Mar 3rd

except for his blood relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother,

also for his virgin sister, who is near to him because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself.

He shall not defile himself as a relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself.

They shall not make any baldness on their heads nor shave off the edges of their beards nor make any cuts in their flesh.

They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God, for they bring near the offerings to Yahweh by fire, the food of their God; so they shall be holy.

They shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.

Therefore, you shall set him apart as holy, for he brings near the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I Yahweh, who makes you holy, am holy.

Also the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

‘And the priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been ordained to wear the garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes;

nor shall he approach any dead person nor defile himself even for his father or his mother;

nor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am Yahweh.

And he shall take a wife in her virginity.

A widow or a divorced woman or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he shall take a virgin of his own people as a wife,

so that he will not profane his seed among his people; for I am Yahweh who makes him holy.’ ”

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘No man of your seed throughout their generations who has a defect shall come near to offer the food of his God.

For no one who has a defect shall come near: a blind man or a lame man or he who has a disfigured face or any deformed limb,

or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand,

or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or crushed testicles.

No man among the seed of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to bring near the offerings to Yahweh by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not approach to bring near the food of his God.

He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy,

only he shall not go in to the veil or approach the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries. For I am Yahweh who makes them holy.’ ”

So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

“Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they set apart to Me as holy, so as not to profane My holy name; I am Yahweh.

Say to them, ‘If any man among all your seed throughout your generations comes near to the holy gifts which the sons of Israel set apart as holy to Yahweh, and he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from before Me; I am Yahweh.

No man of the seed of Aaron, who is a leper or who has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. And if one touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or if a man has a seminal emission,

or if a man touches any teeming things by which he is made unclean or any man by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness,

a person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his body in water.

But the sun will set, and he will be clean. And afterward he shall eat of the holy gifts, for it is his food.

He shall not eat an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, becoming unclean by it; I am Yahweh.

They shall therefore keep My charge so that they will not bear sin because of it and die thereby because they profane it; I am Yahweh who makes them holy.

‘No layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a foreign resident with the priest or a hired man shall not eat of the holy gift.

But if a priest buys a person as his property with his money, that one may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his food.

If a priest’s daughter is married to a layman, she shall not eat of the contribution of the holy gifts.

But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no seed, and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s food; but no layman shall eat of it.

But if a man eats a holy gift unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy gift to the priest.

They shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel which they raise up to Yahweh,

and so cause them to bear punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am Yahweh who makes them holy.’ ”

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘Any man of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel who brings near his offering, whether it is any of their votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they bring near to Yahweh for a burnt offering—

for you to be accepted—it must be a male without blemish from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats.

Whatever has a defect, you shall not bring it near, for it will not be accepted for you.

And when a man brings a sacrifice of peace offerings near to Yahweh to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be without blemish to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it.

Those that are blind or fractured or maimed or have a running sore or eczema or scabs, you shall not bring near to Yahweh nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to Yahweh.

Now in respect to an ox or a lamb which has an overgrown or stunted member, you may offer it for a freewill offering, but for a votive offering it will not be accepted.

Also anything with its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not bring near to Yahweh, and you shall not do thus in your land,

nor shall you bring near any such thing from the hand of a foreigner for offering as the food of your God; for their corruption is in them, they have a defect; they shall not be accepted for you.’ ”

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

“When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be accepted as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to Yahweh.

But, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not slaughter both it and its young in one day.

And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted.

It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until morning; I am Yahweh.

So you shall keep My commandments and do them; I am Yahweh.

“And you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be treated as holy among the sons of Israel; I am Yahweh who makes you holy,

who brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh.”

And when they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them.

And immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed. And as they ran up, they were greeting Him.

And He asked them, “What are you arguing with them?”

And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute;

and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.”

And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!”

And they brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around, foaming at the mouth.

And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.

And it has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”

And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.”

Immediately the boy’s father cried out and was saying, “I do believe; help my unbelief.”

Now when Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again.”

And after crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!”

But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he stood up.

And when He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?”

And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”

From there they went out and were going through Galilee, and He was not wanting anyone to know about it.

For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise again three days later.”

But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

And they came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?”

But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest.

And sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

And taking a child, He set him before them. And taking him in His arms, He said to them,

John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to hinder him because he was not following us.”

But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.

For he who is not against us is for us.

“And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.

And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire,

[and where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.]

And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell,

[and where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.]

And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell,

“For everyone will be salted with fire.