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7 (A) Aaron, step up to the altar and offer the sacrifice to please the Lord, then offer the sacrifices for the forgiveness of your sins and for the sins of the people, just as the Lord has commanded.
8 Aaron stepped up to the altar and killed the bull that was to be the sacrifice for his sins. 9 His sons brought him the blood. He dipped a finger in it, smeared some on the four corners of the bronze altar, and poured out the rest at its foot. 10 But he sent up in smoke the fat, the kidneys, and the lower part of the liver, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 11 Then Aaron burned the skin and the flesh outside the camp.
12 After Aaron had killed the ram that was sacrificed to please the Lord, Aaron's sons brought him the blood, and he splattered it against all four sides of the altar. 13 They brought him each piece of the animal, including the head, and he burned them all on the altar. 14 He washed the insides and the hind legs and also sent them up in smoke.
15 Next, Aaron sacrificed the goat for the sins of the people, as he had done with the sacrifice for his own sins. 16 And so, he burned this sacrifice on the altar in the proper way. 17 He also presented the grain sacrifice and burned a handful of the flour on the altar as part of the morning sacrifice.
18 (B) Finally, he killed the bull and the ram as a sacrifice to ask the Lord's blessing on the people. Aaron's sons brought him the blood, and he splattered it against the four sides of the altar. 19 His sons placed all the fat, as well as the kidneys and the lower part of the liver 20 on top of the choice ribs. 21 Then Aaron burned the fat on the altar and lifted up[a] the ribs and the right hind leg to show that these were dedicated to the Lord. This was done just as the Lord had instructed Moses.
22 (C) Aaron held out his hand and gave the people his blessing, before coming down from the bronze altar where he had offered the sacrifices. 23 He and Moses went into the sacred tent, and when they came out, they gave the people their blessing. Then the Lord appeared to the people in all of his glory. 24 The Lord sent fiery flames that burned up everything on the altar, and when everyone saw this, they shouted and fell to their knees to worship the Lord.
Nadab and Abihu
10 Nadab and Abihu were two of Aaron's sons, but they disobeyed the Lord by burning incense to him on a fire pan, when they were not supposed to.[b] 2 Suddenly the Lord sent fiery flames and burned them to death. 3 Then Moses told Aaron that this was exactly what the Lord had meant when he said:
“I demand respect
from my priests,
and I will be praised
by everyone!”
Aaron was speechless.
4 Moses sent for Mishael and Elzaphan, the two sons of Aaron's uncle Uzziel. Then he told them, “Take these two dead relatives of yours outside the camp far from the entrance to the sacred tent.” 5 So they dragged the dead men away by their clothes.
6 Then Moses told Aaron and his other two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar:
Don't show your sorrow by messing up your hair and tearing your priestly clothes, or the Lord will get angry. He will kill the three of you and punish everyone else. It's all right for your relatives, the people of Israel, to mourn for those he destroyed by fire. 7 But you are the Lord's chosen priests, and you must not leave the sacred tent, or you will die.
Aaron and his two sons obeyed Moses.
8 The Lord said to Aaron:
9 When you or your sons enter the sacred tent, you must never drink beer or wine. If you do, you will die right there! This law will never change. 10 You must learn the difference between what is holy and what isn't holy and between the clean and the unclean. 11 You must also teach the people of Israel everything that I commanded Moses to say to them.
12 (D) Moses told Aaron and his two sons, Eleazar and Ithamar:
The grain sacrifice that was offered to give thanks to the Lord[c] is very holy. So make bread without yeast from the part that wasn't sent up in smoke and eat it beside the altar. 13 The Lord has said that this belongs to you and your sons, and that it must be eaten in a holy place. 14-15 (E) But the choice ribs and the hind leg that were lifted up[d] may be eaten by your entire family, as long as you do so in an acceptable place.[e] These parts are yours from the sacrifices that the people offer to ask the Lord's blessing.[f] This is what the Lord has commanded, and it will never change.
16 When Moses asked around and learned that the ram for the sin sacrifice had already been burned on the altar, he became angry with Eleazar and Ithamar and said, 17 (F) “Why didn't you eat the meat from this sacrifice in an acceptable place? It is very holy, and the Lord has given you this sacrifice to remove Israel's sin and guilt. 18 Whenever an animal's blood isn't brought into the sacred tent, I commanded you to eat its meat in an acceptable place, but you burned it instead.”
19 Their father Aaron replied, “Today two of my sons offered the sacrifice for sin and the sacrifice to please the Lord, and look what has happened to me! Would the Lord have approved if I had eaten the sacrifice for sin?”
