The Death of Nadab and Abihu
1 Now yNadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, zeach took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered aunauthorized1 fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire bcame out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. 3 Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has said: ‘Among cthose who are near me dI will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” eAnd Aaron held his peace.
4 And Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of fUzziel the uncle of Aaron, and said to them, “Come near; carry your brothers away from the front of the sanctuary and out of the camp.” 5 So they came near and carried them in their coats out of the camp, as Moses had said. 6 And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar his sons, g“Do not let the hair of your heads hang loose, and do not tear your clothes, lest you die, and hwrath come upon all the congregation; but let your brothers, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning that the Lord has kindled. 7 iAnd do not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting, lest you die, jfor the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” And they did according to the word of Moses.
8 And the Lord spoke to Aaron, saying, 9 k“Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. 10 You are to ldistinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and myou are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them by Moses.”
12 Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his surviving sons: “Take the ngrain offering that is left of the Lord’s food offerings, and eat it unleavened beside the altar, for oit is most holy. 13 You shall eat it in a holy place, because it is your due and your sons’ due, from the Lord’s food offerings, for pso I am commanded. 14 But the qbreast that is waved and the thigh that is contributed you shall eat in a clean place, you and your sons and your daughters with you, for they are given as your due and your sons’ due from the sacrifices of the peace offerings of the people of Israel. 15 rThe thigh that is contributed and the breast that is waved they shall bring with the food offerings of the fat pieces to wave for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be yours and your sons’ with you as a due forever, as the Lord has commanded.”
16 Now Moses diligently inquired about sthe goat of the sin offering, and behold, it was burned up! And he was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, the surviving sons of Aaron, saying, 17 t“Why have you not eaten the sin offering in the place of the sanctuary, since oit is a thing most holy and has been given to you that you may bear the iniquity of the congregation, to make atonement for them before the Lord? 18 Behold, uits blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary. You certainly ought to have eaten it in the sanctuary, vas I commanded.” 19 And Aaron said to Moses, “Behold, wtoday they have offered their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and yet such things as these have happened to me! If I had eaten the sin offering today, xwould the Lord have approved?” 20 And when Moses heard that, he approved.
Clean and Unclean Animals
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, yThese are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. 3 Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. 4 Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 5 And the zrock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 6 And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. 7 And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, ais unclean to you. 8 You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.
9 “These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers, you may eat. 10 But anything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and of the living creatures that are in the waters, is bdetestable to you. 11 You shall regard them as detestable; you shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall detest their carcasses. 12 Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.
13 “And these you shall detest among the birds;2 they shall not be eaten; they are bdetestable: cthe eagle,3 the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 14 the kite, dthe falcon of any kind, 15 every raven of any kind, 16 the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the ehawk of any kind, 17 the flittle owl, the cormorant, the gshort-eared owl, 18 the barn owl, the htawny owl, the carrion vulture, 19 the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and ithe bat.
20 “All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you. 21 Yet among the winged insects that go on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to hop on the ground. 22 Of them you may eat: jthe locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, and the grasshopper of any kind. 23 But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.
24 “And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 25 and whoever carries any part of their carcass kshall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 26 Every animal that parts the hoof but is not cloven-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean to you. Everyone who touches them shall be unclean. 27 And all that walk on their paws, among the animals that go on all fours, are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 28 and he who carries their carcass kshall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.
29 “And these are unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the ground: the mole rat, lthe mouse, the great lizard of any kind, 30 the gecko, the monitor lizard, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. 31 These are unclean to you among all that swarm. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. 32 And anything on which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood or a garment or a skin or a sack, any article that is used for any purpose. mIt must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; then it shall be clean. 33 And if any of them falls into any earthenware vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you nshall break it. 34 Any food in it that could be eaten, on which water comes, shall be unclean. And all drink that could be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean. 35 And everything on which any part of their carcass falls shall be unclean. Whether oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces. They are unclean and shall remain unclean for you. 36 Nevertheless, a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, but whoever touches a carcass in them shall be unclean. 37 And if any part of their carcass falls upon any seed grain that is to be sown, it is clean, 38 but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.
39 “And if any animal which you may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening, 40 and owhoever eats of its carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.
41 p“Every swarming thing that swarms on the ground is detestable; it shall not be eaten. 42 Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat, for they are detestable. 43 qYou shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them. 44 For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and rbe holy, for I am holy. qYou shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. 45 sFor I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. rYou shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
46 This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground, 47 tto make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.
Purification After Childbirth
1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then ushe shall be unclean seven days. vAs at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. 3 And on the weighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. 4 Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. 5 But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.
6 u“And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, 7 and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. 8 And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take xtwo turtledoves or two pigeons,4 yone for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. zAnd the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”
Great Is the Lord
Of David.
1 Contend, O Lord, with those who ycontend with me;
zfight against those who fight against me!
2 Take hold of ashield and buckler
and rise for my help!
3 Draw the spear and javelin1
against my pursuers!
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation!”
4 bLet them be cput to shame and dishonor
who seek after my life!
Let them be dturned back and disappointed
who devise evil against me!
5 Let them be like echaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away!
6 Let their way be dark and fslippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them!
7 For gwithout cause hthey hid their net for me;
without cause they dug ia pit for my life.2
8 Let jdestruction come upon him kwhen he does not know it!
And let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his destruction!
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord,
lexulting in his salvation.
10 All my mbones shall say,
“O Lord, nwho is like you,
delivering the poor
from him who is too strong for him,
the poor and needy from him who robs him?”
11 oMalicious3 witnesses rise up;
they ask me of things that I do not know.
12 pThey repay me evil for good;
my soul is bereft.4
13 But I, qwhen they were sick—
I rwore sackcloth;
I safflicted myself with fasting;
I prayed twith head bowed5 on my chest.
14 I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother;
as one who laments his mother,
I ubowed down in mourning.
15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered;
they gathered together against me;
vwretches whom I did not know
tore at me without ceasing;
16 like profane mockers at a feast,6
they wgnash at me with their teeth.
17 How long, O Lord, will you xlook on?
Rescue me from their destruction,
ymy precious life from the lions!
18 I will thank you in zthe great congregation;
in the mighty throng I will praise you.
19 aLet not those rejoice over me
who are bwrongfully my foes,
and let not those cwink the eye
20 For they do not speak peace,
but against those who are quiet in the land
they devise words of deceit.
21 They fopen wide their mouths against me;
they say, g“Aha, Aha!
Our eyes have seen it!”
22 hYou have seen, O Lord; ibe not silent!
O Lord, jbe not far from me!
23 Awake and krouse yourself for lmy vindication,
for my cause, my God and my Lord!
24 mVindicate me, O Lord, my God,
according to your righteousness,
and nlet them not rejoice over me!
25 Let them not say in their hearts,
o“Aha, our heart’s desire!”
Let them not say, p“We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let them be qput to shame and disappointed altogether
who rejoice at my calamity!
Let them be rclothed with shame and dishonor
who smagnify themselves against me!
27 Let those who delight in my righteousness
shout for joy and be glad
tand say evermore,
u“Great is the Lord,
who vdelights in the welfare of his servant!”
28 Then my wtongue shall tell of your righteousness
and of your praise all the day long.
