So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths.

所以，不拘在饮食上，或节期、月朔、安息日都不可让人论断你们。

所以，不要让任何人在饮食上，或节期、初一、安息日等事上评断你们。

所以，不要让任何人在饮食上，或节期、初一、安息日等事上评断你们。

所以，不可让人在饮食、节期、朔日或安息日的事上批评你们。

所以不要让人因着饮食、节期、月朔、安息日批评你们，

所以，在吃喝的事上，或在有关节日、月朔或安息日的事上，不要让人评断你们。

所以，不拘在飲食上，或節期、月朔、安息日都不可讓人論斷你們。

所以，不要讓任何人在飲食上，或節期、初一、安息日等事上評斷你們。

所以，不要讓任何人在飲食上，或節期、初一、安息日等事上評斷你們。

所以，不可讓人在飲食、節期、朔日或安息日的事上批評你們。

所以不要讓人因著飲食、節期、月朔、安息日批評你們，

所以別在喫喝上、或年節月初一安息日的方面上、讓人論斷你們了。

所以，在吃喝的事上，或在有關節日、月朔或安息日的事上，不要讓人評斷你們。

是以勿因飲食、節期、月朔、安息日、被人擬議、

爾勿以飲食、節期、月朔、安息日故、被人擬議、

故人勿因飲食、節期、月朔、安息日而議論爾曹、

是故若有人以飲食、節期、新月、安息等事、訾議爾等、弗恤可也。

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

So don’t let anyone judge you because of what you eat or drink. Don’t let anyone judge you about holy days. I’m talking about special feasts and New Moons and Sabbath days.

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.

Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day—

So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day or a new moon or a sabbath day:

Therefore, don’t let anyone judge you in regard to food and drink or in the matter of a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath[ days]:

Therefore do not let anyone judge you with respect to food or drink, or in the matter of a feast, new moon, or Sabbath days–

Let no one therefore judge you in eating, or in drinking, or with respect to a feast day or a new moon or a Sabbath day,

In the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable.Those who worship the Lord on a special day do it to honor him. Those who eat any kind of food do so to honor the Lord, since they give thanks to God before eating. And those who refuse to eat certain foods also want to please the Lord and give thanks to God.

So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.I know and am convinced on the authority of the Lord Jesus that no food, in and of itself, is wrong to eat. But if someone believes it is wrong, then for that person it is wrong.And if another believer is distressed by what you eat, you are not acting in love if you eat it. Don’t let your eating ruin someone for whom Christ died.Then you will not be criticized for doing something you believe is good.For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

You are trying to earn favor with God by observing certain days or months or seasons or years.

They assisted with the burnt offerings that were presented to the Lord on Sabbath days, at new moon celebrations, and at all the appointed festivals. The required number of Levites served in the Lord’s presence at all times, following all the procedures they had been given.

The prince will be required to provide offerings that are given at the religious festivals, the new moon celebrations, the Sabbath days, and all other similar occasions. He will provide the sin offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, liquid offerings, and peace offerings to purify the people of Israel, making them right with the Lord.

It’s not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth.”

For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables.Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.

This will provide for the Bread of the Presence; for the regular grain offerings and burnt offerings; for the offerings on the Sabbaths, the new moon celebrations, and the annual festivals; for the holy offerings; and for the sin offerings to make atonement for Israel. It will provide for everything necessary for the work of the Temple of our God.

So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them.

( But suppose someone tells you,“ This meat was offered to an idol.” Don’t eat it, out of consideration for the conscience of the one who told you.It might not be a matter of conscience for you, but it is for the other person.) For why should my freedom be limited by what someone else thinks?If I can thank God for the food and enjoy it, why should I be condemned for eating it?So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble.It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble.

Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you.

When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile believers, who were not circumcised. But afterward, when some friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore. He was afraid of criticism from these people who insisted on the necessity of circumcision.As a result, other Jewish believers followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy.

They will say it is wrong to be married and wrong to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten with thanks by faithful people who know the truth.Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks.For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.

The Lord said to Moses,“ Give these instructions to the people of Israel: The offerings you present as special gifts are a pleasing aroma to me; they are my food. See to it that they are brought at the appointed times and offered according to my instructions.“ Say to the people: This is the special gift you must present to the Lord as your daily burnt offering. You must offer two one year old male lambs with no defects.Sacrifice one lamb in the morning and the other in the evening.With each lamb you must offer a grain offering of two quarts of choice flour mixed with one quart of pure oil of pressed olives.This is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.Along with it you must present the proper liquid offering of one quart of alcoholic drink with each lamb, poured out in the Holy Place as an offering to the Lord.Offer the second lamb in the evening with the same grain offering and liquid offering. It, too, is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.“ On the Sabbath day, sacrifice two one year old male lambs with no defects. They must be accompanied by a grain offering of four quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil, and a liquid offering.This is the burnt offering to be presented each Sabbath day, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its accompanying liquid offering.“ On the first day of each month, present an extra burnt offering to the Lord of two young bulls, one ram, and seven one year old male lambs, all with no defects.These must be accompanied by grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil— six quarts with each bull, four quarts with the ram,and two quarts with each lamb. This burnt offering will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.You must also present a liquid offering with each sacrifice: two quarts of wine for each bull, a third of a gallon for the ram, and one quart for each lamb. Present this monthly burnt offering on the first day of each month throughout the year.“ On the first day of each month, you must also offer one male goat for a sin offering to the Lord. This is in addition to the regular burnt offering and its accompanying liquid offering.“ On the fourteenth day of the first month, you must celebrate the Lord’s Passover.On the following day— the fifteenth day of the month— a joyous, seven day festival will begin, but no bread made with yeast may be eaten.The first day of the festival will be an official day for holy assembly, and no ordinary work may be done on that day.As a special gift you must present a burnt offering to the Lord— two young bulls, one ram, and seven one year old male lambs, all with no defects.These will be accompanied by grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil— six quarts with each bull, four quarts with the ram,and two quarts with each of the seven lambs.You must also offer a male goat as a sin offering to purify yourselves and make yourselves right with the Lord.Present these offerings in addition to your regular morning burnt offering.On each of the seven days of the festival, this is how you must prepare the food offering that is presented as a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. These will be offered in addition to the regular burnt offerings and liquid offerings.The seventh day of the festival will be another official day for holy assembly, and no ordinary work may be done on that day.“ At the Festival of Harvest, when you present the first of your new grain to the Lord, you must call an official day for holy assembly, and you may do no ordinary work on that day.Present a special burnt offering on that day as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of two young bulls, one ram, and seven one year old male lambs.These will be accompanied by grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil— six quarts with each bull, four quarts with the ram,and two quarts with each of the seven lambs.

Then Jesus said to them,“ The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”

Food doesn’t go into your heart, but only passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer.”( By saying this, he declared that every kind of food is acceptable in God’s eyes.)

For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies— physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.

“ Why go today?” he asked.“ It is neither a new moon festival nor a Sabbath.” But she said,“ It will be all right.”

“ In honor of the Lord your God, celebrate the Passover each year in the early spring, in the month of Abib, for that was the month in which the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night.Your Passover sacrifice may be from either the flock or the herd, and it must be sacrificed to the Lord your God at the designated place of worship— the place he chooses for his name to be honored.Eat it with bread made without yeast. For seven days the bread you eat must be made without yeast, as when you escaped from Egypt in such a hurry. Eat this bread— the bread of suffering— so that as long as you live you will remember the day you departed from Egypt.Let no yeast be found in any house throughout your land for those seven days. And when you sacrifice the Passover lamb on the evening of the first day, do not let any of the meat remain until the next morning.“ You may not sacrifice the Passover in just any of the towns that the Lord your God is giving you.You must offer it only at the designated place of worship— the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored. Sacrifice it there in the evening as the sun goes down on the anniversary of your exodus from Egypt.Roast the lamb and eat it in the place the Lord your God chooses. Then you may go back to your tents the next morning.For the next six days you may not eat any bread made with yeast. On the seventh day proclaim another holy day in honor of the Lord your God, and no work may be done on that day.“ Count off seven weeks from when you first begin to cut the grain at the time of harvest.Then celebrate the Festival of Harvest to honor the Lord your God. Bring him a voluntary offering in proportion to the blessings you have received from him.This is a time to celebrate before the Lord your God at the designated place of worship he will choose for his name to be honored. Celebrate with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, the Levites from your towns, and the foreigners, orphans, and widows who live among you.Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt, so be careful to obey all these decrees.“ You must observe the Festival of Shelters for seven days at the end of the harvest season, after the grain has been threshed and the grapes have been pressed.This festival will be a happy time of celebrating with your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows from your towns.For seven days you must celebrate this festival to honor the Lord your God at the place he chooses, for it is he who blesses you with bountiful harvests and gives you success in all your work. This festival will be a time of great joy for all.“ Each year every man in Israel must celebrate these three festivals: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of Shelters. On each of these occasions, all men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he chooses, but they must not appear before the Lord without a gift for him.All must give as they are able, according to the blessings given to them by the Lord your God.

