Warning Against Adultery

Feasts of the Lord

23 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(A)These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall ^(B)proclaim as ^(C)holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.

The Sabbath

^3 (D)“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.

The Passover

^4 (E)“These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the ^(F)holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. ^5 (G)In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight,^[a] is the Lord's Passover. ⁶ And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ^7 (H)On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. ⁸ But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”

The Feast of Firstfruits

⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(I)When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of ^(J)the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, ¹¹ and he shall ^(K)wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹² And on the day when you ^(L)wave the sheaf, you shall offer a ^(M)male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. ^13 (N)And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah^[b] of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, ^(O)and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.^{[c] 14} And you shall eat neither bread nor grain ^(P)parched or ^(Q)fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast of Weeks

^15 (R)“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the ^(S)wave offering. ¹⁶ You shall count ^(T)fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of ^(U)new grain to the Lord. ¹⁷ You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as ^(V)firstfruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹ And you shall offer one ^(W)male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of ^(X)peace offerings. ²⁰ And the priest shall ^(Y)wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. ^(Z)They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

²² “And ^(AA)when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

The Feast of Trumpets

²³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In ^(AB)the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, ^(AC)a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵ You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”

The Day of Atonement

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “Now ^(AD)on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves^[d] and present a food offering to the Lord. ²⁸ And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. ²⁹ For whoever is not afflicted^[e] on that very day ^(AE)shall be cut off from his people. ³⁰ And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. ³¹ You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. ³² It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”

The Feast of Booths

³³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴ “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ^(AF)On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths^[f] to the Lord. ³⁵ On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. ³⁶ For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. ^(AG)On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a ^(AH)solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.

^37 (AI)“These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, ^38 (AJ)besides the Lord's Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.

³⁹ “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have ^(AK)gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. ⁴⁰ And ^(AL)you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and ^(AM)you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. ^41 (AN)You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ^42 (AO)You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, ⁴³ that ^(AP)your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

⁴⁴ Thus Moses ^(AQ)declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the Lord.

The Lamps

24 ^(AR)The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. ³ Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. ⁴ He shall arrange the lamps on the ^(AS)lampstand of pure gold^[g] before the Lord regularly.

Bread for the Tabernacle

⁵ “You shall take fine flour and bake twelve ^(AT)loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah^[h] shall be in each loaf. ⁶ And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, ^(AU)on the table of pure gold^[i] before the Lord. ⁷ And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. ^8 (AV)Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. ⁹ And ^(AW)it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and ^(AX)they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord's food offerings, a perpetual due.”

Punishment for Blasphemy

¹⁰ Now an Israelite woman's son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, ¹¹ and the Israelite woman's son ^(AY)blasphemed the ^(AZ)Name, and cursed. Then they ^(BA)brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. ¹² And ^(BB)they put him in custody, ^(BC)till the will of the Lord should be clear to them.

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^14 (BD)“Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him ^(BE)lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. ¹⁵ And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall ^(BF)bear his sin. ¹⁶ Whoever ^(BG)blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

An Eye for an Eye

^17 (BH)“Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. ^18 (BI)Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good, life for life. ¹⁹ If anyone injures his neighbor, ^(BJ)as he has done it shall be done to him, ²⁰ fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. ^21 (BK)Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, ^(BL)and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. ²² You shall have the ^(BM)same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the Lord your God.” ²³ So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and ^(BN)they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Paul Appeals to Caesar

25 Now three days after Festus had arrived in ^(A)the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. ² And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews ^(B)laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, ³ asking as a favor against Paul^[a] that he summon him to Jerusalem—because ^(C)they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. ⁴ Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. ⁵ “So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”

⁶ After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on ^(D)the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. ⁷ When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him ^(E)that they could not prove. ⁸ Paul argued in his defense, “Neither ^(F)against ^(G)the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor ^(H)against Caesar have I committed any offense.” ⁹ But Festus, ^(I)wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” ¹⁰ But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar's ^(J)tribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹ If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. ^(K)I appeal to Caesar.” ¹² Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”

Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice

¹³ Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. ¹⁴ And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, ^(L)“There is a man left prisoner by Felix, ¹⁵ and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case ^(M)against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. ^16 (N)I answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone ^(O)before the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him. ^17 (P)So when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on ^(Q)the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. ¹⁸ When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed. ¹⁹ Rather they ^(R)had certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about ^(S)a certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. ²⁰ Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I ^(T)asked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them. ²¹ But ^(U)when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of ^(V)the emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.” ²² Then ^(W)Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.”

²³ So on the next day ^(X)Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. ²⁴ And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom ^(Y)the whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, ^(Z)shouting that he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵ But I found that ^(AA)he had done nothing deserving death. And ^(AB)as he himself appealed to ^(AC)the emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him. ²⁶ But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write. ²⁷ For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.”