Leviticus 17–18; Mark 9:1–29

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Leviticus 17–18

The Place of Sacrifice

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. If any one of the house of Israel ukills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, and vdoes not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man wshall be cut off from among his people. This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice xin the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them yas sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. And the priest shall ythrow the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat zfor a pleasing aroma to the Lord. So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they awhore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.

And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who boffers a burnt offering or sacrifice and cdoes not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, wthat man shall be cut off from his people.

Laws Against Eating Blood

10 If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them deats any blood, I will eset my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 fFor the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar gto make atonement for your souls, hfor it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

13 Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall ipour out its blood and jcover it with earth. 14 For the life of every creature1 is its kblood: its blood is its life.2 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. 15 lAnd every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, mwhether he is a native or a sojourner, nshall wash his clothes and obathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, phe shall bear his iniquity.

Unlawful Sexual Relations

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, qI am the Lord your God. rYou shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and syou shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. tYou shall follow my rules3 and keep my statutes and walk in them. qI am the Lord your God. tYou shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; uif a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. vYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. wYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. xYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. 10 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. 11 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, brought up in your father’s family, since she is your sister. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s relative. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s relative. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. 15 yYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 zYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. 17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. 18 And you shall not take a woman as a arival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness bwhile her sister is still alive.

19 cYou shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. 20 dAnd you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and so make yourself unclean with her. 21 You shall not give any of your children to eoffer them4 to fMolech, and so gprofane the name of your God: I am the Lord. 22 hYou shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. 23 iAnd you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is jperversion.

24 kDo not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, lfor by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25 and the mland became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land nvomited out its inhabitants. 26 But oyou shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the pnative or the stranger who sojourns among you 27 (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), 28 lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29 For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 qSo keep my charge never to practice rany of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: sI am the Lord your God.


Mark 9:1–29

And he said to them, Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not ltaste death muntil they see the kingdom of God after it has come nwith power.

The Transfiguration

oAnd after six days Jesus took with him pPeter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was qtransfigured before them, and rhis clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one1 on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, sRabbi,2 it is good that we are here. Let us make three ttents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. For uhe did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And va cloud overshadowed them, and va voice came out of the cloud, wThis is my beloved Son;3 xlisten to him. And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.

yAnd as they were coming down the mountain, zhe charged them to tell no one what they had seen, auntil the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 bSo they kept the matter to themselves, cquestioning what this rising from the dead might mean. 11 And they asked him, Why do the scribes say dthat first Elijah must come? 12 And he said to them, Elijah does come first eto restore all things. And fhow is it written of the Son of Man that he should gsuffer many things and hbe treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and ithey did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written of him.

Jesus Heals a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

14 jAnd when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, kwere greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16 And he asked them, What are you arguing about with them? 17 And someone from the crowd answered him, Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has la spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and mthey were not able. 19 And he answered them, O nfaithless generation, nhow long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me. 20 And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it oconvulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21 And Jesus asked his father, How long has this been happening to him? And he said, From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But pif you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us. 23 And Jesus said to him, pIf you can! qAll things are possible for one who believes. 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out4 and said, I believe; rhelp my unbelief! 25 And when Jesus saw that sa crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, tYou mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again. 26 And after crying out and oconvulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, He is dead. 27 But Jesus utook him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28 And when he had ventered the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could we not cast it out? 29 And he said to them, This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.5