and to all the animals on the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that moves on the ground—to everything in which there is the breath of life—I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so [because He commanded it].

So the Lord God formed out of the ground every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

And the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man He made (fashioned, formed) into a woman, and He brought her and presented her to the man.

But Abel brought [an offering of] the [finest] firstborn of his flock and the fat portions. And the Lord had respect (regard) for Abel and for his offering;

The fear and the terror of you shall be [instinctive] in every animal of the land and in every bird of the air; and together with everything that moves on the ground, and with all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hand.

Arise, walk (make a thorough reconnaissance) around in the land, through its length and its width, for I will give it to you.”

Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I offended you that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me what ought not to be done [to anyone].”

And she put the skins of the young goats on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck.

So Rachel said to her father, “Do not be displeased, my lord, that I cannot rise before you, for the manner of women is on me and I am unwell.” He searched [further] but did not find the household idols.

And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt—valid to this day—that Pharaoh should have the fifth part [of the crops]; only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

You shall set the bread of the Presence (showbread) on the table before Me at all times.

The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all of the curtains shall measure the same.

The length of each board shall be ten cubits and the width of each board shall be one and a half cubits.

For the width of the court on the west side there shall be curtains of fifty cubits, with ten pillars (support poles) and ten sockets.

The width of the court [to the front], on the east side shall be fifty cubits.

You are to make two gold rings and attach them to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod in front, close to the place where it is joined, above the skillfully woven sash of the ephod.

Then you shall kill the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ears of Aaron and his sons and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the [rest of the] blood around on the altar [of burnt offering].

Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. Now Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments shall be consecrated (dedicated, made holy, declared sacred for God’s purpose).

the table and its carrying poles, and all its utensils, and the bread of the [divine] Presence (showbread);

Bezalel made the ark [of the covenant] of acacia wood—it was two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.

the table and all its utensils and the bread of the Presence (showbread);

He set the bread [of the Presence] in order on it before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him.

What is left of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings to the Lord by fire.

What is left of the grain offering belongs to Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the offerings to the Lord by fire.

The priest shall offer up in smoke its memorial portion, part of the crushed grain and part of its oil with all its incense; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.

‘But if he cannot afford to bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, then he shall bring as his offering for his sin the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour as a sin offering; he shall not put [olive] oil or incense on it, for it is a sin offering.

Moreover, you are not to eat any blood [of any kind], whether of bird or animal, in any of your dwelling places.

and whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.

Everything that part of their carcass falls on becomes unclean; an oven, or a small stove shall be smashed; they are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.

If a part of their carcass falls on any seed for sowing which is to be sown, it is clean;

but if water is put on the seed and a part of their carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

‘Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness during her menstrual impurity and ceremonial uncleanness.

You are therefore to make a distinction between the [ceremonially] clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird or by anything that crawls on the ground, which I have set apart from you as unclean.

The priests shall not shave their heads, nor shave off the edges of their beards, nor make any cuts in their body.

They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God; for they present the offerings by fire to the Lord, the food of their God; so they shall be holy.

You shall consecrate him, therefore, for he offers the food of your God; he shall be holy to you; for I the Lord, who sanctifies you, am holy.

“Say to Aaron, ‘Throughout their generations none of your descendants who has any [physical] defect shall approach [the altar] to present the food of his God.

No man among the descendants of Aaron the priest who has a [physical] defect and is disfigured or deformed is to approach [the altar] to present the offerings of the Lord by fire. He has a defect; he shall not approach [the altar] to present the food of his God.

He may eat the food of his God, both of the most holy and of the holy things,

Nor shall you offer as the food of your God any such [animals obtained] from a foreigner, because their corruption and blemish makes them unfit; there is a defect in them, they shall not be accepted for you.’”

The priest shall wave them before the Lord as a wave offering, together with the bread of the first fruits and the two lambs. They are to be holy to the Lord for the priest.

“Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes (bread of the Presence, showbread) with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake (loaf).

‘And if a man consecrates to the Lord part of a field of his own property, then your valuation shall be proportionate to the seed needed for it; a homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver.

“Who can count the dust (the descendants) of Jacob
And the number of even the fourth part of Israel?
Let me die the death of the righteous [those who are upright and in right standing with God],
And let my end be like his!”

“But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,
And shall afflict Asshur (Assyria) and Eber;
So they (the victors) also will come to destruction.”

and a tenth [of an ephah] of fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering for each lamb, as a burnt offering of a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.

Now look, you [the tribes of Reuben and Gad] have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel.

Therefore, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance [of tribal land] with his brothers; the Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God has promised him.)

And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your sons and your daughters, and your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your [city] gates, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.

The Levite, because he has no share [of land] or an inheritance among you, and the stranger, and the orphan and the widow who are within your [city] gates, shall come and eat and be satisfied, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.

You shall not eat leavened bread with it; instead, for seven days you shall eat the Passover with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction (for you left the land of Egypt in haste); [do this] so that all the days of your life you may remember [thoughtfully] the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.

