Passover

(Exodus 12.1-20; Leviticus 23.4-8)

Moses said:

16 ^(A) People of Israel, you must celebrate Passover in the month of Abib,^[a] because one night in that month years ago, the Lord your God rescued you from Egypt. ² The Passover sacrifice must be a cow, a sheep, or a goat, and you must offer it at the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. ^3-4 Eat all of the meat of the Passover sacrifice that same night. But don't serve bread made with yeast at the Passover meal. Serve the same kind of thin bread that you ate when you were slaves suffering in Egypt^[b] and when you had to leave Egypt quickly. As long as you live, this thin bread will remind you of the day you left Egypt.

For seven days following Passover,^[c] don't make any bread with yeast. In fact, there should be no yeast anywhere in Israel.

⁵ Don't offer the Passover sacrifice in just any town where you happen to live. ⁶ It must be offered at the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. Kill the sacrifice at sunset, the time of day when you left Egypt.^{[d] 7} Then cook it and eat it there at the place of worship, returning to your tents the next morning.

⁸ Eat thin bread for the next six days. Then on the seventh day, don't do any work. Instead, come together and worship the Lord.

The Harvest Festival

(Exodus 34.22; Leviticus 23.15-21)

Moses said to Israel:

^9 (B) Seven weeks after you start your grain harvest, ^10-11 go to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped and celebrate the Harvest Festival^[e] in honor of the Lord your God. Bring him an offering as large as you can afford, depending on how big a harvest he has given you. Be sure to take along your sons and daughters and all your servants. Also invite the poor, including Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows. ¹² Remember that you used to be slaves in Egypt, so obey these laws.

The Festival of Shelters

(Leviticus 23.33-43; Numbers 29.12-38)

Moses said to Israel:

^13-15 (C) After you have finished the grain harvest and the grape harvest,^[f] take your sons and daughters and all your servants to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. Celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days. Also invite the poor, including Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows.

The Lord will give you big harvests and make you successful in everything you do. You will be completely happy, so celebrate this festival in honor of the Lord your God.

Three Festivals at the Place of Worship

(Exodus 23.14-17)

Moses said:

¹⁶ Each year there are three festivals when all Israelite men must go to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped. These are the Festival of Thin Bread, the Harvest Festival,^[g] and the Festival of Shelters. And don't forget to take along a gift for the Lord. ¹⁷ The bigger the harvest the Lord gives you, the bigger your gift should be.

Treat Everyone with Justice

Moses said to Israel:

^18-19 (D) After you are settled in the towns that you will receive from the Lord your God, the people in each town must appoint judges and other officers. Those of you that become judges must be completely fair when you make legal decisions, even if someone important is involved. Don't take bribes to give unfair decisions. Bribes keep people who are wise from seeing the truth and turn honest people into liars.^[h]

²⁰ People of Israel, if you want to enjoy a long and successful life, make sure that everyone is treated with justice in the land the Lord is giving you.

Don't Set Up Sacred Poles or Stones

Moses said to Israel:

^21 (E) When you build the altar for offering sacrifices to the Lord your God, don't set up a sacred pole^[i] for the worship of the goddess Asherah. ^22 (F) And don't set up a sacred stone! The Lord hates these things.

Sacrifices That Have Something Wrong with Them

Moses said to Israel:

17 If an ox or a sheep has something wrong with it, don't offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord your God—he will be disgusted!

Put To Death People Who Worship Idols

Moses said to Israel:

^2-3 (G) The Lord your God is giving you towns to live in. But later, a man or a woman in your town may start worshiping other gods, or even the sun, moon, or stars.^[j] I have warned you not to worship other gods, because whoever worships them is disobeying the Lord and breaking the agreement he made with you. ⁴ So when you hear that someone in your town is committing this disgusting sin, you must carefully find out if that person really is guilty. ^5-7 (H) But you will need two or three witnesses—one witness isn't enough to prove a person guilty.

Get rid of those who are guilty of such evil. Take them outside your town gates and everyone must stone them to death. But the witnesses must be the first to throw stones.

Difficult Cases

Moses said to Israel:

^8-12 It may be difficult to find out the truth in some legal cases in your town. You may not be able to decide if someone was killed accidentally or murdered. Or you may not be able to tell whether an injury or some property damage was done by accident or on purpose. If the case is too difficult, take it to the court at the place where the Lord your God chooses to be worshiped.

This court will be made up of one judge and several priests^[k] who serve at the Lord's altar. They will explain the law to you and give you their decision about the case. Do exactly what they tell you, or you will be put to death. ¹³ When other Israelites hear about it, they will be afraid and obey the decisions of the court.

The King

Moses said:

^14 (I) People of Israel, after you capture the land the Lord your God is giving you, and after you settle on it, you will say, “We want a king, just like the nations around us.”

¹⁵ Go ahead and appoint a king, but make sure that he is an Israelite and that he is the one the Lord has chosen.

^16 (J) The king should not have many horses, especially those from Egypt. The Lord has said never to go back there again. ^17 (K) And the king must not have a lot of wives—they might tempt him to be unfaithful to the Lord.^[l] Finally, the king must not try to get huge amounts of silver and gold.

