Old/New Testament
6 [a] The Lord said to Moses, 2 If you sin:
by acting unfaithfully against the Lord;
by deceiving a fellow citizen concerning a deposit or pledged property;
by cheating a fellow citizen through robbery;
3 or, though you’ve found lost property, you lie about it;
or by swearing falsely about anything that someone might do and so sin,
4 at that point, once you have sinned and become guilty of sin, you must return the property you took by robbery or fraud, or the deposit that was left with you for safekeeping, or the lost property that you found, 5 or whatever it was that you swore falsely about. You must make amends for the principal amount and add one-fifth to it. You must give it to the owner on the day you become guilty. 6 You must bring to the priest as your compensation to the Lord a flawless ram from the flock at the standard value as a compensation offering. 7 The priest will make reconciliation for you before the Lord, and you will be forgiven for anything you may have done that made you guilty.
Priestly instructions
8 [b] The Lord said to Moses: 9 Command Aaron and his sons: This is the Instruction for the entirely burned offering—the entirely burned offering that must remain on the altar hearth all night until morning, while the fire is kept burning. 10 The priest will dress in his linen robe, with linen undergarments on his body. Because the fire will have devoured the entirely burned offering on the altar, he must remove the ashes and place them beside the altar. 11 The priest will then take off his clothes, dress in a different set of clothes, and take the ashes outside the camp to a clean location. 12 The altar fire must be kept burning; it must not go out. Each morning the priest will burn wood on it, will lay out the entirely burned offering on it, and will completely burn the fat of the well-being offering on it. 13 A continuous fire must be kept burning on the altar; it must not go out.
14 This is the Instruction for the grain offering: Aaron’s sons will present it before the Lord in front of the altar. 15 The priest will remove a handful of the choice flour and oil from the grain offering, and all of the frankincense that is on it, and burn this token portion completely on the altar as a soothing smell to the Lord. 16 Aaron and his sons will eat the rest of it. It must be eaten as unleavened bread in a holy place; the priests must eat it in the meeting tent’s courtyard. 17 It must not be baked with leaven. I have made it the priests’ share from my food gifts. It is most holy like the purification offering and the compensation offering. 18 Only the males from Aaron’s descendants can eat it as a permanent portion from the Lord’s food gifts throughout your future generations. Anything that touches these food gifts will become holy.
19 The Lord said to Moses, 20 This is the offering that Aaron and his sons must present to the Lord on the day of his anointment: one-tenth of an ephah[c] of choice flour as a regular grain offering, half in the morning and half in the evening. 21 It must be prepared on a griddle with oil. You must bring it thoroughly mixed up and must present it as a grain offering of crumbled pieces[d] as a soothing smell to the Lord. 22 The priest who is anointed from among Aaron’s sons to succeed him will prepare the offering as a permanent portion for the Lord. It will be completely burned as a complete offering. 23 Every priestly grain offering must be a complete offering; it must not be eaten.
24 The Lord said to Moses, 25 Say to Aaron and his sons: This is the Instruction for the purification offering: The purification offering must be slaughtered before the Lord at the same place the entirely burned offering is slaughtered; it is most holy. 26 The priest who offers it as a purification offering will eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place, in the meeting tent’s courtyard. 27 Anything that touches the purification offering’s flesh will become holy. If some of its blood splashes on a garment, you must wash the bloodied part in a holy place. 28 A pottery container in which the purification offering is cooked must be broken, but if it is cooked in a bronze container, that must be scrubbed and rinsed with water. 29 Any male priest can eat it; it is most holy. 30 But no purification offering can be eaten if blood from it is brought into the meeting tent to make reconciliation in the holy place; it must be burned with fire.
7 This is the Instruction for the compensation offering: It is most holy. 2 The compensation offering must be slaughtered at the same place where the entirely burned offering is slaughtered, and its blood must be tossed against all sides of the altar. 3 All of its fat will be offered: the fat tail; the fat that covers the insides; 4 the two kidneys and the fat around them at the loins; and the lobe on the liver, which must be removed with the kidneys. 5 The priest must burn them completely on the altar as a food gift for the Lord; it is a compensation offering. 6 Any male priest can eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place; it is most holy.
7 The compensation offering is like the purification offering—they share the same Instruction: It belongs to the priest who makes reconciliation with it. 8 The hide of the entirely burned offering that a priest has offered belongs to the priest who offered it. 9 Any grain offering that is baked in an oven or that is prepared in a pan or on a griddle also belongs to the priest who offered it. 10 But every other grain offering, whether mixed with oil or dry, will belong to all of Aaron’s sons equally.
11 This is the Instruction for the communal sacrifice of well-being that someone may offer to the Lord: 12 If you are offering it for thanksgiving, you must offer the following with the communal sacrifice of thanksgiving: unleavened flatbread mixed with oil, unleavened thin loaves spread with oil, and flatbread of choice flour thoroughly mixed with oil. 13 You must present this offering, plus the leavened flatbread, with the communal thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being. 14 From this you will present one of each kind of offering as a gift to the Lord. It will belong to the priest who tosses the blood of the well-being offering.
