good comfort. Rise, He is calling you.” ⁵⁰ Throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus.

⁵¹ Jesus answered him, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

The blind man said to Him, “Rabbi, that I might receive my sight.”

⁵² Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the way.

Psalm 45

For the Music Director. To the melody of “Lilies.” A Contemplative Maskil of the sons of Korah. A love song.

The Tabernacle Lamps^(A)

24 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the lamp, to cause the lamps to burn continually. ³ Outside the veil of the sanctuary, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it continually, from the evening until the morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual statute in your generations. ⁴ He shall arrange the lamps continually on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord.

The Bread of the Tabernacle

⁵ You shall take wheat flour and bake twelve cakes. Two-tenths of an ephah^[a] shall be in each cake. ⁶ You shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the Lord. ⁷ You shall put pure frankincense on each row, so that it may be on the bread for a memorial, a food offering made by fire to the Lord. ⁸ Every Sabbath he shall set it in order continually before the Lord, with the portion taken from the children of Israel by a perpetual covenant. ⁹ It shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, for it is most holy to him of the food offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual statute.

The Punishment for Blasphemy

¹⁰ The son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel, and this son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel fought together in the camp. ¹¹ And the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed. And they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) ¹² And they put him in custody, so that the words of the Lord might be shown to them.

¹³ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹⁴ Bring outside the camp him who has cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let the entire congregation stone him. ¹⁵ You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. ¹⁶ Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and the entire congregation shall certainly stone him. The foreigner as well as the native in the land, when he blasphemes the name, then he shall be put to death.

¹⁷ Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death. ¹⁸ Whoever kills an animal shall make restitution, animal for animal. ¹⁹ If anyone causes injury to his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him, ²⁰ fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused an injury to another, so shall it be done to him. ²¹ Whoever kills an animal shall make restitution. And whoever kills a man shall be put to death. ²² You shall have one manner of law for the foreigner as for the native, for I am the Lord your God.

²³ So Moses spoke to the children of Israel, and they brought outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him. And the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Sabbath Year

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying: ² Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you come into the land that I give you, the land shall keep a sabbath to the Lord. ³ For six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruit, ⁴ but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of complete rest for the land, a sabbath for the Lord. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. ⁵ That which grows by itself from your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your unpruned vines, for it is a year of complete rest for the land. ⁶ The sabbath produce of the land shall be food for you: for you, and for your male and female servants, and for your hired servant, and for your stranger who sojourns with you, ⁷ and for your livestock, and for the wild animals in your land, shall all its increase be food.

The Year of Jubilee^(B)

⁸ You shall count seven sabbath weeks of years, seven times seven years, and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. ⁹ Then you shall sound the horn blasts on the tenth day of the seventh month. On the Day of Atonement you shall make the sound of the horn throughout all your land. ¹⁰ You shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee to you, and each of you shall return to his possession, and every person shall return to his family. ¹¹ That fiftieth year will be a Jubilee for you. You shall neither sow nor reap that which grows by itself, nor gather the grapes of your unpruned vines. ¹² For it is the Jubilee. It shall be holy to you. You shall eat the produce of the field.

¹³ In the Year of Jubilee you shall return to your property.

¹⁴ If you sell anything to your neighbor or buy anything from your neighbor, you shall not oppress one another. ¹⁵ According to the number of years after the Jubilee you shall pay your neighbor, and according to the number of years of the crops he shall sell to you. ¹⁶ According to the increase of years you shall increase the price, and according to the decrease of years you shall diminish the price of it. For he shall sell to you according to the number of years of crops. ¹⁷ You shall not therefore oppress one another, but you shall fear your God. For I am the Lord your God.

¹⁸ Therefore you shall do My statutes, and keep My decrees, and do them, and you shall dwell securely in the land. ¹⁹ The land shall yield its fruit, and you shall eat your fill and live securely in it. ²⁰ If you shall say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, if we shall not sow nor gather in our crop?” ²¹ then I will command My blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth produce for three years. ²² You shall sow in the eighth year, and eat yet of old crops until the ninth year until its crops come in for you.

