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

Leviticus 6

1 The Lord spoke to Moses:

2 "When someone sins and offends the Lord by deceiving his neighbor in regard to a deposit, a security, or a robbery; or defrauds his neighbor;

3 or finds something lost and lies about it; or swears falsely about any of the sinful things a person may do-

4 once he has sinned and acknowledged [his] guilt-he must return what he stole or defrauded, or the deposit entrusted to him, or the lost item he found,

5 or anything else about which he swore falsely. He must make full restitution for it and add a fifth of its value to it. He is to pay it to its owner on the day he acknowledges [his] guilt.

6 Then he must bring his restitution offering to the Lord: an unblemished ram from the flock, according to your valuation, as a restitution offering to the priest.

7 In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf before the Lord, and he will be forgiven for anything he may have done to incur guilt."

8 The Lord spoke to Moses:

9 "Command Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the burnt offering; the burnt offering itself must remain on the altar's hearth all night until morning, while the fire of the altar is kept burning on it.

10 The priest is to put on his linen robe and linen undergarments. He is to remove the ashes of the burnt offering the fire has consumed on the altar, and place them beside the altar.

11 Then he must take off his garments, put on other clothes, and bring the ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place.

12 The fire on the altar is to be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest will burn wood on the fire. He is to arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat portions from the fellowship offerings on it.

13 Fire must be kept burning on the altar continually; it must not go out.

14 "Now this is the law of the grain offering: Aaron's sons will present it before the Lord in front of the altar.

15 The priest is to remove a handful of fine flour and olive oil from the grain offering, with all the frankincense that is on the offering, and burn its memorial portion on the altar as a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

16 Aaron and his sons may eat the rest of it. It is to be eaten as unleavened bread in a holy place; they are to eat it in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

17 It must not be baked with yeast; I have assigned it as their portion from My fire offerings. It is especially holy, like the sin offering and the restitution offering.

18 Any male among Aaron's descendants may eat it. It is a permanent portion throughout your generations from the fire offerings to the Lord. Anything that touches the offerings will become holy."

19 The Lord spoke to Moses:

20 "This is the offering that Aaron and his sons must present to the Lord on the day that he is anointed: two quarts of fine flour as a regular grain offering, half of it in the morning and half in the evening.

21 It is to be prepared with oil on a griddle; you are to bring it well-kneaded. You must present it as a grain offering of baked pieces, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

22 The priest, who is of Aaron's sons and will be anointed to take his place, is to prepare it. It must be completely burned as a permanent portion for the Lord.

23 Every grain offering for a priest will be a whole burnt offering; it is not to be eaten."

24 The Lord spoke to Moses:

25 "Tell Aaron and his sons: This is the law of the sin offering. The sin offering is most holy and must be slaughtered before the Lord at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered.

26 The priest who offers it as a sin offering is to eat it. It must be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the tent of meeting.

27 Anything that touches its flesh will become holy, and if any of its blood spatters on a garment, then you must wash that garment in a holy place.

28 A clay pot in which the sin offering is boiled must be broken; if it is boiled in a bronze vessel, it must be scoured and rinsed with water.

29 Any male among the priests may eat it; it is especially holy.

30 But no sin offering may be eaten if its blood has been brought into the tent of meeting to make atonement in the holy place; it must be burned up.

Leviticus 7

1 "Now this is the law of the restitution offering; it is especially holy.

2 The restitution offering must be slaughtered at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered, and the priest is to sprinkle its blood on all sides of the altar.

3 The offerer must present all the fat from it: the fat tail, the fat surrounding the entrails,

4 and the two kidneys with the fat on them at the loins; he will also remove the fatty lobe of the liver with the kidneys.

5 The priest will burn them on the altar as a fire offering to the Lord; it is a restitution offering.

6 Any male among the priests may eat it. It is to be eaten in a holy place; it is especially holy.

7 "The restitution offering is like the sin offering; the law is the same for both. It belongs to the priest who makes atonement with it.

8 As for the priest who presents someone's burnt offering, the hide of the burnt offering he has presented belongs to him; it is the priest's.

9 Any grain offering that is baked in an oven, or prepared in a pan or on a griddle, belongs to the priest who presents it; it is his.

10 But any grain offering, whether dry or mixed with oil, belongs equally to all of Aaron's sons.

11 "Now this is the law of the fellowship sacrifice that someone may present to the Lord:

12 If he presents it for thanksgiving, in addition to the thanksgiving sacrifice, he is to present unleavened cakes mixed with olive oil, unleavened wafers coated with oil, and well-kneaded cakes of fine flour mixed with oil.

