The Daily Audio Bible

Instructions for Ordaining Aaron and His Sons as Priests^(A)

29 “This is what you are to do to Aaron and his sons to dedicate them as priests in my service. Take one young bull and two rams without any defects. ² Use the best wheat flour, but no yeast, and make some bread with olive oil, some without it, and some in the form of thin cakes brushed with oil. ³ Put them in a basket and offer them to me when you sacrifice the bull and the two rams.

⁴ “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of my presence, and have them take a ritual bath. ⁵ Then dress Aaron in the priestly garments—the shirt, the robe that goes under the ephod, the ephod, the breastpiece, and the belt. ⁶ Put the turban on him and tie on it the sacred sign of dedication engraved ‘Dedicated to the Lord.’ ⁷ Then take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him.

⁸ “Bring his sons and put shirts on them; ⁹ put sashes around their waists and tie caps on their heads. That is how you are to ordain Aaron and his sons. They and their descendants are to serve me as priests forever.

¹⁰ “Bring the bull to the front of the Tent of my presence and tell Aaron and his sons to put their hands on its head. ¹¹ Kill the bull there in my holy presence at the entrance of the Tent. ¹² Take some of the bull's blood and with your finger put it on the projections of the altar. Then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. ¹³ Next, take all the fat which covers the internal organs, the best part of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar as an offering to me. ¹⁴ But burn the bull's flesh, its skin, and its intestines outside the camp. This is an offering to take away the sins of the priests.

¹⁵ “Take one of the rams and tell Aaron and his sons to put their hands on its head. ¹⁶ Kill it, and take its blood and throw it against all four sides of the altar. ¹⁷ Cut the ram in pieces; wash its internal organs and its hind legs, and put them on top of the head and the other pieces. ^18 (B)Burn the whole ram on the altar as a food offering. The odor of this offering pleases me.

¹⁹ “Take the other ram—the ram used for dedication—and tell Aaron and his sons to put their hands on its head. ²⁰ Kill it, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. Throw the rest of the blood against all four sides of the altar. ²¹ Take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his clothes and on his sons and their clothes. He, his sons, and their clothes will then be dedicated to me.

²² “Cut away the ram's fat, the fat tail, the fat covering the internal organs, the best part of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh. ²³ From the basket of bread which has been offered to me, take one loaf of each kind: one loaf made with olive oil and one made without it and one thin cake. ²⁴ Put all this food in the hands of Aaron and his sons and have them dedicate it to me as a special gift. ²⁵ Then take it from them and burn it on the altar, on top of the burnt offering, as a food offering to me. The odor of this offering pleases me.

²⁶ “Take the breast of this ram and dedicate it to me as a special gift. This part of the animal will be yours.

²⁷ “When a priest is ordained, the breast and the thigh of the ram being used for the ordination are to be dedicated to me as a special gift and set aside for the priests. ²⁸ It is my unchanging decision that when my people make their fellowship offerings, the breast and the thigh of the animal belong to the priests. This is the people's gift to me, the Lord.

²⁹ “Aaron's priestly garments are to be handed on to his sons after his death, for them to wear when they are ordained. ³⁰ The son of Aaron who succeeds him as priest and who goes into the Tent of my presence to serve in the Holy Place is to wear these garments for seven days.

³¹ “Take the meat of the ram used for the ordination of Aaron and his sons and boil it in a holy place. ³² At the entrance of the Tent of my presence they are to eat it along with the bread left in the basket. ³³ They shall eat what was used in the ritual of forgiveness at their ordination. Only priests may eat this food, because it is sacred. ³⁴ If some of the meat or some of the bread is not eaten by morning, it is to be burned; it is not to be eaten, for it is sacred.

³⁵ “Perform the rites of ordination for Aaron and his sons for seven days exactly as I have commanded you. ³⁶ Each day you must offer a bull as a sacrifice, so that sin may be forgiven. This will purify the altar. Then anoint it with olive oil to make it holy. ³⁷ Do this every day for seven days. Then the altar will be completely holy, and anyone or anything that touches it will be harmed by the power of its holiness.^[a]

The Daily Offerings^(C)

³⁸ “Every day for all time to come, sacrifice on the altar two one-year-old lambs. ³⁹ Sacrifice one of the lambs in the morning and the other in the evening. ⁴⁰ With the first lamb offer two pounds of fine wheat flour mixed with one quart of pure olive oil. Pour out one quart of wine as an offering. ⁴¹ Sacrifice the second lamb in the evening, and offer with it the same amounts of flour, olive oil, and wine as in the morning. This is a food offering to me, the Lord, and its odor pleases me. ⁴² For all time to come, this burnt offering is to be offered in my presence at the entrance of the Tent of my presence. That is where I will meet my people and speak to you. ⁴³ There I will meet the people of Israel, and the dazzling light of my presence will make the place holy. ⁴⁴ I will make the Tent and the altar holy, and I will set Aaron and his sons apart to serve me as priests. ⁴⁵ I will live among the people of Israel, and I will be their God. ⁴⁶ They will know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am the Lord their God.

