Leviticus 4; Leviticus 5; Matthew 24:29-51

1 The LORD spoke to Moses,

2 "Tell the Israelites: If a person unintentionally does something wrong--even one thing that is forbidden by any of the LORD's commands--this is what he must do.

3 "If the anointed priest does something wrong and brings guilt on the people, he must bring a bull that has no defects as an offering for sin to the LORD.

4 He must bring the bull into the LORD's presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He will place his hand on the bull's head. He will then slaughter the bull in the LORD's presence.

5 Then the anointed priest will take some of the bull's blood and bring it into the tent of meeting.

6 The priest will dip his finger in it and sprinkle some of the blood seven times in the LORD's presence facing the canopy in the holy place.

7 Then the priest will put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for sweet-smelling incense in the LORD's presence in the tent of meeting. He will pour the rest of the bull's blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

8 He will remove all of the fat from the bull that is the offering for sin, the fat that covers the internal organs,

9 and the two kidneys with the fat on them. He will also remove the lobe of the liver and the kidneys

10 the same way they were removed from the bull used for the fellowship offering. The priest will lay them on the altar for burnt offerings.

11 Then he will take the entire bull (the skin, meat, head, legs, internal organs, and excrement)

12 to a clean place outside the camp where the ashes are dumped. He will burn it there on a wood fire.

13 "If the whole congregation of Israel unintentionally does something wrong, without the assembly being aware of it, if they do even one thing that is forbidden by any of the LORD's commands, they will be guilty.

14 When the wrong they have done becomes known, the congregation must sacrifice a bull as an offering for sin. They must bring it in front of the tent of meeting.

15 The leaders of the congregation will place their hands on the bull's head in the LORD's presence. One of them will slaughter it in the LORD's presence.

16 Then the anointed priest will bring some of the bull's blood into the tent of meeting.

17 The priest will dip his finger in some of the blood and sprinkle it seven times in the LORD's presence facing the canopy.

18 He will also put some blood on the horns of the altar in the LORD's presence in the tent of meeting. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

19 He will remove all the fat and burn it on the altar.

20 He will do the same thing with this bull that he did with the bull used as the offering for sin. So the priest will make peace with the LORD for the people, and they will be forgiven.

21 Then he will take the bull outside the camp and will burn it the same way he burned the first bull. It is an offering for sin for the community.

22 "When a leader unintentionally does something wrong--even one thing that is forbidden by any of the commands of the LORD his God--he will be guilty.

23 When he is told about what he has done wrong, he must bring a male goat that has no defects as his offering.

24 He will place his hand on the goat's head and slaughter it in the LORD's presence where he slaughters animals for burnt offerings. It is an offering for sin.

25 Then the priest will take some of the blood of the offering for sin with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings.

26 He will burn all the fat on the altar the same way the fat of the fellowship offering is burned. So the priest will make peace with the LORD for what the leader did wrong, and the leader will be forgiven.

27 "If a common person unintentionally does something wrong--even one thing forbidden by the LORD's commands--he will be guilty.

28 When he is told about what he has done wrong, he must bring a female goat that has no defects as his offering for what he has done wrong.

29 He will place his hand on the animal's head and slaughter it where animals for burnt offerings are slaughtered.

30 The priest will take some of the blood with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar.

31 He will remove all the fat the same way it is removed from the fellowship offering. The priest will burn it on the altar for a soothing aroma to the LORD. So the priest will make peace with the LORD for that person, and that person will be forgiven.

32 "If someone brings a lamb as his offering for sin, he must bring a female that has no defects.

33 He will place his hand on the animal's head and slaughter it where he slaughters animals for burnt offerings.

34 Then the priest will take some of the blood from the offering for sin with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar for burnt offerings. He will pour the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar.

35 He will remove all the fat the same way the fat of the lamb is removed from the fellowship offerings. Then the priest will burn it on the altar with the offering by fire to the LORD. So the priest will make peace with the LORD for what that person did wrong, and that person will be forgiven."

1 [The LORD continued,] "Now, if you are a witness under oath and won't tell what you saw or what you know, you are sinning and will be punished.

2 "If you touch anything unclean --the unclean dead body of a wild or tame animal or the body of an unclean, swarming creature--and then ignore what you did, you are unclean and will be guilty.

