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13 Leaders of Israel, the people must bring you one sixtieth of their grain harvests as offerings to me. 14 They will also bring one percent of their olive oil. These things will be measured according to the bath, and ten baths is the same as one homer or one cor. 15 Finally, they must bring one sheep out of every 200 from their flocks.
These offerings will be used as grain sacrifices, as well as sacrifices to please me[a] and those to ask my blessing.[b] I, the Lord, will be pleased with these sacrifices and will forgive the sins of my people.
16 The people of Israel will bring you these offerings. 17 But during New Moon Festivals, Sabbath celebrations, and other religious feasts, you leaders will be responsible for providing animals for the sacrifices, as well as the grain and wine. All these will be used for the sacrifices for sin, the grain sacrifices, the sacrifices to please me, and those to ask my blessing. I will be pleased and will forgive the sins of my people.
The Festivals
(Exodus 12.1-20; Leviticus 23.33-43)
18 The Lord God said:
On the first day of the first month,[c] a young bull that has nothing wrong with it must be offered as a sacrifice to purify the temple. 19 The priest will take some blood from this sacrifice and smear it on the doorposts of the temple, as well as on the four corners of the altar and on the doorposts of the gates that lead into the inner courtyard.
20 The same ceremony must also be done on the seventh day of the month, so that anyone who sins accidentally or without knowing it will be forgiven, and so that my temple will remain holy.
21 (A) Beginning on the fourteenth day of the first month, and continuing for seven days, everyone will celebrate Passover and eat bread made without yeast. 22 On the first day, the ruler will bring a bull to offer as a sacrifice for his sins and for the sins of the people. 23 Each day of the festival he is to bring seven bulls and seven rams as sacrifices to please me,[d] and he must bring a goat[e] as a sacrifice for sin. These animals must have nothing wrong with them. 24 He will also provide nine kilograms of grain and three liters of olive oil to be offered with each bull and each ram.
25 (B) The Festival of Shelters will begin on the fifteenth day of the seventh month[f] and will continue for seven days. On each day of this festival, the ruler will provide the same number of animals that he did each day during Passover, as well as the same amount of grain and olive oil for the sacrifices.
Various Laws for the Ruler and the People
46 The Lord said:
The east gate of the inner courtyard must remain closed during the six working days of each week. But on the Sabbath and on the first day of the month, this gate will be opened. 2 Israel's ruler will go from the outer courtyard into the entrance room of this gate and stand in the doorway while the priest offers sacrifices to ask my blessing[g] and sacrifices to please me.[h] The ruler will bow with his face to the ground to show that he has worshiped me. Then he will leave, and the gate will remain open until evening.
3 Each Sabbath and on the first day of each month, the people of Israel must also come to the east gate and worship me. 4 On the Sabbath, the ruler will bring six lambs and one ram to be offered as sacrifices to please me. There must be nothing wrong with any of these animals. 5 With the ram, he is to offer nine kilograms of grain, and with each of the lambs, he can offer as much as he wants. He must also offer three liters of olive oil with every nine kilograms of grain.
6 The ruler is to bring six lambs, a bull, and a ram to be offered as sacrifices at the New Moon Festival. There must be nothing wrong with any of these animals. 7 With the bull and the ram, he is to offer nine kilograms of grain, and with each of the lambs, he can offer as much as he wants. He must also offer three liters of olive oil with every nine kilograms of grain. 8 The ruler must come through the entrance room of the east gate and leave the same way.
9 When my people come to worship me during any festival, they must always leave by the opposite gate from which they came: Those who come in the north gate must leave by the south gate, and those who come in the south gate must leave by the north gate. 10 Their ruler will come in at the same time they do and leave at the same time they leave.
11 At all other festivals and celebrations, nine kilograms of grain will be offered with a bull, and nine kilograms will be offered with a ram. The worshipers can offer as much grain as they want with each lamb. Three liters of olive oil must be offered with every nine kilograms of grain.
12 If the ruler voluntarily offers a sacrifice to please me or to ask my blessing, the east gate of the inner courtyard will be opened for him. He will offer his sacrifices just as he does on each Sabbath; then he will leave, and the gate will be closed.
13 Each morning a year-old lamb that has nothing wrong with it must be offered as a sacrifice to please me. 14 Along with it, two kilograms of fine flour mixed with a liter of olive oil must be offered as a grain sacrifice. This law will never change— 15 the lamb, the flour, and the olive oil will be offered to me every morning for all time.
Laws about the Ruler's Land
16 The Lord God said:
If the ruler of Israel gives some of his land to one of his children, it will belong to the ruler's child as part of the family property. 17 (C) But if the ruler gives some of his land to one of his servants, the land will belong to the servant until the Year of Celebration, when it will be returned to the ruler.[i] Only the ruler's children can keep what is given to them.
