Old/New Testament
6 Then the Eternal One told Moses:
Eternal One: 2 The following are instructions regarding liars and cheaters: Anytime someone commits a sin and violates his covenant duties to Me by deceiving his neighbor in financial or security matters, by stealing or by extortion, 3 or if a person finds something that is lost and lies about it and makes a false claim, or in anything that someone does, 4 and if he has sinned and comes to realize it, he will give back what he has stolen or extorted, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost object he found, 5 or any other object he lied about. He will repay it entirely plus ⅕ of its value. He must give it to its rightful owner the very day he gives his guilt offering. 6 He is to bring to the priest an unblemished ram or its equivalent value as his guilt offering to Me. 7 The priest will make atonement and cover the guilty person’s wrong before Me, and the guilty will be forgiven for anything that he did wrong.
8 The Eternal One spoke again to Moses.
Eternal One: 9 Give Aaron and his sons these instructions regarding the ritual of the burnt offering: The burnt offering must stay on the wood-fire all night until morning arrives. The fire on the altar is to be tended and kept burning during the night. 10 The priest must dress in his ritual linen clothes and undergarments, and he must take the ashes from the burnt offering on top of the altar and place them next to the altar. 11 Then the priest must remove his ritual clothes and dress in other clothes to transport the ashes to a ritually clean space outside the camp. 12 The fire on the altar must burn continually; it must not be allowed to go out. The priests are to feed wood to the fire every morning, arrange the burnt offering on the fire, and offer up the fat portions of the peace offerings. 13 The fire on the altar must burn continually; it must not be allowed to go out.
14 Here are the instructions for the ritual of the grain offering: Aaron’s sons must offer it to Me in front of the altar. 15 A priest is to take a handful of the finest flour from the grain offering, together with the oil and frankincense that are part of the grain offering, and offer it as a memorial portion on the altar. The smoke of the sacrifice will rise and be a pleasant aroma to Me. 16 Aaron and his sons get to eat whatever is left over. They must eat it without yeast in the holy place or in the courtyard around the sanctuary. 17 It must not be baked with yeast. I am assigning this as their portion of the fire-offerings. Their portion is most sacred in the same way that the purification offering and guilt offering are sacred. 18 All of Aaron’s male descendants are allowed to eat of it. It will be their portion of the fire-offerings presented to Me. This directive stands throughout all generations. Anything that touches them will become holy.
Holiness is contagious. We’re accustomed to thinking about it in the negative. “A bad apple spoils the barrel,” our Western wisdom instructs us. But the Scriptures are clear that holiness, too, spreads from contact. Essentially, holiness refers to whatever is set apart for God’s purpose and use. The act of setting apart creates a reality that can transform anything it touches. Holy bread consumed in the holy place by holy priests created a holiness that could spread throughout the community.
19 The Eternal One continued to Moses.
Eternal One: 20 Here are instructions for the ritual sacrifice which Aaron and his sons are to offer Me on the day Aaron is anointed high priest: bring four pints of the finest flour as a grain offering. Offer half of it in the morning and the other half in the evening. 21 Prepare it with oil and bake it on a griddle. After it has been mixed with the oil and thoroughly cooked,[a] offer it as a pleasant aroma to Me. 22 This directive stands for all time. The priest from Aaron’s line who is selected to be his successor must bring this same offering when he is anointed, and all of it must be burned. 23 The grain offering from the priest is not to be eaten; all of it must be consumed on the altar.
24 The Eternal One continued to Moses.
Eternal One: 25 Go, talk with Aaron and his sons, and give them these commands for the ritual of the purification offering for sin: The purification offering is to be slaughtered in My presence in the same place where the burnt offering is slaughtered; it is most sacred. 26 The priest who presents the purification offering is to eat his portion of it in a sacred place inside the courtyard around the sanctuary. 27 Anything that comes in contact with the flesh of the sacrifice will be made holy. When the blood of the sacrifice gets on any clothing, you must wash the bloodstain out in a sacred place. 28 If a clay pot is used to boil the sacrifice, it must be shattered and discarded. If it was boiled in a bronze bowl, however, then it must be scrubbed and rinsed with water. 29 Every man who is a priest may eat it; it is most sacred. 30 But none of the offerings from which blood is brought inside the congregation tent as a covering for sin may be eaten. All of it must be consumed on the altar.
