Even from a foreigner ¹  you must not present the food of your God from such animals as these, for they are ruined and flawed; ²  they will not be acceptable for your benefit.’”

There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, ¹  anyone who practices divination, ²  an omen reader, ³  a soothsayer, ⁴  a sorcerer, ⁵ 

The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.”

Now the priests would always treat the people in the following way: ¹  Whenever anyone was making a sacrifice, while the meat was boiling, the priest’s attendant would come with a three-pronged fork ²  in his hand.

Then David took from her hand what she had brought to him. He said to her, “Go back ¹  to your home in peace. Be assured that I have listened to you ²  and responded favorably.” ³ 

“Go, tell David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I am offering you three forms of judgment. Pick one of them and I will carry it out against you.’”

Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings ¹  on the altar he had built for the Lord, burning incense along with them before the Lord. He made the temple his official worship place. ² 

Then he said, “Fill four water jars and pour the water on the offering and the wood.” When they had done so, ¹  he said, “Do it again.” So they did it again. Then he said, “Do it a third time.” So they did it a third time.

He offered sacrifices in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom and passed his sons through the fire, ¹  a horrible sin practiced by the nations ²  whom the Lord drove out before the Israelites.

But as for you who abandon the Lord and forget about worshiping at ¹  my holy mountain, who prepare a feast for the god called ‘Fortune,’ ²  and fill up wine jugs for the god called ‘Destiny’ ³  –

I declared them to be defiled because of their sacrifices ¹  – they caused all their first born to pass through the fire ²  – so that I would devastate them, so that they will know that I am the Lord.’ ³ 

But you say that if anyone tells his father or mother, ‘Whatever help you would have received from me is corban’ ¹  (that is, a gift for God),

He called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth, ¹  this poor widow has put more into the offering box ²  than all the others. ³ 

The priest of the temple ¹  of Zeus, ²  located just outside the city, brought bulls ³  and garlands ⁴  to the city gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them. ⁵ 

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, ¹  by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God ²  – which is your reasonable service.

On the first day of the week, each of you should set aside some income ¹  and save ²  it to the extent that God has blessed you, ³  so that a collection will not have to be made ⁴  when I come.

In addition, ¹  this brother ²  has also been chosen by the churches as our traveling companion as we administer this generous gift ³  to the glory of the Lord himself and to show our readiness to help. ⁴ 

by holding on to ¹  the word of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did not run in vain nor labor in vain.

He has no need to do every day what those priests do, to offer sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this in offering himself once for all.

But only the high priest enters once a year into the inner tent, ¹  and not without blood that he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. ²