Old/New Testament
Appointing the Priests
29 “This is what you must do to appoint Aaron and his sons. Then they may serve me as priests. Take one young bull and two male sheep that have nothing wrong with them. 2 Use fine wheat flour without yeast to make bread and cakes mixed with olive oil. Also use wheat flour without yeast to make wafers brushed with olive oil. 3 Put these in one basket. Bring them in the basket along with the bull and two male sheep. 4 Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Meeting Tent. Then wash them with water. 5 Take the clothes. Dress Aaron in the inner robe and the outer robe of the holy vest. Then put on him the holy vest and the chest covering. Then tie the holy vest on him with its skillfully woven belt. 6 Put the turban on his head. Put the holy crown, the strip of gold, on the turban. 7 Take the special olive oil and pour it on his head to make him a priest.
8 “Then bring his sons and put the inner robes on them. 9 Put the headbands on their heads. Then tie cloth belts around their waists. Aaron and his descendants will be priests in Israel. This is by a rule that will continue from now on. This is how you will appoint Aaron and his sons as priests.
10 “Bring the bull to the front of the Meeting Tent. Aaron and his sons must put their hands on the bull’s head. 11 Then kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. 12 Take some of the bull’s blood and go to the altar. Use your finger to put some blood on the corners of the altar. Pour the blood that is left at the bottom of the altar. 13 Then take all the fat that covers the inner organs. Take the best part of the liver, and take both kidneys and the fat around them. Burn these on the altar. 14 Take the bull’s meat, skin and intestines. Burn these things outside the camp. This is an offering to take away sin.
15 “Take one of the male sheep. Have Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. 16 Then kill that male sheep. Take its blood and sprinkle it on all four sides of the altar. 17 Then cut the male sheep into pieces. Wash its inner organs and its legs. Put them with its head and its other pieces. 18 Burn the whole male sheep on the altar. It is a burnt offering made by fire to the Lord. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord.
19 “Take the other male sheep. Have Aaron and his sons put their hands on its head. 20 Kill that male sheep and take some of its blood. Put it on the bottom of the right ears of Aaron and his sons. Also put it on the thumbs of their right hands. And put it on the big toes of their right feet. Then sprinkle the rest of the blood against all four sides of the altar. 21 Then take some of the blood from the altar. Mix it with the special oil used in appointing priests. Sprinkle this on Aaron and his clothes. And sprinkle this on his sons and their clothes. This will show that Aaron and his sons and their clothes are given to my service.
22 “Then take the fat from the male sheep. Take the fat tail and the fat that covers the inner organs. Take the best part of the liver. Take both kidneys and the fat around them and the right thigh. This is the male sheep to be used in appointing priests.
23 “Then take the basket of bread that you made without yeast. This is the basket you put before the Lord. From it take a loaf of bread, a cake made with olive oil and a wafer. 24 Put these in the hands of Aaron and his sons. Tell them to present these things in their hands before the Lord. This will be an offering presented to the Lord. 25 Then take them from their hands. Burn them on the altar with the whole burnt offering. This is an offering made by fire to the Lord. Its smell is pleasing to the Lord. 26 Then take the breast of the male sheep used to appoint Aaron as priest. Present the breast of the male sheep before the Lord. It is an offering presented to the Lord. This part of the animal will be your share. 27 Then give to the service of the Lord the parts of the male sheep used to appoint them as priests. They belong to Aaron and his sons. They are the breast and the right thigh. These were presented to the Lord. 28 This is to be the regular share which the Israelites will always give to Aaron and his sons. This is the gift the Israelites must give to the Lord from their fellowship offerings.
29 “The holy clothes made for Aaron will belong to his descendants. They must wear these clothes when they are appointed as priests. 30 Aaron’s son will become high priest after Aaron. He will come to the Meeting Tent to serve in the Holy Place. He is to wear these clothes for seven days.
31 “Take the male sheep used to appoint priests. Boil its meat in a place made holy for serving me. 32 Then Aaron and his sons must eat the meat of the male sheep. They must do that at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. And they must also eat the bread that is in the basket. 33 These offerings were used to remove their sins when they were made priests so they would belong to God. Now they should eat these offerings. But no one else is to eat these things because they are holy. 34 If any of the meat from that male sheep or any of the bread is left the next morning, it must be burned. It shall not be eaten because it is holy.
35 “Do all these things that I commanded you to do to Aaron and his sons. You are to spend seven days appointing them. 36 Each day for seven days you are to offer a bull. This will remove the sins of Aaron and his sons so they will be given for service to the Lord. Make the altar ready for service to the Lord. Pour oil on it to make it holy. 37 Spend seven days making the altar ready for service to God and making it holy. Then the altar will become very holy. Anything that touches it must be holy.
The Daily Sacrifices
38 “Every day from now on, offer on the altar two lambs that are one year old. 39 Offer one lamb in the morning and the other in the evening. 40 In the morning, when you offer the first lamb, offer also two quarts of fine flour. Mix it with one quart of oil from pressed olives. Pour out a quart of wine as a drink offering. 41 Offer the second lamb in the evening. Also offer the same grain offering and drink offering as you did in the morning. This is an offering by fire to the Lord. And its smell is pleasing to the Lord.
