Old/New Testament
Regulations for Israel’s Appointed Times
23 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘These are the Lord’s appointed times which you must proclaim as holy assemblies—my appointed times.[a]
The Weekly Sabbath
3 “‘Six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there must be a Sabbath of complete rest,[b] a holy assembly. You must not do any work; it is a Sabbath to the Lord in all the places where you live.
The Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread
4 “‘These are the Lord’s appointed times, holy assemblies, which you must proclaim at their appointed time. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight,[c] is a Passover offering to the Lord. 6 Then on the fifteenth day of the same month[d] will be the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day there will be a holy assembly for you; you must not do any regular work.[e] 8 You must present a gift to the Lord for seven days, and the seventh day is a holy assembly; you must not do any regular work.’”
The Presentation of Firstfruits
9 The Lord spoke to Moses: 10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you enter the land that I am about to give to you and you gather in its harvest,[f] then you must bring the sheaf of the first portion of your harvest[g] to the priest, 11 and he must wave the sheaf before the Lord to be accepted for your benefit[h]—on the day after the Sabbath the priest is to wave it.[i] 12 On the day you wave the sheaf you must also offer[j] a flawless yearling lamb[k] for a burnt offering to the Lord, 13 along with its grain offering, two-tenths of an ephah of[l] choice wheat flour[m] mixed with olive oil, as a gift to the Lord, a soothing aroma,[n] and its drink offering, one-fourth of a hin of wine.[o] 14 You must not eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this very day,[p] until you bring the offering to your God. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations[q] in all the places where you live.
The Feast of Weeks
15 “‘You must count for yourselves seven weeks from the day after the Sabbath, from the day you bring the wave offering sheaf; they must be complete weeks.[r] 16 You must count fifty days—until the day after the seventh Sabbath—and then[s] you must present a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 From the places where you live you must bring two loaves of[t] bread for a wave offering; they must be made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine wheat flour, baked with yeast,[u] as firstfruits to the Lord. 18 Along with the loaves of bread,[v] you must also present seven flawless yearling lambs,[w] one young bull,[x] and two rams.[y] They are to be a burnt offering to the Lord along with their grain offering[z] and drink offerings, a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord.[aa] 19 You must also offer[ab] one male goat[ac] for a sin offering and two yearling lambs for a peace-offering sacrifice, 20 and the priest is to wave them—the two lambs[ad]—along with the bread of the firstfruits, as a wave offering before the Lord; they will be holy to the Lord for the priest.
21 “‘On this very day you must proclaim an assembly; it is to be a holy assembly for you.[ae] You must not do any regular work. This is a perpetual statute in all the places where you live throughout your generations.[af] 22 When you gather in the harvest[ag] of your land, you must not completely harvest the corner of your field,[ah] and you must not gather up the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and the resident foreigner.[ai] I am the Lord your God.’”[aj]
The Feast of Horn Blasts
23 The Lord spoke to Moses: 24 “Tell the Israelites, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you must have a complete rest, a memorial announced by loud horn blasts,[ak] a holy assembly. 25 You must not do any regular work, but[al] you must present a gift to the Lord.’”
The Day of Atonement
26 The Lord spoke to Moses: 27 “The[am] tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement.[an] It is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must humble yourselves[ao] and present a gift to the Lord. 28 You must not do any work on this particular day,[ap] because it is a day of atonement to make atonement for yourselves[aq] before the Lord your God. 29 Indeed,[ar] any person who does not behave with humility on this particular day will be cut off from his people.[as] 30 As for any person[at] who does any work on this particular day, I will exterminate[au] that person from the midst of his people[av]— 31 you must not do any work! This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations[aw] in all the places where you live. 32 It is a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you must humble yourselves on the ninth day of the month in the evening, from evening until evening you must observe your Sabbath.”[ax]
The Feast of Temporary Shelters
33 The Lord spoke to Moses: 34 “Tell the Israelites, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the Feast of Shelters[ay] for seven days to the Lord. 35 On the first day is a holy assembly; you must do no regular work.[az] 36 For seven days you must present a gift to the Lord. On the eighth day there is to be a holy assembly for you, and you must present a gift to the Lord. It is a solemn assembly day;[ba] you must not do any regular work.
37 “‘These are the appointed times of the Lord that you must proclaim as holy assemblies to present a gift to the Lord—burnt offering, grain offering, sacrifice, and drink offerings,[bb] each day according to its regulation,[bc] 38 besides[bd] the Sabbaths of the Lord and all your gifts, votive offerings, and freewill offerings which you must give to the Lord.
