Psalm 29

A psalm of David.

⁷ Moses said to Aaron, “Come to the altar and sacrifice your sin offering and your burnt offering and make atonement for yourself and the people;^(A) sacrifice the offering that is for the people and make atonement for them, as the Lord has commanded.^(B)”

⁸ So Aaron came to the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering^(C) for himself. ⁹ His sons brought the blood to him,^(D) and he dipped his finger into the blood and put it on the horns of the altar; the rest of the blood he poured out at the base of the altar.^{(E) 10} On the altar he burned the fat, the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver from the sin offering, as the Lord commanded Moses; ¹¹ the flesh and the hide^(F) he burned up outside the camp.^(G)

¹² Then he slaughtered the burnt offering.^(H) His sons handed him the blood,^(I) and he splashed it against the sides of the altar. ¹³ They handed him the burnt offering piece by piece, including the head, and he burned them on the altar.^{(J) 14} He washed the internal organs and the legs and burned them on top of the burnt offering on the altar.^(K)

¹⁵ Aaron then brought the offering that was for the people.^(L) He took the goat for the people’s sin offering and slaughtered it and offered it for a sin offering as he did with the first one.

¹⁶ He brought the burnt offering and offered it in the prescribed way.^{(M) 17} He also brought the grain offering, took a handful of it and burned it on the altar in addition to the morning’s burnt offering.^(N)

¹⁸ He slaughtered the ox and the ram as the fellowship offering for the people.^(O) His sons handed him the blood, and he splashed it against the sides of the altar. ¹⁹ But the fat portions of the ox and the ram—the fat tail, the layer of fat, the kidneys and the long lobe of the liver— ²⁰ these they laid on the breasts, and then Aaron burned the fat on the altar. ²¹ Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh before the Lord as a wave offering,^(P) as Moses commanded.

²² Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them.^(Q) And having sacrificed the sin offering, the burnt offering and the fellowship offering, he stepped down.

²³ Moses and Aaron then went into the tent of meeting.^(R) When they came out, they blessed the people; and the glory of the Lord^(S) appeared to all the people. ²⁴ Fire^(T) came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.^(U)

The Death of Nadab and Abihu

10 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu^(V) took their censers,^(W) put fire in them^(X) and added incense;^(Y) and they offered unauthorized fire before the Lord,^(Z) contrary to his command.^{(AA) 2} So fire came out^(AB) from the presence of the Lord and consumed them,^(AC) and they died before the Lord.^{(AD) 3} Moses then said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke of when he said:

Aaron remained silent.

⁴ Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan,^(AH) sons of Aaron’s uncle Uzziel,^(AI) and said to them, “Come here; carry your cousins outside the camp,^(AJ) away from the front of the sanctuary.^(AK)” ⁵ So they came and carried them, still in their tunics,^(AL) outside the camp, as Moses ordered.

⁶ Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar,^(AM) “Do not let your hair become unkempt^[a](AN) and do not tear your clothes,^(AO) or you will die and the Lord will be angry with the whole community.^(AP) But your relatives, all the Israelites, may mourn^(AQ) for those the Lord has destroyed by fire. ⁷ Do not leave the entrance to the tent of meeting^(AR) or you will die, because the Lord’s anointing oil^(AS) is on you.” So they did as Moses said.

⁸ Then the Lord said to Aaron, ⁹ “You and your sons are not to drink wine^(AT) or other fermented drink^(AU) whenever you go into the tent of meeting, or you will die. This is a lasting ordinance^(AV) for the generations to come, ¹⁰ so that you can distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,^{(AW) 11} and so you can teach^(AX) the Israelites all the decrees the Lord has given them through Moses.^(AY)”

¹² Moses said to Aaron and his remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering^(AZ) left over from the food offerings prepared without yeast and presented to the Lord and eat it beside the altar,^(BA) for it is most holy. ¹³ Eat it in the sanctuary area,^(BB) because it is your share and your sons’ share of the food offerings presented to the Lord; for so I have been commanded.^{(BC) 14} But you and your sons and your daughters may eat the breast^(BD) that was waved and the thigh that was presented. Eat them in a ceremonially clean place;^(BE) they have been given to you and your children as your share of the Israelites’ fellowship offerings. ¹⁵ The thigh^(BF) that was presented and the breast that was waved must be brought with the fat portions of the food offerings, to be waved before the Lord as a wave offering.^(BG) This will be the perpetual share for you and your children, as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶ When Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering^[b](BH) and found that it had been burned up, he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and asked, ¹⁷ “Why didn’t you eat the sin offering^(BI) in the sanctuary area? It is most holy; it was given to you to take away the guilt^(BJ) of the community by making atonement for them before the Lord. ¹⁸ Since its blood was not taken into the Holy Place,^(BK) you should have eaten the goat in the sanctuary area, as I commanded.^(BL)”

¹⁹ Aaron replied to Moses, “Today they sacrificed their sin offering and their burnt offering^(BM) before the Lord, but such things as this have happened to me. Would the Lord have been pleased if I had eaten the sin offering today?” ²⁰ When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶ He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like.^(A) A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹ As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”^(B)

The Parable of the Mustard Seed^(C)

³⁰ Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like,^(D) or what parable shall we use to describe it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. ³² Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

³³ With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand.^{(E) 34} He did not say anything to them without using a parable.^(F) But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.

Jesus Calms the Storm^(G)

³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.^(H) There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”^(I)

⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Jesus Restores a Demon-Possessed Man^(J)(K)

5 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.^{[a] 2} When Jesus got out of the boat,^(L) a man with an impure spirit^(M) came from the tombs to meet him. ³ This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. ⁷ He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me,^(N) Jesus, Son of the Most High God?^(O) In God’s name don’t torture me!” ⁸ For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”

⁹ Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“My name is Legion,”^(P) he replied, “for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹² The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” ¹³ He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

¹⁴ Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion^(Q) of demons,^(R) sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. ¹⁷ Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them^(S) how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis^[b](T) how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.