The Lord said to Moses,“ Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. These are the Lord’s appointed festivals, which you are to proclaim as official days for holy assembly.“ You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of complete rest, an official day for holy assembly. It is the Lord’s Sabbath day, and it must be observed wherever you live.“ In addition to the Sabbath, these are the Lord’s appointed festivals, the official days for holy assembly that are to be celebrated at their proper times each year.“ The Lord’s Passover begins at sundown on the fourteenth day of the first month.On the next day, the fifteenth day of the month, you must begin celebrating the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This festival to the Lord continues for seven days, and during that time the bread you eat must be made without yeast.On the first day of the festival, all the people must stop their ordinary work and observe an official day for holy assembly.For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lord. On the seventh day the people must again stop all their ordinary work to observe an official day for holy assembly.”Then the Lord said to Moses,“ Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you enter the land I am giving you and you harvest its first crops, bring the priest a bundle of grain from the first cutting of your grain harvest.On the day after the Sabbath, the priest will lift it up before the Lord so it may be accepted on your behalf.On that same day you must sacrifice a one year old male lamb with no defects as a burnt offering to the Lord.With it you must present a grain offering consisting of four quarts of choice flour moistened with olive oil. It will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. You must also offer one quart of wine as a liquid offering.Do not eat any bread or roasted grain or fresh kernels on that day until you bring this offering to your God. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.“ From the day after the Sabbath— the day you bring the bundle of grain to be lifted up as a special offering— count off seven full weeks.Keep counting until the day after the seventh Sabbath, fifty days later. Then present an offering of new grain to the Lord.From wherever you live, bring two loaves of bread to be lifted up before the Lord as a special offering. Make these loaves from four quarts of choice flour, and bake them with yeast. They will be an offering to the Lord from the first of your crops.Along with the bread, present seven one year old male lambs with no defects, one young bull, and two rams as burnt offerings to the Lord. These burnt offerings, together with the grain offerings and liquid offerings, will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.Then you must offer one male goat as a sin offering and two one year old male lambs as a peace offering.“ The priest will lift up the two lambs as a special offering to the Lord, together with the loaves representing the first of your crops. These offerings, which are holy to the Lord, belong to the priests.That same day will be proclaimed an official day for holy assembly, a day on which you do no ordinary work. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.“ When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you. I am the Lord your God.”The Lord said to Moses,“ Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. On the first day of the appointed month in early autumn, you are to observe a day of complete rest. It will be an official day for holy assembly, a day commemorated with loud blasts of a trumpet.You must do no ordinary work on that day. Instead, you are to present special gifts to the Lord.”Then the Lord said to Moses,“ Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month— nine days after the Festival of Trumpets. You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves and present special gifts to the Lord.Do no work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings of purification are made for you, making you right with the Lord your God.All who do not deny themselves that day will be cut off from God’s people.And I will destroy anyone among you who does any work on that day.You must not do any work at all! This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live.This will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and on that day you must deny yourselves. This day of rest will begin at sundown on the ninth day of the month and extend until sundown on the tenth day.”And the Lord said to Moses,“ Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. Begin celebrating the Festival of Shelters on the fifteenth day of the appointed month— five days after the Day of Atonement. This festival to the Lord will last for seven days.On the first day of the festival you must proclaim an official day for holy assembly, when you do no ordinary work.For seven days you must present special gifts to the Lord. The eighth day is another holy day on which you present your special gifts to the Lord. This will be a solemn occasion, and no ordinary work may be done that day.(“ These are the Lord’s appointed festivals. Celebrate them each year as official days for holy assembly by presenting special gifts to the Lord— burnt offerings, grain offerings, sacrifices, and liquid offerings— each on its proper day.These festivals must be observed in addition to the Lord’s regular Sabbath days, and the offerings are in addition to your personal gifts, the offerings you give to fulfill your vows, and the voluntary offerings you present to the Lord.)“ Remember that this seven day festival to the Lord— the Festival of Shelters— begins on the fifteenth day of the appointed month, after you have harvested all the produce of the land. The first day and the eighth day of the festival will be days of complete rest.On the first day gather branches from magnificent trees— palm fronds, boughs from leafy trees, and willows that grow by the streams. Then celebrate with joy before the Lord your God for seven days.You must observe this festival to the Lord for seven days every year. This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed in the appointed month from generation to generation.For seven days you must live outside in little shelters. All native born Israelites must live in shelters.This will remind each new generation of Israelites that I made their ancestors live in shelters when I rescued them from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.”So Moses gave the Israelites these instructions regarding the annual festivals of the Lord.

