Old/New Testament
The Ordination of the Priests
29 This is what you shall do to them to set them apart as holy, so that they can minister to me in the priest’s office:
Take one young bull and two rams without defect, 2 unleavened bread, unleavened rolls mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed[a] with oil. Make them from fine wheat flour. 3 Put them into one basket and bring them in the basket when you bring the bull and the two rams. 4 Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. 5 Take the garments and put them on Aaron: the tunic, the robe to be worn under the vest, the vest, and the pouch. Clothe him with the sash of the vest. 6 Set the turban on his head and put the holy crest on the turban. 7 Then take the anointing oil and pour it on his head to anoint him. 8 You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. 9 Clothe them with sashes—Aaron and his sons—and bind small pointed turbans on them. Then they shall possess the priesthood by means of a perpetual regulation. You shall ordain Aaron and his sons for their work.[b]
10 Bring the bull in front of the Tent of Meeting. Then Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 Slaughter the bull in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. 12 Take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out all the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 13 Take all the fat that covers the internal organs, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But the meat of the bull, its hide, and its intestines and their contents, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp. This is a sin offering.
15 Then take the first ram. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 16 Slaughter the ram, and take its blood and splash it all around on the altar. 17 You shall cut the ram into pieces, wash its internal organs and its legs, and put them with the other pieces and with its head. 18 You shall burn the whole ram on the altar. This is a whole burnt offering to the Lord. It is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire[c] to the Lord.
19 Then take the other ram. Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20 Then you shall slaughter the ram. Take some of its blood and put it on the tip of Aaron’s right ear, on the tip of the right ear of his sons, on the thumb of their right hand, and on the big toe of their right foot, and splash the blood all around on the altar. 21 Take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil and spatter it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on the garments of his sons, who are with him. So he and his garments and his sons and his sons’ garments shall be consecrated. 22 From this ram take the fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the internal organs, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for this is a ram for the dedication), 23 and one loaf of bread, one roll made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord. 24 You shall put all of this in Aaron’s hands and in his sons’ hands, and you shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 Then you shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar for the burnt offering as a pleasant aroma before the Lord. This is an offering made by fire to the Lord.
26 Take the breast from Aaron’s ram of ordination and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion of the sacrifice. 27 Consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the elevated offering, which are waved and lifted up,[d] from the ram of ordination. They are for Aaron and for his sons. 28 It shall belong to Aaron and his sons perpetually as their portion of the offering from the people of Israel, because it is an elevated offering. It shall be an elevated offering from the people of Israel from their sacrifices, from their fellowship offerings, that is, their elevated offering to the Lord.
29 The holy garments of Aaron shall belong to his descendants after him, so they are to wear them while they are being anointed and ordained for their work. 30 The son who is to be high priest in Aaron’s place shall put them on for seven days when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place.
31 Take the ram of ordination and boil its meat in a holy place. 32 Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but a non-priest[e] shall not eat them, because they are holy. 34 If any of the meat or the bread from the ordination remains until the next morning, you shall burn the remainder with fire. It must not be eaten, because it is holy.
35 This is what you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, exactly as I have commanded you. You shall ordain them[f] for seven days. 36 Every day you shall offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement, and you shall purify the altar when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to make it holy. 37 For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar to make it holy. The altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall become holy.
The Regular Daily Offerings
38 Now this is what you shall offer on the altar regularly, every day: two lambs a year old. 39 The first lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight.[g] 40 With the first lamb offer two quarts[h] of fine flour mixed with a quart[i] of beaten olive oil,[j] and a quart of wine for a drink offering. 41 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and you shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire[k] to the Lord. 42 It shall be presented as a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord. There I will meet with you to speak to you. 43 There I will meet with the people of Israel, and the place will be made holy by my glory. 44 I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest’s office. 45 I will dwell 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 the land of Egypt, so that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.
The Altar for Incense
30 You shall make an altar on which to burn incense. Make it of acacia wood. 2 It is to be eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide. It is to be square, and three feet high. Its horns are to be one piece with it. 3 Overlay it with pure gold—its top, all its sides, and its horns. Make a gold border[l] around it. 4 Make two gold rings to place under its border. Make them for each of its two opposite sides. They will serve as holders for poles with which to carry it. 5 Make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.
