The Place of Sacrifice

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and his sons and to all the people of Israel and say to them, This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. 3 If any one of the house of Israel ^ukills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or kills it outside the camp, 4 and ^vdoes not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood, and that man ^wshall be cut off from among his people. 5 This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice ^xin the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and sacrifice them ^yas sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord. 6 And the priest shall ^ythrow the blood on the altar of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat ^zfor a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 7 So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they ^awhore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.

8 “And you shall say to them, Any one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who ^boffers a burnt offering or sacrifice 9 and ^cdoes not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it to the Lord, ^wthat man shall be cut off from his people.

Laws Against Eating Blood

10 “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them ^deats any blood, I will ^eset my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 ^fFor the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar ^gto make atonement for your souls, ^hfor it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.

13 “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall ⁱpour out its blood and ^jcover it with earth. 14 For the life of every creature¹ is its ^kblood: its blood is its life.² Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off. 15 ^lAnd every person who eats what dies of itself or what is torn by beasts, ^mwhether he is a native or a sojourner, ⁿshall wash his clothes and ^obathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening; then he shall be clean. 16 But if he does not wash them or bathe his flesh, ^phe shall bear his iniquity.”

Unlawful Sexual Relations

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^qI am the Lord your God. 3 ^rYou shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and ^syou shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4 ^tYou shall follow my rules³ and keep my statutes and walk in them. ^qI am the Lord your God. 5 ^tYou shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; ^uif a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.

6 “None of you shall approach any one of his close relatives to uncover nakedness. I am the Lord. 7 ^vYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 8 ^wYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. 9 ^xYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister, your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether brought up in the family or in another home. 10 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter or of your daughter’s daughter, for their nakedness is your own nakedness. 11 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, brought up in your father’s family, since she is your sister. 12 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s relative. 13 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s relative. 14 You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father’s brother, that is, you shall not approach his wife; she is your aunt. 15 ^yYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. 16 ^zYou shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. 17 You shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, and you shall not take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter to uncover her nakedness; they are relatives; it is depravity. 18 And you shall not take a woman as a ^arival wife to her sister, uncovering her nakedness ^bwhile her sister is still alive.

19 ^c“You shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness while she is in her menstrual uncleanness. 20 ^dAnd you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor’s wife and so make yourself unclean with her. 21 You shall not give any of your children to ^eoffer them⁴ to ^fMolech, and so ^gprofane the name of your God: I am the Lord. 22 ^hYou shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. 23 ⁱAnd you shall not lie with any animal and so make yourself unclean with it, neither shall any woman give herself to an animal to lie with it: it is ^jperversion.

24 ^k“Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, ^lfor by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean, 25 and the ^mland became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land ⁿvomited out its inhabitants. 26 But ^oyou shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the ^pnative or the stranger who sojourns among you 27 (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean), 28 lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29 For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 ^qSo keep my charge never to practice ^rany of these abominable customs that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them: ^sI am the Lord your God.”

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and ^wsin which clings so closely, and ^xlet us run ^ywith endurance the race that is ^zset before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, ^awho for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising ^bthe shame, and ^cis seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do Not Grow Weary

3 ^dConsider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or ^efainthearted. 4 In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. ⁱGod is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, ^jin which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to ^kthe Father of spirits ^land live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, ^mthat we may share his holiness. 11 ⁿFor the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields ^othe peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

12 Therefore ^plift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, 13 and ^qmake straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint ^rbut rather be healed. 14 ^sStrive for peace with everyone, and for the ^tholiness ^uwithout which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one ^vfails to obtain the grace of God; that no ^w“root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; 16 that no one is ^xsexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 17 For you know that ^yafterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

18 For you have not come to ^zwhat may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and ^athe sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words ^bmade the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, ^c“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, ^dso terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to ^eMount Zion and to the city of the living God, ^fthe heavenly Jerusalem, and to ^ginnumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to ^hthe assembly¹ of the firstborn who are ⁱenrolled in heaven, and to ^jGod, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, ^kthe mediator of a new covenant, and to ^lthe sprinkled blood ^mthat speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For ⁿif they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time ^ohis voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ^p“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates ^qthe removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving ^ra kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus ^slet us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our ^tGod is a consuming fire.