Leviticus 14; Matthew 26:51-75

Leviticus 14

1 The LORD spoke to Moses,

2 "These are the instructions for making a person clean after a skin disease. He must be taken to the priest.

3 The priest will go outside the camp and examine him. If the person is healed,

4 the priest will order someone to get two living, clean birds, some cedar wood, red yarn, and a hyssop sprig to use for the cleansing.

5 Then the priest will order someone to kill one bird over a clay bowl containing fresh water.

6 The priest will take the living bird, the cedar wood, the red yarn, and the hyssop sprig and dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the fresh water.

7 He will sprinkle the blood seven times on the one to be cleansed and will declare that person clean. Then he will let the living bird fly away into the open country.

8 "The one to be cleansed must wash his clothes, shave off all his hair, and wash. Then he will be clean. After that he may go into the camp. However, for seven days he will live outside his tent.

9 On the seventh day he must shave off all the hair on his head, his beard, and his eyebrows, and he must wash his clothes and body. Then he will be clean.

10 "On the eighth day he must take two male lambs that have no defects and a one-year-old female lamb that has no defects. He must also take eight cups of flour mixed with olive oil for a grain offering along with a quart of olive oil.

11 The priest who will declare him clean must bring the person and his offerings into the LORD's presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

12 The priest will take one of the male lambs and the quart of olive oil and present them to the LORD as a guilt offering.

13 He will slaughter the lamb in the holy place where he slaughters the offering for sin and the burnt offering. He will do this because the guilt offering, like the offering for sin, belongs to the priest. It is very holy.

14 Then the priest will take some of the blood from the guilt offering and put it on the right ear lobe, on the right thumb, and on the big toe of the right foot of the one to be cleansed.

15 The priest will also take some of the olive oil and pour it into his own left hand.

16 He will dip his right finger in the oil in his left hand, and with his finger sprinkle some of the oil seven times in the LORD's presence.

17 The priest will put some of the oil that is still in his hand on the right ear lobe, on the right thumb, and on the big toe of the right foot of the one to be cleansed. These are the same places he had put the blood of the guilt offering.

18 The priest will put the rest of the oil in his hand on the head of the one to be cleansed. So he will make peace with the LORD for that person in the LORD's presence.

19 The priest will also sacrifice the offering for sin to make peace with the LORD for the one who is being cleansed from his impurity. After that, he will slaughter the burnt offering.

20 The priest will sacrifice the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest will make peace with the LORD for that person, and the person who had the skin disease will be clean.

21 "But if the one to be cleansed is poor and cannot afford that much, he must take one male lamb, present it to make peace with the LORD for himself, and use it for his guilt offering. He will take only eight cups of flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering, a quart of olive oil,

22 and two mourning doves or two pigeons (whatever he can afford). The one will be an offering for sin and the other a burnt offering.

23 On the eighth day he will take them to the priest for his cleansing at the entrance to the tent of meeting in the LORD's presence.

24 The priest will take the lamb for the guilt offering and the quart of olive oil and present them to the LORD.

25 He will slaughter the lamb as a guilt offering. Then the priest will take some of the blood of the guilt offering and put it on the right ear lobe, on the right thumb, and on the big toe of the right foot of the one to be cleansed.

26 The priest will pour some of the olive oil into his own left hand.

27 With his right finger he will sprinkle some of the oil seven times in the LORD's presence.

28 The priest will put some of the oil that is in his hand on the right ear lobe, on the right thumb, and on the big toe of the right foot of the one to be cleansed. These are the same places he had put the blood of the guilt offering.

29 In the LORD's presence, the priest will pour the rest of the oil in his hand on the head of the one to be cleansed in order to make a payment for him.

30 Then the one to be cleansed must take one of the mourning doves or pigeons (whichever he can afford),

31 and sacrifice it as an offering for sin. He will take the other and sacrifice it as a burnt offering together with the grain offering. So in the LORD's presence the priest will make peace with the LORD for the one who is being cleansed.

32 These are the instructions for one who has an infectious skin disease but cannot afford what is needed for his cleansing."

33 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron,

34 "When you come to Canaan that I am going to give to you, mildew may appear in a house.

35 The owner of that house must come and tell the priest that there is something that looks like mildew in his house.

36 "Before the priest examines the house, he will order everything taken out of it so that nothing in the house will become unclean. Then the priest will go inside to examine the house.

