Old/New Testament
People and their land are connected. When people engage in disgusting practices, it affects the land, pollutes it, and makes it sick. But when people live by God’s rules, the land is well.
19 The Eternal One spoke to Moses.
Eternal One: 2 Go, talk with the community of Israel, and tell them that they are to be holy, for I, the Eternal your God, am holy.[a] 3 I want all of you to honor your mothers and fathers and keep My Sabbaths, for I am the Eternal your God. 4 Do not turn from Me to follow useless idols or cast metal images of other gods, for I am the Eternal your God.
5 When you sacrifice a peace offering to Me, present it correctly so you are accepted. 6 Your peace offering should be consumed the same day you present it or the day after. But you must burn any of the offering that is still left on the third day. 7 If any of it is eaten on the third day, your offering will not be accepted; by then it has become foul. 8 Anyone who consumes the peace offering on the third day will bear his guilt and suffer the consequences, for he has desecrated what has been set apart for Me. That person must be cut off from his people.
9 When you harvest the crops of your land, do not gather the grain all the way to the edges of your fields or pick up what was overlooked during the first round of harvesting. 10 Likewise do not strip the vines bare in your vineyard or gather the fallen grapes. Leave the fallen fruit and some grapes on the vine for the poor and strangers living among you; for I am the Eternal your God.
God’s care for the poor is clearly reflected and codified in these verses. Those who have are to leave something for those who have not. No one is charged to make them care for the poor; God’s covenant people are to do this in obedience to His commands. But the poor have a responsibility as well. They are to go and gather the grain left in the fields and collect the clusters left in the vineyard. In this way, they join with the landowners and farmers in caring for themselves and the earth.
Eternal One: 11 Do not take what is not yours or conduct business dishonestly or lie to each other. 12 Do not swear to a lie in My name. If you do, My name is profaned. I am the Eternal One.
13 Do not mistreat your neighbor or steal from him. Do not keep the payment of a hired hand overnight, but compensate him for work at the end of the day. 14 Do not mock the disabled by shouting a curse at a deaf person or putting something in the way to trip up the blind. Instead, honor and fear your God; I am the Eternal One.
15 In a court of law, do what is just, not unjust. Do not favor one side or the other, the poor or the wealthy; instead, judge your neighbor fairly. 16 Do not go around spreading malicious lies about other people. Do not take a stand that would endanger your neighbor’s life. I am the Eternal One.
17 Do not harbor a deep hatred for any of your relatives. If your neighbor is doing something wrong, correct him or else you could be held responsible for his sin.[b] 18 Do not seek revenge or hold a grudge against any of your people. Instead, love your neighbor as you love yourself,[c] for I am the Eternal One.
19 Honor My decrees. Do not breed two different species. Do not plant two different sorts of seed in your fields. Do not wear clothing made from two different kinds of material.
20 If a man has sexual relations with a slave woman who is promised to another man but has not yet been redeemed or freed, then they will face an inquiry. Neither the man nor the woman will be put to death because she was a slave and not a free woman when the offense took place. 21 The man must present to Me a ram as his guilt offering at the entrance of the congregation tent. 22 The priest is to sacrifice the ram of the guilt offering before Me to cover the man’s guilt; then the guilty man’s sin will be forgiven.
23 When you go into the land and plant fruit-bearing trees, you are not to eat the fruit right away. It’s off-limits for three years.[d] 24 When the fourth year arrives, all the fruit of those trees must be regarded as sacred, a praise offering to Me. 25 When the fifth year arrives, you are finally allowed to eat the fruits of those trees. If you demonstrate your faith by following this procedure, these trees will be even more productive. I am the Eternal One, your God.
26 Do not consume any meat while the blood is still in it. Do not practice divination or fortune-telling. 27 Do not cut the hair at your temples or trim your beard. 28 Do not make cuts in your body for the dead or mark yourselves with tattoos. I am the Eternal One.
29 Do not defile your daughter by forcing her into prostitution. If you do, you not only corrupt her but you also infect the land with prostitution and wickedness. 30 Keep My Sabbaths and respect My sanctuary. I am the Eternal One.
31 Do not turn to mediums or consult with those who communicate with the spirits of the dead. Do not go near them, or else you will defile yourselves. I am the Eternal your God.
32 You are to stand in respect for the older people in your community. You must fear your God. I am the Eternal One.
33 Don’t take advantage of any stranger who lives in your land. 34 You must treat the outsider as one of your native-born people—as a full citizen—and you are to love him in the same way you love yourself; for remember, you were once strangers living in Egypt. I am the Eternal One, your God.
35 In business dealings, be fair and do not cheat. Measure accurately length, weight, and volume. 36 Your scales are to be accurate, your weights true, and your containers standard. I am the Eternal your God, who led you out of Egypt.
37 You are to keep all My directives and all of My rules, and do as I have instructed. I am the Eternal One.
Genuine faith manifests itself in the way God’s people treat others. While some may dishonor aliens or take advantage of outsiders, God’s own must live differently. The law of love guides them to treat others as they wish to be treated and to extend hospitality to those who look and sound like they are far from home. God reminds them: you were once strangers and outsiders, too, in Egypt. You of all people should know what it is like to be aliens in a foreign land. Likewise genuine faith shows up in the marketplace. True believers conduct business with integrity. Whether they are buying or selling, they insist on proper weights and measures, hard work, and honesty.
