Other Laws

19 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ² “Speak to the whole community of Israel. Tell them, ‘Be holy, because I am holy. I am the Lord your God.

³ “ ‘All of you must have respect for your mother and father. You must always keep my Sabbath days. I am the Lord your God.

⁴ “ ‘Do not turn away from me to worship statues of gods. Do not make for yourselves metal statues of gods. I am the Lord your God.

⁵ “ ‘Suppose you sacrifice a friendship offering to me. Then do it in the right way. And I will accept it from you. ⁶ You must eat it on the same day you sacrifice it or on the next day. Anything left over until the third day must be burned up. ⁷ If you eat any of it on the third day, it is not pure. I will not accept it. ⁸ Whoever eats it will be held responsible. They have misused what is holy to me. They will be separated from their people.

⁹ “ ‘Suppose you are harvesting your crops. Then do not harvest all the way to the edges of your field. And do not pick up the grain you missed. ¹⁰ Do not go over your vineyard a second time. Do not pick up the grapes that have fallen to the ground. Leave them for poor people and outsiders. I am the Lord your God.

¹¹ “ ‘Do not steal.

“ ‘Do not tell lies.

“ ‘Do not cheat one another.

¹² “ ‘Do not give your word in my name and then be a false witness. That would be treating the name of your God as if it were not holy. I am the Lord.

¹³ “ ‘Do not cheat your neighbor. Do not rob him.

“ ‘Do not hold back the pay of a hired worker until morning.

¹⁴ “ ‘Do not ask for bad things to happen to deaf people. Do not put anything in front of blind people that will make them trip. Instead, have respect for me. I am the Lord your God.

¹⁵ “ ‘Do not make something wrong appear to be right. Treat poor people and rich people in the same way. Do not favor one person over another. Instead, judge everyone fairly.

¹⁶ “ ‘Do not go around spreading lies among your people.

“ ‘Do not do anything that puts your neighbor’s life in danger. I am the Lord.

¹⁷ “ ‘Do not hate another Israelite in your heart. Correct your neighbor boldly when they do something wrong. Then you will not share their guilt.

¹⁸ “ ‘Do not try to get even. Do not hold anything against any of your people. Instead, love your neighbor as you love yourself. I am the Lord.

¹⁹ “ ‘Obey my rules.

“ ‘Do not let different kinds of animals mate with each other.

“ ‘Do not mix two kinds of seeds and then plant them in your field.

“ ‘Do not wear clothes that are made out of two kinds of cloth.

²⁰ “ ‘Suppose a man sleeps with a female slave. But she and another man have promised to get married to each other. And her freedom has not yet been paid for or given to her. Then she and the man who slept with her must be punished. But they must not be put to death, because she had not been set free. ²¹ The man must bring a ram to the entrance to the tent of meeting. It is for a guilt offering to me. ²² The priest must take the ram for the guilt offering. He must sacrifice it to pay for the man’s sin in my sight. Then his sin will be forgiven.

²³ “ ‘When you enter the land, suppose you plant a fruit tree. Then do not eat its fruit for the first three years. The fruit is “unclean.” ²⁴ In the fourth year all the fruit will be holy. Offer it as a way of showing praise to me. ²⁵ But in the fifth year you can eat the fruit. Then you will gather more and more fruit. I am the Lord your God.

²⁶ “ ‘Do not eat any meat that still has blood in it.

“ ‘Do not practice any kind of evil magic.

²⁷ “ ‘Do not cut the hair on the sides of your head. Do not clip off the edges of your beard.

²⁸ “ ‘Do not make cuts on your bodies when someone dies. Do not put marks on your skin. I am the Lord.

²⁹ “ ‘Do not dishonor your daughter’s body by making a prostitute out of her. If you do, the Israelites will start going to prostitutes. The land will be filled with evil.

³⁰ “ ‘You must always keep my Sabbath days. Have respect for my sacred tent. I am the Lord.

³¹ “ ‘Do not look for advice from people who get messages from those who have died. Do not go to people who talk to the spirits of the dead. If you do, they will make you “unclean.” I am the Lord your God.

³² “ ‘Stand up in order to show your respect for old people. Also have respect for me. I am the Lord your God.

³³ “ ‘Suppose an outsider lives with you in your land. Then do not treat them badly. ³⁴ Treat them as if they were one of your own people. Love them as you love yourself. Remember that all of you were outsiders in Egypt. I am the Lord your God.

³⁵ “ ‘Be honest when you measure lengths, weights or amounts. ³⁶ Use honest scales and honest weights. Use honest dry measures. And use honest liquid measures. I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of Egypt.

³⁷ “ ‘Obey all my rules and laws. Follow them. I am the Lord.’ ”

Israel Will Be Punished for Their Sins

20 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ² “Say to the Israelites, ‘Suppose a person sacrifices one of his children to the god Molek. It does not matter whether that person is an Israelite or an outsider who lives in Israel. He must be put to death. The members of the community must kill him by throwing stones at him. ³ I will turn against that man. I will separate him from his people. That’s because he has sacrificed his child to Molek. He has made my sacred tent “unclean.” He has treated my name as if it were not holy. ⁴ Suppose the members of the community act like they don’t know that the man has sacrificed his child to Molek. And suppose they don’t put him to death. ⁵ Then I will turn against that man and his family. I will separate them from their people. I will also separate all those who follow him by joining themselves to Molek. They are not faithful to me.

