Old/New Testament
The Budding of Aaron’s Rod
17 [a]The Lord instructed Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelis to take a rod—one from each ancestral house, that is, one from every leader, for a total of twelve rods. Write each tribal name on his rod. 3 You are also to write Aaron’s name on the tribe of Levi, since there is to be one rod for every leader of their ancestral tribes.
4 “Then lay them there in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Ark of the Covenant[b] where I’ll meet with you. 5 The rod that belongs to the man whom I’ll choose will burst into bloom. That’s how I’ll put a stop to the complaints of the Israelis, who are complaining against you.”
6 So Moses spoke to the Israelis, and each of the tribe leaders gave him a rod, one for each leader, according to their ancestral tribes, for a total of twelve rods. Aaron’s rod was one of them. 7 Then Moses laid out the rods in the Lord’s presence, inside the Tent of Testimony. 8 The next morning, Moses went to the Tent of Testimony and the rod of Aaron of the tribe of Levi had burst into bloom! It sprouted buds, bloomed blossoms, and produced fully ripe almonds! 9 Then Moses took out all the rods from the Lord’s presence to show[c] all the Israelis. Everybody looked, and then each man took his rod.
10 Then the Lord instructed Moses, “Return Aaron’s rod before the testimony[d] to be kept for a reminder[e] against the rebels[f] so that you may put an end to their complaints against me and so that they won’t die.”
11 So Moses did exactly what the Lord had commanded him to do. 12 Then the Israelis told Moses, “We’re sure to die! We’re all going to perish—all of us! 13 Anyone who comes near or approaches the Lord’s tent is to die. Are all of us going to die?”
Responsibilities for Priests and Descendants of Levi
18 Later, the Lord told Aaron, “You, your sons, and your father’s tribe with you are to bear the iniquity of the sanctuary. Also, you and your sons with you are to bear the iniquity of your priesthood. 2 Moreover, bring your brothers from your father’s tribe of Levi with you, so they may join you and minister to you while you and your sons with you stand in the presence of the Tent of Testimony. 3 They are to take care of your concerns and all the responsibilities involved with the tent. But they’re not to approach the holy vessels or the altar. That way, neither you nor they will die. 4 They are to join you to maintain services related to the Tent of Meeting, for all the responsibilities involved with the tent. But no unauthorized person[g] is to approach you. 5 Take care of the sanctuary and the services of the altar so that there won’t be any more wrath on the Israelis. 6 Notice that I’ve taken your brothers, the descendants of Levi, from among the Israelis, giving them to you as a gift from the Lord to perform the service of the Tent of Meeting. 7 Now you and your sons with you are to maintain your priestly duties and all matters that concern the altar and what is housed within the veil. You are to perform these services. I’m giving you the priesthood as a gift of service, but any unauthorized person[h] who approaches is to be put to death.”
Ownership for Offerings
8 Then the Lord told Aaron, “Look! I am indeed placing you in charge of my raised offerings and the holy things concerning the Israelis. Because of your anointing, I’m giving you and your sons a prescribed portion forever. 9 This is what is to belong to you from consecrated offerings spared[i] from the fire: all of their offerings, grain offerings, sin offerings, and trespass offerings that they render to me. They’re to be considered most sacred to you and your sons. 10 You may eat them as consecrated gifts. Every male may eat them. They’re sacred for you. 11 The raised offering and wave offerings presented by the Israelis are yours, too. I’ve given them to you, to your sons, and to your daughters as a prescribed apportionment forever. Everyone who is clean in your household may eat it. 12 All the best[j] oil, wine, grain, and first fruits that they give to the Lord are to belong to you. Everyone who is clean in your household may eat it.
13 “The first ripe fruits of everything that the land produces and that they bring to the Lord are yours, too. Everyone who is clean in your household may eat it. 14 Every devoted thing in Israel is yours, too. 15 Everything that opens the womb, any living thing that they bring to the Lord—whether from human beings or animals—are for you. Just be sure that you redeem the firstborn of people and the firstborn of unclean animals. 16 Those that can be redeemed, you are to redeem at the age of one month, based on your estimate—for five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, that is, for 20 gerahs. 17 But you are not to redeem the firstborn of a cow, sheep, or a female goat. They are holy. You are to sprinkle their blood on the altar and burn their fat for an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 18 Their meat is to belong to you, just as the breast wave offering and the right thigh is yours. 19 I’m giving you, your sons, and your daughters as a prescribed portion forever all the raised offerings of the consecrated things that the Israelis offer to the Lord. It’s a salt covenant forever before the Lord with you and your descendants with you.”
Land Prohibited to Descendants of Levi
20 Then the Lord instructed Aaron, “You are not to have any inheritance in the land, nor are you to have any portion among the people.[k] I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelis. 21 As to the descendants of Levi, certainly I’ve given all the tithes in Israel as their inheritance in return for their services that they perform at the Tent of Meeting. 22 Therefore, the Israelis need no longer come to the Tent of Meeting, so they won’t suffer the consequences of their sin and die. 23 The descendants of Levi are to perform the service of the Tent of Meeting and they are to bear their iniquity. This is to be a statute forever, throughout your generations, that they are not to receive an inheritance among the Israelis, 24 because I’ve given to the descendants of Levi the tithes that the Israelis bring to the Lord as raised offering. Therefore I told them that, unlike the Israelis, they won’t receive an inheritance.”
