Old/New Testament

The Burnt Offering

1 The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Meeting Tent. The Lord said, ² “Tell the people of Israel: ‘When you bring an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering one of the cattle. Or you may bring one of the sheep or goats.

³ “‘If anyone offers a whole burnt offering from the cattle, it must be a male. It must have nothing wrong with it. The person must take the animal to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Then the Lord will accept the offering. ⁴ The person must put his hand on the animal’s head. Then the Lord will accept that burnt offering. It will remove the person’s sin so he will belong to God. ⁵ The person must kill the young bull before the Lord. Then the priests must bring its blood to the altar. They must sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar. This is the altar at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. ⁶ The person will cut the skin from that animal. Then he will cut the animal into pieces. ⁷ The priests must put wood and fire on the altar. ⁸ They must lay the head, the fat and other pieces on the wood. That wood is on the fire on the altar. ⁹ The priest must wash the animal’s inner organs and legs with water. Then the priest must burn all the animal’s parts on the altar. It is a whole burnt offering, an offering made by fire. And its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

¹⁰ “‘The burnt offering may be a sheep or goat. It must be a male animal that has nothing wrong with it. ¹¹ The person must kill the animal on the north side of the altar. This is to be before the Lord. Then the priests must sprinkle its blood on the altar. They must sprinkle it on all sides. ¹² The person must cut the animal into pieces. Then the priest must lay the pieces with the head and fat on the wood. The wood is on the fire on the altar. ¹³ The person must wash the animal’s inner organs and legs with water. Then the priest must burn all its parts on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire. And its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

¹⁴ “‘The whole burnt offering may be a bird. It must be a dove or a young pigeon. ¹⁵ The priest will bring the offering to the altar. He will pull off the bird’s head. Then he will burn it on the altar. The bird’s blood must be drained out on the side of the altar. ¹⁶ The priest must remove the bird’s crop^[a] and its contents. He must throw them on the east side of the altar. This is where they put the ashes from the altar. ¹⁷ Then the priest must tear the bird open by its wings. But he must not divide the bird into two parts. Then the priest must burn the bird on the altar. He must place it on the wood which is on the fire. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

The Grain Offering

2 “‘When anyone offers a grain offering to the Lord, it must be made from fine flour. The person must pour oil on it and put incense on it. ² Then he must take it to Aaron’s sons and the priests. The priest must take a handful of the fine flour, with the oil and all the incense. He must burn it on the altar as a memorial portion. It is an offering made by fire. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord. ³ The rest of the grain offering will belong to Aaron and the priests. This offering is a most holy part of the offerings made by fire to the Lord.

⁴ “‘If you bring a grain offering that was baked in the oven, it must be made from fine flour. It may be loaves made without yeast and mixed with oil. Or it may be wafers made without yeast. They are to have oil poured over them. ⁵ If your grain offering is cooked on a griddle, it must be made without yeast. It must be made of fine flour mixed with oil. ⁶ Crumble it and pour oil over it. It is a grain offering. ⁷ If your grain offering is cooked in a pan, it must be made from fine flour and oil. ⁸ Bring the grain offering made of these things to the Lord. Give it to the priest. He will take it to the altar. ⁹ He will take out the memorial portion from the grain offering. He will burn it on the altar. This is an offering made by fire. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord. ¹⁰ The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and the priests. It is a most holy part of the offerings made to the Lord by fire.

¹¹ “‘Every grain offering you bring to the Lord must be made without yeast. You must not burn yeast or honey in an offering made by fire to the Lord. ¹² You may bring yeast and honey to the Lord as an offering from the first harvest. But yeast and honey must not be burned on the altar as a pleasing smell. ¹³ You must also put salt on all your grain offerings. Salt stands for your agreement with God that will last forever. Do not leave it out of your grain offering. You must add salt to all your offerings.

¹⁴ “‘If you bring a grain offering from the first harvest to the Lord, bring crushed heads of new grain. They must be roasted in the fire. ¹⁵ Put oil and incense on the grain. It is a grain offering. ¹⁶ The priest will burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and oil. It will have incense on it. It is an offering by fire to the Lord.

