⁷ And Moses said to Aaron, “Go to the altar, ^(A)offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. ^(B)Offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as the Lord commanded.”

⁸ Aaron therefore went to the altar and killed the calf of the sin offering, which was for himself. ⁹ Then the sons of Aaron brought the blood to him. And he dipped his finger in the blood, put it on the horns of the altar, and poured the blood at the base of the altar. ^10 (C)But the fat, the kidneys, and the fatty lobe from the liver of the sin offering he burned on the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^11 (D)The flesh and the hide he burned with fire outside the camp.

¹² And he killed the burnt offering; and Aaron’s sons presented to him the blood, ^(E)which he sprinkled all around on the altar. ^13 (F)Then they presented the burnt offering to him, with its pieces and head, and he burned them on the altar. ^14 (G)And he washed the entrails and the legs, and burned them with the burnt offering on the altar.

^15 (H)Then he brought the people’s offering, and took the goat, which was the sin offering for the people, and killed it and offered it for sin, like the first one. ¹⁶ And he brought the burnt offering and offered it ^(I)according to the ^[a]prescribed manner. ¹⁷ Then he brought the grain offering, took a handful of it, and burned it on the altar, ^(J)besides the burnt sacrifice of the morning.

¹⁸ He also killed the bull and the ram as ^(K)sacrifices of peace offerings, which were for the people. And Aaron’s sons presented to him the blood, which he sprinkled all around on the altar, ¹⁹ and the fat from the bull and the ram—the fatty tail, what covers the entrails and the kidneys, and the fatty lobe attached to the liver; ²⁰ and they put the fat on the breasts. ^(L)Then he burned the fat on the altar; ²¹ but the breasts and the right thigh Aaron waved ^(M)as a wave offering before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.

²² Then Aaron lifted his hand toward the people, ^(N)blessed them, and came down from offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and peace offerings. ²³ And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, ²⁴ and ^(O)fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they ^(P)shouted and fell on their ^(Q)faces.

The Profane Fire of Nadab and Abihu

10 Then ^(R)Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, ^(S)each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered ^(T)profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. ² So ^(U)fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. ³ And Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord spoke, saying:

So Aaron held his peace.

⁴ Then Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near, ^(W)carry your brethren from ^[b]before the sanctuary out of the camp.” ⁵ So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.

⁶ And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, “Do not ^[c]uncover your heads nor tear your clothes, lest you die, and ^(X)wrath come upon all the people. But let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, ^[d]bewail the burning which the Lord has kindled. ^7 (Y)You shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die, ^(Z)for the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.

Conduct Prescribed for Priests

⁸ Then the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying: ^9 (AA)“Do not drink wine or intoxicating drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you go into the tabernacle of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, ¹⁰ that you may ^(AB)distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, ^11 (AC)and that you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord has spoken to them by the hand of Moses.”

¹² And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons who were left: ^(AD)“Take the grain offering that remains of the offerings made by fire to the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar; ^(AE)for it is most holy. ¹³ You shall eat it in a ^(AF)holy place, because it is your ^[e]due and your sons’ due, of the sacrifices made by fire to the Lord; for ^(AG)so I have been commanded. ^14 (AH)The breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering you shall eat in a clean place, you, your sons, and your ^(AI)daughters with you; for they are your due and your sons’ ^(AJ)due, which are given from the sacrifices of peace offerings of the children of Israel. ^15 (AK)The thigh of the heave offering and the breast of the wave offering they shall bring with the offerings of fat made by fire, to offer as a wave offering before the Lord. And it shall be yours and your sons’ with you, by a statute forever, as the Lord has commanded.”

¹⁶ Then Moses made careful inquiry about ^(AL)the goat of the sin offering, and there it was—burned up. And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron who were left, saying, ^17 (AM)“Why have you not eaten the sin offering in a holy place, since it is most holy, and God has given it to you to bear ^(AN)the guilt of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? ¹⁸ See! ^(AO)Its blood was not brought inside ^[f]the holy place; indeed you should have eaten it in a holy place, ^(AP)as I commanded.”

¹⁹ And Aaron said to Moses, “Look, ^(AQ)this day they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, ^(AR)would it have been accepted in the sight of the Lord?” ²⁰ So when Moses heard that, he was content.

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶ And He said, ^(A)“The kingdom of God is as if a man should ^[a]scatter seed on the ground, ²⁷ and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and ^(B)grow, he himself does not know how. ²⁸ For the earth ^(C)yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. ²⁹ But when the grain ripens, immediately ^(D)he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

The Parable of the Mustard Seed^(E)

³⁰ Then He said, ^(F)“To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; ³² but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”

Jesus’ Use of Parables

^33 (G)And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. ³⁴ But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, ^(H)He explained all things to His disciples.

Wind and Wave Obey Jesus^(I)

^35 (J)On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” ³⁶ Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. ³⁸ But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ^(K)“Teacher, ^(L)do You not care that we are perishing?”

³⁹ Then He arose and ^(M)rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ^(N)“Peace,^[b] be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? ^(O)How^[c] is it that you have no faith?” ⁴¹ And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

A Demon-Possessed Man Healed^(P)

5 Then ^(Q)they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the ^[d]Gadarenes. ² And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an ^(R)unclean spirit, ³ who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind ^[e]him, not even with chains, ⁴ because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. ⁵ And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. ⁷ And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I ^(S)implore^[f] You by God that You do not torment me.”

⁸ For He said to him, ^(T)“Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” ⁹ Then He asked him, “What is your name?”

And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” ¹⁰ Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.

¹¹ Now a large herd of ^(U)swine was feeding there near the mountains. ¹² So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” ¹³ And ^[g]at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been ^(V)demon-possessed and had the legion, ^(W)sitting and ^(X)clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. ¹⁶ And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. ¹⁷ Then ^(Y)they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.

¹⁸ And when He got into the boat, ^(Z)he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. ¹⁹ However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” ²⁰ And he departed and began to ^(AA)proclaim in ^[h]Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all ^(AB)marveled.