⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;^(A) and you will be my witnesses^(B) in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,^(C) and to the ends of the earth.”^(D)

Clean and Unclean Food^(A)

14 You are the children^(B) of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave the front of your heads for the dead, ² for you are a people holy^(C) to the Lord your God.^(D) Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the Lord has chosen you to be his treasured possession.^(E)

³ Do not eat any detestable thing.^{(F) 4} These are the animals you may eat:^(G) the ox, the sheep, the goat,^{(H) 5} the deer,^(I) the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat,^(J) the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep.^{[a] 6} You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud. ⁷ However, of those that chew the cud or that have a divided hoof you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the hyrax. Although they chew the cud, they do not have a divided hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. ⁸ The pig is also unclean; although it has a divided hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.^(K)

⁹ Of all the creatures living in the water, you may eat any that has fins and scales. ¹⁰ But anything that does not have fins and scales you may not eat; for you it is unclean.

¹¹ You may eat any clean bird. ¹² But these you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, ¹³ the red kite, the black kite, any kind^(L) of falcon,^{(M) 14} any kind of raven,^{(N) 15} the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, ¹⁶ the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, ¹⁷ the desert owl,^(O) the osprey, the cormorant, ¹⁸ the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.

¹⁹ All flying insects are unclean to you; do not eat them. ²⁰ But any winged creature that is clean you may eat.^(P)

²¹ Do not eat anything you find already dead.^(Q) You may give it to the foreigner residing in any of your towns, and they may eat it, or you may sell it to any other foreigner. But you are a people holy to the Lord your God.^(R)

Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.^(S)

Tithes

²² Be sure to set aside a tenth^(T) of all that your fields produce each year. ²³ Eat^(U) the tithe of your grain, new wine^(V) and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name,^(W) so that you may learn^(X) to revere^(Y) the Lord your God always. ²⁴ But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the Lord will choose to put his Name is so far away), ²⁵ then exchange^(Z) your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. ²⁶ Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink,^(AA) or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice.^{(AB) 27} And do not neglect the Levites^(AC) living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.^(AD)

²⁸ At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes^(AE) of that year’s produce and store it in your towns,^{(AF) 29} so that the Levites (who have no allotment^(AG) or inheritance^(AH) of their own) and the foreigners,^(AI) the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied,^(AJ) and so that the Lord your God may bless^(AK) you in all the work of your hands.

The Year for Canceling Debts^(AL)

15 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.^{(AM) 2} This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite. They shall not require payment from anyone among their own people, because the Lord’s time for canceling debts has been proclaimed. ³ You may require payment from a foreigner,^(AN) but you must cancel any debt your fellow Israelite owes you. ⁴ However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless^(AO) you, ⁵ if only you fully obey the Lord your God and are careful to follow^(AP) all these commands I am giving you today. ⁶ For the Lord your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.^(AQ)

⁷ If anyone is poor^(AR) among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted^(AS) toward them. ⁸ Rather, be openhanded^(AT) and freely lend them whatever they need. ⁹ Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts,^(AU) is near,” so that you do not show ill will^(AV) toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the Lord against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.^{(AW) 10} Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart;^(AX) then because of this the Lord your God will bless^(AY) you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. ¹¹ There will always be poor people^(AZ) in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.^(BA)

Freeing Servants^(BB)(BC)

¹² If any of your people—Hebrew men or women—sell themselves to you and serve you six years, in the seventh year you must let them go free.^{(BD) 13} And when you release them, do not send them away empty-handed. ¹⁴ Supply them liberally from your flock, your threshing floor^(BE) and your winepress. Give to them as the Lord your God has blessed you. ¹⁵ Remember that you were slaves^(BF) in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you.^(BG) That is why I give you this command today.

¹⁶ But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, ¹⁷ then take an awl and push it through his earlobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your female servant.

