The Daily Audio Bible

Observing the Day of Atonement

^29 (A)The following regulations are to be observed for all time to come. On the tenth day of the seventh month the Israelites and the foreigners living among them must fast and must not do any work. ³⁰ On that day the ritual is to be performed to purify them from all their sins, so that they will be ritually clean. ³¹ That day is to be a very holy day, one on which they fast and do no work at all. These regulations are to be observed for all time to come. ³² The High Priest, properly ordained and consecrated to succeed his father, is to perform the ritual of purification. He shall put on the priestly garments ³³ and perform the ritual to purify the Most Holy Place, the rest of the Tent of the Lord's presence, the altar, the priests, and all the people of the community. ³⁴ These regulations are to be observed for all time to come. This ritual must be performed once a year to purify the people of Israel from all their sins.

So Moses^[a] did as the Lord had commanded.

The Sacredness of Blood

17 The Lord commanded Moses ² to give Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel the following regulations. ^3-4 Any Israelites who kill a cow or a sheep or a goat as an offering to the Lord anywhere except at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence have broken the Law. They have shed blood and shall no longer be considered God's people. ⁵ The meaning of this command is that the people of Israel shall now bring to the Lord the animals which they used to kill in the open country. They shall now bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent and kill them as fellowship offerings. ⁶ The priest shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar at the entrance of the Tent and burn the fat to produce an odor that is pleasing to the Lord. ⁷ The people of Israel must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by killing their animals in the fields as sacrifices to the goat demons. The people of Israel must keep this regulation for all time to come.

⁸ Any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community who offer a burnt offering or any other sacrifice ⁹ as an offering to the Lord anywhere except at the entrance of the Tent shall no longer be considered God's people.

^10 (B)If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community eat meat with blood still in it, the Lord will turn against them and no longer consider them his people. ^11 (C)The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people's sins. Blood, which is life, takes away sins. ¹² That is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that neither they nor any foreigner living among them shall eat any meat with blood still in it.

¹³ If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community catch an animal or a bird which is ritually clean, they must pour its blood out on the ground and cover it with dirt. ¹⁴ The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that they shall not eat any meat with blood still in it and that anyone who does so will no longer be considered one of his people.

¹⁵ Any people, Israelites or foreigners, who eat meat from an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by wild animals must wash their clothes, take a bath, and wait until evening before they are ritually clean. ¹⁶ If they do not, they must suffer the consequences.

Forbidden Sexual Practices

18 The Lord told Moses ² to say to the people of Israel, “I am the Lord your God. ³ Do not follow the practices of the people of Egypt, where you once lived, or of the people in the land of Canaan, where I am now taking you. ⁴ Obey my laws and do what I command. I am the Lord your God. ^5 (D)Follow the practices and the laws that I give you; you will save your life by doing so. I am the Lord.”

⁶ The Lord gave the following regulations. Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your relatives. ⁷ Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. You must not disgrace your own mother. ^8 (E)Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with any of his other wives. ^9 (F)Do not have intercourse with your sister or your stepsister, whether or not she was brought up in the same house with you. ¹⁰ Do not have intercourse with your granddaughter; that would be a disgrace to you. ¹¹ Do not have intercourse with a half sister; she, too, is your sister. ^12-13 (G)Do not have intercourse with an aunt, whether she is your father's sister or your mother's sister. ¹⁴ Do not have intercourse with your uncle's wife; she, too, is your aunt. ^15 (H)Do not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law ^16 (I)or with your brother's wife. ^17 (J)Do not have intercourse with the daughter or granddaughter of a woman with whom you have had intercourse; they may be related to you, and that would be incest. ¹⁸ Do not take your wife's sister as one of your wives, as long as your wife is living.

^19 (K)Do not have intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, because she is ritually unclean. ^20 (L)Do not have intercourse with another man's wife; that would make you ritually unclean. ^21 (M)Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord. ^22 (N)No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that. ^23 (O)No man or woman is to have sexual relations with an animal; that perversion makes you ritually unclean.

²⁴ Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in. ²⁵ Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there. ^26-27 They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord's laws and commands, ²⁸ and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you. ²⁹ You know that whoever does any of these disgusting things will no longer be considered one of God's people.

³⁰ And the Lord said, “Obey the commands I give and do not follow the practices of the people who lived in the land before you, and do not make yourselves unclean by doing any of these things. I am the Lord your God.”

A Woman's Faith^(A)

²⁴ Then Jesus left and went away to the territory near the city of Tyre. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden. ²⁵ A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ But Jesus answered, “Let us first feed the children. It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.”

²⁸ “Sir,” she answered, “even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers!”

²⁹ So Jesus said to her, “Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!”

³⁰ She went home and found her child lying on the bed; the demon had indeed gone out of her.

Jesus Heals a Deaf-Mute

³¹ Jesus then left the neighborhood of Tyre and went on through Sidon to Lake Galilee, going by way of the territory of the Ten Towns. ³² Some people brought him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged Jesus to place his hands on him. ³³ So Jesus took him off alone, away from the crowd, put his fingers in the man's ears, spat, and touched the man's tongue. ³⁴ Then Jesus looked up to heaven, gave a deep groan, and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up!”

³⁵ At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble. ³⁶ Then Jesus ordered the people not to speak of it to anyone; but the more he ordered them not to, the more they told it. ³⁷ And all who heard were completely amazed. “How well he does everything!” they exclaimed. “He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!”

Jesus Feeds Four Thousand People^(B)

8 Not long afterward another large crowd came together. When the people had nothing left to eat, Jesus called the disciples to him and said, ² “I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me for three days and now have nothing to eat. ³ If I send them home without feeding them, they will faint as they go, because some of them have come a long way.”

⁴ His disciples asked him, “Where in this desert can anyone find enough food to feed all these people?”

⁵ “How much bread do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven loaves,” they answered.

⁶ He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks to God, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the crowd; and the disciples did so. ⁷ They also had a few small fish. Jesus gave thanks for these and told the disciples to distribute them too. ^8-9 Everybody ate and had enough—there were about four thousand people. Then the disciples took up seven baskets full of pieces left over. Jesus sent the people away ¹⁰ and at once got into a boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.

A Prayer in Sickness^[a]

¹⁵ Wealth protects the rich; poverty destroys the poor.

¹⁶ The reward for doing good is life, but sin leads only to more sin.