Achrei Mot-Kedoshim

Passages

Torah: Leviticus 18:22 - 19:14
Gospel: Matthew 21:28-22:14

Torah — Leviticus 18:22 - 19:14

18:22 And you shall not lie with a male as lying with a woman; that is a detestable thing.

18:23 And you shall not have sexual relations with any animal, becoming unclean with it; and a woman shall not stand before an animal to copulate with it—that is a perversion.

18:24 “‘You must not make yourself unclean in any of these things, because the nations whom I am driving out from your presence were made unclean by all of these.

18:25 So the land became unclean, and I have brought the punishment of its guilt upon it, and the land has vomited out its inhabitants.

18:26 But you (neither the native nor the alien who is dwelling in your midst) shall keep my statutes and my regulations, and you shall not practice any of these detestable things

18:27 (because the people of the land, who were before you, did all these detestable things, so the land became unclean),

18:28 so that the land will not vomit you out when you make it unclean just as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

18:29 Indeed, anyone who does any of these detestable things, even those persons who do so shall be cut off from the midst of their people.

18:30 Thus you shall keep my obligation to not do any of the statutes regarding the detestable things that they did before you, so that you will not make yourselves unclean by them; I am Yahweh your God.’”

19:1 Yahweh Is Holy Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

19:2 “Speak to all the community of the Israelites, and say to them, ‘You must be holy, because I, Yahweh your God, am holy.

19:3 Each of you must revere your mother and your father, and you must keep my Sabbaths; I am Yahweh your God.

19:4 You must not turn to idols, and you must not make for yourselves gods of cast metal; I am Yahweh your God.

19:5 “‘And when you sacrifice a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to Yahweh, you must sacrifice it for your acceptance.

19:6 It must be eaten on the day of your sacrifice and the next day; but the remainder must be burned up in the fire by the third day.

19:7 And if it is indeed eaten on the third day, it is unclean meat; it shall not be regarded as accepted.

19:8 And the one who eats it shall bear his guilt, because he has profaned Yahweh’s holiness, and that person shall be cut off from his people.

19:9 Love Your Neighbor as Yourself “‘And at your reaping the harvest of your land you must not finish reaping the edge of your field, and you must not glean the remnants of your harvest.

19:10 And you must not glean your vineyard, and you must not gather your vineyard’s fallen grapes; you must leave them behind for the needy and for the alien; I am Yahweh your God.

19:11 “‘You shall not steal, and you shall not deceive, and you shall not lie to one another;

19:12 and you shall not swear falsely in my name, and so one of you profane the name of your God; I am Yahweh.

19:13 “‘You shall not exploit your neighbor, and you shall not rob him; a hired worker’s wage you shall not withhold overnight until morning.

19:14 You shall not curse the deaf, and you shall not put a stumbling block before a blind person, but you shall revere your God; I am Yahweh.

18:22 “‘Do not have sex with a man as you would have sex with a woman. I hate that.

18:23 “‘Do not have sex with an animal. Do not make yourself “unclean” by doing that. A woman must not offer herself to an animal to have sex with it. That is a twisted use of sex.

18:24 “‘Do not make yourselves “unclean” in any of those ways. That is how other nations became “unclean.” So I am going to drive those nations out of the land to make room for you.

18:25 Even their land was not “clean.” So I punished it because of its sin. The land itself threw out the people who lived there.

18:26 “‘But you must keep my rules and my laws. You must not do any of the things I hate. It does not matter whether you are Israelites or outsiders.

18:27 “‘All of those things were done by the people who lived in the land before you. That is how the land became “unclean.”

18:28 If you make the land “unclean,” it will throw you out. It will get rid of you just as it got rid of the nations that were there before you.

18:29 “‘Suppose you do any of the things I hate. Then you must be cut off from your people.

18:30 “‘Do exactly what I require. When you arrive in Canaan, do not follow any of the practices of its people. I hate the things they do. Do not make yourselves “unclean” by doing them. I am the Lord your God.’”

19:1 Other Laws The Lord spoke to Moses. He said,

19:2 “Speak to the whole community of Israel. Tell them, ‘Be holy, because I am holy. I am the Lord your God.

19:3 “‘All of you must have respect for your mother and father. You must always keep my Sabbath days. I am the Lord your God.

19:4 “‘Do not turn away from me to worship statues of gods. Do not make gods out of metal for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.

19:5 “‘Suppose you sacrifice a friendship offering to me. Then do it in the right way. And I will accept it from you.

19:6 You must eat it on the same day you sacrifice it or on the next day. Anything that is left over until the third day must be burned up.

19:7 “‘If you eat any of it on the third day, it is not pure. I will not accept it.

19:8 If you eat it, you will be held accountable. You have misused what is holy to me. You will be cut off from your people.

19:9 “‘Suppose you are harvesting your crops. Then do not harvest all the way to the edges of your field. And do not pick up the grain you missed.

19:10 Do not go over your vineyard a second time. Do not pick up the grapes that have fallen to the ground. Leave them for poor people and outsiders. I am the Lord your God.

19:11 “‘Do not steal. “‘Do not tell lies. “‘Do not cheat one another.

19:12 “‘Do not take an oath and give false witness in my name. That would be treating it as if it were not holy. I am the Lord your God.

19:13 “‘Do not cheat your neighbor. Do not rob him. “‘Do not hold back the pay of a hired worker until morning.

19:14 “‘Do not call a curse down on deaf people. Do not put anything in front of blind people that will make them trip. Instead, have respect for me. I am the Lord your God.

