Numbers 5; Numbers 6; Mark 4:1-20

1 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

2 "Tell the Israelites that certain people must be sent away from the camp. Command them to send away anyone who has a skin disease. They must send away all those who have a liquid waste coming from their bodies. And they must send away those who are not 'clean' because they have touched a dead body.

3 That applies to men and women alike. Send them out of the camp. They must not make their camp 'unclean.' That is where I live among them."

4 So the people of Israel did what the LORD commanded. They sent those who were not "clean" out of the camp. They did just as the LORD had directed Moses.

5 The LORD said to Moses,

6 "Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'Suppose a man or woman does something wrong to someone else. Then that person is not being faithful to the Lord. People like that are guilty.

7 " 'They must admit they have committed a sin. They must pay in full for what they did wrong. And they must add a fifth to it. Then they must give all of it to the person they have sinned against.

8 " 'But suppose the person has died. And suppose there is not a close relative who can be paid for the sin that was committed. Then what is paid belongs to the Lord. It must be given to the priest. A ram must be given along with it. The ram must be sacrificed to the LORD to pay for the sin.

9 " 'All of the sacred gifts the people of Israel bring to a priest will belong to him.

10 Sacred gifts belong to the man who gives them. But what he gives to a priest will belong to the priest.' "

11 Then the LORD spoke to Moses again. He said,

12 "Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'Suppose a man's wife goes down the wrong path. And suppose she is not faithful to him.

13 She has sex with another man. And suppose what she has done is hidden from her husband. No one knows she is not "clean." So there is no witness against her. And she has not been caught in the act.

14 " 'Suppose her husband becomes jealous. He does not trust his wife, and she is really not "clean." Or suppose he does not trust her even though she is "clean."

15 Then he must take his wife to the priest. " 'He must also bring an offering. It must be eight cups of barley flour. The offering is for his wife. He must not pour olive oil on it. And he must not put incense on it. It is a grain offering for being jealous. It calls attention to a person's guilt.

16 " 'The priest must have her stand in front of the Lord.

17 He must pour some holy water into a clay jar. He must get some dust from the floor of the holy tent. And he must put it into the water.

18 The priest must have the woman stand in front of the Lord. Then he must untie her hair. He must place in her hands the offering that calls attention to a person's guilt. It is the grain offering for being jealous. The priest must keep the bitter water with him. It is the water that brings a curse.

19 " 'Then the priest must have the woman take an oath. He must say to her, "Suppose no other man has had sex with you. And suppose you haven't gone down the wrong path. You have kept yourself pure while you are married to your husband. Then may the bitter water that brings a curse not harm you.

20 But suppose you have gone down the wrong path while you are married to your husband. You have made yourself 'unclean.' You have had sex with a man who isn't your husband."

21 " 'At that point the priest must put the woman under the curse of the oath. He must say, "May the LORD cause your people to call a curse down on you. May he cause them to speak against you. May they do it when the LORD makes your body unable to have children.

22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body. May it make your body unable to have children." " 'Then the woman must say, "Amen. Let it happen."

23 " 'The priest must write the curses on a scroll. He must wash them off in the bitter water.

24 It is the water he will have the woman drink. It is bitter water that brings a curse. It will enter her body. And it will cause her to suffer bitterly.

25 " 'The priest must take from her hands the grain offering for being jealous. He must lift it up and wave it in front of the Lord. He must bring it to the altar.

26 Then the priest must take a handful of the grain offering. It is the offering that calls attention to a person's guilt. He must burn it on the altar. After that, he must have the woman drink the water.

27 " 'Suppose she has made herself "unclean." She has not been faithful to her husband. And she has drunk the water that brings a curse. Then it will go into her body. It will cause her to suffer bitterly. It will make her body unable to have children. Her people will call a curse down on her.

28 " 'But suppose the woman has not made herself "unclean." And suppose she is free from anything that is not "clean." Then she will be free of guilt. And she will be able to have children.

29 " 'That is the law about being jealous. It applies to a woman who has gone down the wrong path. She has made herself "unclean" while she is married to her husband.

30 And it applies to a man who becomes jealous. He has doubts about his wife. The priest must have her stand in front of the Lord. He must apply the entire law to her.

31 The husband will not be guilty of doing anything wrong. But the woman will be punished for her sin.' "

1 The LORD said to Moses,

2 "Speak to the people of Israel. Say to them, 'Suppose a man or woman wants to make a special promise. They want to set themselves apart to the LORD for a certain period of time. They want to be Nazirites.

3 " 'Then they must not drink any kind of wine. They must not drink vinegar that is made out of wine of any kind. They must not drink grape juice. They must not eat grapes or raisins.

4 As long as they are Nazirites, they must not eat anything grapevines produce. They must not even eat the seeds or skins of grapes.

5 " 'They must not use razors on their heads. They must not cut their hair during the whole time they have set themselves apart to the Lord. They must be holy until that time is over. They must let the hair on their heads grow long.

