The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Their Voices Prevailed" by Rev. Wayne Palmer for Friday, March 18, 2016

The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "Their Voices Prevailed" by Rev. Wayne Palmer for Friday, March 18, 2016

A third time he (Pilate) said to them, "Why, what evil has He done? I have found in Him no guilt deserving death. I will therefore punish and release Him." But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that He should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. (Luke 23:22-23).
Read Luke 23:18 But with one voice they shouted, “Away with this man! Give us Bar-Abba!” 19 (He was a man who had been thrown in prison for causing a riot in the city and for murder.) 20 Pilate appealed to them again, because he wanted to release Yeshua. 21 But they yelled, “Put him to death on the stake! Put him to death on the stake!” 22 A third time he asked them, “But what has this man done wrong? I haven’t found any reason to put him to death. So I’m going to have him flogged and set free.” 23 But they went on yelling insistently, demanding that he be executed on the stake; and their shouting prevailed..
Pilate offers his compromise. Instead of condemning Jesus to death, he will have Him scourged. But Jesus' bloody, battered body isn't enough for the Jewish leaders. They demand His death.
So Pilate tries another tactic, he offers the Jewish people the choice of one of two prisoners he will release in honor of the Passover: Jesus or Barabbas-the worst criminal he has in custody. Matthew, Mark and John record that Barabbas was a notorious prisoner who was guilty of murder in an insurrection. To Pilate's astonishment the Jewish leaders convince the crowds to call for Barabbas' release and Jesus' execution. Ironically, Barabbas' crime was insurrection and leading the people in revolt against Rome-the very charge these Jewish leaders had falsely leveled against Jesus. But now they demand the release of the true insurrectionist, and the execution of the Innocent One.
Desperately, Pilate addresses the crowd two more times, demanding they give a valid reason Jesus should die. They ignore him and keep shouting for Jesus' crucifixion. Pilate knew Jesus was innocent and had said it over and over again. Still, he let the crowds drown it out. Luke ends today's reading with the chilling words, "And their voices prevailed."
And what was Jesus doing this whole time? He was standing by silently, accepting His Father's will that He be crucified so that by His death He could give us life, pardon and forgiveness.
THE PRAYER: Lord Jesus, You willingly suffered such injustice and hate from the creatures You came to save. Thank You for bearing the punishment for my disobedience. Amen.
Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Numbers 20:1

 The people of Isra’el, the whole community, entered the Tzin Desert in the first month, and they stayed in Kadesh. There Miryam died, and there she was buried.

2 Because the community had no water, they assembled themselves against Moshe and Aharon. 3 The people quarreled with Moshe and said, “We wish we had died when our brothers died before Adonai. 4 Why did you bring Adonai’s community into this desert? To die there, we and our livestock? 5 Why did you make us leave Egypt? To bring us to this terrible place without seed, figs, grapevines, pomegranates or even water to drink?” 6 Moshe and Aharon left the assembly, went to the entrance of the tent of meeting and fell on their faces; and the glory of Adonai appeared to them.

(RY: ii, LY: iii) 7 Adonai said to Moshe, 8 “Take the staff, assemble the community, you and Aharon your brother; and before their eyes, tell the rock to produce its water. You will bring them water out of the rock and thus enable the community and their livestock to drink.” 9 Moshe took the staff from the presence of Adonai, as he had ordered him. 10 But after Moshe and Aharon had assembled the community in front of the rock, he said to them, “Listen here, you rebels! Are we supposed to bring you water from this rock?” 11 Then Moshe raised his hand and hit the rock twice with his staff. Water flowed out in abundance, and the community and their livestock drank.

12 But Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, “Because you did not trust in me, so as to cause me to be regarded as holy by the people of Isra’el, you will not bring this community into the land I have given them.” 13 This is M’rivah Spring [Disputation Spring], where the people of Isra’el disputed with Adonai, and he was caused to be regarded as holy by them.

(LY: iv) 14 Moshe sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “This is what your brother Isra’el says: you know all the troubles we have gone through — 15 that our ancestors went down into Egypt, we lived in Egypt a long time, and the Egyptians treated us and our ancestors badly. 16 But when we cried out to Adonai, he heard us, sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. Now here we are in Kadesh, a city at the edge of your territory. 17 Please let us pass through your land. We will not go through fields or vineyards, and we won’t drink any water from the wells. We will go along the King’s Highway, not turning aside either to the right or to the left until we have left your territory.”

18 But Edom answered, “You are not to pass through my land; if you do, I will come out against you with the sword.” 19 The people of Isra’el replied, “We will keep to the highway; if we do drink the water, either we or our livestock, we will pay for it. Just let us pass through on foot — it’s nothing.” 20 But he said, “You are not to pass through”; and Edom came out against them with many people and much force. 21 Thus Edom refused to allow Isra’el passage through its territory, so Isra’el turned away.

(RY: iii, LY: v) 22 They traveled on from Kadesh; and the people of Isra’el, the whole community, arrived at Mount Hor. 23 At Mount Hor, by the border of the land of Edom, Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, 24 “Aharon is about to be gathered to his people, because he is not to enter the land I have given to the people of Isra’el, inasmuch as you rebelled against what I said at the M’rivah Spring. 25 Take Aharon and El‘azar his son, bring them up to Mount Hor, 26 remove the garments from Aharon and put them on El‘azar his son. Aharon will be gathered to his people — he will die there.”

27 Moshe did as Adonai had ordered. They went up onto Mount Hor before the eyes of the whole community. 28 Moshe removed the garments from Aharon, and put them on El‘azar his son, and Aharon died there on the top of the mountain. Then Moshe and El‘azar came down the mountain. 29 When the entire community saw that Aharon was dead, they mourned Aharon thirty days, the whole house of Isra’el.

21:1 Then the king of ‘Arad, a Kena‘ani who lived in the Negev, heard that Isra’el was approaching by way of Atarim, so he attacked Isra’el and took some of them captive. 2 Isra’el made a vow to Adonai, “If you will hand this people over to me, I will completely destroy their cities.” 3 Adonai listened to what Isra’el said and handed over the Kena‘anim, so they completely destroyed them and their cities and named the place Hormah [complete destruction].

4 Then they traveled from Mount Hor on the road toward the Sea of Suf in order to go around the land of Edom; but the people’s tempers grew short because of the detour. 5 The people spoke against God and against Moshe: “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? To die in the desert? There’s no real food, there’s no water, and we’re sick of this miserable stuff we’re eating!”

(LY: vi) 6 In response, Adonai sent poisonous snakes among the people; they bit the people, and many of Isra’el’s people died. 7 The people came to Moshe and said, “We sinned by speaking against Adonai and against you. Pray to Adonai that he rid us of these snakes.” Moshe prayed for the people, 8 and Adonai answered Moshe: “Make a poisonous snake and put it on a pole. When anyone who has been bitten sees it, he will live.” 9 Moshe made a bronze snake and put it on the pole; if a snake had bitten someone, then, when he looked toward the bronze snake, he stayed alive.

10 The people of Isra’el traveled on and camped at Ovot. 11 From Ovot they traveled and camped at ‘Iyei-Ha‘avarim, in the desert fronting Mo’av on the east. 12 From there they traveled and camped in Vadi Zered. 13 From there they traveled and camped on the other side of the Arnon, in the desert; this river comes out of the territory of the Emori; for the Arnon is the boundary between Mo’av and the Emori. 14 This is why it says, in the Book of the Wars of Adonai, “. . . Vahev at Sufah, the vadis of Arnon, 15 and the slope of the vadis extending as far as the site of ‘Ar, which lie next to the territory of Mo’av.”

16 From there they went on to Be’er [well]; that is the well about which Adonai said to Moshe, “Assemble the people, and I will give them water.” 17 Then Isra’el sang this song:

“Spring up, oh well!

Sing to the well

18 sunk by the princes,

dug by the people’s leaders

with the scepter,

with their staffs!”

From the desert they went to Mattanah, 19 from Mattanah to Nachali’el, from Nachali’el to Bamot, 20 and from Bamot to the valley by the plain of Mo’av at the start of the Pisgah range, where it overlooks the desert.