Redemption of Property

²³ The land shall not be permanently sold, for the land is Mine. For you are foreigners and sojourners with Me. ²⁴ In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.

²⁵ If your brother becomes poor and has sold some of his possession, then his nearest redeemer will come to redeem it, and buy back that which his brother sold. ²⁶ If the man has none to redeem it, but he himself is able to redeem it, ²⁷ then let him count the years since the sale and pay back the balance to the man to whom he sold it, so that he may return to his property. ²⁸ But if he is not able to restore it to himself, then that which he sold shall remain in the hand of him who has bought it until the Year of Jubilee, and in the Jubilee it shall be released, and he shall return to his possession.

²⁹ If a man sells a house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a year after it is sold, within a full year he may have the right to buy it back. ³⁰ If it is not redeemed within the time of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be given permanently to him who bought it throughout his generations. It shall not be returned in the Jubilee. ³¹ But the houses of the villages that have no wall around them shall be counted as the fields of the land. They may be redeemed, and they shall be returned in the Jubilee.

³² For the cities of the Levites, they may redeem at any time the houses in the cities that they possess. ³³ If a Levite purchases back the house that was sold in the city of his possession, then it shall be returned in the Jubilee. For the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. ³⁴ But the fields of the land of their cities may not be sold, for they are their perpetual possession.

Helping the Poor

³⁵ If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, then you shall support him as if he were a foreigner or a sojourner, so that he may live with you. ³⁶ Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, so that your brother may live with you. ³⁷ You shall not lend him your money at interest, nor lend him your food for profit. ³⁸ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan and to be your God.

The Law About Slavery

³⁹ If your brother who dwells near you becomes poor and sells himself to you, you shall not compel him to serve as a bondservant. ⁴⁰ But as a hired servant and as a sojourner he shall be with you. He shall serve you until the Year of Jubilee. ⁴¹ And then he shall depart from you, both he and his children with him, and he shall return to his own family and to the possession of his fathers. ⁴² For they are My servants, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. They shall not be sold as slaves. ⁴³ You shall not rule over him with harshness, but you shall fear your God.

⁴⁴ Both your male and female slaves, whom you may have, they shall be bought from the nations that are around you. ⁴⁵ Moreover of the foreigners who sojourn among you and of their families who are with you, who were born in your land, you may also buy from them, and they may be your possession. ⁴⁶ You may take them as an inheritance for your children after you, for their possession. They shall be your slaves forever. But over your brothers, the children of Israel, you shall not rule over one another with rigor.

Little Children Blessed^(A)

¹³ They brought young children to Him, that He might touch them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw it, He was very displeased and said to them, “Allow the little children to come to Me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter it.” ¹⁶ And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.

The Rich Man^(B)

¹⁷ When He set out on His way, a man came running and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good, except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.^[a]”

²⁰ He answered Him, “Teacher, all these have I observed from my youth.”

²¹ Then Jesus, looking upon him, loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, take up the cross and follow Me.”

²² He was saddened by that word, and he went away grieving. For he had many possessions.

²³ Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”

²⁴ The disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ They were astonished beyond measure, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”

²⁷ Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God. For with God all things are possible.”

²⁸ Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we have left everything and have followed You.”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left a house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, ³⁰ who shall not receive a hundred times as much now in this age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, with persecution, and in the age to come, eternal life. ³¹ But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Acceptable Offerings

¹⁷ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹⁸ Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: Whoever from the house of Israel or from the foreigners in Israel who offers his burnt offering for any vows or freewill offerings that he offers to the Lord, ¹⁹ then if it is to be accepted for you, the offering shall be a male without blemish, a bull, sheep, or goat. ²⁰ But whatever has a blemish you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable for you. ²¹ Whoever offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill his vow or a freewill offering, whether from the herd or flock, to be accepted it shall be perfect, with no blemish on it. ²² Blind, or disabled, or maimed, or having an ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer these to the Lord, nor make a food offering by fire on the altar to the Lord. ²³ A herd animal or a flock animal that has a limb that is too long or short you may offer for a freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted. ²⁴ You shall not offer to the Lord an animal that is bruised or crushed or torn or cut; nor shall you make any offering of them in your land. ²⁵ Nor from a foreigner shall you offer an animal as the food of your God, because a blemish is in them from their mutilation. They shall not be accepted for you.

