Old/New Testament
21 The Lord said to Moses: “Tell the priests never to defile themselves by touching a dead person, 2-3 unless it is a near relative—a mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or unmarried[a] sister for whom he has special responsibility since she has no husband. 4 For the priest is a leader among his people, and he may not ceremonially defile himself as an ordinary person can.
5 “The priests shall not clip bald spots in their hair or beards, nor cut their flesh. 6 They shall be holy unto their God and shall not dishonor and profane his name; otherwise they will be unfit to make food offerings by fire to the Lord their God. 7 A priest shall not marry a prostitute, nor a woman of another tribe, and he shall not marry a divorced woman, for he is a holy man of God. 8 The priest is set apart to offer the sacrifices of your God; he is holy, for I, the Lord who sanctifies you, am holy. 9 The daughter of any priest who becomes a prostitute, thus violating her father’s holiness as well as her own, shall be burned alive.
10 “The High Priest—anointed with the special anointing oil and wearing the special garments—must not let his hair hang loose in mourning, nor tear his clothing, 11 nor be in the presence of any dead person—not even his father or mother.[b] 12 He shall not leave the sanctuary when on duty,[c] nor treat my Tabernacle like an ordinary house, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him; I am Jehovah. 13 He must marry a virgin. 14-15 He may not marry a widow, nor a woman who is divorced, nor a prostitute. She must be a virgin from his own tribe, for he must not be the father of children of mixed blood—half priestly and half ordinary.”[d]
16-17 And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron that any of his descendants from generation to generation who have any bodily defect may not offer the sacrifices to God. 18 For instance, if a man is blind or lame, or has a broken nose or any extra fingers or toes, 19 or has a broken foot or hand, 20 or has a humped back, or is a dwarf, or has a defect in his eye, or has pimples or scabby skin, or has imperfect testicles— 21 although he is a descendant of Aaron—he is not permitted to offer the fire sacrifices to the Lord because of his physical defect. 22 However, he shall be fed with the food of the priests from the offerings sacrificed to God, both from the holy and most holy offerings. 23 But he shall not go in behind the veil, nor come near the altar, because of the physical defect; this would defile my sanctuary, for it is Jehovah who sanctifies it.”
24 So Moses gave these instructions to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel.
22 1-2 The Lord told Moses, “Instruct Aaron and his sons to be very careful not to defile my holy name by desecrating the people’s sacred gifts; for I am Jehovah. 3 From now on and forever, if a priest who is ceremonially defiled sacrifices the animals brought by the people or handles the gifts dedicated to Jehovah, he shall be discharged from the priesthood. For I am Jehovah!
4 “No priest who is a leper or who has a running sore may eat the holy sacrifices until healed. And any priest who touches a dead person, or who is defiled by a seminal emission, 5 or who touches any reptile or other forbidden thing, or who touches anyone who is ceremonially defiled for any reason— 6 that priest shall be defiled until evening and shall not eat of the holy sacrifices until after he has bathed that evening. 7 When the sun is down, then he shall be purified again and may eat the holy food, for it is his source of life. 8 He may not eat any animal that dies of itself or is torn by wild animals, for this will defile him. I am Jehovah. 9 Warn the priests to follow these instructions carefully, lest they be declared guilty and die for violating these rules. I am the Lord who sanctifies them.
10 “No one may eat of the holy sacrifices unless he is a priest; no one visiting the priest, for instance, nor a hired servant, may eat this food. 11 However, there is one exception—if the priest buys a slave with his own money, that slave may eat it, and any slave children born in his household may eat it. 12 If a priest’s daughter is married outside the tribe, she may not eat the sacred offerings.[e] 13 But if she is a widow or divorced and has no son to support her, and has returned home to her father’s household, she may eat of her father’s food again. But otherwise, no one who is not in the priestly families may eat this food.
14 “If someone should eat of the holy sacrifices without realizing it, he shall return to the priest the amount he has used, with 20 percent added; 15 for the holy sacrifices brought by the people of Israel must not be defiled by being eaten by unauthorized persons, for these sacrifices have been offered to the Lord. 16 Anyone who violates this law is guilty and is in great danger because he has eaten the sacred offerings; for I am Jehovah who sanctifies the offerings.”
17-18 And the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel that if an Israelite or other person living among you offers a burnt offering sacrifice to the Lord—whether it is to fulfill a promise or is a spontaneous freewill offering— 19 it will only be acceptable to the Lord if it is a male animal without defect; it must be a young bull or a sheep or a goat. 20 Anything that has a defect must not be offered, for it will not be accepted.
21 “Anyone sacrificing a peace offering to the Lord from the herd or flock, whether to fulfill a vow or as a voluntary offering, must sacrifice an animal that has no defect, or it will not be accepted: 22 An animal that is blind or disabled or mutilated, or which has sores or itch or any other skin disease, must not be offered to the Lord; it is not a fit burnt offering for the altar of the Lord. 23 If the young bull or lamb presented to the Lord has anything superfluous or lacking in its body parts, it may be offered as a freewill offering, but not for a vow. 24 An animal that has injured genitals—crushed or castrated—shall not be offered to the Lord at any time. 25 This restriction applies to the sacrifices made by foreigners among you as well as those made by yourselves, for no defective animal is acceptable for this sacrifice.”
26-27 And the Lord said to Moses, “When a bullock, sheep, or goat is born, it shall be left with its mother for seven days, but from the eighth day onward it is acceptable as a sacrifice by fire to the Lord. 28 You shall not slaughter a mother animal and her offspring the same day, whether she is a cow or ewe. 29-30 When you offer the Lord a sacrifice of thanksgiving, you must do it in the right way, eating the sacrificial animal the same day it is slain. Leave none of it for the following day. I am the Lord.
31 “You must keep all of my commandments, for I am the Lord. 32-33 You must not treat me as common and ordinary. Revere me and hallow me, for I, the Lord, made you holy to myself and rescued you from Egypt to be my own people! I am Jehovah!”
28 Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to the tomb.
2 Suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it. 3 His face shone like lightning and his clothing was a brilliant white. 4 The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and fell into a dead faint.
5 Then the angel spoke to the women. “Don’t be frightened!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified, 6 but he isn’t here! For he has come back to life again, just as he said he would. Come in and see where his body was lying. . . . 7 And now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and that he is going to Galilee to meet them there. That is my message to them.”
8 The women ran from the tomb, badly frightened, but also filled with joy, and rushed to find the disciples to give them the angel’s message. 9 And as they were running, suddenly Jesus was there in front of them!
“Good morning!”[a] he said. And they fell to the ground before him, holding his feet and worshiping him.
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be frightened! Go tell my brothers to leave at once for Galilee, to meet me there.”
11 As the women were on the way into the city, some of the Temple police who had been guarding the tomb went to the chief priests and told them what had happened. 12-13 A meeting of all the Jewish leaders was called, and it was decided to bribe the police to say they had all been asleep when Jesus’ disciples came during the night and stole his body.
14 “If the governor hears about it,” the Council promised, “we’ll stand up for you and everything will be all right.”
15 So the police accepted the bribe and said what they were told to. Their story spread widely among the Jews and is still believed by them to this very day.
16 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had said they would find him. 17 There they met him and worshiped him—but some of them weren’t sure it really was Jesus!
18 He told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and earth. 19 Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations,[b] baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this—that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”[c]
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.