Leviticus 1; Leviticus 2; Leviticus 3; Matthew 24:1-28

1 The Lord called to Moses and spoke to him from the Meeting Tent, saying,

2 "Tell the people of Israel: 'When you bring an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from the herd or flock.

3 "'If the offering is a whole burnt offering from the herd, it must be a male that has nothing wrong with it. The person must take the animal to the entrance of the Meeting Tent so that the Lord will accept the offering.

4 He must put his hand on the animal's head, and the Lord will accept it to remove the person's sin so he will belong to God.

5 He must kill the young bull before the Lord, and Aaron's sons, the priests, must bring its blood and sprinkle it on all sides of the altar at the entrance to the Meeting Tent.

6 After that he will skin the animal and cut it into pieces.

7 The priests, when they have put wood and fire on the altar,

8 are to lay the head, the fat, and other pieces on the wood that is on the fire of the altar.

9 The animal's inner organs and legs must be washed with water. Then the priest must burn all the animal's parts on the altar. It is a whole burnt offering, an offering made by fire, and its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

10 "'If the burnt offering is a sheep or a goat from the flock, it must be a male that has nothing wrong with it.

11 The person must kill the animal on the north side of the altar before the Lord, and Aaron's sons, the priests, must sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar.

12 The person must cut the animal into pieces, and the priest must lay them, with the head and fat, on the wood that is on the fire of the altar.

13 The person must wash the animal's inner organs and legs with water, and then the priest must burn all its parts on the altar. It is a whole burnt offering, an offering made by fire, and its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

14 "'If the whole burnt offering for the Lord is a bird, it must be a dove or a young pigeon.

15 The priest will bring it to the altar and pull off its head, which he will burn on the altar; the bird's blood must be drained out on the side of the altar.

16 The priest must remove the bird's cropn and its contents and throw them on the east side of the altar, where the ashes are.

17 Then he must tear the bird open by its wings without dividing it into two parts. He must burn the bird on the altar, on the wood which is on the fire. It is a whole burnt offering, an offering made by fire, and its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

1 "'When anyone offers a grain offering to the Lord, it must be made from fine flour. The person must pour oil on it, put incense on it,

2 and then take it to Aaron's sons, the priests. The priest must take a handful of the fine flour and oil and all the incense, and burn it on the altar as a memorial portion. It is an offering made by fire, and its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

3 The rest of the grain offering will belong to Aaron and the priests; it is a most holy part of the offerings made by fire to the Lord.

4 "'If you bring a grain offering that was baked in the oven, it must be made from fine flour. It may be loaves made without yeast and mixed with oil, or it may be wafers made without yeast that have oil poured over them.

5 If your grain offering is cooked on a griddle, it must be made, without yeast, of fine flour mixed with oil.

6 Crumble it and pour oil over it; it is a grain offering.

7 If your grain offering is cooked in a pan, it must be made from fine flour and oil.

8 Bring the grain offering made of these things to the Lord. Give it to the priest, and he will take it to the altar.

9 He will take out the memorial portion from the grain offering and burn it on the altar, as an offering made by fire. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

10 The rest of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and the priests. It is a most holy part of the offerings made to the Lord by fire.

11 "'Every grain offering you bring to the Lord must be made without yeast, because you must not burn any yeast or honey in an offering made by fire to the Lord.

12 You may bring yeast and honey to the Lord as an offering from the first harvest, but they must not be burned on the altar as a pleasing smell.

13 You must also put salt on all your grain offerings. Salt stands for your agreement with God that will last forever; do not leave it out of your grain offering. You must add salt to all your offerings.

14 "'If you bring a grain offering from the first harvest to the Lord, bring crushed heads of new grain roasted in the fire.

15 Put oil and incense on it; it is a grain offering.

16 The priest will burn the memorial portion of the crushed grain and oil, with the incense on it. It is an offering by fire to the Lord.

1 "'If a person's fellowship offering to the Lord is from the herd, it may be a male or female, but it must have nothing wrong with it.

2 The person must put his hand on the animal's head and kill it at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. Then Aaron's sons, the priests, must sprinkle the blood on all sides of the altar.

