On Human Sacrifice and Immoralities

20 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “You shall also say to the sons of Israel:

‘Any man from the sons of Israel or from the aliens sojourning in Israel ^(A)who gives any of his ^[a]offspring to Molech, shall surely be put to death; ^(B)the people of the land shall stone him with stones. ³ I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his ^[b]offspring to Molech, ^(C)so as to defile My sanctuary and ^(D)to profane My holy name. ⁴ If the people of the land, however, ^[c]should ever disregard that man when he gives any of his ^[d]offspring to Molech, so as not to put him to death, ⁵ then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play the harlot after him, by playing the harlot after Molech.

⁶ ‘As for the person who turns to ^[e](E)mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. ⁷ You shall consecrate yourselves therefore and ^(F)be holy, for I am the Lord your God. ^8 (G)You shall keep My statutes and practice them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

⁹ ‘^(H)If there is anyone who curses his father or his mother, he shall surely be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother, his bloodguiltiness is upon him.

¹⁰ ‘^(I)If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. ^11 (J)If there is a man who lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death, their bloodguiltiness is upon them. ^12 (K)If there is a man who lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed ^[f]incest, their bloodguiltiness is upon them. ^13 (L)If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them. ^14 (M)If there is a man who ^[g]marries a woman and her mother, it is immorality; both he and they shall be burned with fire, so that there will be no immorality in your midst. ^15 (N)If there is a man who lies with an animal, he shall surely be put to death; you shall also kill the animal. ¹⁶ If there is a woman who approaches any animal to ^[h]mate with it, you shall kill the woman and the animal; they shall surely be put to death. Their bloodguiltiness is upon them.

¹⁷ ‘^(O)If there is a man who takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, so that he sees her nakedness and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off in the sight of the sons of their people. He has uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he bears his guilt. ^18 (P)If there is a man who lies with a ^[i]menstruous woman and uncovers her nakedness, he has laid bare her flow, and she has ^[j]exposed the flow of her blood; thus both of them shall be cut off from among their people. ^19 (Q)You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has made naked his ^[k]blood relative; they will bear their guilt. ^20 (R)If there is a man who lies with his uncle’s wife he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their sin. They will die childless. ^21 (S)If there is a man who takes his brother’s wife, it is ^[l]abhorrent; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be childless.

²² ‘You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to ^[m]live will not ^(T)spew you out. ²³ Moreover, you shall not ^[n]follow ^(U)the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and ^(V)therefore I have abhorred them. ²⁴ Hence I have said to you, “^(W)You are to possess their land, and I Myself will give it to you to possess it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has ^(X)separated you from the peoples. ^25 (Y)You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make ^[o]yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything ^[p]that creeps on the ground, which I have separated for you as unclean. ²⁶ Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I ^(Z)have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.

²⁷ ‘Now a man or a woman ^(AA)who is a medium or a ^[q]spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.’”

Regulations concerning Priests

21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:

‘^(AB)No one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, ^2 (AC)except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother, ³ also for his virgin sister, who is near to him ^[r]because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. ⁴ He shall not defile himself as a ^[s]relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself. ^5 (AD)They shall not make any baldness on their heads, ^(AE)nor shave off the edges of their beards, ^(AF)nor make any cuts in their flesh. ⁶ They shall be holy to their God and ^(AG)not profane the name of their God, for they present the offerings by fire ^[t]to the Lord, ^(AH)the food of their God; so they shall be holy. ^7 (AI)They shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. ⁸ You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers ^(AJ)the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy. ^9 (AK)Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

¹⁰ ‘The priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and ^[u]who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ^(AL)shall not ^[v]uncover his head nor tear his clothes; ^11 (AM)nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; ^12 (AN)nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for ^(AO)the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord. ¹³ He shall take a wife in her virginity. ^14 (AP)A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he is to ^[w]marry a virgin of his own people, ¹⁵ so that he will not profane his ^[x]offspring among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.’”

¹⁶ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘No man of your ^[y]offspring throughout their generations who has a defect shall approach to offer the ^(AQ)food of his God. ^18 (AR)For no one who has a defect shall approach: a blind man, or a lame man, or he who has a ^[z](AS)disfigured face, or any deformed limb, ¹⁹ or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, ²⁰ or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a ^[aa]defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or ^(AT)crushed testicles. ²¹ No man among the ^[ab]descendants of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to offer the Lord’s offerings by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not come near to offer ^(AU)the food of his God. ²² He may eat ^(AV)the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, ²³ only he shall not go in to the veil or come near the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries. For I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’” ²⁴ So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.

^28 (A)One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and ^(B)recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the ^[a]foremost of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘^(C)Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; ^30 (D)and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ ³¹ The second is this, ‘^(E)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” ³² The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that ^(F)He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; ^33 (G)and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, ^(H)is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” ³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” ^(I)After that, no one would venture to ask Him any more questions.

^35 (J)And Jesus began to say, as He ^(K)taught in the temple, “How is it that the scribes say that ^[b]the Christ is the ^(L)son of David? ³⁶ David himself said ^[c]in the Holy Spirit,

³⁷ David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And ^(N)the large crowd ^[d]enjoyed listening to Him.

^38 (O)In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like ^(P)respectful greetings in the market places, ³⁹ and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, ^40 (Q)who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Mite

^41 (R)And He sat down opposite ^(S)the treasury, and began observing how the people were ^(T)putting ^[e]money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. ⁴² A poor widow came and put in two ^[f]small copper coins, which amount to a ^[g]cent. ⁴³ Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all ^[h]the contributors to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their ^[i]surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, ^[j]all she had ^(U)to live on.”