Old/New Testament
Rules About What May Be Eaten
11 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 2 “Tell the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] this: ‘From among the land animals, these are the creatures you may eat: 3 You may eat any animal that has split hoofs completely divided and that chews the cud [C considered a normal land animal].
4 “‘Some animals only chew the cud or only have split hoofs, and you must not eat them. The camel chews the cud but does not have a split hoof; it is unclean [C in a ritual sense] for you. 5 The rock badger chews the cud but does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. 6 The rabbit chews the cud but does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. 7 Now the pig has a split hoof that is completely divided, but it does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. 8 You must not eat the meat from these animals or even touch their dead bodies; they are unclean for you.
9 “‘Of the animals that live in the sea or in a river, if the animal has fins and scales, you may eat it [C considered a normal aquatic creature]. 10 But whatever lives in the sea or in a river and does not have fins and scales—including the things that ·fill [swarm] the water and all other things that live in it—·you should hate [L they are detestable/abominable]. 11 You must not eat any meat from them or even touch their dead bodies, because ·you should hate them [L they are detestable/abominable to you]. 12 ·You must hate [Detestable/Abominable to you is] any animal in the water that does not have fins and scales.
13 “‘Also, these are the birds you ·are to hate [should find detestable/abominable]. They are ·hateful [detestable; abominable] and should not be eaten. You must not eat eagles, vultures, black vultures, 14 kites, any kind of falcon, 15 any kind of raven, 16 horned owls, screech owls, sea gulls, any kind of hawk, 17 little owls, cormorants, great owls, 18 white owls, desert owls, ospreys, 19 storks, any kind of heron, hoopoes, or bats [C exact identification is sometimes uncertain, but all eat prey or carcasses and/or live in desolate places].
20 “‘Don’t eat insects that have wings and walk on all four feet; they also are ·to be hated [detestable/abominable to you; C their way of moving makes them abnormal insects].
21 “‘But you may eat certain insects that have wings and walk on four feet. You may eat those that have legs with joints above their feet so they can ·jump [leap]. 22 These are the insects you may eat: all kinds of locusts, winged locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers [C exact identification is uncertain]. 23 But all other insects that have wings and walk on four feet ·you are to hate [are detestable/abominable to you]. 24 Those insects will make you unclean [C in a ritual sense], and anyone who touches the dead body of one of these insects will become unclean until evening. 25 Anyone who picks up one of these dead insects must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.
26 “‘Some animals have split hoofs, but the hoofs are not completely divided; others do not chew the cud. They are unclean for you, and anyone who touches the dead body of one of these animals will become unclean [C in a ritual sense]. 27 Of all the animals that walk on four feet, the animals that walk on their paws are unclean for you. Anyone who touches the dead body of one of these animals will become unclean until evening. 28 Anyone who picks up their dead bodies must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; these animals are unclean for you.
29 “‘These ·crawling [swarming] animals [C animals that move close to the ground] are unclean for you: moles, rats, all kinds of great lizards, 30 geckos, crocodiles, lizards, sand reptiles, and chameleons [C identification of some of these animals is uncertain]. 31 These ·crawling [swarming] animals are unclean for you [C probably because they eat carrion or touch dead bodies]; anyone who touches their dead bodies will be unclean [C in a ritual sense] until evening.
32 “‘If an unclean animal dies and falls on something, that item will also become unclean [C in a ritual sense]. This includes anything made from wood, cloth, leather, or rough cloth, regardless of its use. Whatever the animal falls on must be washed with water and be unclean until evening; then it will become clean again. 33 If the dead, unclean animal falls into a clay bowl, anything in the bowl will become unclean, and you must break the bowl. 34 If water from the unclean clay bowl gets on any food, that food will become unclean. 35 If any dead, unclean animal falls on something, it becomes unclean. If it is a clay oven or a clay baking pan, it must be broken into pieces. These things will be unclean; they are unclean for you.
36 “‘A spring or ·well that collects water [cistern] will stay clean [C in a ritual sense], but anyone who touches the dead body of any unclean animal will become unclean. 37 If a dead, unclean animal falls on a seed to be planted, that seed is still clean. 38 But if you put water on some seeds and a dead, unclean animal falls on them, they are unclean for you.
39 “‘Also, if an animal which you use for food dies, anyone who touches its body will be unclean [C in a ritual sense] until evening. 40 Anyone who eats meat from this animal’s dead body must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. Anyone who picks up the animal’s dead body must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.
41 “‘Every animal that ·crawls [swarms] on the ground is ·to be hated [detestable; abominable]; it must not be eaten. 42 You must not eat any of the animals that ·crawl [L walk] on the ground, including those that ·crawl [walk] on their stomachs, that walk on all four feet, or on many feet. They are ·to be hated [detestable; abominable]. 43 Do not make yourself unclean [C in a ritual sense] by these animals; you must not become unclean by them. 44 I am the Lord your God. ·Keep yourselves holy for me [L Sanctify/Consecrate yourselves and be holy] because I am holy. Don’t ·make yourselves unclean [defile yourselves] with any of these ·crawling [swarming] animals. 45 I am the Lord who brought you out of Egypt to be your God; you must be holy because I am holy.
46 “‘These are the ·teachings [laws; instructions] about all of the cattle, birds, and other animals on earth, as well as the animals ·in the sea [L that moves in the water] and those that ·crawl [swarm] on the ground. 47 These ·teachings [laws; teachings] help people know the difference between unclean animals and clean animals [C in a ritual sense]; they help people know which animals may be eaten and which ones must not be eaten.’”
