22 You are therefore to keep all My statutes and ordinances, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out. 23You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them.

24 But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance — a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God, who has set you apart from the peoples.

25 You are therefore to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and birds. Do not become contaminated by any animal or bird, or by anything that crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you. 26You are to be holy to Me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own.

27 A man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist must surely be put to death. They shall be stoned; their blood isupon them.’”

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people, 2except for his immediate family — his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother, 3or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband. 4He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself.

5 Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies. 6They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the Lord the food offerings, the food of their God, they must be holy.

7 A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the Lord am holy — I who set you apart. 9If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire.

10 The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments. 11He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother. 12He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord.

13 The woman he marries must be a virgin. 14He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people, 15so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the Lord who sanctifies him.”

16 Then the Lord said to Moses, 17“Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God.

18 No man who has any defect may approach — no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed; 19no man who has a broken foot or hand, 20or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle.

21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the food offerings to the Lord. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God. 22He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food, 23but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the Lord who sanctifies them.’”

24 Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2“Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings that the Israelites have consecrated to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name. I am the Lord.

3 Tell them that for the generations to come, if any of their descendants in a state of uncleanness approaches the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the Lord, that person must be cut off from My presence. I am the Lord.

4 If a descendant of Aaron has a skin disease or a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man who has an emission of semen, 5or whoever touches a crawling creature or a person that makes him unclean, whatever the uncleanness may be — 6the man who touches any of these will remain unclean until evening. He must not eat from the sacred offerings unless he has bathed himself with water.

7 When the sun has set, he will become clean, and then he may eat from the sacred offerings, for they are his food. 8He must not eat anything found dead or torn by wild animals, which would make him unclean. I am the Lord. 9The priests must keep My charge, lest they bear the guilt and die because they profane it. I am the Lord who sanctifies them.

10 No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it. 11But if a priest buys a slave with his own money, or if a slave is born in his household, that slave may eat his food.

12 If the priest’s daughter is married to a man other than a priest, she is not to eat of the sacred contributions. 13But if a priest’s daughter with no children becomes widowed or divorced and returns to her father’s house, she may share her father’s food as in her youth. But no outsider may share it.

14 If anyone eats a sacred offering in error, he must add a fifth to its value and give the sacred offering to the priest. 15The priests must not profane the sacred offerings that the Israelites present to the Lord 16by allowing the people to eat the sacred offerings and thus to bear the punishment for guilt. For I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”

1 Then Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God arrive with power.”

2 After six days Jesus took with Him Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There He was transfigured before them. 3His clothes became radiantly white, brighter than any launderer on earth could bleach them. 4And Elijah and Moses appeared before them, talking with Jesus.

5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters— one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6For they were all so terrified that Peter did not know what else to say.

7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him!” 8Suddenly, when they looked around, they saw no one with them except Jesus.

9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus admonished them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10So they kept this matter to themselves, discussing what it meant to rise from the dead. 11And they asked Jesus, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”

12 He replied, “Elijah does indeed come first, and he restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected? 13But I tell you that Elijah has indeed come, and they have done to him whatever they wished, just as it is written about him.”

14 When they returned to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were filled with awe and ran to greet Him.

16 “What are you disputing with them?” He asked.

17 Someone in the crowd replied, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a spirit that makes him mute. 18Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked Your disciples to drive it out, but they were unable.”

19 “O unbelieving generation!” Jesus replied. “How long must I remain with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me.”

20 So they brought him, and seeing Jesus, the spirit immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.

21 Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been with him?”

“From childhood,” he said. 22“It often throws him into the fire or into the water, trying to kill him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

23 “If You can?” echoed Jesus. “All things are possible to him who believes!”

24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

25 When Jesus saw that a crowd had come running, He rebuked the unclean spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” He said, “I command you to come out and never enter him again.”

26 After shrieking and convulsing him violently, the spirit came out. The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He is dead.” 27But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.

28 After Jesus had gone into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”

29 Jesus answered, “This kind cannot come out, except by prayer.”