39 “‘On[be] the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you gather in the produce of the land, you must celebrate a pilgrim festival of the Lord for seven days. On the first day is a complete rest and on the eighth day is complete rest. 40 On the first day you must take for yourselves branches from majestic trees[bf]—palm branches, branches of leafy trees, and willows of the brook—and you must rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. 41 You must celebrate it as a pilgrim festival to the Lord for seven days in the year. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations;[bg] you must celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You must live in temporary shelters[bh] for seven days; every native citizen in Israel must live in shelters, 43 so that your future generations may know that I made the Israelites live in shelters when I brought them out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.’”
44 So Moses spoke to the Israelites about the appointed times of the Lord.[bi]
Regulations for the Lampstand and the Table of Bread
24 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Command the Israelites to bring[bj] to you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.[bk] 3 Outside the special curtain[bl] of the congregation in the Meeting Tent, Aaron[bm] must arrange it from evening until morning before the Lord continually. This is a perpetual statute throughout your generations.[bn] 4 On the ceremonially pure lampstand[bo] he must arrange the lamps before the Lord continually.
5 “You must take choice wheat flour[bp] and bake twelve loaves;[bq] there must be two-tenths of an ephah of flour in[br] each loaf, 6 and you must set them in two rows, six in a row,[bs] on the ceremonially pure table before the Lord. 7 You must put pure frankincense[bt] on each row,[bu] and it will become a memorial portion[bv] for the bread, a gift[bw] to the Lord. 8 Each Sabbath day[bx] Aaron[by] must arrange it before the Lord continually; this portion[bz] is from the Israelites as a perpetual covenant. 9 It will belong to Aaron and his sons, and they must eat it in a holy place because it is most holy to him, a perpetually-allotted portion[ca] from the gifts of the Lord.”
A Case of Blaspheming the Name
10 Now[cb] an Israelite woman’s son whose father was an Egyptian went out among the Israelites, and the Israelite woman’s son and an Israelite man[cc] had a fight in the camp. 11 The Israelite woman’s son misused the Name and cursed,[cd] so they brought him to Moses. (Now his mother’s name was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) 12 So they placed him in custody until they were able[ce] to make a clear legal decision for themselves based on words from the mouth of the Lord.[cf]
13 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 14 “Bring the one who cursed outside the camp, and all who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the whole congregation is to stone him to death.[cg] 15 Moreover,[ch] you are to tell the Israelites, ‘If any man curses his God[ci] he will bear responsibility for his sin, 16 and one who misuses[cj] the name of the Lord must surely be put to death. The whole congregation must surely stone him, whether he is a resident foreigner or a native citizen; when he misuses the Name he must be put to death.
17 “‘If a man beats any person to death,[ck] he must be put to death. 18 One who beats an animal to death[cl] must make restitution for it, life for life.[cm] 19 If a man inflicts an injury on[cn] his fellow citizen,[co] just as he has done it must be done to him— 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth—just as he inflicts an injury on another person[cp] that same injury[cq] must be inflicted on him. 21 One who beats an animal to death[cr] must make restitution for it, but[cs] one who beats a person to death must be put to death. 22 There will be one regulation[ct] for you, whether a resident foreigner[cu] or a native citizen, for I am the Lord your God.’”
23 Then Moses spoke to the Israelites and they brought the one who cursed outside the camp and stoned him with stones. So the Israelites did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Ministry of John the Baptist
1 The beginning of the gospel[a] of Jesus Christ,[b] the Son of God.[c] 2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,[d]
“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way,[e]
3 the voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make[f] his paths straight.’”[g]
4 In the wilderness[h] John the baptizer[i] began preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.[j] 5 People[k] from the whole Judean countryside and all of Jerusalem were going out to him, and he was baptizing them[l] in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins. 6 John wore a garment made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.[m] 7 He proclaimed,[n] “One more powerful than I am is coming after me; I am not worthy[o] to bend down and untie the strap[p] of his sandals. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus
9 Now[q] in those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan River.[r] 10 And just as Jesus[s] was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens[t] splitting apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.[u] 11 And a voice came from heaven: “You are my one dear Son;[v] in you I take great delight.”[w] 12 The Spirit immediately drove him into the wilderness.[x] 13 He was in the wilderness forty days,[y] enduring temptations from Satan. He[z] was with wild animals, and angels were ministering to his needs.[aa]
Preaching in Galilee and the Call of the Disciples
14 Now after John was imprisoned,[ab] Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel[ac] of God.[ad] 15 He[ae] said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God[af] is near. Repent and believe the gospel!” 16 As he went along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen).[ag] 17 Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people!”[ah] 18 They left their nets immediately and followed him.[ai] 19 Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in their[aj] boat[ak] mending nets. 20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Jesus’ Authority
21 Then[al] they went to Capernaum.[am] When the Sabbath came,[an] Jesus[ao] went into the synagogue[ap] and began to teach. 22 The people there[aq] were amazed by his teaching, because he taught them like one who had authority,[ar] not like the experts in the law.[as]
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