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.”

Jesus Is Mocked

^27 (A)Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the ^(B)governor's headquarters,^[a] and they gathered the whole ^(C)battalion^[b] before him. ²⁸ And they stripped him and put ^(D)a scarlet robe on him, ²⁹ and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they ^(E)mocked him, saying, “Hail, ^(F)King of the Jews!” ³⁰ And ^(G)they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. ³¹ And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and ^(H)led him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

^32 (I)(J)As they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to ^(K)carry his cross. ^33 (L)And when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), ^34 (M)they offered him wine to drink, mixed with ^(N)gall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. ³⁵ And when they had crucified him, ^(O)they divided his garments among them by casting lots. ³⁶ Then they sat down and ^(P)kept watch over him there. ³⁷ And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, “This is Jesus, ^(Q)the King of the Jews.” ³⁸ Then two ^(R)robbers were crucified with him, ^(S)one on the right and one on the left. ³⁹ And ^(T)those who passed by ^(U)derided him, ^(V)wagging their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, ^(W)“You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! ^(X)If you are ^(Y)the Son of God, come down from the cross.” ⁴¹ So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, ^42 (Z)“He saved others; ^(AA)he cannot save himself. ^(AB)He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ^43 (AC)He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ^44 (AD)And the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour^[c] there was darkness over all the land^[d] until the ninth hour.^{[e] 46} And about the ninth hour Jesus ^(AE)cried out with a loud voice, saying, ^(AF)“Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” ⁴⁷ And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.” ⁴⁸ And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with ^(AG)sour wine, and put it on a reed and ^(AH)gave it to him to drink. ⁴⁹ But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” ⁵⁰ And Jesus ^(AI)cried out again with a loud voice and ^(AJ)yielded up his spirit.