Old/New Testament
Special Holidays
23 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel: ‘You will announce the Lord’s appointed ·feasts [festivals] as holy ·meetings [convocations]. These are my special ·feasts [festivals].
The Sabbath
3 “‘There are six days for you to work, but the seventh day will be a special day of rest. It is a day for a holy ·meeting [convocation]; you must not do any work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your homes [Ex. 20:8–11; 31:12–17; 35:1–3; Num. 28:9–10; Deut. 5:12–15].
The Passover and Unleavened Bread
4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed ·feasts [festivals], the holy ·meetings [convocations], which you will announce at the times set for them. 5 The Lord’s Passover is on the fourteenth day of the first month, beginning at twilight. 6 The ·Feast [Festival] of Unleavened Bread begins on the fifteenth day of the same month. You will eat bread made without ·yeast [leaven] for seven days. 7 On the first day of this ·feast [festival] you will have a holy ·meeting [convocation], and you must not do any work. 8 For seven days you will bring an offering made by fire to the Lord. There will be a holy ·meeting [convocation] on the seventh day, and on that day you must not do any regular work [Ex. 12:1–13, 21–27; 23:15; Num. 28:16–25; Deut. 16:1–8].’”
The First of the Harvest
9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Tell the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel: ‘You will enter the land I will give you and gather its harvest. At that time you must bring the first bundle of grain from your harvest to the priest. 11 The priest will ·present [wave] the bundle before the Lord, and it will be accepted for you; he will ·present [wave] the bundle on the day after the Sabbath.
12 “‘On the day when you ·present [wave; 23:15] the bundle of grain, offer a male lamb, one year old, that ·has nothing wrong with it [is perfect], as a burnt offering [1:1–17] to the Lord. 13 You must also offer a ·grain [L gift; tribute] offering [2:1]—·four quarts [L two tenths of an ephah] of ·fine [choice] flour mixed with olive oil as an offering made by fire to the Lord; its smell will be pleasing to him. You must also offer ·a quart [L one-fourth of a hin] of wine as a drink offering. 14 Until the day you bring your offering to your God, do not eat any new grain, roasted grain, or bread made from new grain. This ·law [statute; ordinance; requirement] will always continue ·for people from now on [L throughout your generations], wherever you live [Ex. 23:16; Num. 28:26–31; Deut. 16:9–12].
The Feast of Weeks
15 “‘Count seven full weeks from the morning after the Sabbath. (This is the Sabbath that you bring the bundle of grain to ·present [wave] as an offering [C a ritual whereby the offerer symbolically waves the offering before God but then uses it].) 16 On the fiftieth day, the first day after the seventh week, you will bring a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 On that day bring two loaves of bread from your homes to be ·presented [waved] as an offering. Use yeast and ·four quarts [L two-tenths of an ephah] of flour to make those loaves of bread; they will be your gift to the Lord from the first wheat of your harvest.
18 “‘Offer with the bread one young bull, two male sheep, and seven male lambs that are one year old and have ·nothing wrong with them [no blemish]. Offer them with their ·grain [L gift; tribute] offerings [2:1] and drink offerings, as a burnt offering [1:1–17] to the Lord. They will be an offering made by fire, and the smell will be pleasing to the Lord. 19 You must also offer one male goat for a ·sin [or purification; 4:3] offering and two male, one-year-old lambs as a ·fellowship [or peace; well-being] offering [3:1].
20 “‘The priest will ·present [wave; 23:15] the two lambs as an offering before the Lord, along with the bread from the first wheat of the harvest. They are holy to the Lord, and they will belong to the priest. 21 On that same day you will call a holy ·meeting [convocation]; you must not do any work that day. This ·law [statute; ordinance; requirement] will continue for you ·from now on [L throughout your generations], wherever you live.
22 “‘When you harvest your crops on your land, do not harvest all the way to the corners of your field. If grain falls onto the ground, don’t gather it up. Leave it for poor people and ·foreigners in your country [resident aliens; 19:9–10; Deut. 24:19–22; Ruth 2]. I am the Lord your God.’”
The Feast of Trumpets
23 Again the Lord said to Moses, 24 “Tell the ·people [L sons] of Israel: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you must have a special day of rest, a holy ·meeting [convocation], when you blow the trumpet for a special time of remembering. 25 Do not do any work, and bring an offering made by fire to the Lord [Num. 29:1–6].’”
The Day of Cleansing
26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “The Day of ·Cleansing [Atonement] will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. There will be a holy ·meeting [convocation], and you will deny yourselves and bring an offering made by fire to the Lord. 28 Do not do any work on that day, because it is the Day of ·Cleansing [Atonement]. On that day the priests will go before the Lord and ·perform the acts to make you clean from sin so you will belong to the Lord [make atonement for you].
