The Daily Audio Bible

²⁹ “It is to be a permanent regulation for you that on the tenth day of the seventh month you are to deny yourselves and not do any kind of work, both the citizen and the foreigner living with you. ³⁰ For on this day, atonement will be made for you to purify you; you will be clean before Adonai from all your sins. ³¹ It is a Shabbat of complete rest for you, and you are to deny yourselves.

“This is a permanent regulation. ³² The cohen anointed and consecrated to be cohen in his father’s place will make the atonement; he will put on the linen garments, the holy garments; ³³ he will make atonement for the Especially Holy Place; he will make atonement for the tent of meeting and the altar; and he will make atonement for the cohanim and for all the people of the community. ³⁴ This is a permanent regulation for you, to make atonement for the people of Isra’el because of all their sins once a year.” Moshe did as Adonai had ordered him.

17 (LY: iv) Adonai said to Moshe, ² “Speak to Aharon and his sons and to all the people of Isra’el. Tell them that this is what Adonai has ordered: ³ ‘When someone from the community of Isra’el slaughters an ox, lamb or goat inside or outside the camp ⁴ without bringing it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to Adonai before the tabernacle of Adonai, he is to be charged with blood — he has shed blood, and that person is to be cut off from his people. ⁵ The reason for this is so that the people of Isra’el will bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice out in the field — so that they will bring them to Adonai, to the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the cohen, and sacrifice them as peace offerings to Adonai. ⁶ The cohen will splash the blood against the altar of Adonai at the entrance to the tent of meeting and make the fat go up in smoke as a pleasing aroma for Adonai. ⁷ No longer will they offer sacrifices to the goat-demons, before whom they prostitute themselves! This is a permanent regulation for them through all their generations.’

(RY: iii, LY: v) ⁸ “Also tell them, ‘When someone from the community of Isra’el or one of the foreigners living with you offers a burnt offering or sacrifice ⁹ without bringing it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to sacrifice it to Adonai, that person is to be cut off from his people. ¹⁰ When someone from the community of Isra’el or one of the foreigners living with you eats any kind of blood, I will set myself against that person who eats blood and cut him off from his people. ¹¹ For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for yourselves; for it is the blood that makes atonement because of the life.’ ¹² This is why I told the people of Isra’el, ‘None of you is to eat blood, nor is any foreigner living with you to eat blood.’

¹³ “When someone from the community of Isra’el or one of the foreigners living with you hunts and catches game, whether animal or bird that may be eaten, he is to pour out its blood and cover it with earth. ¹⁴ For the life of every creature — its blood is its life. Therefore I said to the people of Isra’el, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it will be cut off.’

¹⁵ “Anyone eating an animal that dies naturally or is torn to death by wild animals, whether he is a citizen or a foreigner, is to wash his clothes and bathe himself in water; he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean. ¹⁶ But if he doesn’t wash them or bathe his body, he will bear the consequences of his wrongdoing.”

18 Adonai said to Moshe, ² “Speak to the people of Isra’el; tell them, ‘I am Adonai your God. ³ You are not to engage in the activities found in the land of Egypt, where you used to live; and you are not to engage in the activities found in the land of Kena‘an, where I am bringing you; nor are you to live by their laws. ⁴ You are to obey my rulings and laws and live accordingly; I am Adonai your God. ⁵ You are to observe my laws and rulings; if a person does them, he will have life through them; I am Adonai.

(LY: vi) ⁶ “‘None of you is to approach anyone who is a close relative in order to have sexual relations; I am Adonai. ⁷ You are not to have sexual relations with your father, and you are not to have sexual relations with your mother. She is your mother — do not have sexual relations with her. ⁸ You are not to have sexual relations with your father’s wife; that is your father’s prerogative. ⁹ You are not to have sexual relations with your sister, the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, whether born at home or elsewhere. Do not have sexual relations with them. ¹⁰ You are not to have sexual relations with your son’s daughter or with your daughter’s daughter. Do not have sexual relations with them, because their sexual disgrace will be your own. ¹¹ You are not to have sexual relations with your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, because she is your sister; do not have sexual relations with her. ¹² You are not to have sexual relations with your father’s sister, because she is your father’s close relative. ¹³ You are not to have sexual relations with your mother’s sister, because she is your mother’s close relative. ¹⁴ You are not to disgrace your father’s brother by having sexual relations with his wife, because she is your aunt. ¹⁵ You are not to have sexual relations with your daughter-in-law; because she is your son’s wife. Do not have sexual relations with her. ¹⁶ You are not to have sexual relations with your brother’s wife, because this is your brother’s prerogative.

