The person who will eat anything is not to despise the one who doesn't; while the one who eats only vegetables is not to pass judgment on the one who will eat anything; for God has accepted that person.

You then, who eat only vegetables---why do you pass judgment on others? And you who eat anything---why do you despise other believers? All of us will stand before God to be judged by him.

So then, let us stop judging one another. Instead, you should decide never to do anything that would make others stumble or fall into sin.

But if someone tells you, "This food was offered to idols," then do not eat that food, for the sake of the one who told you and for conscience' sake---

If I thank God for my food, why should anyone criticize me about food for which I give thanks?"

Before some men who had been sent by James arrived there, Peter had been eating with the Gentile believers. But after these men arrived, he drew back and would not eat with the Gentiles, because he was afraid of those who were in favor of circumcising them.

The other Jewish believers also started acting like cowards along with Peter; and even Barnabas was swept along by their cowardly action.

Do not criticize one another, my friends. If you criticize or judge another Christian, you criticize and judge the Law. If you judge the Law, then you are no longer one who obeys the Law, but one who judges it.

for the people of Israel. You may eat any land animal

but you must not eat camels, rock badgers, or rabbits. These must be considered unclean; they chew the cud, but do not have divided hoofs.

(SEE 11:4)

Do not eat these animals or even touch their dead bodies; they are unclean.

but anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales must not be eaten.

You must not eat anything that lives in the water and does not have fins and scales.

(SEE 11:13)

(SEE 11:13)

(SEE 11:13)

All winged insects are unclean,

You may eat locusts, crickets, or grasshoppers.

If you touch the dead bodies of the following animals, you will be unclean until evening: all animals with hoofs, unless their hoofs are divided and they chew the cud, and all four-footed animals with paws. If you carry their dead bodies, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening.

(SEE 11:24)

(SEE 11:24)

(SEE 11:29)

And if their dead bodies fall on anything, it will be unclean. This applies to any article of wood, cloth, leather, or sacking, no matter what it is used for. It shall be dipped in water, but it will remain unclean until evening.

Any food which could normally be eaten, but on which water from such a pot has been poured, will be unclean, and anything drinkable in such a pot is unclean.

but a spring or a cistern remains clean, although anything else that touches their dead bodies is unclean.

But if the seed is soaking in water and one of them falls on it, the seed is unclean.

And if any of you eat any part of the animal, you must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening; any of you who carry the dead body must wash your clothes, but you will still be unclean until evening.

whether they crawl, or walk on four legs, or have many legs.

I am the LORD your God, and you must keep yourselves holy, because I am holy.

This, then, is the law about animals and birds, about everything that lives in the water, and everything that moves on the ground.

If any Israelites or any foreigners living in the community eat meat with blood still in it, the LORD will turn against them and no longer consider them his people.

That is why the LORD has told the people of Israel that neither they nor any foreigner living among them shall eat any meat with blood still in it.

The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the LORD has told the people of Israel that they shall not eat any meat with blood still in it and that anyone who does so will no longer be considered one of his people.

"Do not eat anything that the LORD has declared unclean.

deer, wild sheep, wild goats, or antelopes---

But no animals may be eaten unless they have divided hoofs and also chew the cud. You may not eat camels, rabbits, or rock badgers. They must be considered unclean; they chew the cud but do not have divided hoofs.

"You may eat any kind of fish that has fins and scales,

"You may eat any clean bird.

(SEE 14:12)

(SEE 14:12)

(SEE 14:12)

"All winged insects are unclean; do not eat them.

"Do not eat any animal that dies a natural death. You may let the foreigners who live among you eat it, or you may sell it to other foreigners. But you belong to the LORD your God; you are his people. "Do not cook a young sheep or goat in its mother's milk.

But I replied, "No, Sovereign LORD! I have never defiled myself. From childhood on I have never eaten meat from any animal that died a natural death or was killed by wild animals. I have never eaten any food considered unclean."

It is not what goes into your mouth that makes you ritually unclean; rather, what comes out of it makes you unclean."

"You were a guest in the home of uncircumcised Gentiles, and you even ate with them!"

"While I was praying in the city of Joppa, I had a vision. I saw something coming down that looked like a large sheet being lowered by its four corners from heaven, and it stopped next to me.

Then I heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; kill and eat!'

The voice spoke again from heaven, 'Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean.'

At that very moment three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where I was staying.

He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house, who said to him, 'Send someone to Joppa for a man whose full name is Simon Peter.

And when I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them just as on us at the beginning.

It is clear that God gave those Gentiles the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ; who was I, then, to try to stop God!"

Instead, we should write a letter telling them not to eat any food that is ritually unclean because it has been offered to idols; to keep themselves from sexual immorality; and not to eat any animal that has been strangled, or any blood.

