Leviticus 21 - 22, Acts 14:8-15:41, Psalm 85

The Holiness of the Priests

21Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: ‘^aNo one shall defile himself for a dead person among his people, ²^aexcept for his ¹blood relatives who are nearest to him, his mother and his father and his son and his daughter and his brother, ³also for his virgin sister, who is near to him ¹because she has had no husband; for her he may defile himself. ⁴‘He shall not defile himself as a ¹relative by marriage among his people, and so profane himself. ⁵‘^aThey shall not make any baldness on their heads ^bnor shave off the edges of their beards ^cnor make any cuts in their flesh. ⁶‘They shall be holy to their God and ^anot profane the name of their God, for they bring near the offerings ¹to Yahweh by fire, ^bthe food of their God; so they shall be holy. ⁷‘^aThey shall not take a woman who is profaned by harlotry, nor shall they take a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God. ⁸‘Therefore, you shall set him apart as holy, for he brings near ^athe food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I Yahweh, who makes you holy, am holy. ⁹‘^aAlso the daughter of any priest, if she profanes herself by harlotry, she profanes her father; she shall be burned with fire.

¹⁰‘And the priest who is the highest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and ¹who has been ordained to wear the garments, ^ashall not ²uncover his head nor tear his clothes; ¹¹^anor shall he approach any dead person nor defile himself even for his father or his mother; ¹²^anor shall he go out of the sanctuary nor profane the sanctuary of his God, for ^bthe dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him; I am Yahweh. ¹³‘And he shall take a wife in her virginity. ¹⁴‘^aA widow or a divorced woman or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he shall take a virgin of his own people as a wife, ¹⁵so that he will not profane his seed among his people; for I am Yahweh who makes him holy.’”

¹⁶Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷“Speak to Aaron, saying, ‘No man of your seed throughout their generations who has a defect shall come near to offer the ^afood of his God. ¹⁸‘^aFor no one who has a defect shall come near: a blind man or a lame man or he who has a ¹^,^bdisfigured face or any deformed limb, ¹⁹or a man who has a broken foot or broken hand, ²⁰or a hunchback or a dwarf, or one who has a ¹defect in his eye or eczema or scabs or ^acrushed testicles. ²¹‘No man among the seed of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to bring near the offerings to Yahweh by fire; since he has a defect, he shall not approach to bring near ^athe food of his God. ²²‘He may eat ^athe food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy, ²³only he shall not go in to the veil or approach the altar because he has a defect, so that he will not profane My sanctuaries. For I am Yahweh who makes them holy.’” ²⁴So Moses spoke to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel.

Various Statutes for Priests

22Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Tell Aaron and his sons to be careful with the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they set apart to Me as holy, so as not to profane My holy name; I am Yahweh. ³“Say to them, ‘^aIf any man among all your seed throughout your generations comes near to the holy gifts which the sons of Israel set apart as holy to Yahweh, and he has an uncleanness, that person shall be cut off from before Me; I am Yahweh. ⁴‘^aNo man of the seed of Aaron, who is a leper or who has a discharge, may eat of the holy gifts until he is clean. ^bAnd if one touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or if ^ca man has a seminal emission, ⁵or ^aif a man touches any teeming things by which he is made unclean or any man by whom he is made unclean, whatever his uncleanness, ⁶a ¹person who touches any such thing shall be unclean until evening and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his ²body in water. ⁷‘But the sun will set, and he will be clean. And afterward he shall eat of the holy gifts, for ^ait is his ¹food. ⁸‘He shall not eat ^aan animal which dies or is torn by beasts, becoming unclean by it; I am Yahweh. ⁹‘They shall therefore keep ^aMy charge so that ^bthey will not bear sin because of it and die thereby because they profane it; I am Yahweh who makes them holy.

¹⁰‘^aNo ¹layman, however, is to eat the holy gift; a foreign resident with the priest or a hired man shall not eat of the holy gift. ¹¹‘^aBut if a priest buys a person as his property with his money, ¹that one may eat of it, and those who are born in his house may eat of his ²food. ¹²‘If a priest’s daughter is married to a ¹layman, she shall not eat of the ²contribution of the holy gifts. ¹³‘But if a priest’s daughter becomes a widow or divorced, and has no seed, and returns to her father’s house as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s ¹food; ^abut no ²layman shall eat of it. ¹⁴‘^aBut if a man eats a holy gift unintentionally, then he shall add to it a fifth of it and shall give the holy gift to the priest. ¹⁵‘^aThey shall not profane the holy gifts of the sons of Israel which they raise up to Yahweh, ¹⁶and so cause them ^ato bear ¹punishment for guilt by eating their holy gifts; for I am Yahweh who makes them holy.’”