29 “Anyone who ·refuses to give up food [or does not deny himself] on this day must be cut off from the people. 30 If anyone works on this day, I will destroy that person from among the people. 31 You must not do any work at all; this ·law [statute; ordinance; requirement] will continue ·for people from now on [L throughout your generations] wherever you live. 32 It will be a special day of rest for you, and you must ·deny yourselves [or fast]. You will start this special day of rest on the evening after the ninth day of the month, and it will continue from that evening until the next evening [ch. 16; Num. 9:7–11].”
The Feast of Shelters
33 Again the Lord said to Moses, 34 “Tell the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel: ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month is the ·Feast [Festival] of ·Shelters [Booths]. This ·feast [festival] to the Lord will continue for seven days. 35 There will be a holy ·meeting [convocation] on the first day; do not do any work. 36 You will bring an offering made by fire to the Lord each day for seven days. On the eighth day you will have another holy ·meeting [convocation], and you will bring an offering made by fire to the Lord. This will be a holy ·meeting [convocation]; do not do any work.
37 (“‘These are the Lord’s special ·feasts [festivals], when there will be holy ·meetings [convocations] and when you bring offerings made by fire to the Lord. You will bring whole burnt offerings [1:1–17], ·grain [L gift; tribute] offerings [2:1], sacrifices, and drink offerings—each at the right time. 38 These offerings are in addition to those for the Lord’s Sabbath days, in addition to offerings you give as payment for ·special promises [vows], and in addition to ·special offerings you want to give to the Lord [freewill offerings].)
39 “‘So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered in the crops of the land, celebrate the Lord’s ·festival [feast] for seven days. You must rest on the first day and the eighth day. 40 On the first day you will take good fruit from the fruit trees, as well as branches from palm trees, poplars, and other leafy trees. You will celebrate before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 Celebrate this ·festival [feast] to the Lord for seven days each year. This ·law [statute; ordinance; requirement] will continue ·from now on [L throughout your generations]; you will celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 Live in ·shelters [booths] for seven days. All the people born in Israel must live in ·shelters [booths] 43 so that all your descendants will know I made Israel live in ·shelters [booths] during the time I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God [Ex. 23:16–17; Num. 29:12–39; Deut. 16:13–15; 31:9–13].’”
44 So Moses told the people of Israel about all of the Lord’s appointed ·feast [festival] days.
The Lampstand and the Holy Bread
24 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel to bring you pure oil from crushed olives. That oil is for the lamps so that these lamps may never go out. 3 Aaron will keep the lamps burning in the Meeting Tent from evening until morning before the Lord; this is ·in front of [L outside] the curtain of the ·Ark of the Agreement [Covenant; Treaty; L Testimony]. This ·law [statute; ordinance; regulation] will continue ·from now on [L throughout your generations]. 4 Aaron must always keep the lamps burning on the ·lampstand of pure gold [L pure lampstand/Menorah; Ex. 25:31–40] before the Lord.
5 “Take ·fine [choice] flour and bake twelve loaves of bread with it, using ·four quarts [L two-tenths of an ephah] of flour for each loaf. 6 Put them in two rows on the ·golden [L pure] table [Ex. 25:23–30] before the Lord, six loaves in each row. 7 Put pure incense on each row as the memorial portion to take the place of the bread. It is an offering made by fire to the Lord. 8 Every Sabbath day Aaron will put the bread in order before the Lord, as an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with the people of Israel that will continue forever. 9 That bread will belong to Aaron and his sons. They will eat it in a holy place, because it is a most holy part of the offerings made by fire to the Lord. That bread is their share forever.”
The Man Who Cursed God
10 Now there was a son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian father who ·was walking [L came out] among the Israelites. A fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman began cursing and ·speaking against the Lord [L blaspheming the name], so the people took him to Moses. (The mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri from the family of Dan.) 12 The people ·held him as a prisoner [put him in custody] while they waited for the Lord’s ·command [decision; will] to be made clear to them.
13 Then the Lord said to Moses, 14 “Take the one who ·spoke against [L cursed; blasphemed] me outside the camp. Then all the people who heard him must put their hands on his head, and all the ·people [community; assembly; congregation] must ·throw stones at him and kill [stone] him. 15 Tell the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel this: ‘If anyone curses his God, he is guilty of sin [Ex. 20:7; Deut. 5:11]. 16 Anyone who ·speaks against [L curses/blasphemes the name of] the Lord must be put to death; all the ·people [community; assembly; congregation] must ·kill him by throwing stones at [stone] him. ·Foreigners [Sojourners; Wanderers; Resident aliens] must be punished just like ·the people born in Israel [natives]; if they ·speak against the Lord [L curse/blaspheme the name], they must be put to death.