13 He is to present as his offering cakes of leavened bread, with his thanksgiving sacrifice of fellowship.

14 From the cakes he must present one [portion] of each offering as a contribution to the Lord. It will belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the fellowship offering; it is his.

15 The meat of his thanksgiving sacrifice of fellowship must be eaten on the day he offers it; he may not leave any of it until morning.

16 "If the sacrifice he offers is a vow or a freewill offering, it is to be eaten on the day he presents his sacrifice, and what is left over may be eaten on the next day.

17 But what remains of the sacrificial meat by the third day must be burned up.

18 If any of the meat of his fellowship sacrifice is eaten on the third day, it will not be accepted. It will not be credited to the one who presents it; it is repulsive. The person who eats any of it will be guilty.

19 "Meat that touches anything unclean must not be eaten; it is to be burned up. Everyone who is clean may eat any [other] meat.

20 But the one who eats meat from the Lord's fellowship sacrifice while he is unclean, that person must be cut off from his people.

21 If someone touches anything unclean, whether human uncleanness, an unclean animal, or any unclean, detestable creature, and eats meat from the Lord's fellowship sacrifice, that person must be cut off from his people."

22 The Lord spoke to Moses:

23 "Tell the Israelites: You are not to eat any fat of an ox, a sheep, or a goat.

24 The fat of an animal that dies naturally or is mauled by wild beasts may be used for any purpose, but you must not eat it.

25 If anyone eats animal fat from a fire offering presented to the Lord, the person who eats [it] must be cut off from his people.

26 Wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal.

27 Whoever eats any blood, that person must be cut off from his people."

28 The Lord spoke to Moses:

29 "Tell the Israelites: The one who presents a fellowship sacrifice to the Lord must bring an offering to the Lord from his sacrifice.

30 His own hands will bring the fire offerings to the Lord. He will bring the fat together with the breast. The breast is to be waved as a presentation offering before the Lord.

31 The priest is to burn the fat on the altar, but the breast belongs to Aaron and his sons.

32 You are to give the right thigh to the priest as a contribution from your fellowship sacrifices.

33 The son of Aaron who presents the blood of the fellowship offering and the fat will have the right thigh as a portion.

34 I have taken from the Israelites the breast of the presentation offering and the thigh of the contribution from their fellowship sacrifices, and have assigned them to Aaron the priest and his sons as a permanent portion from the Israelites."

35 This is the portion from the fire offerings to the Lord for Aaron and his sons since the day they were presented to serve the Lord as priests.

36 The Lord commanded this to be given to them by the Israelites on the day He anointed them. It is a permanent portion throughout their generations.

37 This is the law for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the restitution offering, the ordination offering, and the fellowship sacrifice,

38 which the Lord commanded Moses on Mount Sinai on the day He commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord in the Wilderness of Sinai.

Matthew 25:1-30

1 "Then the kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the groom.

2 Five of them were foolish and five were sensible.

3 When the foolish took their lamps, they didn't take oil with them.

4 But the sensible ones took oil in their flasks with their lamps.

5 Since the groom was delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6 "In the middle of the night there was a shout: 'Here's the groom! Come out to meet him.'

7 "Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.

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

9 "The sensible ones answered, 'No, there won't be enough for us and for you. Go instead to those who sell, and buy oil for yourselves.'

10 "When they had gone to buy some, the groom arrived. Then those who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet, and the door was shut.

11 "Later the rest of the virgins also came and said, 'Master, master, open up for us!'

12 "But he replied, 'I assure you: I do not know you!'

13 "Therefore be alert, because you don't know either the day or the hour.

14 "For it is just like a man going on a journey. He called his own slaves and turned over his possessions to them.

15 To one he gave five talents; to another, two; and to another, one-to each according to his own ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately

16 the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more.

17 In the same way the man with two earned two more.

18 But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money.

19 "After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.

20 The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. Look, I've earned five more talents.'

21 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master's joy!'

22 "Then the man with two talents also approached. He said, 'Master, you gave me two talents. Look, I've earned two more talents.'

23 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master's joy!'

24 "Then the man who had received one talent also approached and said, 'Master, I know you. You're a difficult man, reaping where you haven't sown and gathering where you haven't scattered seed.

25 So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you have what is yours.'

26 "But his master replied to him, 'You evil, lazy slave! If you knew that I reap where I haven't sown and gather where I haven't scattered,

27 then you should have deposited my money with the bankers. And when I returned I would have received my money back with interest.

28 " 'So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has 10 talents.

29 For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

30 And throw this good-for-nothing slave into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'