Some people's faith allows them to eat anything, but the person who is weak in the faith eats only vegetables.

Those who think highly of a certain day do so in honor of the Lord; those who will eat anything do so in honor of the Lord, because they give thanks to God for the food. Those who refuse to eat certain things do so in honor of the Lord, and they give thanks to God.

My union with the Lord Jesus makes me certain that no food is of itself ritually unclean; but if you believe that some food is unclean, then it becomes unclean for you.

Do not let what you regard as good get a bad name.

But not everyone knows this truth. Some people have been so used to idols that to this day when they eat such food they still think of it as food that belongs to an idol; their conscience is weak, and they feel they are defiled by the food.

Be careful, however, not to let your freedom of action make those who are weak in the faith fall into sin.

And so this weak person, your brother for whom Christ died, will perish because of your "knowledge"!

So then, if food makes a believer sin, I will never eat meat again, so as not to make a believer fall into sin.

Such people teach that it is wrong to marry and to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten, after a prayer of thanks, by those who are believers and have come to know the truth.

because the word of God and the prayer make it acceptable to God.

since they have to do only with food, drink, and various purification ceremonies. These are all outward rules, which apply only until the time when God will establish the new order.

Do not let all kinds of strange teachings lead you from the right way. It is good to receive inner strength from God's grace, and not by obeying rules about foods; those who obey these rules have not been helped by them.

The LORD gave Moses

You have six days in which to do your work, but remember that the seventh day, the Sabbath, is a day of rest. On that day do not work, but gather for worship. The Sabbath belongs to the LORD, no matter where you live.

The Passover, celebrated to honor the LORD, begins at sunset on the fourteenth day of the first month.

On the first of these days you shall gather for worship and do none of your daily work.

When you come into the land that the LORD is giving you and you harvest your grain, take the first sheaf to the priest.

He shall present it as a special offering to the LORD, so that you may be accepted. The priest shall present it the day after the Sabbath.

With it you shall present four pounds of flour mixed with olive oil as a food offering. The odor of this offering is pleasing to the LORD. You shall also present with it an offering of one quart of wine.

Count seven full weeks from the day after the Sabbath on which you bring your sheaf of grain to present to the LORD.

Each family is to bring two loaves of bread and present them to the LORD as a special gift. Each loaf shall be made of four pounds of flour baked with yeast and shall be presented to the LORD as an offering of the first grain to be harvested.

Also offer one male goat as a sin offering and two one-year-old male lambs as a fellowship offering.

On that day do none of your daily work, but gather for worship. Your descendants are to observe this regulation for all time to come, no matter where they live.

On the first day of the seventh month observe a special day of rest, and come together for worship when the trumpets sound.

Present a food offering to the LORD and do none of your daily work.

(SEE 23:26)

Any who eat anything on that day will no longer be considered God's people.

This regulation applies to all your descendants, no matter where they live.

The Festival of Shelters begins on the fifteenth day of the seventh month and continues for seven days.

On the first of these days come together for worship and do none of your daily work.

(These are the religious festivals on which you honor the LORD by gathering together for worship and presenting food offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and wine offerings, as required day by day.

When you have harvested your fields, celebrate this festival for seven days, beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. The first day shall be a special day of rest.

Celebrate it for seven days. This regulation is to be kept by your descendants for all time to come.

so that your descendants may know that the LORD made the people of Israel live in simple shelters when he led them out of Egypt. He is the LORD your God.

The LORD commanded Moses

These are the food offerings that are to be presented to the LORD: for the daily burnt offering, two one-year-old male lambs without any defects.

each with a grain offering of 2 pounds of flour, mixed with 2 pints of the best olive oil.

As the wine offering with the first lamb, pour out at the altar 2 pints of wine.

On the Sabbath day offer two one-year-old male lambs without any defects, 4 pounds of flour mixed with olive oil as a grain offering, and the wine offering.

Present a burnt offering to the LORD at the beginning of each month: two young bulls, one ram, seven one-year-old male lambs, all without any defects.

and with each lamb, 2 pounds. These burnt offerings are food offerings, an odor pleasing to the LORD.

And in addition to the daily burnt offering with its wine offering, offer one male goat as a sin offering.

On the fifteenth day a religious festival begins which lasts seven days, during which only bread prepared without yeast is to be eaten.

Offer a burnt offering as a food offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all without any defects.

and 2 pounds with each lamb.

Offer these in addition to the regular morning burnt offering.

Meet for worship on the seventh day and do no work.

Offer a burnt offering as an odor pleasing to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all without any defects.

and 2 pounds with each lamb.

"Honor the LORD your God by celebrating Passover in the month of Abib; it was on a night in that month that he rescued you from Egypt.