17 “‘Whoever ·kills [L strikes] another person must be put to death. 18 Whoever ·kills [L strikes] an animal that belongs to another person must give that person another animal to take its place. 19 And whoever causes an injury to a ·neighbor [countryman] must receive the same kind of injury in return: 20 Broken bone for broken bone, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Anyone who injures another person must be injured in the same way in return [Ex. 21:24]. 21 Whoever ·kills [L strikes] another person’s animal must give that person another animal to take its place. But whoever ·kills [strikes] another person must be put to death.
22 “‘The ·law [regulation; standard] will be the same for the ·foreigner [sojouner; wanderer; resident alien] as for ·those from your own country [the native]. I am the Lord your God.’”
23 Then Moses spoke to the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel, and they took the person who had cursed outside the camp and ·killed him by throwing stones at [stoned] him. So the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
John Prepares for Jesus(A)
1 This is the beginning of the ·Good News [Gospel] ·about [of] Jesus Christ, the Son of God,[a] 2 as the prophet Isaiah wrote:
“[Look; T Behold,] I ·will send [am sending] my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way [Mal. 3:1].”
3 “This is a voice of one
who ·calls out [shouts; cries out] in the ·desert [wilderness]:
‘Prepare the way for the Lord.
Make ·the road straight [a clear path] for him [Is. 40:3].’”
4 John [C the Baptist] was baptizing people in the ·desert [wilderness] and preaching a baptism of ·changed hearts and lives [turning from sin; repentance] for the ·forgiveness [remission] of sins. 5 All the people from Judea and Jerusalem were going out to him. They confessed their sins and were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothes made from camel’s hair, had a leather belt around his waist [C reminiscent of the prophet Elijah; 2 Kin. 1:8], and ate locusts and wild honey [C signifies living off the land]. 7 This is what John preached to the people: “There is one coming after me who is ·greater [mightier; more powerful] than I; I am not ·good enough [fit; qualified] even to kneel down and untie [L the thong/strap of] his sandals [C a task of a servant or slave]. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus Is Baptized and Tested(B)
9 ·At that time [In those days] Jesus came from the town of Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River. 10 Immediately, as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw ·heaven [the sky] ·open [split open]. The ·Holy Spirit [L Spirit] ·came down [descended] on him like a dove [C either in the form of a dove, or in bird-like descent], 11 and a voice came from heaven: “You are my ·Son, whom I love [dearly beloved Son; Ps. 2:7; Gen. 22:2], ·and I am very pleased with you [in whom I take great delight; Is. 42:1].”
12 ·Then [Immediately] the Spirit ·sent [drove; compelled] Jesus into the ·desert [wilderness]. 13 He was in the ·desert [wilderness] forty days [C analogous to Israel’s forty years] and was ·tempted [or tested] by Satan [C as both Adam and Eve and the nation Israel in the wilderness were tempted, but failed]. He was with the wild animals [C dangerous or perhaps Eden-like conditions], and the angels came and ·took care of [served; ministered to] him.
Jesus Announces the Good News(C)
14 After John was put in prison [C by Herod Antipas; cf. 6:14–29], Jesus went into Galilee, preaching the ·Good News [Gospel] ·from [about] God. 15 He said, “The ·right time has come [L time is fulfilled]. ·The kingdom of God [God’s sovereign rule] is ·near [at hand]. ·Change your hearts and lives [Turn from your sins; Repent] and believe the ·Good News [Gospel]!”
Jesus Chooses His First Followers(D)
16 When Jesus was walking by ·Lake Galilee [T the Sea of Galilee], he saw Simon [C Peter; cf. 3:16] and his brother Andrew ·throwing [casting] a net into the lake because they were fishermen. 17 Jesus said to them, “Come ·follow me [be my disciples], and I will ·make you [teach you how to] fish for people.” 18 So Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed him.
19 Going a little farther, Jesus saw two more brothers, ·James and John, the sons of Zebedee [L James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John]. They were in a boat, ·mending [preparing] their nets. 20 Jesus immediately called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers and followed Jesus.
Jesus Forces Out an Evil Spirit(E)
21 Jesus and his ·followers [disciples] went to Capernaum [C a town on the northwest shore of Lake Galilee; it became Jesus’ home base]. On the Sabbath day he went to the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught ·like [as] a person who had authority, not ·like [as] ·their teachers of the law [the scribes; C experts in the law of Moses].
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