Feasts of the Lord

23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘The feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be ^(A)holy convocations, these are My feasts.

The Sabbath

^3 (B)‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work on it; it is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.

The Passover and Unleavened Bread^(C)

^4 (D)‘These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. ^5 (E)On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. ⁶ And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. ^7 (F)On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no ^[a]customary work on it. ⁸ But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”

The Feast of Firstfruits

⁹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ^(G)‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf of ^(H)the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹ He shall ^(I)wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. ¹² And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a male lamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹³ Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a ^[b]sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourth of a hin. ¹⁴ You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

The Feast of Weeks^(J)

¹⁵ ‘And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. ¹⁶ Count ^(K)fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer ^(L)a new grain offering to the Lord. ¹⁷ You shall bring from your dwellings two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of fine flour; they shall be baked with leaven. They are ^(M)the firstfruits to the Lord. ¹⁸ And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs of the first year, without blemish, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be as a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma to the Lord. ¹⁹ Then you shall sacrifice ^(N)one kid of the goats as a sin offering, and two male lambs of the first year as a sacrifice of a ^(O)peace offering. ²⁰ The priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits as a wave offering before the Lord, with the two lambs. ^(P)They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. ²¹ And you shall proclaim on the same day that it is a holy convocation to you. You shall do no customary work on it. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

^22 (Q)‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.’ ”

The Feast of Trumpets^(R)

²³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²⁴ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘In the ^(S)seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, ^(T)a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. ²⁵ You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.’ ”

The Day of Atonement^(U)

²⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ^27 (V)“Also the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the Day of Atonement. It shall be a holy convocation for you; you shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. ²⁸ And you shall do no work on that same day, for it is the Day of Atonement, ^(W)to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. ²⁹ For any person who is not ^(X)afflicted in soul on that same day ^(Y)shall be cut off from his people. ³⁰ And any person who does any work on that same day, ^(Z)that person I will destroy from among his people. ³¹ You shall do no manner of work; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ³² It shall be to you a sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall ^[c]afflict your souls; on the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall ^[d]celebrate your sabbath.”

The Feast of Tabernacles^(AA)

³³ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁴ “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ^(AB)‘The fifteenth day of this seventh month shall be the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days to the Lord. ³⁵ On the first day there shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it. ³⁶ For seven days you shall offer an ^(AC)offering made by fire to the Lord. ^(AD)On the eighth day you shall have a holy convocation, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord. It is a ^(AE)sacred^[e] assembly, and you shall do no customary work on it.

^37 (AF)‘These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to the Lord, a burnt offering and a grain offering, a sacrifice and drink offerings, everything on its day— ^38 (AG)besides the Sabbaths of the Lord, besides your gifts, besides all your vows, and besides all your freewill offerings which you give to the Lord.

³⁹ ‘Also on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have ^(AH)gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the Lord for seven days; on the first day there shall be a sabbath-rest, and on the eighth day a sabbath-rest. ⁴⁰ And ^(AI)you shall take for yourselves on the first day the ^[f]fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; ^(AJ)and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ^41 (AK)You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. ^42 (AL)You shall dwell in ^[g]booths for seven days. ^(AM)All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, ^43 (AN)that your generations may ^(AO)know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when ^(AP)I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ ”

⁴⁴ So Moses ^(AQ)declared to the children of Israel the feasts of the Lord.

Care of the Tabernacle Lamps^(AR)

24 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ^2 (AS)“Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. ³ Outside the veil of the Testimony, in the tabernacle of meeting, Aaron shall be in charge of it from evening until morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a statute forever in your generations. ⁴ He shall ^[h]be in charge of the lamps on ^(AT)the pure gold lampstand before the Lord continually.

The Bread of the Tabernacle

⁵ “And you shall take fine flour and bake twelve ^(AU)cakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. ⁶ You shall set them in two rows, six in a row, ^(AV)on the pure gold table before the Lord. ⁷ And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be on the bread for a ^(AW)memorial, an offering made by fire to the Lord. ^8 (AX)Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. ⁹ And ^(AY)it shall be for Aaron and his sons, ^(AZ)and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the offerings of the Lord made by fire, by a perpetual statute.”

