Old/New Testament
The Use and Misuse of Blood
17 The Lord told Moses 2 to speak to Aaron, his sons, and all the Israelites and to tell them that this is what the Lord has commanded:
3 If anyone from the house of Israel slaughters a head of cattle or a sheep or a goat in the camp or slaughters it outside the camp 4 without bringing it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting ⎣to sacrifice it for a burnt offering or fellowship offering to the Lord to be acceptable as a pleasant aroma, and if anyone slaughters it outside the camp and does not bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting⎦[a] to present it as an offering to the Lord at the Dwelling of the Lord, guilt for blood will be charged to that man. He has shed blood. That man will be cut off from the midst of his people. 5 This is so that the Israelites will bring the sacrifices that they have been offering in the open country to the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, to the priest. They will sacrifice them as fellowship offerings to the Lord 6 so that the priest may splash the blood against the altar of the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and turn the fat into smoke as a pleasing aroma to the Lord, 7 so that they no longer offer their sacrifices to the goat demons, to which they have been prostituting themselves. This shall be a permanent regulation for them throughout their generations.
8 Tell them that if anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens who reside among them offers up a burnt offering or a sacrifice 9 and does not bring it into the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man will be cut off from his people.
10 If anyone from the house of Israel or from the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against the person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I myself have given it to you to make atonement for your lives upon the altar, because it is the blood that makes atonement by means of the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the Israelites: None of you shall eat blood, nor shall any alien who resides among you eat blood.
13 If any of the Israelites or any alien who resides among them successfully hunts wild game and takes an animal or a bird that may be eaten, he must pour out its blood and cover it with earth. 14 For the life of all flesh is its blood. It is its life. Therefore I have said to the Israelites: You shall not eat the blood from any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it will be cut off.
15 If any person, whether native or alien, eats anything that has died naturally or has been torn by wild animals, he shall wash his clothes, bathe in water, and remain unclean until sunset. Then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe his body, he shall bear his guilt.
Defilement of the Land by Sexual Immorality
18 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them this.”
Encouragement to Obedience
I am the Lord your God.
3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived. You shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. Do not walk in[b] their religious practices. 4 Follow my ordinances and keep my regulations by walking in them. I am the Lord your God. 5 Keep my regulations and my ordinances. Anyone who does them will have life through them. I am the Lord.
Laws Against Incestuous Relationships
6 No one shall approach his own flesh and blood[c] to uncover their nakedness.[d] I am the Lord.
7 You shall not uncover the nakedness that is reserved for your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother. You shall not uncover her nakedness.
8 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife. It is nakedness that is reserved for your father.
9 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your half-sister, whether she is your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born in the household or outside it.
10 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter. That would be like uncovering your own nakedness.
11 The nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife, the adopted child[e] of your father—she is your sister—you shall not uncover her nakedness.
12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister. She has the same flesh as your father.
13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, because she is the same flesh as your mother.
14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother by approaching his wife. She is your aunt.
15 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife. You shall not uncover her nakedness.
16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife. Her nakedness is reserved for your brother.
17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of both a woman and her daughter. You shall not take[f] her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter and so uncover nakedness that belongs to her. They are her flesh. It is a depraved act.
18 You shall not take a woman and then take her sister as a rival by uncovering her sister’s nakedness during that first wife’s lifetime.
Additional Sexual Laws
19 And you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during the period when she is unclean.
20 You shall not give the wife of your fellow citizen your deposit of semen for seed,[g] so that you become unclean with her.
21 You shall not dedicate any of your seed to Molek,[h] thereby defiling the name of your God. I am the Lord.
22 You shall not lie down with[i] a male as you do with a woman. It is an abomination.
23 And you shall not give your emission to any animal, so that you become unclean by it. No woman shall stand in front of an animal to let it mate with her. It is an unnatural perversion.
24 You must not make yourselves unclean in any of these ways, for in all these ways the nations that I am casting out before you have made themselves unclean. 25 In this way the land became unclean, so I have come to deal with its guilt, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants.
26 But you yourselves must keep my regulations and ordinances. You must not practice any of these abominations. This applies both to the native and to the alien who resides among you. 27 Because the people of the land who were there before you practiced all these abominations, the land became unclean. 28 So do not let the land vomit you out for making it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was there before you. 29 If anyone does any of these abominations, the lives of those who practice them will be cut off from the midst of their people. 30 Keep my instructions. Do not perform any of the abominable[j] practices which were done before you arrived, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the Lord your God.
Soldiers Mock Jesus
27 Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole cohort[a] of soldiers around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 They twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand, knelt in front of him, and mocked him by saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spit on him, took the staff, and hit him repeatedly on his head.
The Crucifixion
31 After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.
32 As they were going out of the city, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon. They forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. 33 They came to a place called Golgotha, which means “The place of the skull.” 34 They offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 After they had crucified him, they divided his clothing among themselves by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down and were keeping watch over him there. 37 Above his head they posted the written charge against him: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.”
38 At the same time two criminals were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. 39 People who passed by kept insulting him, shaking their heads, 40 and saying, “You who were going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
41 In the same way the chief priests, experts in the law, and elders kept mocking him. They said, 42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself. If he’s the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now, if he wants him, because he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 In the same way even the criminals who were crucified with him kept insulting him.
Jesus’ Death
45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour,[b] there was darkness over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”[c]
47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “This fellow is calling for Elijah.”
48 Immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, and soaked it with sour wine. Then he put it on a stick and gave him a drink. 49 The rest said, “Leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”
50 After Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.