22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they ^(A)abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they ^(B)dedicate to me, so that they do not ^(C)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 ^(D)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 ^(E)discharge may eat of the holy things ^(F)until he is clean. ^(G)Whoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or ^(H)a man who has had an emission of semen, ⁵ and ^(I)whoever touches a swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or ^(J)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 ^(K)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 ^(L)they are his food. ^8 (M)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, ^(N)lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: ^(O)I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

^10 (P)“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^[a] as his property for money, the slave^[b] may eat of it, and ^(Q)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 ^(R)returns to her father's house, ^(S)as in her youth, she may eat of her father's food; yet no lay person shall eat of it. ^14 (T)And if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add ^(U)the fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest. ¹⁵ They ^(V)shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the Lord, ¹⁶ and so cause them ^(W)to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: ^(X)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, ^(Y)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 ^(Z)male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. ^20 (AA)You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. ²¹ And when anyone ^(AB)offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord ^(AC)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 ^(AD)blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or ^(AE)an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food ^(AF)offering on the altar. ²³ You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part ^(AG)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 ^(AH)the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a ^(AI)blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.”

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^27 (AJ)“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 ^(AK)and her young in one day. ²⁹ And when you sacrifice a ^(AL)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; ^(AM)you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the Lord.

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

Feasts of the Lord

23 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(AS)These are the appointed feasts of the Lord that you shall ^(AT)proclaim as ^(AU)holy convocations; they are my appointed feasts.

The Sabbath

^3 (AV)“Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.

The Passover

^4 (AW)“These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, the ^(AX)holy convocations, which you shall proclaim at the time appointed for them. ^5 (AY)In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight,^[c] is the Lord's Passover. ⁶ And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. ^7 (AZ)On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. ⁸ But you shall present a food offering to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.”

The Feast of Firstfruits

⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^(BA)When you come into the land that I give you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of ^(BB)the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest, ¹¹ and he shall ^(BC)wave the sheaf before the Lord, so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹² And on the day when you ^(BD)wave the sheaf, you shall offer a ^(BE)male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord. ^13 (BF)And the grain offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah^[d] of fine flour mixed with oil, a food offering to the Lord with a pleasing aroma, ^(BG)and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.^{[e] 14} And you shall eat neither bread nor grain ^(BH)parched or ^(BI)fresh until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your God: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast of Weeks

^15 (BJ)“You shall count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the ^(BK)wave offering. ¹⁶ You shall count ^(BL)fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath. Then you shall present a grain offering of ^(BM)new grain to the Lord. ¹⁷ You shall bring from your dwelling places two loaves of bread to be waved, made of two tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour, and they shall be baked with leaven, as ^(BN)firstfruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ And you shall present with the bread seven lambs a year old without blemish, and one bull from the herd and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹ And you shall offer one ^(BO)male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old as a sacrifice of ^(BP)peace offerings. ²⁰ And the priest shall ^(BQ)wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. ^(BR)They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ And you shall make a proclamation on the same day. You shall hold a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a statute forever in all your dwelling places throughout your generations.

²² “And ^(BS)when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

The Feast of Trumpets

²³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In ^(BT)the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, ^(BU)a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵ You shall not do any ordinary work, and you shall present a food offering to the Lord.”

The Day of Atonement

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷ “Now ^(BV)on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves^[f] and present a food offering to the Lord. ²⁸ And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. ²⁹ For whoever is not afflicted^[g] on that very day ^(BW)shall be cut off from his people. ³⁰ And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. ³¹ You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. ³² It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.”

The Feast of Booths

³³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴ “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, ^(BX)On the fifteenth day of this seventh month and for seven days is the Feast of Booths^[h] to the Lord. ³⁵ On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. ³⁶ For seven days you shall present food offerings to the Lord. ^(BY)On the eighth day you shall hold a holy convocation and present a food offering to the Lord. It is a ^(BZ)solemn assembly; you shall not do any ordinary work.

^37 (CA)“These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim as times of holy convocation, for presenting to the Lord food offerings, burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its proper day, ^38 (CB)besides the Lord's Sabbaths and besides your gifts and besides all your vow offerings and besides all your freewill offerings, which you give to the Lord.

³⁹ “On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have ^(CC)gathered in the produce of the land, you shall celebrate the feast of the Lord seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. ⁴⁰ And ^(CD)you shall take on the first day the fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and ^(CE)you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. ^41 (CF)You shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ^42 (CG)You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native Israelites shall dwell in booths, ⁴³ that ^(CH)your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

⁴⁴ Thus Moses ^(CI)declared to the people of Israel the appointed feasts of the Lord.

The Lamps

24 ^(CJ)The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly. ³ Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. ⁴ He shall arrange the lamps on the ^(CK)lampstand of pure gold^[i] before the Lord regularly.

Bread for the Tabernacle

⁵ “You shall take fine flour and bake twelve ^(CL)loaves from it; two tenths of an ephah^[j] shall be in each loaf. ⁶ And you shall set them in two piles, six in a pile, ^(CM)on the table of pure gold^[k] before the Lord. ⁷ And you shall put pure frankincense on each pile, that it may go with the bread as a memorial portion as a food offering to the Lord. ^8 (CN)Every Sabbath day Aaron shall arrange it before the Lord regularly; it is from the people of Israel as a covenant forever. ⁹ And ^(CO)it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and ^(CP)they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the Lord's food offerings, a perpetual due.”

