Mar 1st

Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it out into the wilderness by the hand of a man ready to do this.

And the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an isolated land; and he shall send out the goat in the wilderness.

“Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place and shall leave them there.

And he shall bathe his body with water in a holy place and put on his clothes and come forth, and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people.

Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

And the one who sent the goat out as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp.

But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire.

Then the one who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

“And this shall be a perpetual statute for you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not do any work, whether the native or the sojourner who sojourns among you;

for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before Yahweh.

It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a perpetual statute.

So the priest who is anointed and ordained to minister as a priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen garments, the holy garments,

and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.

Now you shall have this as a perpetual statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as Yahweh had commanded Moses, so he did.

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh has commanded, saying,

“Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp,

and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to bring it near as an offering to Yahweh before the tabernacle of Yahweh, it will be counted as bloodguiltiness to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people.

The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to Yahweh, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh.

And the priest shall splash the blood on the altar of Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting and offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to Yahweh.

And they shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a perpetual statute to them throughout their generations.” ’

“Then you shall say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice,

and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to Yahweh, that man also shall be cut off from his people.

‘And any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.’

Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, and no sojourner who sojourns among you may eat blood.’

So any man from the sons of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.

“For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’

And when any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean.

But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his guilt.”

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am Yahweh your God.

You shall not do according to what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do according to what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.

You are to do My judgments and keep My statutes, to walk in them; I am Yahweh your God.

So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does them, he shall live by them; I am Yahweh.

‘None of you shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover nakedness; I am Yahweh.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness.

The nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover.

The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for their nakedness is yours.

The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, she is your sister; you shall not uncover her nakedness.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness.

You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is lewdness.

And you shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity.

And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her.

And you shall not give any of your seed to pass them over to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

And you shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.

Also you shall not lie with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.

‘So do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled.

So the land has become defiled, and I have brought its punishment upon it. And the land has vomited out its inhabitants.

But as for you, you shall keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native nor the sojourner who sojourns among you

(for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled);

so that the land will not vomit you out, should you defile it, as it has vomited out the nation which has been before you.

For whoever does any of these abominations, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people.

Thus you are to keep My charge, that you do not do any of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am Yahweh your God.’ ”

And they *came to Bethsaida. And they *brought a blind man to Jesus and *pleaded with Him to touch him.

And taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He was asking him, “Do you see anything?”

And he looked up and was saying, “I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around.”

Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly.

And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.”

And Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He was asking His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?”

And they told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; but others, one of the prophets.”

And He continued asking them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter *answered and *said to Him, “You are the Christ.”

And He warned them to tell no one about Him.

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.

And He was stating the matter openly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.

But turning around and seeing His disciples, He rebuked Peter and *said, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?

For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God having come in power.”

And six days later, Jesus *took with Him Peter and James and John, and *brought them up on a high mountain alone by themselves. And He was transfigured before them;

and His garments were shining intensely white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them.

And Elijah appeared to them along with Moses and they were conversing with Jesus.

And Peter answered and *said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three booths, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified.

Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!”

And all at once when they looked around, they saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone.