Holiness and the Priests

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ^(A)No one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, ² except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, ³ or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). ⁴ He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. ^5 (B)They shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. ⁶ They shall be holy to their God and ^(C)not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord's food offerings, ^(D)the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. ^7 (E)They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman ^(F)divorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. ⁸ You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for ^(G)I, the Lord, who sanctify you, ^(H)am holy. ⁹ And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; ^(I)she shall be burned with fire.

^10 (J)“The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ^(K)shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. ¹¹ He shall not ^(L)go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. ^12 (M)He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he ^(N)profane the sanctuary of his God, for the ^(O)consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. ¹³ And he shall take a wife in her virginity.^{[a] 14} A widow, ^(P)or a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin^[b] of his own people, ¹⁵ that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for ^(Q)I am the Lord who sanctifies him.”

¹⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may ^(R)approach to offer the bread of his God. ¹⁸ For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man ^(S)blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face ^(T)or a limb too long, ¹⁹ or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, ²⁰ or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a ^(U)defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or ^(V)crushed testicles. ²¹ No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to ^(W)offer the Lord's food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. ²² He may eat the bread of his God, both of ^(X)the most holy and of the ^(Y)holy things, ²³ but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not ^(Z)profane my sanctuaries,^{[c] (AA)}for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” ²⁴ So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they ^(AB)abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they ^(AC)dedicate to me, so that they do not ^(AD)profane my holy name: I am the Lord. ³ Say to them, ‘If any one of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while ^(AE)he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord. ⁴ None of the offspring of Aaron who has a leprous disease or a ^(AF)discharge may eat of the holy things ^(AG)until he is clean. ^(AH)Whoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or ^(AI)a man who has had an emission of semen, ⁵ and ^(AJ)whoever touches a swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or ^(AK)a person from whom he may take uncleanness, whatever his uncleanness may be— ⁶ the person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has ^(AL)bathed his body in water. ⁷ When the sun goes down he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because ^(AM)they are his food. ^8 (AN)He shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the Lord.’ ⁹ They shall therefore keep my charge, ^(AO)lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: ^(AP)I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

^10 (AQ)“A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired worker shall eat of a holy thing, ¹¹ but if a priest buys a slave^[d] as his property for money, the slave^[e] may eat of it, and ^(AR)anyone born in his house may eat of his food. ¹² If a priest's daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things. ¹³ But if a priest's daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and ^(AS)returns to her father's house, ^(AT)as in her youth, she may eat of her father's food; yet no lay person shall eat of it. ^14 (AU)And if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add ^(AV)the fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest. ¹⁵ They ^(AW)shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the Lord, ¹⁶ and so cause them ^(AX)to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: ^(AY)for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”

Acceptable Offerings

¹⁷ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, ^(AZ)When any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the Lord, ¹⁹ if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a ^(BA)male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. ^20 (BB)You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. ²¹ And when anyone ^(BC)offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord ^(BD)to fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. ²² Animals ^(BE)blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or ^(BF)an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food ^(BG)offering on the altar. ²³ You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part ^(BH)too long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted. ²⁴ Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut you shall not offer to the Lord; you shall not do it within your land, ²⁵ neither shall you offer as ^(BI)the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a ^(BJ)blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.”

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^27 (BK)“When an ox or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as a food offering to the Lord. ²⁸ But you shall not kill an ox or a sheep ^(BL)and her young in one day. ²⁹ And when you sacrifice a ^(BM)sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. ³⁰ It shall be eaten on the same day; ^(BN)you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the Lord.

^31 (BO)“So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. ^32 (BP)And you shall not profane my holy name, that ^(BQ)I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. ^(BR)I am the Lord who sanctifies you, ³³ who brought you out of the land of Egypt ^(BS)to be your God: I am the Lord.”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

14 ^(A)It was now two days before ^(B)the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes ^(C)were seeking how to arrest him by stealth and kill him, ² for they said, “Not during the feast, ^(D)lest there be an uproar from the people.”

Jesus Anointed at Bethany

^3 (E)And while he was at ^(F)Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,^[a] as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. ⁴ There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? ⁵ For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii^[b] and ^(G)given to the poor.” And they ^(H)scolded her. ⁶ But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. ⁷ For ^(I)you always have the poor with you, and whenever ^(J)you want, you can do good for them. But ^(K)you will not always have me. ^8 (L)She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand ^(M)for burial. ⁹ And truly, I say to you, wherever ^(N)the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told ^(O)in memory of her.”

Judas to Betray Jesus

^10 (P)Then ^(Q)Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, ^(R)went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. ¹¹ And when they heard it, they were glad and promised to give him money. And he sought an opportunity to ^(S)betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

^12 (T)And on ^(U)the first day of Unleavened Bread, when they ^(V)sacrificed the Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, “Where will you have us go and prepare for you to eat the Passover?” ¹³ And he sent ^(W)two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him, ¹⁴ and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ^(X)‘The Teacher says, Where is ^(Y)my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ ¹⁵ And he will show you ^(Z)a large upper room furnished and ready; there prepare for us.” ¹⁶ And the disciples set out and went to the city and found it just as he had told them, and they prepared the Passover.

