Leviticus 15 - 16, Acts 9:36-10:48, Psalms 81 - 82

Statute for Cleansing Bodily Discharges

15Yahweh also spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^aWhen any man has a discharge from his ¹body, ²his discharge is unclean. ³‘This, moreover, shall be his uncleanness in his discharge: it is his uncleanness whether his body allows its discharge to flow or whether his body obstructs its discharge. ⁴‘Every bed on which the person with the discharge lies becomes unclean, and everything on which he sits becomes unclean. ⁵‘Anyone, moreover, who touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening; ⁶and whoever sits on the thing on which the man with the discharge has been sitting shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ⁷‘Also whoever touches the ¹person with the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ⁸‘Or if the man with the discharge spits on one who is clean, he too shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ⁹‘Every saddle on which the person with the discharge rides becomes unclean. ¹⁰‘Whoever then touches any of the things which were under him shall be unclean until evening, and he who carries them shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ¹¹‘Likewise, whomever the one with the discharge touches without having rinsed his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ¹²‘However, an ^aearthenware vessel which the person with the discharge touches shall be broken, and every wooden vessel shall be rinsed in water.

¹³‘Now when the man with the discharge becomes cleansed from his discharge, then he ^ashall count off for himself seven days for his cleansing; he shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in ¹running water and will become clean. ¹⁴‘Then on the eighth day he shall take for himself ^atwo turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before Yahweh to the doorway of the tent of meeting and give them to the priest; ¹⁵and the priest shall offer them, ^aone for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. So ^bthe priest shall make atonement on his behalf before Yahweh because of his discharge.

¹⁶‘^aNow if a ¹man has a seminal emission, he shall bathe all his body in water and be unclean until evening. ¹⁷‘As for any garment or any leather on which there is seminal emission, it shall be washed with water and be unclean until evening. ¹⁸‘If there is a woman with whom a man lies so that there is a seminal emission, they shall both bathe in water and be ^aunclean until evening.

¹⁹‘^aIf a woman has a discharge, and her discharge in her body is blood, she shall continue in her menstrual impurity for seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. ²⁰‘Everything also on which she lies during her menstrual impurity shall be unclean, and everything on which she sits shall be unclean. ²¹‘And anyone who touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ²²‘And whoever touches any thing on which she sits shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ²³‘Whether it be on the bed or on the thing on which she is sitting, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. ²⁴‘^aIf a man actually lies with her so that her menstrual impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days, and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

²⁵‘^aNow if a woman has a discharge of her blood many days, not at the period of her menstrual impurity, or if she has a discharge beyond ¹that period, all the days of her unclean discharge she shall continue as though ²in her menstrual impurity; she is unclean. ²⁶‘Any bed on which she lies all the days of her discharge shall be to her like ¹her bed at menstruation; and every thing on which she sits shall be unclean, like her uncleanness from her menstrual impurity. ²⁷‘Likewise, whoever touches them shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until evening. ²⁸‘Now if she becomes clean from her discharge, she shall count off for herself seven days; and afterward she will be clean. ²⁹‘Then on the eighth day she shall take for herself two turtledoves or two young pigeons and bring them in to the priest, to the doorway of the tent of meeting. ³⁰‘And the priest shall ¹offer the ^aone for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. So the priest shall make atonement on her behalf before Yahweh because of her unclean discharge.’

³¹“Thus you shall keep the sons of Israel separated from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in their uncleanness by ^amaking My ¹tabernacle that is among them unclean.” ³²This is the law for the one with a discharge, and for the man ¹who has a seminal emission so that he is unclean by it, ³³and for the woman who is ill because of menstrual impurity, and for the one who has a discharge, whether a male or a female, or a man who lies with an unclean woman.

