Let them be disappointed and confounded together, those who seek after my life to destroy it. Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor, those who delight in my hurt. Psalm 40:14

Leviticus 15-16

Leviticus 15

The Uncleanness of Men

1 The Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When any man has a discharge from his body, because of his discharge he is unclean. 3 He is unclean because of his discharge. Whether the discharge runs or is stopped, he is unclean.

4 Every bed on which he who has the discharge lies shall be unclean, and everything he sits on shall be unclean.

5 Whoever touches his bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and will be unclean until the evening. 6 He who sits on anything on which the man who has the discharge sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

7 He who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

8 If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

9 Whatever saddle he who has the discharge rides on shall be unclean. 10 Whoever touches anything that was under him shall be unclean until the evening. He who carries those things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

11 Whomever he who has the discharge touches, without having rinsed his hands in water, he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

12 The earthen vessel, which he who has the discharge touches, shall be broken, and every vessel of wood shall be rinsed in water.

The Cleansing of Men

13 When he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count off seven days for himself for his purification and wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in running water and shall be clean.

14 On the eighth day he shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons and come before the Lord to the door of the Tent of Meeting and give them to the priest. 15 The priest shall offer them, one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering. The priest shall make atonement for him before the Lord for his discharge.

16 If any man has an emission of semen, then he shall bathe all his flesh in water and be unclean until the evening.

17 Every garment and every skin which the semen is on shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. 18 If a man lies with a woman, and there is an emission of semen, they shall both bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening.

The Uncleanness of Women

19 If a woman has a discharge, and it is blood, she shall be set apart for seven days. Whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.

20 Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean. Everything also that she sits on shall be unclean.

21 Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

22 Whoever touches anything that she sits on shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening. 23 If it is on the bed or on anything she sits on, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until the evening.

24 If any man lies with her, and her monthly flow is on him, he shall be unclean for seven days, and every bed he lies on shall be unclean.

25 If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not during the time of her regular menstruation, or if she has a discharge that continues beyond her menstruation, as long as the discharge continues, her uncleanness shall be like during the days of her menstruation. She is unclean.

26 Every bed she lies on all the days of her discharge shall be to her like the bed of her menstruation. Everything she sits on shall be unclean, like the uncleanness of her menstruation. 27 Whoever touches these things shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water and be unclean until the evening.

The Cleansing of Women

28 But if she is cleansed of her discharge, then she shall count off seven days, and after that she shall be clean.

29 On the eighth day she shall take two turtledoves, or two young pigeons and bring them to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting. 30 The priest shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her before the Lord for the uncleanness of her discharge.

31 Thus you shall separate the Israelites from their uncleanness, so they will not die in their uncleanness when they defile my tabernacle that is among them.

32 This is the law of him who has a discharge and of him who has an emission of semen, so that he is unclean by it, 33 and of the woman who has her period, and of a man or woman who has a discharge, and of the man who lies with her who is unclean.’ ”

Leviticus 16

The Law of Atonement

1 The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they came near before the Lord and died. 2 And the Lord said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron, your brother and tell him that he is not to come any time he wishes, into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat which is upon the ark, or he will die, for I will appear in the cloud on the mercy seat.

3 Aaron shall come into the sanctuary with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

4 He shall put on the holy linen tunic. He shall have the linen trousers on his body and shall put on the linen sash, and he shall be clothed with the linen turban. They are the holy garments. He shall bathe his body in water and put them on.

5 He shall take from the congregation of the Israelites, two male goats for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering. 6 Aaron shall offer the bull of the sin offering for himself and make atonement for himself and for his house.

7 He shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 8 Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and offer him for a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell for the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement for him, to send him away as the scapegoat into the wilderness.

The Sin Offering for the Priest

11 Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house and shall slaughter the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12 He shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small and bring it within the veil. 13 He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the covenant, so that he will not die. 14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east, and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

The Sin Offering for the People

15 Then he shall kill the goat which is the sin offering for the people and bring his blood within the veil and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bull and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. 16 He shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the Israelites and because of their transgressions, for all of their sins, and so he shall do at the Tent of Meeting that dwells with them in the middle of their uncleanness. 17 No one shall be in the Tent of Meeting when he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel.

18 He shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it and shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it around on the horns of the altar. 19 He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse and consecrate it from the sins of the Israelites.

The Scapegoat

20 When he has finished atoning for the Holy Place, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the Israelites, and all their transgressions–all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and a man fit for the task shall send him into the wilderness. 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities and send them into an uninhabited land, and he shall let the goat go into the wilderness.

23 Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting and shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place and shall leave them there. 24 Then he shall bathe himself in water in a holy place, put on his garments, and come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 He shall burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

26 He who lets the goat go as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water and afterward he shall come into the camp. 27 The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp, and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire. 28 He who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.”

The Day of Atonement

29 “This shall be a statute to you forever. In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls and shall do no work of any kind, whether native-born or a stranger who lives as a foreigner among you, 30 for atonement shall be made for you on this day, to cleanse you. You shall be clean from all your sins before the Lord. 31 It is a Sabbath of solemn rest to you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever.

32 The priest, who is anointed and who is consecrated to be priest in his father’s place, shall make the atonement and shall put on the linen garments and the holy garments. 33 Then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the congregation.

34 This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the Israelites once a year because of all their sins.”

It was done as the Lord commanded Moses.

Mark 7:1-23

Tradition and Vain Worship

1 Then the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together to him, having come from Jerusalem. 2 When they saw some of his disciples eating bread with defiled hands, that is, unwashed hands, they found fault. 3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands and forearms, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 They do not eat when they come from the marketplace unless they bathe themselves, and there are many other things, which they have received to observe: washings of cups, pitchers, bronze vessels, and dining chairs. 5 The Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why did your disciples not walk in accordance with the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with unwashed hands?”

6 He answered them, “Isaiah did well to prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
7 They worship me in vain,
teaching as doctrines, the commandments of men.’ a

8 “For you set aside the commandment of God and hold tightly to the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and you do many other such things.” 9 He said to them, “Full well do you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ b and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ c 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother: Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban,’ ” that is to say, given to God, 12 “then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, 13 making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”

What Defiles a Man

14 He called all the people to himself and said to them, “Hear me, all of you and understand. 15 There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile him, but it is the things which proceed out of the man that defile the man. 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”

17 When he had entered into a house away from the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Are you also without understanding? Do you not perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, then eliminated, making all foods clean?” 20 He said, “That which proceeds out of the man, is what defiles the man. 21 For from within, out of the hearts of men, proceed evil thoughts, greed, sexual sins, murder, theft, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile the man.

a Isaiah 29:13
b Exodus 20:12
c Exodus 21:17

Psalm 40:11-17

11 Do not withhold your tender mercies from me, O Lord.
Let your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve me.
12 For innumerable evils have surrounded me.
My sins have overtaken me so that I am not able to look up.
They are more than the hairs of my head.
My heart has failed me.
13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me.
Hurry to help me, O Lord.
14 Let them be disappointed and confounded together,
those who seek after my life to destroy it.
Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor
those who delight in my hurt.
15 Let them be ashamed and confounded together, who seek after my soul to destroy it.
Let those who wish evil on me be driven back and put to shame.”
16 Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation say continually, “Let the Lord be exalted!”
17 But I am poor and needy.
May the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer.
Do not delay, O my God.

Proverbs 10:13-14

13 Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has discernment,
but a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding.
14 Wise men lay up knowledge,
but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin.

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