^17 (AA)And when it was evening, he came with the twelve. ¹⁸ And as they were reclining at table and eating, ^(AB)Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, ^(AC)one who is eating with me.” ¹⁹ They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, “Is it I?” ²⁰ He said to them, “It is ^(AD)one of the twelve, ^(AE)one who is dipping bread into the dish with me. ²¹ For the Son of Man goes ^(AF)as it is written of him, but ^(AG)woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! ^(AH)It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.”

Institution of the Lord's Supper

^22 (AI)And as they were eating, he took bread, and after ^(AJ)blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; ^(AK)this is my body.” ²³ And he took a cup, and when he had ^(AL)given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. ²⁴ And he said to them, ^(AM)“This is my ^(AN)blood of the^[c] covenant, which is poured out for ^(AO)many. ²⁵ Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus Foretells Peter's Denial

^26 (AP)And when they had sung a hymn, ^(AQ)they went out to ^(AR)the Mount of Olives. ²⁷ And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will ^(AS)strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ ²⁸ But after I am raised up, ^(AT)I will go before you to Galilee.” ^29 (AU)Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” ³⁰ And ^(AV)Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before ^(AW)the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” ³¹ But ^(AX)he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane

^32 (AY)And they went ^(AZ)to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ And he took with him ^(BA)Peter and James and John, and began ^(BB)to be greatly distressed and troubled. ³⁴ And he said to them, ^(BC)“My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and ^(BD)watch.”^{[d] 35} And going a little farther, he fell on the ground ^(BE)and prayed that, if it were possible, ^(BF)the hour might pass from him. ³⁶ And he said, ^(BG)“Abba, Father, ^(BH)all things are possible for you. Remove ^(BI)this cup from me. ^(BJ)Yet not what I will, but what you will.” ³⁷ And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? ^38 (BK)Watch and ^(BL)pray that you may not ^(BM)enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ³⁹ And again he went away and prayed, ^(BN)saying the same words. ⁴⁰ And again he came and found them sleeping, for ^(BO)their eyes were very heavy, and ^(BP)they did not know what to answer him. ⁴¹ And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? ^(BQ)It is enough; ^(BR)the hour has come. ^(BS)The Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. ⁴² Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”

Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus

^43 (BT)And immediately, while he was still speaking, ^(BU)Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders. ⁴⁴ Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” ⁴⁵ And when he came, he went up to him at once and said, ^(BV)“Rabbi!” And he ^(BW)kissed him. ⁴⁶ And they laid hands on him and seized him. ⁴⁷ But one of those who stood by drew his ^(BX)sword and struck the servant^[e] of the high priest and cut off his ear. ⁴⁸ And Jesus said to them, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs to capture me? ^49 (BY)Day after day I was with you in the temple ^(BZ)teaching, and you did not seize me. But ^(CA)let the Scriptures be fulfilled.” ^50 (CB)And they all left him and fled.

A Young Man Flees

⁵¹ And a young man followed him, with nothing but ^(CC)a linen cloth about his body. And they seized him, ⁵² but he left the linen cloth and ran away naked.

Jesus Before the Council

^53 (CD)And ^(CE)they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. ^54 (CF)And ^(CG)Peter had followed him at a distance, ^(CH)right into ^(CI)the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with ^(CJ)the guards and ^(CK)warming himself at the fire. ⁵⁵ Now the chief priests and the whole council^[f] were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. ^56 (CL)For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony ^(CM)did not agree. ⁵⁷ And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, ^58 (CN)“We heard him say, ^(CO)‘I will destroy this temple ^(CP)that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, ^(CQ)not made with hands.’” ⁵⁹ Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. ⁶⁰ And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?”^{[g] 61} But ^(CR)he remained silent and made no answer. ^(CS)Again the high priest asked him, “Are you ^(CT)the Christ, the Son of ^(CU)the Blessed?” ⁶² And Jesus said, “I am, and ^(CV)you will see the Son of Man ^(CW)seated at the right hand of Power, and ^(CX)coming with the clouds of heaven.” ⁶³ And the high priest ^(CY)tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? ⁶⁴ You have heard ^(CZ)his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they ^(DA)all condemned him as ^(DB)deserving death. ^65 (DC)And some began ^(DD)to spit on him and ^(DE)to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him ^(DF)with blows.

Peter Denies Jesus

^66 (DG)And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, ⁶⁷ and seeing Peter ^(DH)warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” ⁶⁸ But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway^[h] and ^(DI)the rooster crowed.^{[i] 69} And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” ⁷⁰ But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” ⁷¹ But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” ⁷² And immediately the rooster crowed ^(DJ)a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, ^(DK)“Before the rooster crows twice, you will ^(DL)deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.^[j]

Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause

A Maskil^[a] of ^(A)Asaph.

God Will Judge with Equity

To the choirmaster: according to ^(AU)Do Not Destroy. ^(AV)A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.