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7 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Approach the altar and present your sin offering and your burnt offering. Make atonement for yourself and for the people. Then present the offering for the people. Make atonement for them, just as the Lord has commanded.”
8 Aaron approached the altar and slaughtered the calf as a sin offering for himself. 9 Then Aaron’s sons presented the blood to him. After he had dipped his finger in the blood, he put it on the horns of the altar, and he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 10 Then he turned the fat, the kidneys, and the protruding lobe of the liver from the sin offering into smoke upon the altar, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 11 But the meat and the hide were burned with fire outside the camp.
12 After he slaughtered the burnt offering, Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him, and he splashed it against all sides of the altar. 13 They brought the whole burnt offering to him, piece by piece, including the head, and he turned them into smoke on the altar. 14 He washed the inner organs and the legs and turned them into smoke on top of the whole burnt offering that was on the altar.
15 Then he presented the offering for the people. He took the male goat for the sin offering for the people, slaughtered it, and made a sin offering with it as he had done with the first one for himself. 16 He then presented the whole burnt offering and carried out the offering according to the regulations. 17 Next he presented the grain offering. Taking a handful of it, he sent it up in smoke on the altar, in addition to the morning burnt offering. 18 When he had slaughtered the offering of one of the cattle and of the ram as the people’s sacrifice for fellowship offerings, Aaron’s sons brought the blood to him, which he splashed against all sides of the altar, 19 and the fat pieces from the offering of the ox and the ram—the broad tail, the layer of fat, the kidneys, and the protruding lobe of the liver. 20 They laid the fat pieces on the breasts, and he turned the fat pieces into smoke on the altar.
21 Aaron waved the breasts and the right thigh as a wave offering before the Lord, just as Moses had commanded. 22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them. After he had presented the sin offering, the whole burnt offering, and the fellowship offerings, he came down from the altar. 23 Then Moses and Aaron entered the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people, and the Glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. 24 Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat pieces on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell on their faces.
The Penalty for Nadab’s and Abihu’s Disobedience
10 Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his incense pan, put coals on it, and laid incense on it, and they presented unauthorized fire in the Lord’s presence, which was not according to his command. 2 Then fire came out from the Lord’s presence and consumed them. This is how they died in the Lord’s presence.
3 Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord said: ‘I must be treated as holy by those who are near me. I will be glorified in the sight of all the people.’” But Aaron remained silent.
4 Then Moses summoned Mishael and Elzaphan, sons of Uzziel, Aaron’s uncle, and said to them, “Come forward and carry your cousins[a] outside the camp, away from the sanctuary.” 5 They came forward and carried them outside the camp by their tunics, just as Moses had ordered.
6 Then Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons: “Do not dishevel your hair and do not tear your garments, so that you will not die, and so that wrath does not come down on the whole congregation. But your relatives,[b] all the household of Israel, may weep because of the blazing fire that the Lord has ignited. 7 You must not go outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, or you will die, because the anointing oil of the Lord is upon you.” So they did as Moses had ordered.
8 The Lord spoke to Aaron: 9 “When you enter the Tent of Meeting, you and your sons shall not drink any wine or beer,[c] so that you will not die. This is a permanent regulation throughout your generations. 10 You must distinguish between what is holy and what is common, what is unclean and what is clean, 11 and you must teach the Israelites all the statutes that the Lord has spoken to them through Moses.”
12 Moses spoke to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons: “Take the grain offerings that are left over from the offerings for the Lord made by fire,[d] and eat them as unleavened bread beside the altar, for they are most holy. 13 You shall eat them in a holy place, because they are your allotment and the allotment for your sons from offerings for the Lord made by fire, for that is what I have been commanded. 14 But you and your sons, and your daughters as well, may eat the breast that is waved and the thigh that is elevated in any clean place, for they have been assigned as something due to you and to your children as your allotment from the sacrifices of the fellowship offerings of the Israelites. 15 In addition to the offerings made by fire from the fat pieces, they are to bring the thigh that is elevated and the breast that is waved in order to wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. They shall be a permanent allotment for you and for your children with you, just as the Lord has commanded.”
