The Daily Audio Bible

Parashah 25: Tzav (Give an order) 6:1(8) – 8:36

6 ⁽⁸⁾ Adonai said to Moshe, ^2 (9) “Give this order to Aharon and his sons: ‘This is the law for the burnt offering ^[a]: it is what goes up ^[b] on its firewood upon the altar all night long, until morning; in this way the fire of the altar will be kept burning. ^3 (10) When the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, the cohen, having put on his linen garment and covered himself with his linen shorts, is to remove the ashes and put them beside the altar. ^4 (11) Then he is to remove those garments and put on others, before carrying the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. ^5 (12) In this way, the fire on the altar will be kept burning and not be allowed to go out. Each morning, the cohen is to kindle wood on it, arrange the burnt offering and make the fat of the peace offerings go up in smoke. ^6 (13) Fire is to be kept burning on the altar continually; it is not to go out.

^7 (14) “‘This is the law for the grain offering: the sons of Aharon are to offer it before Adonai in front of the altar. ^8 (15) He is to take from the grain offering a handful of its fine flour, some of its olive oil and all of the frankincense which is on the grain offering; and he is to make this reminder portion of it go up in smoke on the altar as a fragrant aroma for Adonai. ^9 (16) The rest of it Aharon and his sons are to eat; it is to be eaten without leaven in a holy place — they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. ^10 (17) It is not to be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of my offerings made by fire; like the sin offering and the guilt offering, it is especially holy. ^11 (18) Every male descendant of Aharon may eat from it; it is his share of the offerings for Adonai made by fire forever through all your generations. Whatever touches those offerings will become holy.’”

(ii) ^12 (19) Adonai said to Moshe, ^13 (20) “This is the offering for Adonai that Aharon and his sons are to offer on the day he is anointed: two quarts of fine flour, half of it in the morning and half in the evening, as a grain offering from then on. ^14 (21) It is to be well mixed with olive oil and fried on a griddle; then bring it in, break it in pieces and offer the grain offering as a fragrant aroma for Adonai. ^15 (22) The anointed cohen who will take Aharon’s place from among his descendants will offer it; it is a perpetual obligation. It must be entirely made to go up in smoke for Adonai; ^16 (23) every grain offering of the cohen is to be entirely made to go up in smoke — it is not to be eaten.”

^17 (24) Adonai said to Moshe, ^18 (25) “Tell Aharon and his sons, ‘This is the law for the sin offering: the sin offering is to be slaughtered before Adonai in the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered; it is especially holy. ^19 (26) The cohen who offers it for sin is to eat it — it is to be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting. ^20 (27) Whatever touches its flesh will become holy; if any of its blood splashes on any item of clothing, you are to wash it in a holy place. ^21 (28) The clay pot in which it is cooked must be broken; if it is cooked in a bronze pot, it must be scoured and rinsed in water. ^22 (29) Any male from a family of cohanim may eat the sin offering; it is especially holy. ^23 (30) But no sin offering which has had any of its blood brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the Holy Place is to be eaten; it is to be burned up completely.

7 “‘This is the law for the guilt offering: it is especially holy. ² They are to slaughter the guilt offering in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering, and its blood is to be splashed against all sides of the altar. ³ He is to offer all its fat — the fat tail, the fat covering the inner organs, ⁴ the two kidneys, the fat on them near the flanks, and the covering of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys. ⁵ The cohen will make them go up in smoke on the altar as an offering made by fire to Adonai ; it is a guilt offering. ⁶ Every male from a family of cohanim may eat it; it is to be eaten in a holy place; it is especially holy. ⁷ The guilt offering is like the sin offering; the same law governs them — it will belong to the cohen who uses it to make atonement.

⁸ “‘The cohen who offers someone’s burnt offering will possess the hide of the burnt offering which he has offered.

⁹ “‘Every grain offering baked in the oven, cooked in a pot or fried on a griddle will belong to the cohen who offers it. ¹⁰ But every grain offering which is mixed with olive oil or is dry will belong to all the sons of Aharon equally.

