Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

ט Teth

The Day When Sin Is Paid For

16 The Lord spoke to Moses after two of Aaron’s sons had died. They were the sons who died when they came near the Lord. ² The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to your brother Aaron. Tell him not to come into the Most Holy Room just anytime he wants to. Tell him not to come behind the curtain in front of the cover of the ark. The cover is the place where sin is paid for. If he comes behind the curtain, he will die. That is because I appear in the cloud over the cover.

³ “Aaron must not enter the area of the Most Holy Room without bringing a sacrifice. He must bring a young bull for a sin offering. He must also bring a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He must put on the sacred inner robe made out of linen. He must wear linen underwear next to his body. He must tie the linen belt around him. And he must put the linen turban on his head. Those are sacred clothes. So he must take a bath before he puts them on. ⁵ The community of Israel must give him two male goats and a ram. The goats are for a sin offering. The ram is for a burnt offering.

²⁰ “Aaron will finish making the Most Holy Room pure and ‘clean.’ He will finish making the tent of meeting and the altar pure. Then he will bring out the live goat. ²¹ He must place both of his hands on its head. While he does that, he must tell me about all the sins the Israelites have committed. He must tell me about all their evil acts and the times they did not obey me. In that way he puts their sins on the goat’s head. Then he will send the goat away into the desert. The goat will be led away by a man appointed to do it. ²² The goat will carry all their sins on itself to a place where there are no people. And the man will set the goat free in the desert.

²³ “Then Aaron must go into the tent of meeting. He must take off the linen clothes he put on before he entered the Most Holy Room. He must leave them there. ²⁴ He must take a bath in the holy area. And he must put on his regular clothes. Then he will come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself. He will also sacrifice the burnt offering for the people. That will pay for his own sin and the people’s sin. ²⁵ He will also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶ “The man who sets free the goat that carries the people’s sins away must wash his clothes. He must take a bath. After that, he can come back into the camp. ²⁷ The bull and the goat for the sin offerings must be taken outside the camp. Their blood was brought into the Most Holy Room. It paid for sin. The hides, meat and guts of the animals must be burned up. ²⁸ The man who burns them must wash his clothes. He must take a bath. After that, he can come back into the camp.

Jesus Makes a Fig Tree Dry Up

¹⁸ Early in the morning, Jesus was on his way back to Jerusalem. He was hungry. ¹⁹ He saw a fig tree by the road. He went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Right away the tree dried up.

²⁰ When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?” they asked.

²¹ Jesus replied, “What I’m about to tell you is true. You must have faith and not doubt. Then you can do what was done to the fig tree. And you can say to this mountain, ‘Go and throw yourself into the sea.’ It will be done. ²² If you believe, you will receive what you ask for when you pray.”