When you eat this meal, do not eat bread prepared with yeast. For seven days you are to eat bread prepared without yeast, as you did when you had to leave Egypt in such a hurry. Eat this bread---it will be called the bread of suffering---so that as long as you live you will remember the day you came out of Egypt, that place of suffering.

"Slaughter the Passover animals at the one place of worship---and nowhere else in the land that the LORD your God will give you. Do it at sunset, the time of day when you left Egypt.

Boil the meat and eat it at the one place of worship; and the next morning return home.

"Count seven weeks from the time that you begin to harvest the grain,

Be joyful in the LORD's presence, together with your children, your servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows who live in your towns. Do this at the one place of worship.

"After you have threshed all your grain and pressed all your grapes, celebrate the Festival of Shelters for seven days.

Honor the LORD your God by celebrating this festival for seven days at the one place of worship. Be joyful, because the LORD has blessed your harvest and your work.

as he is able, in proportion to the blessings that the LORD your God has given him.

When the people heard what the Law required, they were so moved that they began to cry. So Nehemiah, who was the governor, Ezra, the priest and scholar of the Law, and the Levites who were explaining the Law told all the people, "This day is holy to the LORD your God, so you are not to mourn or cry.

If foreigners bring grain or anything else to sell to us on the Sabbath or on any other holy day, we will not buy from them. Every seventh year we will not farm the land, and we will cancel all debts.

My heart breaks when I remember the past, when I went with the crowds to the house of God and led them as they walked along, a happy crowd, singing and shouting praise to God.

Some people think that a certain day is more important than other days, while others think that all days are the same. We each should firmly make up our own minds.

Those who think highly of a certain day do so in honor of the Lord; those who will eat anything do so in honor of the Lord, because they give thanks to God for the food. Those who refuse to eat certain things do so in honor of the Lord, and they give thanks to God.

Also on joyful occasions---at your New Moon Festivals and your other religious festivals---you are to blow the trumpets when you present your burnt offerings and your fellowship offerings. Then I will help you. I am the LORD your God."

Present a burnt offering to the LORD at the beginning of each month: two young bulls, one ram, seven one-year-old male lambs, all without any defects.

The proper wine offering is 4 pints of wine with each bull, 3 pints with the ram, and 2 pints with each lamb. This is the regulation for the burnt offering for the first day of each month throughout the year.

"Tomorrow is the New Moon Festival," David replied, "and I am supposed to eat with the king. But if it's all right with you, I will go and hide in the fields until the evening of the day after tomorrow.

Then Jonathan said to him, "Since tomorrow is the New Moon Festival, your absence will be noticed if you aren't at the meal.

"Why do you have to go today?" her husband asked. "It's neither a Sabbath nor a New Moon Festival." "Never mind," she answered.

and whenever offerings to the LORD are burned on the Sabbath, the New Moon Festival, and other festivals. Rules were made specifying the number of Levites assigned to do this work each time. The Levites were assigned the duty of worshiping the LORD for all time.

We will provide for the Temple worship the following: the sacred bread, the daily grain offering, the animals to be burned each day as sacrifices, the sacred offerings for Sabbaths, New Moon Festivals, and other festivals, the other sacred offerings, the offerings to take away the sins of Israel, and anything else needed for the Temple.

Blow the trumpet for the festival, when the moon is new and when the moon is full.

It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins.

It will be his duty to provide the animals to be burned whole, the grain offerings, and the wine offerings for the whole nation of Israel at the New Moon Festivals, the Sabbaths, and the other festivals. He is to provide the sin offerings, the grain offerings, the offerings to be burned whole, and the fellowship offerings, to take away the sins of the people of Israel."

The Sovereign LORD says, "The east gateway to the inner courtyard must be kept closed during the six working days, but it is to be opened on the Sabbath and at the New Moon Festival.

Each Sabbath and each New Moon Festival all the people are also to bow down and worship the LORD in front of the gate.

You say to yourselves, "We can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so that we can sell our grain. When will the Sabbath end, so that we can start selling again? Then we can overcharge, use false measures, and fix the scales to cheat our customers.

You pay special attention to certain days, months, seasons, and years.

That day is to be a very holy day, one on which they fast and do no work at all. These regulations are to be observed for all time to come.

You have six days in which to do your work, but remember that the seventh day, the Sabbath, is a day of rest. On that day do not work, but gather for worship. The Sabbath belongs to the LORD, no matter where you live.

(SEE 23:23)

From sunset on the ninth day of the month to sunset on the tenth observe this day as a special day of rest, during which nothing may be eaten.

When you have harvested your fields, celebrate this festival for seven days, beginning on the fifteenth day of the seventh month. The first day shall be a special day of rest.