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²⁷ When an ox, or a sheep, or a goat is born, then it shall be seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day and thereafter it shall be accepted for a food offering made by fire to the Lord. ²⁸ But you shall not slaughter on the same day an ox or a sheep and her young.

²⁹ When you offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, offer it so that it may be accepted. ³⁰ On the same day it shall be eaten. You shall leave none of it until the next day: I am the Lord.

³¹ Therefore you shall keep My commandments and do them: I am the Lord. ³² You shall not defile My holy name, but I will be sanctified among the children of Israel: I am the Lord who sanctifies you, ³³ who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord.

The Appointed Feasts

23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: Concerning the feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My appointed feasts.

The Sabbath

³ For six days work shall be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread^(A)

⁴ These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim in their appointed times. ⁵ On the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the Lord’s Passover. ⁶ On the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. ⁷ On the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. ⁸ But you shall offer a food offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.

Offering the First Fruits

⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹⁰ Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you have come into the land that I am giving to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf bundle of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹ And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹² You shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf a year-old male lamb without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³ The grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah^[a] of wheat flour mixed with oil, a food offering made by fire to the Lord for a pleasing aroma; its drink offering shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.^{[b] 14} You shall eat neither bread nor grain, parched or fresh, until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast of Weeks^(B)

¹⁵ You shall count seven full weeks from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf bundle of the wave offering. ¹⁶ You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. ¹⁷ You shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of wheat flour, baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ You shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, one bull, and two rams. They shall be for a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, that is, a food offering made by fire, of a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then you shall sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. ²⁰ The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before the Lord with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ You shall make a proclamation on the same day and shall hold a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. It shall be a perpetual statute in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

²² When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field up to the edge, nor shall you gather any gleaning of your harvest. You shall leave them to the poor and to the foreigner: I am the Lord your God.

The Feast of Trumpets^(C)

²³ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²⁴ Speak to the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath, a memorial with the blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵ You shall do no regular work, and you shall offer a food offering made by fire to the Lord.

The Day of Atonement^(D)

²⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²⁷ Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall humble yourselves, and offer a food offering made by fire to the Lord. ²⁸ You shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. ²⁹ For whoever is not humbled on that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people. ³⁰ And whoever does any work in that same day, that person I will destroy from among his people. ³¹ You shall do no manner of work. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ³² It shall be to you a sabbath of complete rest, and you shall afflict your souls. On the ninth day of the month starting at the evening, from evening to evening, you shall celebrate your sabbath.

The Feast of Tabernacles^(E)

³³ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ³⁴ Speak to the children of Israel, saying: The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. ³⁵ On the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. ³⁶ For seven days you shall offer food offerings made by fire to the Lord. On the eighth day it shall be a holy convocation to you, and you shall offer a food offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly, and you shall do no regular work.

³⁷ These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer a food offering made by fire to the Lord, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, ³⁸ besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord,

³⁹ On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep a feast to the Lord for seven days. On the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. ⁴⁰ You shall take on the first day the branches of majestic trees—branches of palm trees, branches of leafy trees, and willows from a brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a perpetual statute in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ⁴² You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All who are native children of Israel shall dwell in booths, ⁴³ that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

⁴⁴ Moses declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death and Resurrection^(A)

³⁰ They departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. ³¹ For He was teaching His disciples, saying, “The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. After He is killed, He will rise the third day.” ³² But they did not understand the teaching and were afraid to ask Him.

Who Is the Greatest?^(B)

³³ He came to Capernaum. And being in the house, He asked them, “What was it that you disputed among yourselves on the way?” ³⁴ But they kept silent, for on the way they had disputed among themselves who was the greatest.

