Holiness and the Priests

21 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them, ^(A)No 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 (B)They 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 ^(C)not profane the name of their God. For they offer the Lord's food offerings, ^(D)the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. ^7 (E)They shall not marry a prostitute or a woman who has been defiled, neither shall they marry a woman ^(F)divorced 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 ^(G)I, the Lord, who sanctify you, ^(H)am holy. ⁹ And the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by whoring, profanes her father; ^(I)she 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, ^(K)shall not let the hair of his head hang loose nor tear his clothes. ¹¹ He shall not ^(L)go in to any dead bodies nor make himself unclean, even for his father or for his mother. ^12 (M)He shall not go out of the sanctuary, lest he ^(N)profane the sanctuary of his God, for the ^(O)consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him: I am the Lord. ¹³ And he shall take a wife in her virginity.^{[a] 14} A widow, ^(P)or 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 virgin^[b] of his own people, ¹⁵ that he may not profane his offspring among his people, for ^(Q)I 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 ^(R)approach to offer the bread of his God. ¹⁸ For no one who has a blemish shall draw near, a man ^(S)blind or lame, or one who has a mutilated face ^(T)or 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 ^(U)defect in his sight or an itching disease or scabs or ^(V)crushed testicles. ²¹ No man of the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a blemish shall come near to ^(W)offer 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 ^(X)the most holy and of the ^(Y)holy things, ²³ but he shall not go through the veil or approach the altar, because he has a blemish, that he may not ^(Z)profane my sanctuaries,^{[c] (AA)}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.

22 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to Aaron and his sons so that they ^(AB)abstain from the holy things of the people of Israel, which they ^(AC)dedicate to me, so that they do not ^(AD)profane 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 ^(AE)he 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 ^(AF)discharge may eat of the holy things ^(AG)until he is clean. ^(AH)Whoever touches anything that is unclean through contact with the dead or ^(AI)a man who has had an emission of semen, ⁵ and ^(AJ)whoever touches a swarming thing by which he may be made unclean or ^(AK)a 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 ^(AL)bathed his body in water. ⁷ When the sun goes down he shall be clean, and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because ^(AM)they are his food. ^8 (AN)He 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, ^(AO)lest they bear sin for it and die thereby when they profane it: ^(AP)I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

^10 (AQ)“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 slave^[d] as his property for money, the slave^[e] may eat of it, and ^(AR)anyone 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 ^(AS)returns to her father's house, ^(AT)as in her youth, she may eat of her father's food; yet no lay person shall eat of it. ^14 (AU)And if anyone eats of a holy thing unintentionally, he shall add ^(AV)the fifth of its value to it and give the holy thing to the priest. ¹⁵ They ^(AW)shall not profane the holy things of the people of Israel, which they contribute to the Lord, ¹⁶ and so cause them ^(AX)to bear iniquity and guilt, by eating their holy things: ^(AY)for 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, ^(AZ)When 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 ^(BA)male without blemish, of the bulls or the sheep or the goats. ^20 (BB)You shall not offer anything that has a blemish, for it will not be acceptable for you. ²¹ And when anyone ^(BC)offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord ^(BD)to 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 ^(BE)blind or disabled or mutilated or having a discharge or ^(BF)an itch or scabs you shall not offer to the Lord or give them to the Lord as a food ^(BG)offering on the altar. ²³ You may present a bull or a lamb that has a part ^(BH)too 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 ^(BI)the bread of your God any such animals gotten from a foreigner. Since there is a ^(BJ)blemish in them, because of their mutilation, they will not be accepted for you.”

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ^27 (BK)“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 ^(BL)and her young in one day. ²⁹ And when you sacrifice a ^(BM)sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. ³⁰ It shall be eaten on the same day; ^(BN)you shall leave none of it until morning: I am the Lord.

^31 (BO)“So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the Lord. ^32 (BP)And you shall not profane my holy name, that ^(BQ)I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. ^(BR)I am the Lord who sanctifies you, ³³ who brought you out of the land of Egypt ^(BS)to be your God: I am the Lord.”

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

15 Now ^(A)the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes ^(B)grumbled, saying, ^(C)“This man receives sinners and ^(D)eats with them.”

³ So he told them this parable: ^4 (E)“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, ^(F)if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine ^(G)in the open country, and ^(H)go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, ^(I)he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for ^(J)I have found my sheep that was lost.’ ⁷ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who ^(K)repents than over ninety-nine ^(L)righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

⁸ “Or what woman, having ten silver coins,^[a] if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? ⁹ And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ ¹⁰ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before ^(M)the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Parable of the Prodigal Son

¹¹ And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. ¹² And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me ^(N)the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided ^(O)his property between them. ¹³ Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in ^(P)reckless living. ¹⁴ And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. ¹⁵ So he went and hired himself out to^[b] one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. ¹⁶ And he ^(Q)was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

¹⁷ “But ^(R)when he ^(S)came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, ^(T)I have sinned against ^(U)heaven and before you. ^19 (V)I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ ²⁰ And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ^(W)ran and ^(X)embraced him and ^(Y)kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. ^(Z)I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’^{[c] 22} But the father said to his servants,^[d] ‘Bring quickly ^(AA)the best robe, and put it on him, and put ^(AB)a ring on his hand, and ^(AC)shoes on his feet. ²³ And bring ^(AD)the fattened calf and kill it, and ^(AE)let us eat and celebrate. ²⁴ For this my son ^(AF)was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, ²⁹ but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might ^(AG)celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours came, ^(AH)who has devoured ^(AI)your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ ³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, ^(AJ)you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² It was fitting ^(AK)to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother ^(AL)was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”