Leviticus 24

God also said to Moses,

“Command the Israelite people to constantly bring you clear oil made from pressed olives. This is to burn in the lamps {in the sacred tent} in order that those lamps will be lit all the time. \*

Aaron must take care of the lamps in God’s presence continually, so that they will burn all night long. You must obey this rule forever. Outside the curtain of the very holy place which is in the sacred tent

on the lampstand that is dedicated to God, he must constantly take care of the lamps that burn in God’s presence. \*

Also, each week you must take some fine flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using four and one-half liters of flour for each loaf.

Put the loaves in two rows, with six loaves in each row, on the table covered with pure gold in God’s presence. \*

Along each row, place on {the gold table} some pure incense. It will represent the bread, and {the priest will burn} it as a present for God instead of the bread.

The priests must put new loaves of bread on the table each Sabbath day. You Israelites continually offering this gift to me, God, represents the never-ending covenant between us.

When they remove the loaves from the table, they will belong to Aaron and his descendants. They must eat them in a sacred place set aside for this purpose, because they are a very sacred part of the presents to God. This food will always be for the priestly family.” \*

There was a man who had an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father. His mother’s name was Shelomith. Her father was Dibri from the tribe of Dan. One day the half-Israelite man was walking in the Israelite camp, and he and an Israelite man started fighting there in the camp. While they were fighting, the half-Israelite man said bad things about God and cursed God. Then some people took the half-Israelite man to Moses.

Moses had some people guard him until they could find out from God what they should do to him. \*

Then God said to Moses,

“Take the man who cursed me outside the camp. There all those who heard what he said must put their hands on his head {to indicate that he is guilty}. Then all the people must kill him by throwing stones at him. \*

Tell the Israelites, ‘If anyone curses God, you must punish him for sinning.

So you must surely execute anyone who curses God. All the people must throw stones at him until he is dead. It does not matter if he is a foreigner or an Israelite from birth. You must surely execute anyone who curses God. \*

Also, if anyone murders another person, the people must surely execute him.

And anyone who kills another person’s animal must give that person a live animal to replace the one that he killed. \*

If one Israelite injures another Israelite, injure the person who caused the injury in the same way as the injury he caused.

If someone breaks one of another person’s bones, break the same bone of the person who caused the injury. If someone injures another person’s eye, injure his eye. If someone knocks out another person’s tooth, knock out one of his teeth. Do to the offender the same as what he did to the other person.

Whoever kills another person’s animal must give that person a live animal to replace the one that he killed, but the people must execute anyone who murders another person. \*

You Israelites and foreigners who live among you must all have that same law. Remember: I am God your God.’”

Then Moses told the Israelites everything God had said. So they took the man who had cursed God outside the camp and killed him by throwing stones at him. The Israelites did exactly what God commanded them to do through Moses. \*