Leviticus 17–18

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of Israel, and say to them: This is the thing which the Lord has commanded, saying: 3 If anyone of the house of Israel ritually slaughters an ox, a lamb, or goat in the camp, or slaughters it outside of the camp, 4 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord before the tabernacle of the Lord, then blood guilt shall be accounted to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. 5 This is so that the children of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they offer in the open field, even that they may bring them to the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, to the priest, and offer them for peace offerings to the Lord. 6 The priest shall sprinkle the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 7 They shall no more offer their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they have acted like whores. This shall be a perpetual statute for them throughout their generations.

8 You shall say to them: Any man from the house of Israel, or from the foreigners who sojourn among you, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, 9 and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, even that man shall be cut off from among his people.

10 Whoever from the house of Israel, or from the strangers who sojourn among you, who eats any manner of blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your lives; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. 12 Therefore I said to the children of Israel: No person among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

13 Whoever from the children of Israel, or from the foreigners who sojourn among you, who hunts and catches any wild animal or fowl that may be eaten, he shall even pour out the blood and cover it with dirt. 14 For the life of every creature is its blood; in its blood is its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.

15 Every person who eats that which died of itself, or that which was torn by animals, whether he is a native citizen or a foreigner, he shall both wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening. Then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his iniquity.

Chapter 18

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: I am the Lord your God. 3 After the practices of the land of Egypt, from where you lived, you shall not follow, and after the practices of the land of Canaan, to where I will bring you, you shall not follow; nor shall you walk in their ordinances. 4 You shall follow My decrees and keep My ordinances to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. 5 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does them, then he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

6 None of you shall approach any of his near relatives to have relations: I am the Lord.

7 You shall not have relations with your father or have relations with your mother. She is your mother. You shall not have relations with her.

8 You shall not have relations with your father’s wife, for this exposes your father’s nakedness.

9 You shall not have relations with your sister, whether your father’s or mother’s daughter, whether raised in the family or another home.

10 You shall not have relations with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, for this exposes your own nakedness.

11 You shall not have relations with your father’s wife’s daughter who is raised in your father’s family, for she is your sister.

12 You shall not have relations with your father’s sister, for she is your father’s relative.

13 You shall not have relations with your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s relative.

14 You shall not expose the nakedness of your father’s brother. You shall not approach his wife for relations; she is your aunt.

15 You shall not have relations with your daughter-in-law, for she is your son’s wife—you shall not have relations with her.

16 You shall not have relations with your brother’s wife, for this exposes your brother’s nakedness.

17 You shall not have relations with a woman and her daughter, nor shall you have her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, for this exposes the woman’s nakedness. They are all near relatives. It is depravity.

18 And you shall not have a woman as a rival wife, who is the sister of your other wife, for this is to expose her nakedness while her sister, your other wife, is still alive.

19 Also you shall not approach a woman to have relations as long as she is in her menstrual uncleanness.

20 Moreover, you shall not have relations with your neighbor’s wife to defile yourself with her.

21 You shall not let any of your children be offered through the fire to Molek, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

22 You shall not lie with a man as one does with a woman. It is an abomination.

23 You shall not lie with an animal to defile yourself, nor shall any woman lie with an animal. It is a perversion.

24 Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, for in these practices the nations I am casting out before you have defiled themselves. 25 And the land has become defiled; therefore I have punished its iniquity, and the land has vomited out her inhabitants. 26 But you shall therefore keep My statutes and My decrees, and you shall not commit any of these abominations, either the native citizen or any foreigner who sojourns among you 27 (for the people of the land, who were before you, committed all of these abominations, and the land became defiled), 28 lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you.

29 For whoever shall commit any of these abominations, those persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 Therefore you shall keep My ordinances, that you do not commit any one of these abominable customs which were committed before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them: I am the Lord your God.

Matthew 27:27–50

27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium, and gathered the whole detachment of soldiers before Him. 28 They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, 29 and when they wove a crown of thorns, they put it on His head and put a staff in His right hand. They knelt before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 They spit on Him, and took the staff and hit Him on the head. 31 After they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own garments on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.

32 As they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. This man they compelled to bear His cross. 33 When they came to a place called Golgotha, which means The Place of the Skull, 34 they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But when He tasted it, He would not drink it. 35 When they crucified Him, they divided His garments by casting lots to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, “They divided My garments among themselves and for My clothing they cast lots.” 36 And sitting down, they kept watch over Him there. 37 They put His accusation over His head, which read:

THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

38 Then two thieves were crucified with Him, one on the right and another on the left. 39 Those who passed by insulted Him, wagging their heads, 40 saying, “You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” 41 Likewise the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked Him, saying, 42 “He saved others. He cannot save Himself. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. 43 He trusted in God. Let Him deliver Him now, if He will have Him. For He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 Even the thieves who were crucified with Him insulted Him in the same way.

45 Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. 46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

47 Some of those who stood there heard it and said, “This Man is calling for Elijah.”

48 Immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, filled it with wine, and put it on a stick, and gave it to Him to drink. 49 The rest said, “Leave Him alone. Let us see if Elijah will come to save Him.”

50 And Jesus, when He had cried out again with a loud voice, released His spirit.