Leviticus 17 - 18, Acts 11 - 12, Psalm 83

Statutes Against Eating Blood

17Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to Aaron and to his sons and to all the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh has commanded, saying, ³“Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp, ⁴and ^ahas not brought it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to bring it near as an offering to Yahweh before the ¹tabernacle of Yahweh, it will be counted as bloodguiltiness to that man. He has shed blood, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. ⁵“¹The reason is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing in the open field, that they may bring them in to Yahweh, at the doorway of the tent of meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to Yahweh. ⁶“And the priest shall splash the blood on the altar of Yahweh at the doorway of the tent of meeting and ^aoffer up the fat in smoke as a soothing aroma to Yahweh. ⁷“^aAnd they shall no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to the ¹goat demons with which they play the harlot. This shall be a perpetual statute to them throughout their generations.”’

⁸“Then you shall say to them, ‘Any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice, ⁹and ^adoes not bring it to the doorway of the tent of meeting to ¹offer it to Yahweh, that man also shall be cut off from his people.

¹⁰‘^aAnd any man from the house of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who eats any blood, ^bI will set My face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. ¹¹‘For ^athe ¹life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for ^bit is the blood that makes atonement by the ²life.’ ¹²“Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘No person among you may eat blood, and no sojourner who sojourns among you may eat blood.’ ¹³“So any man from the sons of Israel, or from the sojourners who sojourn among them, who in hunting catches a beast or a bird which may be eaten, ^ashall pour out its blood and cover it with earth.

¹⁴“^aFor as for the ¹life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its ²life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the ³life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.’ ¹⁵“^aAnd when any person eats an animal which dies or is torn by beasts, whether he is a native or a sojourner, he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and remain unclean until evening; then he will become clean. ¹⁶“But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then ^ahe shall bear his ¹guilt.”

Statutes on the Nakedness of Relatives

18Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘^aI am Yahweh your God. ³‘You shall not do according to what is ^adone in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do according to what is ^bdone in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. ⁴‘You are to do My judgments and keep My statutes, to walk in them; ^aI am Yahweh your God. ⁵‘So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, ^awhich if a man does them, he shall live by them; I am Yahweh.

⁶‘None of you shall approach any blood relative ¹of his to uncover nakedness; I am Yahweh. ⁷‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are not to uncover her nakedness. ⁸‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. ⁹‘^aThe nakedness of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover. ¹⁰‘The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their nakedness you shall not uncover; for ¹their nakedness is yours. ¹¹‘The nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, ¹born to your father, she is your sister; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹²‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative. ¹³‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s blood relative. ¹⁴‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother; you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. ¹⁵‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness. ¹⁶‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. ¹⁷‘^aYou shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is ¹lewdness. ¹⁸‘And you shall not ¹marry a woman in addition to ²her sister ³as a rival while she is alive, to uncover her nakedness.

¹⁹‘^aAlso you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her ^bmenstrual impurity. ²⁰‘^aAnd you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife, to be defiled with her. ²¹‘And you shall not give any of your seed ^ato pass them over to Molech, nor shall you ^bprofane the name of your God; I am Yahweh. ²²‘^aAnd you shall not lie with a male as ¹one lies with a female; it is an abomination. ²³‘^aAlso you shall not lie with any animal to be defiled with it, nor shall any woman stand before an animal to ¹mate with it; it is a perversion.

²⁴‘So do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these ^athe nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled. ²⁵‘So the land has become defiled, ^aand I have brought its ¹punishment upon it. And the land ^bhas vomited out its inhabitants. ²⁶‘But as for you, you shall keep My statutes and My judgments and shall not do any of these abominations, neither the native nor the sojourner who sojourns among you ²⁷(for the men of the land who have been before you have done all these abominations, and the land has become defiled); ²⁸so that the land will not vomit you out, should you defile it, as it has vomited out the nation which has been before you. ²⁹‘For whoever does any of these abominations, ¹those persons who do so shall be cut off from among their people. ³⁰‘Thus you are to keep ^aMy charge, that you do not do any of the abominable statutes which have been done before you, so as not to defile yourselves with them; ^bI am Yahweh your God.’”

Peter’s Report in Jerusalem

11Now the apostles and ^athe brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. ²And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, ¹^,^athose who were circumcised took issue with him, ³saying, “^aYou ¹went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” ⁴But Peter began speaking ¹and proceeded to explain to them ^ain orderly sequence, saying, ⁵“^aI was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw ^ba vision, ¹an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from heaven, and it came right down to me, ⁶and when looking closely at it, I was observing it and saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the crawling creatures and the birds of the ¹sky. ⁷“And I also heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise up, Peter; ¹slaughter and eat.’ ⁸“But I said, ‘By no means, Lord, for nothing defiled or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ ⁹“But a voice from heaven answered a second time, ‘^aWhat God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.’ ¹⁰“And this happened three times, and everything was drawn back up into heaven. ¹¹“And behold, immediately three men appeared at the house in which we were, having been sent to me from ^aCaesarea. ¹²“^aAnd the Spirit told me to go with them ¹^,^bwithout taking issue at all. ^cThese six brothers also went with me and we entered the man’s house. ¹³“And he reported to us how he had seen the angel ¹standing in his house, and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is also called Peter; ¹⁴and he will speak ^awords to you by which you will be saved, you and ^ball your household.’ ¹⁵“And as I began to speak, ^athe Holy Spirit fell upon them just ^bas He did upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶“And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘^aJohn baptized with water, but you will be baptized ¹with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷“Therefore if ^aGod gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, ^bwho was I that I could prevent God’s way?” ¹⁸And when they heard this, they ¹quieted down and ^aglorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the ^brepentance that leads to life.”

