A Dying Girl and a Sick Woman

(Mark 5.21-43; Luke 8.40-56)

¹⁸ While Jesus was still speaking, an official came and knelt in front of him. The man said, “My daughter has just now died! Please come and place your hand on her. Then she will live again.”

¹⁹ Jesus and his disciples got up and went with the man.

²⁰ A woman who had been bleeding for twelve years came up behind Jesus and barely touched his clothes. ²¹ She had said to herself, “If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

²² Jesus turned. He saw the woman and said, “Don't worry! You are now healed because of your faith.” At that moment she was healed.

²³ When Jesus went into the home of the official and saw the musicians and the crowd of mourners,^{[a] 24} he said, “Get out of here! The little girl isn't dead. She is just asleep.” Everyone started laughing at Jesus. ²⁵ But after the crowd had been sent out of the house, Jesus went to the girl's bedside. He took her by the hand and helped her up.

²⁶ News about this spread all over that part of the country.

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men

²⁷ As Jesus was leaving that place, two blind men began following him and shouting, “Son of David,^[b] have pity on us!”

²⁸ After Jesus had gone indoors, the two blind men came up to him. He asked them, “Do you believe I can make you well?”

“Yes, Lord,” they answered.

²⁹ Jesus touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, you will be healed.” ³⁰ They were able to see, and Jesus strictly warned them not to tell anyone about him. ³¹ But they left and talked about him to everyone in that part of the country.

Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Talk

³² As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, some people brought to him a man who could not talk because a demon was in him. ³³ After Jesus had forced the demon out, the man started talking. The crowds were so amazed they began saying, “Nothing like this has ever happened in Israel!”

^34 (A) But the Pharisees said, “The leader of the demons gives him the power to force out demons.”

Jesus Has Pity on People

^35 (B) Jesus went to every town and village. He taught in their synagogues and preached the good news about God's kingdom. Jesus also healed every kind of disease and sickness. ^36 (C) When he saw the crowds, he felt sorry for them. They were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ^37 (D) He said to his disciples, “A large crop is in the fields, but there are only a few workers. ³⁸ Ask the Lord in charge of the harvest to send out workers to bring it in.”

The Lord said:

5 If you refuse to testify in court about something you saw or know has happened, you have sinned and can be punished.

² You are guilty and unfit to worship me, if you accidentally touch the dead body of any kind of unclean animal.

³ You are guilty if you find out that you have accidentally touched anything unclean that comes from a human body.

⁴ You are guilty the moment you realize that you have made a hasty promise to do something good or bad.

⁵ As soon as you discover that you have committed any of these sins, you must confess what you have done. ⁶ Then you must bring a female sheep or goat to me as the price for your sin. A priest will sacrifice the animal, and you will be forgiven.

⁷ If you are poor and cannot afford to bring an animal, you may bring two doves or two pigeons. One of these will be a sacrifice to ask my forgiveness, and the other will be a sacrifice to please me.

⁸ Give both birds to the priest, who will offer one as a sacrifice to ask my forgiveness. He will wring its neck without tearing off its head, ⁹ splatter some of its blood on one side of the bronze altar, and drain out the rest at the foot of the altar. ¹⁰ Then he will follow the proper rules for offering the other bird as a sacrifice to please me.

You will be forgiven when the priest offers these sacrifices as the price for your sin.

¹¹ If you are so poor that you cannot afford doves or pigeons, you may bring one kilogram of your finest flour. This is a sacrifice to ask my forgiveness, so don't sprinkle olive oil or sweet-smelling incense on it. ¹² Give the flour to a priest, who will scoop up a handful and send it up in smoke together with the other offerings. This is a reminder that all of the flour belongs to me. ¹³ By offering this sacrifice, the priest pays the price for any of these sins you may have committed. The priest gets to keep the rest of the flour, just as he does with grain sacrifices.

Sacrifices To Make Things Right

(Leviticus 7.1-10)

^14-15 The Lord told Moses what the people must do to make things right when they find out they have cheated the Lord without meaning to:

If this happens, you must either sacrifice a ram that has nothing wrong with it or else pay the price of a ram with the official money used by the priests. ¹⁶ In addition, you must pay what you owe plus a fine of 20 percent. Then the priest will offer the ram as a sacrifice to make things right, and you will be forgiven.

