Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Day for Making Peace with the Lord

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after Aaron’s two sons had come into the Lord’s presence and died. ² The Lord said, “Tell your brother Aaron that he cannot go into the holy place whenever he wants to. If he goes up to the canopy and stands in front of the throne of mercy on the ark, he will die, because I appear in the smoke above the throne of mercy.

³ “This is what Aaron must do in order to come into the holy place: He must take a bull as an offering for sin and a ram as a burnt offering. ⁴ He must put on a holy linen robe and wear linen undergarments. He must wear a linen belt and turban. These are holy clothes. He must wash his body and put them on. ⁵ He will take two male goats from the congregation of Israel as an offering for sin and a ram as a burnt offering.

²⁰ “When he finishes making peace with the Lord at the holy place, the tent of meeting, and the altar, he will bring the living goat forward. ²¹ Aaron will place both hands on its head. He will confess over it all the sins, all the rebellious acts, and all the things the Israelites did wrong. He will transfer them to the goat’s head. A man will be appointed to release the goat in the desert. ²² The goat will take all their sins away to a deserted place. The man must release the goat in the desert.

²³ “Then Aaron will go to the tent of meeting, take off the linen clothes he had put on to go into the holy place, and leave them there. ²⁴ He will wash his body in the holy place and put on his other clothes. Then he will come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and for the people to make peace with the Lord for his own sins and the sins of the people. ²⁵ He will burn the fat of the offering for sin on the altar.

²⁶ “The man who released the goat to Azazel must wash his clothes and his body. Then he may return to the camp. ²⁷ He must take the bull and the goat outside the camp. These animals were the offering for sin whose blood was brought into the holy place to make peace with the Lord for sins. The skin, meat, and excrement from the animals must be burned. ²⁸ Whoever burns them must wash his clothes and his body. Then he may return to the camp.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree^(A)

¹⁸ In the morning, as Jesus returned to the city, he became hungry. ¹⁹ When he saw a fig tree by the road, he went up to the tree and found nothing on it but leaves. He said to the tree, “May fruit never grow on you again!” At once the fig tree dried up.

²⁰ The disciples were surprised to see this. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?”

²¹ Jesus answered them, “I can guarantee this truth: If you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to the fig tree. You could also say to this mountain, ‘Be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. ²² Have faith that you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”