Offerings Without Blemish

¹⁷Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁸“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^aAny man of the house of Israel or of the sojourners in Israel who brings near his offering, whether it is any of their ¹votive or any of their freewill offerings, which they bring near to Yahweh for a burnt offering— ¹⁹^afor you to be accepted—it must be a male without blemish from the cattle, the sheep, or the goats. ²⁰‘^aWhatever has a defect, you shall not bring it near, for it will not be accepted for you. ²¹‘And when a man brings a sacrifice of peace offerings near to Yahweh ^ato ¹fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be without blemish to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it. ²²‘Those that are blind or fractured or maimed or have a running sore or eczema or scabs, you shall not bring near to Yahweh nor make of them an offering by fire on the altar to Yahweh. ²³‘Now in respect to an ox or a lamb which has ¹an overgrown or stunted member, you may offer it for a freewill offering, but for a votive offering it will not be accepted. ²⁴‘Also ^aanything with its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not bring near to Yahweh, and you shall not do thus in your land, ²⁵nor shall you bring near any such thing from the hand of a foreigner for offering ^aas the ¹food of your God; for their corruption is in them, they have a defect; they shall not be accepted for you.’”

²⁶Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁷“When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall ¹remain ^aseven days ²with its mother, and from the eighth day on it shall be accepted as a sacrifice of an offering by fire to Yahweh. ²⁸“^aBut, whether it is an ox or a sheep, you shall not slaughter both it and its young in one day. ²⁹“And when you sacrifice ^aa sacrifice of thanksgiving to Yahweh, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. ³⁰“It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until morning; I am Yahweh. ³¹“^aSo you shall keep My commandments and do them; I am Yahweh.

³²“And you shall not profane My holy name, but I will be treated as holy among the sons of Israel; I am Yahweh who makes you holy, ³³^awho brought you out from the land of Egypt to be your God; I am Yahweh.”

In Lystra and Derbe

⁸And at ^aLystra ^ba man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. ⁹This man listened to Paul as he spoke, who, ^awhen he fixed his gaze on him and saw that he had ^bfaith to be ¹saved from being lame, ¹⁰said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” ^aAnd he leaped up and began to walk. ¹¹And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the ^aLycaonian language, “^bThe gods have become like men and have come down to us.” ¹²And they began calling Barnabas, ¹Zeus, and Paul, ²Hermes, because he was ³the chief speaker. ¹³And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was ¹just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and ^awas wanting to offer sacrifice with the crowds. ¹⁴But when ^athe apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they ^btore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out ¹⁵and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also ^amen of the same nature as you, ^bproclaiming the gospel to you that you should turn from these ¹^,^cvain things to a ^dliving God, ^ewho made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. ¹⁶“¹In the generations gone by He ^apermitted all the ²nations to ^bgo their own ways; ¹⁷and yet ^aHe did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and ^bgave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” ¹⁸And saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

¹⁹But ^aJews came from ^bAntioch and ^cIconium, and after winning over the crowds and ^dstoning Paul, they were dragging him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. ²⁰But while ^athe disciples stood around him, he rose up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to ^bDerbe. ²¹And after they had ^aproclaimed the gospel to that city and had ^bmade many disciples, they returned to ^cLystra and to ^dIconium and to ^eAntioch, ²²strengthening the souls of ^athe disciples, encouraging them to continue in ^bthe faith, and saying, “^cThrough many afflictions we must enter the kingdom of God.” ²³And when ^athey had appointed ^belders for them in every church, having ^cprayed with fasting, they ^dcommended them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

The Return to Antioch

²⁴And when they passed through ^aPisidia, they came into ^bPamphylia. ²⁵And when they had spoken the word in ^aPerga, they went down to Attalia. ²⁶And from there they sailed to ^aAntioch, from ^bwhere they had been ^ccommitted to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. ²⁷And when they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to ^areport all things that God had done with them and ¹how He had opened a ^bdoor of faith to the Gentiles. ²⁸And they spent not a little time with ^athe disciples.

The Jerusalem Council

15^aSome men came down from Judea and began teaching ^bthe brothers, “Unless you are ^ccircumcised according to ^dthe custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” ²And when Paul and Barnabas had not a little dissension and ^adebate with them, ^bthe brothers determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the ^capostles and elders concerning this issue. ³Therefore, being ^asent on their way by the church, they were passing through both ^bPhoenicia and Samaria, ^crecounting in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all ^dthe brothers. ⁴When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and ^athe apostles and the elders, and they ^breported all that God had done with them. ⁵But some of ^athe sect of the ^bPharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to ^ccircumcise them and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”

⁶^aBoth the apostles and the elders came together to ¹look into this ²matter. ⁷And after there had been much ^adebate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that ¹in the early days ^bGod made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of ^cthe gospel and believe. ⁸“And God, ^awho knows the heart, testified to them ^bgiving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; ⁹and ^aHe made no distinction between us and them, ^bcleansing their hearts by faith. ¹⁰“Now therefore why do you ^aput God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which ^bneither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? ¹¹“But we believe that we are saved through ^athe grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

¹²And all the multitude kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were ^arelating what ^bsigns and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.