7 Eternal One (to Moses): Here are the instructions for the ritual of the guilt offering; it is most sacred. 2 The slaughter of the guilt offering must take place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, and the priest must splatter its blood against the sides of the altar. 3 Then the priest is to offer all of its fat, the fat tail, the fat covering and surrounding the organs, 4 the two kidneys and the fat on them near the loins, and the lobe of the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys). 5 The priest must offer it all up on the altar as a fire-offering to Me. It is a guilt offering. 6 Every man who is a priest may eat of it, as long as he eats in a holy place; it is most sacred.
7 The guilt offering is similar to the purification offering for sin. The instructions are the same for both rituals. The priest who makes the atoning sacrifice is allowed to have some of it. 8 Also, the priest who presents anyone’s burnt offering gets to keep the skin from what he has offered for himself. 9 In the same way, any grain offering that is oven-baked or cooked in a pan or griddle belongs to the priest who offered it. 10 Any other grain offering—whether it is dry or mixed with oil—is to be shared equally among Aaron’s sons after the ritual is completed.
There are three kinds of peace offerings described: (a) thanksgiving, expressing gratitude for God’s favor; (b) votive, fulfilling a promise made to God; (c) freewill, made out of appreciation but not obligation.
Eternal One (to Moses): 11 Here are the instructions for the various kinds of the peace offerings that one may offer to Me. 12 If someone offers a sacrifice out of thanksgiving, then in addition to the sacrifice he must offer loaves of unleavened bread mixed with oil, unleavened wafers topped with oil, and loaves of the finest flour mixed with oil. 13 Along with the peace offerings for thanksgiving, a person must include loaves of leavened bread. 14 He must present one of each kind of bread as a gift to Me; it will belong to the priest who officiates the sacrifice and splatters the blood of the peace offerings against the sides of the altar.
15 The meat of the sacrifice for the thanksgiving peace offering must be eaten on the day it is offered. None of it is to be left over for the next day. 16 If the sacrifice for a peace offering accompanies a vow or comes simply as an act of free will, it is to be eaten on the day it is offered; but if any remains on the next day, it may still be eaten. 17 But all the meat from the sacrifice left over on the third day is to be burned completely so that none is left. 18 If any of the leftover meat from the peace offering is eaten on the third day, then the person who offered it will not be accepted and will receive no benefit from the sacrifice. By then it has become foul, and the person who eats from it will bear his guilt and suffer the consequences.
19 Do not eat meat that comes in contact with any impure thing. Burn it up completely. As for any remaining meat that is pure, people who are ritually clean may eat it. 20 Any person who eats meat from the sacrifice of My peace offering during a time when he is impure must be cut off from his people. 21 Also a person who comes into contact with something impure—whether it pertains to human or animal impurity or some totally detestable creatures—and then eats some of the meat from the sacrifice of My peace offerings must be cut off from his people.
As hard as it may be for us to understand, being “cut off from your people” is another way of saying “death penalty.” God is tough on disobedience because sin and impurity is a contagion that can ruin and ultimately destroy His people. To deal with these matters decisively requires decisive action. Like a deadly disease, sin has to be quarantined.
22 The Eternal One continued to Moses.
Eternal One: 23 Go, talk with the Israelites, and tell them not to eat any fat from an ox, sheep, or goat. 24 If an animal dies a natural death or is killed by another animal, then you are allowed to make use of its fat, but under no condition are you allowed to eat any of it. 25 Whoever eats animal fat from a fire-offering to Me must be cut off from his people. 26 Be sure not to consume any animal or bird blood regardless of where you live. 27 Anyone who consumes animal or bird blood must be cut off from his people.
28 The Eternal One continued speaking to Moses.
Eternal One: 29 Go, talk with the Israelites, and tell them that anyone who offers a peace offering to Me must bring it from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. 30 He is to present the fire-offerings to Me with his own hands. Bring the fat along with the breast so that the breast can be lifted up as a wave offering to Me. 31 The officiating priest is to offer the fat as smoke on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his sons. 32 The right thigh from the sacrifice of your peace offerings is to go to the priest as your contribution to his service. 33 The right thigh will be the portion set aside for the son of Aaron who officiates at the sacrifice and presents the fat and blood of the peace offerings. 34 For I, the Eternal One, have taken the breast from the wave offering and the thigh as a gift from the sacrifices brought by the people of Israel as peace offerings, and I have handed them over to Aaron the priest and his sons. This is for all time their rightful portion of the offering from the people of Israel. 35 From the first day they are brought forward as priests in My service, this is the portion set aside for Aaron and his sons taken from the fire-offerings presented to Me. 36 From the day when I anointed and consecrated them as priests, I directed this gift be made to them by the people of Israel. This is their rightful portion for all time and throughout all generations.
