Leviticus 6; Leviticus 7; Matthew 25:1-30

1 The Lord said to Moses,

2 "A person might sin against the Lord by doing one of these sins: He might lie about what happened to something he was taking care of for someone else, or he might lie about a promise he made. He might steal something or cheat someone.

3 He might find something that had been lost and then lie about it. He might make a promise before the Lord about something and not mean it, or he might do some other sin.

4 If he does any of these things, he is guilty of sin. He must bring back whatever he stole or whatever he took by cheating. He must bring back the thing he took care of for someone else. He must bring back what he found and lied about

5 or what he made a false promise about. He must pay the full price plus an extra one-fifth of the value of what he took. He must give the money to the true owner on the day he brings his penalty offering.

6 He must bring his penalty to the priest -- a male sheep from the flock, one that does not have anything wrong with it and that is worth the correct amount. It will be a penalty offering to the Lord.

7 Then the priest will perform the acts to remove that person's sin so he will belong to the Lord, and the Lord will forgive him for the sins that made him guilty."

8 The Lord said to Moses,

9 "Give this command to Aaron and the priests: 'These are the teachings about the whole burnt offering: The burnt offering must stay on the altar all night until morning, and the altar's fire must be kept burning.

10 The priest must put on his linen robe and linen underclothes next to his body. Then he will remove the ashes from the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar.

11 Then he must take off those clothes and put on others and carry the ashes outside the camp to a special clean place.

12 But the fire must be kept burning on the altar; it must not be allowed to go out. The priest must put more firewood on the altar every morning, place the whole burnt offering on the fire, and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings.

13 The fire must be kept burning on the altar all the time; it must not go out.

14 "'These are the teachings about the grain offering: The priests must bring it to the Lord in front of the altar.

15 The priest must take a handful of fine flour, with the oil and all of the incense on it, and burn the grain offering on the altar as a memorial offering to the Lord. Its smell is pleasing to him.

16 Aaron and the priests may eat what is left, but it must be eaten without yeast in a holy place. They must eat it in the courtyard of the Meeting Tent.

17 It must not be cooked with yeast. I have given it as their share of the offerings made to me by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the penalty offering.

18 Any male descendant of Aaron may eat it as his share of the offerings made to the Lord by fire, and this will continue from now on. Whatever touches these offerings shall become holy.'"

19 The Lord said to Moses,

20 "This is the offering Aaron and the priests must bring to the Lord on the day they appoint Aaron as high priest: They must bring two quarts of fine flour for a continual grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening.

21 The fine flour must be mixed with oil and cooked on a griddle. Bring it when it is well mixed. Present the grain offering that is broken into pieces, and it will be a smell that is pleasing to the Lord.

22 One of the priests appointed to take Aaron's place as high priest must make the grain offering. It is a rule forever that the grain offering must be completely burned to the Lord.

23 Every grain offering made by a priest must be completely burned; it must not be eaten."

24 The Lord said to Moses,

25 "Tell Aaron and the priests: 'These are the teachings about the sin offering: The sin offering must be killed in front of the Lord in the same place the whole burnt offering is killed; it is most holy.

26 The priest who offers the sin offering must eat it in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Meeting Tent.

27 Whatever touches the meat of the sin offering must be holy, and if the blood is sprinkled on any clothes, you must wash them in a holy place.

28 The clay pot the meat is cooked in must be broken, or if a bronze pot is used, it must be scrubbed and rinsed with water.

29 Any male in a priest's family may eat the offering; it is most holy.

30 But if the blood of the sin offering is taken into the Meeting Tent and used to remove sin in the Holy Place, that sin offering must be burned with fire. It must not be eaten.

1 "'These are the teachings about the penalty offering, which is most holy:

2 The penalty offering must be killed where the whole burnt offering is killed. Then the priest must sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar.

3 He must offer all the fat from the penalty offering -- the fat tail, the fat that covers the inner organs,

4 both kidneys with the fat that is on them near the lower back muscle, and the best part of the liver, which is to be removed with the kidneys.

5 The priest must burn all these things on the altar as an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a penalty offering.

6 Any male in a priest's family may eat it. It is most holy, so it must be eaten in a holy place.

7 "'The penalty offering is like the sin offering in that the teachings are the same for both. The priest who offers the sacrifice to remove sins will get the meat for food.

8 The priest who offers the burnt offering may also have the skin from it.

9 Every grain offering that is baked in an oven, cooked on a griddle, or baked in a dish belongs to the priest who offers it.

10 Every grain offering, either dry or mixed with oil, belongs to the priests, and all priests will share alike.

11 "'These are the teachings about the fellowship offering a person may offer to the Lord:

12 If he brings the fellowship offering to show his thanks, he should also bring loaves of bread made without yeast that are mixed with oil, wafers made without yeast that have oil poured over them, and loaves of fine flour that are mixed with oil.

13 He must also offer loaves of bread made with yeast along with his fellowship offering, which he gives to show thanks.

14 One of each kind of offering will be for the Lord; it will be given to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the fellowship offering.

15 When the fellowship offering is given to thank the Lord, the meat from it must be eaten the same day it is offered; none of it must be left until morning.

16 "'If a person brings a fellowship offering just to give a gift to God or because of a special promise to him, the sacrifice should be eaten the same day he offers it. If there is any left, it may be eaten the next day.

