11‘Now this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which shall be presented to the Lord. 12If he offers it by way of thanksgiving, then along with the sacrifice of thanksgiving he shall offer unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of well stirred fine flour mixed with oil. 13With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving, he shall present his offering with cakes of leavened bread. 14Of this he shall present one of every offering as a contribution to the Lord; it shall belong to the priest who sprinkles the blood of the peace offerings.
15‘Now as for the flesh of the sacrifice of his thanksgiving peace offerings, it shall be eaten on the day of his offering; he shall not leave any of it over until morning. 16But if the sacrifice of his offering is a votive or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and on the next day what is left of it may be eaten; 17but what is left over from the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burned with fire. 18So if any of the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings should ever be eaten on the third day, he who offers it will not be accepted, and it will not be reckoned to his benefit. It shall be an offensive thing, and the person who eats of it will bear his own iniquity.
19‘Also the flesh that touches anything unclean shall not be eaten; it shall be burned with fire. As for other flesh, anyone who is clean may eat such flesh. 20But the person who eats the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the Lord, in his uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from his people. 21When anyone touches anything unclean, whether human uncleanness, or an unclean animal, or any unclean detestable thing, and eats of the flesh of the sacrifice of peace offerings which belong to the Lord, that person shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
22Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 23“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall not eat any fat from an ox, a sheep or a goat. 24Also the fat of an animal which dies and the fat of an animal torn by beasts may be put to any other use, but you must certainly not eat it. 25For whoever eats the fat of the animal from which an offering by fire is offered to the Lord, even the person who eats shall be cut off from his people. 26You are not to eat any blood, either of bird or animal, in any of your dwellings. 27Any person who eats any blood, even that person shall be cut off from his people.’ ”
28Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 29“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the Lord shall bring his offering to the Lord from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. 30His own hands are to bring offerings by fire to the Lord. He shall bring the fat with the breast, that the breast may be presented as a wave offering before the Lord. 31The priest shall offer up the fat in smoke on the altar, but the breast shall belong to Aaron and his sons. 32You shall give the right thigh to the priest as a contribution from the sacrifices of your peace offerings. 33The one among the sons of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat, the right thigh shall be his as his portion. 34For I have taken the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the contribution from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their due forever from the sons of Israel.
35‘This is that which is consecrated to Aaron and that which is consecrated to his sons from the offerings by fire to the Lord, in that day when he presented them to serve as priests to the Lord. 36These the Lord had commanded to be given them from the sons of Israel in the day that He anointed them. It is their due forever throughout their generations.’ ”
37This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering and the sin offering and the guilt offering and the ordination offering and the sacrifice of peace offerings, 38which the Lord commanded Moses at Mount Sinai in the day that He commanded the sons of Israel to present their offerings to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai.
Gate for the Prince
1Then He brought me back by the way of the outer gate of the sanctuary, which faces the east; and it was shut. 2The Lord said to me, “This gate shall be shut; it shall not be opened, and no one shall enter by it, for the Lord God of Israel has entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3As for the prince, he shall sit in it as prince to eat bread before the Lord; he shall enter by way of the porch of the gate and shall go out by the same way.”
4Then He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord, and I fell on my face. 5The Lord said to me, “Son of man, mark well, see with your eyes and hear with your ears all that I say to you concerning all the statutes of the house of the Lord and concerning all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with all exits of the sanctuary. 6You shall say to the rebellious ones, to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel, 7when you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to profane it, even My house, when you offered My food, the fat and the blood; for they made My covenant void—this in addition to all your abominations. 8And you have not kept charge of My holy things yourselves, but you have set foreigners to keep charge of My sanctuary.”
9‘Thus says the Lord God, “No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh, of all the foreigners who are among the sons of Israel, shall enter My sanctuary.
Honor Authority
13Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. 16Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. 17Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.
18Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. 19For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.
1) Why does holiness begin with separation from impurity?
2) How does Ezekiel’s vision mirror Levitical boundaries?
3) How does Peter extend priestly identity to all believers?
God’s Power Shown in Creatures
1“Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?
Or press down his tongue with a cord?
2Can you put a rope in his nose
Or pierce his jaw with a hook?
3Will he make many supplications to you,
Or will he speak to you soft words?
4Will he make a covenant with you?
Will you take him for a servant forever?
5Will you play with him as with a bird,
Or will you bind him for your maidens?
6Will the traders bargain over him?
Will they divide him among the merchants?
7Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
Or his head with fishing spears?
8Lay your hand on him;
Remember the battle; you will not do it again!
9Behold, your expectation is false;
Will you be laid low even at the sight of him?
10No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him;
Who then is he that can stand before Me?
11Who has given to Me that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.
12“I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
Or his mighty strength, or his orderly frame.
13Who can strip off his outer armor?
Who can come within his double mail?
14Who can open the doors of his face?
Around his teeth there is terror.
15His strong scales are his pride,
Shut up as with a tight seal.
16One is so near to another
That no air can come between them.
17They are joined one to another;
They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
18His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19Out of his mouth go burning torches;
Sparks of fire leap forth.
20Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth
As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
22In his neck lodges strength,
And dismay leaps before him.
23The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm on him and immovable.
24His heart is as hard as a stone,
Even as hard as a lower millstone.
25When he raises himself up, the mighty fear;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
26The sword that reaches him cannot avail,
Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.
27He regards iron as straw,
Bronze as rotten wood.
28The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
29Clubs are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
30His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.
31He makes the depths boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
32Behind him he makes a wake to shine;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
33Nothing on earth is like him,
One made without fear.
34He looks on everything that is high;
He is king over all the sons of pride.”
Idolatrous Worship Denounced
1And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2“Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them 3and say, ‘Mountains of Israel, listen to the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the ravines and the valleys: “Behold, I Myself am going to bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places. 4So your altars will become desolate and your incense altars will be smashed; and I will make your slain fall in front of your idols. 5I will also lay the dead bodies of the sons of Israel in front of their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6In all your dwellings, cities will become waste and the high places will be desolate, that your altars may become waste and desolate, your idols may be broken and brought to an end, your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be blotted out. 7The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord.
8“However, I will leave a remnant, for you will have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the countries. 9Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations to which they will be carried captive, how I have been hurt by their adulterous hearts which turned away from Me, and by their eyes which played the harlot after their idols; and they will loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed, for all their abominations. 10Then they will know that I am the Lord; I have not said in vain that I would inflict this disaster on them.” ’
11“Thus says the Lord God, ‘Clap your hand, stamp your foot and say, “Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, which will fall by sword, famine and plague! 12He who is far off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus will I spend My wrath on them. 13Then you will know that I am the Lord, when their slain are among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, under every green tree and under every leafy oak—the places where they offered soothing aroma to all their idols. 14So throughout all their habitations I will stretch out My hand against them and make the land more desolate and waste than the wilderness toward Diblah; thus they will know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”