The Church in Antioch

¹⁹^aSo then those who were scattered because of the ¹persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way ²to ^bPhoenicia and ^cCyprus and ^dAntioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone. ²⁰But there were some of them, men of ^aCyprus and ^bCyrene, who came to ^cAntioch and began speaking to the ¹^,^dGreeks also, ^eproclaiming the good news of the Lord Jesus. ²¹And ^athe hand of the Lord was with them, and ^ba large number who believed turned to the Lord. ²²Now the ¹news about them ²reached the ears of the church at Jerusalem, and they sent ^aBarnabas off ³to ^bAntioch, ²³who, when he arrived and saw ^athe grace of God, rejoiced and began to encourage them all with a purposeful heart to remain true to the Lord; ²⁴for he was a good man, and ^afull of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a ^bconsiderable crowd was ¹brought to the Lord. ²⁵And he left for ^aTarsus to search for Saul; ²⁶and when he found him, he brought him to ^aAntioch. And it happened that for an entire year they ¹met with the church and taught a considerable crowd. And ^bthe disciples were first called ^cChristians in ^dAntioch.

²⁷Now in those days, ^asome prophets came down from Jerusalem to ^bAntioch. ²⁸And one of them named ^aAgabus stood up and indicated ¹by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine ^ball over the ²world. ³And this took place in the reign of ^cClaudius. ²⁹And as any of ^athe disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the service of ^bthe brothers living in Judea. ³⁰^aAnd this they did, sending it ¹in charge of ^bBarnabas and Saul to the ^celders.

An Angel Frees Peter from Prison

12Now about that time ¹Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to harm them. ²And he ^ahad James the brother of John ^bput to death with a sword. ³And when he saw that it ^apleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now ¹it was during ^bthe days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four ¹^,^asquads of soldiers to guard him, intending after ^bthe Passover to bring him out before the people. ⁵So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

⁶Now on ¹the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^abound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. ⁷And behold, ^aan angel of the Lord suddenly ^bappeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Rise up quickly.” And ^chis chains fell off his hands. ⁸And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and ¹put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your garment around yourself and follow me.” ⁹And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but was thinking he was seeing ^aa vision. ¹⁰And when they had passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which ^aopened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹When Peter ^acame ¹to himself, he said, “Now truly I know that ^bthe Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all ²that the Jewish people were expecting.” ¹²And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of ^aJohn who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and ^bwere praying. ¹³And when he knocked at the door of the gate, ^aa servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴And when she recognized Peter’s voice, ^abecause of her joy she did not open the gate. But she ran in and reported that Peter was standing in front of the gate. ¹⁵And they said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is ^ahis angel.” ¹⁶But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door, they saw him and were astounded. ¹⁷But ^amotioning to them with his hand to be silent, he recounted to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to ^bJames and ^cthe brothers.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹⁸Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what ¹had become of Peter. ¹⁹And when Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they ^abe led away to execution. Then he went down from Judea to ^bCaesarea and was spending time there.

The Death of Herod

²⁰Now he was very angry with the people of ^aTyre and Sidon; and with one accord they came to him, and having won over Blastus the king’s chamberlain, they were asking for peace, because ^btheir country was fed by the king’s country. ²¹And on an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel and sitting on the judgment seat, began delivering an address to them. ²²And the assembly kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³And immediately ^aan angel of the ¹Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

²⁴But ^athe word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.

²⁵And ^aBarnabas and ^bSaul ¹returned ²to Jerusalem, ^cfulfilling their ministry, taking along with them ^dJohn, who was also called Mark.

O God, Do Not Be Quiet

A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.

O God, ^ado not remain at rest;^bDo not be silent and, O God, do not be quiet.²For behold, Your enemies ^aroar,And ^bthose who hate You have ^clifted up their heads.³They ^amake shrewd plans against Your people,And ¹conspire together against ^bYour ²treasured ones.⁴They have said, “Come, and ^alet us wipe them out ¹as a nation,That the ^bname of Israel be remembered no more.”⁵For they have ¹^,^aconspired together with one heart;Against You they cut a covenant:⁶The tents of ^aEdom and the ^bIshmaelites,^cMoab and the ^dHagrites;⁷^aGebal and ^bAmmon and ^cAmalek,^dPhilistia with the inhabitants of ^eTyre;⁸^aAssyria also has joined with them;They have become ¹the power of the ^bchildren of Lot. ² Selah.⁹Do to them ^aas to Midian,As ^bto Sisera, and Jabin at the river of Kishon,¹⁰Who were destroyed at En-dor,Who ^awere as dung for the ground.¹¹Make their nobles like ^aOreb and ZeebAnd all their princes like ^bZebah and Zalmunna,¹²Who said, “^aLet us possess for ourselvesThe ^bpastures of God.”¹³O my God, make them like the ¹^,^awhirling dust,Like ^bchaff before the wind.¹⁴Like ^afire that burns the forestAnd like a flame that ^bburns up the mountains,¹⁵So pursue them ^awith Your tempestAnd dismay them with Your storm.¹⁶^aFill their faces with disgrace,That they may seek Your name, O Yahweh.¹⁷Let them be ^aashamed and dismayed forever,And let them be humiliated and perish,¹⁸That they may ^aknow that ^bYou alone—Your name is Yahweh—Are the ^cMost High over all the earth.