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You Shall Be Holy
22 “‘And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations, and you shall do them, so that[a] the land, to which I am bringing you to inhabit it, shall not vomit you out. 23 And you shall not follow the statutes of the nation that I am driving out from before you,[b] because they did all these things, and I detested them. 24 So[c] I said to you, “You yourselves shall take possession of their land, and I myself shall give it to you to possess it—a land flowing with milk and honey”; I am Yahweh your God, who has set you apart[d] from the nations. 25 And you shall distinguish between the clean and the unclean animal and between the unclean and the clean bird; and you shall not defile yourselves with the animal or[e] with the bird or[f] with anything that moves along the ground that I have set apart for you as unclean.[g] 26 And you shall be holy for me, because I, Yahweh, am holy, and I have singled you out from the nations to be mine.
27 “‘And a man or a woman, if a spirit of the dead or a spirit of divination is in them, they shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones[h]—their blood is on them.’”
Regulations Concerning Priests
21 Then[i] Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, Aaron’s sons, and say to them, ‘One must not make himself unclean for a dead person among his own people, 2 except for his direct relative closest to him: his mother and his father, and his son and his daughter, and his brother, 3 and for his sister, a virgin, who is closest to him, who has not had a husband[j]—for her he may defile himself. 4 He must not make himself unclean as a kinsman by marriage,[k] defiling himself.
5 “‘And they shall not shave bald patches on their head, and they shall not shave off the corner of their beard, and they shall not make a cut in their body. 6 They shall be holy to their God, and they shall not profane the name of their God, because they are bringing near the offerings made by fire to[l] Yahweh—their God’s food—and they shall be holy.
7 “‘They shall not marry[m] a woman who is a prostitute and defiled, nor shall they marry[n] a woman divorced from her husband, because each priest[o] is holy for his God. 8 And you shall consecrate him, because he is bringing near your God’s food; he shall be holy to you, since I, Yahweh, who consecrates you, am holy.
9 “‘As for[p] the daughter of any priest, if she is defiled by prostituting, she is disgracing her father—she shall be burned in the fire.
10 “‘As for[q] the priest who is higher than his brothers, on whose head the oil of anointment is poured and he was ordained[r] to wear the garments, he shall not dishevel his head, and he shall not tear his garments. 11 And he shall not go near any dead person, nor shall he make himself unclean for his father or[s] for his mother. 12 And he shall not go out from the sanctuary, and he shall not profane his God’s sanctuary, because the dedication of his God’s oil of anointment is on him; I am Yahweh.
13 “‘And he himself must take a wife in her virginity. 14 A widow or[t] a divorced woman or[u] a defiled woman, a prostitute—these he must not take; he shall take only[v] a virgin from his people as wife. 15 And he shall not profane his offspring among his people, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates him.’”
16 Then[w] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘A man from your offspring throughout their generations, in whom is a physical defect, shall not come near to present your God’s food. 18 Indeed,[x] any man in whom is a physical defect shall not come near: a blind man or lame or disfigured or deformed, 19 or a man in whom is a broken foot or a broken hand, 20 or a hunchback or a dwarf, or a spot in his eye or a skin disorder or a skin eruption or a crushed testicle. 21 Any man from Aaron the priest’s offspring in whom is a physical defect shall not come near to present offerings made by fire to[y] Yahweh; a physical defect is in him; he shall not come near to present his God’s food. 22 He may eat his God’s food, from the most holy things[z] and from the holy things. 23 But he must not enter the curtain, and he must not come near to the altar, because a physical defect is in him, and he must not profane my sanctuary, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates them.’”
24 Thus[aa] Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the Israelites.[ab]
Priests and Their Food
22 Then[ac] Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell[ad] Aaron and his sons[ae] that[af] they must deal respectfully with the Israelites’[ag] votive offerings, and they must not profane my holy name, which they are consecrating to me; I am Yahweh.
3 “Say to them, ‘Throughout your generations, any man from any of your offspring who comes near the votive offerings that the Israelites[ah] consecrate to Yahweh with[ai] his uncleanness on him, that person shall be cut off[aj] from before me;[ak] I am Yahweh.