The Penalty for Blasphemy

¹⁰ Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. ¹¹ And the Israelite woman’s son ^(BA)blasphemed the name of the Lord and ^(BB)cursed; and so they ^(BC)brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan.) ¹² Then they ^(BD)put him ^[i]in custody, ^(BE)that ^[j]the mind of the Lord might be shown to them.

¹³ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁴ “Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him ^(BF)lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

¹⁵ “Then you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘Whoever curses his God ^(BG)shall ^[k]bear his sin. ¹⁶ And whoever ^(BH)blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall be put to death.

^17 (BI)‘Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death. ^18 (BJ)Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, animal for animal.

¹⁹ ‘If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as ^(BK)he has done, so shall it be done to him— ²⁰ fracture for ^(BL)fracture, ^(BM)eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him. ²¹ And whoever kills an animal shall restore it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death. ²² You shall have ^(BN)the^[l] same law for the stranger and for one from your own country; for I am the Lord your God.’ ”

²³ Then Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they took outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him with stones. So the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

The King of Glory and His Kingdom

A Psalm of David.

Warnings on the Journey to Jerusalem

21 Now it came to pass, that when we had departed from them and set sail, running a straight course we came to Cos, the following day to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. ² And finding a ship sailing over to Phoenicia, we went aboard and set sail. ³ When we had sighted Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unload her cargo. ⁴ And finding ^[a]disciples, we stayed there seven days. ^(A)They told Paul through the Spirit not to go up to Jerusalem. ⁵ When we had come to the end of those days, we departed and went on our way; and they all accompanied us, with wives and children, till we were out of the city. And ^(B)we knelt down on the shore and prayed. ⁶ When we had taken our leave of one another, we boarded the ship, and they returned ^(C)home.

⁷ And when we had finished our voyage from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, greeted the brethren, and stayed with them one day. ⁸ On the next day we ^[b]who were Paul’s companions departed and came to ^(D)Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip ^(E)the evangelist, ^(F)who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. ⁹ Now this man had four virgin daughters ^(G)who prophesied. ¹⁰ And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named ^(H)Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ^(I)‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ”

¹² Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul answered, ^(J)“What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

¹⁴ So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, ^(K)“The will of the Lord be done.”

Paul Urged to Make Peace

¹⁵ And after those days we ^[c]packed and went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Also some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us and brought with them a certain Mnason of Cyprus, an early disciple, with whom we were to lodge.

^17 (L)And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. ¹⁸ On the following day Paul went in with us to ^(M)James, and all the elders were present. ¹⁹ When he had greeted them, ^(N)he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles ^(O)through his ministry. ²⁰ And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all ^(P)zealous for the law; ²¹ but they have been informed about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. ^22 [d]What then? The assembly must certainly meet, for they will hear that you have come. ²³ Therefore do what we tell you: We have four men who have taken a vow. ²⁴ Take them and be purified with them, and pay their expenses so that they may ^(Q)shave their heads, and that all may know that those things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. ²⁵ But concerning the Gentiles who believe, ^(R)we have written and decided ^[e]that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from ^[f]sexual immorality.”

Arrested in the Temple

²⁶ Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, ^(S)entered the temple ^(T)to announce the ^[g]expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each one of them.

²⁷ Now when the seven days were almost ended, ^(U)the Jews from Asia, seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and ^(V)laid hands on him, ²⁸ crying out, “Men of Israel, help! This is the man ^(W)who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law, and this place; and furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.” ²⁹ (For they had ^[h]previously seen ^(X)Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.)

³⁰ And ^(Y)all the city was disturbed; and the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple; and immediately the doors were shut. ³¹ Now as they were ^(Z)seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the ^[i]garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. ^32 (AA)He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them. And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. ³³ Then the ^(AB)commander came near and took him, and ^(AC)commanded him to be bound with two chains; and he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another.

So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, he commanded him to be taken into the barracks. ³⁵ When he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. ³⁶ For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out, ^(AD)“Away with him!”

Addressing the Jerusalem Mob^(AE)

³⁷ Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, “May I speak to you?”

He replied, “Can you speak Greek? ^38 (AF)Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the four thousand assassins out into the wilderness?”

³⁹ But Paul said, ^(AG)“I am a Jew from Tarsus, in Cilicia, a citizen of no ^[j]mean city; and I implore you, permit me to speak to the people.”

⁴⁰ So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and ^(AH)motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the ^(AI)Hebrew language, saying,