16 When Moses inquired about the goat of the sin offering, he discovered that it had already been burned. He was angry with Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s remaining sons, and said, 17 “Why didn’t you eat the sin offering in the proper place in the sanctuary? It is certainly most holy since the Lord has given it to you for bearing the guilt of the community by making atonement for them in the Lord’s presence. 18 Since its blood was not brought into the inner part of the sanctuary, you definitely should have eaten it in the sanctuary, just as I commanded.”
19 Aaron replied to Moses, “Even though they presented their sin offering and whole burnt offering in the Lord’s presence today, such things have happened to me! Would the Lord have approved if I had eaten the sin offering today?”
20 When Moses heard this, he approved.
Seed Sprouts and Grows
26 He said, “The kingdom of God is like this: A man scatters seed on the ground, 27 and while he sleeps and rises, night and day, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 The ground produces fruit on its own: first the blade, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 When the crop is ready, he swings the sickle without delay, because the harvest has come.”
Mustard Seed
30 Then he said, “To what should we compare the kingdom of God? Or with what parable may we picture it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which when sown on the ground is one of the smallest of all the seeds planted in the ground. 32 Yet when it is planted, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches so that the birds of the sky can nest under its shade.”
33 With many similar parables he continued to speak the word to them, as much as they were able to hear. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable. But when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.
Jesus Calms the Storm
35 On that day, when evening came, Jesus said to them, “Let’s go over to the other side.” 36 After leaving the crowd behind, the disciples took him along in the boat, just as he was. Other small boats also followed him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves were splashing into the boat, so that the boat was quickly filling up. 38 Jesus himself was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to drown?”
39 Then he got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” The wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still lack faith?”
41 They were filled with awe and said to one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
A Demon-Possessed Man and a Herd of Pigs
5 They went to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes.[a] 2 As soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs to meet him. 3 The man lived in the tombs. Nobody could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he pulled the chains apart and broke the shackles in pieces. Nobody had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day, in the tombs and in the mountains, he was constantly crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down in front of him. 7 He cried out with a loud voice, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you to swear by God not to torment me.” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
9 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “because we are many.” 10 He begged Jesus repeatedly that he would not send them out of the region.
11 There was a large herd of pigs there feeding on the hillside. 12 The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs so we may enter them.”
13 Jesus gave them permission. The unclean spirits went out and entered the pigs. Then the herd of about two thousand pigs rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned. 14 Those who were feeding the pigs ran and reported this in the city and the countryside.
People came to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it described for these people what had happened to the demon-possessed man, and they told them about the pigs. 17 They began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to stay with Jesus. 19 But Jesus would not let him. Instead, he told him, “Go home to your people, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you.”
20 The man left and began to proclaim in the Decapolis everything Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom.
His tongue speaks what is just.
31 The law of his God is in his heart.
His steps do not slip.
Review of the Theme
32 The wicked spy on the righteous one and seek to kill him.
33 The Lord will not leave him in their hand.
He will not let him be condemned when he is put on trial.
34 Wait for the Lord and keep to his way.
He will raise you up to take possession of the earth.
When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I saw a wicked, ruthless man.
He was rooted like a green plant in its native soil,
36 but he passed away. Just like that, he was gone!
I searched for him, but he could not be found.
37 Take note of the blameless. Look at the upright.
Yes, there is a future for the man of peace.
38 But rebels will be completely destroyed.
The future of the wicked will be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord.
He is their stronghold in times of stress.
40 The Lord helps them and delivers them.
He delivers them from the wicked.
He saves them, because they have taken refuge in him.
Wise Words and Wise Ways
6 Blessings crown the head of a righteous person,
but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.[a]
7 To remember a righteous person is a blessing,
but the name of the wicked will rot.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.