4 “‘Anyone[al] from Aaron’s offspring, if[am] he is afflicted with a skin disease or a fluid discharge, shall not eat in the sanctuary until[an] he is clean; and the one who touches any unclean person or a man from whom an emission of semen goes out, 5 or a man who touches any swarmer that is unclean for him or who touches a person who is unclean for him due to[ao] whatever his uncleanness, 6 a person who touches such a thing[ap] shall be unclean until the evening, and he shall not eat from the votive offerings, except[aq] when he washes[ar] his body with water 7 and the sun sets,[as] and he shall be clean; then[at] afterward he may eat from the votive offerings, because it is his food. 8 He shall not eat a naturally dead body or[au] a mangled carcass, so that he becomes unclean[av] by it; I am Yahweh.
9 “‘And they shall keep my obligation, and they shall not incur guilt because of it, so that[aw] they die through it, because they have profaned it; I am Yahweh who consecrates them.
10 “‘No stranger shall eat[ax] the votive offering; nor shall a temporary resident with[ay] a priest or[az] a hired worker eat the votive offering. 11 But[ba] a priest, if with his money he buys a person as his possession,[bb] that one may eat it, and the descendants of his house themselves may eat his food. 12 And a priest’s daughter, when she marries a layman,[bc] she herself may not eat the votive offering.[bd] 13 But[be] a priest’s daughter, when she becomes a widow or[bf] divorced or there is no offspring for her, and she returns to her father’s house as in her childhood, she may eat from her father’s food, but[bg] no layman may eat it.[bh] 14 And if a man eats the votive offering unintentionally, then[bi] he shall add to it a fifth of it, and he shall give the votive offering to the priest. 15 And they shall not profane the Israelites’[bj] votive offerings that they present to Yahweh, 16 and so cause them, by their eating their votive offerings, to bear guilt requiring a guilt offering, because I am Yahweh, who consecrates them.’”
9 And he said to them, “Truly I say to you, that there are some of those standing here who will never experience death until they see the kingdom of God having come with power.”
The Transfiguration
2 And after six days, Jesus took along Peter and James and John, and led them to a high mountain by themselves alone. And he was transfigured before them, 3 and his clothing became radiant—extremely white, like no cloth refiner on earth can make so white.[a] 4 And Elijah appeared to them together with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 And Peter answered and[b] said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! And let us make three shelters, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6 (For he did not know what he should answer, because they were terrified.) 7 And a cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him!” 8 And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus alone.
9 And as[c] they were coming down from the mountain, he ordered them that they should tell no one the things that they had seen, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 And they kept the matter to themselves, discussing what this rising from the dead meant.[d] 11 And they asked him, saying, “Why do[e] the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 12 And he said to them, “Elijah indeed does come first and[f] restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man that he should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that indeed Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they wanted, just as it is written about him.”
A Demon-possessed Boy Healed
14 And when they[g] came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes arguing with them. 15 And immediately the whole crowd, when they[h] saw him, were amazed, and ran up to him[i] and[j] greeted him. 16 And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17 And one individual from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought to you my son who has a spirit that makes him mute.[k] 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down and he foams at the mouth and grinds his[l] teeth and becomes paralyzed. And I told your disciples that they should expel it, and they were not able to do so.[m] 19 And he answered them and[n] said, “O unbelieving generation! How long[o] will I be with you? How long[p] must I put up with you? Bring him to me!” 20 And they brought him to him. And when he[q] saw him, the spirit immediately convulsed him, and falling on the ground, he began to roll around, foaming at the mouth. 21 And he asked his father how long it was since this had been happening to him. And he said, “From childhood. 22 And often it has thrown him both into fire and into water, in order that it could destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and[r] help us!” 23 But Jesus said to him, “If you are able! All things are possible for the one who believes!” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and[s] said, “I believe! Help my unbelief!” 25 Now when[t] Jesus saw that a crowd was running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and enter into him no more!” 26 And it came out, screaming and convulsing him[u] greatly, and he became as if he were dead, so that most of them said, “He has died!” 27 But Jesus took hold of his hand and[v] raised him up, and he stood up. 28 And after[w] he had entered into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why were we not able to expel it?” 29 And he said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing except by prayer.”[x]
A Prayer for Rescue
43 Judge me, O God, and plead my case
against[a] an unfaithful[b] nation.
From a man of deceit and wickedness rescue me,
2 because you are the God of my refuge.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Send your light and your truth;
they shall lead[c] me.
They shall bring me to your holy mountain[d]
and to your dwelling places.
4 Then[e] I will go to the altar of God,
to God, my surpassing joy,[f]
and I will praise you with lyre,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you in despair,[g] O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, because I will again praise him,
my salvation[h] and my God.
18 He who conceals hatred has lips of deceit,
and he who utters slander—he is a fool.
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