³⁵ He sat down and called the twelve. And He said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

³⁶ He took a child and set him in their midst. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever receives one of these children in My name receives Me. And whoever receives Me receives not Me, but Him who sent Me.”

He Who Is Not Against Us Is for Us^(C)

³⁸ John answered Him, “Teacher, we saw one who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he was not following us.”

³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, for no one who does a miracle in My name can quickly speak evil of Me. ⁴⁰ For he who is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ Truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, will not lose his reward.

Temptations to Sin^(D)

⁴² “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. ⁴³ If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched, ⁴⁴ where

⁴⁵ And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched, ⁴⁶ where

⁴⁷ And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the fire of hell, ⁴⁸ where

⁴⁹ Everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt.

⁵⁰ “Salt is good. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”

Teaching About Divorce^(E)

10 He arose and went from there to the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan, and the people came to Him again. And again, as was His custom, He taught them.

² The Pharisees came to test Him, asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ He answered them, “What did Moses command you?”

⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to divorce her.”

⁵ Jesus answered them, “Due to the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. ⁶ But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’^{[d] 7} ‘For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, ⁸ and the two shall be one flesh.’^[e] So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”

¹⁰ In the house His disciples asked Him concerning this matter again. ¹¹ He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her. ¹² And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Psalm 44

For the Music Director. A Contemplative Maskil of the sons of Korah.

²² You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My decrees and do them, so that the land to where I am bringing you will not vomit you out. ²³ You shall not walk in the customs of the nation that I am driving out before you, for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them. ²⁴ But I have said to you: You shall inherit their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land that flows with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from other peoples.

²⁵ You shall therefore make distinction between the clean animal from the unclean, and the unclean fowl from the clean, and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that crawls on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. ²⁶ You shall be holy unto Me; for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from other peoples, that you should be Mine.

²⁷ A man or woman who speaks to spirits as a medium or necromancer shall surely be put to death. They shall stone them. Their blood guilt shall be upon them.

Rules for Priestly Conduct

21 Then the Lord said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: None shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, ² but for his closest relatives, that is, for his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, ³ and his virgin sister (who is near him because she has not had a husband), for her he may be made unclean. ⁴ And he shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people because of the dead and so defile himself.

⁵ They shall not make bald areas on their heads, nor shall they shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their flesh. ⁶ They shall be holy unto their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the food of their God. Therefore they shall be holy.

⁷ They shall not take a wife who is a whore or has been defiled, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband, for he is holy unto his God. ⁸ You shall sanctify him, for he offers the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy.

⁹ The daughter of any priest, if she defiles herself by being a whore, she also defiles her father. She shall be burned with fire.

¹⁰ He who is the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil was poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not dishevel his hair, nor tear his clothes; ¹¹ nor shall he approach any dead body, nor make himself unclean, even for his father or his mother; ¹² nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, so as not to defile the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord.

¹³ He shall take a wife in her virginity. ¹⁴ A widow, or a divorced woman, or a defiled woman, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take for a wife a virgin of his own people, ¹⁵ so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.

¹⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ¹⁷ Speak to Aaron, saying: None of your offspring in their generations who has any blemish may approach to offer the food of his God. ¹⁸ For whoever has a blemish, he shall not approach, whether a blind or lame man, or one who has a physical flaw on his face or a limb that is too long, ¹⁹ or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, ²⁰ or a hunchback, or a dwarf, or who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scabs, or is a eunuch. ²¹ No man who has a blemish from the offspring of Aaron the priest shall come near to offer the food offerings of the Lord made by fire. He has a blemish; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. ²² He shall eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy. ²³ Only he shall not go in through the veil or come to the altar, because he has a blemish, so that he does not defile My sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

²⁴ Moses spoke this to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel.

Holy Offerings

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Speak to Aaron and to his sons that they should be very respectful with the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they do not defile My holy name with those things which the people have consecrated to Me: I am the Lord.

³ Say to them: Whoever from your offspring through your generations approaches the holy things, which the children of Israel have dedicated to the Lord, while he has uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from My presence: I am the Lord.

⁴ If a man of the offspring of Aaron is a leper or has a discharge, he shall not eat of the holy offerings until he is clean. And whoever touches anything that is unclean by contact with the dead or a man who had an emission of semen, ⁵ or whoever touches any crawling thing whereby he may be made unclean, or a man from whom he may receive uncleanness, whatever uncleanness he has, ⁶ the person who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy things unless he washes his body with water. ⁷ When the sun goes down, he shall be clean, and afterward he shall eat of the holy things, because it is his food. ⁸ That which dies of itself or is torn by animals he shall not eat, becoming unclean by it: I am the Lord.

⁹ They shall therefore keep My ordinance, lest they bear sin from it and therefore die if they defile it: I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

¹⁰ There shall be no outsider^[a] who eats of a holy thing, whether a foreign guest of the priest or a hired servant, he shall not eat of a holy offering. ¹¹ But if a priest buys a person with his money, the person acquired shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house shall eat of his food. ¹² If the priest’s daughter marries an outsider, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things. ¹³ But if the priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child and has returned to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; but no outsider may eat of it.

¹⁴ If a man eats the holy thing unwittingly, then he shall add a fifth of the value to it and shall give the holy thing to the priest. ¹⁵ They shall not defile the holy things of the children of Israel, which they offer to the Lord, ¹⁶ and cause them to suffer and to bear the iniquity of guilt when they eat their holy things, for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

9 And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”

The Transfiguration^(A)

² After six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain, alone by themselves. And He was transfigured before them. ³ His garments became shiny, extremely white as snow, such as no launderer on earth could whiten them. ⁴ And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses. And they were talking with Jesus.

⁵ Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three sanctuaries: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” ⁶ For he did not know what to say, because they were very afraid.

⁷ Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him.”

⁸ Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus only.

⁹ As they came down the mountain, He warned them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. ¹⁰ They kept that statement to themselves, questioning each other what the rising from the dead meant.

¹¹ And they asked Him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must first come?”

¹² He answered, “Elijah indeed comes first to restore all things. Yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? ¹³ But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they have done to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”

The Healing of a Boy With an Unclean Spirit^(B)

¹⁴ When He came to His other disciples, He saw a great crowd around them, and the scribes disputing with them. ¹⁵ Immediately when all the people saw Him, they were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.

¹⁶ He asked the scribes, “What are you debating with them?”

¹⁷ One in the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit. ¹⁸ Wherever it takes hold on him, it dashes him to the ground. And he foams at the mouth and gnashes with his teeth and becomes rigid. And I told Your disciples so that they would cast it out, but they could not.”

¹⁹ He answered, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.”

²⁰ So they brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit dashed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

²¹ He asked his father, “How long has it been since it came to him?”

He said, “From childhood. ²² Often it has thrown him into the fire and into the water to kill him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

²³ Jesus said, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!”

²⁵ When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and enter him no more.”

²⁶ The spirit cried out and convulsed him greatly. But it came out of him, and he was as dead, so that many said, “He is dead.” ²⁷ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.

²⁸ When He had entered the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”

²⁹ He said to them, “This kind cannot come out except by prayer and fasting.”

Psalm 43

Moral and Ceremonial Laws

19 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

³ Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you will keep My Sabbaths: I am the Lord your God.

⁴ Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves cast metal gods: I am the Lord your God.

⁵ When you offer a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord, you shall offer it so that you might be accepted. ⁶ It shall be eaten the same day you offer it or on the next day, and if any remains until the third day, it shall be burned in the fire. ⁷ If it is eaten at all on the third day, then it is contaminated. It shall not be accepted. ⁸ Therefore everyone who eats it shall bear his iniquity, because he has defiled what is holy of the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from among his people.

