His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

Laws for Purification

19 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ² “This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, ^(A)and on which a yoke has never come. ³ And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and ^(B)it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him. ⁴ And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and ^(C)sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. ⁵ And the heifer shall be burned in his sight. ^(D)Its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned. ⁶ And the priest shall take ^(E)cedarwood and hyssop and scarlet yarn, and throw them into the fire burning the heifer. ⁷ Then the priest ^(F)shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. But the priest shall be unclean until evening. ^8 (G)The one who burns the heifer ^(H)shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water and shall be unclean until evening. ⁹ And a man who is clean shall gather up ^(I)the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a ^(J)clean place. And they shall be kept for the water for ^(K)impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel; it is a sin offering. ¹⁰ And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer ^(L)shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. And this shall be a perpetual statute for the people of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them.

^11 (M)“Whoever touches the dead body of any person shall be unclean seven days. ¹² He ^(N)shall cleanse himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean. But if he does not cleanse himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not become clean. ¹³ Whoever touches a dead person, the body of anyone who has died, and does not cleanse himself, ^(O)defiles the tabernacle of the Lord, ^(P)and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him.

¹⁴ “This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent shall be unclean seven days. ¹⁵ And every ^(Q)open vessel that has no cover fastened on it is unclean. ^16 (R)Whoever in the open field touches someone who was killed with a sword or who died naturally, or touches a human bone or a ^(S)grave, shall be unclean seven days. ¹⁷ For the unclean they shall take ^(T)some ashes of the burnt sin offering, and fresh^[a] water shall be added in a vessel. ¹⁸ Then a clean person shall take ^(U)hyssop and dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there and on whoever touched the bone, or the slain or the dead or the grave. ¹⁹ And the clean person shall sprinkle it on the unclean ^(V)on the third day and on the seventh day. ^(W)Thus on the seventh day he shall cleanse him, and he shall ^(X)wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and at evening he shall be clean.

²⁰ “If the man who is unclean does not cleanse himself, ^(Y)that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. Because the water for impurity has not been thrown on him, he is unclean. ²¹ And it shall be a statute forever for them. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. ²² And ^(Z)whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.”

Do Not Be Anxious

²² And he said to his disciples, ^(A)“Therefore I tell you, ^(B)do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ^24 (C)Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. ^(D)Of how much more value are you than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his ^(E)span of life?^{[a] 26} If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,^[b] yet I tell you, ^(F)even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ²⁸ But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, ^(G)O you of little faith! ²⁹ And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor ^(H)be worried. ³⁰ For ^(I)all the nations of the world seek after these things, and ^(J)your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ Instead, ^(K)seek ^(L)his^[c] kingdom, ^(M)and these things will be added to you.

^32 (N)“Fear not, little ^(O)flock, for ^(P)it is your Father's good pleasure to give you ^(Q)the kingdom. ^33 (R)Sell your possessions, and ^(S)give to the needy. ^(T)Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with ^(U)a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ^34 (V)For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

You Must Be Ready

^35 (W)“Stay dressed for action^[d] and ^(X)keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ and be like men who are ^(Y)waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and ^(Z)knocks. ^37 (AA)Blessed are those servants^[e] whom the master finds ^(AB)awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, ^(AC)he will dress himself for service and ^(AD)have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. ³⁸ If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! ^39 (AE)But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour ^(AF)the thief was coming, he^[f] would not have left his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ You also must be ^(AG)ready, for ^(AH)the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

⁴¹ Peter said, “Lord, ^(AI)are you telling this parable for us or for all?” ⁴² And the Lord said, “Who then is ^(AJ)the faithful and ^(AK)wise ^(AL)manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? ^43 (AM)Blessed is that servant^[g] whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁴ Truly, I say to you, ^(AN)he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁵ But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master ^(AO)is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and ^(AP)get drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that servant will come ^(AQ)on a day when he does not expect him and ^(AR)at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. ^47 (AS)And that servant who ^(AT)knew his master's will but ^(AU)did not get ready ^(AV)or act according to his will, will receive a ^(AW)severe beating. ^48 (AX)But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, ^(AY)will receive a light beating. ^(AZ)Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.