To The Word – Day 28

₁The day after the ordination rites were completed, Moses called Aaron and his sons and the leaders of Israel. ₂He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull and a ram without any defects and offer them to the LORD, the bull for a sin offering and the ram for a burnt offering. ₃Then tell the people of Israel to take a male goat for a sin offering, a one-year-old calf, and a one-year-old lamb without any defects for a burnt offering, ₄and a bull and a ram for a fellowship offering. They are to sacrifice them to the LORD with the grain offering mixed with oil. They must do this because the LORD will appear to them today.”

₅They brought to the front of the Tent everything that Moses had commanded, and the whole community assembled there to worship the LORD. ₆Moses said, “The LORD has commanded you to do all this, so that the dazzling light of his presence can appear to you.” ₇Then he said to Aaron, “Go to the altar and offer the sin offering and the burnt offering to take away your sins and the sins of the people. Present this offering to take away the sins of the people, just as the LORD commanded.”

₈Aaron went to the altar and killed the young bull which was for his own sin offering. ₉His sons brought him the blood, and he dipped his finger in it, put some of it on the projections at the corners of the altar, and poured out the rest of it at the base of the altar. ₁₀Then he burnt on the altar the fat, the kidneys, and the best part of the liver, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. ₁₁But he burnt the meat and the skin outside the camp.

₁₂He killed the animal which was for his own burnt offering. His sons brought him the blood, and he threw it on all four sides of the altar. ₁₃They handed him the head and the other pieces of the animal, and he burnt them on the altar. ₁₄Then he washed the internal organs and the hind legs and burnt them on the altar on top of the rest of the burnt offering.

₁₅After that, he presented the people's offerings. He took the goat that was to be offered for the people's sins, killed it, and offered it, as he had done with his own sin offering. ₁₆He also brought the animal for the burnt offering and offered it according to the regulations. ₁₇He presented the grain offering and took a handful of flour and burnt it on the altar. (This was in addition to the daily burnt offering.) ₁₈He killed the bull and the ram as a fellowship offering for the people. His sons brought him the blood, and he threw it on all four sides of the altar. ₁₉Aaron put the fat parts of the bull and the ram ₂₀on top of the breasts of the animals and carried it all to the altar. He burnt the fat on the altar ₂₁and presented the breasts and the right hind legs as the special gift to the LORD for the priests, as Moses had commanded.

₂₂When Aaron had finished all the sacrifices, he raised his hands over the people and blessed them, and then stepped down. ₂₃Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of the LORD's presence, and when they came out, they blessed the people, and the dazzling light of the LORD's presence appeared to all the people. ₂₄Suddenly the LORD sent a fire, and it consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar. When the people saw it, they all shouted and bowed down with their faces to the ground.

₁Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu, each took his firepan, put live coals in it, added incense, and presented it to the LORD. But this fire was not holy, because the LORD had not commanded them to present it. ₂Suddenly the LORD sent fire, and it burnt them to death there in the presence of the LORD. ₃Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD was speaking about when he said, ‘All who serve me must respect my holiness; I will reveal my glory to my people.’ ” But Aaron remained silent.

₄Moses called Mishael and Elzaphan, the sons of Uzziel, Aaron's uncle, and said to them, “Come here and carry your cousins' bodies away from the sacred Tent and put them outside the camp.” ₅So they came and took hold of the clothing on the corpses and carried them outside the camp, just as Moses had commanded.

₆Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, “Do not leave your hair uncombed or tear your clothes to show that you are in mourning. If you do, you will die, and the LORD will be angry with the whole community. But all your fellow-Israelites are allowed to mourn this death caused by the fire which the LORD sent. ₇Do not leave the entrance of the Tent or you will die, because you have been consecrated by the anointing oil of the LORD.” So they did as Moses said.

₈The LORD said to Aaron, ₉“You and your sons are not to enter the Tent of my presence after drinking wine or beer; if you do, you will die. This is a law to be kept by all your descendants. ₁₀You must distinguish between what belongs to God and what is for general use, between what is ritually clean and what is unclean. ₁₁You must teach the people of Israel all the laws which I have given to you through Moses.”

