Laws Against Eating Blood

¹⁰ “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them ^(A)eats any blood, I will ^(B)set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. ^11 (C)For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar ^(D)to make atonement for your souls, ^(E)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 ^(F)pour out its blood and ^(G)cover it with earth. ¹⁴ For the life of every creature^[a] is its ^(H)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 (I)And every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, ^(J)whether he is a native or a sojourner, ^(K)shall wash his clothes and ^(L)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, ^(M)he shall bear his iniquity.”

Redemption Through the Blood of Christ

¹¹ But when Christ appeared as a high priest ^(A)of the good things that have come,^[a] then through ^(B)the greater and more perfect tent (^(C)not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) ¹² he ^(D)entered ^(E)once for all into the holy places, not by means of ^(F)the blood of goats and calves but ^(G)by means of his own blood, ^(H)thus securing an eternal redemption. ¹³ For if ^(I)the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with ^(J)the ashes of a heifer, sanctify^[b] for the purification of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will ^(K)the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit ^(L)offered himself without blemish to God, ^(M)purify our^[c] conscience ^(N)from dead works ^(O)to serve the living God.

¹⁵ Therefore he is ^(P)the mediator of a new covenant, so that ^(Q)those who are called may ^(R)receive the promised eternal inheritance, ^(S)since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.^{[d] 16} For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. ¹⁷ For ^(T)a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. ¹⁸ Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated ^(U)without blood. ¹⁹ For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took ^(V)the blood of calves and goats, ^(W)with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying, ^(X)“This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” ²¹ And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both ^(Y)the tent and all the vessels used in worship. ²² Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and ^(Z)without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

²³ Thus it was necessary for ^(AA)the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ has entered, not into holy places ^(AB)made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God ^(AC)on our behalf. ²⁵ Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as ^(AD)the high priest enters ^(AE)the holy places every year with blood not his own, ²⁶ for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, ^(AF)he has appeared ^(AG)once for all ^(AH)at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And just as ^(AI)it is appointed for man to die once, and ^(AJ)after that comes judgment, ²⁸ so Christ, having been offered once ^(AK)to bear the sins of ^(AL)many, will appear ^(AM)a second time, ^(AN)not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly ^(AO)waiting for him.

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

^6 (A)Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. ⁷ And among the rebels in prison, who had ^(B)committed murder ^(C)in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas. ⁸ And the crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do as he usually did for them. ⁹ And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” ¹⁰ For he perceived that ^(D)it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. ¹¹ But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. ¹² And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with ^(E)the man you call the King of the Jews?” ¹³ And they cried out again, “Crucify him.” ¹⁴ And Pilate said to them, “Why? ^(F)What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Crucify him.” ¹⁵ So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released for them Barabbas, and having ^(G)scourged^[a] Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.