⁶ “ ‘Suppose someone looks for advice from people who get messages from those who have died. Or they go to people who talk to the spirits of the dead. And they do what those people say. Then they have not been faithful to me. So I will turn against them. I will separate them from their people.

⁷ “ ‘Set yourselves apart for me. Be holy, because I am the Lord your God. ⁸ Obey my rules. Follow them. I am the Lord. I make you holy.

⁹ “ ‘Anyone who asks for bad things to happen to their father or mother must be put to death. They have cursed their father or mother. So anything that happens to them will be their own fault.

¹⁰ “ ‘Suppose a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife. Then the man and the woman must be put to death.

¹¹ “ ‘Suppose a man has sex with his father’s wife. Then he has brought shame on his father. The man and the woman must be put to death. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.

¹² “ ‘Suppose a man has sex with his daughter-in-law. Then they must be put to death. They have used sex in the wrong way. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.

¹³ “ ‘Suppose a man has sex with another man as he would have sex with a woman. I hate what they have done. They must be put to death. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.

¹⁴ “ ‘Suppose a man gets married to both a woman and her mother. That is evil. All of them must be burned to death. Then there will not be any evil among you.

¹⁵ “ ‘Suppose a man has sex with an animal. Then he must be put to death. You must also kill the animal.

¹⁶ “ ‘Suppose a woman has sex with an animal. Then kill the woman and the animal. They must be put to death. Anything that happens to them will be their own fault.

¹⁷ “ ‘Suppose a man gets married to his sister and has sex with her. That is a shameful thing to do. It does not matter whether she is the daughter of his father or of his mother. They must be separated from their community in front of everyone. That man has brought shame on his sister. He will be responsible for what he has done.

¹⁸ “ ‘Suppose a man has sex with a woman during her monthly period. He has uncovered the place where her bleeding was coming from. And she has let him do it. So both of them must be separated from their people.

¹⁹ “ ‘Do not have sex with the sister of either your mother or your father. That would bring shame on a close relative. Both of you would be held responsible for what you have done.

²⁰ “ ‘Suppose a man has sex with his aunt. Then he has brought shame on his uncle. Both of them will be held accountable for what they have done. They will die without having any children.

²¹ “ ‘Suppose a man gets married to his brother’s wife. That is something that should never be done. He has brought shame on his brother. Neither of them will have any children.

¹¹ The Pharisees came and began to ask Jesus questions. They wanted to test him. So they asked him for a sign from heaven. ¹² He sighed deeply. He said, “Why do you people ask for a sign? What I’m about to tell you is true. No sign will be given to you.” ¹³ Then he left them. He got back into the boat and crossed to the other side of the lake.

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod

¹⁴ The disciples had forgotten to bring bread. They had only one loaf with them in the boat. ¹⁵ “Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees. And watch out for the yeast of Herod.”

¹⁶ They talked about this with each other. They said, “He must be saying this because we don’t have any bread.”

¹⁷ Jesus knew what they were saying. So he asked them, “Why are you talking about having no bread? Why can’t you see or understand? Are you stubborn? ¹⁸ Do you have eyes and still don’t see? Do you have ears and still don’t hear? And don’t you remember? ¹⁹ Earlier I broke five loaves for the 5,000. How many baskets of pieces did you pick up?”

“Twelve,” they replied.

²⁰ “Later I broke seven loaves for the 4,000. How many baskets of pieces did you pick up?”

“Seven,” they answered.

²¹ He said to them, “Can’t you understand yet?”

Jesus Heals a Blind Man at Bethsaida

²² Jesus and his disciples came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him. They begged Jesus to touch him. ²³ He took the blind man by the hand. Then he led him outside the village. He spit on the man’s eyes and placed his hands on him. “Do you see anything?” Jesus asked.

²⁴ The man looked up. He said, “I see people. They look like trees walking around.”

²⁵ Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened so that he could see again. He saw everything clearly. ²⁶ Jesus sent him home. He told him, “Don’t even go into the village.”

Peter Says That Jesus Is the Messiah

²⁷ Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

²⁸ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist. Others say Elijah. Still others say one of the prophets.”

²⁹ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

³⁰ Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus Tells About His Coming Death

³¹ Jesus then began to teach his disciples. He taught them that the Son of Man must suffer many things. He taught them that the elders would not accept him. The chief priests and the teachers of the law would not accept him either. He must be killed and after three days rise again. ³² He spoke clearly about this. Peter took Jesus to one side and began to scold him.

³³ Jesus turned and looked at his disciples. He scolded Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You are not thinking about the things God cares about. Instead, you are thinking only about the things humans care about.”

You Must Pick Up Your Cross

³⁴ Jesus called the crowd to him along with his disciples. He said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must say no to themselves. They must pick up their cross and follow me. ³⁵ Whoever wants to save their life will lose it. But whoever loses their life for me and for the good news will save it. ³⁶ What good is it if someone gains the whole world but loses their soul? ³⁷ Or what can anyone trade for their soul? ³⁸ Suppose anyone is ashamed of me and my words among these adulterous and sinful people. Then the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

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Book II

Psalms 42–72

For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.

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