(iii) ¹¹ “‘This is the law for sacrificing peace offerings offered to Adonai: ¹² If a person offers it for giving thanks, he is to offer it with the thanksgiving sacrifice of unleavened cakes mixed with olive oil, matzah spread with olive oil, and cakes made of fine flour mixed with olive oil and fried. ¹³ With cakes of leavened bread he is to present his offering together with the sacrifice of his peace offerings for giving thanks. ¹⁴ From each kind of offering he is to present one as a gift for Adonai; it will belong to the cohen who splashes the blood of the peace offerings against the altar. ¹⁵ The meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for giving thanks is to be eaten on the day of his offering; he is not to leave any of it until morning. ¹⁶ But if the sacrifice connected with his offering is for a vow or is a voluntary offering, then, while it is to be eaten on the day he offers his sacrifice, what remains of it may be eaten the next day. ¹⁷ However, what remains of the meat of the sacrifice on the third day is to be burned up completely. ¹⁸ If any of the meat of the sacrifice of his peace offerings is eaten on the third day, the sacrifice will neither be accepted nor credited to the person offering it; rather, it will have become a disgusting thing, and whoever eats it will bear the consequences of his wrongdoing. ¹⁹ Meat which touches something unclean is not to be eaten but burned up completely. As for the meat, everyone who is clean may eat it; ²⁰ but a person in a state of uncleanness who eats any meat from the sacrifice of peace offerings made to Adonai will be cut off from his people. ²¹ Anyone who touches something unclean — whether the uncleanness be from a person, from an unclean animal or from some other unclean detestable thing — and then eats the meat from the sacrifice of peace offerings for Adonai, that person will be cut off from his people.’”

²² Adonai said to Moshe, ²³ “Say to the people of Isra’el, ‘You are not to eat the fat of bulls, sheep or goats. ²⁴ The fat of animals that die of themselves or are killed by wild animals may be used for any other purpose, but under no circumstances are you to eat it. ²⁵ For whoever eats the fat of animals of the kind used in presenting an offering made by fire to Adonai will be cut off from his people. ²⁶ You are not to eat any kind of blood, whether from birds or animals, in any of your homes. ²⁷ Whoever eats any blood will be cut off from his people.’”

⁷ Yeshua went off with his talmidim to the lake, and great numbers followed him from the Galil. ⁸ When they heard what he was doing, great numbers also followed him from Y’hudah, Yerushalayim, Idumea, the territory beyond the Yarden, and the Tzor-Tzidon area. ⁹ He told his talmidim to have a boat ready for him, so that he could escape the crush of the crowd if necessary, ¹⁰ for he had healed many people, and all the sick kept pressing forward to touch him. ¹¹ Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they would fall down in front of him and scream, “You are the Son of God!” ¹² But he warned them strictly not to make him known.

¹³ Then he went up into the hill country and summoned to himself those he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴ He appointed twelve to be with him, to be sent out to preach ¹⁵ and to have authority to expel demons:

¹⁶ Shim‘on, to whom he gave another name, “Kefa”;

¹⁷ Ya‘akov Ben-Zavdai and Yochanan, Ya‘akov’s brother — to them he gave the name “B’nei-Regesh” (that is, “Thunderers”);

¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bar-Talmai, Mattityahu, T’oma, Ya‘akov Ben-Halfai, Taddai, Shim‘on the Zealot,

¹⁹ and Y’hudah from K’riot, the one who betrayed him.

Then he entered a house; ²⁰ and once more, such a crowd came together that they couldn’t even eat. ²¹ When his family heard about this, they set out to take charge of him; for they said, “He’s out of his mind!”

²² The Torah-teachers who came down from Yerushalayim said, “He has Ba‘al-Zibbul in him,” and “It is by the ruler of the demons that he expels the demons.” ²³ But he called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan expel Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom can’t survive; ²⁵ and if a household is divided against itself, that household can’t survive. ²⁶ So if Satan has rebelled against himself and is divided, he can’t survive either; and that’s the end of him. ²⁷ Furthermore, no one can break into a strong man’s house and make off with his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. After that, he can ransack his house. ²⁸ Yes! I tell you that people will be forgiven all sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; ²⁹ however, someone who blasphemes against the Ruach HaKodesh never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin.” ³⁰ For they had been saying, “He has an unclean spirit in him.”