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

Leviticus 17

1 The Lord commanded Moses

2 to give Aaron and his sons and all the people of Israel the following regulations.

3 Any Israelites who kill a cow or a sheep or a goat as an offering to the Lord anywhere except at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence have broken the Law. They have shed blood and shall no longer be considered God's people.

5 The meaning of this command is that the people of Israel shall now bring to the Lord the animals which they used to kill in the open country. They shall now bring them to the priest at the entrance of the Tent and kill them as fellowship offerings.

6 The priest shall throw the blood against the sides of the altar at the entrance of the Tent and burn the fat to produce an odor that is pleasing to the Lord.

7 The people of Israel must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by killing their animals in the fields as sacrifices to the goat demons. The people of Israel must keep this regulation for all time to come.

8 Any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community who offer a burnt offering or any other sacrifice

9 as an offering to the Lord anywhere except at the entrance of the Tent shall no longer be considered God's people.

10 If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community eat meat with blood still in it, the Lord will turn against them and no longer consider them his people.

11 The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people's sins. Blood, which is life, takes away sins.

12 That is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that neither they nor any foreigner living among them shall eat any meat with blood still in it.

13 If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community catch an animal or a bird which is ritually clean, they must pour its blood out on the ground and cover it with dirt.

14 The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has told the people of Israel that they shall not eat any meat with blood still in it and that anyone who does so will no longer be considered one of his people.

15 Any people, Israelites or foreigners, who eat meat from an animal that has died a natural death or has been killed by wild animals must wash their clothes, take a bath, and wait until evening before they are ritually clean.

16 If they do not, they must suffer the consequences.

Leviticus 18

1 The Lord told Moses

2 to say to the people of Israel, "I am the Lord your God.

3 Do not follow the practices of the people of Egypt, where you once lived, or of the people in the land of Canaan, where I am now taking you.

4 Obey my laws and do what I command. I am the Lord your God.

5 Follow the practices and the laws that I give you; you will save your life by doing so. I am the Lord."

6 The Lord gave the following regulations. Do not have sexual intercourse with any of your relatives.

7 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with your mother. You must not disgrace your own mother.

8 Do not disgrace your father by having intercourse with any of his other wives.

9 Do not have intercourse with your sister or your stepsister, whether or not she was brought up in the same house with you.

10 Do not have intercourse with your granddaughter; that would be a disgrace to you.

11 Do not have intercourse with a half sister; she, too, is your sister.

12 Do not have intercourse with an aunt, whether she is your father's sister or your mother's sister.

14 Do not have intercourse with your uncle's wife; she, too, is your aunt.

15 Do not have intercourse with your daughter-in-law

16 or with your brother's wife.

17 Do not have intercourse with the daughter or granddaughter of a woman with whom you have had intercourse; they may be related to you, and that would be incest.

18 Do not take your wife's sister as one of your wives, as long as your wife is living.

19 Do not have intercourse with a woman during her monthly period, because she is ritually unclean.

20 Do not have intercourse with another man's wife; that would make you ritually unclean.

21 Do not hand over any of your children to be used in the worship of the god Molech, because that would bring disgrace on the name of God, the Lord.

22 No man is to have sexual relations with another man; God hates that.

23 No man or woman is to have sexual relations with an animal; that perversion makes you ritually unclean.

24 Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these acts, for that is how the pagans made themselves unclean, those pagans who lived in the land before you and whom the Lord is driving out so that you can go in.

25 Their actions made the land unclean, and so the Lord is punishing the land and making it reject the people who lived there.

26 They did all these disgusting things and made the land unclean, but you must not do them. All of you, whether Israelites or foreigners living with you, must keep the Lord's laws and commands,

28 and then the land will not reject you, as it rejected the pagans who lived there before you.

29 You know that whoever does any of these disgusting things will no longer be considered one of God's people.

30 And the Lord said, "Obey the commands I give and do not follow the practices of the people who lived in the land before you, and do not make yourselves unclean by doing any of these things. I am the Lord your God."

Matthew 27:27-50

27 Then Pilate's soldiers took Jesus into the governor's palace, and the whole company gathered around him.

28 They stripped off his clothes and put a scarlet robe on him.

29 Then they made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand; then they knelt before him and made fun of him. "Long live the King of the Jews!" they said.

30 They spat on him, and took the stick and hit him over the head.

31 When they had finished making fun of him, they took the robe off and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

32 As they were going out, they met a man from Cyrene named Simon, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross.

33 They came to a place called Golgotha, which means, "The Place of the Skull."

34 There they offered Jesus wine mixed with a bitter substance; but after tasting it, he would not drink it.

35 They crucified him and then divided his clothes among them by throwing dice.

36 After that they sat there and watched him.

37 Above his head they put the written notice of the accusation against him: "This is Jesus, the King of the Jews."

38 Then they crucified two bandits with Jesus, one on his right and the other on his left.

39 People passing by shook their heads and hurled insults at Jesus:

40 "You were going to tear down the Temple and build it back up in three days! Save yourself if you are God's Son! Come on down from the cross!"

41 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and the elders made fun of him:

42 "He saved others, but he cannot save himself! Isn't he the king of Israel? If he will come down off the cross now, we will believe in him!

43 He trusts in God and claims to be God's Son. Well, then, let us see if God wants to save him now!"

44 Even the bandits who had been crucified with him insulted him in the same way.

45 At noon the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours.

46 At about three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, ["Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?"] which means, "My God, my God, why did you abandon me?"

47 Some of the people standing there heard him and said, "He is calling for Elijah!"

48 One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, put it on the end of a stick, and tried to make him drink it.

49 But the others said, "Wait, let us see if Elijah is coming to save him!"

50 Jesus again gave a loud cry and breathed his last.