37 He will examine the mildew area on the walls. If it is green and red in sunken areas that are deeper than the rest of the wall,

38 the priest will go out to the door of the house and close up the house for seven days.

39 On the seventh day the priest will go back and examine it again. If the mildew in the walls of the house has spread,

40 the priest must order the stones that have the mildew to be torn out and thrown outside the city in an unclean place.

41 He must have the entire inside of the house scraped. The plaster dust scraped off the walls must be dumped in an unclean place outside the city.

42 The stones must be replaced, and the house must be plastered again.

43 If the mildew develops again in the house after all this,

44 the priest will examine it one more time. If it is a spreading type of mildew, the house is unclean.

45 The house--stones, wood, and all the plaster--must be torn down and taken to an unclean place outside the city.

46 Whoever goes into the house any time it is closed up will be unclean until evening.

47 Whoever sleeps or eats in the house must wash his clothes.

48 But if the priest comes and makes an examination and the mildew has not spread in the house after it is plastered again, the priest must declare the house clean. The mildew is gone.

49 "The priest must take two birds, cedar wood, red yarn, and a hyssop sprig and use them to make the house clean.

50 He must kill the one bird over a clay bowl containing fresh water.

51 He must take the cedar wood, the hyssop sprig, the red yarn, and the living bird and dip them in the fresh water containing the blood of the bird that was killed. He must sprinkle the house seven times.

52 So he must use the bird's blood, the fresh water, the living bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop, and the red yarn to make the house clean.

53 Then he will let the living bird fly from the city into the open country. He will make peace with the LORD for the house, and it will be clean.

54 "These are the instructions for any kind of mildew or fungus

55 that infects clothing or houses

56 and for skin diseases where there is a sore, a rash, or an irritated area.

57 These instructions for skin diseases and mildew help you distinguish between what is clean and what is unclean."

Matthew 26:51-75

51 Suddenly, one of the men with Jesus pulled out his sword and cut off the ear of the chief priest's servant.

52 Then Jesus said to him, "Put your sword away! All who use a sword will be killed by a sword.

53 Don't you think that I could call on my Father to send more than twelve legions of angels to help me now?

54 How, then, are the Scriptures to be fulfilled that say this must happen?"

55 At that time Jesus said to the crowd, "Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as if I were a criminal? I used to sit teaching in the temple courtyard every day. But you didn't arrest me then.

56 All of this has happened so that what the prophets have written would come true." Then all the disciples abandoned him and ran away.

57 Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the chief priest, where the scribes and the leaders had gathered together.

58 Peter followed at a distance until he came to the chief priest's courtyard. He went inside and sat with the guards to see how this would turn out.

59 The chief priests and the whole council were searching for false testimony to use against Jesus in order to execute him.

60 But they did not find any, although many came forward with false testimony. At last two men came forward.

61 They stated, "This man said, 'I can tear down God's temple and rebuild it in three days.'"

62 The chief priest stood up and said to Jesus, "Don't you have any answer to what these men testify against you?"

63 But Jesus was silent. Then the chief priest said to him, "Swear an oath in front of the living God and tell us, are you the Messiah, the Son of God?"

64 Jesus answered him, "Yes, I am. But I can guarantee that from now on you will see the Son of Man in the highest position in heaven. He will be coming on the clouds of heaven."

65 Then the chief priest tore his robes in horror and said, "He has dishonored God! Why do we need any more witnesses? You've just heard him dishonor God!

66 What's your verdict?" They answered, "He deserves the death penalty!"

67 Then they spit in his face, hit him with their fists, and some of them slapped him.

68 They said, "You Christ, if you're a prophet, tell us who hit you."

69 Peter was sitting in the courtyard. A female servant came to him and said, "You, too, were with Jesus the Galilean."

70 But Peter denied it in front of them all by saying, "I don't know what you're talking about."

71 As he went to the entrance, another female servant saw him. She told those who were there, "This man was with Jesus from Nazareth."

72 Again Peter denied it and swore with an oath, "I don't know the man!"

73 After a little while the men standing there approached Peter and said, "It's obvious you're also one of them. Your accent gives you away!"

74 Then Peter began to curse and swear with an oath, "I don't know the man!" Just then a rooster crowed.

75 Peter remembered what Jesus had said: "Before a rooster crows, you will say three times that you don't know me." Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly.