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22 “‘·Remember [Keep; Guard] all my ·laws [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and ·rules [regulations], and obey them. I am leading you to your own land, and if you obey my laws and rules, that land will not ·throw [vomit] you out. 23 I am ·forcing [driving] out ahead of you the people who live there. Because they did all these sins, I have hated them. Do not live ·the way those people lived [L according to the statutes/ordinances/requirements of that nation].
24 “‘I have told you that you will ·get [inherit] their land, which I will give to you as your ·very own [possession]; it is a ·fertile land [L land flowing with milk and honey; Ex. 3:8]. I am the Lord your God, and I have set you apart from other people and made you my own. 25 So you must treat clean [C in a ritual sense] animals and birds differently from unclean animals and birds. Do not make yourselves detestable by any of these unclean birds or animals or things that crawl on the ground, which I have made unclean for you [11:1–47]. 26 So you must be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from other people to be my own.
27 “‘A man or woman who is a medium or a ·fortune-teller [wizard] must be put to death. You must stone them to death; they have brought ·it [L blood] on themselves [19:31; 20:6].’”
How Priests Must Behave
21 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell these things to Aaron’s sons, the priests: ‘A priest must not make himself unclean [C in a ritual sense] ·by touching a dead person [L for a death among his people/relatives]. 2 ·But if the dead person was one of his close relatives, he may touch him [L …except for a close relative]. The priest may make himself unclean if the dead person is his mother or father, son or daughter, brother or 3 ·unmarried [L virgin] sister who is close to him because she has no husband. The priest may make himself unclean for her if she dies. 4 But a priest must not make himself unclean ·if the dead person was only related to him by marriage [L as a husband among his people].
5 “‘Priests must not shave their heads, or shave off the edges of their beards, or cut their bodies [C as pagan priests often did]. 6 They must be holy to their God and ·show respect for [L not defile] God’s name, because they present the offerings made by fire to the Lord, which is the food of their God. So they must be holy [19:27–28].
7 “‘A priest must not marry ·a defiled prostitute [or a prostitute or a defiled woman] or a divorced woman, because he is holy to his God. 8 Treat him as holy, because he offers up the food of your God. Think of him as holy; I am the Lord who ·makes you holy [consecrates/sanctifies you], and I am holy.
9 “‘If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she ·shames [defiles] her father. She must be burned with fire.
10 “‘The high priest, who was ·chosen from among his brothers [L exalted among his brothers], had the ·special [L anointing] olive oil poured on his head. He was also ·appointed [consecrated] to wear the priestly clothes. So he must not let his hair go uncombed or tear his clothes [C signs of mourning]. 11 He must not go into a house where there is a dead body. He must not make himself unclean [C in a ritual sense], even if it is for his own father or mother. 12 The high priest must not go out of the ·Holy Place [sanctuary], because if he does and becomes ·unclean [defiled], he will make God’s ·Holy Place [sanctuary] unclean. The ·special oil used in appointing priests [L anointing oil] was poured on his head to separate him from the rest of the people. I am the Lord.
13 “‘The high priest must marry a woman who is a virgin. 14 He must not marry a widow, a divorced woman, or ·a defiled prostitute [or a defiled woman or a prostitute; v. 7]. He must marry a virgin from his own people 15 so ·the people will respect his children as his own [he will not defile his children]. I am the Lord. I have ·set the high priest apart for his special job [sanctified/consecrated him].’”
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Tell Aaron: ‘If any of your descendants have ·something wrong with them [a blemish], they must never come near to offer the special food of their God. 18 Anyone who has ·something wrong with him [a blemish] must not come near: blind men, crippled men, men with damaged faces, deformed men, 19 men with a crippled foot or hand, 20 hunchbacks, dwarfs, men who have something wrong with their eyes, men who have an itching disease or a skin disease, or men who ·have damaged testicles [are eunuchs; Acts 8:27].
21 “‘If one of Aaron’s descendants has ·something wrong with him [a blemish], he cannot come near to make the offerings made by fire to the Lord. He has ·something wrong with him [a blemish]; he cannot offer the food of his God. 22 He may eat the most holy food and also the holy food. 23 But he may not go through the curtain into the ·Most Holy Place [sanctuary], and he may not go near the altar, because he has ·something wrong with him [a blemish]. He must not defile my ·Holy Place [sanctuary]. I am the Lord who makes these places holy.’”
