Consecration of the Priests

29 “Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. ^(A)Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, ^2 (B)and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. ³ You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams. ⁴ You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and ^(C)wash them with water. ⁵ Then ^(D)you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the ^(E)skillfully woven band of the ephod. ^6 (F)And you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷ You shall take ^(G)the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. ⁸ Then you ^(H)shall bring his sons and put coats on them, ⁹ and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with ^(I)sashes and bind caps on them. And ^(J)the priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall ^(K)ordain Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰ “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. ^(L)Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹ Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, ¹² and ^(M)shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the ^(N)horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of^[a] the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. ¹³ And you shall take all ^(O)the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴ But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire ^(P)outside the camp; ^(Q)it is a sin offering.

¹⁵ “Then ^(R)you shall take one of the rams, and ^(S)Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, ¹⁶ and you shall kill the ram and shall take its blood and throw it against the sides of the altar. ¹⁷ Then you shall ^(T)cut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head,

The Last Words of David

23 Now these are the last words of David:

¹¹ When Micaiah the son of Gemariah, son of ^(A)Shaphan, heard all the words of the Lord from the scroll, ¹² he went down to the king's house, into the secretary's chamber, and ^(B)all the officials were sitting there: ^(C)Elishama the secretary, ^(D)Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, ^(E)Elnathan ^(F)the son of Achbor, ^(G)Gemariah the son of ^(H)Shaphan, Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the officials. ¹³ And Micaiah told them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the scroll in the hearing of the people. ¹⁴ Then all the officials sent Jehudi the son of Nethaniah, son of ^(I)Shelemiah, son of Cushi, to say to Baruch, “Take in your hand the scroll that you read in the hearing of the people, and come.” So Baruch the son of Neriah took the scroll in his hand and came to them. ¹⁵ And they said to him, “Sit down and read it.” So Baruch read it to them. ¹⁶ When they heard all the words, they turned one to another in fear. And they said to Baruch, ^(J)“We must report all these words to the king.” ¹⁷ Then they asked Baruch, “Tell us, please, how did you write all these words? Was it at his dictation?” ¹⁸ Baruch answered them, “He dictated all these words to me, ^(K)while I wrote them with ink on the scroll.” ¹⁹ Then the officials said to Baruch, “Go and hide, you and Jeremiah, and let no one know where you are.”

Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth

To the choirmaster: according to ^(A)Do Not Destroy. A ^(B)Miktam^[a] of David, when he fled from Saul, in ^(C)the cave.

The Lesson from the Withered Fig Tree

^20 (A)As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. ²¹ And Peter remembered and said to him, ^(B)“Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” ²² And Jesus answered them, “Have ^(C)faith in God. ^23 (D)Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ^(E)‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not ^(F)doubt in his heart, but ^(G)believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. ²⁴ Therefore I tell you, ^(H)whatever you ask in prayer, ^(I)believe that you ^(J)have received^[a] it, and it will be yours. ²⁵ And whenever ^(K)you stand praying, ^(L)forgive, ^(M)if you have anything against anyone, so that ^(N)your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”^[b]

The Authority of Jesus Challenged

^27 (O)And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, ²⁸ and they said to him, ^(P)“By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” ²⁹ Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. ³⁰ Was the baptism of John ^(Q)from heaven or from man? Answer me.” ³¹ And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ^(R)‘Why then did you not believe him?’ ³² But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—^(S)they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was ^(T)a prophet. ³³ So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of ^(A)him who calls— ¹² she was told, ^(B)“The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, ^(C)“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(D)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, ^(E)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion,^[a] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^(F)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.