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7 Moses then told Aaron, “Approach the altar and bring your sin and whole burnt offerings. Make atonement for yourself and the people. Then bring the people’s offering and make atonement for them, as the Lord commanded.”
8 So Aaron drew near to the altar and slaughtered the calf for a sin offering on behalf of himself. 9 Next, Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him and he dipped his fingers in the blood and placed it on the horns of the altar. As to the rest of the[a] blood, he poured it at the base of the altar. 10 He incinerated the fat, the kidneys, and the appendage from the liver of the sin offering, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 11 He also incinerated the meat and skin outside the camp. 12 And so the burnt offering was slaughtered, and Aaron’s sons secured for him the blood, which he poured on the altar and around it.
Aaron’s Burnt Offering
13 As for the burnt offering, they delivered it to Aaron[b] piece by piece, and he burned the head on the altar, 14 washed the internal organs and thighs, and incinerated them on the altar, along with the whole burnt offering. 15 He brought the people’s offering, presenting a goat for a sin offering on behalf of the people. He slaughtered it and offered it as the first sin offering. 16 Then he brought the whole burnt offering and offered it according to procedure.
17 Next, he brought the grain offering, filled his hand with it, and burned it on the altar next to the burnt offering for that morning. 18 He slaughtered the ox and ram for the peace offering sacrifice on behalf of the people. Aaron’s sons delivered the blood to him, which he poured on the altar and around it. 19 As to the fat from the ox and the ram—the tail, the fat covering the kidneys, and the appendage of the liver— 20 they placed the fat on the breast and burned the fat on the altar. 21 Aaron waved the breast and the right thigh as a raised offering in the Lord’s presence, just as Moses had commanded. 22 Aaron raised his hand toward the people and blessed them. Then he came down from the altar after[c] offering the sin, whole burnt, and peace offerings.
23 Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24 A fire came down from the Lord’s presence and consumed the burnt offering on the altar as well as the fat. When the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.
Nadab and Abihu(A)
10 Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his own censer, placed fire in it, covered it with incense, and brought it into the Lord’s presence as unauthorized fire that he had never prescribed for them. 2 As a result, fire came out from the Lord’s presence and incinerated them. They died while in the Lord’s presence. 3 Moses spoke with Aaron about what the Lord had said: “Among those who are near me, I’ll show myself holy so that I’ll be glorified before all people.” So Aaron remained silent.
After the Deaths of Nadab and Abihu
4 Then Moses called on Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron’s uncle, and said, “Come here and carry your brothers away from the sanctuary, outside the camp.” 5 So they approached to carry them in their tunics outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded.
6 Then Moses told Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “You are not to loosen the hair of your head and you are not to rend your clothes. That way, you won’t die and wrath won’t come on the entire congregation. Your brothers and the assembly[d] of Israel will mourn because of the fire that the Lord kindled. 7 Also, you are not to leave the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Otherwise, you’ll die, since the Lord’s anointing oil remains on you.” So they followed Moses’ instructions.
Prohibitions against Drinking Wine
8 Then the Lord told Aaron, 9 “You and your sons with you are not to drink wine—that is, any intoxicating drink—when you enter the Tent of Meeting. That way, you won’t die. This is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. 10 You are to differentiate between what’s sacred and common and between what’s unclean and clean. 11 You are to teach the Israelis all the statutes that the Lord commanded you by the authority of Moses.”
Additional Orders for Offerings
12 Then Moses told Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the leftovers from the grain offering and the offerings made by fire and eat the unleavened bread beside the altar, because it is most holy to the Lord. 13 Eat at a sacred place, because it’s your and your sons’ prescribed portions. It’s from the offering made by fire to the Lord, since I’ve commanded it. 14 As to the breast and thigh raised offerings, you and your sons and daughters with you may eat them[e] at a clean place, because they belong to you and are your sons’ prescribed portions and were taken from the sacrifices of peace offering presented by the Israelis. 15 They are to bring the thigh offering, the breast raised offering, and the offerings made by fire from the fat to wave as a raised offering in the Lord’s presence. It will be a perpetual portion for you and your sons with you, just as the Lord commanded.”
