Old/New Testament

Rules for the priests

21 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say this to the priests. They must not touch a dead body. That would make them unclean. ² It may be the body of a person from their own family. The priest can touch the dead person if it is his mother or father. He can touch the dead person if it is his son or his daughter or his brother. ³ He can touch the dead person if it is his sister. But he must not touch her if she has a husband. ⁴ The priest must not touch a dead person who is married to a person of his family. That would make him unclean.

⁵ A priest must not cut all the hair from his head. He must not cut the sides of his beard. He must not cut his body. ⁶ A priest must be holy. He must not speak bad words about the Lord. He is the person who sacrifices the people's burnt offerings.

⁷ A priest must not marry a woman who has left her husband. He must not marry a woman if men have paid her to have sex with her. He must not marry a woman whose husband has sent her away. A priest must be holy. ⁸ A priest is holy because he sacrifices the people's offerings to God. A priest is holy because I, the Lord, am holy.

⁹ A priest's daughter must not have sex with men who pay her. That would make her unclean. She would take away her father's honour. If she does not obey, you must burn her in a fire.

¹⁰ They have poured special oil on the leader of the priests' head to show that he is greater than his brothers. He must wear special clothes. He must comb his hair. He must not tear his clothes. ¹¹ He must not go into a room where there is a dead body. Even if it is the body of his parent, he must not go in. It will make him unclean. ¹² He must not leave the house of God. He has the holy oil on his head. He must be separate. I am the Lord.

¹³ The leader of the priests must marry a woman who has not had sex before. ¹⁴ The woman must not have had a husband who died. She must not have a husband that she has left. Men must not have paid to have sex with her. She must be a woman from Israel's people, ¹⁵ so that their children will be holy. I am the Lord. I make priests holy.’

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ ‘Talk to Aaron. Say, “A priest who does not have a perfect body must not sacrifice the burnt offerings to God.” This rule is for now and for all time. ¹⁸ A priest who cannot see must not sacrifice the food to God. A priest who cannot walk must not sacrifice food to God. A priest with a body that is the wrong shape must not offer food to God. ¹⁹ A priest with a hand that is the wrong shape must not offer food to God. A priest with a foot that is the wrong shape must not offer food to God. ²⁰ A priest with a back that is not straight must not offer food to God. Neither must a priest who is very small offer a food gift. A priest who has an eye disease or a skin disease must not offer food to God. Neither must a priest offer food if his testicles are spoiled. ²¹ If a priest's son has something wrong with his body, he must not come near to the altar. He must not give the food offering to the Lord. ²² He can eat God's holy food and God's most holy food. ²³ But none of Aaron's family who is not perfect can go near the holy curtain or the altar. He would make the holy places unclean. I am the Lord. I make them holy.’

²⁴ Moses told all these rules to Aaron, to his sons and to all Israel's people.

22 The Lord said to Moses, ² ‘Israel's people give gifts to God. Those gifts are holy. Tell Aaron and his sons that those things are holy. Tell them that they must remember that. They must give honour to my name. I am the Lord.

³ One of your sons may not be clean. That son must not come near the Lord's holy offerings. But perhaps he may not obey my rule. He might go near to the holy gifts. The priests who are clean must punish him. They must send him away. He must go from God's house. I am the Lord. This rule is for now and for all time. ⁴ If a son of Aaron has a skin disease, he must not eat the holy gifts. If pus is coming from his body, he is not clean. He must not eat the holy offerings until he is clean. He might touch something that has touched a dead body. Or if he touches an unclean man, he will become unclean. The man may be unclean because semen is coming from his body. ⁵ Aaron's son might touch an animal that moves on its stomach. Or he might touch a person who is not clean. If he does, Aaron's son will be unclean. ⁶ The son of Aaron who touches any of these things will be unclean until evening. He must not eat any of the holy gifts until he washes his body. ⁷ When the sun goes down, he will be clean. He can eat the holy gifts. They are his food. ⁸ He might find something that is dead. He must not eat it. He must not eat anything that an animal has torn. It will make him unclean. I am the Lord.

⁹ Aaron's sons must obey God's rules. If they do not obey them, it is a sin. They will die. I am the Lord who makes people holy. ¹⁰ Only a person who is from the priest's family can eat the holy gifts. Another person who is living in the priest's house must not eat the holy gifts. If a person is being paid to work for the priest, he must not eat the holy gifts. ¹¹ A slave can eat the holy gifts if he was born in the priest's house. Or he can eat the holy gifts if the priest bought him. ¹² A priest's daughter might marry a man who is not a priest. If she has done that, she must not eat the holy food. ¹³ A priest's daughter's husband might send her away. Or her husband might die. She might not have any children. She may go back to live in her father's house. Then she can eat her father's food.

