The Place of Sacrifice

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “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. 3 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, 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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.

8 “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 9 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

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^qI am the Lord your God. 3 ^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. 4 ^tYou shall follow my rules³ and keep my statutes and walk in them. ^qI am the Lord your God. 5 ^tYou shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; ^uif a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

6 “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. 7 ^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. 8 ^wYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. 9 ^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 ^c“You 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 ^k“Do 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.”

The Lord Upholds My Life

To the choirmaster: with ^tstringed instruments. A Maskil¹ of David, ^uwhen the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

1 And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought ^ralways to pray and not ^slose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who ^tneither feared God nor respected man. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, ^u‘Though I neither fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice, so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge says. 7 And ^vwill not God give justice to ^whis elect, ^xwho cry to him day and night? ^yzWill he delay long over them? 8 I tell you, he will give justice to them ^aspeedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, ^bwill he find faith on earth?”

The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

9 He also told this parable to some ^cwho trusted ^din themselves that they were righteous, ^eand treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men ^fwent up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, ^gstanding by himself, prayed^{1 h}thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 ⁱI fast twice a week; ^jI give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, ^gstanding far off, ^kwould not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but ^lbeat his breast, saying, ‘God, ^mbe merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For ⁿeveryone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Let the Children Come to Me

15 ^oNow they were bringing even infants to him that he might touch them. And when the disciples saw it, they ^prebuked them. 16 But Jesus called them to him, saying, ^q“Let the children come to me, and ^rdo not hinder them, ^qfor to such belongs the kingdom of God. 17 ^sTruly, I say to you, whoever does not ^treceive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

The Rich Ruler

18 ^uAnd a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to ^vinherit eternal life?” 19 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ^w‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” 21 And he said, ^x“All these I have kept from my youth.” 22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. ^ySell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have ^ztreasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 23 ^aBut when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, ^b“How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter ^cthe kingdom of God! 25 For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter ^cthe kingdom of God.” 26 Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?” 27 But he said, ^d“What is impossible with man is possible with God.” 28 And Peter said, “See, ^ewe have left our homes and followed you.” 29 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, ^fthere is no one who has left house or wife or brothers² or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive ^gmany times more ^hin this time, and in ⁱthe age to come eternal life.”

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

31 ^jAnd taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, ^kwe are going up to Jerusalem, and ^leverything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. 32 For he will be ^mdelivered over to the Gentiles and will be ⁿmocked and shamefully treated and ^ospit upon. 33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on ^pthe third day he will rise.” 34 ^qBut they understood none of these things. ^rThis saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

Jesus Heals a Blind Beggar

35 ^sAs he drew near to Jericho, ^ta blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 They told him, ^u“Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 And he cried out, “Jesus, ^vSon of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front ^wrebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, 41 ^x“What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; ^yyour faith has ^zmade you well.” 43 And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him, ^aglorifying God. And ^ball the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.