^17-19 If you break any of my commands without meaning to, you are still guilty, and you can be punished. When you realize what you have done, you must either bring to the priest a ram that has nothing wrong with it or else pay him for one. The priest will then offer it as a sacrifice to make things right, and you will be forgiven.

Other Sins That Need Sacrifices or Payments

(Numbers 5.5-10)

6 ^1-3 (A) The Lord told Moses what the people must do when they commit other sins against the Lord:

You have sinned if you rob or cheat someone, if you keep back money or valuables left in your care, or if you find something and claim not to have it.

⁴ When this happens, you must return what doesn't belong to you ⁵ and pay the owner a fine of 20 percent. ^6-7 In addition, you must either bring to the priest a ram that has nothing wrong with it or else pay him for one. The priest will then offer it as a sacrifice to make things right, and you will be forgiven for what you did wrong.

Daily Sacrifices

(Exodus 29.38-43; Numbers 28.1-8)

^8-9 The Lord told Moses to tell Aaron and his sons how to offer the daily sacrifices that are sent up in smoke to please the Lord:^[a]

You must put the animal for the sacrifice on the altar in the evening and let it stay there all night. But make sure the fire keeps burning. ¹⁰ The next morning you will dress in your priestly clothes, including your linen underwear. Then clean away the ashes left by the sacrifices and pile them beside the altar. ¹¹ Change into your everyday clothes, take the ashes outside the camp, and pile them in the special place.^[b]

¹² The fire must never go out, so put wood on it each morning. After this, you are to lay an animal on the altar next to the fat that you sacrifice to ask my blessing.^[c] Then send it all up in smoke to me.

¹³ The altar fire must always be kept burning—it must never go out.

Sacrifices To Give Thanks to the Lord

The Lord said:

¹⁴ When someone offers a sacrifice to give thanks to me,^[d] the priests from Aaron's family must bring it to the front of the bronze altar, ¹⁵ where one of them will scoop up a handful of the flour and oil, together with all the incense on it. Then, to show that the whole offering belongs to me, he will lay all of this on the altar and send it up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. ^16-17 The rest of it is to be baked without yeast and eaten by the priests in the sacred courtyard of the sacred tent. This bread is very holy, just like the sacrifices for sin or the sacrifices for making things right, and I have given this part to the priests from what is offered to me on the altar.

¹⁸ Only the men in Aaron's family are allowed to eat this bread, and they must go through a ceremony to be made holy before touching it.^[e] This law will never change.

When Priests Are Ordained

¹⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses ²⁰ and told him what sacrifices the priests must offer on the morning and evening of the day they are ordained:

It is the same as the regular morning and evening sacrifices—half a kilogram of flour ²¹ mixed with olive oil and cooked in a shallow pan. The bread must then be crumbled into small pieces^[f] and sent up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. ^22-23 Each of Aaron's descendants who is ordained as a priest must perform this ceremony and make sure that the bread is completely burned on the altar. None of it may be eaten!

Sacrifices for Sin

(Leviticus 4.1,2)

²⁴ The Lord told Moses ²⁵ how the priests from Aaron's family were to offer the sacrifice for sin:

This sacrifice is very sacred, and the animal must be killed in my presence at the north side of the bronze altar. ²⁶ The priest who offers this sacrifice must eat it in the sacred courtyard of the sacred tent, ²⁷ and anyone or anything that touches the meat will be holy.^[g] If any of the animal's blood is splattered on the clothes of the priest, they must be washed in a holy place. ²⁸ If the meat was cooked in a clay pot, the pot must be destroyed,^[h] but if it was cooked in a bronze pot, the pot must be scrubbed and rinsed with water.

²⁹ This sacrifice is very holy, and only the priests may have any part of it. ³⁰ None of the meat may be eaten from the sacrifices for sin that require blood to be brought into the sacred tent.^[i] These sacrifices must be completely burned.

The Lord Is In Charge