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

1 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

2 "Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, 'Suppose someone sins without meaning to. And that person does something the LORD commands us not to do.

3 " 'Suppose it is the anointed priest who sins. And suppose he brings guilt on the people. Then he must bring a young bull to the Lord. It must not have any flaws. He must bring it as a sin offering for the sin he has committed.

4 He must bring the bull to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting in the sight of the Lord. He must place his hand on its head. He must kill it there in the sight of the Lord.

5 " 'Then the priest must take some of the bull's blood. He must carry it into the Tent of Meeting.

6 He must dip his finger into the blood. He must sprinkle some of it seven times in the sight of the Lord. He must do it in front of the curtain of the Most Holy Room.

7 " 'Then the priest must put some of the blood on the horns that stick out from the upper four corners of the altar for burning incense. The incense has a sweet smell. The altar stands in front of the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. The priest must pour out the rest of the bull's blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings. That altar stands at the entrance to the tent.

8 " 'He must remove all of the fat from the bull for the sin offering. It includes the fat that covers the inside parts or is connected to them.

9 It includes both kidneys with the fat on them next to the lower back muscles. It also includes the covering of the liver. He must remove all of it together with the kidneys.

10 He must remove it in the same way the fat is removed from an ox that is sacrificed as a friendship offering. Then the priest must burn all of it on the altar for burnt offerings.

11 " 'But the bull's hide must be taken away. So must all of its meat. So must its head and legs. And so must its inside parts and guts.

12 In other words, all of the rest of the bull must be taken away. The priest must take it outside the camp. He must take it to a place that is "clean." He must take it to the place where the ashes are thrown. There he must burn it in a wood fire on a pile of ashes.

13 " 'Or suppose the whole community of Israel sins without meaning to. They do something the LORD commands us not to do. Even if they are not aware of what they have done, they are guilty.

14 " 'But suppose they become aware of the sin they have committed. Then they must bring a young bull as a sin offering. They must offer it in front of the Tent of Meeting.

15 The elders of the community must place their hands on the bull's head in the sight of the Lord. The bull must be killed in the sight of the Lord.

16 " 'Then the anointed priest must take some of the bull's blood into the Tent of Meeting.

17 He must dip his finger into the blood. He must sprinkle it seven times in the sight of the Lord. He must do it in front of the curtain.

18 He must put some of the blood on the horns that stick out from the upper four corners of the altar. The altar stands in front of the LORD in the Tent of Meeting. The priest must pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar for burnt offerings. That altar stands at the entrance to the tent.

19 " 'He must remove all of the fat from the bull. He must burn it on the altar.

20 He must do the same thing with that bull as he did with the bull for the sin offering. When he does, he will pay for the sin of the people. And they will be forgiven.

21 " 'Then he must take the bull outside the camp. He must burn it just as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the whole community.

22 " 'Or suppose a leader sins without meaning to. If he disobeys any of the commands of the LORD his God, he is guilty.

23 " 'But suppose he is made aware of the sin he has committed. Then he must bring an offering. It must be a male goat. It must not have any flaws.

24 He must place his hand on the goat's head. He must kill it. He must do it at the place where the animals for burnt offerings are killed in the sight of the Lord. His offering is a sin offering.

25 " 'Then the priest must dip his finger into some of the blood of the sin offering. He must put it on the horns that stick out from the upper four corners of the altar for burnt offerings. He must pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar.

26 " 'He must burn all of the fat on the altar. He must burn it in the same way he burned the fat of the friendship offering. When he does, he will pay for the sin of the leader. And the leader will be forgiven.

27 " 'Or suppose someone in the community sins without meaning to. If he disobeys any of the LORD's commands, he is guilty.

28 " 'But suppose he is made aware of the sin he has committed. Then he must bring an offering for the sin he has committed. It must be a female goat. It must not have any flaws.

29 He must place his hand on the head of the animal for the sin offering. It must be killed at the place where the animals for burnt offerings are killed.

30 " 'Then the priest must dip his finger into some of the blood. He must put it on the horns that stick out from the upper four corners of the altar for burnt offerings. He must pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar.

31 " 'He must remove all of the fat in the same way the fat is removed from the friendship offering. He must burn it on the altar. It gives a smell that is pleasant to the Lord. When the priest burns the offering, he will pay for the sin of that person. And he will be forgiven.

32 " 'Suppose he brings a lamb as his sin offering. Then he must bring a female animal. It must not have any flaws.

33 He must place his hand on its head. He must kill it as a sin offering. He must do it at the place where the animals for burnt offerings are killed.

34 " 'Then the priest must dip his finger into some of the blood of the sin offering. He must put it on the horns that stick out from the upper four corners of the altar for burnt offerings. He must pour out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar.

35 " 'He must remove all of the fat in the same way the fat is removed from the lamb for the friendship offering. He must burn it on the altar on top of the offerings that are made to the LORD with fire. When he does, he will pay for the sin that person has committed. And he will be forgiven.

1 " 'Suppose a person has been called as a witness to something he has seen or learned about. Then if he does not tell what he knows, he has sinned. And he will be held accountable for it.

2 " 'Or suppose a person touches something that is not "clean." It could be the dead bodies of wild animals or of livestock. Or it could be the dead bodies of creatures that move along the ground. Even though he is not aware that he touched them, he has become "unclean." And he is guilty.

3 " 'Or suppose he touches something "unclean" that comes from a human being. It could be anything that would make him "unclean." Suppose he is not aware that he touched it. When he finds out about it, he will be guilty.

4 " 'Or suppose a person takes an oath and makes a promise to do something without thinking it through. It does not matter what he promised. It does not matter whether he took the oath without thinking about it carefully. And suppose he is not aware that he did not think it through. When he finds out about it, he will be guilty.

5 " 'When someone is guilty in any of those ways, he must admit he has sinned.

6 He must bring a sin offering to pay for the sin he has committed. He must bring to the LORD a female lamb or goat from the flock. The priest will sacrifice the animal. That will pay for the person's sin.

7 " 'Suppose he can't afford a lamb. Then he must get two doves or two young pigeons. He must bring them to the LORD to pay for his sin. One of them is for a sin offering. The other is for a burnt offering.

8 " 'He must bring them to the priest. The priest will offer the one for the sin offering first. He must twist its head. But he must not twist it off completely.

9 " 'Then he must sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering against the side of the altar. He must empty out the rest of the blood at the bottom of the altar. It is a sin offering.

10 " 'Then the priest will offer the other bird as a burnt offering. He must do it in the way the law requires. That will pay for the sin the person has committed. And he will be forgiven.

11 " 'But suppose he can't afford two doves or two young pigeons. Then he must bring eight cups of fine flour as an offering for his sin. It is a sin offering. He must not put olive oil or incense on it. That is because it is a sin offering.

12 " 'He must bring it to the priest. The priest must take a handful of it. He must burn that part on the altar. It will be a reminder that all good things come from the Lord. The priest must burn it on top of the offerings that are made to the LORD with fire. It is a sin offering.

13 " 'In that way the priest will pay for any of the sins the person has committed. And he will be forgiven. The rest of the offering will belong to the priest. It is the same as in the case of the grain offering.' "

14 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

15 "Suppose a person sins by breaking the law. And he does it without meaning to. He sins against me or my priests by refusing to give them one of the holy things that are set apart for them. "Then he must bring me a ram from the flock. It must not have any flaws. It must be worth the required amount of silver. It must be weighed out in keeping with the standard weights that are used in the sacred tent. It is a guilt offering. It will pay for his sin.

16 "He must also pay for the holy thing he refused to give. He must add a fifth of its value to it. He must give all of it to the priest. The priest will pay for the person's sin with the ram. It is a guilt offering. And he will be forgiven.

17 "Suppose a person sins by doing something I command him not to do. Even though he does not know it, he is guilty. He will be held accountable for it.

18 "He must bring to the priest a ram from the flock as a guilt offering. It must not have any flaws. And it must be worth the required amount of money. "The priest will sacrifice the animal. That will pay for what the person has done wrong without meaning to. And he will be forgiven.

19 It is a guilt offering. He has been guilty of doing wrong against me."

29 "Right after the terrible suffering of those days, " 'The sun will be darkened. The moon will not shine. The stars will fall from the sky. The heavenly bodies will be shaken.' (Isaiah 13:10; 34:4)

30 "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. All the nations on earth will be sad. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky. He will come with power and great glory.

31 He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call. They will gather his chosen people from all four directions. They will bring them from one end of the heavens to the other.

32 "Learn a lesson from the fig tree. As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.

33 In the same way, when you see all those things happening, you know that the end is near. It is right at the door.

34 What I'm about to tell you is true. The people living at that time will certainly not pass away until all those things have happened.

35 Heaven and earth will pass away. But my words will never pass away.

36 "No one knows about that day or hour. Not even the angels in heaven know. The Son does not know. Only the Father knows.

37 "Remember how it was in the days of Noah. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes.

38 "In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking. They were getting married. They were giving their daughters to be married. They did all those things right up to the day Noah entered the ark.

39 They knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes.

40 "Two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left.

41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill. One will be taken and the other left.

42 "So keep watch. You do not know on what day your Lord will come.

43 You must understand something. Suppose the owner of the house knew what time of night the robber was coming. Then he would have kept watch. He would not have let his house be broken into.

44 So you also must be ready. The Son of Man will come at an hour when you don't expect him.

45 "Suppose a master puts one of his servants in charge of the other servants in his house. The servant's job is to give them their food at the right time. The master wants a faithful and wise servant for this.

46 It will be good for the servant if the master finds him doing his job when the master returns.

47 What I'm about to tell you is true. The master will put that servant in charge of everything he owns.

48 "But suppose that servant is evil. Suppose he says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time.'

49 Suppose he begins to beat the other servants. And suppose he eats and drinks with those who drink too much.

50 The master of that servant will come back on a day the servant doesn't expect him. He will return at an hour the servant does not know.

51 Then the master will cut him to pieces. He will send him to the place where pretenders go. There people will sob and grind their teeth.