₁₂Moses said to Aaron and his two remaining sons, Eleazar and Ithamar, “Take the grain offering that is left over from the food offered to the LORD, make unleavened bread with it and eat it beside the altar, because this offering is very holy. ₁₃Eat it in a holy place; it is the part that belongs to you and your sons from the food offered to the LORD. That is what the LORD commanded me. ₁₄But you and your families may eat the breast and the hind leg that are presented as the special gift and the special contribution to the LORD for the priests. You may eat them in any ritually clean place. These offerings have been given to you and your children as the part that belongs to you from the fellowship offerings of the people of Israel. ₁₅They shall bring the hind leg and the breast at the time the fat is presented as a food offering to the LORD. These parts belong to you and your children for ever, just as the LORD commanded.”

₁₆Moses asked about the goat for the sin offering and learnt that it had already been burnt. This made him angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, and he demanded, ₁₇“Why didn't you eat the sin offering in a sacred place? It is very holy, and the LORD has given it to you in order to take away the sin of the community. ₁₈Since its blood was not brought into the sacred tent, you should have eaten the sacrifice there, as I commanded.”

₁₉Aaron answered, “If I had eaten the sin offering today, would the LORD have approved? The people presented their sin offering to the LORD today, and they brought their burnt offering, but still these terrible things have happened to me.” ₂₀When Moses heard this, he was satisfied.

₁The Lord gave Moses and Aaron the following regulations ₂for the people of Israel. You may eat any land animal ₃that has divided hoofs and that also chews the cud, _4-6but you must not eat camels, rock-badgers, or rabbits. They must be considered unclean; they chew the cud, but do not have divided hoofs. ₇Do not eat pigs. They must be considered unclean; they have divided hoofs, but do not chew the cud. ₈Do not eat these animals or even touch their dead bodies; they are unclean.

₉You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales, ₁₀but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales must not be eaten. ₁₁Such creatures must be considered unclean. You must not eat them or even touch their dead bodies. ₁₂You must not eat anything that lives in the water and does not have fins and scales.

_13-19You must not eat any of the following birds: eagles, owls, hawks, falcons; buzzards, vultures, crows; ostriches; seagulls, storks, herons, pelicans, cormorants; hoopoes; or bats.

₂₀All winged insects are unclean, ₂₁except those that hop. ₂₂You may eat locusts, crickets, or grasshoppers. ₂₃But all other small things that have wings and also crawl must be considered unclean.

_24-28Whoever touches the dead bodies of the following animals will be unclean until evening: all animals with hoofs, unless their hoofs are divided and they chew the cud, and all four-footed animals with paws. Whoever carries their dead bodies must wash his clothes, but he will still be unclean until evening.

_29-30Moles, rats, mice, and lizards must be considered unclean. ₃₁Whoever touches them or their dead bodies will be unclean until evening. ₃₂And if their dead bodies fall on anything, it will be unclean. This applies to any article of wood, cloth, leather, or sacking, no matter what it is used for. It shall be dipped in water, but it will remain unclean until evening. ₃₃And if their bodies fall into a clay pot, everything that is in it shall be unclean, and you must break the pot. ₃₄Any food which could normally be eaten, but on which water from such a pot has been poured, will be unclean, and anything drinkable in such a pot is unclean. ₃₅Anything on which the dead bodies fall is unclean; a clay stove or oven shall be broken, ₃₆but a spring or a cistern remains clean, although anything else that touches their dead bodies is unclean. ₃₇If one of them falls on seed that is going to be sown, the seed remains clean. ₃₈But if the seed is soaking in water and one of them falls on it, the seed is unclean.

₃₉If any animal that may be eaten dies, anyone who touches it will be unclean until evening. ₄₀And if anyone eats any part of the animal, he must wash his clothes, but he will still be unclean until evening; anyone who carries the dead body must wash his clothes, but he will still be unclean until evening.

₄₁You must not eat any of the small animals that move on the ground, ₄₂whether they crawl, or walk on four legs, or have many legs. ₄₃Do not make yourselves unclean by eating any of these. ₄₄I am the LORD your God, and you must keep yourselves holy, because I am holy. ₄₅I am the LORD who brought you out of Egypt so that I could be your God. You must be holy, because I am holy.

₄₆This, then, is the law about animals and birds, about everything that lives in the water, and everything that moves on the ground. ₄₇You must be careful to distinguish between what is ritually clean and unclean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.

