Regulations for Conduct of Priests^(A)

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ^(B)‘None shall defile himself for the dead among his people, ² except for his relatives who are nearest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and his brother; ³ also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for her he may defile himself. ⁴ Otherwise he shall not defile himself, being a ^[a]chief man among his people, to profane himself.

^5 (C)‘They shall not make any bald place on their heads, nor shall they shave the edges of their beards nor make any cuttings in their flesh. ⁶ They shall be ^(D)holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and the ^(E)bread of their God; ^(F)therefore they shall be holy. ^7 (G)They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take a woman ^(H)divorced from her husband; for ^[b]the priest is holy to his God. ⁸ Therefore you shall ^[c]consecrate him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for ^(I)I the Lord, who ^(J)sanctify you, am holy. ⁹ The daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by playing the harlot, she profanes her father. She shall be ^(K)burned with fire.

¹⁰ ‘He who is the high priest among his brethren, on whose head the anointing oil was ^(L)poured and who is consecrated to wear the garments, shall not ^(M)uncover^[d] his head nor tear his clothes; ¹¹ nor shall he go ^(N)near any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother; ^12 (O)nor shall he go out of the sanctuary, nor profane the sanctuary of his God; for the ^(P)consecration of the anointing oil of his God is upon him: I am the Lord. ¹³ And he shall take a wife in her virginity. ¹⁴ A widow or a divorced woman or a defiled woman or a harlot—these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of his own people as wife. ¹⁵ Nor shall he profane his posterity among his people, for I the Lord sanctify him.’ ”

¹⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Speak to Aaron, saying: ‘No man of your descendants in succeeding generations, who has any defect, may approach to offer the bread of his God. ¹⁸ For any man who has a ^(Q)defect shall not approach: a man blind or lame, who has a marred face or any limb ^(R)too long, ¹⁹ a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, ²⁰ or is a hunchback or a dwarf, or a man who has a defect in his eye, or eczema or scab, or is a eunuch. ²¹ No man of the descendants of Aaron the priest, who has a defect, shall come near to offer the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has a defect; he shall not come near to offer the bread of his God. ²² He may eat the bread of his God, both the most holy and the holy; ²³ only he shall not go near the ^(S)veil or approach the altar, because he has a defect, lest ^(T)he profane My sanctuaries; for I the Lord sanctify them.’ ”

²⁴ And Moses told it to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel.

The Holiness of the Offerings

22 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron and his sons, that they ^(U)separate^[e] themselves from the holy things of the children of Israel, and that they ^(V)do not profane My holy name by what they ^(W)dedicate to Me: I am the Lord. ³ Say to them: ‘Whoever of all your descendants throughout your generations, who goes near the holy things which the children of Israel dedicate to the Lord, ^(X)while he has ^[f]uncleanness upon him, that person shall be cut off from My presence: I am the Lord.

⁴ ‘Whatever man of the descendants of Aaron, who is a ^(Y)leper or has ^(Z)a discharge, shall not eat the holy offerings ^(AA)until he is clean. And ^(AB)whoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or ^(AC)a man who has had an emission of semen, ⁵ or ^(AD)whoever touches any creeping thing by which he would be made unclean, or ^(AE)any person by whom he would become unclean, whatever his uncleanness may be— ⁶ the person who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat the holy offerings unless he ^(AF)washes his body with water. ⁷ And when the sun goes down he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat the holy offerings, because ^(AG)it is his food. ^8 (AH)Whatever dies naturally or is torn by beasts he shall not eat, to defile himself with it: I am the Lord.

⁹ ‘They shall therefore keep ^(AI)My ^[g]ordinance, ^(AJ)lest they bear sin for it and die thereby, if they profane it: I the Lord sanctify them.

^10 (AK)‘No outsider shall eat the holy offering; one who ^[h]dwells with the priest, or a hired servant, shall not eat the holy thing. ¹¹ But if the priest ^(AL)buys a person with his money, he may eat it; and one who is born in his house may eat his food. ¹² If the priest’s daughter is married to an outsider, she may not eat of the holy offerings. ¹³ But if the priest’s daughter is a widow or divorced, and has no child, and has returned to her father’s house as in her youth, she may eat her father’s food; but no outsider shall eat it.

¹⁴ ‘And if a man eats the holy offering unintentionally, then he shall restore a holy offering to the priest, and add one-fifth to it. ¹⁵ They shall not profane the ^(AM)holy offerings of the children of Israel, which they offer to the Lord, ¹⁶ or allow them to bear the guilt of trespass when they eat their holy offerings; for I the Lord sanctify them.’ ”

Offerings Accepted and Not Accepted

¹⁷ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸ “Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: ^(AN)‘Whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, who ^[i]offers his sacrifice for any of his vows or for any of his freewill offerings, which they offer to the Lord as a burnt offering— ^19 (AO)you shall offer of your own free will a male without blemish from the cattle, from the sheep, or from the goats. ^20 (AP)Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it shall not be acceptable on your behalf. ²¹ And ^(AQ)whoever offers a sacrifice of a peace offering to the Lord, ^(AR)to fulfill his vow, or a freewill offering from the cattle or the sheep, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. ^22 (AS)Those that are blind or broken or maimed, or have an ^[j]ulcer or eczema or scabs, you shall not offer to the Lord, nor make ^(AT)an offering by fire of them on the altar to the Lord. ²³ Either a bull or a lamb that has any limb ^(AU)too long or too short you may offer as a freewill offering, but for a vow it shall not be accepted.

²⁴ ‘You shall not offer to the Lord what is bruised or crushed, or torn or cut; nor shall you make any offering of them in your land. ²⁵ Nor ^(AV)from a foreigner’s hand shall you offer any of these as ^(AW)the bread of your God, because their ^(AX)corruption is in them, and defects are in them. They shall not be accepted on your behalf.’ ”

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ^27 (AY)“When a bull or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall be seven days with its mother; and from the eighth day and thereafter it shall be accepted as an offering made by fire to the Lord. ²⁸ Whether it is a cow or ewe, do not kill both her ^(AZ)and her young on the same day. ²⁹ And when you ^(BA)offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, offer it of your own free will. ³⁰ On the same day it shall be eaten; you shall leave ^(BB)none of it until morning: I am the Lord.

^31 (BC)“Therefore you shall keep My commandments, and perform them: I am the Lord. ^32 (BD)You shall not profane My holy name, but ^(BE)I will be ^[k]hallowed among the children of Israel. I am the Lord who ^(BF)sanctifies you, ^33 (BG)who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord.”

He Is Risen^(A)

28 Now ^(B)after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene ^(C)and the other Mary came to see the tomb. ² And behold, there was a great earthquake; for ^(D)an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone ^[a]from the door, and sat on it. ^3 (E)His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. ⁴ And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like ^(F)dead men.

⁵ But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here; for He is risen, ^(G)as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ⁷ And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed ^(H)He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”

⁸ So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

The Women Worship the Risen Lord

⁹ And ^[b]as they went to tell His disciples, behold, ^(I)Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell ^(J)My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

The Soldiers Are Bribed

¹¹ Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. ¹² When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, ¹³ saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ ¹⁴ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” ¹⁵ So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.

The Great Commission^(K)

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain ^(L)which Jesus had appointed for them. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some ^(M)doubted.

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ^(N)“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ^19 (O)Go ^[c]therefore and ^(P)make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ^20 (Q)teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am ^(R)with you always, even to the end of the age.” ^[d]Amen.