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.

God Himself Is Judge

A Psalm of ⁿAsaph.

Healing of a Man on the Sabbath

1 One Sabbath, ^pwhen he went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were ^qwatching him carefully. 2 And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy. 3 And Jesus responded to ^rthe lawyers and Pharisees, saying, ^s“Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” 4 But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. 5 And he said to them, ^t“Which of you, having a son¹ or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” 6 ^uAnd they could not reply to these things.

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed ^vhow they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, ^wso that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For ^xeveryone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Parable of the Great Banquet

12 He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give ^ya dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers² or your relatives or rich neighbors, ^zlest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, ^ainvite ^bthe poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid ^cat ^dthe resurrection of the just.”

15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, ^e“Blessed is everyone who will ^feat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, ^g“A man once ^hgave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he ⁱsent his servant³ to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, ^j‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in ^kthe poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you,^{4 m}none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”

The Cost of Discipleship

25 Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 ⁿ“If anyone comes to me and ^odoes not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, ^pyes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 ^qWhoever does not ^rbear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not ^sfirst sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not ^tsit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 ^uSo therefore, any one of you who ^vdoes not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Salt Without Taste Is Worthless

34 ^w“Salt is good, ^xbut if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? 35 It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. ^yHe who has ears to hear, let him hear.”