The Day of Atonement

16Now Yahweh spoke to Moses after ^athe death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came near the presence of Yahweh and died. ²And Yahweh said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he shall not enter ^aat any time into the holy place inside the veil, before the ¹mercy seat which is on the ark, so that he will not die; for ^bI will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. ³“Aaron shall enter the holy place with this: with a bull from the herd for a ^asin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴“He shall put on the ^aholy linen tunic, and the linen undergarments shall be next to his ¹body, and he shall be girded with the linen sash and attired with the linen turban (these are holy garments). Then he shall ^bbathe his ²body in water and put them on. ⁵“And he shall take from the congregation of the sons of Israel ^atwo male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. ⁶“Then ^aAaron shall bring near the bull for the sin offering which is for himself, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household. ⁷“And he shall take the two goats and present them before Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ⁸“And Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Yahweh and the other lot for the ¹scapegoat. ⁹“Then Aaron shall bring near the goat on which the lot for Yahweh fell, and he shall offer it as a sin offering. ¹⁰“But the goat on which the lot for the ¹scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before Yahweh, to make ^aatonement upon it, to send it out into the wilderness as the ²scapegoat.

¹¹“Then Aaron shall bring near the bull of the sin offering, ^awhich is for himself, and make atonement for himself and ^bfor his household, and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering which is for himself. ¹²“And he shall take a ^afirepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before Yahweh and ¹two handfuls of finely ground ^bfragrant incense, and bring it inside the veil. ¹³“And he shall put the incense on the fire before Yahweh, that the cloud of incense may cover the ^amercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, ^bso that he will not die. ¹⁴“Moreover, ^ahe shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it ^bwith his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

¹⁵“Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering ^awhich is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull. And he shall sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. ¹⁶“^aSo he shall make atonement for the holy place because of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their uncleanness. ¹⁷“Now when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel. ¹⁸“Then he shall go out to the altar that is before Yahweh and make atonement for it. And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the blood of the goat, and ^aput it on the horns of the altar on all sides. ¹⁹“^aWith his finger he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it seven times and cleanse it and set it apart as holy from the uncleanness of the sons of Israel.

²⁰“And when he finishes making atonement for the holy place and the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring near the live goat. ²¹“Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and ^aconfess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions ¹in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it out into the wilderness by the hand of a man ready to do this. ²²“And the goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an isolated land; and he shall send out the goat in the wilderness.

²³“Then Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting and take off ^athe linen garments which he put on when he went into the holy place and shall leave them there. ²⁴“^aAnd he shall bathe his ¹body with water in a holy place and put on ^bhis clothes and come forth, and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵“Then he shall offer up in smoke the fat of the sin offering on the altar. ²⁶“And the one who sent the goat out as the ¹scapegoat ^ashall wash his clothes and bathe his ²body with water; then afterward he shall come into the camp. ²⁷“But the bull of the sin offering and the goat of the sin offering, ^awhose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be taken outside the camp, and they shall burn their hides, their flesh, and their refuse in the fire. ²⁸“Then the ^aone who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body with water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.

²⁹“And this shall be a perpetual statute for you: ^ain the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall humble your souls and not ^bdo any work, whether the native or the sojourner who sojourns among you; ³⁰for it is on this day that ¹atonement shall be made for you to ^acleanse you; you will be clean from all your sins before Yahweh. ³¹“It is to be a sabbath of solemn rest for you, that you may ^ahumble your souls; it is a perpetual statute. ³²“So the priest who is anointed and ¹ordained to minister as a priest in his father’s place shall make atonement: he shall thus put on ^athe linen garments, the holy garments, ³³and make atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar. He shall also make atonement for ^athe priests and for all the people of the assembly. ³⁴“Now you shall have this as a ^aperpetual statute, to ^bmake atonement for the sons of Israel for all their sins once every year.” And just as Yahweh had commanded Moses, so he did.

Peter Raises Tabitha to Life

³⁶Now in ^aJoppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated is called ¹Dorcas). This woman was full of good works and charity which she continually did. ³⁷And it happened ¹at that time that she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her body, they laid it in an ^aupper room. ³⁸Now since Lydda was near ^aJoppa, ^bthe disciples, having heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him, pleading with him, “Do not delay in coming to us.” ³⁹So Peter arose and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the ^aupper room; and all the ^bwidows stood beside him, crying and showing all the ¹tunics and garments that Dorcas used to make while she was with them. ⁴⁰But Peter ^asent them all out and ^bknelt down and prayed, and turning to the body, he said, “^cTabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. ⁴¹And he gave her his hand and raised her up. And calling ^athe ¹saints and ^bwidows, he presented her alive. ⁴²And it became known all over ^aJoppa, and ^bmany believed in the Lord. ⁴³And it happened that he stayed many days in ^aJoppa with ^ba tanner named Simon.