Gospel — Matthew 21:28-22:14

21:28 The Parable of the Two Sons “Now what do you think? A man had two sons. He approached the first and said, ‘Son, go work in the vineyard today.’

21:29 And he answered and said, ‘I do not want to!’ But later he changed his mind and went.

21:30 And he approached the second and said the same thing. So he answered and said, ‘I will, sir,’ and he did not go.

21:31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God!

21:32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him. And when you saw it, you did not even change your minds later so as to believe in him.

21:33 The Parable of the Tenant Farmers in the Vineyard “Listen to another parable: There was a man—a master of a house—who planted a vineyard, and put a fence around it, and dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower, and leased it to tenant farmers, and went on a journey.

21:34 And when the season of fruit drew near, he sent his slaves to the tenant farmers to collect his fruit.

21:35 And the tenant farmers seized his slaves, one of whom they beat, and one of whom they killed, and one of whom they stoned.

21:36 Again, he sent other slaves, more than the first ones, and they did the same thing to them.

21:37 So finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’

21:38 But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance!’

21:39 And they seized him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

21:40 Now when the master of the vineyard arrives, what will he do to those tenant farmers?”

21:41 They said to him, “He will destroy those evil men completely and lease the vineyard to other tenant farmers who will give him the fruits in their season.”

21:42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the cornerstone. This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

21:43 For this reason, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a people who produce its fruits.

21:44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls—it will crush him!”

21:45 And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was speaking about them,

21:46 and although they wanted to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds, because they looked upon him as a prophet.

22:1 The Parable of the Wedding Celebration And continuing, Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying,

22:2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man—a king—who gave a wedding celebration for his son.

22:3 And he sent his slaves to summon those who had been invited to the wedding celebration, and they did not want to come.

22:4 Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding celebration!”’

22:5 But they paid no attention and went away—this one to his own field, that one to his business.

22:6 And the others, seizing his slaves, mistreated them and killed them.

22:7 And the king was angry and sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

22:8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding celebration is ready, but those who had been invited were not worthy.

22:9 Therefore, go out to the places where the roads exit the city and invite to the wedding celebration as many people as you find.’

22:10 And those slaves went out into the roads and gathered everyone whom they found, both evil and good, and the wedding celebration was filled with dinner guests.

22:11 But when the king came in to see the dinner guests, he saw a man there not dressed in wedding clothes.

22:12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here, not having wedding clothes?’ But he could say nothing.

22:13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot and throw him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth!’

22:14 For many are called but few are chosen.”

21:28 The Story of the Two Sons “What do you think about this? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

21:29 “‘I will not,’ the son answered. But later he changed his mind and went.

21:30 “Then the father went to the other son. He said the same thing. The son answered, ‘I will, sir.’ But he did not go.

21:31 “Which of the two sons did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “What I’m about to tell you is true. Tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God ahead of you.

21:32 John came to show you the right way to live. And you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. You saw this. But even then you did not turn away from your sins and believe him.

21:33 The Story of the Renters “Listen to another story. A man who owned some land planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it. He dug a pit for a winepress in it. He also built a lookout tower. He rented the vineyard out to some farmers. Then he went away on a journey.

21:34 When harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the renters. He told the servants to collect his share of the fruit.

21:35 “But the renters grabbed his servants. They beat one of them. They killed another. They threw stones at the third to kill him.

21:36 Then the man sent other servants to the renters. He sent more than he did the first time. The renters treated them the same way.

21:37 “Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

21:38 “But the renters saw the son coming. They said to each other, ‘This is the one who will receive all the owner’s property someday. Come, let’s kill him. Then everything will be ours.’

21:39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard. Then they killed him.

21:40 “When the owner of the vineyard comes back, what will he do to those renters?”

21:41 “He will destroy those evil people,” they replied. “Then he will rent the vineyard out to other renters. They will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

21:42 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what the Scriptures say, “‘The stone the builders didn’t accept has become the most important stone of all. The Lord has done it. It is wonderful in our eyes’? ()

21:43 “So here is what I tell you. The kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who will produce its fruit.

21:44 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces. But the stone will crush anyone it falls on.”

21:45 The chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ stories. They knew he was talking about them.

21:46 So they looked for a way to arrest him. But they were afraid of the crowd. The people believed that Jesus was a prophet.

22:1 The Story of the Wedding Dinner Jesus told them more stories. He said,

22:2 “Here is what the kingdom of heaven is like. A king prepared a wedding dinner for his son.

22:3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the dinner. The servants told them to come. But they refused.

22:4 “Then he sent some more servants. He said, ‘Tell those who were invited that I have prepared my dinner. I have killed my oxen and my fattest cattle. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding dinner.’

22:5 “But the people paid no attention. One went away to his field. Another went away to his business.

22:6 The rest grabbed his servants. They treated them badly and then killed them.

22:7 “The king became very angry. He sent his army to destroy them. They killed those murderers and burned their city.

22:8 “Then the king said to his servants, ‘The wedding dinner is ready. But those I invited were not fit to come.

22:9 Go to the street corners. Invite to the dinner anyone you can find.’

22:10 So the servants went out into the streets. They gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad. Soon the wedding hall was filled with guests.

22:11 “The king came in to see the guests. He noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.

22:12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man couldn’t think of anything to say.

22:13 “Then the king told his servants, ‘Tie up his hands and feet. Throw him outside into the darkness. Out there people will sob and grind their teeth.’

22:14 “Many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Passages

Torah — Leviticus 18:22 - 19:14

LEB translation

NIRV translation

Gospel — Matthew 21:28-22:14

LEB translation

NIRV translation