(RY: iv, LY: vii) 21 Isra’el sent messengers to Sichon, king of the Emori, with this message: 22 “Let me pass through your land. We won’t turn aside into fields or vineyards, and we won’t drink any water from the wells. We will go along the King’s Highway until we have left your territory.” 23 But Sichon would not allow Isra’el to pass through his territory. Instead, Sichon mustered all his people and went out into the desert to fight Isra’el. On reaching Yachatz, he fought Isra’el. 24 Isra’el defeated him by force of arms and took control of his land from the Arnon to the Yabok River, but only as far as the people of ‘Amon, because the territory of the people of ‘Amon was well defended. 25 Isra’el took all these cities — Isra’el lived in all the cities of the Emori, in Heshbon and all its surrounding towns. 26 Heshbon was the city of Sichon, the king of the Emori, who had fought against the former king of Mo’av and conquered all his land up to the Arnon. 27 This is why the storytellers say,

“Come to Heshbon! Let it be rebuilt!

Let Sichon’s city be restored!

28 “For fire burst out of Heshbon,

a flame from the city of Sichon.

It consumed ‘Ar of Mo’av,

the lords of Arnon’s high places.

29 “Woe to you, Mo’av!

You are destroyed, people of K’mosh!

He let his sons be fugitives and his daughters captives

of Sichon, king of the Emori.

30 “We shot them down; Heshbon is destroyed,

all the way to Divon.

We even laid waste to Nofach,

which extends as far as Meidva.”

31 Thus Isra’el lived in the land of the Emori.

32 Moshe sent men to reconnoiter Ya‘zer; they captured its towns and drove out the Emori who were there.

33 Then they turned and went up along the road to Bashan; and ‘Og, the king of Bashan, marched out against them, he with all his people, to fight at Edre‘i. (LY: Maftir) 34 Adonai said to Moshe, “Don’t be afraid of him, for I have handed him over to you with all his people and his land. You will treat him just as you did Sichon, king of the Emori, who lived at Heshbon.” 35 So they struck him down, with his sons and all his people, until there was no one left alive; and then they took control of his land.

22:1 Then the people of Isra’el traveled on and camped in the plains of Mo’av beyond the Yarden River, opposite Yericho.

2 Now Balak the son of Tzippor saw all that Isra’el had done to the Emori. 3 Mo’av was very afraid of the people, because there were so many of them; Mo’av was overcome with dread because of the people of Isra’el. 4 So Mo’av said to the leaders of Midyan, “This horde will lick up everything around us, the way an ox licks up grass in the field.”

Balak the son of Tzippor was king of Mo’av at that time. 5 He sent messengers to Bil‘am the son of B‘or, at P’tor by the [Euphrates] River in his native land, to tell him, “Listen, a people has come out of Egypt, spread over all the land and settled down next to me. 6 Therefore, please come, and curse this people for me, because they are stronger than I am. Maybe I will be able to strike them down and drive them out of the land, for I know that whomever you bless is in fact blessed, and whomever you curse is in fact cursed.” 7 The leaders of Mo’av and Midyan left, taking with them the payment for divining, came to Bil‘am and spoke to him the words of Balak. 8 He said to them, “Stay here tonight, and I will bring you back whatever answer Adonai tells me.” So the princes of Mo’av stayed with Bil‘am.

9 God came to Bil‘am and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 Bil‘am said to God, “Balak the son of Tzippor, king of Mo’av, has sent me this message: 11 ‘The people who came out of Egypt have spread over the land; now, come and curse them for me; maybe I will be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” 12 God answered Bil‘am, “You are not to go with them; you are not to curse the people, because they are blessed.”

(RY: v; LY: ii) 13 Bil‘am got up in the morning and said to the princes of Balak, “Return to your own land, because Adonai refuses to give me permission to go with you.” 14 The princes of Mo’av got up, returned to Balak and said, “Bil‘am refuses to come with us.”