Cornelius’ and Peter’s Visions

10Now there was a man at ^aCaesarea named Cornelius, a centurion of what was ^bcalled the Italian ¹cohort, ²a devout man and ^aone who feared God with all his household, and ^bgave many ¹alms to the people and prayed to God continually. ³About ^athe ¹ninth hour of the day he clearly saw ^bin a vision ^can angel of God who had come in and said to him, “Cornelius!” ⁴And ^alooking intently on him and becoming afraid, he said, “What is it, Lord?” And he said to him, “Your prayers and ¹alms ^bhave ascended ^cas a memorial before God. ⁵“Now send some men to ^aJoppa and summon a man named Simon, who is also called Peter; ⁶he is lodging with a tanner named ^aSimon, whose house is by the sea.” ⁷And when the angel who was speaking to him had left, he called two of his servants and a devout soldier of those who were his personal attendants, ⁸and after he explained everything to them, he sent them to ^aJoppa.

⁹And on the next day, as they were on their way and approaching the city, ^aPeter went up on ^bthe housetop about ^cthe ¹sixth hour to pray. ¹⁰But he became hungry and was desiring to eat. And while they were making preparations, he ^afell into a trance ¹¹and *saw ^aheaven opened up, and ¹an object like a great sheet coming down, lowered by four corners to the ground, ¹²and there were in it all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the ¹sky. ¹³And a voice came to him, “Rise up, Peter, ¹slaughter and eat!” ¹⁴But Peter said, “By no means, ^aLord, for ^bI have never eaten anything defiled and unclean.” ¹⁵Again a voice came to him a second time, “^aWhat God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.” ¹⁶And this happened three times and immediately the ¹object was taken up into heaven.

¹⁷Now while Peter was greatly perplexed in ¹mind as to what ^athe vision which he had seen might be, behold, ^bthe men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions for Simon’s house, appeared at the gate; ¹⁸and calling out, they were asking whether Simon, who was also called Peter, was lodging there. ¹⁹And while Peter was reflecting on ^athe vision, ^bthe Spirit said to him, “Behold, ¹three men are looking for you. ²⁰“But rise up, go down and ^aaccompany them without taking issue at all, for I have sent them Myself.” ²¹And Peter went down to the men and said, “Behold, I am the one you are looking for; what is the reason for which you have come?” ²²And they said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous and ^aGod-fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the Jews, ^bwas directed by a ^choly angel to summon you to his house and hear ¹^,^da message from you.” ²³So he invited them in and gave them lodging. Peter at Caesarea And on the next day he rose up and went away with them, and ^asome of ^bthe brothers from ^cJoppa went with him. ²⁴And on the following day he entered ^aCaesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵And when Peter entered, Cornelius met him, and fell at his feet and ¹^,^aworshiped him. ²⁶But Peter raised him up, saying, “^aStand up; I too am just a man.” ²⁷As he talked with him, he entered and *found ^amany people assembled. ²⁸And he said to them, “You yourselves know how ^aunlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a foreigner or to visit him; and yet ^bGod has shown me that I should not call any man defiled or unclean. ²⁹“That is why I came without even raising any objection when I was summoned. So I ask for what reason you have summoned me.”

³⁰And Cornelius said, “^aFour days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during ^bthe ¹ninth hour; and behold, ^ca man stood before me in shining garments, ³¹and he *said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your ¹alms have been remembered before God. ³²‘Therefore send to ^aJoppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is lodging at the house of Simon the tanner by the sea.’ ³³“So I sent for you immediately, and you have ¹been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear all that you have been ordered by the Lord.”