The wave offering is a particularly solemn moment in the ceremony when the priest lifts and waves the sacrifice before God. Afterward, the portions waved became property of the priests.
37 These are the instructions for the burnt offering, grain offering, purification offering for sin, guilt offering, ordination offering, and peace offering. 38 The Eternal gave these instructions to Moses on Mount Sinai the same day He told the Israelites to bring their offerings to Him in the desert.
25 Jesus: Or picture the kingdom of heaven this way. It will be like ten bridesmaids who each picked up a lantern and went out to meet a certain bridegroom. 2-4 Five of these women were sensible, good with details, and remembered to bring small flasks of oil for their lanterns. But five of them were flighty, too caught up in the excitement of their jaunt, and forgot to bring oil with them. 5 The bridegroom did not turn up right away. Indeed, all the women, while waiting, found themselves falling asleep. 6 And then in the middle of the night, they heard someone call, “The bridegroom is here, finally! Wake up and greet him!” 7 The women got up and trimmed the wicks of their lanterns and prepared to go greet the groom. 8 The five women who had no oil turned to their friends for help.
Ill-prepared Bridesmaids: Please give us some of your oil! Our lanterns are flickering and will go out soon.
9 But the five women who’d come prepared with oil said they didn’t have enough.
Prepared Bridesmaids: If we give you some of our oil, we’ll all run out too soon! You’d better go wake up a dealer and buy your own supply.
10 So the five ill-prepared women went in search of oil to buy, and while they were gone, the groom arrived. The five who stood ready with their lanterns accompanied him to the wedding party, and after they arrived, the door was shut.
11 Finally the rest of the women turned up at the party. They knocked on the door.
Ill-prepared Bridesmaids: Master, open up and let us in!
Bridegroom (refusing): 12 I certainly don’t know you.
13 So stay awake; you neither know the day nor hour [when the Son of Man will come].[a]
Jesus provides a picture of the coming reality of the kingdom of heaven. As they approach the time of His sacrifice, Jesus makes sure the disciples know that soon it will be too late; the door of opportunity will close, and for many the door will remain shut. He gives them another image of the same reality to bring the picture into focus. Once they were bridesmaids waiting for their bridegroom; now they are slaves waiting for their Master. This time they are given responsibilities that will be rewarded. The blessings of the Kingdom bring risks along with the benefits.
Jesus: 14 This is how it will be. It will be like a landowner who is going on a trip. He instructed his slaves about caring for his property. 15 He gave five talents to one slave, two to the next, and then one talent to the last slave—each according to his ability. Then the man left.
16 Promptly the man who had been given five talents went out and bartered and sold and turned his five talents into ten. 17 And the one who had received two talents went to the market and turned his two into four. 18 And the slave who had received just one talent? He dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money there.
19 Eventually the master came back from his travels, found his slaves, and settled up with them. 20 The slave who had been given five talents came forward and told his master how he’d turned five into ten; then he handed the whole lot over to his master.
Master: 21 Excellent. You’ve proved yourself not only clever but loyal. You’ve executed a rather small task masterfully, so now I am going to put you in charge of something larger. But before you go back to work, come join my great feast and celebration.
22 Then the slave who had been given two talents came forward and told his master how he’d turned two into four, and he handed all four talents to his master.
Master: 23 Excellent. You’ve proved yourself not only clever but loyal. You’ve executed a rather small task masterfully, so now I am going to put you in charge of something larger. But before you go back to work, come join my great feast and celebration.
24 Finally the man who had been given one talent came forward.
Servant: Master, I know you are a hard man, difficult in every way. You can make a healthy sum when others would fail. You profit when other people are doing the work. You grow rich on the backs of others. 25 So I was afraid, dug a hole, and hid the talent in the ground. Here it is. You can have it.
26 The master was furious.
Master: You are a pathetic excuse for a servant! You have disproved my trust in you and squandered my generosity. You know I always make a profit! 27 You could have at least put this talent in the bank; then I could have earned a little interest on it! 28 Take that one talent away, and give it to the servant who doubled my money from five to ten.
29 You see, everything was taken away from the man who had nothing, but the man who had something got even more. 30 And as for the slave who made no profit but buried his talent in the ground? His master ordered his slaves to tie him up and throw him outside into the utter darkness where there is miserable mourning and great fear.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.