15 Balak again sent princes, more of them and of higher status than the first group. 16 They went to Bil‘am and said to him, “Here is what Balak the son of Tzippor says: ‘Please don’t let anything keep you from coming to me. 17 I will reward you very well, and whatever you say to me I will do. So please come, and curse this people for me.’” 18 Bil‘am answered the servants of Balak, “Even if Balak were to give me his palace filled with silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Adonai my God to do anything, great or small. 19 Now, please, you too, stay here tonight; so that I may find out what else Adonai will say to me.” 20 God came to Bil‘am during the night and said to him, “If the men have come to summon you, get up and go with them; but do only what I tell you.”

(LY: iii) 21 So Bil‘am got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Mo’av. 22 But God’s anger flared up because he went, and the angel of Adonai stationed himself on the path to bar his way. He was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. 23 The donkey saw the angel of Adonai standing on the road, drawn sword in hand; so the donkey turned off the road into the field; and Bil‘am had to beat the donkey to get it back on the road. 24 Then the angel of Adonai stood on the road where it became narrow as it passed among the vineyards and had stone walls on both sides. 25 The donkey saw the angel of Adonai and pushed up against the wall, crushing Bil‘am’s foot against the wall. So he beat it again. 26 The angel of Adonai moved ahead and stood in a place so tight that there was no room to turn either right or left. 27 Again the donkey saw the angel of Adonai and lay down under Bil‘am, which made him so angry that he hit the donkey with his stick. 28 But Adonai enabled the donkey to speak, and it said to Bil‘am, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” 29 Bil‘am said to the donkey, “It’s because you’ve been making a fool of me! I wish I had a sword in my hand; I would kill you on the spot!” 30 The donkey said to Bil‘am, “I’m your donkey, right? You’ve ridden me all your life, right? Have I ever treated you like this before?” “No,” he admitted. 31 Then Adonai opened Bil‘am’s eyes, so that he could see the angel of Adonai standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, and he bowed his head and fell on his face. 32 The angel of Adonai said to him, “Why did you hit your donkey three times like that? I have come out here to bar your way, because you are rushing to oppose me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside these three times; and indeed, if she hadn’t turned away from me, I would have killed you by now and saved it alive!” 34 Bil‘am said to the angel of Adonai, “I have sinned. I didn’t know that you were standing on the road to block me. Now, therefore, if what I am doing displeases you, I will go back.” 35 But the angel of Adonai said to Bil‘am, “No, go on with the men; but you are to say only what I tell you to say.” So Bil‘am went along with the princes of Balak.

36 When Balak heard that Bil‘am had come, he went out to meet him in the city of Mo’av at the Arnon border, in the farthest reaches of the territory. 37 Balak said to Bil‘am, “I sent more than once to summon you! Why didn’t you come to me? Did you think I couldn’t pay you enough?” 38 Bil‘am replied to Balak, “Here, I’ve come to you! But I have no power of my own to say anything. The word that God puts in my mouth is what I will say.”

(RY: vi, LY: iv) 39 Bil‘am went with Balak. When they arrived at Kiryat-Hutzot, 40 Balak sacrificed cattle and sheep, then sent to Bil‘am and the princes with him. 41 In the morning Balak took Bil‘am and brought him up to the high places of Ba‘al; from there he could see a portion of the people.

Mark 15:

26 Over his head, the written notice of the charge against him read,

THE KING OF THE JEWS

27 On execution-stakes with him they placed two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. 28 [Mark 15:28 Some manuscripts include verse 15:28: And the passage from the Tanakh was fulfilled which says, “He was counted with transgressors.” (Isaiah 53:12)] 29 People passing by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! So you can destroy the Temple, can you, and rebuild it in three days? 30 Save yourself and come down from the stake!” 31 Likewise, the head cohanim and the Torah-teachers made fun of him, saying to each other, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself!” 32 and, “So he’s the Messiah, is he? The King of Isra’el? Let him come down now from the stake! If we see that, then we’ll believe him!” Even the men nailed up with him insulted him.

33 At noon, darkness covered the whole Land until three o’clock in the afternoon. 34 At three, he uttered a loud cry, “Elohi! Elohi! L’mah sh’vaktani?” (which means, “My God! My God! Why have you deserted me?”)[Mark 15:34 Psalm 22:2(1)] 35 On hearing this, some of the bystanders said, “Look! He’s calling for Eliyahu!” 36 One ran and soaked a sponge in vinegar, put it on a stick and gave it to him to drink.[Mark 15:36 Psalm 69:22(21)] “Wait!” he said, “Let’s see if Eliyahu will come and take him down.” 37 But Yeshua let out a loud cry and gave up his spirit. 38 And the parokhet in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw the way he gave up his spirit, he said, “This man really was a son of God!”

40 There were women looking on from a distance; among them were Miryam from Magdala, Miryam the mother of the younger Ya‘akov and of Yosi, and Shlomit. 41 These women had followed him and helped him when he was in the Galil. And many other women were there who had come up with him to Yerushalayim.

42 Since it was Preparation Day (that is, the day before a Shabbat), as evening approached, 43 Yosef of Ramatayim, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who himself was also looking forward to the Kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Yeshua’s body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead, so he summoned the officer and asked him if he had been dead awhile. 45 After he had gotten confirmation from the officer that Yeshua was dead, he granted Yosef the corpse. 46 Yosef purchased a linen sheet; and after taking Yeshua down, he wrapped him in the linen sheet, laid him in a tomb which had been cut out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. 47 Miryam of Magdala and Miryam the mother of Yosi saw where he had been laid.

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The Daily Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries of Saint Louis, Missouri, United States "He Doesn't Deserve Death" by Rev. Wayne Palmer for Thursday, March 17, 2016

(Pilate said) "... Look, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. I will therefore punish and release Him" (Luke 23:15-16).
Read Luke 23:13 Pilate summoned the head cohanim, the leaders and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought this man before me on a charge of subverting the people. I examined him in your presence and did not find the man guilty of the crime you are accusing him of. 15 And neither did Herod, because he sent him back to us. Clearly, he has not done anything that merits the death penalty. 16 Therefore, what I will do is have him flogged and release him.”.
In the first trial Pilate declared Jesus not guilty but failed to enforce his ruling. Now he has a second chance. Pilate reports that he examined Jesus in open court proceedings, not in secret, and found that Jesus was not guilty of any of the charges against Him. Moreover, Herod had tried Jesus and did not condemn Him.
Herod had a better understanding of the Jewish religion than the Roman Pilate. Yet even on religious grounds Herod had not found Jesus guilty, and he certainly would have punished Him if he had. Besides that, most of Jesus' preaching and miracles had been done in Herod's jurisdiction, yet not once over all those months had Herod found a reason to arrest and try Jesus.
Two courts had reached the same verdict. He concludes, "Look, nothing deserving death has been done by Him." Again at this point, Pilate should use his full authority as Roman ruler to protect the innocent. But instead of freeing Jesus, Pilate offers a compromise: he orders Jesus scourged-a savage, crippling whipping. Surely, the Jewish leaders will be satisfied that Jesus is no longer a threat, and accept it in place of Jesus' death.
What a strange punishment when you have declared a man innocent of all the charges leveled against Him. It is also odd that Pilate shrinks from killing a Man he knows is innocent, but can justify crippling Him. Jesus yields Himself to such suffering and injustice to pay for your sins and mine. But He knows God will not be satisfied with mere earthly punishment and suffering, the Son of God will have to die to save us from our sins.
THE PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I marvel at Your loving sacrifice. Fill me with such love and gratitude to You that I will sacrifice myself for others. Amen.

Through the Bible in a Year
Today Read:
Numbers 17:1 (16:36) Adonai said to Moshe, 2 (16:37) “Tell El‘azar the son of Aharon the cohen to remove the fire pans from the fire, and scatter the smoldering coals at a distance, because they have become holy. 3 (16:38) Also the fire pans of these men, whose sin cost them their lives, have become holy, because they were offered before Adonai. Therefore, have them hammered into plates to cover the altar. This will be a sign for the people of Isra’el.”

4 (16:39) El‘azar the cohen took the brass fire pans which the men who had been burned to death had offered, and they hammered them into a covering for the altar, 5 (16:40) to remind the people of Isra’el that an ordinary person, not descended from Aharon, is not to approach and burn incense before Adonai, if he wants to avoid the fate of Korach and his group — as Adonai had said to him through Moshe.

