The Sanctity of Blood

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron, to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, saying: ³ “Whatever man of the house of Israel who ^(A)kills an ox or lamb or goat in the camp, or who kills it outside the camp, ⁴ and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, the guilt of bloodshed shall be ^(B)imputed to that man. He has shed blood; and that man shall be ^[a]cut off from among his people, ⁵ to the end that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices ^(C)which they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to the priest, and offer them as peace offerings to the Lord. ⁶ And the priest ^(D)shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and ^(E)burn the fat for a sweet aroma to the Lord. ⁷ They shall no more offer their sacrifices ^(F)to ^[b]demons, after whom they ^(G)have played the harlot. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.” ’

⁸ “Also you shall say to them: ‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, ^(H)who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹ and does not ^(I)bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be ^[c]cut off from among his people.

^10 (J)‘And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who eats any blood, ^(K)I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹ For the ^(L)life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar ^(M)to make atonement for your souls; for ^(N)it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’ ¹² Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells among you eat blood.’

¹³ “Whatever man of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who ^(O)hunts and catches any animal or bird that may be eaten, he shall ^(P)pour out its blood and ^(Q)cover it with dust; ^14 (R)for it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.’

^15 (S)“And every person who eats what died naturally or what was torn by beasts, whether he is a native of your own country or a stranger, ^(T)he shall both wash his clothes and ^(U)bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. Then he shall be clean. ¹⁶ But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then ^(V)he shall bear his ^[d]guilt.”

Laws of Sexual Morality

18 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ^(W)‘I am the Lord your God. ^3 (X)According to ^[e]the doings of the land of Egypt, where you dwelt, you shall not do; and ^(Y)according to the doings of the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you, you shall not do; nor shall you walk in their ^[f]ordinances. ^4 (Z)You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. ⁵ You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

⁶ ‘None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the Lord. ⁷ The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ⁸ The nakedness of your ^(AA)father’s wife you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness. ^9 (AB)The nakedness of your sister, the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere, their nakedness you shall not uncover. ¹⁰ The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for theirs is your own nakedness. ¹¹ The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, begotten by your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her nakedness. ^12 (AC)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is near of kin to your father. ¹³ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is near of kin to your mother. ^14 (AD)You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ¹⁵ You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law—she is your son’s wife—you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹⁶ 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 her ^(AE)daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness. They are near of kin to her. It is wickedness. ¹⁸ Nor shall you take a woman ^(AF)as a rival to her sister, to uncover her nakedness while the other is alive.

¹⁹ ‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as ^(AG)long as she is in her ^(AH)customary impurity. ^20 (AI)Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your ^(AJ)neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her. ²¹ And you shall not let any of your descendants ^(AK)pass through ^(AL)the fire to ^(AM)Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord. ²² You shall not lie with ^(AN)a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. ²³ Nor shall you mate with any ^(AO)animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.

^24 (AP)‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; ^(AQ)for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. ²⁵ For ^(AR)the land is defiled; therefore I ^(AS)visit^[g] the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land ^(AT)vomits out its inhabitants. ^26 (AU)You shall therefore ^[h]keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you ²⁷ (for all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), ²⁸ lest ^(AV)the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you. ²⁹ For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be ^[i]cut off from among their people.

³⁰ ‘Therefore you shall keep My ^[j]ordinance, so ^(AW)that you do not commit any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves by them: ^(AX)I am the Lord your God.’ ”

^17 (A)In the evening He came with the twelve. ¹⁸ Now as they sat and ate, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, ^(B)one of you who eats with Me will betray Me.”

¹⁹ And they began to be sorrowful, and to say to Him one by one, “Is it I?” ^[a]And another said, “Is it I?”

²⁰ He answered and said to them, “It is one of the twelve, who dips with Me in the dish. ^21 (C)The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”

Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper^(D)

^22 (E)And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, “Take, ^[b]eat; this is My ^(F)body.”

²³ Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. ²⁴ And He said to them, “This is My blood of the ^[c]new covenant, which is shed for many. ²⁵ Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”

^26 (G)And when they had sung ^[d]a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial^(H)

^27 (I)Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble ^[e]because of Me this night, for it is written:

²⁸ “But ^(K)after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee.”

^29 (L)Peter said to Him, “Even if all are made to ^[f]stumble, yet I will not be.”

³⁰ Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.”

³¹ But he spoke more vehemently, “If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!”

And they all said likewise.

The Prayer in the Garden^(M)

^32 (N)Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ And He ^(O)took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. ³⁴ Then He said to them, ^(P)“My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.”

³⁵ He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. ³⁶ And He said, ^(Q)“Abba, Father, ^(R)all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; ^(S)nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.”

³⁷ Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? ^38 (T)Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. ^(U)The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

³⁹ Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words. ⁴⁰ And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.

⁴¹ Then He came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? It is enough! ^(V)The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. ^42 (W)Rise, let us be going. See, My betrayer is at hand.”