20 The Eternal One spoke to Moses.
Eternal One: 2 Tell the people of Israel that if any of them or any outsiders living among them present their children as human sacrifices to Molech, they will be put to death. The entire community must see to it that he is stoned to death. 3 I will turn against that man and cut him off from his community because he presented one of his children to Molech; he has desecrated My sanctuary and My sacred reputation. 4 If the people in the community fail to handle the situation and do not execute him after he presents his children to Molech, 5 then I will take the matter into My own hands and turn against the man and his family. I will cut him and all those who prostitute themselves with Molech off from their community.
Since God has pledged Himself to Israel as a husband to his bride, marriage becomes a powerful symbol of the loving, faithful relationship between God and His covenant people. Marital infidelity then—both adultery and prostitution—signify what happens when His people go after other gods.
Eternal One: 6 I will turn against any individual who prostitutes himself by turning to mediums and consulting with those who communicate with the spirits of the dead. I will cut him off from his community. 7 Dedicate yourselves exclusively to the one True God and become holy, for I, the Eternal your God, am holy.[e] 8 Keep My directives and practice My commands, for I am the Eternal who sanctifies you.
9 Anyone who utters a curse on his father or mother must be put to death,[f] for he has dishonored them, and their blood is on him.
10 If a man commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, both offenders must be put to death. 11 If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he might as well have violated his father; both offenders must be put to death, for their blood is on them. 12 If a man has sexual relations with his daughter-in-law, both offenders must be put to death; for they have engaged in a disgusting act and their blood is on them. 13 If a man has sexual relations with another man, they have participated in a detestable act. Both men are to be put to death, for their blood is on them. 14 Any man who marries a woman and her mother commits a depraved act. He and both women are to be burned to death so that such depravity will not exist in the community. 15 Any man who engages in a sexual act with an animal is to be put to death along with the animal. 16 Any woman who approaches an animal to engage in some sexual act must be put to death along with the animal, for their blood is on them.
Sexuality is a powerful force for good in humanity. But perversion brings impurity into the world; it defiles the moral and natural order of creation.
17 It is a shameful and dishonorable act for any man to marry his sister and have sexual relations with her; it doesn’t matter whether she is his father’s daughter or mother’s daughter. Both of them must be cut off from their community. Any man who has sexual relations with his sister will bear his guilt and suffer the consequences. 18 If a man has sexual relations with a woman who is menstruating, he has uncovered the source of her flow and she has exposed it to him; both the man and the woman must be cut off from the community. 19 Do not have sexual relations with your aunt, whether she is the sister of your mother or father. Any man who does such a thing has disgraced his relative. Both offenders are guilty and must suffer the consequences. 20 If a man has sexual relations with his uncle’s wife, he might as well have violated his uncle. Both offenders will suffer the consequences of their sin; they will die childless. 21 If a man has sexual relations with his brother’s wife, he has committed a disgraceful, dishonorable act;[g] He might as well have violated his brother; they will die childless.
22 Therefore, keep all My directives and My rules so that the land I am giving you will not vomit you out. 23 Do not follow in the footsteps of the people who lived in the land before you and whom I will remove from the land when you take possession of it, for they committed wicked acts like the ones described here; this is why I despise them. 24 As I have already told you, “You will inherit the land that was theirs. I am giving you this land flowing with milk and honey as your possession.”[h] I am the Eternal One your God who has set you apart from all the other people. 25 Consequently you must know the difference between a ritually pure and impure animal and a pure and impure bird. Do not make yourselves detestable by eating an animal, a bird, or any small creature that I have designated as ritually impure. 26 You must be holy, for I, the Eternal One, am holy, and I have chosen you from all the people of the world to be My people.
27 Any person among you who is a medium or tries to communicate with the spirits of the dead must be put to death. They are to be stoned to death, for their blood will be required of them.
51 At that instant, the temple curtain was torn in half, from top to bottom. The earth shook; rocks split in two; 52 tombs burst open, and bodies of many sleeping holy women and men were raised up. 53 After Jesus’ resurrection, they came out of their tombs, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and showed themselves to people.
54 When the Centurion and soldiers who had been charged with guarding Jesus felt the earthquake and saw the rocks splitting and the tombs opening, they were, of course, terrified.
Soldiers: He really was God’s Son.
55 A number of women, who had been devoted to Jesus and followed Him from Galilee, were present, too, watching from a distance. 56 Mary Magdalene was there, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
57 At evening time, a rich man from Arimathea arrived. His name was Joseph, and he had become a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked to be given Jesus’ body; Pilate assented and ordered his servants to turn Jesus’ body over to Joseph. 59 So Joseph took the body, wrapped Jesus in a clean sheath of white linen, 60 and laid Jesus in his own new tomb, which he had carved from a rock. Then he rolled a great stone in front of the tomb’s opening, and he went away. 61 Mary Magdalene was there, and so was the other Mary. They sat across from the tomb, watching, remembering.
62 The next day, which is the day after the Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went together to Pilate. 63 They reminded him that when Jesus was alive He had claimed that He would be raised from the dead after three days.
Chief Priests and Pharisees: 64 So please order someone to secure the tomb for at least three days. Otherwise His disciples might sneak in and steal His body away, and then claim that He has been raised from the dead. If that happens, then we would have been better off just leaving Him alive.
Pilate: 65 You have a guard. Go and secure the grave.
66 So they went to the tomb, sealed the stone in its mouth, and left the guard to keep watch.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.