6 (16:41) But the very next day, the whole community of the people of Isra’el complained against Moshe and Aharon: “You have killed Adonai’s people!” 7 (16:42) However, as the community was assembling against Moshe and Aharon, they looked in the direction of the tent of meeting and saw the cloud cover it and the glory of Adonai appear. 8 (16:43) Moshe and Aharon came to the front of the tent of meeting.

(iv) 9 (16:44) Adonai said to Moshe, 10 (16:45) “Get away from this assembly, and I will destroy them at once!” But they fell on their faces. 11 (16:46) Moshe said to Aharon, “Take your fire pan, put fire from the altar in it, lay incense on it, and hurry with it to the assembly to make atonement for them, because anger has gone out from Adonai, and the plague has already begun!” 12 (16:47) Aharon took it, as Moshe had said, and ran into the middle of the assembly. There the plague had already begun among the people, but he added the incense and made atonement for the people. 13 (16:48) He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stopped. 14 (16:49) Those dying from the plague numbered 14,700 — besides those who died in the Korach incident. 15 (16:50) Aharon returned to Moshe at the entrance to the tent of meeting, and the plague was stopped.

(v) 16 (1) Adonai said to Moshe, 17 (2) “Speak to the people of Isra’el, and take from them staffs, one for each ancestral tribe from each leader of a tribe, twelve staffs. Write each man’s name on his staff; 18 (3) and write Aharon’s name on the staff of Levi, for each tribe’s leader is to have one staff. 19 (4) Put them in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you. 20 (5) The staff of the man I am going to choose will sprout buds — in this way I will put a stop to the complaints the people of Isra’el keep making against you.”

21 (6) Moshe spoke to the people of Isra’el, and all their leaders gave him staffs, one for each leader, according to their ancestral tribes, twelve staffs. Aharon’s staff was among their staffs. 22 (7) Moshe put the staffs before Adonai in the tent of the testimony. 23 (8) The next day Moshe went into the tent of the testimony, and there he saw that Aharon’s staff for the house of Levi had budded — it had sprouted not only buds but flowers and ripe almonds as well. 24 (9) Moshe brought out all the staffs from before Adonai to all the people of Isra’el, and they looked, and each man took back his staff.

(vi) 25 (10) Adonai said to Moshe, “Return Aharon’s staff to its place in front of the testimony. It is to be kept there as a sign to the rebels, so that they will stop grumbling against me and thus not die.” 26 (11) Moshe did this; he did as Adonai had ordered him.

27 (12) But the people of Isra’el said to Moshe, “Oh no! We’re dead men! Lost! We’re all lost! 28 (13) Whenever anyone approaches the tabernacle of Adonai, he dies! Will we all perish?”

18:1 Adonai said to Aharon, “You, your sons and your father’s family line will be responsible for anything that goes wrong in the sanctuary. You and your sons with you will be responsible for anything wrong in your service as cohanim. 2 But you are to bring your kinsmen, the tribe of Levi, along with yourselves, to work together with you and help you — you and your sons with you — when you are there before the tent of meeting. 3 They are to be at your disposal and perform all kinds of tasks related to the tent; only they are not to come near the holy furnishings or the altar, so that neither they nor you will die. 4 They will work together with you in your duties related to the tent of meeting, whatever the service in the tent may be; but an unauthorized person is not to come near you. 5 You will take charge of all the holy things and the altar, so that there will no longer be anger against the people of Isra’el. 6 I myself have taken your kinsmen the L’vi’im from among the people of Isra’el; they have been given as a gift to Adonai for you, so that you can perform the service in the tent of meeting. 7 You and your sons with you will exercise your prerogatives and duties as cohanim in regard to everything having to do with the altar and within the curtain. I entrust the service required of cohanim to you; the unauthorized person who tries to perform it is to be put to death.”