15 The flesh of your communal thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being must be eaten on the day you offer it; you cannot save any of it until morning. 16 But if your communal sacrifice of well-being is payment for a solemn promise or if it is a spontaneous gift, it may be eaten on the day you offer it as your communal sacrifice, and whatever is left over can be eaten the next day. 17 But whatever is left over of the flesh of the communal sacrifice on the third day must be burned with fire. 18 If any of it is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted. It will not be credited to the one who offered it. It will be considered foul, and the person who eats of it will be liable to punishment.
19 Flesh that touches any unclean thing must not be eaten; it must be burned with fire. Any clean person may eat the flesh, 20 but anyone who eats the flesh of a communal sacrifice of well-being that belongs to the Lord while in an unclean state will be cut off from their people. 21 Whenever anyone touches any unclean thing—whether it is human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any unclean and disgusting creature—and then eats the flesh of a communal sacrifice of well-being that belongs to the Lord, that person will be cut off from their people.
22 The Lord said to Moses: 23 Tell the Israelites: You must not eat the fat of an ox, sheep, or goat. 24 The fat of an animal that has died naturally or the fat of an animal that was killed by another animal may be put to any use, but you must definitely not eat it. 25 If anyone eats the fat of an animal from which a food gift could be offered to the Lord, that person will be cut off from their people. 26 You must not consume any blood whatsoever—whether bird or animal blood—wherever you may live. 27 Any person who consumes any blood whatsoever will be cut off from their people.
28 The Lord said to Moses: 29 Say to the Israelites: If you wish to offer a communal sacrifice of well-being to the Lord, you are allowed to bring your offering to the Lord as your communal sacrifice of well-being.[e] 30 Your own hands must bring the Lord’s food gifts. You will bring the fat with the breast so that the breast can be lifted as an uplifted offering before the Lord. 31 The priest will completely burn the fat on the altar, but the breast will go to Aaron and his sons. 32 You will give the right thigh of your communal sacrifice of well-being to the priest as a gift. 33 The right thigh will belong to the son of Aaron who offers the blood and fat of the well-being offering. 34 I have taken the breast of the uplifted offering and the thigh that is given by the Israelites from their communal sacrifices of well-being, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as a permanent portion from the Israelites.
35 This is what Aaron and his sons are allotted from the Lord’s food gifts once they have been presented to serve the Lord as priests. 36 The Lord commanded that these things be given to the priests by the Israelites, following their anointment. It is their permanent portion throughout their future generations.
Conclusion concerning offerings
37 This concludes the Instructions for the entirely burned offering, the grain offering, the purification offering, the compensation offering, the ordination offering, and the communal sacrifice of well-being, 38 which the Lord commanded Moses at Mount Sinai on the day when he ordered the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord, in the Sinai desert.
Parable of the ten young bridesmaids
25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten young bridesmaids who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and the other five were foolish. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but didn’t bring oil for them. 4 But the wise ones took their lamps and also brought containers of oil.
5 “When the groom was late in coming, they all became drowsy and went to sleep. 6 But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Look, the groom! Come out to meet him.’
7 “Then all those bridesmaids got up and prepared their lamps. 8 But the foolish bridesmaids said to the wise ones, ‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps have gone out.’
9 “But the wise bridesmaids replied, ‘No, because if we share with you, there won’t be enough for our lamps and yours. We have a better idea. You go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 But while they were gone to buy oil, the groom came. Those who were ready went with him into the wedding. Then the door was shut.
11 “Later the other bridesmaids came and said, ‘Lord, lord, open the door for us.’
12 “But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore, keep alert, because you don’t know the day or the hour.
Parable of the valuable coins
14 “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was leaving on a trip. He called his servants and handed his possessions over to them. 15 To one he gave five valuable coins,[a] and to another he gave two, and to another he gave one. He gave to each servant according to that servant’s ability. Then he left on his journey.
16 “After the man left, the servant who had five valuable coins took them and went to work doing business with them. He gained five more. 17 In the same way, the one who had two valuable coins gained two more. 18 But the servant who had received the one valuable coin dug a hole in the ground and buried his master’s money.
19 “Now after a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received five valuable coins came forward with five additional coins. He said, ‘Master, you gave me five valuable coins. Look, I’ve gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Excellent! You are a good and faithful servant! You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.’
22 “The second servant also came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two valuable coins. Look, I’ve gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done! You are a good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful over a little. I’ll put you in charge of much. Come, celebrate with me.’
24 “Now the one who had received one valuable coin came and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man. You harvest grain where you haven’t sown. You gather crops where you haven’t spread seed. 25 So I was afraid. And I hid my valuable coin in the ground. Here, you have what’s yours.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You evil and lazy servant! You knew that I harvest grain where I haven’t sown and that I gather crops where I haven’t spread seed? 27 In that case, you should have turned my money over to the bankers so that when I returned, you could give me what belonged to me with interest. 28 Therefore, take from him the valuable coin and give it to the one who has ten coins. 29 Those who have much will receive more, and they will have more than they need. But as for those who don’t have much, even the little bit they have will be taken away from them. 30 Now take the worthless servant and throw him out into the farthest darkness.’
“People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible