Who Is the Greatest?

(Mark 9.33-37; Luke 9.46-48)

18 ^(A) About this time the disciples came to Jesus and asked him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ² Jesus called for a child to come over and stand near him. ^3 (B) Then he said:

I promise you this. If you don't change and become like a child, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ But if you are as humble as this child, you are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And when you welcome one of these children because of me, you welcome me.

Temptations To Sin

(Mark 9.42-48; Luke 17.1,2)

⁶ It will be terrible for people who cause even one of my little followers to sin. Those people would be better off thrown into the deepest part of the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their necks! ⁷ The world is in for trouble because of the way it causes people to sin. There will always be something to cause people to sin, but anyone who does this will be in for trouble.

^8 (C) If your hand or foot causes you to sin, chop it off and throw it away! You would be better off to go into life paralyzed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into the fire that never goes out. ^9 (D) If your eye causes you to sin, poke it out and get rid of it. You would be better off to go into life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fires of hell.

The Lost Sheep

(Luke 15.3-7)

^10-11 (E) Don't be cruel to any of these little ones! I promise you their angels are always with my Father in heaven.^{[a] 12} Let me ask you this. What would you do if you had 100 sheep and one of them wandered off? Wouldn't you leave the 99 on the hillside and go look for the one that had wandered away? ¹³ I am sure that finding it would make you happier than having the 99 that never wandered off. ¹⁴ That's how it is with your Father in heaven. He doesn't want any of these little ones to be lost.

When Someone Sins

(Luke 17.3)

^15 (F) If one of my followers^[b] sins against you, go and point out what was wrong. But do it in private, just between the two of you. If that person listens, you have won back a follower. ^16 (G) But if that one refuses to listen, take along one or two others. The Scriptures teach that every complaint must be proven true by two or more witnesses. ¹⁷ If the follower refuses to listen to them, report the matter to the church. Anyone who refuses to listen to the church must be treated like an unbeliever or a tax collector.^[c]

Allowing and Not Allowing

^18 (H) I promise you God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth, but God will not allow anything you don't allow. ¹⁹ I promise that when any two of you on earth agree about something you are praying for, my Father in heaven will do it for you. ²⁰ Whenever two or three of you come together in my name,^[d] I am there with you.

People Are Sent Outside the Camp

5 The Lord told Moses ^2-3 to say to the people of Israel, “Put out of the camp everyone who has leprosy^[a] or a bodily discharge or who has touched a dead body. Now that I live among my people, their camp must be kept clean.”

⁴ The Israelites obeyed the Lord's instructions.

The Penalty for Committing a Crime

(Leviticus 6.1-7)

^5 (A) The Lord told Moses ⁶ to say to the community of Israel:

If any of you commit a crime against someone, you have sinned against me. ⁷ You must confess your guilt and pay the victim in full for whatever damage has been done, plus a fine of 20 percent. ⁸ If the victim has no relative who can accept this money, it belongs to me and will be paid to the priest. In addition to that payment, you must take a ram for the priest to sacrifice so your sin will be forgiven.

^9-10 When you make a donation to the sacred tent, that money belongs only to the priest, and each priest will keep what is given to him.

A Suspicious Husband

¹¹ The Lord told Moses ^12-14 to say to the people of Israel:

Suppose a man becomes jealous and suspects that his wife has been unfaithful, but he has no proof. ¹⁵ He must take his wife to the priest, together with one kilogram of ground barley as an offering to find out if she is guilty. No olive oil or incense is to be put on that offering.

¹⁶ The priest will lead the woman to my altar and make her stand there. ¹⁷ He will then pour sacred water into a clay jar and stir in some dust from the floor of the sacred tent. ^18-22 Next, he will remove her veil, then hand her the barley offering, and say, “If you have been faithful to your husband, this water won't harm you. But if you have been unfaithful, it will bring down the Lord's curse—you will never be able to give birth to a child, and everyone will curse your name.”

Then the woman will answer, “If I am guilty, let it happen just as you say.”

²³ The priest will write these curses on special paper and wash them off into the bitter water, ²⁴ so that when the woman drinks this water, the curses will enter her body. ²⁵ He will take the barley offering from her and lift it up^[b] in dedication to me, the Lord. Then he will place it on my altar ²⁶ and burn part of it as a sacrifice. After that, the woman must drink the bitter water.

²⁷ If the woman has been unfaithful, the water will immediately make her unable to have children, and she will be a curse among her people. ²⁸ But if she is innocent, her body will not be harmed, and she will still be able to have children.

^29-30 This is the ceremony that must take place at my altar when a husband suspects that his wife has been unfaithful. The priest must tell the woman to stand in my presence and carefully follow these instructions. ³¹ If the husband is wrong, he will not be punished; but if his wife is guilty, she will be punished.

Rules for Nazirites

6 The Lord told Moses ² to say to the people of Israel:

If any of you want to dedicate yourself to me by vowing to become a Nazirite, ^3 (B) you must no longer drink any wine or beer or use any kind of vinegar. Don't drink grape juice or eat grapes or raisins— ⁴ not even the seeds or skins.

⁵ The hair of a Nazirite is sacred to me, and as long as you are a Nazirite, you must never cut your hair.

⁶ During the time that you are a Nazirite, you must never go close to a dead body, ^7-8 not even that of your father, mother, brother, or sister. That would make you unclean. Your hair is the sign that you are dedicated to me, so remain holy.

⁹ If someone suddenly dies near you, your hair is no longer sacred, and you must shave it seven days later during the ceremony to make you clean. ¹⁰ Then on the next day, bring two doves or two pigeons to the priest at the sacred tent. ¹¹ He will offer one of the birds as a sacrifice for sin and the other as a sacrifice to please me.^[c] You will then be forgiven for being too near a dead body, and your hair will again become sacred. ¹² But the dead body made you unacceptable, so you must make another vow to become a Nazirite and be dedicated once more. Finally, a year-old ram must be offered as the sacrifice to make things right.

^13 (C) When you have completed your promised time of being a Nazirite, go to the sacred tent ¹⁴ and offer three animals that have nothing wrong with them: a year-old ram as a sacrifice to please me, a year-old female lamb as a sacrifice for sin, and a full-grown ram as a sacrifice to ask my blessing.^{[d] 15} Wine offerings and grain sacrifices must also be brought with these animals. Finally, you are to bring a basket of bread made with your finest flour and olive oil, but without yeast. Also bring some thin wafers brushed with oil.

¹⁶ The priest will take these gifts to my altar and offer them, so that I will be pleased and will forgive you. ¹⁷ Then he will sacrifice the ram and offer the wine, grain, and bread.

¹⁸ After that, you will stand at the entrance to the sacred tent, shave your head, and put the hair in the fire where the priest has offered the sacrifice to ask my blessing.

¹⁹ Once the meat from the ram's shoulder has been boiled, the priest will take it, along with one loaf of bread and one wafer brushed with oil, and give them to you. ²⁰ You will hand them back to the priest, who will lift them up^[e] in dedication to me. Then he can eat the meat from the ram's shoulder, its choice ribs, and its hind leg, because this is his share of the sacrifice. After this, you will no longer be a Nazirite, and you will be free to drink wine.

²¹ These are the requirements for Nazirites. However, if you can afford to offer more, you must do so.

The Blessing for the People

²² The Lord told Moses, ²³ “When Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel, they must say:

²⁷ Then the Lord said, “If Aaron and his sons ask me to bless the Israelites, I will give them my blessing.”

Be Careful How You Worship

5 Be careful what you do when you enter the house of God. Fools go there to offer sacrifices, because all they do is sin.^[a] But it's best just to listen when you go to worship. ² Don't talk before you think or make promises to God without thinking them through. God is in heaven, and you are on earth, so don't talk too much. ³ If you keep thinking about something, you will dream about it. If you talk too much, you will say the wrong thing.

^4 (A) God doesn't like fools. So don't be slow to keep your promises to God. ⁵ It's better not to make a promise at all than to make one and not keep it. ⁶ Don't let your mouth get you in trouble! And don't say to the worship leader,^[b] “I didn't mean what I said.” God can destroy everything you have worked for, so don't say something that makes God angry.

⁷ Respect and obey God! Daydreaming leads to a lot of senseless talk.^[c]

⁸ Don't be surprised if the poor of your country are abused, and injustice takes the place of justice. After all, the lower officials must do what the higher ones order them to do. ⁹ And since the king is the highest official, he benefits most from the taxes paid on the land.^[d]

¹⁰ If you love money and wealth, you will never be satisfied with what you have. This doesn't make a bit of sense. ¹¹ The more you have, the more everyone expects from you. Your money won't do you any good—others will just spend it for you. ¹² If you have to work hard for a living, you can rest well at night, even if you don't have much to eat. But if you are rich, you can't even sleep.

¹³ I have seen something terribly unfair. People get rich, but it does them no good. ¹⁴ Suddenly they lose everything in a bad business deal, then have nothing to leave for their children. ^15 (B) They came into this world naked, and when they die, they will be just as naked. They can't take anything with them, and they won't have anything to show for all their work. ¹⁶ That's terribly unfair. They leave the world just as they came. They gained nothing from running after the wind. ¹⁷ Besides all this, they are always gloomy at mealtime, and they are troubled, sick, and bitter.^[e]

¹⁸ What is the best thing to do in the short life God has given us? I think we should enjoy eating, drinking, and working hard. This is what God intends for us to do. ¹⁹ Suppose you are very rich and able to enjoy everything you own. Then go ahead and enjoy working hard—this is God's gift to you. ²⁰ God will keep you so happy that you won't have time to worry about each day.