6 Put the altar in front of the veil that hides the Ark of the Testimony, in front of the atonement seat that is above the Testimony, where I will meet with you. 7 Aaron shall burn incense made of fragrant spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn the incense. 8 When Aaron lights the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it as the regular incense before the Lord throughout your generations. 9 You shall offer no other incense on it, no burnt offering, and no grain offering, and you shall pour no drink offering on it. 10 Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year. With the blood of the sin offering for atonement, once a year he shall make atonement for it throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.
The Redemption Price
11 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 12 “When you count[m] the men of Israel to register them, each man shall give to the Lord a redemption price[n] for his life as you register him, so that there is no plague among them as you register them. 13 Each one shall give this redemption as he passes over to the group which has already been registered—half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel is twenty gerahs),[o] half a shekel for an offering to the Lord. 14 Everyone who passes over to the group that has already been registered, those twenty years old and older, shall give the special elevated offering to the Lord. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than the half shekel when you give the elevated offering for the Lord to redeem your lives. 16 You shall take the redemption money from the people of Israel, and you shall designate it for the work of the Tent of Meeting so that it may be a memorial for the people of Israel before the Lord, to redeem your lives.”
The Bronze Basin
17 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 18 “You shall also make a large bronze basin in which to wash. Its pedestal shall also be bronze. Put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 19 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet with water from it. 20 When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they must wash with water so that they will not die. They shall wash whenever they come near the altar to minister, to burn an offering made by fire to the Lord. 21 They shall wash their hands and their feet so that they do not die. This shall be a permanent regulation for them, for Aaron and for his descendants throughout their generations.”
Spices and Incense
22 The Lord spoke to Moses again. He said, 23 “Take fine spices: twelve and a half pounds[p] of liquid myrrh, half as much (six and a quarter pounds) of fragrant cinnamon, six and a quarter pounds of fragrant cane, 24 twelve and a half pounds of cassia (weighed by the shekel of the sanctuary), and one gallon[q] of olive oil. 25 Make it into a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixed with the skill of a perfume maker. It will be a holy anointing oil. 26 Use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the Ark of the Testimony, 27 the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar for incense, 28 the altar for burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its pedestal. 29 You shall consecrate them so that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will be holy. 30 You shall anoint Aaron and his sons and set them apart, so that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. 31 Speak to the people of Israel. Tell them, ‘This shall be a holy anointing oil for me throughout your generations. 32 Do not pour it on the flesh of anyone who is not a priest. Do not make any other perfume like it with the same ingredients. It is holy. It shall be holy to you. 33 Whoever mixes any perfume like it or whoever puts any of it on anyone who is not a priest shall be cut off from his people.’”
34 The Lord said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices, gum resin, shechelet, and helbanum,[r] fragrant spices with pure frankincense. Use an equal weight of each ingredient, 35 and make incense from it, a blend made with the skill of a perfume maker, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. 36 Grind some of it very fine, and put some of it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting where I will make myself known to you. It shall be most holy to you. 37 When you make incense for yourselves, you shall not make any with this recipe. You shall regard it as holy to the Lord. 38 Whoever makes any fragrance like that for himself shall be cut off from his people.”
Jesus’ Authority Questioned
23 When Jesus went into the temple courts, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him while he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things?” and “Who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus answered them, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer it, I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men?”
They discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the crowd, since they all regard John as a prophet.” 27 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.”
He said to them, “Then I will not tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Two Sons
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not,’ but later he changed his mind and went. 30 He came to the second and said the same thing. The second son answered, ‘I will go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?”
They said to him, “The first.”
Jesus said to them, “Amen I tell you: The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, but you did not believe him. However, the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him. Even when you saw this, you did not change your mind and believe him.
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. He leased it out to some tenant farmers and went away on a journey. 34 When the time approached to harvest the fruit, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 The tenant farmers seized his servants. They beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then the landowner sent even more servants than the first time. The tenant farmers treated them the same way. 37 Finally, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. 38 But when the tenant farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance!’ 39 They took him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 So when the landowner comes, what will he do to those tenant farmers?”
41 They told him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end. Then he will lease out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his fruit when it is due.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?[a]
43 “That is why I tell you the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruit. 44 Whoever falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was talking about them. 46 Although they were looking for a way to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds because the people regarded him as a prophet.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.