A Portion for the Priests

²⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, ²⁹ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you present a peace offering to the Lord, bring part of it as a gift to the Lord. ³⁰ Present it to the Lord with your own hands as a special gift to the Lord. Bring the fat of the animal, together with the breast, and lift up the breast as a special offering to the Lord. ³¹ Then the priest will burn the fat on the altar, but the breast will belong to Aaron and his descendants. ³² Give the right thigh of your peace offering to the priest as a gift. ³³ The right thigh must always be given to the priest who offers the blood and the fat of the peace offering. ³⁴ For I have reserved the breast of the special offering and the right thigh of the sacred offering for the priests. It is the permanent right of Aaron and his descendants to share in the peace offerings brought by the people of Israel. ³⁵ This is their rightful share. The special gifts presented to the Lord have been reserved for Aaron and his descendants from the time they were set apart to serve the Lord as priests. ³⁶ On the day they were anointed, the Lord commanded the Israelites to give these portions to the priests as their permanent share from generation to generation.”

³⁷ These are the instructions for the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, and the guilt offering, as well as the ordination offering and the peace offering. ³⁸ The Lord gave these instructions to Moses on Mount Sinai when he commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai.

Ordination of the Priests

8 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Bring Aaron and his sons, along with their sacred garments, the anointing oil, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of bread made without yeast, ³ and call the entire community of Israel together at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^[a]”

⁴ So Moses followed the Lord’s instructions, and the whole community assembled at the Tabernacle entrance. ⁵ Moses announced to them, “This is what the Lord has commanded us to do!” ⁶ Then he presented Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. ⁷ He put the official tunic on Aaron and tied the sash around his waist. He dressed him in the robe, placed the ephod on him, and attached the ephod securely with its decorative sash. ⁸ Then Moses placed the chestpiece on Aaron and put the Urim and the Thummim inside it. ⁹ He placed the turban on Aaron’s head and attached the gold medallion—the badge of holiness—to the front of the turban, just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁰ Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the Tabernacle and everything in it, making them holy. ¹¹ He sprinkled the oil on the altar seven times, anointing it and all its utensils, as well as the washbasin and its stand, making them holy. ¹² Then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head, anointing him and making him holy for his work. ¹³ Next Moses presented Aaron’s sons. He clothed them in their tunics, tied their sashes around them, and put their special head coverings on them, just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁴ Then Moses presented the bull for the sin offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the bull’s head, ¹⁵ and Moses slaughtered it. Moses took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on the four horns of the altar to purify it. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. Through this process, he made the altar holy by purifying it.^{[b] 16} Then Moses took all the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat around them, and he burned it all on the altar. ¹⁷ He took the rest of the bull, including its hide, meat, and dung, and burned it on a fire outside the camp, just as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁸ Then Moses presented the ram for the burnt offering. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the ram’s head, ¹⁹ and Moses slaughtered it. Then Moses took the ram’s blood and splattered it against all sides of the altar. ²⁰ Then he cut the ram into pieces, and he burned the head, some of its pieces, and the fat on the altar. ²¹ After washing the internal organs and the legs with water, Moses burned the entire ram on the altar as a burnt offering. It was a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him.

²² Then Moses presented the other ram, which was the ram of ordination. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the ram’s head, ²³ and Moses slaughtered it. Then Moses took some of its blood and applied it to the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, the thumb of his right hand, and the big toe of his right foot. ²⁴ Next Moses presented Aaron’s sons and applied some of the blood to the lobes of their right ears, the thumbs of their right hands, and the big toes of their right feet. He then splattered the rest of the blood against all sides of the altar.

²⁵ Next Moses took the fat, including the fat of the broad tail, the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat around them, along with the right thigh. ²⁶ On top of these he placed a thin cake of bread made without yeast, a cake of bread mixed with olive oil, and a wafer spread with olive oil. All these were taken from the basket of bread made without yeast that was placed in the Lord’s presence. ²⁷ He put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and he lifted these gifts as a special offering to the Lord. ²⁸ Moses then took all the offerings back from them and burned them on the altar on top of the burnt offering. This was the ordination offering. It was a pleasing aroma, a special gift presented to the Lord. ²⁹ Then Moses took the breast and lifted it up as a special offering to the Lord. This was Moses’ portion of the ram of ordination, just as the Lord had commanded him.

³⁰ Next Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar, and he sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. In this way, he made Aaron and his sons and their garments holy.

³¹ Then Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the remaining meat of the offerings at the Tabernacle entrance, and eat it there, along with the bread that is in the basket of offerings for the ordination, just as I commanded when I said, ‘Aaron and his sons will eat it.’ ³² Any meat or bread that is left over must then be burned up. ³³ You must not leave the Tabernacle entrance for seven days, for that is when the ordination ceremony will be completed. ³⁴ Everything we have done today was commanded by the Lord in order to purify you, making you right with him.^{[c] 35} Now stay at the entrance of the Tabernacle day and night for seven days, and do everything the Lord requires. If you fail to do this, you will die, for this is what the Lord has commanded.” ³⁶ So Aaron and his sons did everything the Lord had commanded through Moses.

The Priests Begin Their Work

9 After the ordination ceremony, on the eighth day, Moses called together Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel. ² He said to Aaron, “Take a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering, both without defects, and present them to the Lord. ³ Then tell the Israelites, ‘Take a male goat for a sin offering, and take a calf and a lamb, both a year old and without defects, for a burnt offering. ⁴ Also take a bull^[d] and a ram for a peace offering and flour moistened with olive oil for a grain offering. Present all these offerings to the Lord because the Lord will appear to you today.’”

⁵ So the people presented all these things at the entrance of the Tabernacle,^[e] just as Moses had commanded. Then the whole community came forward and stood before the Lord. ⁶ And Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded you to do so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”

The True Family of Jesus

³¹ Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them. ³² There was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and someone said, “Your mother and your brothers^[a] are outside asking for you.”

³³ Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ³⁴ Then he looked at those around him and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. ³⁵ Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Parable of the Farmer Scattering Seed

4 Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore. A very large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat in the boat while all the people remained on the shore. ² He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables, such as this one:

³ “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seed. ⁴ As he scattered it across his field, some of the seed fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate it. ⁵ Other seed fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seed sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But the plant soon wilted under the hot sun, and since it didn’t have deep roots, it died. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants so they produced no grain. ⁸ Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!” ⁹ Then he said, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

¹⁰ Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.

¹¹ He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret^[b] of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, ¹² so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:

¹³ Then Jesus said to them, “If you can’t understand the meaning of this parable, how will you understand all the other parables? ¹⁴ The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others. ¹⁵ The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message, only to have Satan come at once and take it away. ¹⁶ The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. ¹⁷ But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. ¹⁸ The seed that fell among the thorns represents others who hear God’s word, ¹⁹ but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. ²⁰ And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

Parable of the Lamp

²¹ Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine. ²² For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. ²³ Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

²⁴ Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given^[d]—and you will receive even more. ²⁵ To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”