Holiness and the Priests

1 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ^aNo one shall make himself unclean for the dead among his people, 2 except for his closest relatives, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother, 3 or his virgin sister (who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may make himself unclean). 4 He shall not make himself unclean as a husband among his people and so profane himself. 5 ^bThey shall not make bald patches on their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts on their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God and ^cnot profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord’s food offerings, ^dthe bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 7 ^eThey shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman ^fdivorced from her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for ^gI, the Lord, who sanctify you, ^ham holy. 9 And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; ⁱshe shall be burned with fire.

10 ^j“The priest who is chief among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured and who has been consecrated to wear the garments, ^kshall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. 11 He shall not ^lgo in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. 12 ^mHe shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he ⁿprofane the sanctuary of his God, for the ^oconsecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.¹ 14 A widow, ^por a divorced woman, or a woman who has been defiled, or a prostitute, these he shall not marry. But he shall take as his wife a virgin² of his own people, 15 that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for ^gI am the Lord who sanctifies him.”

16 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, None of your offspring throughout their generations who has a blemish may ^qapproach to offer the bread of his God. 18 For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man ^rblind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face ^sor a limb too long, 19 or a man who has an injured foot or an injured hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf or a man with a ^rdefect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or ^tcrushed testicles. 21 No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to ^uoffer the Lord’s food offerings; since he has a blemish, he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. 22 He may eat the bread of his God, both of ^vthe most holy and of the ^wholy things, 23 but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not ^xprofane my sanctuaries,^{3 y}for I am the Lord who sanctifies them.” 24 So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the people of Israel.

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they ^zabstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they ^adedicate to me, so that they do not ^bprofane my holy name: I am the Lord. 3 Say to them, ‘If any one of all your offspring throughout your generations approaches the holy things that the people of Israel dedicate to the Lord, while ^che has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from my presence: I am the Lord. 4 None of the offspring of Aaron who has a leprous disease or a ^ddischarge may eat of the holy things ^euntil he is clean. ^fWhoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or ^ga man who has had an emission of semen, 5 and ^hwhoever touches a swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or ⁱa person from whom he may take uncleanness, whatever his uncleanness may be— 6 the person who touches such a thing shall be unclean until the evening and shall not eat of the holy things unless he has ^jbathed his body in water. 7 When the sun goes down he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because ^kthey are his food. 8 ^lHe shall not eat what dies of itself or is torn by beasts, and so make himself unclean by it: I am the Lord.’ 9 They shall therefore keep my charge, ^mlest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: ⁿI am the Lord who sanctifies them.

10 ^o“A lay person shall not eat of a holy thing; no foreign guest of the priest or hired worker shall eat of a holy thing, 11 but if a priest buys a slave⁴ as his property for money, the slave⁵ may eat of it, and ^panyone born in his house may eat of his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter marries a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy things. 13 But if a priest’s daughter is widowed or divorced and has no child and ^qreturns to her father’s house, ^ras in her youth, she may eat of her father’s food; yet no lay person shall eat of it. 14 ^sAnd if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add ^tthe fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest. 15 They ^ushall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the Lord, 16 and so cause them ^mto bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: ⁿfor I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”

Acceptable Offerings

17 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 18 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel and say to them, ^vWhen any one of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel presents a burnt offering as his offering, for any of their vows or freewill offerings that they offer to the Lord, 19 if it is to be accepted for you it shall be a ^wmale without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. 20 ^xYou shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. 21 And when anyone ^yoffers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord ^zto fulfill a vow or as a freewill offering from the herd or from the flock, to be accepted it must be perfect; there shall be no blemish in it. 22 Animals ^ablind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or ^ban itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food ^coffering on the altar. 23 You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part ^dtoo long or too short for a freewill offering, but for a vow offering it cannot be accepted. 24 Any animal that has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut you shall not offer to the Lord; you shall not do it within your land, 25 neither shall you offer as ^ethe bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a ^fblemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.”

26 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 27 ^g“When an ox or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable as a food offering to the Lord. 28 But you shall not kill an ox or a sheep ^hand her young in one day. 29 And when you sacrifice a ⁱsacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30 It shall be eaten on the same day; ^jyou shall leave none of it until morning: I am the Lord.

31 ^k“So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. 32 ^lAnd you shall not profane my holy name, that ^mI may be sanctified among the people of Israel. ⁿI am the Lord who sanctifies you, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt ^oto be your God: I am the Lord.”

In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A ^pMiktam¹ of David, when the ^qPhilistines seized him in Gath.

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

1 ^hOne day, ⁱas Jesus¹ was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, ^jthe chief priests and the scribes with the elders came up 2 and said to him, “Tell us ^kby what authority you do these things, or who it is that gave you this authority.” 3 He answered them, “I also will ask you a question. Now tell me, 4 was the baptism of John ^lfrom heaven or from man?” 5 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ^m‘Why did you not believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From man,’ all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was ⁿa prophet.” 7 So they answered that they did not know where it came from. 8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

9 ^oAnd he began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted ^pa vineyard and ^qlet it out to tenants and ^rwent into another country for a long while. 10 When the time came, he sent a servant² to the tenants, so that ^qthey would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. ^sBut the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 ^tAnd ^she sent another servant. But they also beat and ^utreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 ^sAnd he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my ^vbeloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ^w‘This is the heir. ^xLet us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15 And they ^ythrew him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 ^zHe will ^acome and destroy those tenants and ^bgive the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17 But he ^clooked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

18 ^eEveryone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls ^fon anyone, it will crush him.”

Paying Taxes to Caesar

19 ^hThe scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 20 ⁱSo they ^jwatched him and sent spies, who ^kpretended to be sincere, that they might ^lcatch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of ^mthe governor. 21 So they asked him, “Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and ^oshow no partiality,⁴ but truly teach ^pthe way of God. 22 Is it lawful for us to give ^qtribute to ^rCaesar, or not?” 23 But he perceived their ^scraftiness, and said to them, 24 “Show me ^ta denarius.⁵ Whose likeness and inscription does it have?” They said, “Caesar’s.” 25 He said to them, “Then ^urender to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” 26 And they were not able in the presence of the people ^vto catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.

Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection

27 There came to him ^wsome Sadducees, ^xthose who deny that there is a resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us ^ythat if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man⁶ must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

34 And Jesus said to them, ^z“The sons of this age ^amarry and ^aare given in marriage, 35 but those who are ^bconsidered worthy to attain to ^cthat age and to the resurrection from the dead ^dneither marry ^dnor are given in marriage, 36 for ^ethey cannot die anymore, because they are ^fequal to angels and ^gare ^hsons of God, being ⁱsons⁷ of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, ^jeven Moses showed, in ^kthe passage about the bush, where he calls ^lthe Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all ^mlive to him.” 39 Then some of the scribes ⁿanswered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For ^othey no longer dared to ask him any question.

Whose Son Is the Christ?

41 ^pBut he said to them, “How can they say that ^qthe Christ is ^qDavid’s son? 42 For David himself says in the Book of Psalms,

44 David thus calls him Lord, so ^thow is he his son?”

Beware of the Scribes

45 ^uAnd in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and ^vthe places of honor at feasts, 47 ^wwho devour widows’ houses and ^xfor a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”