The Holy Spirit Poured Out on the Gentiles

³⁴^aAnd opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most truly comprehend now that ^bGod is not one to show partiality, ³⁵but ^ain every nation the one who ¹^,^bfears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him. ³⁶“As for the word which He sent to the sons of Israel, ^aproclaiming the good news of ^bpeace through Jesus Christ—He is ^cLord of all— ³⁷you yourselves know the thing which happened throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed. ³⁸“¹You know of ^aJesus of Nazareth, how God ^banointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, ²^,^cand how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for ^dGod was with Him. ³⁹“And we are ^awitnesses of all the things He did both in the ¹land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also ^bput Him to death by hanging Him on a tree. ⁴⁰“^aGod raised Him up on the third day and granted that He appear, ⁴¹^anot to all the people, but to ^bwitnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us ^cwho ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. ⁴²“And He ^acommanded us to ¹preach to the people, and solemnly to ^bbear witness that this is the One who has been ^cdesignated by God as ^dJudge of the living and the dead. ⁴³“Of Him ^aall the prophets bear witness that through ^bHis name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

⁴⁴While Peter was still speaking these things, ^athe Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the word. ⁴⁵^aAnd all the ¹circumcised believers who came with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been ^bpoured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶For they were hearing them ^aspeaking with tongues and magnifying God. Then Peter answered, ⁴⁷“^aCan anyone refuse water for these to be baptized who ^bhave received the Holy Spirit just as we did?” ⁴⁸And he ^aordered them to be baptized ^bin the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for a few days.

Oh That My People Would Listen to Me

For the choir director. According to the Gittith. Of Asaph.

^aSing for joy to God our ^bstrength;Make a loud ^cshout to the ^dGod of Jacob.²Lift up a song of praise, strike ^athe tambourine,The sweet sounding ^blyre with the ^charp.³Blow the trumpet at the ^anew moon,At the full moon, on our ^bfeast day.⁴For it is a statute for Israel,^aA judgment of the God of Jacob.⁵He established it for a testimony in JosephWhen he ^awent forth over the land of Egypt.I heard a ^blanguage that I did not know:⁶“I ¹^,^arelieved his shoulder of the burden,His hands were freed from the ²basket.⁷“You ^acalled in distress and I rescued you;I ^banswered you in the hiding place of thunder;I tested you at the ^cwaters of Meribah. ¹ Selah.⁸“^aHear, O My people, and I will testify against you;O Israel, if you ^bwould listen to Me!⁹“Let there be no ^astrange god among you;And you shall not worship a foreign god.¹⁰“^aI am Yahweh your God,Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;^bOpen your mouth wide and I will ^cfill it.¹¹“But My people ^adid not listen to My voice,And Israel was not willing to obey Me.¹²“So I ^areleased ¹them over to the stubbornness of their heart,That they would walk in their own devices.¹³“Oh that My people ^awould listen to Me,That Israel would ^bwalk in My ways!¹⁴“I would quickly ^asubdue their enemiesAnd I would ^bturn My hand against their adversaries.¹⁵“^aThose who hate Yahweh would ^bcower before Him,And their time of punishment would be forever.¹⁶“¹But I would feed you with the ²^,^afinest of the wheat,And with ^bhoney from the rock I would satisfy you.”

God Stands in Judgment

A Psalm of Asaph.

God takes His ^astand in the congregation of ¹God;He ^bjudges in the midst of ²^,^cgods.²How long will you ^ajudge unrighteouslyAnd ^bshow partiality to the wicked? ¹ Selah.³^aGive justice to the poor and the orphan;Justify the afflicted and destitute.⁴^aProtect the poor and needy;Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.⁵They ^ado not know and do not understand;They ^bwalk about in darkness;All the ^cfoundations of the earth are shaken.⁶¹I ^asaid, “You are gods,And all of you are ^bsons of the Most High.⁷“Nevertheless ^ayou will die like menAnd you will fall like any ^bone of the princes.”⁸^aArise, O God, ^bjudge the earth!For it is You who ^cwill inherit all the nations.