Blow the ram’s horn at new moon, and again at full moon to call a festival!

However, not all believers know this. Some are accustomed to thinking of idols as being real, so when they eat food that has been offered to idols, they think of it as the worship of real gods, and their weak consciences are violated.It’s true that we can’t win God’s approval by what we eat. We don’t lose anything if we don’t eat it, and we don’t gain anything if we do.But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others with a weaker conscience to stumble.For if others see you— with your“ superior knowledge”— eating in the temple of an idol, won’t they be encouraged to violate their conscience by eating food that has been offered to an idol?So because of your superior knowledge, a weak believer for whom Christ died will be destroyed.And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ.So if what I eat causes another believer to sin, I will never eat meat again as long as I live— for I don’t want to cause another believer to stumble.

It will be a Sabbath day of complete rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. This is a permanent law for you.

“ Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.“ Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food.You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud.You may not, however, eat the following animals that have split hooves or that chew the cud, but not both. The camel chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is ceremonially unclean for you.The hyrax chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean.The hare chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean.The pig has evenly split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean.You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses. They are ceremonially unclean for you.“ Of all the marine animals, these are ones you may use for food. You may eat anything from the water if it has both fins and scales, whether taken from salt water or from streams.But you must never eat animals from the sea or from rivers that do not have both fins and scales. They are detestable to you. This applies both to little creatures that live in shallow water and to all creatures that live in deep water.They will always be detestable to you. You must never eat their meat or even touch their dead bodies.Any marine animal that does not have both fins and scales is detestable to you.“ These are the birds that are detestable to you. You must never eat them: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,the kite, falcons of all kinds,ravens of all kinds,the eagle owl, the short eared owl, the seagull, hawks of all kinds,the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl,the barn owl, the desert owl, the Egyptian vulture,the stork, herons of all kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.“ You must not eat winged insects that walk along the ground; they are detestable to you.You may, however, eat winged insects that walk along the ground and have jointed legs so they can jump.The insects you are permitted to eat include all kinds of locusts, bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppers.All other winged insects that walk along the ground are detestable to you.“ The following creatures will make you ceremonially unclean. If any of you touch their carcasses, you will be defiled until evening.If you pick up their carcasses, you must wash your clothes, and you will remain defiled until evening.“ Any animal that has split hooves that are not evenly divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. If you touch the carcass of such an animal, you will be defiled.Of the animals that walk on all fours, those that have paws are unclean. If you touch the carcass of such an animal, you will be defiled until evening.If you pick up its carcass, you must wash your clothes, and you will remain defiled until evening. These animals are unclean for you.“ Of the small animals that scurry along the ground, these are unclean for you: the mole rat, the rat, large lizards of all kinds,the gecko, the monitor lizard, the common lizard, the sand lizard, and the chameleon.All these small animals are unclean for you. If any of you touch the dead body of such an animal, you will be defiled until evening.If such an animal dies and falls on something, that object will be unclean. This is true whether the object is made of wood, cloth, leather, or burlap. Whatever its use, you must dip it in water, and it will remain defiled until evening. After that, it will be ceremonially clean and may be used again.“ If such an animal falls into a clay pot, everything in the pot will be defiled, and the pot must be smashed.If the water from such a container spills on any food, the food will be defiled. And any beverage in such a container will be defiled.Any object on which the carcass of such an animal falls will be defiled. If it is an oven or hearth, it must be destroyed, for it is defiled, and you must treat it accordingly.“ However, if the carcass of such an animal falls into a spring or a cistern, the water will still be clean. But anyone who touches the carcass will be defiled.If the carcass falls on seed grain to be planted in the field, the seed will still be considered clean.But if the seed is wet when the carcass falls on it, the seed will be defiled.“ If an animal you are permitted to eat dies and you touch its carcass, you will be defiled until evening.If you eat any of its meat or carry away its carcass, you must wash your clothes, and you will remain defiled until evening.“ All small animals that scurry along the ground are detestable, and you must never eat them.This includes all animals that slither along on their bellies, as well as those with four legs and those with many feet. All such animals that scurry along the ground are detestable, and you must never eat them.Do not defile yourselves by touching them. You must not make yourselves ceremonially unclean because of them.For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves with any of these small animals that scurry along the ground.For I, the Lord, am the one who brought you up from the land of Egypt, that I might be your God. Therefore, you must be holy because I am holy.“ These are the instructions regarding land animals, birds, marine creatures, and animals that scurry along the ground.By these instructions you will know what is unclean and clean, and which animals may be eaten and which may not be eaten.”

