Jacob exclaimed, “You are robbing me of my children! Joseph is gone! Simeon is gone! And now you want to take Benjamin, too. Everything is going against me!”

Judah Speaks for His Brothers

Then Judah stepped forward and said, “Please, my lord, let your servant say just one word to you. Please, do not be angry with me, even though you are as powerful as Pharaoh himself.

Finally, Jacob said to Joseph, “Now I am ready to die, since I have seen your face again and know you are still alive.”

“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength, the child of my vigorous youth. You are first in rank and first in power.

But you are as unruly as a flood, and you will be first no longer. For you went to bed with my wife; you defiled my marriage couch.

“Do not come any closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.

But Moses’ wife, Zipporah, took a flint knife and circumcised her son. She touched his feet with the foreskin and said, “Now you are a bridegroom of blood to me.”

Look, there are many of your people in the land, and you are stopping them from their work.”

But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.

“If you are burning thornbushes and the fire gets out of control and spreads into another person’s field, destroying the sheaves or the uncut grain or the whole crop, the one who started the fire must pay for the lost crop.

“You must not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you are called to testify in a dispute, do not be swayed by the crowd to twist justice.

But if you are careful to obey him, following all my instructions, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will oppose those who oppose you.

“These are the sacrifices you are to offer regularly on the altar. Each day, offer two lambs that are a year old,

Go up to this land that flows with milk and honey. But I will not travel among you, for you are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I did, I would surely destroy you along the way.”

For the Lord had told Moses to tell them, “You are a stubborn and rebellious people. If I were to travel with you for even a moment, I would destroy you. Remove your jewelry and fine clothes while I decide what to do with you.”

“Be very careful never to make a treaty with the people who live in the land where you are going. If you do, you will follow their evil ways and be trapped.

Procedures for the Grain Offering

“When you present grain as an offering to the Lord, the offering must consist of choice flour. You are to pour olive oil on it, sprinkle it with frankincense,

“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. This is how you are to deal with those who sin unintentionally by doing anything that violates one of the Lord’s commands.

Sins Requiring a Sin Offering

“If you are called to testify about something you have seen or that you know about, it is sinful to refuse to testify, and you will be punished for your sin.

“Suppose you sin by violating one of the Lord’s commands. Even if you are unaware of what you have done, you are guilty and will be punished for your sin.

If you have sinned in any of these ways, you are guilty. You must give back whatever you stole, or the money you took by extortion, or the security deposit, or the lost property you found,

If you are ceremonially unclean and you eat meat from a peace offering that was presented to the Lord, you will be cut off from the community.

The insects you are permitted to eat include all kinds of locusts, bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers.

“If an animal you are permitted to eat dies and you touch its carcass, you will be defiled until evening.

for another examination. If the affected areas have indeed turned white, the priest will then pronounce the person ceremonially clean by declaring, ‘You are clean!’