Leviticus 24
Chapter 24
Pure Oil and Holy Bread
1 The LORD said to Moses,2 “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to keep the lamps burning continually.3 This is the lampstand that stands in the Tabernacle, in front of the inner curtain that shields the Ark of the Covenant.t 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.
4 Aaron and the priests must tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand continually in the LORD’s presence.
5 “You must bake twelve loaves of bread from choice flour, using four quartst of flour for each loaf.6 Place the bread before the LORD on the pure gold table, and arrange the loaves in two rows, with six loaves in each row.7 Put some pure frankincense near each row to serve as a representative offering, a special gift presented to the LORD.8 Every Sabbath day this bread must be laid out before the LORD. The bread is to be received from the people of Israel as a requirement of the eternal covenant.
9 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.”
An Example of Just Punishment
10 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.11 During the fight, this son of an Israelite woman blasphemed the Name of the LORDt 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.
12 They kept the man in custody until the LORD’s will in the matter should become clear to them.
13 Then the LORD said to Moses,14 “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.15 Say to the people of Israel: Those who curse their God will be punished for their sin.
16 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.
17 “Anyone who takes another person’s life must be put to death.
18 “Anyone who kills another person’s animal must pay for it in full—a live animal for the animal that was killed.
19 “Anyone who injures another person must be dealt with according to the injury inflicted—
20 a fracture for a fracture, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Whatever anyone does to injure another person must be paid back in kind.
21 “Whoever kills an animal must pay for it in full, but whoever kills another person must be put to death.
22 “This same standard applies both to native-born Israelites and to the foreigners living among you. I am the LORD your God.”
23 After Moses gave all these instructions to the Israelites, they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him to death. The Israelites did just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
LEVITICUS 24
Caring for the Lamps
(Exodus 27.20,21)
1 The [Lord] told Moses
2 to say to the community of Israel:
You must supply the purest olive oil for the lamps in the sacred tent, so they will keep burning.
3-4 Aaron will set up the gold lampstand in the holy place of the sacred tent. Then he will light the seven lamps that must be kept burning there in my presence, every night from now on. This law will never change.The Sacred Bread
The [Lord] said:
5 t Use your finest flour to bake twelve loaves of bread about two kilograms each, 6 then take them into the sacred tent and lay them on the gold table in two rows of six loaves. 7 Alongside each row put some pure incense that will be sent up by fire in place of the bread as an offering to me. 8 Aaron must lay fresh loaves on the table each Sabbath, and priests in all generations must continue this practice as part of Israel's agreement with me.
9 t This bread will always belong to Aaron and his family; it is very holy because it was offered to me, and it must be eaten in a holy place.tPunishment //for Cursing the [Lord]
10-11 Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri from the tribe of Dan, had married an Egyptian, and they had a son. One day their son got into a fight with an Israelite man in camp and cursed the name of the [Lord]. So the young man was dragged off to Moses,
12 who had him guarded while everyone waited for the [Lord] to tell them what to do.
13 Finally, the [Lord] said to Moses:
14 This man has cursed me! Take him outside the camp and tell the witnesses to lay their hands on his head. Then command the whole community of Israel to stone him to death.
15-16 And warn the others that everyone else who curses me will die in the same way, whether they are Israelites by birth or foreigners living among you.
17 t Death is also the penalty for murder, 18 but the killing of an animal that belongs to someone else requires only that the animal be replaced. 19 Personal injuries to others must be dealt with in keeping with the crime— 20 t a broken bone for a broken bone, an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth. 21 It's possible to pay the owner for an animal that has been killed, but death is the penalty for murder.
22 t I am the [Lord] your God, and I demand equal justice both for you Israelites and for those foreigners who live among you.
23 When Moses finished speaking, the people did what the [Lord] had told Moses, and they stoned to death the man who had cursed the [Lord].