17 If any meat from this sacrifice is left on the third day, it must be burned up.

18 Any meat of the fellowship offering eaten on the third day will not be accepted, nor will the sacrifice count for the person who offered it. It will become unclean, and anyone who eats the meat will be guilty of sin.

19 "'People must not eat meat that touches anything unclean; they must burn this meat with fire. Anyone who is clean may eat other meat.

20 But if anyone is unclean and eats the meat from the fellowship offering that belongs to the Lord, he must be cut off from his people.

21 "'If anyone touches something unclean -- uncleanness that comes from people, from an animal, or from some hated thing -- touching it will make him unclean. If he then eats meat from the fellowship offering that belongs to the Lord, he must be cut off from his people.'"

22 The Lord said to Moses,

23 "Tell the people of Israel: 'You must not eat any of the fat from cattle, sheep, or goats.

24 If an animal is found dead or torn by wild animals, you may use its fat for other things, but you must not eat it.

25 If someone eats fat from an animal offering made by fire to the Lord, he must be cut off from his people.

26 No matter where you live, you must not eat blood from any bird or animal.

27 Anyone who eats blood must be cut off from his people.'"

28 The Lord said to Moses,

29 "Tell the people of Israel: 'If someone brings a fellowship offering to the Lord, he must give part of it as his sacrifice to the Lord.

30 He must carry that part of the gift in his own hands as an offering made by fire to the Lord. He must bring the fat and the breast of the animal to the priest, to be presented to the Lord as the priests' share.

31 Then the priest must burn the fat on the altar, but the breast of the animal will belong to Aaron and the priests.

32 You must also give the right thigh from the fellowship offering to the priest as a gift;

33 it will belong to the priest who offers the blood and fat of the fellowship offering.

34 I have taken the breast and the thigh from the fellowship offerings of the Israelites, and I have given these parts to Aaron and the priests as their share for all time from the Israelites.'"

35 This is the portion that belongs to Aaron and his sons from the offerings made by fire to the Lord. They were given this share on the day they were presented to the Lord as priests.

36 On the day the Lord appointed the priests, he commanded Israel to give this share to them, and it is to be given to the priests as their share from now on.

37 These are the teachings about the whole burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the penalty offering, the offering for the appointment of priests, and the fellowship offering.

38 The Lord gave these teachings to Moses on Mount Sinai on the day he commanded the Israelites to bring their offerings to the Lord in the Sinai Desert.

1 "At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to wait for the bridegroom.

2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise.

3 The five foolish bridesmaids took their lamps, but they did not take more oil for the lamps to burn.

4 The wise bridesmaids took their lamps and more oil in jars.

5 Because the bridegroom was late, they became sleepy and went to sleep.

6 "At midnight someone cried out, 'The bridegroom is coming! Come and meet him!'

7 Then all the bridesmaids woke up and got their lamps ready.

8 But the foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.'

9 The wise bridesmaids answered, 'No, the oil we have might not be enough for all of us. Go to the people who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'

10 "So while the five foolish bridesmaids went to buy oil, the bridegroom came. The bridesmaids who were ready went in with the bridegroom to the wedding feast. Then the door was closed and locked.

11 "Later the others came back and said, 'Sir, sir, open the door to let us in.'

12 But the bridegroom answered, 'I tell you the truth, I don't want to know you.'

13 "So always be ready, because you don't know the day or the hour the Son of Man will come.

14 "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who was going to another place for a visit. Before he left, he called for his servants and told them to take care of his things while he was gone.

15 He gave one servant five bags of gold, another servant two bags of gold, and a third servant one bag of gold, to each one as much as he could handle. Then he left.

16 The servant who got five bags went quickly to invest the money and earned five more bags.

17 In the same way, the servant who had two bags invested them and earned two more.

18 But the servant who got one bag went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid the master's money.

19 "After a long time the master came home and asked the servants what they did with his money.

20 The servant who was given five bags of gold brought five more bags to the master and said, 'Master, you trusted me to care for five bags of gold, so I used your five bags to earn five more.'

21 The master answered, 'You did well. You are a good and loyal servant. Because you were loyal with small things, I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my joy with me.'

22 "Then the servant who had been given two bags of gold came to the master and said, 'Master, you gave me two bags of gold to care for, so I used your two bags to earn two more.'

23 The master answered, 'You did well. You are a good and loyal servant. Because you were loyal with small things, I will let you care for much greater things. Come and share my joy with me.'

24 "Then the servant who had been given one bag of gold came to the master and said, 'Master, I knew that you were a hard man. You harvest things you did not plant. You gather crops where you did not sow any seed.

25 So I was afraid and went and hid your money in the ground. Here is your bag of gold.'

26 The master answered, 'You are a wicked and lazy servant! You say you knew that I harvest things I did not plant and that I gather crops where I did not sow any seed.

27 So you should have put my gold in the bank. Then, when I came home, I would have received my gold back with interest.'

28 "So the master told his other servants, 'Take the bag of gold from that servant and give it to the servant who has ten bags of gold.

29 Those who have much will get more, and they will have much more than they need. But those who do not have much will have everything taken away from them.'

30 Then the master said, 'Throw that useless servant outside, into the darkness where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.'