Old/New Testament
How Priests Must Behave
21 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell these things to Aaron’s sons, the priests: ‘A priest must not make himself unclean by touching a dead person. 2 But if the dead person was one of his close relatives, he may touch him. The priest may make himself unclean if the dead person is his mother or father, son or daughter, brother or 3 unmarried sister who is close to him because she has no husband. The priest may make himself unclean for her if she dies. 4 But a priest must not make himself unclean if the dead person was only related to him by marriage.
5 “‘Priests must not shave their heads, or shave off the edges of their beards, or cut their bodies. 6 They must be holy to their God and show respect for God’s name, because they present the offerings made by fire to the Lord, which is the food of their God. So they must be holy.
7 “‘A priest must not marry an unclean prostitute or a divorced woman, because he is holy to his God. 8 Treat him as holy, because he offers up the food of your God. Think of him as holy; I am the Lord who makes you holy, and I am holy.
9 “‘If a priest’s daughter makes herself unclean by becoming a prostitute, she shames her father. She must be burned with fire.
10 “‘The high priest, who was chosen from among his brothers, had the special olive oil poured on his head. He was also appointed to wear the priestly clothes. So he must not show his sadness by letting his hair go uncombed or tearing his clothes. 11 He must not go into a house where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean, even if it is for his own father or mother. 12 The high priest must not go out of the Holy Place, because if he does and becomes unclean, he will make God’s Holy Place unclean. The special oil used in appointing priests was poured on his head to separate him from the rest of the people. I am the Lord.
13 “‘The high priest must marry a woman who is a virgin. 14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or a prostitute. He must marry a virgin from his own people 15 so the people will respect his children as his own. I am the Lord. I have set the high priest apart for his special job.’”
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Tell Aaron: ‘If any of your descendants have something wrong with them, they must never come near to offer the special food of their God. 18 Anyone who has something wrong with him must not come near: blind men, crippled men, men with damaged faces, deformed men, 19 men with a crippled foot or hand, 20 hunchbacks, dwarfs, men who have something wrong with their eyes, men who have an itching disease or a skin disease, or men who have damaged sex glands.
21 “‘If one of Aaron’s descendants has something wrong with him, he cannot come near to make the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has something wrong with him; he cannot offer the food of his God. 22 He may eat the most holy food and also the holy food. 23 But he may not go through the curtain into the Most Holy Place, and he may not go near the altar, because he has something wrong with him. He must not make my Holy Place unfit. I am the Lord who makes these places holy.’”
24 So Moses told these things to Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and all the people of Israel.
22 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons: ‘The people of Israel will give offerings to me. These offerings are holy, and they are mine, so you must respect them to show that you respect my holy name. I am the Lord.’ 3 Say to them: ‘If any one of your descendants from now on is unclean and comes near the offerings that the Israelites made holy for me, that person must be cut off from appearing before me. I am the Lord.
4 “‘If one of Aaron’s descendants has a harmful skin disease, or if he discharges a body fluid, he cannot eat the holy offerings until he becomes clean. He could also become unclean from touching a dead body, from his own semen,[a] 5 from touching any unclean crawling animal, or from touching an unclean person (no matter what made the person unclean). 6 Anyone who touches those things will become unclean until evening. That person must not eat the holy offerings unless he washes with water. 7 He will be clean only after the sun goes down. Then he may eat the holy offerings; the offerings are his food.
8 “‘If a priest finds an animal that died by itself or that was killed by some other animal, he must not eat it. If he does, he will become unclean. I am the Lord.
9 “‘If the priests keep all the rules I have given, they will not become guilty; if they are careful, they will not die. I am the Lord who has made them holy. 10 Only people in a priest’s family may eat the holy offering. A visitor staying with the priest or a hired worker must not eat it. 11 But if the priest buys a slave with his own money, that slave may eat the holy offerings; slaves who were born in his house may also eat his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter marries a person who is not a priest, she must not eat any of the holy offerings. 13 But if the priest’s daughter becomes widowed or divorced, with no children to support her, and if she goes back to her father’s house where she lived as a child, she may eat some of her father’s food. But only people from a priest’s family may eat this food.
