Feasts of the Lord

23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be ^(A)holy convocations, these are My feasts.

The Sabbath

^3 (B)‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

The Passover and Unleavened Bread^(C)

^4 (D)‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. ^5 (E)On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. ⁶ And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. ^7 (F)On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no ^[a]customary work on it. ⁸ But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”

The Feast of Firstfruits

⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ^(G)‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of ^(H)the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹ He shall ^(I)wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹² And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³ Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a ^[b]sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. ¹⁴ You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast of Weeks^(J)

¹⁵ ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. ¹⁶ Count ^(K)fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer ^(L)a new grain offering to the Lord. ¹⁷ You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are ^(M)the firstfruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then you shall sacrifice ^(N)one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a ^(O)peace offering. ²⁰ The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. ^(P)They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

^22 (Q)‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’ ”

The Feast of Trumpets^(R)

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the ^(S)seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, ^(T)a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵ You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ”

The Day of Atonement^(U)

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ^27 (V)“Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. ²⁸ And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, ^(W)to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. ²⁹ For any person who is not ^(X)afflicted in soul on that same day ^(Y)shall be cut off from his people. ³⁰ And any person who does any work on that same day, ^(Z)that person I will destroy from among his people. ³¹ You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ³² It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall ^[c]afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall ^[d]celebrate your sabbath.”

The Feast of Tabernacles^(AA)

³³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ^(AB)‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. ³⁵ On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. ³⁶ For seven days you shall offer an ^(AC)offering made by fire to the Lord. ^(AD)On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a ^(AE)sacred^[e] assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

^37 (AF)‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day— ^38 (AG)besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord.

³⁹ ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have ^(AH)gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. ⁴⁰ And ^(AI)you shall take for yourselves on the first day the ^[f]fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; ^(AJ)and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ^41 (AK)You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ^42 (AL)You shall dwell in ^[g]booths for seven days. ^(AM)All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, ^43 (AN)that your generations may ^(AO)know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when ^(AP)I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ ”

⁴⁴ So Moses ^(AQ)declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.

Care of the Tabernacle Lamps^(AR)

24 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ^2 (AS)“Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. ³ Outside the veil of the Testimony, in the tabernacle of meeting, Aaron shall be in charge of it from evening until morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a statute forever in your generations. ⁴ He shall ^[h]be in charge of the lamps on ^(AT)the pure gold lampstand before the Lord continually.

The Bread of the Tabernacle

⁵ “And you shall take fine flour and bake twelve ^(AU)cakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. ⁶ You shall set them in two rows, six in a row, ^(AV)on the pure gold table before the Lord. ⁷ And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be on the bread for a ^(AW)memorial, an offering made by fire to the Lord. ^8 (AX)Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. ⁹ And ^(AY)it shall be for Aaron and his sons, ^(AZ)and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the offerings of the Lord made by fire, by a perpetual statute.”

The Penalty for Blasphemy

¹⁰ Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. ¹¹ And the Israelite woman’s son ^(BA)blasphemed the name of the Lord and ^(BB)cursed; and so they ^(BC)brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) ¹² Then they ^(BD)put him ^[i]in custody, ^(BE)that ^[j]the mind of the Lord might be shown to them.

¹³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁴ “Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him ^(BF)lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

¹⁵ “Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Whoever curses his God ^(BG)shall ^[k]bear his sin. ¹⁶ And whoever ^(BH)blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.

^17 (BI)‘Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death. ^18 (BJ)Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, animal for animal.

¹⁹ ‘If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as ^(BK)he has done, so shall it be done to him— ²⁰ fracture for ^(BL)fracture, ^(BM)eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him. ²¹ And whoever kills an animal shall restore it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death. ²² You shall have ^(BN)the^[l] same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the Lord your God.’ ”

²³ Then Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they took outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him with stones. So the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Rejoicing in Answered Prayer

A Psalm of David.

