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Exodus 29

Instructions for Ordaining Priests

(Leviticus 8.1-36)

    ⁴Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the sacred tent and have them wash themselves. ⁵Dress Aaron in the priestly shirt, the robe that goes under the sacred vest, the vest itself, the breastpiece, and the sash. ⁶Put on his turban with its narrow strip of engraved gold ⁷and then ordain him by pouring olive oil on his head.

    ⁸Next, dress Aaron's sons in their special shirts ⁹and caps and their sashes, ^[a] then ordain them, because they and their descendants will always be priests. ¹⁰Lead the bull to the entrance of the sacred tent, where Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on its head. ¹¹Kill the bull near my altar in front of the tent. ¹²Use a finger to smear some of its blood on each of the four corners of the altar and pour out the rest of the blood on the ground next to the altar. ¹³Then take the fat from the animal's insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat, and send them up in smoke on the altar. ¹⁴But the meat, the skin, and the food still in the bull's stomach must be burned outside the camp as an offering to ask forgiveness for the sins of the priests. ^{[b] 15}Bring one of the rams to Aaron and his sons and have them lay their hands on its head. ¹⁶Kill the ram and splatter its blood against all four sides of the altar. ¹⁷Cut up the ram, wash its insides and legs, and lay all of its parts on the altar, including the head. ¹⁸Then make sure that the whole animal goes up in smoke with a smell that pleases me.

    ¹⁹Bring the other ram to Aaron and his sons and have them lay their hands on its head. ²⁰Kill the ram and place some of its blood on Aaron's right ear lobe, his right thumb, and the big toe of his right foot. Do the same for each of his sons and splatter the rest of the blood against the four sides of the altar. ²¹Then take some of the blood from the altar, mix it with the oil used for ordination, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his clothes, and also on his sons and their clothes. This will show that they and their clothes have been dedicated to me.

    ²²This ram is part of the ordination service. So remove its right hind leg, ^[c] its fat tail, the fat on its insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. ²³Take one loaf of each kind of bread ^[d] from the basket, ²⁴and put this bread, together with the meat, into the hands of Aaron and his sons. Then they will lift it all up ^[e] to show that it is dedicated to me. ²⁵After this, the meat and bread are to be placed on the altar and sent up in smoke with a smell that pleases me. ²⁶You may eat the choice ribs from this second ram, but you must first lift them up ^[f] to show that this meat is dedicated to me. ^27-28In the future, when anyone from Israel offers the ribs and a hind leg of a ram either to ordain a priest or to ask for my blessing, the meat belongs to me, but it may be eaten by the priests. This law will never change.

    ^29-30After Aaron's death, his priestly clothes are to be handed down to each descendant who succeeds him as high priest, and these clothes must be worn during the seven-day ceremony of ordination.

    ³¹Boil the meat of the ordination ram in a sacred place, ³²then have Aaron and his sons eat it together with the three kinds of bread at the entrance to the sacred tent. ³³At their ordination, a ceremony of forgiveness was performed for them with this sacred food, and only they have the right to eat it. ³⁴If any of the sacred food is left until morning, it must be burned up.

    ³⁵Repeat this ordination ceremony for Aaron and his sons seven days in a row, just as I have instructed you. ³⁶Each day you must offer a bull as a sacrifice for sin and as a way of purifying the altar. In addition, you must smear the altar with olive oil to make it completely holy. ³⁷Do this for seven days, and the altar will become so holy that anyone who touches it will become holy.

   The LORD said:

Daily Sacrifices

(Leviticus 6.8-13; Numbers 28.1-8)

   People of Israel, I will meet and speak with you there, and my shining glory will make the place holy. ⁴⁴Because of who I am, the tent will become sacred, and Aaron and his sons will become worthy to serve as my priests. ⁴⁵I will live among you as your God, ⁴⁶and you will know that I am the LORD your God, the one who rescued you from Egypt, so that I could live among you.

   The LORD said to Moses:

Exodus 30

The Altar for Burning Incense

(Exodus 37.25-28)

    ⁶Put the altar in front of the inside curtain of the sacred tent. The chest with the place of mercy ^[g] is kept behind that curtain, and I will talk with you there. ^7-8From now on, when Aaron tends the lamp each morning and evening, he must burn sweet-smelling incense to me on the altar. ⁹Burn only the proper incense on the altar and never use it for grain sacrifices or animal sacrifices or drink offerings. ¹⁰Once a year Aaron must purify the altar by smearing on its four corners ^[h] the blood of an animal sacrificed for sin, and this practice must always be followed. The altar is sacred because it is dedicated to me.