“ And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you eats or drinks blood in any form, I will turn against that person and cut him off from the community of your people,for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the Lord. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible.That is why I have said to the people of Israel,‘ You must never eat or drink blood— neither you nor the foreigners living among you.’“ And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you goes hunting and kills an animal or bird that is approved for eating, he must drain its blood and cover it with earth.The life of every creature is in its blood. That is why I have said to the people of Israel,‘ You must never eat or drink blood, for the life of any creature is in its blood.’ So whoever consumes blood will be cut off from the community.“ And if any native born Israelites or foreigners eat the meat of an animal that died naturally or was torn up by wild animals, they must wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water. They will remain ceremonially unclean until evening, but then they will be clean.

Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting— they are all sinful and false. I want no more of your pious meetings.

David replied,“ Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. I’ve always eaten with the king on this occasion, but tomorrow I’ll hide in the field and stay there until the evening of the third day.

You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless. You measure out grain with dishonest measures and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales.

Then I said,“ O Sovereign Lord, must I be defiled by using human dung? For I have never been defiled before. From the time I was a child until now I have never eaten any animal that died of sickness or was killed by other animals. I have never eaten any meat forbidden by the law.”

“ You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!” they said.Then Peter told them exactly what had happened.“ I was in the town of Joppa,” he said,“ and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me.When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles, and birds.And I heard a voice say,‘ Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’“‘ No, Lord,’ I replied.‘ I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean.’“ But the voice from heaven spoke again:‘ Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven.“ Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying.The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us.He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him,‘ Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter.He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!’“ As I began to speak,” Peter continued,“ the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning.Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said,‘ John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said,“ We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”

“ We also promise that if the people of the land should bring any merchandise or grain to be sold on the Sabbath or on any other holy day, we will refuse to buy it. Every seventh year we will let our land rest, and we will cancel all debts owed to us.

Then Jonathan said,“ Tomorrow we celebrate the new moon festival. You will be missed when your place at the table is empty.

Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood.

My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be: I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God, singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration!

“ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The east gateway of the inner courtyard will be closed during the six workdays each week, but it will be open on Sabbath days and the days of new moon celebrations.The prince will enter the entry room of the gateway from the outside. Then he will stand by the gatepost while the priest offers his burnt offering and peace offering. He will bow down in worship inside the gateway passage and then go back out the way he came. The gateway will not be closed until evening.The common people will bow down and worship the Lord in front of this gateway on Sabbath days and the days of new moon celebrations.

“ You must not eat any detestable animals that are ceremonially unclean.These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat,the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the addax, the antelope, and the mountain sheep.“ You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud,but if the animal doesn’t have both, it may not be eaten. So you may not eat the camel, the hare, or the hyrax. They chew the cud but do not have split hooves, so they are ceremonially unclean for you.And you may not eat the pig. It has split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses.“ Of all the marine animals, you may eat whatever has both fins and scales.You may not, however, eat marine animals that do not have both fins and scales. They are ceremonially unclean for you.“ You may eat any bird that is ceremonially clean.These are the birds you may not eat: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,the kite, the falcon, buzzards of all kinds,ravens of all kinds,the eagle owl, the short eared owl, the seagull, hawks of all kinds,the little owl, the great owl, the barn owl,the desert owl, the Egyptian vulture, the cormorant,the stork, herons of all kinds, the hoopoe, and the bat.“ All winged insects that walk along the ground are ceremonially unclean for you and may not be eaten.But you may eat any winged bird or insect that is ceremonially clean.“ You must not eat anything that has died a natural death. You may give it to a foreigner living in your town, or you may sell it to a stranger. But do not eat it yourselves, for you are set apart as holy to the Lord your God.“ You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Blow the trumpets in times of gladness, too, sounding them at your annual festivals and at the beginning of each month. And blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and peace offerings. The trumpets will remind your God of his covenant with you. I am the Lord your God.”

Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them,“ Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.