Leviticus 1–3

1 And the Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying: 2 Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When an individual among you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering from the livestock, either from the herd or from the flock.

3 If his offering is a burnt sacrifice, and it is from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. At the door of the tent of meeting, he shall offer it of his own free will before the Lord. 4 Then he shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 5 And he shall slaughter the bull before the Lord, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood on all the sides of the altar that is at the door of the tent of meeting. 6 Then he shall skin the burnt offering and cut it up into parts. 7 The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange the wood on the fire. 8 Then the priests, the sons of Aaron, shall arrange the parts, with the head and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire that is on the altar. 9 But he shall wash its entrails and its legs in water, and the priest shall burn everything on the altar. It is a burnt sacrifice, a food offering made by fire, which is a pleasing aroma for the Lord.

10 If his gift for a burnt offering is from the flocks, whether from the sheep or from the goats, he shall bring a male without blemish. 11 He shall slaughter it at the north side of the altar before the Lord. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall sprinkle its blood on all the sides of the altar. 12 He shall cut it up into parts, with its head and its fat, and the priest shall arrange them on the wood that is on the fire that is on the altar. 13 But he shall wash the entrails and the legs with water. The priest shall bring it all and burn it on the altar. It is a burnt sacrifice, a food offering made by fire, which is a pleasing aroma for the Lord.

14 If his offering to the Lord is a burnt sacrifice of birds, then he shall bring his offering from turtledoves or from young pigeons. 15 The priest shall bring it to the altar, wring off its head, and burn it on the altar. Its blood shall be drained out on the side of the altar. 16 He shall remove its entrails with its feathers and throw it to the east side of the altar to the place of the ashes. 17 And he shall split it open by its wings, but not tear it in two. The priest shall burn it on the altar on the wood that is on the fire. It is a burnt sacrifice, a food offering made by fire, which is a pleasing aroma for the Lord.

Chapter 2

1 When a person offers a grain offering to the Lord, his offering shall be of wheat flour. He shall pour olive oil on it and put frankincense on it. 2 And he shall bring it to the sons of Aaron, the priests, and he shall scoop out a handful of the flour and its oil, along with all its frankincense. And the priest shall burn this memorial portion on the altar, a food offering made by fire, which is a pleasing aroma for the Lord. 3 And the remainder of the grain offering shall belong to Aaron and to his sons, which is a most holy part of the food offerings to the Lord made by fire.

4 When you bring an oven-baked grain offering, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened wafers spread with oil. 5 If your offering is grain on a griddle, it shall be of unleavened wheat flour mixed with olive oil. 6 Break it into pieces and pour oil on it. It is a grain offering. 7 If your offering is grain in a skillet, it shall be made of wheat flour in olive oil. 8 You shall bring the grain offering that is made of these things to the Lord, and when it is presented to the priest, he shall take it to the altar. 9 The priest shall remove a memorial portion from the grain offering and burn it on the altar, a food offering made by fire, which is a pleasing aroma for the Lord. 10 The remainder of the grain offering shall belong to Aaron and to his sons, which is a most holy part of the food offerings to the Lord made by fire.

11 No grain offering that you bring to the Lord shall be made with leaven, for you shall not burn leaven nor any honey as a food offering by fire to the Lord. 12 As an offering of first fruits, you may offer them to the Lord, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing aroma. 13 You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not fail to use the salt of the covenant of your God on your grain offering. With all your offerings you shall offer salt.

14 If you offer a grain offering of your first fruits to the Lord, you shall offer for the grain offering of your first fruits fresh ripe grain roasted by fire, coarsely ground new grain. 15 You shall put olive oil on it and frankincense on it. It is a grain offering. 16 The priest shall burn its memorial portion and some of its coarsely ground new grain and oil, along with all its frankincense as a food offering made by fire to the Lord.

Chapter 3

1 If his offering is a peace sacrifice, and if he is offering from the herd, whether male or female, then he shall offer it without blemish before the Lord. 2 He shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the door of the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood on the sides of the altar. 3 He shall offer from the peace sacrifice, as a food offering made by fire to the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 4 and the two kidneys with the fat that is above them, which is on the loins, and the appendage on the liver which he shall remove with the kidneys. 5 Then the sons of Aaron shall burn it on the altar on the burnt sacrifice that is on the wood that is on the fire, as a food offering made by fire, which is a pleasing aroma for the Lord.

6 If his offering for a peace sacrifice to the Lord is from the flock, male or female, he shall offer it without blemish. 7 If he is offering a sheep for his offering, he shall offer it before the Lord. 8 He shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering and slaughter it before the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood on the sides of the altar. 9 He shall offer from the peace sacrifice, a food offering made by fire for the Lord, its fat, and the whole fatty tail which he shall remove close to the backbone, and the fat that covers the entrails, and all the fat that is on the entrails, 10 and the two kidneys with the fat that is above them, which is on the loins, and the appendage on the liver which he shall remove with the kidneys. 11 The priest shall burn it on the altar as a food offering made by fire for the Lord.

12 If his offering is a goat, he shall offer it before the Lord. 13 He shall lay his hand on its head and slaughter it before the tent of meeting, and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood on the sides of the altar. 14 He shall offer from it as his offering, an offering made by fire for the Lord, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is on the entrails, 15 and the two kidneys with the fat that is above them, which is on the loins, and the appendage on the liver which he shall remove with the kidneys. 16 The priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering made by fire for a pleasing aroma. All the fat belongs to the Lord.

17 As a continual statute for your generations in all your settlements, you shall not eat any fat or any blood.

Matthew 24:1–28

1 Jesus departed from the temple and was leaving when His disciples came to show Him the temple buildings. 2 Jesus answered them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down.”

3 As He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

4 Jesus answered them, “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled. For all these things must happen, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, epidemics, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. And you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 Then many will fall away, and betray one another, and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will rise and will deceive many. 12 Because iniquity will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

15 “So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 Let him who is in the field not return to take his clothes. 19 Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse in those days! 20 Pray that your escape will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then will be great tribulation, such as has not happened since the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.

22 “Unless those days were shortened, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 Listen, I have told you beforehand.

26 “So, if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert,’ do not go there; or, ‘Look, He is in the private chambers,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.”