Rules for Priests

21 The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron,^(A) and say to them: ‘A priest must not make himself ceremonially unclean^(B) for any of his people who die,^{(C) 2} except for a close relative, such as his mother or father,^(D) his son or daughter, his brother, ³ or an unmarried sister who is dependent on him since she has no husband—for her he may make himself unclean.^{(E) 4} He must not make himself unclean for people related to him by marriage,^[a] and so defile himself.

⁵ “‘Priests must not shave^(F) their heads or shave off the edges of their beards^(G) or cut their bodies.^{(H) 6} They must be holy to their God^(I) and must not profane the name of their God.^(J) Because they present the food offerings to the Lord,^(K) the food of their God,^(L) they are to be holy.^(M)

⁷ “‘They must not marry women defiled by prostitution or divorced from their husbands,^(N) because priests are holy to their God.^{(O) 8} Regard them as holy,^(P) because they offer up the food of your God.^(Q) Consider them holy, because I the Lord am holy—I who make you holy.^(R)

⁹ “‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.^(S)

¹⁰ “‘The high priest, the one among his brothers who has had the anointing oil poured on his head^(T) and who has been ordained to wear the priestly garments,^(U) must not let his hair become unkempt^[b] or tear his clothes.^{(V) 11} He must not enter a place where there is a dead body.^(W) He must not make himself unclean,^(X) even for his father or mother,^{(Y) 12} nor leave the sanctuary^(Z) of his God or desecrate it, because he has been dedicated by the anointing oil^(AA) of his God. I am the Lord.

¹³ “‘The woman he marries must be a virgin.^{(AB) 14} He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a woman defiled by prostitution, but only a virgin from his own people, ¹⁵ so that he will not defile his offspring among his people. I am the Lord, who makes him holy.’”

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ “Say to Aaron: ‘For the generations to come none of your descendants who has a defect^(AC) may come near to offer the food of his God.^{(AD) 18} No man who has any defect^(AE) may come near: no man who is blind^(AF) or lame,^(AG) disfigured or deformed; ¹⁹ no man with a crippled foot or hand, ²⁰ or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles.^{(AH) 21} No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect^(AI) is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord.^(AJ) He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God.^{(AK) 22} He may eat the most holy food of his God,^(AL) as well as the holy food; ²³ yet because of his defect,^(AM) he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar, and so desecrate my sanctuary.^(AN) I am the Lord, who makes them holy.^(AO)’”

²⁴ So Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

¹⁷ About this time Hazael^(A) king of Aram went up and attacked Gath and captured it. Then he turned to attack Jerusalem. ¹⁸ But Joash king of Judah took all the sacred objects dedicated by his predecessors—Jehoshaphat, Jehoram and Ahaziah, the kings of Judah—and the gifts he himself had dedicated and all the gold found in the treasuries of the temple of the Lord and of the royal palace, and he sent^(B) them to Hazael king of Aram, who then withdrew^(C) from Jerusalem.

¹⁹ As for the other events of the reign of Joash, and all he did, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? ²⁰ His officials^(D) conspired against him and assassinated^(E) him at Beth Millo,^(F) on the road down to Silla. ²¹ The officials who murdered him were Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer. He died and was buried with his ancestors in the City of David. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.

Jehoahaz King of Israel

13 In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. ² He did evil^(G) in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them. ³ So the Lord’s anger^(H) burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power^(I) of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad^(J) his son.

⁴ Then Jehoahaz sought^(K) the Lord’s favor, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw^(L) how severely the king of Aram was oppressing^(M) Israel. ⁵ The Lord provided a deliverer^(N) for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. ⁶ But they did not turn away from the sins^(O) of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole^[a](P) remained standing in Samaria.

⁷ Nothing had been left^(Q) of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust^(R) at threshing time.

⁸ As for the other events of the reign of Jehoahaz, all he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? ⁹ Jehoahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoash^[b] his son succeeded him as king.

Jehoash King of Israel

¹⁰ In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. ¹¹ He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.

¹² As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah^(S) king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals^(T) of the kings of Israel? ¹³ Jehoash rested with his ancestors, and Jeroboam^(U) succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.

²⁹ Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia,^[a](A) a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied.^(B)

³⁰ “‘I am filled with fury against you,^[b] declares the Sovereign Lord, when you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute!^{(C) 31} When you built your mounds at every street corner and made your lofty shrines^(D) in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

³² “‘You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! ³³ All prostitutes receive gifts,^(E) but you give gifts^(F) to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors.^{(G) 34} So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.

³⁵ “‘Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord! ³⁶ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you poured out your lust and exposed your naked body in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood,^{(H) 37} therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip^(I) you in front of them, and they will see you stark naked.^{(J) 38} I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood;^(K) I will bring on you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger.^{(L) 39} Then I will deliver you into the hands^(M) of your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you stark naked.^{(N) 40} They will bring a mob against you, who will stone^(O) you and hack you to pieces with their swords.

Psalm 104

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand^(A)(B)

¹⁰ When the apostles^(C) returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida,^{(D) 11} but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God,^(E) and healed those who needed healing.

¹² Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”

¹³ He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” ¹⁴ (About five thousand men were there.)

But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. ¹⁶ Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them.^(F) Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. ¹⁷ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah^(G)(H)

¹⁸ Once when Jesus was praying^(I) in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?”

¹⁹ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;^(J) others say Elijah; and still others, that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”^(K)

²⁰ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.”^(L)

The Ministry of Reconciliation

¹¹ Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord,^(A) we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.^{(B) 12} We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again,^(C) but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us,^(D) so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart. ¹³ If we are “out of our mind,”^(E) as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. ¹⁴ For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.^{(F) 15} And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves^(G) but for him who died for them^(H) and was raised again.

¹⁶ So from now on we regard no one from a worldly^(I) point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. ¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,^(J) the new creation^(K) has come:^[a] The old has gone, the new is here!^{(L) 18} All this is from God,^(M) who reconciled us to himself through Christ^(N) and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.^(O) And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰ We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors,^(P) as though God were making his appeal through us.^(Q) We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.^{(R) 21} God made him who had no sin^(S) to be sin^[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.^(T)