³³ “‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land,^(A) and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

⁷ Now Saul had had a concubine^(A) named Rizpah^(B) daughter of Aiah. And Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”

¹¹ When the people of Jabesh Gilead^(A) heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all their valiant men^(B) marched through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned^(C) them. ¹³ Then they took their bones^(D) and buried them under a tamarisk^(E) tree at Jabesh, and they fasted^(F) seven days.^(G)

²⁰ The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase.^(A) But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,^(B)

²⁵ God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,^[a](A) through the shedding of his blood^(B)—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished^(C)— ²⁶ he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

¹⁰ And by that will, we have been made holy^(A) through the sacrifice of the body^(B) of Jesus Christ once for all.^(C)

¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed^(A) from the empty way of life^(B) handed down to you from your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood^(C) of Christ, a lamb^(D) without blemish or defect.^(E)