Study Desk

"A man must not have sexual relations with his uncle's wife. It would be like having sexual relations with his uncle. That man and his uncle's wife will be punished for their sins. They will die without children.

Priests must be holy for their God. They must show respect for God's name. They offer the bread and special gifts to the Lord , so they must be holy.

"Tell Aaron and his sons: The gifts that the Israelites bring to me become holy. They belong to me, so you priests must show respect for these things. If you don't, you will show that you don't respect my holy name. I am the Lord .

They must not let the people eat these offerings. If they do, they are guilty of doing wrong, and they must pay for it. I am the Lord , the one who makes these offerings holy."

These are gifts that the people bring because they really want to give a gift to God. If the gift is a bull, or a sheep, or a goat, the animal must be a male. And it must not have anything wrong with it. You must not accept any offering that has anything wrong with it. I will not accept that gift.

You will celebrate these festivals in addition to remembering the Lord 's Sabbath days. You will offer these gifts in addition to your other gifts and any offerings you give as payment for your special promises. They will be in addition to any special offerings you want to give to the Lord .

That bread will belong to Aaron and his sons. They will eat the bread in a holy place, because that bread is one of the special gifts to the Lord . It is Aaron's share forever."

"Bring the man who cursed to a place outside the camp. Then bring together everyone who heard him curse. They will put their hands on his head. And then all the people must throw stones at him and kill him.

Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the man who cursed to a place outside the camp. Then they killed him with stones. So the Israelites did just what the Lord had commanded Moses.

Also, the fields and pastures around the Levite cities cannot be sold. They belong to the Levites forever.

They will be like hired workers and visitors with you until the year of Jubilee.

Then they can leave you, take their children, and go back to their family. They can go back to the property of their ancestors,

Or their uncle, their cousin, or one of their close relatives from their family can buy him back. Or if they get enough money, they can pay the money themselves and become free again.

"Those who sold themselves will become free, even if no one buys them back. At the year of Jubilee, they and their children will become free.

If you do these things, I will give you rains at the time they should come. The land will grow crops and the trees of the field will grow their fruit.

If you do that, I will cause terrible things to happen to you. I will cause you to have disease and fever. They will destroy your eyes and take away your life. You will not have success when you plant your seed. And your enemies will eat your crops.

"But maybe the people will confess their sins. And maybe they will confess the sins of their ancestors. Maybe they will admit that they turned against me. Maybe they will admit that they sinned against me.

Maybe they will admit that I turned against them and brought them into the land of their enemies. These people will be like strangers to me. But maybe they will become humble and accept the punishment for their sin.

If they do, I will remember my agreement with Jacob. I will remember my agreement with Isaac. I will remember my agreement with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

"The land will be empty. The land will enjoy its time of rest. Then the survivors will accept the punishment for their sins. They will learn that they were punished because they hated my laws and refused to obey my rules.