The Daily Audio Bible
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22 ‘Therefore keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out [as it did those before you].(A) 23 You shall not follow the statutes (laws, practices, customs) of the nation which I am driving out before you; for they did all these things, and therefore I have loathed them. 24 But I have said to you, “You are to inherit and take possession of their land, and I will give it to you to possess, a land [of plenty] [a]flowing with milk and honey.” I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples (pagan nations). 25 You are therefore to make a distinction between the [ceremonially] clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that crawls on the ground, which I have set apart from you as unclean. 26 You are to be holy to Me; for I the Lord am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples (nations) to be Mine.
27 ‘A man or woman who is a medium [who pretends to consult the dead] or who is a spiritist shall most certainly be put to death, and be stoned with stones; their blood is on them.’”
Regulations concerning Priests
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them:
‘No one shall defile himself [that is, become ceremonially unclean] for the dead among his people [by touching a corpse or assisting in preparing it for burial], 2 except for his relatives who are nearest to him, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother, 3 also his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may become unclean. 4 He shall not become unclean as a relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself. 5 The priests [b]shall not shave their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God; for they present the offerings by fire to the Lord, the food of their God; so they shall be holy. 7 They shall not take [as a wife] a woman who is a prostitute, nor a woman who is divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy. 9 The daughter of any priest who profanes herself by prostitution profanes her father; she shall be burned in fire.(B)
10 ‘But he who is the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the [sacred] garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes [in mourning], 11 nor shall he approach any dead person, nor defile himself [by doing so, even] for his father or for his mother; 12 nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane (make ceremonially unclean) the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord. 13 He shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 He may not marry a widow or a divorced woman or one who is profaned by prostitution, but he is to marry a virgin from his own people,(C) 15 so that he will not profane or dishonor his children among his people; for I am the Lord who sanctifies the high priest.’”
16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Say to Aaron, ‘Throughout their generations none of your descendants who has any [physical] defect shall approach [the altar] to present the food of his God. 18 For no man who has a defect shall approach [God’s altar as a priest]: no man who is blind or lame, or who has a disfigured face, or any deformed limb, 19 or a man who has a broken foot or a broken hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles. 21 No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a [physical] defect and is disfigured or deformed is to approach [the altar] to present the offerings of the Lord by fire. He has a defect; he shall not approach [the altar] to present the food of his God. 22 He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things, 23 but he shall not go within the veil or approach the altar [of incense], because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”(D) 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons, and to all the Israelites.
Various Rules for Priests
22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy things (offerings, gifts) which the children of Israel dedicate to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name; I am the Lord. 3 Say to them, ‘Any one of your descendants throughout your generations who approaches the holy things which the Israelites dedicate to the Lord, while he is [ceremonially] unclean, that person shall be cut off from My presence and excluded from the sanctuary; I am the Lord. 4 No man of the descendants of Aaron who is a leper or has a discharge may eat the holy things [the offerings and the showbread] until he is clean. And whoever touches any person or thing made unclean by contact with a corpse or a man who has had a seminal emission, 5 or whoever touches any crawling thing by which he is made unclean, or any person by whom he is made unclean, whatever it may be,(E) 6 the person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat the holy things unless he has bathed his body in water.(F) 7 When the sun sets, he will be clean, and afterward he may eat the holy things, for it is his food. 8 He shall not eat that which dies [of natural causes] or is torn by a predator, becoming unclean by it; I am the Lord. 9 Therefore the priests shall observe My ordinance, so that they will not bear sin because of it and die if they profane it; I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
10 ‘No layman [that is, someone outside of Aaron’s family] is to eat the holy gift [which has been offered to God]; a foreigner residing with the priest or a hired man shall not eat the holy thing. 11 But if a priest buys a slave as his property with his money, the slave may eat the holy thing, and those who are born in the priest’s house; they may eat his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter is married to a layman [one not part of the priestly tribe], she shall not eat the offering of the holy things. 13 But if a priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child, and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she shall eat her father’s food; but no layman shall eat it. 14 But if a person unknowingly eats a holy gift [which has been offered to God], then he shall add one-fifth of its value to it and give the holy gift to the priest. 15 The priests shall not profane the holy things the Israelites offer to the Lord, 16 and so cause them [by neglect of any essential observance] to bear the [c]punishment of guilt when they eat their holy things; for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”
The Transfiguration
9 And Jesus said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there are [a]some of those who are standing here who will not taste (experience) death before they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”
2 Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured (changed in form) before them [and began to shine brightly with divine and regal glory];(A) 3 and His clothes became radiant and dazzling, intensely white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were having a conversation with Jesus. 5 Peter responded and said to Jesus, “Rabbi (Master), it is good for us to be here; let us make three [sacred] tents—one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not [really] know what to say because they were terrified [and stunned by the miraculous sight]. 7 Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and [b]a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him and obey Him!” 8 Suddenly they looked around and no longer saw anyone with them, except Jesus alone.
9 As they were coming down from the mountain, Jesus expressly ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they [carefully and faithfully] kept the matter to themselves, [c]discussing and questioning [with one another] what it meant to rise from the dead. 11 They asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first [before the Messiah comes]?”(B) 12 He answered them, “Elijah does come first and restores and reestablishes all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things [grief and physical distress] and be treated with contempt [utterly despised and rejected]?(C) 13 But I say to you that Elijah has in fact come [already], and they [d]did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written [in Scripture] of him.”
All Things Possible
14 When they came [back] to the [other nine] disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes questioning and arguing with them.(D) 15 Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Jesus, they were startled and began running up to greet Him. 16 He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?” 17 One of the crowd replied to Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him unable to speak; 18 and whenever it seizes him [intending to do harm], it throws him down, and he foams [at the mouth], and grinds his teeth and becomes stiff. I told Your disciples to drive it out, and they could not do it.” 19 He replied, “O unbelieving (faithless) generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” 20 They brought the boy to Him. When the [demonic] spirit saw Him, immediately it threw the boy into a convulsion, and falling to the ground he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he answered, “Since childhood. 22 The demon has often thrown him both into fire and into water, intending to kill him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” 23 Jesus said to him, “[You say to Me,] ‘If You can?’ All things are possible for the one who believes and trusts [in Me]!” 24 Immediately the father of the boy cried out [with a desperate, piercing cry], saying, “I do believe; help [me overcome] my unbelief.” 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering [around them], He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again!” 26 After screaming out and throwing him into a terrible convulsion, it came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse [so still and pale] that many [of the spectators] said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he stood up. 28 When He had gone indoors, His disciples began asking Him privately, “Why were we unable to drive it out?” 29 He replied to them, “This kind [of unclean spirit] cannot come out by anything but prayer [to the Father].”
Prayer for Rescue.
43 Judge and vindicate me, O God; plead my case against an ungodly nation.
O rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man!
2
For You are the God of my strength [my stronghold—in whom I take refuge]; why have You rejected me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3
O send out Your light and Your truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Your holy hill
And to Your dwelling places.
4
Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God, my exceeding joy;
With the lyre I will praise You, O God, my God!
5
Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you restless and disturbed within me?
Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall again praise Him,
The [a]help of my [sad] countenance and my God.
18
He who hides hatred has lying lips,
And he who spreads slander is a fool.(A)
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.