Old/New Testament

16 “Always remember to celebrate the Passover during the month of April,^[a] for that was when Jehovah your God brought you out of Egypt by night. ² Your Passover sacrifice shall be either a lamb or an ox, sacrificed to the Lord your God at his sanctuary. ³ Eat the sacrifice with unleavened bread. Eat unleavened bread for seven days as a reminder of the bread you ate as you escaped from Egypt. This is to remind you that you left Egypt in such a hurry that there was no time for the bread to rise.^[b] Remember that day all the rest of your lives! ⁴ For seven days no trace of yeast shall be in your homes, and none of the Passover lamb shall be left until the next morning.

⁵ “The Passover is not to be eaten in your homes. ⁶ It must be eaten at the place the Lord shall choose as his sanctuary. Sacrifice it there on the anniversary evening just as the sun goes down. ⁷ Roast the lamb and eat it, then start back to your homes the next morning. ⁸ For the following six days you shall eat no bread made with yeast. On the seventh day there shall be a quiet gathering of the people of each city before the Lord your God. Don’t do any work that day.

⁹ “Seven weeks after the harvest begins, ¹⁰ there shall be another festival before the Lord your God called the Festival of Weeks. At that time bring to him a freewill offering proportionate in size to his blessing upon you as judged by the amount of your harvest. ¹¹ It is a time to rejoice before the Lord with your family and household. And don’t forget to include the local Levites, foreigners, widows, and orphans. Invite them to accompany you to the celebration at the sanctuary. ¹² Remember! You were a slave in Egypt, so be sure to carry out this command.

¹³ “Another celebration, the Festival of Shelters, must be observed for seven days at the end of the harvest season, after the grain is threshed and the grapes have been pressed. ¹⁴ This will be a happy time of rejoicing together with your family and servants. And don’t forget to include the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows of your town.

¹⁵ “This feast will be held at the sanctuary, which will be located at the place the Lord will designate. It is a time of deep thanksgiving to the Lord for blessing you with a good harvest and in so many other ways; it shall be a time of great joy.

¹⁶ “Every man in Israel shall appear before the Lord your God three times a year at the sanctuary for these festivals:

“On each of these occasions bring a gift to the Lord. ¹⁷ Give as you are able, according as the Lord has blessed you.

¹⁸ “Appoint judges and administrative officials for all the cities the Lord your God is giving you. They will administer justice in every part of the land. ¹⁹ Never twist justice to benefit a rich man, and never accept bribes. For bribes blind the eyes of the wisest and corrupt their decisions. ²⁰ Justice must prevail.

“That is the only way you will be successful in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

²¹ “Never, under any circumstances, are you to erect shameful images beside the altar of the Lord your God. ²² And never set up stone pillars to worship them, for the Lord hates them!

17 “Never sacrifice a sick or defective ox or sheep to the Lord your God. He doesn’t feel honored by such gifts!

^2-3 “If anyone, whether man or woman, in any village throughout your land violates your covenant with God by worshiping other gods, the sun, moon, or stars—which I have strictly forbidden— ⁴ first check the rumor very carefully; if there is no doubt it is true, ⁵ then that man or woman shall be taken outside the city and shall be stoned to death. ⁶ However, never put a man to death on the testimony of only one witness; there must be at least two or three. ⁷ The witnesses shall throw the first stones, and then all the people shall join in. In this way you will purge all evil from among you.

⁸ “If a case arises that is too hard for you to decide—for instance, whether someone is guilty of murder when there is insufficient evidence, or whether someone’s rights have been violated—you shall take the case to the sanctuary of the Lord your God, ⁹ to the priests and Levites, and the chief judge on duty at the time will make the decision. ¹⁰ His decision is without appeal and is to be followed to the letter. ¹¹ The sentence he imposes is to be fully executed. ¹² If the defendant refuses to accept the decision of the priest or judge appointed by God for this purpose, the penalty is death. Such sinners must be purged from Israel. ¹³ Then everyone will hear about what happened to the man who refused God’s verdict, and they will be afraid to defy a court’s judgment.

¹⁴ “When you arrive in the land the Lord your God will give you, and have conquered it, and begin to think, ‘We ought to have a king like the other nations around us’— ¹⁵ be sure that you select as king the man the Lord your God shall choose. He must be an Israelite, not a foreigner. ¹⁶ Be sure that he doesn’t build up a large stable of horses for himself, nor send his men to Egypt to raise horses for him there, for the Lord has told you, ‘Never return to Egypt again.’ ¹⁷ He must not have too many wives, lest his heart be turned away from the Lord, neither shall he be excessively rich.

¹⁸ “And when he has been crowned and sits upon his throne as king, then he must copy these laws from the book kept by the Levite-priests. ¹⁹ That copy of the laws shall be his constant companion. He must read from it every day of his life so that he will learn to respect the Lord his God by obeying all of his commands. ²⁰ This regular reading of God’s laws will prevent him from feeling that he is better than his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from God’s laws in the slightest respect and will ensure his having a long, good reign. His sons will then follow him upon the throne.