The Fellowship Offering

3 “‘A person’s fellowship offering to the Lord may be from the cattle. It may be a male or female animal. But it must have nothing wrong with it. ² The person must put his hand on the animal’s head. He must kill it at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. Then the priests must sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar. ³ This person must make a sacrifice from the fellowship offering. The sacrifice must be made by fire to the Lord. He must offer the fat of the animal’s inner organs. This is both the fat that is in them and that covers them. ⁴ He must also offer both kidneys and the fat on them. They are near the lower back muscle. He must also offer the best part of the liver. He will remove it with the kidneys. ⁵ Then the priests will burn these parts on the altar. They will put them on the burnt offering that is on the wood on the fire. It is an offering made by fire. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

⁶ “‘A person’s fellowship offering to the Lord may be a lamb or a goat. He may offer a male or female animal. But it must have nothing wrong with it. ⁷ If he offers a lamb, he must bring it before the Lord. ⁸ He must put his hand on its head. Then he must kill the animal in front of the Meeting Tent. The priests will sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar. ⁹ Then the person must make a sacrifice from the fellowship offering. The sacrifice must be made by fire to the Lord. The person must bring the fat and the whole fat tail. The tail must be cut off close to the backbone. He must also offer the fat of the inner organs. This is both the fat that is in them and that covers them. ¹⁰ He must offer both kidneys and the fat on them. They are near the lower back muscle. And he must offer the best part of the liver. He will remove it with the kidneys. ¹¹ Then the priest will burn these parts on the altar as food. It will be an offering made by fire to the Lord.

¹² “‘A person’s fellowship offering may be a goat. He is to offer it before the Lord. ¹³ He must put his hand on the goat’s head. And he must kill it in front of the Meeting Tent. Then the priests must sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar. ¹⁴ From this fellowship offering the person must make a sacrifice. It will be an offering by fire to the Lord. The person must offer all the fat of the goat’s inner organs. This is both the fat that is in them and that covers them. ¹⁵ He must offer both kidneys and the fat on them. They are near the lower back muscle. And he must offer the best part of the liver. He will remove it with the kidneys. ¹⁶ The priest will burn these parts on the altar as food. It is an offering made by fire. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord. All the fat belongs to the Lord.

¹⁷ “‘This law will continue for people from now on, wherever you live: you must not eat fat or blood.’”

The Temple Will Be Destroyed

24 Jesus left the Temple and was walking away. But his followers came to show him the Temple’s buildings. ² Jesus asked, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth. Every stone will be thrown down to the ground. Not one stone will be left on another.”

³ Later, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives. His followers came to be alone with him. They said, “Tell us when these things will happen. And what will happen to show us that it is time for you to come again and for the world to end?”

⁴ Jesus answered: “Be careful that no one fools you. ⁵ Many people will come in my name. They will say, ‘I am the Christ.’ And they will fool many people. ⁶ You will hear about wars and stories of wars that are coming. But don’t be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes. ⁷ Nations will fight against other nations. Kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat. And there will be earthquakes in different places. ⁸ These things are like the first pains when something new is about to be born.

⁹ “Then men will arrest you and hand you over to be hurt and kill you. They will hate you because you believe in me. ¹⁰ At that time, many who believe will lose their faith. They will turn against each other and hate each other. ¹¹ Many false prophets will come and cause many people to believe false things. ¹² There will be more and more evil in the world. So most people will stop showing their love for each other. ¹³ But the person who continues to be strong until the end will be saved. ¹⁴ The Good News about God’s kingdom will be preached in all the world, to every nation. Then the end will come.

¹⁵ “Daniel the prophet spoke about ‘the horrible thing that destroys.’^[a] You will see this terrible thing standing in the holy place.” (You who read this should understand what it means.) ¹⁶ “At that time, the people in Judea should run away to the mountains. ¹⁷ If a person is on the roof^[b] of his house, he must not go down to get anything out of his house. ¹⁸ If a person is in the field, he must not go back to get his coat. ¹⁹ At that time, it will be hard for women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! ²⁰ Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away. ²¹ This is because at that time there will be much trouble. There will be more trouble than has ever happened since the beginning of the world. And nothing as bad as that will ever happen again. ²² God has decided to make that terrible time short. If that time were not made short, then no one would go on living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen. ²³ At that time, someone might say to you, ‘Look, there is the Christ!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. ²⁴ False Christs and false prophets will come and perform great things and miracles. They will do these things to the people God has chosen. They will fool them, if that is possible. ²⁵ Now I have warned you about this before it happens.

²⁶ “If people tell you, ‘The Christ is in the desert’—don’t go there. If they say, ‘The Christ is in the inner room’—don’t believe it. ²⁷ When the Son of Man comes, he will be seen by everyone. It will be like lightning flashing in the sky that can be seen everywhere. ²⁸ Wherever there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.