¹⁸ Do not consider it a hardship to set your servant free, because their service to you these six years has been worth twice as much as that of a hired hand. And the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

The Firstborn Animals

¹⁹ Set apart for the Lord^(BH) your God every firstborn male^(BI) of your herds and flocks.^(BJ) Do not put the firstborn of your cows to work, and do not shear the firstborn of your sheep.^{(BK) 20} Each year you and your family are to eat them in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose.^{(BL) 21} If an animal has a defect,^(BM) is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the Lord your God.^{(BN) 22} You are to eat it in your own towns. Both the ceremonially unclean and the clean may eat it, as if it were gazelle or deer.^{(BO) 23} But you must not eat the blood; pour it out on the ground like water.^(BP)

Psalm 71^(A)

Jeremiah in Prison

37 Zedekiah^(A) son of Josiah was made king^(B) of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin^[a](C) son of Jehoiakim. ² Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention^(D) to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.

³ King Zedekiah, however, sent^(E) Jehukal^(F) son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah^(G) son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: “Please pray^(H) to the Lord our God for us.”

⁴ Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison.^{(I) 5} Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt,^(J) and when the Babylonians^[b] who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew^(K) from Jerusalem.^(L)

⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: ⁷ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire^(M) of me, ‘Pharaoh’s army, which has marched^(N) out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt.^{(O) 8} Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture^(P) it and burn^(Q) it down.’

⁹ “This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive^(R) yourselves, thinking, ‘The Babylonians will surely leave us.’ They will not! ¹⁰ Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian^[c] army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn^(S) this city down.”

¹¹ After the Babylonian army had withdrawn^(T) from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh’s army, ¹² Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property^(U) among the people there. ¹³ But when he reached the Benjamin Gate,^(V) the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”^(W)

¹⁴ “That’s not true!” Jeremiah said. “I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested^(X) Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. ¹⁵ They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten^(Y) and imprisoned^(Z) in the house^(AA) of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.

¹⁶ Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. ¹⁷ Then King Zedekiah sent^(AB) for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked^(AC) him privately,^(AD) “Is there any word from the Lord?”

“Yes,” Jeremiah replied, “you will be delivered^(AE) into the hands of the king of Babylon.”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, “What crime^(AF) have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? ¹⁹ Where are your prophets^(AG) who prophesied to you, ‘The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land’? ²⁰ But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there.”^(AH)

²¹ King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread^(AI) in the city was gone.^(AJ) So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.^(AK)

Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven

1 In my former book,^(A) Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach^{(B) 2} until the day he was taken up to heaven,^(C) after giving instructions^(D) through the Holy Spirit to the apostles^(E) he had chosen.^{(F) 3} After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them^(G) over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.^{(H) 4} On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait^(I) for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.^{(J) 5} For John baptized with^[a] water,^(K) but in a few days you will be baptized with^[b] the Holy Spirit.”^(L)

⁶ Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore^(M) the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷ He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.^{(N) 8} But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;^(O) and you will be my witnesses^(P) in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,^(Q) and to the ends of the earth.”^(R)

⁹ After he said this, he was taken up^(S) before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

¹⁰ They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white^(T) stood beside them. ¹¹ “Men of Galilee,”^(U) they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back^(V) in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

¹² Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem^(W) from the hill called the Mount of Olives,^(X) a Sabbath day’s walk^[c] from the city. ¹³ When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room^(Y) where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.^{(Z) 14} They all joined together constantly in prayer,^(AA) along with the women^(AB) and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.^(AC)

¹⁵ In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) ¹⁶ and said, “Brothers and sisters,^[d](AD) the Scripture had to be fulfilled^(AE) in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas,^(AF) who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷ He was one of our number^(AG) and shared in our ministry.”^(AH)

¹⁸ (With the payment^(AI) he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field;^(AJ) there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. ¹⁹ Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language^(AK) Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

²⁰ “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms:

and,

²¹ Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, ²² beginning from John’s baptism^(AN) to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness^(AO) with us of his resurrection.”

²³ So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. ²⁴ Then they prayed,^(AP) “Lord, you know everyone’s heart.^(AQ) Show us^(AR) which of these two you have chosen ²⁵ to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” ²⁶ Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.^(AS)