Sirach 45:6-16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Aaron
6 He exalted Aaron, a holy man like Moses,[a]
who was his brother, of the tribe of Levi.(A)
7 He made an everlasting covenant with him
and gave him the priesthood of the people.
He blessed him with stateliness
and put a glorious robe on him.(B)
8 He clothed him in perfect splendor[b]
and strengthened him with the apparel of authority,
the linen undergarments, the long robe, and the ephod.(C)
9 And he encircled him with pomegranates,
with many golden bells all around,
to send forth a sound as he walked,
to make their ringing heard in the temple
as a reminder to his people;(D)
10 with the sacred vestment, of gold and violet
and purple, the work of an embroiderer;
with the oracle of judgment, the manifestations of truth;(E)
11 with twisted crimson, the work of an artisan;
with precious stones engraved like seals,
in a setting of gold, the work of a jeweler,
to commemorate in engraved letters
each of the tribes of Israel;(F)
12 with a gold crown upon his turban,
inscribed like a holy seal,
majestic and glorious, a work of power,
a delight to the eyes, richly adorned.(G)
13 Before him such beautiful things did not exist.
No outsider ever put them on,
but only his sons
and his descendants in perpetuity.(H)
14 His sacrifices shall be wholly burned
twice every day continually.(I)
15 Moses ordained him
and anointed him with holy oil;
it was an everlasting covenant for him
and for his descendants as long as the heavens endure,
to minister to the Lord[c] and serve as priest
and bless his people in his name.(J)
16 He chose him out of all the living
to offer sacrifice to the Lord,
incense and a pleasing odor as a memorial,
to make atonement for the[d] people.(K)
2 Corinthians 12:11-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Paul’s Concern for the Corinthian Church
11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it. Indeed you should have been the ones commending me, for I am not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.(A) 12 The signs of an apostle were performed among you with utmost patience, signs and wonders and mighty works.(B) 13 How have you been worse off than the other churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!(C)
14 Here I am, ready to come to you this third time, and I will not be a burden because I do not want what is yours but you, for children ought not to save up for their parents but parents for their children.(D) 15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for you. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?(E) 16 Be that as it may, I did not burden you. But, crafty person that I am, did I take you in by deceit? 17 Did I take advantage of you through any of those whom I sent to you? 18 I urged Titus to go and sent the brother with him. Titus did not take advantage of you, did he? Did we not conduct ourselves with the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same footsteps?(F)
19 Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves before you? We are speaking in Christ before God. Everything we do, beloved, is for the sake of building you up.(G) 20 For I fear that when I come I may find you not as I wish and that you may find me not as you wish; I fear that there may perhaps be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.(H) 21 I fear that when I come again my God may humble me before you and that I may have to mourn over many who previously sinned and have not repented of the impurity, sexual immorality, and debauchery that they have practiced.(I)
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Luke 19:41-48
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
41 As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it,(A) 42 saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 Indeed, the days will come upon you when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you and hem you in on every side.(B) 44 They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.”[a](C)
Jesus Cleanses the Temple
45 Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things[b] there, 46 and he said, “It is written,
‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’
but you have made it a den of robbers.”(D)
47 Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him,(E) 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.
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