“The Levitical priests, the entire tribe of Levi, shall own [privately] no portion [of land] or inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the Lord’s offerings by fire and His portion.

Butter and curds of cows, and milk of the flock,
With fat of lambs,
And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats,
With the finest of the wheat;
And you drank wine, the blood of grapes.

Not one of the good promises which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel failed; all had come to pass.

Now it happened in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that a certain Levite living [as an alien] in the most remote part of the hill country of Ephraim, who took a concubine for himself from Bethlehem in Judah.

So Ruth went and picked up the leftover grain in a field after the reapers; and she happened to stop at the plot of land belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech.

Spend the night [here], and in the morning if he will redeem you, fine; let him do it. But if he does not wish to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”

Why then do you kick at (despise) My sacrifice and My offering which I commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, by fattening yourselves with the choicest part of every offering of My people Israel?’

Now what [food] do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”

The priest answered David, “There is no ordinary (unconsecrated) bread on hand, but there is consecrated bread; [you may have it] if only the young men have kept themselves from women.”

When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to the elders of Judah, his friends, saying, “Here is a blessing (gift) for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord:

All the people came to urge David to eat food while it was still day; but David took an oath, saying, “May God do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets.”

Then Mephibosheth the [grand]son of Saul came down to meet the king, but he had not cared for his feet, nor trimmed his mustache, nor washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned in peace and safety.

Now God gave Solomon [exceptional] wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand of the seashore.

Now there were four supports at the four corners of each stand; the supports were part of the stand itself.

And they [who know] will say, ‘Because they abandoned the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and they have chosen other gods and have worshiped and served them; that is the reason the Lord has brought on them all this adversity.’”

But the man of God said to the king, “Even if you were to give me half your house (wealth), I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place.

For I was commanded by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread or drink water, nor shall you return by the way you came.’”

He said, “I cannot return with you nor go in with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place.

For I was told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor shall you return by going the way that you came.’”

Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the [lower part of the] house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.”

As midday passed, they played the part of prophets and raved dramatically until the time for offering the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.

Now [at another time] a man from Baal-shalisha came and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and fresh ears of grain [in the husk] in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give it to the people [affected by the famine] so that they may eat.”

Now he made the room of the Holy of Holies: its length equaling the width of the house was twenty cubits, and its width was twenty cubits; and he overlaid it with 600 talents of fine gold.

Solomon also made all the articles that were in the house of God: the golden altar, and the tables for the bread of the Presence (showbread),

a certain number every day, offering them up as Moses commanded for the Sabbaths, the New Moons, and the three annual feasts—the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles).

The priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and every unclean thing they found in the temple of the Lord they brought out to the courtyard of the Lord’s house. Then the Levites received it to take out to the Kidron Valley [for disposal].

However, Hezekiah humbled his proud heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come on them during the days of Hezekiah.

but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered are in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen for My Name to dwell.’

Next to them Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, one of the goldsmiths, made repairs. Next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs, and they restored Jerusalem as far as the Broad Wall.

“Will they (the fathers) not teach you and tell you,
And utter words from their hearts [the deepest part of their nature]?

“He pours contempt on princes and nobles
And loosens the belt of the strong [disabling them].

“Yet these are just the fringes of His ways [mere samples of His power],
The faintest whisper of His voice!
Who can contemplate the thunder of His [full] mighty power?”

“The path [deep within] no bird of prey knows,
And the falcon’s eye has not caught sight of it.

“The people cry out, but He does not answer
Because of the pride of evil men.

“Ice is made by the breath of God,
And the expanse of the waters is frozen.

“Have you understood the expanse of the earth?
Tell Me, if you know all this.

“Will you play with him as with a bird?
Or will you bind him [and put him on a leash] for your maidens?

The wicked, in the haughtiness of his face, will not seek nor inquire for Him;
All his thoughts are, “There is no God [so there is no accountability or punishment].”

Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who makes the Lord his trust,
And does not regard the proud nor those who lapse into lies.

Glorious is the King’s daughter within [the palace];
Her robe is interwoven with gold.

He chooses our inheritance for us,
The glory and excellence of Jacob whom He loves. Selah.

Man ate the bread of angels;
God sent them provision in abundance.

You have fed them the bread of tears,
And You have made them drink [bitter] tears in abundance.

O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds You [as an intrinsic, unchangeable part of Your very being].

The Israelites asked, and He brought quail,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

It is vain for you to rise early,
To retire late,
To eat the bread of anxious labors—
For He gives [blessings] to His beloved even in his sleep.

It is like the precious oil [of consecration] poured on the head,
Coming down on the beard,
Even the beard of Aaron,
Coming down upon the edge of his [priestly] robes [consecrating the whole body].

The [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome] is the beginning and the preeminent part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence];
But arrogant fools despise [skillful and godly] wisdom and instruction and self-discipline.