8 Adonai said to Aharon, “I myself have put you in charge of the contributions given to me. Everything consecrated by the people of Isra’el I have given and set aside for you and your sons; this is a perpetual law. 9 Here is what is to be yours of the especially holy things taken from the fire: every offering they make — that is, every grain offering, sin offering and guilt offering of theirs that they turn over to me — will be especially holy for you and your sons. 10 You are to eat it in an especially holy place; every male may eat it; it will be set apart for you.

11 “Also yours is the contribution the people of Isra’el give in the form of wave offerings. I have given these to you, your sons and your daughters with you; this is a perpetual law. Everyone in your family who is clean may eat it. 12 All the best of the olive oil, wine and grain, the first portion of what they give to Adonai, I have given to you. 13 The first produce to turn ripe of all that is in their land, which they bring to Adonai, is to be yours; every clean person in your family may eat it.

14 “Everything in Isra’el which has been consecrated unconditionally is to be yours.

15 “Everything that comes first out of the womb, of all living things which they offer to Adonai, whether human or animal, will be yours. However, the firstborn of a human being you must redeem, and the firstborn of an unclean beast you are to redeem. 16 The sum to be paid for redeeming anyone a month old or over is to be five shekels of silver [two ounces], as you value it, using the sanctuary shekel (this is the same as twenty gerahs). 17 But the firstborn of an ox, sheep or goat you are not to redeem; they are holy — you are to splash their blood against the altar and make their fat go up in smoke as an offering made by fire, as a fragrant aroma for Adonai. 18 Their meat will be yours, like the breast that is waved and the right thigh — they will be yours. 19 All the contributions of holy things which the people of Isra’el offer to Adonai I have given to you, your sons and your daughters with you; this is a perpetual law, an eternal covenant of salt before Adonai for you and your descendants with you.”

20 Adonai said to Aharon, “You are not to have any inheritance or portion in their land; I am your portion and inheritance among the people of Isra’el.

(vii) 21 “To the descendants of Levi I have given the entire tenth of the produce collected in Isra’el. It is their inheritance in payment for the service they render in the tent of meeting. 22 From now on, the people of Isra’el are not to approach the tent of meeting, so that they will not bear the consequences of their sin and die. 23 Only the L’vi’im are to perform the service in the tent of meeting, and they will be responsible for whatever they do wrong. This is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations. They are to have no inheritance among the people of Isra’el, 24 because I have given to the L’vi’im as their inheritance the tenths of the produce which the people of Isra’el set aside as a gift for Adonai. This is why I have said to them that they are to have no inheritance among the people of Isra’el.”

25 Adonai said to Moshe, 26 “Tell the L’vi’im, ‘When you take from the people of Isra’el the tenth of the produce which I have given you from them as your inheritance, you are to set aside from it a gift for Adonai, one tenth of the tenth. 27 The gift you set aside will be accounted to you as if it were grain from the threshing-floor and grape juice from the wine vat. 28 In this way you will set aside a gift for Adonai from all your tenths that you receive from the people of Isra’el, and from these tenths you are to give to Aharon the cohen the gift set aside for Adonai. 29 From everything given to you, you are to set aside all that is due Adonai, the best part of it, its holy portion.’

(Maftir) 30 “Therefore you are to tell them, ‘When you set aside from it its best part, it will be accounted to the L’vi’im as if it were grain from the threshing-floor and grape juice from the wine vat. 31 You may eat it anywhere, you and your households; because it is your payment in return for your service in the tent of meeting. 32 Moreover, because you will have set aside from it its best parts, you will not be committing any sin because of it; for you are not to profane the holy things of the people of Isra’el, or you will die.’”

19:1 Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon, 2 “This is the regulation from the Torah which Adonai has commanded. Tell the people of Isra’el to bring you a young red female cow without fault or defect and which has never borne a yoke. 3 You are to give it to El‘azar the cohen; it is to be brought outside the camp and slaughtered in front of him. 4 El‘azar the cohen is to take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle this blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. 5 The heifer is to be burned to ashes before his eyes — its skin, meat, blood and dung is to be burned to ashes. 6 The cohen is to take cedar-wood, hyssop and scarlet yarn and throw them onto the heifer as it is burning up. 7 Then the cohen is to wash his clothes and himself in water, after which he may re-enter the camp; but the cohen will remain unclean until evening. 8 The person who burned up the heifer is to wash his clothes and himself in water, but he will remain unclean until evening. 9 A man who is clean is to collect the ashes of the heifer and store them outside the camp in a clean place. They are to be kept for the community of the people of Isra’el to prepare water for purification from sin. 10 The one who collected the ashes of the heifer is to wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. For the people of Isra’el and for the foreigner staying with them this will be a permanent regulation.