¹⁸ The official copy of God's laws^[m] will be kept by the priests of the Levi tribe. So, as soon as anyone becomes king, he must go to the priests and write out a copy of these laws while they watch. ¹⁹ Each day the king must read and obey these laws, so that he will learn to worship the Lord with fear and trembling ²⁰ and not think that he's better than everyone else.

If the king completely obeys the Lord's commands, he and his descendants will rule Israel for many years.

Special Privileges for Priests and Levites

(Numbers 18.8-32)

Moses said to Israel:

18 The people of the Levi tribe, including the priests, will not receive any land. Instead, they will receive part of the sacrifices that are offered to the Lord, ^2 (L) because he has promised to provide for them in this way.

³ When you sacrifice a bull or sheep, the priests will be given the shoulder, the jaws, and the stomach.^{[n] 4} In addition, they will receive the first part of your grain harvest and part of your first batches of wine and olive oil.^[o] You must also give them the first wool that is cut from your sheep each year. ⁵ Give these gifts to the priests, because the Lord has chosen them and their descendants out of all the tribes of Israel to be his special servants at the place of worship.

⁶ Any Levite can leave his hometown, and go to the place where the Lord chooses to be worshiped, ⁷ and then be a special servant of the Lord^[p] there, just like all the other Levites. ⁸ Some Levites may have money from selling family possessions, and others may not. But all Levites serving at the place of worship will receive the same amount of food from the sacrifices and gifts brought by the people.

Don't Do Disgusting Things

Moses said to Israel:

⁹ Soon you will go into the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The nations that live there do things that are disgusting to the Lord, and you must not follow their example. ^10-11 (M) Don't sacrifice your son or daughter. And don't try to use any kind of magic or witchcraft to tell fortunes^[q] or to cast spells or to talk with spirits of the dead.

¹² The Lord is disgusted with anyone who does these things, and that's why he will help you destroy the nations that are in the land. ^13 (N) Never be guilty of doing any of these disgusting things!

A Prophet like Moses

Moses said to Israel:

¹⁴ You will go in and take the land from nations that practice magic and witchcraft. But the Lord your God won't allow you to do those things. ^15 (O) Instead, he will choose one of your own people to be a prophet just like me, and you must do what that prophet says. ¹⁶ You were asking for a prophet the day you were gathered at Mount Sinai^[r] and said to the Lord, “Please don't let us hear your voice or see this terrible fire again—if we do, we will die!”

¹⁷ Then the Lord told me:

Moses, they have said the right thing. ¹⁸ So when I want to speak to them, I will choose one of them to be a prophet like you. I will give my message to that prophet, who will tell the people exactly what I have said. ^19 (P) Since the message comes from me, anyone who doesn't obey the message will have to answer to me.

²⁰ But if I haven't spoken, and a prophet claims to have a message from me, you must kill that prophet, and you must also kill any prophet who claims to have a message from another god.

Moses said to Israel:

²¹ You may be asking yourselves, “How can we tell if a prophet's message really comes from the Lord?” ²² You will know, because if the Lord says something will happen, it will happen. And if it doesn't, you will know that the prophet was falsely claiming to speak for the Lord. Don't be afraid of any prophet whose message doesn't come from the Lord.

The Temple Will Be Destroyed

(Matthew 24.1,2; Luke 21.5,6)

13 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look at these beautiful stones and wonderful buildings!”

² Jesus replied, “Do you see these huge buildings? They will certainly be torn down! Not one stone will be left in place.”

Warning about Trouble

(Matthew 24.3-14; Luke 21.7-19)

³ Later, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him in private. ^4 (A) They asked, “When will these things happen? What will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

⁵ Jesus answered:

Watch out and don't let anyone fool you! ⁶ Many will come and claim to be me. They will use my name and fool many people.

⁷ When you hear about wars and threats of wars, don't be afraid. These things will have to happen first, but that isn't the end. ⁸ Nations and kingdoms will go to war against each other. There will be earthquakes in many places, and people will starve to death. But this is just the beginning of troubles.

^9 (B) Be on your guard! You will be taken to courts and beaten with whips in their synagogues. And because of me, you will have to stand before rulers and kings to tell about your faith. ¹⁰ But before the end comes, the good news must be preached to all nations.

¹¹ When you are arrested, don't worry about what you will say. You will be given the right words when the time comes. But you will not really be the ones speaking. Your words will come from the Holy Spirit.

¹² Brothers and sisters will betray each other and have each other put to death. Parents will betray their own children, and children will turn against their parents and have them killed. ^13 (C) Everyone will hate you because of me. But if you keep on being faithful right to the end, you will be saved.

The Horrible Thing

(Matthew 24.15-21; Luke 21.20-24)

^14 (D) Someday you will see that “Horrible Thing” where it should not be.^[a] Everyone who reads this must try to understand! If you are living in Judea at that time, run to the mountains. ^15 (E) If you are on the roof^[b] of your house, don't go inside to get anything. ¹⁶ If you are out in the field, don't go back for your coat. ¹⁷ It will be an awful time for women who are expecting babies or nursing young children. ¹⁸ Pray that it won't happen in winter.^{[c] 19 (F)} This will be the worst time of suffering since God created the world, and nothing this terrible will ever happen again. ²⁰ If the Lord doesn't make the time shorter, no one will be left alive. But because of his chosen and special ones, he will make the time shorter.