Confusion Occurs, but is Resolved
16 Now Moses diligently sought for the goat that had been offered as a sin offering, but it had already been incinerated, so he was angry with Aaron’s sons who remained. He asked Eleazar and Ithamar, 17 “Why didn’t you eat the sin offering at the sacred place? It’s most holy and he has given it to you so that you may bear the punishment for the iniquity of the entire congregation and make atonement for them in the Lord’s presence. 18 Look! Its blood wasn’t brought inside the sanctuary. You were to have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded.”
19 But Aaron replied to Moses, “Today they’ve offered their sin and whole burnt offerings in the Lord’s presence. Yet things such as these have happened to me. Had I eaten the sin offering today, would that have pleased the Lord?”[f]
20 When Moses heard that explanation, he was pleased.
The Parable about a Growing Seed
26 He was also saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seeds on the ground. 27 He sleeps and gets up night and day while the seeds sprout and grow, although he doesn’t know how 28 the ground produces grain by itself—first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, he immediately starts cutting with his sickle because the harvest time has come.”
The Parable about a Mustard Seed(A)
30 He was also saying, “How can we show what the kingdom of God is like, or what parable can we use to describe it? 31 It’s like a mustard seed planted in the ground. Although it’s the smallest of[a] all the seeds on earth, 32 when it’s planted it comes up and becomes larger than all the garden plants. It grows such large branches that the birds in the sky can nest in its shade.”
Why Jesus Used Parables(B)
33 With many other parables like these, Jesus[b] kept speaking his message to them according to their ability to understand. 34 He did not tell them anything without using[c] a parable, though he explained everything to his disciples in private.
Jesus Calms the Sea(C)
35 That day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross to the other side.” 36 So they left the crowd and took him away in a boat without making any special preparations.[d] Other boats were with him. 37 A violent windstorm came up, and the waves began breaking into the boat, so that the boat was rapidly[e] becoming swamped.
38 But Jesus[f] was in the back of the boat, asleep on a cushion. So they woke him up and asked him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to die?”
39 Then he got up, rebuked the wind, and told the sea, “Calm down! Be still!” Then the wind stopped blowing, and there was a great calm. 40 He asked them, “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith yet?”
41 Overcome with fear, they kept saying to one another, “Who is this man? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man(D)
5 They arrived at the other side of the sea in the territory of the Gerasenes.[g] 2 Just as Jesus[h] stepped out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. 3 He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain. 4 He had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but had snapped the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one could tame him. 5 He kept screaming night and day among the tombs and on the mountainsides, and kept cutting himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell down in front of him, 7 screaming in a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in the name of[i] God never to torment me!”
8 Jesus[j] had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 Then Jesus[k] asked him, “What’s your name?”
He told him, “My name is Legion,[l] because there are many of us.” 10 He kept pleading with Jesus[m] not to send them out of that region.
11 Now a large herd of pigs was grazing on a hillside nearby. 12 So the demons[n] begged him, “Send us among the pigs, so that we can go into them!” 13 So he let them do this. The unclean spirits came out of the man[o] and went into the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down a steep slope into the sea and drowned there.[p]
14 Now when those who had been taking care of the pigs ran away, they reported what had happened[q] in the city and countryside. So the people[r] went to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there dressed and in his right mind, they were frightened. 16 The people who had seen it told them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. 17 So they began to beg Jesus[s] to leave their territory.
18 As Jesus[t] was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging him to let him go with him. 19 But Jesus[u] wouldn’t let him. Instead, he told him, “Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been to you.” 20 So the man[v] left and began proclaiming in the Decapolis[w] how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was utterly amazed.
30 The mouth of the righteous one produces wisdom;
his tongue speaks justice.
31 The instruction[a] of his God is in his heart;
his steps will not slip.
32 The wicked stalks the righteous person, seeking to kill him,
33 but the Lord will not let him fall into his hands.
He will not be condemned when he is put on trial.
34 Wait on the Lord,
Keep faithful to his way,
and he will exalt you to possess the land.
You will see the wicked cut off.
35 I once observed a wicked and oppressive person,
flourishing like a green tree in native soil.
36 But then he[b] passed away;[c]
in fact, he simply was not there.
When I looked for him,
he could not be found.
37 Observe the blameless!
Take note of the upright!
Indeed, the future of that man is peace.
38 Sinners will be destroyed together;
the future of the wicked will be cut off.
39 But deliverance for the righteous one comes from the Lord;
he is their strength in times of distress.
40 The Lord helps and delivers them;
he will deliver them from the wicked,
and he will save them because they have sought refuge in him.
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