Holiness and the Priests

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ^(A)No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, ² except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, ³ or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). ⁴ He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. ^5 (B)They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. ⁶ They shall be holy to their God and ^(C)not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord's food offerings, ^(D)the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. ^7 (E)They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman ^(F)divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. ⁸ You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for ^(G)I, the Lord, who sanctify you, ^(H)am holy. ⁹ And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; ^(I)she shall be burned with fire.

^10 (J)“The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ^(K)shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. ¹¹ He shall not ^(L)go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. ^12 (M)He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he ^(N)profane the sanctuary of his God, for the ^(O)consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. ¹³ And he shall take a wife in her virginity.^{[a] 14} A widow, ^(P)or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin^[b] of his own people, ¹⁵ that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for ^(Q)I am the Lord who sanctifies him.”

¹⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may ^(R)approach to offer the bread of his God. ¹⁸ For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man ^(S)blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face ^(T)or a limb too long, ¹⁹ or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, ²⁰ or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a ^(U)defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or ^(V)crushed testicles. ²¹ No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to ^(W)offer the Lord's food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. ²² He may eat the bread of his God, both of ^(X)the most holy and of the ^(Y)holy things, ²³ but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not ^(Z)profane my sanctuaries,^{[c] (AA)}for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” ²⁴ So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

¹⁷ At that time ^(A)Hazael king of Syria went up and fought against Gath and took it. But when Hazael set his face ^(B)to go up against Jerusalem, ¹⁸ Jehoash king of Judah ^(C)took all the sacred gifts that Jehoshaphat and Jehoram and Ahaziah his fathers, the kings of Judah, had dedicated, ^(D)and his own sacred gifts, and all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the house of the Lord and of the king's house, and sent these to Hazael king of Syria. Then Hazael went away from Jerusalem.

The Death of Joash

¹⁹ Now the rest of the acts of Joash and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^20 (E)His servants arose and made a conspiracy ^(F)and struck down Joash in the house of ^(G)Millo, on the way that goes down to Silla. ²¹ It was ^(H)Jozacar the son of Shimeath and Jehozabad the son of ^(I)Shomer, his servants, who struck him down, so that he died. And they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, ^(J)and Amaziah his son reigned in his place.

Jehoahaz Reigns in Israel

13 In the twenty-third year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. ² He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(K)which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. ^3 (L)And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of ^(M)Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of ^(N)Ben-hadad the son of Hazael. ⁴ Then Jehoahaz ^(O)sought the favor of the Lord, and the Lord listened to him, ^(P)for he saw the oppression of Israel, how the king of Syria oppressed them. ⁵ (Therefore the Lord gave Israel ^(Q)a savior, so that they escaped from the hand of the Syrians, and the people of Israel lived in ^(R)their homes as formerly. ⁶ Nevertheless, they did not depart from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, ^(S)which he made Israel to sin, but walked^[a] in them; and ^(T)the Asherah also remained in Samaria.) ⁷ For there was not left to Jehoahaz an army of more than fifty horsemen and ten chariots and ten thousand footmen, for the king of Syria had destroyed them and made them like the dust ^(U)at threshing. ⁸ Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ⁹ So Jehoahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria, and Joash his son reigned in his place.

Jehoash Reigns in Israel

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash^[b] the son of Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. ¹¹ He also did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, ^(V)which he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them. ^12 (W)Now the rest of the acts of Joash ^(X)and all that he did, ^(Y)and the might with which he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ¹³ So Joash slept with his fathers, and Jeroboam sat on his throne. And Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

²⁹ You multiplied your whoring also with the trading land ^(A)of Chaldea, and even with this you were not satisfied.

³⁰ “How sick is your heart,^[a] declares the Lord God, because you did all these things, the deeds of a brazen prostitute, ³¹ building your vaulted chamber at the head of every street, and making your lofty place in every square. Yet you were not like a prostitute, ^(B)because you scorned payment. ³² Adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! ³³ Men give gifts to all prostitutes, ^(C)but you gave your gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from every side with your whorings. ³⁴ So you were different from other women in your whorings. No one solicited you to play the whore, and ^(D)you gave payment, while no payment was given to you; therefore you were different.

³⁵ “Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord: ³⁶ Thus says the Lord God, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, ^(E)and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, ³⁷ therefore, behold, ^(F)I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and ^(G)all those you hated. ^(H)I will gather them against you from every side ^(I)and will uncover your nakedness to them, that ^(J)they may see all your nakedness. ^38 (K)And I will judge you ^(L)as women who commit adultery and ^(M)shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy. ³⁹ And I will give you into their hands, and they shall throw down your ^(N)vaulted chamber and break down ^(O)your lofty places. ^(P)They shall strip you of your clothes and take ^(Q)your beautiful jewels and leave you ^(R)naked and bare. ^40 (S)They shall bring up a crowd against you, ^(T)and they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords.

O Lord My God, You Are Very Great

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹⁰ On their return ^(A)the apostles told him all that they had done. ^(B)And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹ When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he ^(C)welcomed them and ^(D)spoke to them of the kingdom of God and ^(E)cured those who had need of healing. ¹² Now ^(F)the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, ^(G)“Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” ¹³ But he said to them, ^(H)“You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than ^(I)five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ And they did so, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^(J)he looked up to heaven and ^(K)said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

^18 (L)Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹ And they answered, ^(M)“John the Baptist. But others say, ^(N)Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” ²⁰ Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, ^(O)“The Christ of God.”

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹¹ Therefore, knowing ^(A)the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But ^(B)what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. ^12 (C)We are not commending ourselves to you again but ^(D)giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. ¹³ For if we ^(E)are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴ For the love of Christ ^(F)controls us, because we have concluded this: that ^(G)one has died for all, therefore all have died; ¹⁵ and he died for all, ^(H)that those who live might no longer live for themselves but ^(I)for him who for their sake died and was raised.

¹⁶ From now on, therefore, ^(J)we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is ^(K)in Christ, he is ^(L)a new creation.^{[a] (M)}The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. ¹⁸ All this is from God, ^(N)who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us ^(O)the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling^[b] the world to himself, ^(P)not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us ^(Q)the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore, ^(R)we are ambassadors for Christ, ^(S)God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. ^21 (T)For our sake he made him to be sin ^(U)who knew no sin, so that in him we might become ^(V)the righteousness of God.