3 "If you become unclean by touching human uncleanness of any kind and then ignore it (although you know what you did), you will be guilty.

4 "If you hastily take a vow about what you will or will not do (as some people do) and then ignore it (although you know what you said), you will be guilty.

5 "So if you are guilty of any of these sins, you must confess it.

6 Bring your guilt offering to the LORD for the sin you committed. It must be a female sheep or goat as an offering for sin. Then the priest will make peace with the LORD for what you did wrong.

7 "Now, if you cannot afford a sheep, you must bring to the LORD two mourning doves or two pigeons as a guilt offering for the sin you committed. One will be an offering for sin, the other a burnt offering.

8 Bring them to the priest, and he will sacrifice the offering for sin first. He will break the bird's neck without pulling its head off.

9 He will sprinkle some of the blood from the offering for sin on the side of the altar, and the rest of the blood will be drained at the bottom of the altar. It is an offering for sin.

10 Then, following the proper procedures, he will sacrifice the second bird as a burnt offering. So the priest will make peace with the LORD for what you did wrong.

11 "But if you cannot afford two mourning doves or two pigeons, then bring eight cups of flour as an offering for the sin you committed. Never put olive oil on it or add incense to it, because it is an offering for sin.

12 Bring it to the priest. The priest will take a handful of it. He will burn it as a reminder on top of the offering by fire to the LORD on the altar. It is an offering for sin.

13 So the priest will make peace with the LORD for what you did wrong, and you will be forgiven. The offering will belong to the priest like the grain offering."

14 The LORD spoke to Moses,

15 "If any of you fail to do your duty by unintentionally doing something wrong with any of the LORD's holy things, bring a guilt offering to the LORD. It must be a ram that has no defects or its value in silver weighed according to the official standards of the holy place.

16 Pay for whatever holy things you used plus one-fifth more. Give it to the priest. So the priest will use the ram sacrificed for the guilt offering to make peace with the LORD for what you did wrong, and you will be forgiven.

17 "If any of you do wrong--even one thing forbidden by any of the LORD's commands, but you didn't know it--when you realize your guilt, you must be punished.

18 You must bring the priest a ram that has no defects from the flock or its value in money for a guilt offering. The priest will make peace with the LORD for the wrong you did unintentionally (although you didn't know what you did), and you will be forgiven.

19 It is a guilt offering because you are certainly guilty as far as the LORD is concerned."

29 "Immediately after the misery of those days, the sun will turn dark, the moon will not give light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the universe will be shaken.

30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. All the people on earth will cry in agony when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds in the sky with power and great glory.

31 He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and from every direction under the sky, they will gather those whom God has chosen.

32 "Learn from the story of the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and it sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.

33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the door.

34 "I can guarantee this truth: This generation will not disappear until all these things take place.

35 The earth and the heavens will disappear, but my words will never disappear.

36 "No one knows when that day or hour will come. Even the angels in heaven and the Son don't know. Only the Father knows.

37 "When the Son of Man comes again, it will be exactly like the days of Noah.

38 In the days before the flood, people were eating, drinking, and getting married until the day that Noah went into the ship.

39 They were not aware of what was happening until the flood came and swept all of them away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes again.

40 "At that time two men will be working in the field. One will be taken, and the other one will be left.

41 Two women will be working at a mill. One will be taken, and the other one will be left.

42 "Therefore, be alert, because you don't know on what day your Lord will return.

43 You realize that if a homeowner had known at what time of the night a thief was coming, he would have stayed awake. He would not have let the thief break into his house.

44 Therefore, you, too, must be ready because the Son of Man will return when you least expect him.

45 "Who, then, is the faithful and wise servant? The master will put that person in charge of giving the other servants their food at the right time.

46 That servant will be blessed if his master finds him doing this job when he comes.

47 I can guarantee this truth: He will put that servant in charge of all his property.

48 On the other hand, that servant, if he is wicked, may think that it will be a long time before his master comes.

49 The servant may begin to beat the other servants and eat and drink with the drunks.

50 His master will return unexpectedly.

51 Then his master will severely punish him and assign him a place with the hypocrites. People will cry and be in extreme pain there.