14 “‘If someone eats some of the holy offering by mistake, that person must pay back the priest for that holy food, adding another one-fifth of the price of that food.
15 “‘When the Israelites give their holy offerings to the Lord, the priest must not treat these holy things as though they were not holy. 16 The priests must not allow those who are not priests to eat the holy offerings. If they do, they cause the ones who eat the holy offerings to become guilty, and they will have to pay for it. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.’”
17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “Tell Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel: ‘A citizen of Israel or a foreigner living in Israel might want to bring a whole burnt offering, either for some special promise he has made or for a special gift he wants to give to the Lord. 19 If he does, he must bring a male animal that has nothing wrong with it—a bull, a sheep, or a goat—so it might be accepted for him. 20 He must not bring an animal that has something wrong with it, or it will not be accepted for him.
21 “‘If someone brings a fellowship offering to the Lord, either as payment for a special promise the person has made or as a special gift the person wants to give the Lord, it might be from the herd or from the flock. But it must be healthy, with nothing wrong with it, so that it will be accepted. 22 You must not offer to the Lord any animal that is blind, that has broken bones or is crippled, that has running sores or any sort of skin disease. You must not offer any animals like these on the altar as an offering by fire to the Lord.
23 “‘If an ox or lamb is smaller than normal or is not perfectly formed, you may give it as a special gift to the Lord; it will be accepted. But it will not be accepted as payment for a special promise you have made.
24 “‘If an animal has bruised, crushed, torn, or cut sex glands, you must not offer it to the Lord. You must not do this in your own land, 25 and you must not take such animals from foreigners as sacrifices to the Lord. Because the animals have been hurt in some way and have something wrong with them, they will not be accepted for you.’”
26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 “When an ox, a sheep, or a goat is born, it must stay seven days with its mother. But from the eighth day on, this animal will be accepted as a sacrifice by fire to the Lord. 28 But you must not kill the animal and its mother on the same day, either an ox or a sheep.
29 “If you want to offer some special offering of thanks to the Lord, you must do it in a way that pleases him. 30 You must eat the whole animal that same day and not leave any of the meat for the next morning. I am the Lord.
31 “Remember my commands and obey them; I am the Lord. 32 Show respect for my holy name. You Israelites must remember that I am holy; I am the Lord, who has made you holy. 33 I brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the Lord.”
Jesus Rises from the Dead
28 The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. At dawn on the first day, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary went to look at the tomb.
2 At that time there was a strong earthquake. An angel of the Lord came down from heaven, went to the tomb, and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he sat on the stone. 3 He was shining as bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The soldiers guarding the tomb shook with fear because of the angel, and they became like dead men.
5 The angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus, who has been crucified. 6 He is not here. He has risen from the dead as he said he would. Come and see the place where his body was. 7 And go quickly and tell his followers, ‘Jesus has risen from the dead. He is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there.’” Then the angel said, “Now I have told you.”
8 The women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell Jesus’ followers what had happened. 9 Suddenly, Jesus met them and said, “Greetings.” The women came up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go and tell my followers to go on to Galilee, and they will see me there.”
The Soldiers Report to the Leaders
11 While the women went to tell Jesus’ followers, some of the soldiers who had been guarding the tomb went into the city to tell the leading priests everything that had happened. 12 Then the priests met with the elders and made a plan. They paid the soldiers a large amount of money 13 and said to them, “Tell the people that Jesus’ followers came during the night and stole the body while you were asleep. 14 If the governor hears about this, we will satisfy him and save you from trouble.” 15 So the soldiers kept the money and did as they were told. And that story is still spread among the people even today.
Jesus Talks to His Followers
16 The eleven followers went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 On the mountain they saw Jesus and worshiped him, but some of them did not believe it was really Jesus. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All power in heaven and on earth is given to me. 19 So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you, and I will be with you always, even until the end of this age.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.