¹⁴ A person might make a mistake and eat a holy gift. He must give back to the priest the same food. He must also give one fifth more. ¹⁵ The priest must not give the Lord's holy gifts to people who are not from Aaron's family. The gifts would become unclean. ¹⁶ If the people eat them they are sinning. They will have to pay for their sin. I am the Lord and I make them holy.’

Offerings that the Lord will not accept

¹⁷ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁸ ‘Say this to Aaron, to his sons and to all the people. If any person gives a gift to the Lord, ¹⁹ he must give a bull, a sheep or a goat. The gift may be for a promise, or to thank God for something or for a friendship offering. The animal must be perfect. ²⁰ They must not give any animal that is not perfect. The Lord will not accept that animal. ²¹ When a person brings an animal to the Lord as a special gift, it must be perfect. If it is, God will accept it. ²² A person must not give to the Lord an animal that cannot see. The animal must not have a skin disease. And pus must not be coming from its body. The person must not burn an animal to the Lord on the altar that is not perfect. ²³ A person may give a bull or a sheep with a body that is the wrong shape. He can use it as an offering to eat with his friends (friendship offering). But God will not take this animal as a gift for a promise. That gift must be perfect. You must not put on the altar an animal that is not perfect. ²⁴ A person must not give a gift to the Lord of an animal that has something wrong with its testicles. ²⁵ This rule is for Israel's people. You must not take animals from foreigners and then offer them to God as sacrifices. God will not accept them on your behalf, because animals like that are not perfect.’

²⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁷ ‘When a cow or a sheep or a goat is born, it must stay with its mother for seven days. From the eighth day the people can give it as a burnt offering to the Lord. ²⁸ They must not kill a cow or a sheep and its baby on the same day.

²⁹ When they sacrifice an animal to thank the Lord, they must sacrifice it in the proper way. This will give the Lord pleasure. ³⁰ They must eat it on the day that they kill it. They must not keep any of it until the next day. I am the Lord.

³¹ The people must obey my rules. I am the Lord. ³² They must give honour to my holy name. My people must believe that I am holy. I am the Lord. I make people holy. ³³ I brought you out of Egypt and I became your God. I am the Lord.’

Jesus becomes alive again

28 After the day of rest had finished, Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of James got up early. It was dawn on the first day of the week. They went to the hole in the rock where Joseph had put the dead body of Jesus.

² At that moment, the ground moved about very strongly. One of the Lord God's angels came from heaven. He went to the rock. He rolled the big stone away from the hole and then he sat on top of it. ³ He shone brightly like lightning. His clothes were very white like snow. ⁴ The soldiers who were carefully watching that place were very frightened. They suddenly fell down on the ground. Like dead men, they could not move.

⁵ Then the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus. The soldiers killed him on a cross. ⁶ But he is not here. He has become alive again. That is what he said would happen. Come here. You can see the place where he was lying. ⁷ Then you must go quickly to his disciples. Tell them, “Jesus is alive again, and he is going to Galilee. You must also go there and you will see him.” That is the message that I have brought for you.’

⁸ So the women went away quickly from the hole in the rock. They were very frightened, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell the disciples the angel's message. ⁹ At that moment, Jesus met the two women and he said, ‘Hello.’ They went near to him. They held on to his feet and they worshipped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my disciples to go to Galilee. They will see me there.’

The soldiers tell the leaders of the priests what happened

¹¹ The women went to tell the disciples Jesus' message. At the same time, some of the soldiers who had watched the rock also went into the city. The soldiers told the leaders of the priests everything that had happened at the rock. ¹² The leaders of the priests and the important Jews met together. They decided what they should do now. They gave the soldiers a lot of money as a bribe. ¹³ They said to the soldiers, ‘When people ask you, you must say this: “Jesus' disciples came to the rock in the night and they took his body away. We were asleep when they did this.” ¹⁴ If the Roman ruler Pilate hears about this, we will explain things to him. Do not be afraid. He will not punish you.’

¹⁵ The soldiers took the money. They told people what the Jewish leaders told them to say. Many Jews heard the soldiers' story. Even today they still believe that it happened like that.

Jesus appears to his apostles

¹⁶ After this, the 11 disciples went to Galilee. They went to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they arrived at the place, they saw Jesus. Then they went down on their knees and they worshipped him. But some of the disciples were not sure that it really was Jesus. ¹⁸ Jesus went near to them and he said to them, ‘God has given me authority over everyone and everything. I have all authority in heaven and in this world. ¹⁹ So you must go to people in every country of the world. Teach them how to become my disciples. Baptize them by the authority of God the Father, his Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will be with you until the end of time.’