⁹ When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap up to the edge of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. ¹⁰ You shall not glean bare your vineyard, nor shall you gather every fallen grape of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and stranger: I am the Lord your God.

¹¹ You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.

¹² You shall not swear falsely by My name, and so defile the name of your God: I am the Lord.

¹³ You shall not defraud your neighbor or rob him. The wages of him who is hired shall not stay with you all night until the morning.

¹⁴ You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.

¹⁵ You shall do no unrighteousness in a court. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person who is great, but in righteousness you shall judge your neighbor.

¹⁶ You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, nor shall you stand by while the life of your neighbor is in danger: I am the Lord.

¹⁷ You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely reason honestly with your neighbor, and not suffer sin because of him.

¹⁸ You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

¹⁹ You shall keep My statutes.

You shall not let your livestock breed with a different kind.

You shall not sow your field with mixed seed, nor shall your garment be mixed from two types of fabric.

²⁰ Whoever lies with a slave woman who is betrothed to another man and not yet ransomed or given freedom, compensation will be made. They shall not be put to death, because she was not free. ²¹ He shall bring his guilt offering to the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, a ram for a guilt offering. ²² The priest shall make atonement for him with the ram of the guilt offering before the Lord for his sin which he has done, and he will be forgiven for the sin that he has committed.

²³ When you come into the land and plant any kind of tree for food, then you shall count the fruit as forbidden.^[a] Three years it shall be forbidden to you. It shall not be eaten. ²⁴ But in the fourth year all the fruit shall be holy and an offering of praise to the Lord. ²⁵ And in the fifth year you shall eat of the fruit that it may yield an increase to you: I am the Lord your God.

²⁶ You shall not eat anything with the blood in it, nor shall you practice divination or fortune-telling.

²⁷ You shall not round the corners of the hair on your head, nor shall you mar the edges of your beard.

²⁸ You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.

²⁹ Do not prostitute your daughter and cause her to be defiled, lest the land fall into whoredom and become full of wickedness.

³⁰ You shall keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary: I am the Lord.

³¹ Do not turn to spirits through mediums or necromancers. Do not seek after them to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.

³² You shall rise up before a gray head, and honor the face of an old man, and fear your God: I am the Lord.

³³ When a foreigner sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. ³⁴ The foreigner who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

³⁵ You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment regarding measures in length, weight, or quantity. ³⁶ You shall have honest balances, honest weights, an honest ephah,^[b] and an honest hin:^[c] I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.

³⁷ Therefore you shall observe all My statutes and all My judgments and do them: I am the Lord.

Penalties for Violating the Law

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: Whoever from the children of Israel or from the foreigners who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molek, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him. ³ I will set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molek to defile My sanctuary and to defile My holy name. ⁴ If the people of the land in any way hide their eyes from the man when he gives of his children to Molek and do not put him to death, ⁵ then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut them off from their people, both him and those who follow after him as whores after Molek.

⁶ The person who turns to spirits through mediums and necromancers in order to whore after them, I will even set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.

⁷ Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ⁸ You shall keep My statutes, and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

⁹ For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall be surely put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother, and his blood guilt shall be upon him.

¹⁰ If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife, even he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

¹¹ If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has exposed his father’s nakedness. Both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood guilt shall be upon them.

¹² If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed a perversion. Their blood guilt shall be upon them.

¹³ If a man lies with another man as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood guilt shall be upon them.

¹⁴ If a man lies with a woman and also her mother, it is wickedness. Both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there is no wickedness among you.

¹⁵ If a man lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal.

¹⁶ If a woman approaches an animal and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood guilt shall be upon them.

¹⁷ If a man lies with his sister, whether the daughter of his father or mother, they have exposed each other’s nakedness; it is a wicked thing and they shall be cut off from the sight of their people. He has exposed his sister’s nakedness, and he shall bear his iniquity.

¹⁸ If a man lies with a woman during her menstrual period and exposes her nakedness, her fountain of blood is then exposed. Both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

¹⁹ You shall not have relations with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister, for this is to expose the nakedness of one’s relative. They shall bear their iniquity.

