The Law of Peace Offerings

3 ‘Now if his offering is a ^(A)sacrifice of peace offerings, if he is going to offer from the herd, whether male or female, he shall offer it ^(B)without defect before the Lord. ² And ^(C)he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and ^(D)slaughter it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood around on the altar. ³ From the sacrifice of the peace offerings he shall then present an offering by fire to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, ⁴ and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the ^[a]lobe of the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys. ⁵ Then ^(E)Aaron’s sons shall offer it up in smoke on the altar ^(F)on the burnt offering, which is on the wood that is on the fire; ^(G)it is an offering by fire of a soothing aroma to the Lord. ⁶ But if his offering for a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord is from the flock, he shall offer it, male or female, ^(H)without defect. ⁷ If he is going to offer ^(I)a lamb for his offering, then he shall offer it ^(J)before the Lord, ⁸ and ^(K)he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and ^(L)slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron’s sons shall ^(M)sprinkle its blood around on the altar. ⁹ From the ^(N)sacrifice of peace offerings he shall then bring as an offering by fire to the Lord, its fat, the entire fat tail which he shall remove close to the backbone, the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, ¹⁰ and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the ^[b]lobe of the liver, which he shall remove ^(O)with the kidneys. ¹¹ Then the priest shall offer it up in smoke ^(P)on the altar as ^(Q)food, an offering by fire to the Lord.

¹² ‘Now if his offering is ^(R)a goat, then he shall offer it before the Lord, ¹³ and he shall lay his hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood around on the altar. ¹⁴ From it he shall present his offering as an offering by fire to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, ¹⁵ and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the ^[c]lobe of the liver, which he shall remove ^(S)with the kidneys. ¹⁶ The priest shall offer them up in smoke on the altar as food, an offering by fire as a soothing aroma; ^(T)all fat is the Lord’s. ¹⁷ It is a ^(U)permanent statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places: you shall not eat any fat ^(V)or any blood.’”

The Law of Sin Offerings

4 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person sins ^(W)unintentionally in any of the ^[d]things which the Lord has ^(X)commanded not to be done, and commits any of them, ^3 (Y)if the anointed priest sins so as to bring guilt on the people, then he is to offer to the Lord a ^[e]bull without defect as a sin offering for his sin which he has ^[f]committed. ⁴ He shall bring the bull to the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, and ^(Z)he shall lay his hand on the head of the bull and slaughter the bull before the Lord. ⁵ Then the ^(AA)anointed priest is to take some of the blood of the bull and bring it to the tent of meeting, ⁶ and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle some of the blood seven times before the Lord, in front of ^(AB)the veil of the sanctuary. ⁷ The priest shall also put some of the blood on the horns of ^(AC)the altar of fragrant incense which is before the Lord in the tent of meeting; and all the rest of the blood of the bull he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ⁸ And ^(AD)he shall remove from it all the fat of the bull of the sin offering: the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat which is on the entrails, ⁹ and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, which is on the loins, and the ^[g]lobe of the liver, which he shall remove ^(AE)with the kidneys ¹⁰ (just as it is removed from the ox of the sacrifice of peace offerings); and the priest is to offer them up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering. ¹¹ But ^(AF)the hide of the bull and all its flesh, along with its head, its legs, its entrails, and its refuse, ^12 [h]that is, all the rest of the bull, he is to bring out to ^(AG)a clean place outside the camp where the fatty ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire; where the fatty ashes are poured out it shall be burned.

¹³ ‘^(AH)Now if the entire congregation of Israel does wrong unintentionally and the matter ^[i]escapes the notice of the assembly, and they commit any of the ^[j]things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and they become guilty; ^14 (AI)when the sin ^[k]which they have ^[l]committed becomes known, then the assembly shall offer ^(AJ)a ^[m]bull of the herd as a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting. ¹⁵ Then ^(AK)the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands on the head of the bull before the Lord, and the bull shall be slaughtered ^(AL)before the Lord. ¹⁶ Then the anointed priest is to bring some of the blood of the bull to the tent of meeting; ¹⁷ and ^(AM)the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil. ¹⁸ He shall then put some of the blood on the horns of ^(AN)the altar which is before the Lord ^[n]in the tent of meeting; and all the rest of the blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering which is at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ¹⁹ And ^(AO)he shall remove all its fat from it and offer it up in smoke on the altar. ²⁰ He shall also do with the bull just as he did with ^(AP)the bull of the sin offering; he shall do the same with it. So ^(AQ)the priest shall make atonement for them, and they will be forgiven. ²¹ Then he is to bring the bull out to a place outside the camp and burn it just as he burned the first bull; it is ^(AR)the sin offering for the assembly.

²² ‘When ^(AS)a leader ^(AT)sins and unintentionally does any of ^[o]the things which the Lord his God has commanded not to be done, and he becomes guilty, ^23 [p](AU)if his sin ^[q]which he has committed is made known to him, he shall bring as his offering a ^[r](AV)goat, ^(AW)a male without defect. ²⁴ And he shall lay his hand on the head of the male goat and slaughter it in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering before the Lord; it is a sin offering. ²⁵ Then the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on ^(AX)the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering. ²⁶ And he shall offer ^(AY)all its fat up in smoke on the altar as in the case of the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings. So ^(AZ)the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his sin, and he will be forgiven.

