Laws about Animals for Food

11 The Lord spoke again to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Among all the animals which are on the earth, these are the animals which you may eat.^{(A) 3} You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof [that is, a hoof split into two parts especially at its distal extremity] and chews the cud. ⁴ Nevertheless, you are not to eat these, among those which chew the cud or divide the hoof: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is [ceremonially] unclean to you. ⁵ And the ^[a]shaphan, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁶ And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you. ⁷ And the swine, because it divides the hoof and makes a split hoof, but does not chew the cud; it is unclean to you. ⁸ You shall not eat their meat nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

⁹ ‘These you may eat, whatever is in the water: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, these you may eat; ¹⁰ but whatever does not have fins and scales in the seas and in the rivers, of all the teeming life in the waters, and of all the living creatures that are in the waters, they are [to be considered] detestable to you.^{(B) 11} They shall be ^[b]hated things to you. You may not eat their meat; you shall detest their carcasses. ¹² Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

Avoid the Unclean

¹³ ‘These you shall detest among the birds; they are not to be eaten, for they are ^[c]hated things: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, ¹⁴ the kite, every kind of falcon, ¹⁵ every kind of raven, ¹⁶ the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, every species of hawk, ¹⁷ the little owl and the cormorant and the great owl, ¹⁸ the white owl, the pelican, the carrion vulture, ¹⁹ the stork, all kinds of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

²⁰ ‘All winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you; ²¹ yet of all winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those which have legs above their feet with which to leap on the ground. ²² Of these you may eat: the whole species of migratory locust, of bald locust, of cricket, and of grasshopper.^{(C) 23} But all other winged insects which are four footed are detestable to you.

²⁴ ‘By [contact with] these you will become unclean; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until the evening (dusk), ²⁵ and whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. ²⁶ Concerning all the animals which divide the hoof, but do not have a split hoof, or which do not chew the cud, they are unclean to you; whoever touches them becomes unclean. ²⁷ Also all animals that walk on their paws, among all kinds of animals that walk on four legs, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until the evening, ²⁸ and the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

²⁹ ‘These also are unclean to you among the swarming things that crawl around on the ground [and multiply profusely]: the mole, the mouse, and any kind of great lizard, ³⁰ the gecko, the crocodile, the lizard, the sand reptile, and the chameleon. ³¹ These [creatures] are unclean to you among all that swarm; whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening. ³² Also anything on which one of them falls after dying becomes unclean, whether it is an article of wood or clothing, or a skin, or a sack—any article that is used—it must be put in water, and will be unclean until the evening; then it becomes clean. ³³ As for any earthenware container into which any of these [crawling things] falls, whatever is in it becomes unclean, and you shall break the container. ³⁴ Any of the food which may be eaten, but on which [unclean] water falls, shall become unclean, and any liquid that may be drunk in every container shall become unclean. ³⁵ Everything that part of their carcass falls on becomes unclean; an oven, or a small stove shall be smashed; they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you. ³⁶ Nevertheless a spring or a cistern (reservoir) collecting water shall be clean; but whoever touches one of these carcasses shall be unclean. ³⁷ If a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing which is to be sown, it is clean; ³⁸ but if water is put on the seed and a part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

³⁹ ‘If one of the animals that you may eat dies [of natural causes], whoever touches its carcass becomes unclean until the evening. ⁴⁰ And whoever eats some of its meat shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening; also whoever picks up its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening.

⁴¹ ‘Now everything that swarms on the ground is detestable; it is not to be eaten. ⁴² Whatever crawls on its belly, and whatever walks on all fours, and whatever has many feet among all things that swarm on the ground, you shall not eat; for they are detestable. ⁴³ Do not make yourselves loathsome (impure, repulsive) by [eating] any swarming thing; you shall not make yourselves unclean by them so as to defile yourselves. ⁴⁴ For I am the Lord your God; so consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm or crawls on the ground.^{(D) 45} For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt to be your God; therefore you shall be holy, for I am holy.’”^(E)

⁴⁶ This is the law regarding the animal and the bird and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth, ⁴⁷ to make a distinction between the [ceremonially] unclean and the [ceremonially] clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.

Laws of Motherhood

12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying,

‘If a woman conceives and gives birth to a male child, she shall be [ceremonially] unclean for seven days, unclean as during her monthly period. ³ On the eighth day the flesh of the male child’s foreskin shall be circumcised. ⁴ Then she shall remain [intimately separated] thirty-three days to be purified from the blood; she shall not touch any consecrated thing nor enter the [courtyard of the] sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. ⁵ But if she gives birth to a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as during her monthly period, and she shall remain [intimately separated] sixty-six days to be purified from the blood.

⁶ ‘When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting a one year old lamb as a burnt offering and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering; ⁷ and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who gives birth to a child, whether a male or a female child. ⁸ If she cannot afford a lamb then she shall take two turtledoves or young pigeons, one as a burnt offering, the other as a sin offering; the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.’”^(F)

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26 When Jesus had finished this ^[a]discourse, He said to His disciples, ² “You know that the Passover is coming in two days, and the Son of Man is to be betrayed and handed over for crucifixion.”^(A)

³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of the [elegant home of the Jewish] high priest, whose name was ^[b]Caiaphas, ⁴ and plotted together to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him. ⁵ But they said, “It must not be during the festival (Passover), otherwise there might be a riot among the people.”

The Anointing in Bethany

⁶ Now when Jesus was [back] in Bethany, at the home of ^[c]Simon the leper,^{(B) 7} a ^[d]woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very expensive ^[e]perfume and she poured it on Jesus’ head as He reclined at the table. ⁸ But when the ^[f]disciples saw it they were indignant and angry, saying, “Why all this waste [of money]? ⁹ For this perfume might have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” ¹⁰ But Jesus, aware [of the malice] of this [remark], said to them, “Why are you bothering the woman? She has done a good thing to Me. ¹¹ For you always have the poor with you; but you will not always have Me.^{(C) 12} When she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. ¹³ I assure you and most solemnly say to you, wherever this gospel [of salvation] is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her [for her act of love and devotion].”

Judas’ Bargain

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve [disciples], who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Jesus over to you?” And they weighed out ^[g]thirty pieces of silver.^{(D) 16} And from that moment Judas began looking for an opportune time to betray Jesus.^(E)

¹⁷ Now on the first day of ^[h]Unleavened Bread (Passover Week) the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”^{(F) 18} He said, “Go into the city to ^[i]a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time [to suffer and atone for sin] is near; I am to keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.”’” ¹⁹ [Accordingly] the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover.^(G)

The Last Passover

²⁰ When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples.^{(H) 21} And as they were eating, He said, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you that one of you will betray Me.” ²² Being deeply grieved and extremely distressed, each one of them began to say to Him, “Surely not I, Lord?” ²³ Jesus answered, “He who has dipped his hand in the bowl with Me [as a ^[j]pretense of friendship] will betray Me. ²⁴ The Son of Man is to go [to the cross], just as it is written [in Scripture] of Him; but woe (judgment is coming) to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had never been born.”^{(I) 25} And Judas, the betrayer, said, “Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” Jesus said to him, “^[k]You have said it yourself.”