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth^(A)

6 Then ^(B)He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. ² And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were ^(C)astonished, saying, ^(D)“Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! ³ Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and ^(E)brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they ^(F)were offended at Him.

⁴ But Jesus said to them, ^(G)“A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” ^5 (H)Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And ^(I)He marveled because of their unbelief. ^(J)Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

Sending Out the Twelve^(K)

^7 (L)And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out ^(M)two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits. ⁸ He commanded them to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts— ⁹ but ^(N)to wear sandals, and not to put on two tunics.

^10 (O)Also He said to them, “In whatever place you enter a house, stay there till you depart from that place. ^11 (P)And ^[a]whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, ^(Q)shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. ^[b]Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

¹² So they went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ And they cast out many demons, ^(R)and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.

John the Baptist Beheaded^(S)

^14 (T)Now King Herod heard of Him, for His name had become well known. And he said, “John the Baptist is risen from the dead, and therefore ^(U)these powers are at work in him.”

^15 (V)Others said, “It is Elijah.”

And others said, “It is ^[c]the Prophet, ^(W)or like one of the prophets.”

^16 (X)But when Herod heard, he said, “This is John, whom I beheaded; he has been raised from the dead!” ¹⁷ For Herod himself had sent and laid hold of John, and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife; for he had married her. ¹⁸ Because John had said to Herod, ^(Y)“It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.”

¹⁹ Therefore Herodias ^[d]held it against him and wanted to kill him, but she could not; ²⁰ for Herod ^(Z)feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and he protected him. And when he heard him, he ^[e]did many things, and heard him gladly.

^21 (AA)Then an opportune day came when Herod ^(AB)on his birthday gave a feast for his nobles, the high officers, and the chief men of Galilee. ²² And when Herodias’ daughter herself came in and danced, and pleased Herod and those who sat with him, the king said to the girl, “Ask me whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” ²³ He also swore to her, ^(AC)“Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

²⁴ So she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask?”

And she said, “The head of John the Baptist!”

²⁵ Immediately she came in with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”

^26 (AD)And the king was exceedingly sorry; yet, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought. And he went and beheaded him in prison, ²⁸ brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. ²⁹ When his disciples heard of it, they came and ^(AE)took away his corpse and laid it in a tomb.

Feeding the Five Thousand^(AF)

^30 (AG)Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. ^31 (AH)And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For ^(AI)there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. ^32 (AJ)So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.

³³ But ^[f]the multitudes saw them departing, and many ^(AK)knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. ^34 (AL)And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like ^(AM)sheep not having a shepherd. So ^(AN)He began to teach them many things. ^35 (AO)When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. ³⁶ Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves ^[g]bread; for they have nothing to eat.”

³⁷ But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.”

And they said to Him, ^(AP)“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”

³⁸ But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”

And when they found out they said, ^(AQ)“Five, and two fish.”

³⁹ Then He ^(AR)commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. ⁴¹ And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He ^(AS)looked up to heaven, ^(AT)blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. ⁴² So they all ate and were filled. ⁴³ And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. ⁴⁴ Now those who had eaten the loaves were ^[h]about five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Sea^(AU)

^45 (AV)Immediately He ^[i]made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. ⁴⁶ And when He had sent them away, He ^(AW)departed to the mountain to pray. ⁴⁷ Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and ^(AX)would have passed them by. ⁴⁹ And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ^(AY)ghost, and cried out; ⁵⁰ for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, ^(AZ)“Be^[j] of good cheer! It is I; do not be ^(BA)afraid.” ⁵¹ Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ^(BB)ceased. And they were greatly ^(BC)amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. ⁵² For ^(BD)they had not understood about the loaves, because their ^(BE)heart was hardened.

Many Touch Him and Are Made Well^(BF)

^53 (BG)When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. ⁵⁴ And when they came out of the boat, immediately ^[k]the people recognized Him, ⁵⁵ ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. ⁵⁶ Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that ^(BH)they might just touch the ^(BI)hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.