Old/New Testament
The Law of Holiness[a]
Chapter 17
Sacredness of Blood.[b] 1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded: 3 Whichever man of the house of Israel slays an ox or a lamb or a goat, either slaying it inside the camp or outside of it, 4 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, nor offers it to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, that man shall be guilty of its blood, the blood that he shed, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. 5 This is to stop the children of Israel from offering their sacrifices in the open fields, and so that they bring them unto the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting, to the priest, to offer peace offerings unto the Lord. 6 The priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He shall burn the fat as a sweet fragrance to the Lord. 7 They shall no longer offer their sacrifices to the demons[c] with whom they have prostituted themselves. This shall be a statute for them through all their generations.’
8 “You shall say this to them, ‘Whoever from the house of Israel or from among the aliens living in your midst offers a burnt offering or a sacrifice, 9 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that person will be cut off from among his people. 10 [d]Whoever from the house of Israel or from among the aliens living in your midst eats anything with blood, I will set my face against that person and he shall be cut off from among his people. 11 The life of all flesh is found in its blood. I have given it to you to make atonement for your life upon the altar. Blood is to make atonement for one’s life.’ 12 Therefore, I told the children of Israel, ‘No one of you shall eat blood, nor shall the alien living among you eat blood.’
13 “Whoever from among the children of Israel or from among the aliens living in your midst hunts or catches a beast or a bird that can be eaten, let him pour out its blood and cover it with dust 14 for it is the life of all flesh. The blood is its life. Therefore, I said to the children of Israel, ‘You will eat no blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is in the blood. Whoever eats it will be cut off.’ 15 Whoever eats a beast that died by itself, or that was torn asunder by beasts, whether he be a native or an alien, shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and he shall be unclean until the evening. Then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash or bathe, then he shall bear his guilt.”
Chapter 18[e]
Sexual Conduct. 1 The Lord spoke again to Moses saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: ‘I am the Lord, your God.[f] 3 You shall not do things like they did in Egypt, where you dwelt, nor shall you do things like they do in Canaan, where I am bringing you. You shall not do these things, nor shall you follow their ordinances.[g] 4 You shall observe my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, walking in them. I am the Lord, your God. 5 You shall keep my ordinances and my statutes. He who obeys them shall live by them. I am the Lord, your God.
6 “ ‘None of you is to be intimate with any of your close relatives, to uncover their nakedness. I am the Lord. 7 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father or your mother. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife, for her nakedness is like your father’s own nakedness. 9 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, whether she be the daughter of your father or the daughter of your mother, whether she be born in your household or elsewhere. 10 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter nor shall you uncover the nakedness of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is like your own nakedness. 11 You shall not uncover the nakedness of the daughter of your father’s wife, the daughter born of your father. She is your sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister. She is your father’s close relation. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister. She is your mother’s close relation. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not be intimate with his wife; she is your aunt. 15 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law. She is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife. Her nakedness is like your brother’s nakedness.[h] 17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of both a woman and her daughter. Nor shall you uncover the nakedness of her son’s daughter nor her daughter’s daughter. They are her close relations. It would be shameful. 18 You shall not take the sister of your wife while she is still alive, uncovering her nakedness. They would be rivals.
19 “ ‘You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity. 20 You shall not have sex with your neighbor’s wife, defiling both her and yourself. 21 You shall not offer any of your children to Molech.[i] You shall not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. 22 You shall not have sex with a man as you would with a woman. It is an abomination. 23 Nor shall you have sex with any animal, defiling yourself. Nor shall any woman have sex with an animal. It is perverse.
24 “ ‘You shall not defile yourself by doing any of these things, for the pagans have defiled themselves by all of these things. I am casting them out before you. 25 Because of this the land is defiled, and I will punish its iniquity. The land will vomit out its inhabitants. 26 Therefore, you shall observe my statutes and my ordinances. You shall not commit any abominations, neither anyone from your own nation nor any aliens who dwell among you. 27 The men of the land that lies before you have committed all of these abominations, and the land is defiled. 28 Otherwise the land will vomit you out, too, when you defile it, like it vomited out the pagans before you. 29 Whoever commits any of these abominations shall be cut off from among their people. 30 Therefore, you shall keep my ordinances, and you shall not do any of these abominable things, such as the things that were done before you, lest you defile yourself. I am the Lord, your God.’ ”
27 Jesus Is Crowned with Thorns.[a] Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus inside the praetorium and gathered the whole cohort around him. 28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29 and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they placed it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. Then, bending the knee before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They also spat upon him and, taking the reed, used it to strike him on the head. 31 And when they had finished mocking him, they stripped him of the robe, dressed him in his own clothes, and led him away to crucify him.
32 The Way of the Cross. As they went out, they encountered a man from Cyrene,[b] named Simon, and they forced him to carry the cross.
33 Jesus Is Crucified on Calvary. When they came to a place called Golgotha, which means the Place of the Skull,[c] 34 they offered him some wine to drink that had been mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink the mixture.[d] 35 And after they had crucified him,[e] they divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down there to keep guard over him. 37 Above his head was inscribed the charge against him: “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” 38 Two thieves were crucified with him, one on his right and the other on his left.[f]
39 Those people who passed by jeered at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, “You who claimed you could destroy the temple and rebuild it within three days, save yourself! If you truly are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”
41 In much the same way, the chief priests, together with the scribes and the elders, joined in the mockery, saying, 42 “He saved others, but he cannot save himself. If he is the king of Israel, let him come down from the cross right now, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusted in God; now let God deliver him if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” 44 The thieves who were crucified with him also taunted him in the same way.
45 Jesus Dies on the Cross.[g] Beginning at midday, there was darkness over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o’clock[h] Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”—that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
47 On hearing this, some of the bystanders said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 One of them immediately ran off to get a sponge, which he soaked in vinegar, put on a stick, and gave to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait! Let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 Then Jesus again cried out in a loud voice and gave up his spirit.
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