Punishment for Blasphemy

¹⁰ Now an Israelite woman's son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, ¹¹ and the Israelite woman's son ^(CQ)blasphemed the ^(CR)Name, and cursed. Then they ^(CS)brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. ¹² And ^(CT)they put him in custody, ^(CU)till the will of the Lord should be clear to them.

¹³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^14 (CV)“Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him ^(CW)lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. ¹⁵ And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall ^(CX)bear his sin. ¹⁶ Whoever ^(CY)blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

An Eye for an Eye

^17 (CZ)“Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death. ^18 (DA)Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good, life for life. ¹⁹ If anyone injures his neighbor, ^(DB)as he has done it shall be done to him, ²⁰ fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him. ^21 (DC)Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, ^(DD)and whoever kills a person shall be put to death. ²² You shall have the ^(DE)same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the Lord your God.” ²³ So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and ^(DF)they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

9 ^(A)And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, ^2 (B)and he sent them out to ^(C)proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. ^3 (D)And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, ^(E)no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics.^{[a] 4} And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. ⁵ And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town ^(F)shake off the dust from your feet ^(G)as a testimony ^(H)against them.” ^6 (I)And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Herod Is Perplexed by Jesus

^7 (J)Now ^(K)Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that ^(L)John had been raised from the dead, ^8 (M)by some that Elijah had appeared, and ^(N)by others that one of the prophets of old had risen. ⁹ Herod said, “John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?” And ^(O)he sought to see him.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

¹⁰ On their return ^(P)the apostles told him all that they had done. ^(Q)And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. ¹¹ When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he ^(R)welcomed them and ^(S)spoke to them of the kingdom of God and ^(T)cured those who had need of healing. ¹² Now ^(U)the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, ^(V)“Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” ¹³ But he said to them, ^(W)“You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than ^(X)five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” ¹⁴ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵ And they did so, and had them all sit down. ¹⁶ And taking the five loaves and the two fish, ^(Y)he looked up to heaven and ^(Z)said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. ¹⁷ And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ

^18 (AA)Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” ¹⁹ And they answered, ^(AB)“John the Baptist. But others say, ^(AC)Elijah, and others, that one of the prophets of old has risen.” ²⁰ Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, ^(AD)“The Christ of God.”

Jesus Foretells His Death

^21 (AE)And he strictly charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, ^22 (AF)saying, ^(AG)“The Son of Man must ^(AH)suffer many things and ^(AI)be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on ^(AJ)the third day be raised.”

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

²³ And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him ^(AK)deny himself and ^(AL)take up his cross ^(AM)daily and follow me. ²⁴ For ^(AN)whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. ^25 (AO)For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? ²⁶ For ^(AP)whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed ^(AQ)when he comes in ^(AR)his glory and the glory of the Father and of ^(AS)the holy angels. ²⁷ But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not ^(AT)taste death ^(AU)until they see the kingdom of God.”

The Transfiguration

^28 (AV)Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him ^(AW)Peter and John and James and ^(AX)went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was ^(AY)altered, and ^(AZ)his clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰ And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,^[b] which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and those who were with him ^(BA)were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake ^(BB)they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³ And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three ^(BC)tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—^(BD)not knowing what he said. ³⁴ As he was saying these things, ^(BE)a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ And ^(BF)a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, ^(BG)my Chosen One;^{[c] (BH)}listen to him!” ³⁶ And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. ^(BI)And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

^37 (BJ)On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. ³⁸ And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, “Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for ^(BK)he is my only child. ³⁹ And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. ⁴⁰ And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but ^(BL)they could not.” ⁴¹ Jesus answered, “O ^(BM)faithless and twisted generation, ^(BN)how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” ⁴² While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus ^(BO)rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and ^(BP)gave him back to his father. ⁴³ And all were astonished at ^(BQ)the majesty of God.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

^(BR)But while they were all marveling at everything he was doing, Jesus^[d] said ^(BS)to his disciples, ⁴⁴ “Let these words sink into your ears: ^(BT)The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men.” ^45 (BU)But they did not understand this saying, and ^(BV)it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.

Who Is the Greatest?

^46 (BW)An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. ⁴⁷ But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side ⁴⁸ and said to them, ^(BX)“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and ^(BY)whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For ^(BZ)he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

Anyone Not Against Us Is For Us

^49 (CA)John answered, “Master, we saw someone ^(CB)casting out demons in your name, and ^(CC)we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, ^(CD)for the one who is not against you is for you.”

A Samaritan Village Rejects Jesus

⁵¹ When the days drew near for ^(CE)him to be taken up, ^(CF)he set his face ^(CG)to go to Jerusalem. ⁵² And ^(CH)he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of ^(CI)the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. ⁵³ But ^(CJ)the people did not receive him, because ^(CK)his face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell ^(CL)fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”^{[e] 55} But he turned and rebuked them.^{[f] 56} And they went on to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

⁵⁷ As they were going ^(CM)along the road, ^(CN)someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” ⁵⁹ To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ And Jesus^[g] said to him, “Leave ^(CO)the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and ^(CP)proclaim the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, ^(CQ)but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” ⁶² Jesus said to him, ^(CR)“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”