²⁰ If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has exposed his uncle’s nakedness. They shall bear their sin. They shall die childless.

²¹ If a man lies with his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has exposed his brother’s nakedness. They shall be childless.

The Demand for a Sign^(A)

¹¹ The Pharisees came up and began to debate with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven to test Him. ¹² He sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.” ¹³ Then He left them and, entering the boat again, departed to the other side.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod^(B)

¹⁴ Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread and did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ He warned them, “Take heed. Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”

¹⁶ They reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”

¹⁷ Being aware of it, Jesus said to them, “Why do you reason that you have no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts still hardened? ¹⁸ Having eyes, do you not see? Having ears, do you not hear?^[a] And do you not remember? ¹⁹ When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?”

They said to Him, “Twelve.”

²⁰ “And the seven among the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?”

They said, “Seven.”

²¹ He said to them, “Do you still not understand?”

The Healing of a Blind Man at Bethsaida

²² He came to Bethsaida. And they brought a blind man to Him and entreated Him to touch him. ²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. When He had spit on his eyes and put His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?”

²⁴ He looked up and said, “I see men as trees, walking.”

²⁵ Then again He put His hands on his eyes and made him look up. And he was restored and saw everyone clearly. ²⁶ He sent him home away to his house, saying, “Neither go into the town, nor tell it to anyone in the town.”

Peter’s Declaration About Jesus^(C)

²⁷ Jesus and His disciples went out into the towns of Caesarea Philippi. On the way He asked His disciples, “Who do men say that I am?”

²⁸ They answered, “John the Baptist, but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”

²⁹ He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Peter answered Him, “You are the Christ.”

³⁰ He warned them that they should tell no one about Him.

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection^(D)

³¹ He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. ³² He said this openly. And Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him.

³³ But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”

³⁴ When He had called the people to Him, with His disciples, He said to them, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. ³⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it. But whoever would lose his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. ³⁶ For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? ³⁷ Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸ Whoever therefore is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

BOOK TWO

Psalms 42–72

Psalm 42

For the Music Director. A Contemplative Maskil of the sons of Korah.

²⁹ This shall be a perpetual statute for you so that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble yourselves, and do no work of any kind, whether it is the native citizen or the stranger who sojourns among you. ³⁰ For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you to cleanse you, so that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. ³¹ It shall be a sabbath, a solemn rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves. It is a perpetual statute. ³² The priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as a priest in the place of his father, shall make atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, the holy garments. ³³ And he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, for the tent of meeting, and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.

³⁴ This shall be a perpetual statute for you to make atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year.

And Moses did as the Lord commanded him.

The Law About Eating Blood

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, saying: ³ If anyone of the house of Israel ritually slaughters an ox, a lamb, or goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside of the camp, ⁴ and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, then blood guilt shall be accounted to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. ⁵ This is so that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them to the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the priest, and offer them for peace offerings to the Lord. ⁶ The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ⁷ They shall no more offer their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they have acted like whores. This shall be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations.

⁸ You shall say to them: Any man from the house of Israel, or from the foreigners who sojourn among you, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹ and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, even that man shall be cut off from among his people.

¹⁰ Whoever from the house of Israel, or from the strangers who sojourn among you, who eats any manner of blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹ For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. ¹² Therefore I said to the children of Israel: No person among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

¹³ Whoever from the children of Israel, or from the foreigners who sojourn among you, who hunts and catches any wild animal or fowl that may be eaten, he shall even pour out the blood and cover it with dirt. ¹⁴ For the life of every creature is its blood; in its blood is its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.

¹⁵ Every person who eats that which died of itself, or that which was torn by animals, whether he is a native citizen or a foreigner, he shall both wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. Then he shall be clean. ¹⁶ But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his iniquity.