18 The ruler must never abuse my people by taking land from them. Any land he gives his children must already belong to him.
The Sacred Kitchens
19 The man who was showing me the temple[j] then took me back to the inner courtyard. We walked to the south side of the courtyard and stopped at the door to the sacred rooms that belonged to the priests. He showed me more rooms at the western edge of the courtyard 20 and said, “These are the kitchens where the priests must boil the meat to be offered as sacrifices to make things right[k] and as sacrifices for sin.[l] They will also bake the grain for sacrifices in these kitchens. That way, these sacred offerings won't have to be carried through the outer courtyard, where someone could accidentally touch them and be harmed.”[m]
21 We went back to the outer courtyard and walked past the four corners. 22 At each corner I saw a smaller courtyard, 20 meters long and 15 meters wide. 23 Around the inside of these smaller courtyards was a low wall of stones, and against the wall were places to build fires.[n] 24 The man said, “These are the kitchens where the temple workers will boil the meat that worshipers offer as sacrifices.”
Chosen To Live a Holy Life
13 Be alert and think straight. Put all your hope in how God will treat you with undeserved grace when Jesus Christ appears. 14 Behave like obedient children. Don't let your lives be controlled by your desires, as they used to be. 15 Always live as God's holy people should, because God is the one who chose you, and he is holy. 16 (A) That's why the Scriptures say, “I am the holy God, and you must be holy too.”
17 You say that God is your Father, but God doesn't have favorites! He judges all people by what they do. So you must honor God while you live as strangers here on earth. 18 You were rescued[a] from the useless way of life you learned from your ancestors. But you know you were not rescued by such things as silver or gold that don't last forever. 19 (B) You were rescued by the precious blood of Christ, that spotless and innocent lamb. 20 Christ was chosen even before the world was created, but because of you, he did not come until these last days. 21 And when he did come, it was to lead you to have faith in God, who raised him from death and honored him in a glorious way. This is why you have put your faith and hope in God.
22 You obeyed the truth,[b] and your souls were made pure. Now you sincerely love each other. But you must keep on loving with all your heart. 23 Do this because God has given you new birth by his message that lives on forever. 24 (C) The Scriptures say,
“Humans wither like grass,
and their glory fades
like wild flowers.
Grass dries up,
and flowers fall
to the ground.
25 But what the Lord has said
will stand forever.”
Our good news to you is what the Lord has said.
A Living Stone and a Holy Nation
2 Stop being hateful! Quit trying to fool people, and start being sincere. Don't be jealous or say cruel things about others. 2 Be like newborn babies who are thirsty for the pure spiritual milk that will help you grow and be saved. 3 (D) You have already found out how good the Lord really is.
4 Come to Jesus Christ. He is the living stone people have rejected, but which God has chosen and highly honored. 5 And now you are living stones being used to build a spiritual house. You are also a group of holy priests, and with the help of Jesus Christ you will offer sacrifices that please God. 6 (E) It is just as God says in the Scriptures,
“Look! I am placing in Zion
a choice and precious
cornerstone.
No one who has faith
in this one
will be disappointed.”
7 (F) You are followers of the Lord, and this stone is precious to you. But it isn't precious to those who refuse to follow him. They are the builders who tossed aside the stone that turned out to be the most important one of all. 8 (G) They disobeyed the message and stumbled and fell over this stone, because they were doomed.
9 (H) But you are God's chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things he has done. The Scriptures say,
10 (I) “Once you were nobody.
Now you are God's people.
At one time no one
had mercy on you.
Now God has treated you
with kindness.”
33 Point out your rules, Lord,
and I won't disobey
even one of them.
34 Help me to understand your Law;
I promise to obey it
with all my heart.
35 Direct me by your commands!
I love to do what you say.
36 Make me want to obey you,
rather than to be rich.
37 Take away my foolish desires,
and let me find life
by walking with you.
38 I am your servant!
Do for me what you promised
to those who worship you.
39 Your wonderful teachings
protect me from the insults
that I hate so much.
40 I long for your teachings.
Be true to yourself
and let me live.
41 Show me your love
and save me, Lord,
as you have promised.
42 Then I will have an answer
for everyone who insults me
for trusting your word.
43 I rely on your laws!
Don't take away my chance
to speak your truth.
44 I will keep obeying your Law
forever and ever.
45 I have gained perfect freedom
by following your teachings,
46 and I trust them so much
that I tell them to kings.
47 I love your commands!
They bring me happiness.
48 I love and respect them
and will keep them in mind.
11 The rich think highly
of themselves,
but anyone poor and sensible
sees right through them.
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