Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 203
23:44–24:16
L e v itic u s
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that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I rescued them from the
land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”
So Moses gave the Israelites these instructions regarding the annual festivals of the Lord.
The Lord said to Moses, “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure
oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.
This is the lampstand that stands in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner
curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant. Aaron must keep the lamps
burning in the Lord’s presence all night. This is a permanent law for you,
and it must be observed from generation to generation. Aaron and the
priests must tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand continually in
the Lord’s presence.
“You must bake twelve flat loaves of bread from choice flour, using four
quarts of flour for each loaf. Place the bread before the Lord on the pure
gold table, and arrange the loaves in two stacks, with six loaves in each
stack. Put some pure frankincense near each stack to serve as a representative offering, a special gift presented to the Lord. Every Sabbath day this
bread must be laid out before the Lord as a gift from the Israelites; it is
an ongoing expression of the eternal covenant. The loaves of bread will
belong to Aaron and his descendants, who must eat them in a sacred place,
for they are most holy. It is the permanent right of the priests to claim this
portion of the special gifts presented to the Lord.”
One day a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father came
out of his tent and got into a fight with one of the Israelite men. During the
fight, this son of an Israelite woman blasphemed the Name of the Lord
with a curse. So the man was brought to Moses for judgment. His mother
was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan. They kept the
man in custody until the Lord’s will in the matter should become clear
to them.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take the blasphemer outside the camp,
and tell all those who heard the curse to lay their hands on his head. Then
let the entire community stone him to death. Say to the people of Israel:
Those who curse their God will be punished for their sin. Anyone who
blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be stoned to death by the whole
community of Israel. Any native-born Israelite or foreigner among you
who blasphemes the Name of the Lord must be put to death.
