Matthew 14:1-21; Leviticus 20; Leviticus 21; Proverbs 30

Matthew 14:1-21

1 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus.

2 "This is John the Baptist!" he told his servants. "He has been raised from the dead, and that's why supernatural powers are at work in him."

3 For Herod had arrested John, chained him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife,

4 since John had been telling him, "It's not lawful for you to have her!"

5 Though he wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, since they regarded him as a prophet.

6 But when Herod's birthday celebration came, Herodias' daughter danced before them and pleased Herod.

7 So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

8 And prompted by her mother, she answered, "Give me John the Baptist's head here on a platter!"

9 Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests.

10 So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison.

11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother.

12 Then his disciples came, removed the corpse, buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.

13 When Jesus heard about it, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed Him on foot from the towns.

14 As He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd, felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.

15 When evening came, the disciples approached Him and said, "This place is a wilderness, and it is already late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves."

16 "They don't need to go away," Jesus told them. "You give them something to eat."

17 "But we only have five loaves and two fish here," they said to Him.

18 "Bring them here to Me," He said.

19 Then He commanded the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples [gave them] to the crowds.

20 Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces!

21 Now those who ate were about 5,000 men, besides women and children.

Leviticus 20

1 The Lord spoke to Moses:

2 "Say to the Israelites: Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death; the people of the country are to stone him.

3 I will turn against that man and cut him off from his people, because he gave his offspring to Molech, defiling My sanctuary and profaning My holy name.

4 But if the people of the country look the other way when that man gives any of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death,

5 then I will turn against that man and his family, and cut off from their people both him and all who follow him, prostituting themselves with Molech.

6 "Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists and prostitutes himself with them, I will turn against that person and cut him off from his people.

7 Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.

8 Keep My statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sets you apart.

9 "If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood is on his own hands.

10 If a man commits adultery with a married woman-if he commits adultery with his neighbor's wife-both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.

11 If a man sleeps with his father's wife, he has shamed his father. Both of them must be put to death; their blood is on their own hands.

12 If a man sleeps with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death. They have acted perversely; their blood is on their own hands.

13 If a man sleeps with a man as with a woman, they have both committed an abomination. They must be put to death; their blood is on their own hands.

14 If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is depraved. Both he and they must be burned with fire, so that there will be no depravity among you.

15 If a man has sexual intercourse with an animal, he must be put to death; you are also to kill the animal.

16 If a woman comes near any animal and mates with it, you are to kill the woman and the animal. They must be put to death; their [own] blood is on them.

17 If a man marries his sister, whether his father's daughter or his mother's daughter, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off publicly from their people. He has had sexual intercourse with his sister; he will bear his punishment.

18 If a man sleeps with a menstruating woman and has sexual intercourse with her, he has exposed the source of her [flow], and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from their people.

19 You must not have sexual intercourse with your mother's sister or your father's sister, for it is exposing one's own blood relative; both people will bear their punishment.

20 If a man sleeps with his aunt, he has shamed his uncle; they will bear their guilt and die childless.

21 If a man marries his brother's wife, it is impurity. He has shamed his brother; they will be childless.

22 "You are to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances, and do them, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out.

23 You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and I abhorred them.

24 And I promised you: You will inherit their land, since I will give it to you to possess, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who set you apart from the peoples.

25 Therefore you must distinguish the clean animal from the unclean one, and the unclean bird from the clean one. You are not to make yourselves detestable by any land animal, bird, or whatever crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you.

26 You are to be holy to Me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be Mine.

27 A man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist must be put to death. They are to be stoned; their blood is on their own hands."

Leviticus 21

1 The Lord said to Moses: "Speak to Aaron's sons, the priests, and tell them: A priest is not to make himself ceremonially unclean for a [dead] person among his relatives,

2 except for his immediate family: his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother.

3 He may make himself unclean for his young unmarried sister in his immediate family.

4 He is not to make himself unclean for those related to him by marriage and so defile himself.

5 "Priests may not make bald spots on their heads, shave the edge of their beards, or make gashes on their bodies.

6 They are to be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, because they present the fire offerings to the Lord, the food of their God. They must be holy.

7 They are not to marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.

8 You are to consider him holy since he presents the food of your God. He will be holy to you because I, the Lord who sets you apart, am holy.

9 If a priest's daughter defiles herself by promiscuity, she defiles her father; she must be burned up.

10 "The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the garments, must not dishevel his hair or tear his garments.

11 He must not go near any dead person or make himself unclean [even] for his father or mother.

12 He must not leave the sanctuary or he will desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am the Lord.

13 "He is to marry a woman who is a virgin.

14 He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,

15 so that he does not corrupt his bloodline among his people, for I am the Lord who sets him apart."

16 The Lord spoke to Moses:

17 "Tell Aaron: None of your descendants throughout your generations who has a physical defect is to come near to present the food of his God.

18 No man who has any defect is to come near: no man who is blind, lame, facially disfigured, or deformed;

19 no man who has a broken foot or hand,

20 or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.

21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect is to come near to present the fire offerings to the Lord. He has a defect and is not to come near to present the food of his God.

22 He may eat the food of his God from what is especially holy as well as from what is holy.

23 But because he has a defect, he must not go near the curtain or approach the altar. He is not to desecrate My sanctuaries, for I am the Lord who sets them apart."

24 Moses said [this] to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

Proverbs 30

1 The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle. The man's oration to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

2 I am the least intelligent of men, and I lack man's ability to understand.

3 I have not gained wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.

4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son- if you know?

5 Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

6 Don't add to His words, or He will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.

7 Two things I ask of You; don't deny them to me before I die:

8 Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need.

9 Otherwise, I might have too much and deny You, saying, "Who is the Lord?" or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God.

10 Don't slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will become guilty.

11 There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.

12 There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filth.

13 There is a generation-how haughty its eyes and pretentious its looks.

14 There is a generation whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, devouring the oppressed from the land and the needy from among mankind.

15 The leech has two daughters: Give, Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough!":

16 Sheol; a barren womb; earth, which is never satisfied with water; and fire, which never says, "Enough!"

17 As for the eye that ridicules a father and despises obedience to a mother, may ravens of the valley pluck it out and young vultures eat it.

18 Three things are beyond me; four I can't understand:

19 the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship at sea, and the way of a man with a young woman.

20 This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, "I've done nothing wrong."

21 The earth trembles under three things; it cannot bear up under four:

22 a servant when he becomes king, a fool when he is stuffed with food,

23 an unloved woman when she marries, and a serving girl when she ousts her lady.

24 Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise:

25 the ants are not a strong people, yet they store up their food in the summer;

26 hyraxes are not a mighty people, yet they make their homes in the cliffs;

27 locusts have no king, yet all of them march in ranks;

28 a lizard can be caught in your hands, yet it lives in kings' palaces.

29 Three things are stately in their stride, even four are stately in their walk:

30 a lion, which is mightiest among beasts and doesn't retreat before anything,

31 a strutting rooster, a goat, and a king at the head of his army.

32 If you have been foolish by exalting yourself, or if you've been scheming, put your hand over your mouth.

33 For the churning of milk produces butter, and twisting a nose draws blood, and stirring up anger produces strife.