Laws on Immoral Relations

18 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: I am the Lord your God. ³ After the practices of the land of Egypt, from where you lived, you shall not follow, and after the practices of the land of Canaan, to where I will bring you, you shall not follow; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. ⁴ You shall follow My decrees and keep My ordinances to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. ⁵ You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does them, then he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

⁶ None of you shall approach any of his near relatives to have relations: I am the Lord.

⁷ You shall not have relations with your father or have relations with your mother. She is your mother. You shall not have relations with her.

⁸ You shall not have relations with your father’s wife, for this exposes your father’s nakedness.

⁹ You shall not have relations with your sister, whether your father’s or mother’s daughter, whether raised in the family or another home.

¹⁰ You shall not have relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for this exposes your own nakedness.

¹¹ You shall not have relations with your father’s wife’s daughter who is raised in your father’s family, for she is your sister.

¹² You shall not have relations with your father’s sister, for she is your father’s relative.

¹³ You shall not have relations with your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s relative.

¹⁴ You shall not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife for relations; she is your aunt.

¹⁵ You shall not have relations with your daughter-in-law, for she is your son’s wife—you shall not have relations with her.

¹⁶ You shall not have relations with your brother’s wife, for this exposes your brother’s nakedness.

¹⁷ You shall not have relations with a woman and her daughter, nor shall you have her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, for this exposes the woman’s nakedness. They are all near relatives. It is depravity.

¹⁸ And you shall not have a woman as a rival wife, who is the sister of your other wife, for this is to expose her nakedness while her sister, your other wife, is still alive.

¹⁹ Also you shall not approach a woman to have relations as long as she is in her menstrual uncleanness.

²⁰ Moreover, you shall not have relations with your neighbor’s wife to defile yourself with her.

²¹ You shall not let any of your children be offered through the fire to Molek, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

²² You shall not lie with a man as one does with a woman. It is an abomination.

²³ You shall not lie with an animal to defile yourself, nor shall any woman lie with an animal. It is a perversion.

²⁴ Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for in these practices the nations I am casting out before you have defiled themselves. ²⁵ And the land has become defiled; therefore I have punished its iniquity, and the land has vomited out her inhabitants. ²⁶ But you shall therefore keep My statutes and My decrees, and you shall not commit any of these abominations, either the native citizen or any foreigner who sojourns among you ²⁷ (for the people of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled), ²⁸ lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

²⁹ For whoever shall commit any of these abominations, those persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. ³⁰ Therefore you shall keep My ordinances, that you do not commit any one of these abominable customs which were committed before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.

The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith^(A)

²⁴ From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. He entered a house and would have no one know it. Yet He could not be hidden. ²⁵ For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of Him, and came and fell at His feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. And she begged Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.

²⁷ Jesus said to her, “Let the children first be filled. For it is not fitting to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁸ She answered, “Yes, Lord. Yet the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

²⁹ Then He said to her, “For this answer, go your way. The demon has gone out of your daughter.”

³⁰ When she had come to her house, she found the demon had gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.

The Deaf and Mute Man Healed

³¹ Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. ³² They brought to Him one who was deaf and had difficulty speaking. And they pleaded with Him to put His hand on him.

³³ He took him aside from the crowd, and put His fingers into his ears, and spat and touched his tongue. ³⁴ Looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” ³⁵ Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosened, and he spoke correctly.

³⁶ He ordered them to tell no one. But the more He ordered them, the more they greatly proclaimed it. ³⁷ They were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

The Feeding of the Four Thousand^(B)

8 In those days, the crowds being very great with nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, ² “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have now been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. ³ If I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come from afar.”

⁴ His disciples answered, “Where can one get bread to feed these men here in the wilderness?”

⁵ He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”

They said, “Seven.”

⁶ He commanded the people to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, He broke them and gave them to His disciples to serve. And they served the crowd. ⁷ And they had a few small fish. And blessing them, He commanded that these also be served them. ⁸ So they ate and were filled. And they collected seven baskets of the broken pieces that were left. ⁹ There were about four thousand who had eaten, and He sent them away. ¹⁰ He immediately entered a boat with His disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

Psalm 41

For the Music Director. A Psalm of David.