Rules for New Mothers
12 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel this: ‘If a woman [L conceives; becomes pregnant and] gives birth to a son, she will become unclean [C in a ritual sense] for seven days, as she is unclean during her ·monthly period [menstruation; 15:19]. 3 On the eighth day the ·boy [L flesh of his foreskin] must be circumcised [Gen. 17:10–14]. 4 Then it will be thirty-three days before she becomes clean from her loss of blood. She must not touch anything that is holy or enter the ·Holy Tent [L sanctuary] until her time of ·cleansing [purification] is finished. 5 But if she gives birth to a daughter, the mother will be unclean for two weeks, as she is unclean during her ·monthly period [menstruation]. It will be sixty-six days before she becomes clean from her loss of blood.
6 “‘After she has a son or daughter and her days of ·cleansing [purification] are over, the new mother must bring certain sacrifices to the Meeting Tent. She must give the priest at the entrance a year-old lamb for a burnt offering [1:1–17] and a dove or young pigeon for a ·sin [or purification; 4:3] offering. 7 He will offer them before the Lord to make her clean [C in a ritual sense] ·so she will belong to the Lord again [L to make atonement for her]; then she will be clean from her ·loss [flow] of blood. These are the ·teachings [laws; instructions] for a woman who gives birth to a boy or girl.
8 “‘If she cannot afford a lamb, she is to bring two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering [1:1–17] and one for a ·sin [or purification; 4:3] offering. In this way the priest will make her clean [C in a ritual sense] ·so she will belong to the Lord again [L and make atonement for her], and she will be clean.’”
The Plan to Kill Jesus(A)
26 After Jesus finished saying all these things [C this is the end of Jesus’ fifth and final discourse in Matthew; see 7:28], he told his ·followers [disciples], 2 “You know that ·the day after tomorrow [L two days from now] is the day of the Passover Feast [C the festival during which an unblemished lamb was sacrificed]. On that day the Son of Man will be ·given to his enemies [handed over] to be crucified.”
3 Then the ·leading [T chief] priests and the elders ·had a meeting [assembled] at the ·palace [court] of the high priest, named Caiaphas. 4 At the meeting, they ·planned [plotted] ·to set a trap [to act secretly/treacherously] to arrest Jesus and kill him. 5 But they said, “We must not do it during the ·feast [Passover festival], because the people might cause a riot.”
Perfume for Jesus’ Burial(B)
6 Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, ·who had a skin disease [L the leper; C for leprosy, see 8:2; Simon may have been healed by Jesus.]. 7 While Jesus was there, a woman approached him with an alabaster ·jar [vial] filled with expensive perfume. She poured this perfume on Jesus’ head while he was ·eating [L reclining; C the posture for a banquet or dinner party].
8 His ·followers [disciples] were ·upset [indignant] when they saw the woman do this. They asked, “Why waste that perfume? 9 It could have been sold for a great deal of money and the money given to the poor.”
10 Knowing what had happened, Jesus said, “Why are you ·troubling [bothering; criticizing] this woman? She did an ·excellent thing [beautiful/good deed] for me. 11 You will always have the poor with you [Deut. 15:11], but you will not always have me. 12 This woman poured perfume on my body to prepare me for burial. 13 I tell you the truth, wherever the ·Good News [Gospel] is preached in all the world, what this woman has done will be told, and people will remember her.”
Judas Betrays Jesus(C)
14 Then one of ·the twelve apostles [L the Twelve], [L who was called] Judas Iscariot, went to talk to the ·leading [T chief] priests. 15 He said, “What will you ·pay [give] me for ·giving [betraying; delivering] Jesus to you?” And they ·gave him [weighed/counted out] thirty silver coins [Zech. 11:12]. 16 After that, Judas watched for ·the best time [an opportunity] to ·turn Jesus in [betray him].
Jesus Eats the Passover Meal(D)
17 On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the ·followers [disciples] came to Jesus. They said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover meal?”
18 Jesus answered, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: “·The chosen time is near [L My time has come/drawn near]. I will ·have [celebrate; observe] the Passover with my ·followers [disciples] at your house.”’” 19 The ·followers [disciples] did what Jesus told them to do, and they prepared the Passover meal.
20 In the evening Jesus was ·sitting at the table [L reclining; C the posture for a banquet] with his twelve ·followers [disciples]. 21 As they were eating, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will ·turn against [betray] me.”
22 This made the ·followers [disciples] very ·sad [distressed; pained]. Each one began to say to Jesus, “·Surely, Lord, I am not the one, am I [Surely not I, Lord; or Is it I, Lord]?”
23 Jesus answered, “The man who has dipped his hand with me into the bowl [C probably not a signal, but means “one who shares close fellowship with me”] is the one who will ·turn against [betray] me. 24 The Son of Man will ·die [go to his fate; L go], just as the Scriptures say. But ·how terrible it will be for [L woe to] the person ·who hands the Son of Man over to be killed [L by whom the Son of Man is betrayed]. It would be better for him if he had never been born.”
25 Then Judas, who would ·give Jesus to his enemies [betray him], said to Jesus, “·Teacher [L Rabbi], ·surely I am not the one, am I [surely not I; or is it I]?”
Jesus answered, “·Yes, it is you [L You have said it].”
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