₁The LORD gave Moses the following regulations ₂for the people of Israel. For seven days after a woman gives birth to a son, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period. ₃On the eighth day, the child shall be circumcised. ₄Then it will be 33 more days before she is ritually clean from her loss of blood; she must not touch anything that is holy or enter the sacred Tent until the time of her purification is completed.

₅For fourteen days after a woman gives birth to a daughter, she is ritually unclean, as she is during her monthly period. Then it will be 66 more days before she is ritually clean from her loss of blood.

₆When the time of her purification is completed, whether for a son or daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the Tent of the LORD's presence a one-year-old lamb for a burnt offering and a pigeon or a dove for a sin offering. ₇The priest shall present her offering to the Lord and perform the ritual to take away her impurity, and she will be ritually clean. This, then, is what a woman must do after giving birth.

₈If the woman cannot afford a lamb, she shall bring two doves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, and the priest shall perform the ritual to take away her impurity, and she will be ritually clean.

₁Every high priest is chosen from his fellow-men and appointed to serve God on their behalf, to offer sacrifices and offerings for sins. ₂Since he himself is weak in many ways, he is able to be gentle with those who are ignorant and make mistakes. ₃And because he is himself weak, he must offer sacrifices not only for the sins of the people but also for his own sins. ₄No one chooses for himself the honour of being a high priest. It is only by God's call that a man is made a high priest — just as Aaron was.

₅In the same way, Christ did not take upon himself the honour of being a high priest. Instead, God said to him:

₇In his life on earth Jesus made his prayers and requests with loud cries and tears to God, who could save him from death. Because he was humble and devoted, God heard him. ₈But even though he was God's Son, he learnt through his sufferings to be obedient. ₉When he was made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him, ₁₀and God declared him to be high priest, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.

₁₁There is much we have to say about this matter, but it is hard to explain to you, because you are so slow to understand. ₁₂There has been enough time for you to be teachers — yet you still need someone to teach you the first lessons of God's message. Instead of eating solid food, you still have to drink milk. ₁₃Anyone who has to drink milk is still a child, without any experience in the matter of right and wrong. ₁₄Solid food, on the other hand, is for adults, who through practice are able to distinguish between good and evil.

₁Let us go forward, then, to mature teaching and leave behind us the first lessons of the Christian message. We should not lay again the foundation of turning away from useless works and believing in God; ₂of the teaching about baptisms and the laying on of hands; of the resurrection of the dead and the eternal judgement. ₃Let us go forward! And this is what we will do, if God allows.

₄For how can those who abandon their faith be brought back to repent again? They were once in God's light; they tasted heaven's gift and received their share of the Holy Spirit; ₅they knew from experience that God's word is good, and they had felt the powers of the coming age. ₆And then they abandoned their faith! It is impossible to bring them back to repent again, because they are again crucifying the Son of God and exposing him to public shame.

₇God blesses the soil which drinks in the rain that often falls on it and which grows plants that are useful to those for whom it is cultivated. ₈But if it grows thorns and weeds, it is worth nothing; it is in danger of being cursed by God and will be destroyed by fire.

₉But even if we speak like this, dear friends, we feel sure about you. We know that you have the better blessings that belong to your salvation. ₁₀God is not unfair. He will not forget the work you did or the love you showed for him in the help you gave and are still giving to your fellow-Christians. ₁₁Our great desire is that each of you keep up your eagerness to the end, so that the things you hope for will come true. ₁₂We do not want you to become lazy, but to be like those who believe and are patient, and so receive what God has promised.

₁₃When God made his promise to Abraham, he made a vow to do what he had promised. Since there was no one greater than himself, he used his own name when he made his vow. ₁₄He said, “I promise you that I will bless you and give you many descendants.” ₁₅Abraham was patient, and so he received what God had promised. ₁₆When people make vows, they use the name of someone greater than themselves, and the vow settles all arguments. ₁₇To those who were to receive what he promised, God wanted to make it very clear that he would never change his purpose; so he added his vow to the promise. ₁₈There are these two things, then, that cannot change and about which God cannot lie. So we who have found safety with him are greatly encouraged to hold firmly to the hope placed before us. ₁₉We have this hope as an anchor for our lives. It is safe and sure, and goes through the curtain of the heavenly temple into the inner sanctuary. ₂₀On our behalf Jesus has gone in there before us, and has become a high priest for ever, in the priestly order of Melchizedek.