Regulations for Conduct of Priests^(A)

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ^(B)‘None shall defile himself for the dead among his people, ² except for his relatives who are nearest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother; ³ also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for her he may defile himself. ⁴ Otherwise he shall not defile himself, being a ^[a]chief man among his people, to profane himself.

^5 (C)‘They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh. ⁶ They shall be ^(D)holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the ^(E)bread of their God; ^(F)therefore they shall be holy. ^7 (G)They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman ^(H)divorced from her husband; for ^[b]the priest is holy to his God. ⁸ Therefore you shall ^[c]consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for ^(I)I the Lord, who ^(J)sanctify you, am holy. ⁹ The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be ^(K)burned with fire.

¹⁰ ‘He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was ^(L)poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not ^(M)uncover^[d] his head nor tear his clothes; ¹¹ nor shall he go ^(N)near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother; ^12 (O)nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the ^(P)consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord. ¹³ And he shall take a wife in her virginity. ¹⁴ A widow or a divorced woman or a defiled woman or a harlot—these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife. ¹⁵ Nor shall he profane his posterity among his people, for I the Lord sanctify him.’ ”

¹⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Speak to Aaron, saying: ‘No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God. ¹⁸ For any man who has a ^(Q)defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb ^(R)too long, ¹⁹ a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, ²⁰ or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch. ²¹ No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. ²² He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy; ²³ only he shall not go near the ^(S)veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest ^(T)he profane My sanctuaries; for I the Lord sanctify them.’ ”

²⁴ And Moses told it to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel.

Jesus Raises the Son of the Widow of Nain

¹¹ Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. ¹² And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, He had ^(A)compassion on her and said to her, ^(B)“Do not weep.” ¹⁴ Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, ^(C)arise.” ¹⁵ So he who was dead ^(D)sat up and began to speak. And He ^(E)presented him to his mother.

^16 (F)Then fear ^[a]came upon all, and they ^(G)glorified God, saying, ^(H)“A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, ^(I)“God has visited His people.” ¹⁷ And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.

John the Baptist Sends Messengers to Jesus^(J)

^18 (K)Then the disciples of John reported to him concerning all these things. ¹⁹ And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to ^[b]Jesus, saying, “Are You ^(L)the Coming One, or ^[c]do we look for another?”

²⁰ When the men had come to Him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, ‘Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?’ ” ²¹ And that very hour He cured many of ^[d]infirmities, afflictions, and evil spirits; and to many blind He gave sight.

^22 (M)Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things you have seen and heard: ^(N)that the blind ^(O)see, the lame ^(P)walk, the lepers are ^(Q)cleansed, the deaf ^(R)hear, the dead are raised, ^(S)the poor have the gospel preached to them. ²³ And blessed is he who is not ^[e]offended because of Me.”

^24 (T)When the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ²⁵ But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. ²⁶ But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet. ²⁷ This is he of whom it is written:

²⁸ For I say to you, among those born of women there is ^[f]not a ^(V)greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

²⁹ And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors ^[g]justified God, ^(W)having been baptized with the baptism of John. ³⁰ But the Pharisees and ^[h]lawyers rejected ^(X)the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.

^31 [i]And the Lord said, ^(Y)“To what then shall I liken the men of this generation, and what are they like? ³² They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, saying:

³³ For ^(Z)John the Baptist came ^(AA)neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ ³⁴ The Son of Man has come ^(AB)eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look, a glutton and a ^[j]winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ ^35 (AC)But wisdom is justified by all her children.”