Leviticus 17–18; Matthew 27:27–50

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Leviticus 17–18

The Place of Sacrifice

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. If any one of the house of Israel ukills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, and vdoes not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man wshall be cut off from among his people. This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice xin the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them yas sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. And the priest shall ythrow the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat zfor a pleasing aroma to the Lord. So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they awhore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.

And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who boffers a burnt offering or sacrifice and cdoes not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, wthat man shall be cut off from his people.

Laws Against Eating Blood

10 If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them deats any blood, I will eset my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 fFor the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar gto make atonement for your souls, hfor it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

13 Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall ipour out its blood and jcover it with earth. 14 For the life of every creature1 is its kblood: its blood is its life.2 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. 15 lAnd every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, mwhether he is a native or a sojourner, nshall wash his clothes and obathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, phe shall bear his iniquity.

Unlawful Sexual Relations

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, qI am the Lord your God. rYou shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and syou shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. tYou shall follow my rules3 and keep my statutes and walk in them. qI am the Lord your God. tYou shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; uif a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. vYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. wYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. xYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. 10 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. 11 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, brought up in your father’s family, since she is your sister. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s relative. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s relative. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. 15 yYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 zYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. 17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. 18 And you shall not take a woman as a arival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness bwhile her sister is still alive.

19 cYou shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. 20 dAnd you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and so make yourself unclean with her. 21 You shall not give any of your children to eoffer them4 to fMolech, and so gprofane the name of your God: I am the Lord. 22 hYou shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. 23 iAnd you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is jperversion.

24 kDo not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, lfor by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25 and the mland became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land nvomited out its inhabitants. 26 But oyou shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the pnative or the stranger who sojourns among you 27 (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), 28 lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29 For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 qSo keep my charge never to practice rany of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: sI am the Lord your God.


Matthew 27:27–50

Jesus Is Mocked

27 gThen the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the hgovernor’s headquarters,1 and they gathered the whole ibattalion2 before him. 28 And they stripped him and put ja scarlet robe on him, 29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they kmocked him, saying, Hail, lKing of the Jews! 30 And mthey spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe and put his own clothes on him and nled him away to crucify him.

The Crucifixion

32 opAs they went out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. They compelled this man to ocarry his cross. 33 qAnd when they came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull), 34 rthey offered him wine to drink, mixed with sgall, but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. 35 And when they had crucified him, tthey divided his garments among them by casting lots. 36 Then they sat down and ukept watch over him there. 37 And over his head they put the charge against him, which read, This is Jesus, vthe King of the Jews. 38 Then two wrobbers were crucified with him, xone on the right and one on the left. 39 And ythose who passed by zderided him, awagging their heads 40 and saying, bYou who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! cIf you are dthe Son of God, come down from the cross. 41 So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, 42 eHe saved others; fhe cannot save himself. gHe is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 hHe trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, I am the Son of God. 44 iAnd the robbers who were crucified with him also reviled him in the same way.

The Death of Jesus

45 Now from the sixth hour3 there was darkness over all the land4 until the ninth hour.5 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus jcried out with a loud voice, saying, kEli, Eli, lema sabachthani? that is, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 47 And some of the bystanders, hearing it, said, This man is calling Elijah. 48 And one of them at once ran and took a sponge, filled it with lsour wine, and put it on a reed and mgave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him. 50 And Jesus ncried out again with a loud voice and oyielded up his spirit.