Offerings Given to the Descendants of Levi
25 Then the Lord instructed Moses, 26 “Tell the descendants of Levi that when they receive tithes from the Israelis (the tithes that I’ve given you from them as an inheritance), you are to offer a tenth of it[l] as a raised offering for the Lord. 27 Your raised offerings are to be accounted for you as though it were grain from threshing floors and full produce from wine vats. 28 You are to offer a raised offering to the Lord from all your tithes that you receive from the Israelis. Give Aaron the priest the raised offering of the Lord 29 out of all the most consecrated offerings that you receive, that is, all the raised offerings of the Lord, with all its best and the most holy parts of it. 30 Tell them that when they bring the best from it, as far as the descendants of Levi are concerned, it is to be considered like produce from the threshing floors and wine vats. 31 You and your household may eat it anywhere, because it’s a reward to you in return for your services at the Tent of Meeting. 32 You won’t sin by offering the best of it, and you are not to profane the sacred things of the Israelis, so that you won’t die.”
The Red Heifer
19 The Lord told Moses and Aaron, 2 “This is the ordinance of the law that the Lord commanded that the Israelis be told: They are to bring you a spotless red heifer, without physical defect, that has never been fitted with a yoke. 3 They are to deliver it to Eleazar the priest, and it is to be brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take blood from it with his finger and sprinkle the blood in front of the Tent of Meeting. 5 The entire heifer is to be incinerated in his presence, including its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its dung. 6 Then the priest is to take some cedar[m] wood, hyssop, and scarlet material and throw it into the middle of the burning heifer. 7 The priest is to wash his clothes and bathe himself[n] with water, after which he may enter the camp, but he is to remain unclean until evening. 8 Whoever takes part in the burning is to wash his clothes and bathe himself[o] in water and is to remain unclean until the evening. 9 Then someone[p] who is clean is to gather the ashes of the heifer and lay them outside the camp in a clean place. This is to be done for the community of Israel to use for water of purification from sin. 10 Whoever gathers the ashes of the heifer is to wash his clothes and is to remain unclean until the evening. This ordinance is to remain for the benefit of both the Israelis and the resident aliens who live among them.”
Purification for Contact with the Dead
11 “Whoever comes in contact with the body of a dead person is to remain unclean for seven days. 12 He is to purify himself on the third day and he will be clean on the seventh day. But if he can’t purify himself on the third day then he can’t be clean on the seventh day. 13 Anyone who comes in contact with a dead person (that is, with the corpse[q] of a human being[r] who has died), but who does not purify himself, defiles the Lord’s tent. That person is to be eliminated from Israel, because the water of impurity wasn’t sprinkled on him. He remains unclean and his uncleanness will remain with him.
14 “This is the procedure to follow[s] when a man dies in his tent: Everyone who enters the tent and everyone in it is to remain unclean for seven days. 15 Every open vessel that has no covering fastened around it is to be considered unclean. 16 Whoever is out in an open field and touches the body of[t] someone who was killed by a sword, or a dead body, or someone’s bones, or a grave, he is to be considered unclean for seven days.
17 “Now as for the unclean, they are to take ashes from the burning sin offering, and pour running water on it inside a vessel. 18 A clean person is to take some hyssop, dip it in water, and then sprinkle it on the tent, on every vessel, and on whoever[u] was there (that is, on whoever touched the bones, the killed person, or the dead body, including whoever dug the grave). 19 The clean person is to sprinkle the unclean person on the third day and seventh day and then he is to purify himself on the seventh day, wash his clothes, and bathe with water. He is to be considered clean at evening.
20 “The person[v] who is unclean but who doesn’t purify himself is to be eliminated from contact with the assembly, since he has defiled the Lord’s sanctuary and the water of impurity wasn’t sprinkled on him. He is to be considered unclean 21 as a continuing[w] reminder to them. Whoever sprinkles the water of impurity is to wash his clothes, and whoever comes in contact with the water of impurity is to remain unclean until evening. 22 Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches is to be considered unclean and the person who touches him is to be considered unclean until the evening.”
Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand People(A)
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. 31 He told them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest for a while,” because so many people were coming and going[a] that they didn’t even have time to eat. 32 So they went away in a boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 But when many people saw them leave and recognized them, they hurried on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 When he got out of the boat,[b] he saw a large crowd. He had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began to teach them many things.
35 When it was quite late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and it’s already late. 36 Send the crowds[c] away so that they can go to the neighboring farms and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.”
They asked him, “Should we go and buy 200 denarii[d] worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
38 He asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see.”
They found out and told him, “Five loaves[e] and two fish.”
39 Then he ordered them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them. Then he broke the loaves in pieces and kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people.[f] He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 All of them ate and were filled. 43 Then the disciples[g] picked up twelve baskets full of leftover bread and fish. 44 There were 5,000 men who had eaten the loaves.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(B)
45 Jesus[h] immediately had his disciples get into a boat and cross to Bethsaida ahead of him, while he sent the crowd away. 46 After saying goodbye to them, he went up on a hillside to pray. 47 When evening had come, the boat was in the middle of the sea, while he was alone on the land. 48 He saw that his disciples[i] were straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn[j] he came to them, walking on the sea. He intended to go up right beside them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and began to scream. 50 All of them saw him and were terrified. Immediately he told them, “Have courage! It’s me. Stop being afraid!”
51 Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped blowing. The disciples[k] were utterly astounded, 52 because they didn’t understand the significance of the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.
Jesus Heals the Sick in Gennesaret(C)
53 When they had crossed over, they came ashore at Gennesaret and anchored the boat. 54 As soon as they got out of the boat, the people recognized Jesus.[l] 55 They ran all over the countryside and began carrying the sick on their mats to any place where they heard he was. 56 Wherever he went, whether into villages, towns, or farms, people[m] would place their sick in the marketplaces and beg him to let them touch even the tassel of his garment, and everyone who touched it was healed.
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