²⁷ ‘Now if ^[s]anyone of the ^[t]common people sins ^(BA)unintentionally by doing any of the ^[u]things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty, ^28 [v](BB)if his sin which he has ^[w]committed is made known to him, then he shall bring as his offering a ^[x](BC)goat, a ^(BD)female without defect, for his sin which he has ^[y]committed. ²⁹ And ^(BE)he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and ^(BF)slaughter the sin offering at the place of the burnt offering. ³⁰ The priest shall then take some of its blood with his finger and put it on the horns of ^(BG)the altar of burnt offering; and ^(BH)all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. ^31 (BI)Then he shall remove all its fat, just as the fat was removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings; and the priest shall offer it up in smoke on the altar as ^(BJ)a soothing aroma to the Lord. So the priest shall make atonement for him, ^[z]and he will be forgiven.

³² ‘But if he brings ^(BK)a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without defect. ³³ And ^(BL)he shall lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and slaughter it as a sin offering ^(BM)in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering. ³⁴ And the priest is to take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of ^(BN)the altar of burnt offering, and ^(BO)all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar. ³⁵ Then he shall remove ^(BP)all its fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offerings, and the priest shall offer ^[aa]it up in smoke on the altar, on the offerings by fire to the Lord. So ^(BQ)the priest shall make atonement for him regarding his sin which he has ^[ab]committed, and he will be forgiven.

Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem

2 Now in those days a decree went out from ^(A)Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of ^(B)all ^[a]the inhabited earth. ^2 [b]This was the first census taken while ^[c]Quirinius was governor of ^(C)Syria. ³ And all the people were on their way to register for the census, each to his own city. ⁴ Now Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because ^(D)he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register along with Mary, who was ^[d]betrothed to him, and was pregnant. ⁶ While they were there, the ^[e]time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she ^(E)gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a ^[f]manger, because there was no ^[g]room for them in the inn.

⁸ In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night. ⁹ And ^(F)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(G)stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰ And so the angel said to them, “^(H)Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; ¹¹ for today in the city of David there has been born for you a ^(I)Savior, who is ^[h](J)Christ ^(K)the Lord. ¹² And ^(L)this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a ^[i]manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly ^[j]army of angels praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem, then, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the ^[l]manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen Him, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it were amazed about the things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary ^(O)treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds went back, ^(P)glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Jesus Presented at the Temple

²¹ And when ^(Q)eight days were completed ^[m]so that it was time for His circumcision, ^(R)He was also named Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

^22 (S)And when the days for ^[n]their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “^(T)Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what has been stated in the Law of the Lord: “^(U)A pair of turtledoves or two young doves.”

²⁵ And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was ^(V)righteous and devout, ^(W)looking forward to the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. ²⁶ And ^(X)it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not ^(Y)see death before he had seen the Lord’s ^[o]Christ. ²⁷ And he came ^[p]by the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, ^[q](Z)to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, ²⁸ then he took Him in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

³³ And His father and ^(AD)mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. ³⁴ And Simeon blessed them and said to ^(AE)His mother Mary, “Behold, this Child is appointed for ^(AF)the fall and ^[s]rise of many in Israel, and as a sign to be ^[t]opposed— ³⁵ and a sword will pierce your own soul—to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

³⁶ And there was a ^(AG)prophetess, ^[u]Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of ^(AH)the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in ^[v]years ^(AI)and had lived with her husband for seven years after her ^[w]marriage, ³⁷ and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She did not leave the temple grounds, serving night and day with ^(AJ)fasts and prayers. ³⁸ And at that very ^[x]moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak about Him to all those who were ^(AK)looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Return to Nazareth

³⁹ And when His parents had completed everything in accordance with the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to ^(AL)their own city of Nazareth. ^40 (AM)Now the Child continued to grow and to become strong, ^[y]increasing in wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him.

Visit to Jerusalem

⁴¹ His parents went to Jerusalem every year at ^(AN)the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when He was twelve years old, they went up there according to the custom of the feast; ⁴³ and as they were returning, after spending the ^(AO)full number of days required, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Instead, they thought that He was somewhere in the caravan, and they went a day’s journey; and then they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. ⁴⁵ And when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for Him. ⁴⁶ Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard Him ^(AP)were amazed at His understanding and His answers. ⁴⁸ When Joseph and Mary saw Him, they were bewildered; and ^(AQ)His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, ^(AR)Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You!” ⁴⁹ And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that ^(AS)I had to be in My Father’s ^[z]house?” ⁵⁰ And yet ^(AT)they on their part did not understand the statement which He had ^[aa]made to them. ⁵¹ And He went down with them and came to ^(AU)Nazareth, and He continued to be subject to them; and ^(AV)His mother ^(AW)treasured all these ^[ab]things in her heart.

⁵² And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and ^[ac]stature, and in ^(AX)favor with God and people.