James Issues a Judgment

¹³Now after they had stopped speaking, ^aJames answered, saying, “Brothers, listen to me. ¹⁴“^aSimeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name. ¹⁵“And with this the words of ^athe Prophets agree, just as it is written,

¹⁶‘^aAfter these things ^bI will return,And I will rebuild the ^cfallen ¹booth of David,And I will rebuild its ruins,And I will restore it,¹⁷^aSo that the rest of ¹mankind may seek the Lord,And all the Gentiles ²^,^bwho are called by My name,’¹⁸^aSays the ¹Lord, who ²^,^bmakes these things known from long ago.

¹⁹“Therefore ^aI judge that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, ²⁰but that we write to them that they abstain from ^athings contaminated by idols and from ^bsexual immorality and from ^cwhat is strangled and from blood. ²¹“For from ancient generations, ^aMoses has those who preach him in every city, since ¹he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

²²Then it seemed good to ^athe apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them—Judas called Barsabbas, and ^bSilas, leading men among ^cthe brothers—to send to ^dAntioch with Paul and Barnabas, ²³and they ¹sent this letter by them, “^aThe apostles and the brothers who are elders, to ^bthe brothers in ^cAntioch and ^dSyria and ^eCilicia who are from the Gentiles, ^fgreetings. ²⁴“Since we have heard that ^asome of us, to whom we gave no instruction, have gone out and ^bdisturbed you with their words, unsettling your souls, ²⁵^ait seemed good to us, having ¹come to one accord, to select men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶men who have ¹^,^arisked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷“Therefore we have sent ^aJudas and ^bSilas, and they themselves will report the same things by word of mouth. ²⁸“For ^ait seemed good to ^bthe Holy Spirit and to ^cus to lay upon you no greater burden than these essentials: ²⁹that you abstain from ^athings sacrificed to idols and from ^bblood and from ^cthings strangled and from ^dsexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, you will do well. Farewell.”

³⁰So when they were sent away, ^athey went down to Antioch; and having gathered the ¹congregation together, they delivered the letter. ³¹And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its ¹encouragement. ³²^aAnd both Judas and ^bSilas, also being ^cprophets themselves, ¹encouraged and strengthened ^dthe brothers with a lengthy message. ³³And after they had spent time there, they were sent away from the brothers ^ain peace to those who had ^bsent them. ³⁴¹[But it seemed good to Silas to remain there.] ³⁵But ^aPaul and Barnabas spent a long time in Antioch, teaching and ¹^,^bpreaching with many others also, ^cthe word of the Lord.

Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas

³⁶Now after some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brothers in ^aevery city in which we proclaimed ^bthe word of the Lord, and see how they are.” ³⁷And Barnabas wanted to take ^aJohn, called Mark, along with them also. ³⁸But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had ^adeserted them ¹in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. ³⁹And there was such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took ^aMark with him and sailed away to ^bCyprus. ⁴⁰But Paul chose ^aSilas and left, being ^bcommitted by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. ⁴¹And he was traveling through ^aSyria and ^bCilicia, strengthening the churches.

Turn Us Back, O God

For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.

O Yahweh, You showed ^afavor to Your land;You ¹^,^breturned the fortunes of Jacob.²You ^aforgave the iniquity of Your people;You ^bcovered all their sin. ¹ Selah.³You ^awithdrew all Your fury;You ^bturned back from Your burning anger.⁴^aTurn us back, O God of our salvation,And ^bcause Your vexation toward us to cease.⁵Will ^aYou be angry with us forever?Will You prolong Your anger from generation to generation?⁶Will You not Yourself ^areturn to ¹revive us,That Your people may ^bbe glad in You?⁷Show us, O Yahweh, Your lovingkindness,And ^agive us Your salvation.⁸Let me hear what the God, Yahweh, will speak;For He will ^aspeak peace to His people, ¹to His holy ones;But let them not ^bturn back to ²folly.⁹Surely ^aHis salvation is near to those who ¹fear Him,That ^bglory may dwell in our land.¹⁰^aLovingkindness and ¹truth have met together;^bRighteousness and peace have kissed each other.¹¹¹Truth ^asprings up from the earth,And righteousness looks down from heaven.¹²Indeed, ^aYahweh will give what is good,And our ^bland will yield its produce.¹³^aRighteousness will go before HimAnd will establish the way of His steps.