An Annual Atonement
29“This shall be a permanent 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 alien who sojourns among you; 30for it is on this day that atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before the Lord. 31It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may humble your souls; it is a permanent statute. 32So the priest who is anointed and ordained to serve as priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on the linen garments, the holy garments, 33and 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. 34Now you shall have this as a permanent statute, to make atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so he did.
Blood for Atonement
1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Lord has commanded, saying, 3“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, 4and has not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguiltiness is to be reckoned to that man. He has shed blood and that man shall be cut off from among his people. 5The 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 the Lord, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. 6The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and offer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to the Lord. 7They shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a permanent statute to them throughout their generations.” ’
8“Then you shall say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9and does not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man also shall be cut off from his people.
10‘And any man from the house of Israel, or from the aliens 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. 11For 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 by reason of the life that makes atonement.’ 12Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, nor may any alien who sojourns among you eat blood.’ 13So when any man from the sons of Israel, or from the aliens who sojourn among them, in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, he shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.
14“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.’ 15When any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or an alien, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean. 16But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his guilt.”
Laws on Immoral Relations
1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘I am the Lord your God. 3You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. 4You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God. 5So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord.
6‘None of you shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover nakedness; I am the Lord. 7You 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. 8You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. 9The 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. 10The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for their nakedness is yours. 11The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, she is your sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 12You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative. 13You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative. 14You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; you shall not approach his wife, she is your aunt. 15You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. 17You 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. 18You shall not marry a woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.
19‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity. 20You shall not have intercourse with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her. 21You shall not give any of your offspring to offer them to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God; I am the Lord. 22You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination. 23Also you shall not have intercourse with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to mate with it; it is a perversion.
24‘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. 25For the land has become defiled, therefore I have brought its punishment upon it, so the land has spewed out its inhabitants. 26But as for you, you are to keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native, nor the alien who sojourns among you 27(for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled); 28so that the land will not spew you out, should you defile it, as it has spewed out the nation which has been before you. 29For whoever does any of these abominations, those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people. 30Thus you are to keep My charge, that you do not practice any of the abominable customs which have been practiced before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; I am the Lord your God.’ ”
The Syrophoenician Woman
24Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice. 25But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28But she answered and *said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” 29And He said to her, “Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” 30And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left.
31Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis. 32They *brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they *implored Him to lay His hand on him. 33Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; 34and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” 35And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. 36And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. 37They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”
Four Thousand Fed
1In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and *said to them, 2“I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.” 4And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” 5And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” 6And He *directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people. 7They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well. 8And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. 9About four thousand were there; and He sent them away. 10And immediately He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of Dalmanutha.
PSALM 41
The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
1How blessed is he who considers the helpless;
The Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble.
2The Lord will protect him and keep him alive,
And he shall be called blessed upon the earth;
And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You restore him to health.
4As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”
5My enemies speak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6And when he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he tells it.
7All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they devise my hurt, saying,
8“A wicked thing is poured out upon him,
That when he lies down, he will not rise up again.”
9Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
10But You, O Lord, be gracious to me and raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11By this I know that You are pleased with me,
Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
12As for me, You uphold me in my integrity,
And You set me in Your presence forever.
13Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
15The rich man’s wealth is his fortress,
The ruin of the poor is their poverty.
16The wages of the righteous is life,
The income of the wicked, punishment.