3 From the fellowship offering he must make a sacrifice by fire to the Lord. He must offer the fat of the animal's inner organs (both the fat that is in them and that covers them),

4 both kidneys with the fat that is on them near the lower back muscle, and the best part of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys.

5 Then the priests will burn these parts on the altar, on the whole burnt offering that is on the wood of the fire. It is an offering made by fire, and its smell is pleasing to the Lord.

6 "'If a person's fellowship offering to the Lord is a lamb or a goat, it may be a male or female, but it must have nothing wrong with it.

7 If he offers a lamb, he must bring it before the Lord

8 and put his hand on its head. Then he must kill the animal in front of the Meeting Tent, and the priests must sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar.

9 From the fellowship offering the person must make a sacrifice by fire to the Lord. He must bring the fat, the whole fat tail cut off close to the backbone, the fat of the inner organs (both the fat that is in them and that covers them),

10 both kidneys with the fat that is on them, near the lower back muscle, and the best part of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys.

11 Then the priest will burn these parts on the altar as food; it will be an offering made by fire to the Lord.

12 "'If a person's offering is a goat, he must offer it before the Lord

13 and put his hand on its head. Then he must kill it in front of the Meeting Tent, and the priests must sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar.

14 From this offering the person must make a sacrifice by fire to the Lord. He must offer all the fat of the goat's inner organs (both the fat that is in them and that covers them),

15 both kidneys with the fat that is on them near the lower back muscle, and the best part of the liver, which he will remove with the kidneys.

16 The priest will burn these parts on the altar as food. It is an offering made by fire, and its smell is pleasing to the Lord. All the fat belongs to the Lord.

17 "'This law will continue for people from now on, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or blood.'"

1 As Jesus left the Temple and was walking away, his followers came up to show him the Temple's buildings.

2 Jesus asked, "Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another. Every stone will be thrown down to the ground."

3 Later, as Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his followers came to be alone with him. They said, "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that it is time for you to come again and for this age to end?"

4 Jesus answered, "Be careful that no one fools you.

5 Many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will fool many people.

6 You will hear about wars and stories of wars that are coming, but don't be afraid. These things must happen before the end comes.

7 Nations will fight against other nations; kingdoms will fight against other kingdoms. There will be times when there is no food for people to eat, and there will be earthquakes in different places.

8 These things are like the first pains when something new is about to be born.

9 "Then people will arrest you, hand you over to be hurt, and kill you. They will hate you because you believe in me.

10 At that time, many will lose their faith, and they will turn against each other and hate each other.

11 Many false prophets will come and cause many people to believe lies.

12 There will be more and more evil in the world, so most people will stop showing their love for each other.

13 But those people who keep their faith until the end will be saved.

14 The Good News about God's kingdom will be preached in all the world, to every nation. Then the end will come.

15 "Daniel the prophet spoke about 'the destroying terror.' You will see this standing in the holy place." (You who read this should understand what it means.)

16 "At that time, the people in Judea should run away to the mountains.

17 If people are on the roofsn of their houses, they must not go down to get anything out of their houses.

18 If people are in the fields, they must not go back to get their coats.

19 At that time, how terrible it will be for women who are pregnant or have nursing babies!

20 Pray that it will not be winter or a Sabbath day when these things happen and you have to run away,

21 because at that time there will be much trouble. There will be more trouble than there has ever been since the beginning of the world until now, and nothing as bad will ever happen again.

22 God has decided to make that terrible time short. Otherwise, no one would go on living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen.

23 At that time, someone might say to you, 'Look, there is the Christ!' Or another person might say, 'There he is!' But don't believe them.

24 False Christs and false prophets will come and perform great wonders and miracles. They will try to fool even the people God has chosen, if that is possible.

25 Now I have warned you about this before it happens.

26 "If people tell you, 'The Christ is in the desert,' don't go there. If they say, 'The Christ is in the inner room,' don't believe it.

27 When the Son of Man comes, he will be seen by everyone, like lightning flashing from the east to the west.

28 Wherever the dead body is, there the vultures will gather.