NOTE: the word "wood" in the passage below is often translated to "sticks." The point of the story is that we are are to be punished if we work on the Sabbath. If a poor person picks up sticks on the Sabbath for the purpose of lighting a fire to keep warm, that person has done forbidden work and deserves the death penalty.

Of course, God is loving and compassionate. God would not order the death penalty in such a case, and the passage does not belong in the Bible.

If get a chance to talk to Pope Francis, I’ll inform him about how I’m revising the Bible so bad passages are removed.

I refer to pro-slavery passages and other ones that urge humans to behave in wicked ways. I’m certain that such passages do not come from God.

The passage is in Numbers (15:32-36) -- A Sabbath-Breaker Is Put to Death

While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath. Those who found him brought him to Moses.

They kept him in custody because it was not clear what should be done to him. The Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. The assembly must stone him outside the camp.”

So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.

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I am aware of the greater context. The condemned man was doing something he KNEW he must not do. He knew from the Ten Commandments that one day of the week a mandatory day of rest for every living thing in the nation.

Moreover, it does not matter if he was gathering sticks to build a fire: “You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day” (Exodus 35:3).

No cooking was allowed.

Exodus 31:14 mandates the death penalty for breaking the Sabbath.

Exodus 35:2–3 reiterates this penalty and specifies kindling a fire on the Sabbath as an instance of working on the Sabbath.

The big question, given the wider context, becomes this: why did the leaders not know what to do about the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath? Why ask for instruction from God? It was clear to everyone what must be done.

Today, we recognize the passages as primitive rules coming from a primitive people. I wish popes would declare directly that the Bible has many passages like this that are not passages inspired by God but instead are passages that MUST be ignored.

On February 21, 2016, news agencies announced the Pope calling for worldwide abolition of the death penalty. Would Pope Francis care to comment on Numbers 15:32-36 about the man put to death for gathering sticks?

"I appeal to the consciences of those who govern to reach an international consensus to abolish the death penalty," he told tens of thousands of people in St. Peter's Square.

"The commandment "You shall not kill," has absolute value and applies to both the innocent and the guilty," he told the crowd.

But the Bible insists that the death penalty is necessary. I'm confused.