Leviticus 17; Leviticus 18; Matthew 27:27-50

1 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

2 "Speak to Aaron and his sons. Speak to all of the people of Israel. Tell them, 'Here is what the LORD has commanded. He has said,

3 "Suppose someone sacrifices an ox, a lamb or a goat. He sacrifices it in the camp or outside of it.

4 He does it instead of bringing the animal to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He sacrifices it instead of giving it as an offering to me in front of my holy tent. Then he will be thought of as guilty of spilling blood. Because he has done that, he must be cut off from his people.

5 " ' "The people of Israel are now making sacrifices in the open fields. But they must bring their sacrifices to the priest. They must bring them to me at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. There they must sacrifice them as friendship offerings.

6 The priest must sprinkle the blood against my altar. It is the altar at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He must burn the fat. It will give a pleasant smell to me.

7 " ' "Israel must stop offering any of their sacrifices to statues of gods that look like goats. When they offer sacrifices to those statues, they are not faithful to me. That is a law for them that will last for all time to come." '

8 "Tell them, 'Suppose someone offers a burnt offering or sacrifice. It does not matter whether he is an Israelite or an outsider.

9 And suppose he does not bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting to sacrifice it to me. Then he must be cut off from his people.

10 " 'Suppose someone eats meat that still has blood in it. It does not matter whether he is an Israelite or an outsider. I will turn against him if he eats it. I will cut him off from his people.

11 " 'The life of each creature is in its blood. So I have given you the blood of animals to pay for your sin on the altar. Blood is life. That is why blood pays for your sin.

12 " 'So I say to the people of Israel, "You must not eat meat that still has blood in it. And an outsider who lives among you must not eat it either."

13 " 'Suppose any of you hunts any animal or bird that can be eaten. It does not matter whether you are an Israelite or an outsider. You must let the blood flow out of the animal or bird. You must cover the blood with dirt.

14 " 'That is because every creature's life is its blood. And that is why I have said to the people of Israel, "You must not eat any creature's meat that still has blood in it. Every creature's life is its blood. Anyone who eats that kind of meat must be cut off."

15 " 'Suppose someone eats anything that is found dead or is torn apart by wild animals. It does not matter whether he is an Israelite or an outsider. He must wash his clothes. He must take a bath. He will be "unclean" until evening. After that, he will be "clean."

16 " 'But suppose he does not wash his clothes. And suppose he does not take a bath. Then he will be held accountable for what he has done.' "

1 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

2 "Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, 'I am the LORD your God.

3 You must not do what the people of Egypt do. You used to live there. And you must not do what the people of Canaan do. I am bringing you into their land. Do not follow their practices.

4 " 'You must obey my laws. You must be careful to follow my rules. I am the LORD your God.

5 Keep my rules and laws. The one who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.

6 " 'Do not have sex with any of your close relatives. I am the Lord.

7 " 'Do not bring shame on your father by having sex with your mother. Do not have sex with her. She is your mother.

8 " 'Do not have sex with any other wife of your father. That would bring shame on your father.

9 " 'Do not have sex with your sister. It does not matter whether she is your father's daughter or your mother's daughter. It does not matter whether she was born in the same home as you were or somewhere else.

10 " 'Do not have sex with your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter. That would bring shame on you.

11 " 'Do not have sex with the daughter of your father's wife. She was born to your father. She is your sister.

12 " 'Do not have sex with your father's sister. She is a close relative on your father's side.

13 " 'Do not have sex with your mother's sister. She is a close relative on your mother's side.

14 " 'Do not bring shame on your father's brother by having sex with his wife. She is your aunt.

15 " 'Do not have sex with your daughter-in-law. She is your son's wife. Do not have sex with her.

16 " 'Do not have sex with your brother's wife. That would bring shame on your brother.

17 " 'Do not have sex with both a woman and her daughter. Do not have sex with either her son's daughter or her daughter's daughter. They are close relatives on her side. Having sex with them is an evil thing.

18 " 'Do not take your wife's sister as another wife and have sex with her. Do not do it while your wife is still living.

19 " 'Do not make love to a woman during her monthly period. She is not "clean" at that time.

20 " 'Do not have sex with your neighbor's wife. That would make you "unclean."

21 " 'Do not hand over any of your children to be sacrificed to the god Molech. That would be treating my name as if it were not holy. I am the LORD your God.

22 " 'Do not have sex with a man as you would have sex with a woman. I hate that.

23 " 'Do not have sex with an animal. Do not make yourself "unclean" by doing that. A woman must not offer herself to an animal to have sex with it. That is a twisted use of sex.

24 " 'Do not make yourselves "unclean" in any of those ways. That is how other nations became "unclean." So I am going to drive those nations out of the land to make room for you.

25 Even their land was not "clean." So I punished it because of its sin. The land itself threw out the people who lived there.

26 " 'But you must keep my rules and my laws. You must not do any of the things I hate. It does not matter whether you are Israelites or outsiders.

27 " 'All of those things were done by the people who lived in the land before you. That is how the land became "unclean."

28 If you make the land "unclean," it will throw you out. It will get rid of you just as it got rid of the nations that were there before you.

29 " 'Suppose you do any of the things I hate. Then you must be cut off from your people.

30 " 'Do exactly what I require. When you arrive in Canaan, do not follow any of the practices of its people. I hate the things they do. Do not make yourselves "unclean" by doing them. I am the LORD your God.' "

27 The governor's soldiers took Jesus into the palace, which was called the Praetorium. All the rest of the soldiers gathered around him.

28 They took off his clothes and put a purple robe on him.

29 Then they twisted thorns together to make a crown. They placed it on his head. They put a stick in his right hand. Then they fell on their knees in front of him and made fun of him. "We honor you, king of the Jews!" they said.

30 They spit on him. They hit him on the head with the stick again and again.

31 After they had made fun of him, they took off the robe. They put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him away to nail him to a cross.

32 On their way out of the city, they met a man from Cyrene. His name was Simon. They forced him to carry the cross.

33 They came to a place called Golgotha. The word Golgotha means The Place of the Skull.

34 There they mixed wine with bitter spices and gave it to Jesus to drink. After tasting it, he refused to drink it.

35 When they had nailed him to the cross, they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

36 They sat down and kept watch over him there.

37 Above his head they placed the written charge against him. It read, THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

38 Two robbers were crucified with him. One was on his right and one was on his left.

39 Those who passed by shouted at Jesus and made fun of him. They shook their heads

40 and said, "So you are going to destroy the temple and build it again in three days? Then save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"

41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders made fun of him.

42 "He saved others," they said. "But he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross! Then we will believe in him.

43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him. He's the one who said, 'I am the Son of God.' "

44 In the same way the robbers who were being crucified with Jesus also made fun of him.

45 From noon until three o'clock, the whole land was covered with darkness.

46 About three o'clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice. He said, ""Eloi, Eloi, lama" "sabachthani?"" This means "My God, my God, why have you deserted me?"(Psalm 22:1)

47 Some of those standing there heard Jesus cry out. They said, "He's calling for Elijah."

48 Right away one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar and put it on a stick. He offered it to Jesus to drink.

49 The rest said, "Leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."

50 After Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, he died.