18 “Remember that the priests and all the other members of the Levite tribe will not be given property like the other tribes. So the priests and Levites are to be supported by the sacrifices brought to the altar of the Lord and by the other offerings the people bring to him. ² They don’t need to own property, for the Lord is their property! That is what he promised them! ³ The shoulder, the cheeks, and the stomach of every ox or sheep brought for sacrifice must be given to the priests. ⁴ In addition, the priests shall receive the harvest samples brought in thanksgiving to the Lord—the first of the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, and of the fleece at shearing time. ⁵ For the Lord your God has chosen the tribe of Levi, of all the tribes, to minister to the Lord from generation to generation.

^6-7 “Any Levite, no matter where he lives in the land of Israel, has the right to come to the sanctuary at any time and minister in the name of the Lord, just like his brother Levites who work there regularly. ⁸ He shall be given his share of the sacrifices and offerings as his right, not just if he is in need.

⁹ “When you arrive in the Promised Land you must be very careful lest you be corrupted by the horrible customs of the nations now living there. ¹⁰ For example, any Israeli who presents his child to be burned to death as a sacrifice to heathen gods must be killed.^[c] No Israeli may practice black magic, or call on the evil spirits for aid, or be a fortune-teller, ¹¹ or be a serpent charmer, medium, or wizard, or call forth the spirits of the dead. ¹² Anyone doing these things is an object of horror and disgust to the Lord, and it is because the nations do these things that the Lord your God will displace them. ¹³ You must walk blamelessly before the Lord your God. ¹⁴ The nations you replace all do these evil things, but the Lord your God will not permit you to do such things.

¹⁵ “Instead, he will raise up for you a prophet like me, an Israeli, a man to whom you must listen and whom you must obey. ¹⁶ For this is what you yourselves begged of God at Mount Horeb. There at the foot of the mountain you begged that you might not have to listen to the terrifying voice of God again, or see the awesome fire on the mountain, lest you die.

¹⁷ “‘All right,’ the Lord said to me, ‘I will do as they have requested. ¹⁸ I will raise up from among them a prophet, an Israeli like you. I will tell him what to say, and he shall be my spokesman to the people. ¹⁹ I will personally deal with anyone who will not listen to him and heed his messages from me. ²⁰ But any prophet who falsely claims that his message is from me shall die. And any prophet who claims to give a message from other gods must die.’ ²¹ If you wonder, ‘How shall we know whether the prophecy is from the Lord or not?’ ²² this is the way to know: If the thing he prophesies doesn’t happen, it is not the Lord who has given him the message; he has made it up himself. You have nothing to fear from him.

13 As he was leaving the Temple that day, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, what beautiful buildings these are! Look at the decorated stonework on the walls.”

² Jesus replied, “Yes, look! For not one stone will be left upon another, except as ruins.”

^3-4 And as he sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives across the valley from Jerusalem, Peter, James, John, and Andrew got alone with him and asked him, “Just when is all this going to happen to the Temple? Will there be some warning ahead of time?”

⁵ So Jesus launched into an extended reply. “Don’t let anyone mislead you,” he said, ⁶ “for many will come declaring themselves to be your Messiah and will lead many astray. ⁷ And wars will break out near and far, but this is not the signal of the end-time.

⁸ “For nations and kingdoms will proclaim war against each other, and there will be earthquakes in many lands, and famines. These herald only the early stages of the anguish ahead. ⁹ But when these things begin to happen, watch out! For you will be in great danger. You will be dragged before the courts, and beaten in the synagogues, and accused before governors and kings of being my followers. This is your opportunity to tell them the Good News. ¹⁰ And the Good News must first be made known in every nation before the end-time finally comes.^{[a] 11} But when you are arrested and stand trial, don’t worry about what to say in your defense. Just say what God tells you to. Then you will not be speaking, but the Holy Spirit will.

¹² “Brothers will betray each other to death, fathers will betray their own children, and children will betray their parents to be killed. ¹³ And everyone will hate you because you are mine. But all who endure to the end without renouncing me shall be saved.

¹⁴ “When you see the horrible thing standing in the Temple^[b] —reader, pay attention!—flee, if you can, to the Judean hills. ^15-16 Hurry! If you are on your rooftop porch, don’t even go back into the house. If you are out in the fields, don’t even return for your money or clothes.

¹⁷ “Woe to pregnant women in those days, and to mothers nursing their children. ¹⁸ And pray that your flight will not be in winter. ¹⁹ For those will be days of such horror as have never been since the beginning of God’s creation, nor will ever be again. ²⁰ And unless the Lord shortens that time of calamity, not a soul in all the earth will survive. But for the sake of his chosen ones he will limit those days.