Clean and Unclean Foods

11 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, ² “Speak to the Israelites:

“From among all the land animals, these are the creatures that you may eat.^{(A) 3} Any animal that has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed and chews the cud—such you may eat. ⁴ But among those that chew the cud or have divided hoofs, you shall not eat the following: the camel, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. ⁵ The rock badger, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. ⁶ The hare, for even though it chews the cud, it does not have divided hoofs; it is unclean for you. ⁷ The pig, for even though it has divided hoofs and is cleft-footed, it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.^{(B) 8} Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch; they are unclean for you.^(C)

⁹ “These you may eat, of all that are in the waters. Everything in the waters that has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the streams—such you may eat.^{(D) 10} But anything in the seas or the streams that does not have fins and scales, of the swarming creatures in the waters and among all the other living creatures that are in the waters—they are detestable to you,^{(E) 11} and detestable they shall remain. Of their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall regard as detestable. ¹² Everything in the waters that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

¹³ “These you shall regard as detestable among the birds. They shall not be eaten; they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the osprey, ¹⁴ the buzzard, the kite of any kind; ¹⁵ every raven of any kind; ¹⁶ the ostrich, the nighthawk, the sea gull, the hawk of any kind; ¹⁷ the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, ¹⁸ the water hen, the desert owl,^[a] the carrion vulture, ¹⁹ the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.^[b]

²⁰ “All winged insects that walk upon all fours are detestable to you. ²¹ But among the winged insects that walk on all fours you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet, with which to leap on the ground. ²² Of them you may eat: locusts of every kind, bald locusts of every kind, crickets of every kind, and grasshoppers of every kind.^{(F) 23} But all other winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.

Unclean Animals

²⁴ “By these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until the evening, ²⁵ and whoever carries any part of the carcass of any of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.^{(G) 26} Every animal that has divided hoofs but is not cleft-footed or does not chew the cud is unclean for you; everyone who touches one of them shall be unclean. ²⁷ All that walk on their paws, among the animals that walk on all fours, are unclean for you; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until the evening, ²⁸ and the one who carries the carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean for you.

²⁹ “These are unclean for you among the creatures that swarm upon the earth: the weasel, the mouse, lizards of every kind,^{(H) 30} the gecko, the land crocodile, the lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon. ³¹ These are unclean for you among all that swarm; whoever touches one of them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening. ³² And anything upon which any of them falls when they are dead shall be unclean, whether an article of wood or cloth or leather or sackcloth, any article that is used for any purpose; it shall be dipped in water, and it shall be unclean until the evening, and then it shall be clean.^{(I) 33} And if any of them falls into any clay vessel, all that is in it shall be unclean, and you shall break the vessel.^{(J) 34} Any food that could be eaten shall be unclean if water from any such vessel comes upon it, and any liquid that could be drunk shall be unclean if it was in any such vessel. ³⁵ Everything on which any part of the carcass falls shall be unclean; whether an oven or stove, it shall be broken in pieces; they are unclean and shall remain unclean for you. ³⁶ But a spring or a cistern holding water shall be clean, while whatever touches the carcass in it shall be unclean. ³⁷ If any part of their carcass falls upon any seed set aside for sowing, it is clean, ³⁸ but if water is put on the seed and any part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.

³⁹ “If an animal of which you may eat dies, anyone who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening. ⁴⁰ Those who eat of its carcass shall wash their clothes and be unclean until the evening, and those who carry the carcass shall wash their clothes and be unclean until the evening.^(K)

⁴¹ “All creatures that swarm upon the earth are detestable; they shall not be eaten.^{(L) 42} Whatever moves on its belly and whatever moves on all fours or whatever has many feet, all the creatures that swarm upon the earth you shall not eat, for they are detestable. ⁴³ You shall not make yourselves detestable with any creature that swarms; you shall not defile yourselves with them and so become unclean.^{(M) 44} For I am the Lord your God; sanctify yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming creature that moves on the earth.^{(N) 45} For I am the Lord who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; you shall be holy, for I am holy.^(O)

⁴⁶ “This is the law pertaining to land animal and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms upon the earth, ⁴⁷ to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.”^(P)

Purification of Women after Childbirth

12 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the Israelites, saying:

“If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean.^{(Q) 3} On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.^{(R) 4} Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing or come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are completed. ⁵ If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days.

⁶ “When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a turtledove for a purification offering.^{(S) 7} He shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement on her behalf; then she shall be clean from her flow of blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, male or female. ⁸ If she cannot afford a sheep, she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a purification offering, and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf, and she shall be clean.”^(T)

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples,^{(A) 2} “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”^(B)

³ Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the courtyard of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,^{(C) 4} and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him.^{(D) 5} But they said, “Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.”^(E)

The Anointing at Bethany

⁶ Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,^{[a](F) 7} a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. ⁸ But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, “Why this waste? ⁹ For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum and the money given to the poor.” ¹⁰ But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. ¹¹ For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.^{(G) 12} By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial.^{(H) 13} Truly I tell you, wherever this good news^[b] is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.”

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and said, “What will you give me if I betray him to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver.^{(I) 16} And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

¹⁷ On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?” ¹⁸ He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’ ”^{(J) 19} So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal.^(K)

²⁰ When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve disciples,^{[c] 21} and while they were eating he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me.” ²² And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, “Surely not I, Lord?” ²³ He answered, “The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me.^{(L) 24} The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.” ²⁵ Judas, who betrayed him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?” He replied, “You have said so.”