The Altar for Burning Incense^(D)

30 “Make an altar out of acacia wood, for burning incense. ² It is to be square, 18 inches long and 18 inches wide, and it is to be 36 inches high. Its projections at the four corners are to form one piece with it. ³ Cover its top, all four sides, and its projections with pure gold, and put a gold border around it. ⁴ Make two gold carrying rings for it and attach them below the border on two sides to hold the poles with which it is to be carried. ⁵ Make these poles of acacia wood and cover them with gold. ⁶ Put this altar outside the curtain which hangs in front of the Covenant Box. That is the place where I will meet you. ⁷ Every morning when Aaron comes to take care of the lamps, he is to burn sweet-smelling incense on it. ⁸ He must do the same when he lights the lamps in the evening. This offering of incense is to continue without interruption for all time to come. ⁹ Do not offer on this altar any forbidden incense, any animal offering, or any grain offering, and do not pour out any wine offering on it. ¹⁰ Once a year Aaron is to perform the ritual for purifying the altar by putting on its four projections the blood of the animal sacrificed for sin. This is to be done every year for all time to come. This altar is to be completely holy, dedicated to me, the Lord.”

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus^(A)

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve disciples—the one named Judas Iscariot—went to the chief priests ^15 (B)and asked, “What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?” They counted out thirty silver coins and gave them to him. ¹⁶ From then on Judas was looking for a good chance to hand Jesus over to them.

Jesus Eats the Passover Meal with His Disciples^(C)

¹⁷ On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus and asked him, “Where do you want us to get the Passover meal ready for you?”

¹⁸ “Go to a certain man in the city,” he said to them, “and tell him: ‘The Teacher says, My hour has come; my disciples and I will celebrate the Passover at your house.’”

¹⁹ The disciples did as Jesus had told them and prepared the Passover meal.

²⁰ When it was evening, Jesus and the twelve disciples sat down to eat. ²¹ During the meal Jesus said, “I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

²² The disciples were very upset and began to ask him, one after the other, “Surely, Lord, you don't mean me?”

^23 (D)Jesus answered, “One who dips his bread in the dish with me will betray me. ²⁴ The Son of Man will die as the Scriptures say he will, but how terrible for that man who will betray the Son of Man! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!”

²⁵ Judas, the traitor, spoke up. “Surely, Teacher, you don't mean me?” he asked.

Jesus answered, “So you say.”

The Lord's Supper^(E)

²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. “Take and eat it,” he said; “this is my body.”

²⁷ Then he took a cup, gave thanks to God, and gave it to them. “Drink it, all of you,” he said; ^28 (F)“this is my blood, which seals God's covenant, my blood poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will never again drink this wine until the day I drink the new wine with you in my Father's Kingdom.”

³⁰ Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Jesus Predicts Peter's Denial^(G)

^31 (H)Then Jesus said to them, “This very night all of you will run away and leave me, for the scripture says, ‘God will kill the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ ^32 (I)But after I am raised to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”

³³ Peter spoke up and said to Jesus, “I will never leave you, even though all the rest do!”

³⁴ Jesus said to Peter, “I tell you that before the rooster crows tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me.”

³⁵ Peter answered, “I will never say that, even if I have to die with you!”

And all the other disciples said the same thing.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane^(J)

³⁶ Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” ³⁷ He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee. Grief and anguish came over him, ³⁸ and he said to them, “The sorrow in my heart is so great that it almost crushes me. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

³⁹ He went a little farther on, threw himself face downward on the ground, and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, take this cup of suffering from me! Yet not what I want, but what you want.”

⁴⁰ Then he returned to the three disciples and found them asleep; and he said to Peter, “How is it that you three were not able to keep watch with me for even one hour? ⁴¹ Keep watch and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

⁴² Once more Jesus went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup of suffering cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.” ⁴³ He returned once more and found the disciples asleep; they could not keep their eyes open.

⁴⁴ Again Jesus left them, went away, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. ⁴⁵ Then he returned to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look! The hour has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to the power of sinners. ⁴⁶ Get up, let us go. Look, here is the man who is betraying me!”