Sins Requiring a Guilt Offering

6 ^[a]Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Suppose one of you sins against your associate and is unfaithful to the Lord. Suppose you cheat in a deal involving a security deposit, or you steal or commit fraud, ³ or you find lost property and lie about it, or you lie while swearing to tell the truth, or you commit any other such sin. ⁴ If you have sinned in any of these ways, you are guilty. You must give back whatever you stole, or the money you took by extortion, or the security deposit, or the lost property you found, ⁵ or anything obtained by swearing falsely. You must make restitution by paying the full price plus an additional 20 percent to the person you have harmed. On the same day you must present a guilt offering. ⁶ As a guilt offering to the Lord, you must bring to the priest your own ram with no defects, or you may buy one of equal value. ⁷ Through this process, the priest will purify you before the Lord, making you right with him,^[b] and you will be forgiven for any of these sins you have committed.”

Further Instructions for the Burnt Offering

^8 [c]Then the Lord said to Moses, ⁹ “Give Aaron and his sons the following instructions regarding the burnt offering. The burnt offering must be left on top of the altar until the next morning, and the fire on the altar must be kept burning all night. ¹⁰ In the morning, after the priest on duty has put on his official linen clothing and linen undergarments, he must clean out the ashes of the burnt offering and put them beside the altar. ¹¹ Then he must take off these garments, change back into his regular clothes, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a place that is ceremonially clean. ¹² Meanwhile, the fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must never go out. Each morning the priest will add fresh wood to the fire and arrange the burnt offering on it. He will then burn the fat of the peace offerings on it. ¹³ Remember, the fire must be kept burning on the altar at all times. It must never go out.

Further Instructions for the Grain Offering

¹⁴ “These are the instructions regarding the grain offering. Aaron’s sons must present this offering to the Lord in front of the altar. ¹⁵ The priest on duty will take from the grain offering a handful of the choice flour moistened with olive oil, together with all the frankincense. He will burn this representative portion on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁶ Aaron and his sons may eat the rest of the flour, but it must be baked without yeast and eaten in a sacred place within the courtyard of the Tabernacle.^{[d] 17} Remember, it must never be prepared with yeast. I have given it to the priests as their share of the special gifts presented to me. Like the sin offering and the guilt offering, it is most holy. ¹⁸ Any of Aaron’s male descendants may eat from the special gifts presented to the Lord. This is their permanent right from generation to generation. Anyone or anything that touches these offerings will become holy.”

Procedures for the Ordination Offering

¹⁹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁰ “On the day Aaron and his sons are anointed, they must present to the Lord the standard grain offering of two quarts^[e] of choice flour, half to be offered in the morning and half to be offered in the evening. ²¹ It must be carefully mixed with olive oil and cooked on a griddle. Then slice^[f] this grain offering and present it as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ²² In each generation, the high priest^[g] who succeeds Aaron must prepare this same offering. It belongs to the Lord and must be burned up completely. This is a permanent law. ²³ All such grain offerings of a priest must be burned up entirely. None of it may be eaten.”

Further Instructions for the Sin Offering

²⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁵ “Give Aaron and his sons the following instructions regarding the sin offering. The animal given as an offering for sin is a most holy offering, and it must be slaughtered in the Lord’s presence at the place where the burnt offerings are slaughtered. ²⁶ The priest who offers the sacrifice as a sin offering must eat his portion in a sacred place within the courtyard of the Tabernacle. ²⁷ Anyone or anything that touches the sacrificial meat will become holy. If any of the sacrificial blood spatters on a person’s clothing, the soiled garment must be washed in a sacred place. ²⁸ If a clay pot is used to boil the sacrificial meat, it must then be broken. If a bronze pot is used, it must be scoured and thoroughly rinsed with water. ²⁹ Any male from a priest’s family may eat from this offering; it is most holy. ³⁰ But the offering for sin may not be eaten if its blood was brought into the Tabernacle as an offering for purification^[h] in the Holy Place. It must be completely burned with fire.

Paul and Barnabas in Iconium

14 The same thing happened in Iconium.^[a] Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogue and preached with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. ² Some of the Jews, however, spurned God’s message and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas. ³ But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders. ⁴ But the people of the town were divided in their opinion about them. Some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles.

⁵ Then a mob of Gentiles and Jews, along with their leaders, decided to attack and stone them. ⁶ When the apostles learned of it, they fled to the region of Lycaonia—to the towns of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding area. ⁷ And there they preached the Good News.

Paul and Barnabas in Lystra and Derbe

⁸ While they were at Lystra, Paul and Barnabas came upon a man with crippled feet. He had been that way from birth, so he had never walked. He was sitting ⁹ and listening as Paul preached. Looking straight at him, Paul realized he had faith to be healed. ¹⁰ So Paul called to him in a loud voice, “Stand up!” And the man jumped to his feet and started walking.

¹¹ When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, “These men are gods in human form!” ¹² They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul was Hermes, since he was the chief speaker. ¹³ Now the temple of Zeus was located just outside the town. So the priest of the temple and the crowd brought bulls and wreaths of flowers to the town gates, and they prepared to offer sacrifices to the apostles.

¹⁴ But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting, ¹⁵ “Friends,^[b] why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. ¹⁶ In the past he permitted all the nations to go their own ways, ¹⁷ but he never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness. For instance, he sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts.” ¹⁸ But even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them.

¹⁹ Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowds to their side. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead. ²⁰ But as the believers^[c] gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch of Syria

²¹ After preaching the Good News in Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, ²² where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God. ²³ Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. ²⁴ Then they traveled back through Pisidia to Pamphylia. ²⁵ They preached the word in Perga, then went down to Attalia.

²⁶ Finally, they returned by ship to Antioch of Syria, where their journey had begun. The believers there had entrusted them to the grace of God to do the work they had now completed. ²⁷ Upon arriving in Antioch, they called the church together and reported everything God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, too. ²⁸ And they stayed there with the believers for a long time.