11 “Anyone who touches a corpse, no matter whose dead body it is, will be unclean for seven days. 12 He must purify himself with [these ashes] on the third and seventh days; then he will be clean. But if he does not purify himself the third and seventh days, he will not be clean. 13 Anyone who touches a corpse, no matter whose dead body it is, and does not purify himself has defiled the tabernacle of Adonai. That person will be cut off from Isra’el, because the water for purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.

14 “This is the law: when a person dies in a tent, everyone who enters the tent and everything in the tent will be unclean for seven days. 15 Every open container without a cover closely attached is unclean. 16 Also whoever is in an open field and touches a corpse, whether of someone killed by a weapon or of someone who died naturally, or the bone of a person, or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.

17 “For the unclean person they are to take some of the ashes of the animal burned up as a purification from sin and add them to fresh water in a container. (LY: ii) 18 A clean person is to take a bunch of hyssop leaves, dip it in the water and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the containers, on the people who were there, and on the person who touched the bone or the person killed or the one who died naturally or the grave. 19 The clean person will sprinkle the unclean person on the third and seventh days. On the seventh day he will purify him; then he will wash his clothes and himself in water; and he will be clean at evening. 20 The person who remains unclean and does not purify himself will be cut off from the community because he has defiled the sanctuary of Adonai. The water for purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean. 21 This is to be a permanent regulation for them. The person who sprinkles the water for purification is to wash his clothes. Whoever touches the water for purification will be unclean until evening. 22 Anything the unclean person touches will be unclean, and anyone who touches him will be unclean until evening.”

Mark 15:1 As soon as it was morning, the head cohanim held a council meeting with the elders, the Torah-teachers and the whole Sanhedrin. Then they put Yeshua in chains, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. 2 Pilate put this question to him: “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “The words are yours.” 3 The head cohanim too made accusations against him, 4 and Pilate again inquired of him, “Aren’t you going to answer? Look how many charges they are making against you!” 5 But Yeshua made no further response, to Pilate’s amazement.

6 Now during a festival, Pilate used to set free one prisoner, whomever the crowd requested. 7 There was in prison among the rebels who had committed murder during the insurrection a man called Bar-Abba. 8 When the crowd came up and began asking Pilate to do for them what he usually did, 9 he asked them, “Do you want me to set free for you the ‘King of the Jews’?” 10 For it was evident to him that it was out of jealousy that the head cohanim had handed him over. 11 But the head cohanim stirred up the crowd to have him release Bar-Abba for them instead. 12 Pilate again said to them, “Then what should I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” 13 They shouted back, “Put him to death on the stake!” 14 He asked, “Why? What crime has he committed?” But they only shouted louder, “Put him to death on the stake!” 15 So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the mob, set Bar-Abba free for them; but he had Yeshua whipped and then handed him over to be executed on the stake.

16 The soldiers led him away inside the palace (that is, the headquarters building) and called together the whole battalion. 17 They dressed him in purple and wove thorn branches into a crown, which they put on him. 18 Then they began to salute him, “Hail to the King of the Jews!” 19 They hit him on the head with a stick, spat on him and kneeled in mock worship of him. 20 When they had finished ridiculing him, they took off the purple robe, put his own clothes back on him and led him away to be nailed to the execution-stake.

21 A certain man from Cyrene, Shim‘on, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country; and they forced him to carry the stake. 22 They brought Yeshua to a place called Gulgolta (which means “place of a skull”), 23 and they gave him wine spiced with myrrh, but he didn’t take it. 24 Then they nailed him to the execution-stake; and they divided his clothes among themselves, throwing dice to determine what each man should get. 25 It was nine in the morning when they nailed him to the stake.

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