The Place of Sacrifice

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. ³ If any one of the house of Israel ^(A)kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, ⁴ and ^(B)does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man ^(C)shall be cut off from among his people. ⁵ This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice ^(D)in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them ^(E)as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. ⁶ And the priest shall ^(F)throw the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat ^(G)for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ⁷ So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they ^(H)whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.

⁸ “And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who ^(I)offers a burnt offering or sacrifice ⁹ and ^(J)does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, ^(K)that man shall be cut off from his people.

Laws Against Eating Blood

¹⁰ “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them ^(L)eats any blood, I will ^(M)set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. ^11 (N)For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar ^(O)to make atonement for your souls, ^(P)for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. ¹² Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

¹³ “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall ^(Q)pour out its blood and ^(R)cover it with earth. ¹⁴ For the life of every creature^[a] is its ^(S)blood: its blood is its life.^[b] Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. ^15 (T)And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, ^(U)whether he is a native or a sojourner, ^(V)shall wash his clothes and ^(W)bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. ¹⁶ But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, ^(X)he shall bear his iniquity.”

Unlawful Sexual Relations

18 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(Y)I am the Lord your God. ^3 (Z)You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and ^(AA)you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. ^4 (AB)You shall follow my rules^[c] and keep my statutes and walk in them. ^(AC)I am the Lord your God. ^5 (AD)You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; ^(AE)if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

⁶ “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. ^7 (AF)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^8 (AG)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife; it is your father's nakedness. ^9 (AH)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father's daughter or your mother's daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. ¹⁰ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son's daughter or of your daughter's daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. ¹¹ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife's daughter, brought up in your father's family, since she is your sister. ¹² You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is your father's relative. ¹³ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister, for she is your mother's relative. ¹⁴ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ^15 (AI)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son's wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^16 (AJ)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife; it is your brother's nakedness. ¹⁷ You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. ¹⁸ And you shall not take a woman as a ^(AK)rival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness ^(AL)while her sister is still alive.

^19 (AM)“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. ^20 (AN)And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife and so make yourself unclean with her. ²¹ You shall not give any of your children to ^(AO)offer them^[d] to ^(AP)Molech, and so ^(AQ)profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. ^22 (AR)You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. ^23 (AS)And you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is ^(AT)perversion.

^24 (AU)“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, ^(AV)for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, ²⁵ and the ^(AW)land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land ^(AX)vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶ But ^(AY)you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the ^(AZ)native or the stranger who sojourns among you ²⁷ (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), ²⁸ lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. ²⁹ For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. ^30 (BA)So keep my charge never to practice ^(BB)any of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: ^(BC)I am the Lord your God.”

Repent or Perish

13 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood ^(A)Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. ² And he answered them, ^(B)“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? ³ No, I tell you; but unless you ^(C)repent, you will all likewise perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen on whom the tower in ^(D)Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? ⁵ No, I tell you; but unless you ^(E)repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree

⁶ And he told this parable: “A man had ^(F)a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. ⁷ And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. ^(G)Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ ⁸ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. ⁹ Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

A Woman with a Disabling Spirit

¹⁰ Now ^(H)he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. ¹¹ And behold, there was a woman who had had ^(I)a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. ¹² When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” ¹³ And he ^(J)laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she ^(K)glorified God. ¹⁴ But ^(L)the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus ^(M)had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, ^(N)“There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” ¹⁵ Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! ^(O)Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? ¹⁶ And ought not this woman, ^(P)a daughter of Abraham whom ^(Q)Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” ¹⁷ As he said these things, ^(R)all his adversaries were put to shame, and ^(S)all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.

The Mustard Seed and the Leaven

^18 (T)He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? ¹⁹ It is like ^(U)a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”

²⁰ And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? ^21 (V)It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in ^(W)three measures of flour, until it was ^(X)all leavened.”

The Narrow Door

^22 (Y)He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and ^(Z)journeying toward Jerusalem. ²³ And someone said to him, “Lord, ^(AA)will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, ^24 (AB)“Strive ^(AC)to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. ^25 (AD)When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ^(AE)‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ^(AF)‘I do not know where you come from.’ ²⁶ Then you will begin to say, ^(AG)‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ ²⁷ But he will say, ‘I tell you, ^(AH)I do not know where you come from. ^(AI)Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ ^28 (AJ)In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see ^(AK)Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but ^(AL)you yourselves cast out. ²⁹ And ^(AM)people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and ^(AN)recline at table in the kingdom of God. ³⁰ And behold, ^(AO)some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”

Lament over Jerusalem

³¹ At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from ^(AP)here, for ^(AQ)Herod wants to kill you.” ³² And he said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day ^(AR)I finish my course. ³³ Nevertheless, ^(AS)I ^(AT)must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that ^(AU)a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.’ ^34 (AV)O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that ^(AW)kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! ^(AX)How often would I have ^(AY)gathered ^(AZ)your children together ^(BA)as a hen gathers her brood ^(BB)under her wings, and ^(BC)you were not willing! ³⁵ Behold, ^(BD)your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say, ^(BE)‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’”