The Money for the Sacred Tent

    ¹²Find out how many grown men there are in Israel and require each of them to pay me to keep him safe from danger while you are counting them. ^13-15Each man over nineteen, whether rich or poor, must pay me the same amount of money, weighed according to the official standards. ¹⁶This money is to be used for the upkeep of the sacred tent, and because of it, I will never forget my people.

The Large Bronze Bowl

(Exodus 38.8)

    ^18-21Make a large bronze bowl and a bronze stand for it. Then put them between the altar for sacrifice and the sacred tent, so the priests can wash their hands and feet before entering the tent or offering a sacrifice on the altar. Each priest in every generation must wash himself in this way, or else he will die right there.

The Oil for Dedication and Ordination

(Exodus 37.29)

    ^23-25Mix a gallon of olive oil with the following costly spices: twelve pounds of myrrh, six pounds of cinnamon, six pounds of cane, and twelve pounds of cassia. Measure these according to the official standards. Then use this sacred mixture ²⁶for dedicating the tent and chest, ²⁷the table with its equipment, the lampstand with its equipment, the incense altar with all its utensils, ²⁸the altar for sacrifices, and the large bowl with its stand. ²⁹By dedicating them in this way, you will make them so holy that anyone who even touches them will become holy.

    ³⁰When you ordain Aaron and his sons as my priests, sprinkle them with some of this oil, ³¹and say to the people of Israel: " This oil must always be used in the ordination service of a priest. It is holy because it is dedicated to the LORD. ³²So treat it as holy! Don't ever use it for everyday purposes or mix any for yourselves. ³³If you do, you will no longer belong to the LORD's people."

The Sweet-Smelling Incense

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A Question about Jesus' Authority

(Mark 11.27-33; Luke 20.1-8)

    ²⁴Jesus answered, "I have just one question to ask you. If you answer it, I will tell you where I got the right to do these things. ²⁵Who gave John the right to baptize? Was it God in heaven or merely some human being?"

   They thought it over and said to each other, "We can't say that God gave John this right. Jesus will ask us why we didn't believe John. ²⁶On the other hand, these people think that John was a prophet, and we are afraid of what they might do to us. That's why we can't say that it was merely some human who gave John the right to baptize." ²⁷So they told Jesus, "We don't know."

   Jesus said, "Then I won't tell you who gave me the right to do what I do."

A Story about Two Sons

   I will tell you a story about a man who had two sons. Then you can tell me what you think. The father went to the older son and said, "Go work in the vineyard today!" ²⁹His son told him that he would not do it, but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰The man then told his younger son to go work in the vineyard. The boy said he would, but he didn't go. ³¹Which one of the sons obeyed his father?

   "The older one," the chief priests and leaders answered.

   Then Jesus told them:

   You can be sure that tax collectors ^[a] and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you ever will! ³²When John the Baptist showed you how to do right, you would not believe him. But these evil people did believe. And even when you saw what they did, you still would not change your minds and believe.

Renters of a Vineyard

(Mark 12.1-12; Luke 20.9-19)

   A land owner once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he rented out his vineyard and left the country.

    ³⁴When it was harvest time, the owner sent some servants to get his share of the grapes. ³⁵But the renters grabbed those servants. They beat up one, killed one, and stoned one of them to death. ³⁶He then sent more servants than he did the first time. But the renters treated them in the same way.

    ³⁷Finally, the owner sent his own son to the renters, because he thought they would respect him. ³⁸But when they saw the man's son, they said, "Someday he will own the vineyard. Let's kill him! Then we can have it all for ourselves." ³⁹So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

    ⁴⁰Jesus asked, "When the owner of that vineyard comes, what do you suppose he will do to those renters?"

    ⁴¹The chief priests and leaders answered, "He will kill them in some horrible way. Then he will rent out his vineyard to people who will give him his share of grapes at harvest time."

    ⁴²Jesus replied, "You surely know that the Scriptures say,

   `The stone that the builders

   tossed aside

   is now the most important

   stone of all.

   This is something

   the Lord has done,

   and it is amazing to us.'

    ⁴³I tell you that God's kingdom will be taken from you and given to people who will do what he demands. ⁴⁴Anyone who stumbles over this stone will be crushed, and anyone it falls on will be smashed to pieces." ^{[b] 45}When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them. ⁴⁶So they looked for a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid to, because the people thought he was a prophet.