22 The Lord said to Moses, ² ‘Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings the Israelites consecrate to me, so that they will not profane my holy name. I am the Lord.

³ ‘Say to them: “For the generations to come, if any of your descendants is ceremonially unclean and yet comes near the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, that person must be cut off from my presence. I am the Lord.

⁴ ‘“If a descendant of Aaron has a defiling skin disease^[a] or a bodily discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is cleansed. He will also be unclean if he touches something defiled by a corpse or by anyone who has an emission of semen, ⁵ or if he touches any crawling thing that makes him unclean, or any person who makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be. ⁶ The one who touches any such thing will be unclean till evening. He must not eat any of the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water. ⁷ When the sun goes down, he will be clean, and after that he may eat the sacred offerings, for they are his food. ⁸ He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, and so become unclean through it. I am the Lord.

⁹ ‘“The priests are to perform my service in such a way that they do not become guilty and die for treating it with contempt. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.

¹⁰ ‘“No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired worker eat it. ¹¹ But if a priest buys a slave with money, or if slaves are born in his household, they may eat his food. ¹² If a priest’s daughter marries anyone other than a priest, she may not eat any of the sacred contributions. ¹³ But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or is divorced, yet has no children, and she returns to live in her father’s household as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food. No unauthorised person, however, may eat it.

¹⁴ ‘“Anyone who eats a sacred offering by mistake must make restitution to the priest for the offering and add a fifth of the value to it. ¹⁵ The priests must not desecrate the sacred offerings the Israelites present to the Lord ¹⁶ by allowing them to eat the sacred offerings and so bring upon them guilt requiring payment. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.”’

Unacceptable sacrifices

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁸ ‘Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites and say to them: “If any of you – whether an Israelite or a foreigner residing in Israel – presents a gift for a burnt offering to the Lord, either to fulfil a vow or as a freewill offering, ¹⁹ you must present a male without defect from the cattle, sheep or goats in order that it may be accepted on your behalf. ²⁰ Do not bring anything with a defect, because it will not be accepted on your behalf. ²¹ When anyone brings from the herd or flock a fellowship offering to the Lord to fulfil a special vow or as a freewill offering, it must be without defect or blemish to be acceptable. ²² Do not offer to the Lord the blind, the injured or the maimed, or anything with warts or festering or running sores. Do not place any of these on the altar as a food offering presented to the Lord. ²³ You may, however, present as a freewill offering an ox^[b] or a sheep that is deformed or stunted, but it will not be accepted in fulfilment of a vow. ²⁴ You must not offer to the Lord an animal whose testicles are bruised, crushed, torn or cut. You must not do this in your own land, ²⁵ and you must not accept such animals from the hand of a foreigner and offer them as the food of your God. They will not be accepted on your behalf, because they are deformed and have defects.”’

²⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁷ ‘When a calf, a lamb or a goat is born, it is to remain with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day on, it will be acceptable as a food offering presented to the Lord. ²⁸ Do not slaughter a cow or a sheep and its young on the same day.

²⁹ ‘When you sacrifice a thank-offering to the Lord, sacrifice it in such a way that it will be accepted on your behalf. ³⁰ It must be eaten that same day; leave none of it till morning. I am the Lord.

³¹ ‘Keep my commands and follow them. I am the Lord. ³² Do not profane my holy name, for I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the Lord, who made you holy ³³ and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.’

Psalm 125

A song of ascents.

Psalm 126

A song of ascents.

Psalm 127

A song of ascents. Of Solomon.

Jesus calls his first disciples

5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,^[a] the people were crowding round him and listening to the word of God. ² He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. ³ He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

⁴ When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’

⁵ Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’

⁶ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. ⁷ So they signalled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

⁸ When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ ⁹ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, ¹⁰ and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.’ ¹¹ So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Jesus heals a man with leprosy

¹² While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy.^[b] When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’

¹³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ And immediately the leprosy left him.

¹⁴ Then Jesus ordered him, ‘Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’

¹⁵ Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their illnesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Jesus forgives and heals a paralysed man

¹⁷ One day Jesus was teaching, and Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there. They had come from every village of Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with Jesus to heal those who were ill. ¹⁸ Some men came carrying a paralysed man on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. ¹⁹ When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

²⁰ When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’

²¹ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, ‘Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?’

²² Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, ‘Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier: to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and walk”? ²⁴ But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’ So he said to the paralysed man, ‘I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.’ ²⁵ Immediately he stood up in front of them, took what he had been lying on and went home praising God. ²⁶ Everyone was amazed and gave praise to God. They were filled with awe and said, ‘We have seen remarkable things today.’

Jesus calls Levi and eats with sinners

²⁷ After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. ‘Follow me,’ Jesus said to him, ²⁸ and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.

²⁹ Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’

³¹ Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but those who are ill. ³² I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’

Jesus questioned about fasting

³³ They said to him, ‘John’s disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking.’

³⁴ Jesus answered, ‘Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? ³⁵ But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast.’

³⁶ He told them this parable: ‘No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. ³⁷ And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. ³⁸ No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. ³⁹ And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, “The old is better.”’