20 Moses was satisfied with Aaron's reply.
Another Story about Seeds
26 Again Jesus said:
God's kingdom is like what happens when a farmer scatters seed in a field. 27 The farmer sleeps at night and is up and around during the day. Yet the seeds keep sprouting and growing, and he doesn't understand how. 28 It is the ground that makes the seeds sprout and grow into plants that produce grain. 29 (A) Then when harvest season comes and the grain is ripe, the farmer cuts it with a sickle.[a]
A Mustard Seed
(Matthew 13.31,32; Luke 13.18,19)
30 Finally, Jesus said:
What is God's kingdom like? What story can I use to explain it? 31 It is like what happens when a mustard seed is planted in the ground. It is the smallest seed in all the world. 32 But once it is planted, it grows larger than any garden plant. It even puts out branches that are big enough for birds to nest in its shade.
The Reason for Teaching with Stories
(Matthew 13.34,35)
33 Jesus used many other stories when he spoke to the people, and he taught them as much as they could understand. 34 He did not tell them anything without using stories. But when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.
A Storm
(Matthew 8.23-27; Luke 8.22-25)
35 That evening, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let's cross to the east side.” 36 So they left the crowd, and his disciples started across the lake with him in the boat. Some other boats followed along. 37 Suddenly a storm struck the lake. Waves started splashing into the boat, and it was about to sink.
38 Jesus was in the back of the boat with his head on a pillow, and he was asleep. His disciples woke him and said, “Teacher, don't you care that we're about to drown?”
39 Jesus got up and ordered the wind and the waves to be quiet. The wind stopped, and everything was calm.
40 Jesus asked his disciples, “Why were you afraid? Don't you have any faith?”
41 Now they were more afraid than ever and said to each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
A Man with Evil Spirits
(Matthew 8.28-34; Luke 8.26-39)
5 Jesus and his disciples crossed Lake Galilee and came to shore near the town of Gerasa.[b] 2 When he was getting out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit quickly ran to him 3 from the graveyard[c] where he had been living. No one was able to tie the man up anymore, not even with a chain. 4 He had often been put in chains and leg irons, but he broke the chains and smashed the leg irons. No one could control him. 5 Night and day he was in the graveyard or on the hills, yelling and cutting himself with stones.
6 When the man saw Jesus in the distance, he ran up to him and knelt down. 7 He shouted, “Jesus, Son of God in heaven, what do you want with me? Promise me in God's name that you won't torture me!” 8 The man said this because Jesus had already told the evil spirit to come out of him.
9 Jesus asked, “What is your name?”
The man answered, “My name is Lots, because I have ‘lots’ of evil spirits.” 10 He then begged Jesus not to send them away.
11 Over on the hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. 12 So the evil spirits begged Jesus, “Send us into those pigs! Let us go into them.” 13 Jesus let them go, and they went out of the man and into the pigs. The whole herd of about 2,000 pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
14 The men taking care of the pigs ran to the town and the farms to spread the news. Then the people came out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had once been full of demons. He was sitting there with his clothes on and in his right mind, and they were terrified.
16 Everyone who had seen what had happened told about the man and the pigs. 17 Then the people started begging Jesus to leave their part of the country.
18 When Jesus was getting into the boat, the man begged to go with him. 19 But Jesus would not let him. Instead, he said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how good he has been to you.”
20 The man went away into the region near the ten cities known as Decapolis[d] and began telling everyone how much Jesus had done for him. Everyone who heard what had happened was amazed.
30 Words of wisdom come
when good people speak
for justice.
31 They remember God's teachings,
and they never take
a wrong step.
32 The wicked try to trap
and kill good people,
33 but the Lord is on their side,
and he will defend them
when they are on trial.
34 Trust the Lord and follow him.
He will give you the land,
and you will see
the wicked destroyed.
35 I have seen brutal people
abuse others and grow strong
like trees in rich soil.[a]
36 Suddenly they disappeared!
I looked, but they were gone
and no longer there.
37 Think of the bright future
waiting for all the families
of honest, innocent,
and peace-loving people.
38 But not a trace will be left
of the wicked
or their families.
39 The Lord protects his people,
and they can come to him
in times of trouble.
40 The Lord helps his people
and saves them from the wicked
because they run to him.
6 Everyone praises good people,
but evil hides behind
the words of the wicked.
7 Good people are remembered
long after they are gone,
but the wicked
are soon forgotten.
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