24 So Moses told these things to Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and all the people of Israel.
22 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell Aaron and his sons: ‘The ·people [L sons; children] of Israel will give offerings to me. These offerings are ·holy, and they are mine [L consecrated/sanctified to me], so you must ·respect [be scrupulous with] them to show that you ·respect [L do not defile] my holy name. I am the Lord.’ 3 Say to them: ‘If any one of your descendants ·from now on [L throughout your generations] is unclean [C in a ritual sense] and comes near the offerings that the Israelites ·made holy for [consecrated/sanctified to] me, that person must be cut off from appearing before me. I am the Lord.
4 “‘If one of Aaron’s descendants has a harmful skin disease [13:2], or if he discharges a body fluid [15:1–18], he cannot eat the holy offerings until he becomes clean [C in a ritual sense]. He could also become unclean from touching a dead body, from his own semen, 5 from touching any unclean crawling animal, or from touching an unclean person (no matter what made the person unclean). 6 Anyone who touches those things will become unclean until evening. That person must not eat the holy offerings unless he washes with water. 7 He will be clean only after the sun goes down. Then he may eat the holy offerings; the offerings are his food.
8 “‘If a priest finds an animal that died by itself or that was killed by some other animal, he must not eat it. If he does, he will become unclean [C in a ritual sense]. I am the Lord [11:39–40; 17:15].
9 “‘If the priests ·keep [guard] all the rules I have given, they will not become guilty; ·if they are careful, they will not die [or…and die in it/the sanctuary because they defiled it]. I am the Lord who has made them holy. 10 ·Only people in a priest’s family [L No stranger/layperson] may eat the holy offering. A visitor staying with the priest or a hired worker must not eat it. 11 But if the priest buys a slave with his own money, that slave may eat the holy offerings; ·slaves [L those] who were born in his house may also eat his food. 12 If a priest’s daughter marries a ·person who is not a priest [layperson; L stranger], she must not eat any of the holy offerings. 13 But if the priest’s daughter becomes widowed or divorced, with no children to support her, and if she goes back to her father’s house where she lived as a child, she may eat some of her father’s food. But ·only people from a priest’s family [no layperson/L stranger] may eat this food.
14 “‘If someone eats some of the holy offering by mistake, that person must pay back the priest for that holy food, adding another one-fifth of the price of that food.
15 “‘When the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] give their holy offerings to the Lord, ·the priest must not treat these holy things as though they were not holy [L no one will profane them]. 16 The priests must not allow those who are not priests to eat the holy offerings. If they do, they cause the ones who eat the holy offerings to become guilty, and they will have to ·pay for it [L offer a penalty/guilt/reparation offering; 5:14–6:7]. I am the Lord, who makes them holy.’”
9 Then Jesus said to the people, “I tell you the truth, some people standing here will not ·die [L taste death] before they see the kingdom of God ·come [arrive] with power.” [C “Seeing the kingdom of God” may refer to the Transfiguration that follows (9:1–8), Jesus’ resurrection, or the destruction of Jerusalem in ad 70.]
The Transfiguration on the Mountain(A)
2 Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John [L and led them] up on a high mountain by themselves. ·While they watched [In their presence; In front of them], Jesus’ appearance was ·changed [transformed; T transfigured]. 3 His clothes became shining white, whiter than any ·person [launderer on earth] could ·make them [bleach them]. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared to them, talking with Jesus. [C God had given the Law through Moses, and Elijah was an important prophet (see 6:1); together they signify that Jesus fulfills the OT.]
5 Peter said to Jesus, “·Teacher [L Rabbi], it is good that we are here. Let us make three ·tents [shelters; shrines; tabernacles; Lev. 23:42]—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” [C Perhaps Peter wanted to prolong their stay or to commemorate their visit.] 6 Peter did not know what to say, because he and the others were so frightened.
7 Then a cloud came and ·covered [overshadowed; Ex. 24:15] them, and a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my ·Son, whom I love [dearly loved Son; Ps. 2:7; Gen. 22:2; Mark 1:11]. Listen to him [Deut. 18:15; Acts 3:22]!”
8 Suddenly Peter, James, and John looked around, but they saw only Jesus there alone with them.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ·commanded [instructed] them not to tell anyone about what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
10 So they ·obeyed Jesus [kept this statement/matter to themselves], but they discussed what he meant about rising from the dead.
11 Then they asked Jesus, “Why do the ·teachers of the law [scribes] say that Elijah must come first [Mal. 3:1; 4:5]?”
12 Jesus answered, “·They are right to say that Elijah must come first and [L Elijah is indeed coming, and he will] ·make everything the way it should be [restore/prepare everything]. But why does the Scripture say that the Son of Man will suffer much and ·that people will treat him as if he were nothing [be despised; be treated with contempt; be rejected; Is. 52:13—53:12]? 13 [L But] I tell you that Elijah has already come. And ·people [L they] did to him whatever they wanted to do, just as ·the Scriptures said it would happen [it is written about him].”
Jesus Heals a Sick Boy(B)
14 When Jesus, Peter, James, and John came back to the other ·followers [disciples], they saw a great crowd around them and the ·teachers of the law [scribes] arguing with them. 15 But as soon as the crowd saw Jesus, the people were ·surprised [amazed] and ran to welcome him.
16 Jesus asked, “What are you arguing about?”
17 A man [in the crowd] answered, “Teacher, I brought my son to you. He has an evil spirit in him that ·stops him from talking [makes him mute]. 18 When the spirit attacks him, it throws him on the ground. Then my son foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes ·very stiff [rigid]. I asked your ·followers [disciples] to ·force [drive; cast] the evil spirit out, but they couldn’t.”
19 Jesus answered, “You ·people have no faith [unbelieving/faithless generation]. How long must I stay with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
20 So ·the followers [L they] brought him to Jesus. As soon as the evil spirit saw Jesus, it ·made the boy lose control of himself [threw the boy into convulsions], and he fell down and rolled on the ground, foaming at the mouth.
21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been happening?”
The father answered, “Since ·he was very young [childhood]. 22 The spirit often throws him into a fire or into water to ·kill [destroy] him. If you can do anything for him, please have ·pity [compassion] on us and help us.”
23 Jesus said to the father, “You said, ‘If you can!’ All things are possible for the one who believes.”
24 Immediately the father cried out, “I do believe! Help ·me to believe more [me not to doubt; me overcome my unbelief; L my unbelief]!”
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he ·ordered [rebuked] the ·evil [defiling; L unclean] spirit, saying, “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you to come out of this boy and never enter him again!”
26 The evil spirit screamed and ·caused the boy to fall on the ground again [convulsed him violently]. Then the spirit came out. The boy looked as if he were dead, and many people said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took hold of the boy’s hand and helped him to stand up.
28 When Jesus went into the house, his ·followers [disciples] began asking him privately, “Why couldn’t we ·force [drive; cast] that evil spirit out?”
29 Jesus answered, “That kind of spirit can only be forced out by prayer.”[a]
A Prayer for Protection
43 God, defend me.
·Argue my case [L Vindicate me, O God, and contend for/defend me] against ·those who don’t follow you [L a godless nation].
·Save [Rescue; T Deliver] me from ·liars [deceivers] and those who ·do evil [are unjust].
2 God, you are my ·strength [L refuge].
Why have you rejected me?
Why am I ·sad [L going around in mourning]
and ·troubled [oppressed] by my enemies?
3 Send me your light and ·truth [faithfulness]
to ·guide [lead] me.
Let them ·lead [bring] me to your holy mountain [C Zion, the location of the Temple],
to ·where you live [your dwelling].
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God who is my joy and happiness.
I will praise you with a ·harp [lyre],
God, my God.
5 Why ·am I so sad [L are you downcast, my soul]?
Why ·am I so upset [are you groaning/in an uproar]?
I ·should [or will] ·put my hope in [wait for] God
and ·keep praising [or will again praise] him,
my ·Savior [Victor] and my God.
18 Whoever ·hides [conceals] hate is a liar.
Whoever ·tells lies [spreads slander] is a fool.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.