6 And they must not go near a dead body during that whole time.

7 " 'But what if their father or mother dies? Or what if their brother or sister dies? Then they must not make themselves "unclean" because of them. The hair on their heads shows they are set apart for God.

8 During the whole time they are set apart they are holy to the Lord.

9 " 'Suppose someone dies suddenly in front of them. That makes the hair they have set apart to the LORD "unclean." So they must shave their heads on the day they will be made "clean." That is the seventh day.

10 " 'Then on the eighth day they must bring two doves. Or they can bring two young pigeons. They must bring them to the priest. He will be at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

11 The priest must offer one of the birds as a sin offering. And he must offer the other as a burnt offering. The sacrifices will pay for the sin of the Nazirite man or woman. They sinned by being near a dead body. That same day they must set their heads apart as holy.

12 " 'They must set themselves apart to the LORD again. They must do it for the same period of time they had agreed to at first. And they must bring a male lamb that is a year old as a guilt offering. The days before that day do not count. That is because they became "unclean" during the time they were set apart.

13 " 'The time when the Nazirites are set apart will come to an end. Here is the law that applies to them at that time. They must be brought to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

14 " 'There they must sacrifice their offerings to the Lord. They must bring a male lamb that is a year old. It must not have any flaws. It is for a burnt offering. Then they must bring a female lamb that is a year old. It must not have any flaws. It is for a sin offering. And they must bring a ram that does not have any flaws. It is for a friendship offering.

15 " 'They must sacrifice the offerings together with their grain offerings and drink offerings. And they must also bring a basket of bread that is made without yeast. The offering must include flat cakes that are made out of fine flour mixed with olive oil. And it must include wafers that are spread with oil.

16 " 'The priest must bring all of those things to the Lord. He must sacrifice the sin offering and the burnt offering.

17 He must bring the basket of bread that is made without yeast. And he must sacrifice the ram. It will be a friendship offering to the Lord. The priest must bring it together with its grain offering and drink offering.

18 " 'Then the Nazirites must shave off the hair they had set apart to the Lord. They must do it at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. And they must put the hair in the fire that burns the sacrifice of the friendship offering.

19 " 'After the Nazirites have shaved off their hair, the priest must take a boiled shoulder of the ram. He must remove a cake and a wafer from the basket. They must be made without yeast. And he must place the shoulder and the bread in the hands of the Nazirites.

20 " 'Then he must lift up the shoulder and bread and wave them in front of the Lord. They are a wave offering. They are holy. They belong to the priest. The breast that was waved belongs to him. The thigh that was offered belongs to him too. After the offering is waved, the Nazirites can drink wine.

21 " 'That is the law of the Nazirites. They promise to sacrifice offerings to the Lord. They do it when they set themselves apart. And they should bring anything else they can afford. They must carry out the promises they have made. They must do it in keeping with the law of the Nazirites.' "

22 The LORD spoke to Moses. He said,

23 "Tell Aaron and his sons, 'Here is how I want you to bless the people of Israel. Say to them,

24 " ' "May the LORD bless you and take good care of you.

25 May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you.

26 May the LORD look on you with favor and give you his peace." '

27 "In that way they will put the blessing of my name on the people of Israel. And I will bless them."

1 Again Jesus began to teach by the Sea of Galilee. The crowd that gathered around him was very large. So he got into a boat. He sat down in it out on the lake. All the people were along the shore at the water's edge.

2 He taught them many things by using stories. In his teaching he said,

3 "Listen! A farmer went out to plant his seed.

4 He scattered the seed on the ground. Some fell on a path. Birds came and ate it up.

5 Some seed fell on rocky places, where there wasn't much soil. The plants came up quickly, because the soil wasn't deep.

6 When the sun came up, it burned the plants. They dried up because they had no roots.

7 Other seed fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and crowded out the plants. So the plants did not bear grain.

8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It grew up and produced a crop 30, 60, or even 100 times more than the farmer planted."

9 Then Jesus said, "Those who have ears should listen."

10 Later Jesus was alone. The Twelve asked him about the stories. So did the others around him.

11 He told them, "The secret of God's kingdom has been given to you. But to outsiders everything is told by using stories.

12 In that way, " 'They will see but never know what they are seeing. They will hear but never understand. Otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!' " (Isaiah 6:9,10)

13 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this story? Then how will you understand any stories of this kind?

14 The seed the farmer plants is God's message.

15 What is seed scattered on a path like? The message is planted. The people hear the message. Then Satan comes. He takes away the message that was planted in them.

16 And what is seed scattered on rocky places like? The people hear the message. At once they receive it with joy.

17 But they have no roots. So they last only a short time. They quickly fall away from the faith when trouble or suffering comes because of the message.

18 And what is seed scattered among thorns like? The people hear the message.

19 But then the worries of this life come to them. Wealth comes with its false promises. The people also long for other things. All of those are the kinds of things that crowd out the message. They keep it from producing fruit.

20 And what is seed scattered on good soil like? The people hear the message. They accept it. They produce a good crop 30, 60, or even 100 times more than the farmer planted."