¹⁷ “‘You are not to have sexual relations with both a woman and her daughter, nor are you to have sexual relations with her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter; they are close relatives of hers, and it would be shameful. ¹⁸ You are not to take a woman to be a rival with her sister and have sexual relations with her while her sister is still alive. ¹⁹ You are not to approach a woman in order to have sexual relations with her when she is unclean from her time of niddah. ²⁰ You are not to go to bed with your neighbor’s wife and thus become unclean with her.

²¹ “‘You are not to let any of your children be sacrificed to Molekh, thereby profaning the name of your God; I am Adonai.

(RY: iv, LY: vii) ²² “‘You are not to go to bed with a man as with a woman; it is an abomination.

²³ “‘You are not to have sexual relations with any kind of animal and thus become unclean with it; nor is any woman to present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it; it is perversion.

²⁴ “‘Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, because all the nations which I am expelling ahead of you are defiled with them. ²⁵ The land has become unclean, and this is why I am punishing it — the land itself will vomit out its inhabitants. ²⁶ But you are to keep my laws and rulings and not engage in any of these disgusting practices, neither the citizen nor the foreigner living with you; (LY: Maftir) ²⁷ for the people of the land have committed all these abominations, and the land is now defiled. ²⁸ If you make the land unclean, it will vomit you out too, just as it is vomiting out the nation that was there before you. ²⁹ For those who engage in any of these disgusting practices, whoever they may be, will be cut off from their people. ³⁰ So keep my charge not to follow any of these abominable customs that others before you have followed and thus defile yourselves by doing them. I am Adonai your God.’”

Haftarah Acharei Mot: Yechezk’el (Ezekiel) 22:1–19 (A); 22:1–16 (S)

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Acharei Mot: Romans 3:19–28; 9:30 –10:13; 1 Corinthians 5:1–13 with 2 Corinthians 2:1–11; Galatians 3:10–14; Messianic Jews (Hebrews) 7:23–10:25

²⁴ Next, Yeshua left that district and went off to the vicinity of Tzor and Tzidon. There he found a house to stay in and wanted to remain unrecognized, but keeping hidden proved impossible. ²⁵ Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit in her came to him and fell down at his feet. ²⁶ The woman was a Greek, by birth a Syro-phoenician, and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ He said, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s food and toss it to their pet dogs.” ²⁸ She answered him, “That is true, sir; but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s leftovers.” ²⁹ Then he said to her, “For such an answer you may go on home; the demon has left your daughter.” ³⁰ She went back home and found the child lying on the couch, the demon gone.

³¹ Then he left the district of Tzor and went through Tzidon to Lake Kinneret and on to the region of the Ten Towns. ³² They brought him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment and asked Yeshua to lay his hand on him. ³³ Taking him off alone, away from the crowd, Yeshua put his fingers into the man’s ears, spat, and touched his tongue; ³⁴ then, looking up to heaven, he gave a deep groan and said to him, “Hippatach!” (that is, “Be opened!”). ³⁵ His ears were opened, his tongue was freed, and he began speaking clearly. ³⁶ Yeshua ordered the people to tell no one; but the more he insisted, the more zealously they spread the news. ³⁷ People were overcome with amazement. “Everything he does, he does well!” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the dumb speak!”

8 It was during that time that another large crowd gathered, and they had nothing to eat. Yeshua called his talmidim to him and said to them, ² “I feel sorry for these people, because they have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat. ³ If I send them off to their homes hungry, they will collapse on the way; some of them have come a long distance.” ⁴ His talmidim said to him, “How can anyone find enough bread to satisfy these people in a remote place like this?” ⁵ “How many loaves do you have?” he asked them. They answered, “Seven.” ⁶ He then told the crowd to sit down on the ground, took the seven loaves, made a b’rakhah, broke the loaves and gave them to his talmidim to serve to the people. ⁷ They also had a few fish; making a b’rakhah over them he also ordered these to be served. ⁸ The people ate their fill; and the talmidim took up the leftover pieces, seven large basketsful. ⁹ About four thousand were there. ¹⁰ After sending them away, Yeshua got into the boat with his talmidim and went off to the district of Dalmanuta.