42 “You must burn these things as an offering to the Lord every day. Do this at the entrance of the Meeting Tent before the Lord from now on. When you make the offering, I, the Lord, will meet you there and speak to you. 43 I will meet with the people of Israel there. And that place will be holy because of my greatness.
44 “So I will make the Meeting Tent and the altar holy. And I will make Aaron and his sons holy so they may serve me as priests. 45 I will live with the people of Israel. I will be their God. 46 And they will know that I am the Lord their God. They will know that I am the one who led them out of Egypt. I did this so I could live with them. I am the Lord their God.
The Altar for Burning Incense
30 “Make an altar out of acacia wood for burning incense. 2 Make it square—18 inches long and 18 inches wide. It must be 36 inches high. Make the corners stick out like horns. These must be one piece with the altar. 3 Cover its top, its sides and its corners with pure gold. And put a gold strip all around the altar. 4 Make two gold rings beneath the gold strip on opposite sides of the altar. Slide poles through these gold rings to carry the altar. 5 Make the poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. 6 Put the altar of incense in front of the curtain. This curtain is in front of the Ark of the Covenant. Put the altar in front of the lid that covers that Ark of the Covenant. There I will meet with you.
7 “Aaron must burn sweet-smelling incense on the altar every morning. He will do this when he comes to take care of the oil lamps. 8 He must burn incense again in the evening when he lights the lamps. So incense will burn before the Lord every day from now on. 9 Do not use this altar for offering any other incense or burnt offering. Do not use this altar to offer any kind of grain offering or drink offering. 10 Once a year Aaron must make the altar ready for service to God. He will do it by putting blood on its corners. This is blood of the animal offered to remove sins. He is to do this once a year from now on. This altar belongs completely to God’s service.”
The Tax for the Meeting Tent
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “Count the people of Israel. At that time every person must pay to buy back his life from the Lord. Then no terrible things will happen to the people when you number them. 13 Every person who is counted must pay one-fifth of an ounce of silver. This is set by the Holy Place measure, which weighs two-fifths of an ounce. This amount is a gift to the Lord. 14 Every person who is counted and is 20 years old or older must give this amount to the Lord. 15 A rich person must not give more than one-fifth of an ounce. And a poor person must not give less than one-fifth of an ounce. You are paying this to the Lord to buy back your lives. 16 Gather from the people of Israel this money paid to buy back their lives. Spend it to buy things for the service in the Meeting Tent. This payment will remind the Lord that the Israelites’ lives have been bought back.”
The Bronze Bowl
17 The Lord said to Moses, 18 “Make a bronze bowl for washing. Build it on a bronze stand. Put the bowl and stand between the Meeting Tent and the altar. Put water in the bowl. 19 Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and feet with the water from this bowl. 20 Each time, before they enter the Meeting Tent, they must wash with water. This way they will not die. They approach the altar to serve as priests. They offer a sacrifice to the Lord by fire. 21 Each time they do this, they must wash their hands and their feet so they will not die. This is a rule which Aaron and his descendants are to keep from now on.”
Oil for Appointing
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 “Take the finest spices: 12 pounds of liquid myrrh, half that amount (that is, 6 pounds) of sweet-smelling cinnamon, 6 pounds of sweet-smelling cane 24 and 12 pounds of cassia. Weigh all these by the Holy Place measure. Also take 4 quarts of olive oil. 25 Mix all these things like a perfume to make a holy olive oil. This special oil must be put on people and things. Do this to make them ready for service to God. 26 Put this oil on the Meeting Tent and the Ark of the Covenant with my laws in it. 27 Put this oil on the table and all its dishes. And put this oil on the lampstand and all its tools. Put the oil on the incense altar. 28 Also, put the oil on the altar for burning offerings and all its tools. Put this oil on the bowl and the stand under the bowl. Put oil on all these things to prepare them for service to God. 29 You will give these things for service to God. They will be very holy. Anything that touches these things must also be holy.
30 “Put the oil on Aaron and his sons to make them priests. Give them for service to me. Then they may serve me as priests. 31 Tell the Israelites, ‘This is to be my holy olive oil from now on. It is to be put on people and things to make them ready for service to God. 32 Do not pour it on the bodies of ordinary people. Do not make perfume the same way you make this oil. It is holy, and you must treat it as holy. 33 Someone might make perfume like it. Or he might put it on someone who is not a priest. Then that person must be separated from his people.’”
Incense
34 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take these sweet-smelling spices: resin, onycha, galbanum and pure frankincense. Be sure that you have equal amounts of each. 35 You must make incense as a man who makes perfume would do. Add salt to it to keep it pure and holy. 36 Beat some of the incense into a fine powder. Put some of it in front of the Ark of the Covenant in the Meeting Tent. There I will meet with you. You must use this incense powder only for its very special purpose. 37 Do not make incense for yourselves the same way you make this incense. Treat it as holy to the Lord. 38 Whoever makes incense like this to use as perfume must be separated from his people.”
Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority
23 Jesus went to the Temple. While he was teaching there, the leading priests and the elders of the people came to Jesus. They said to him, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question, too. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. 25 Tell me: When John baptized people, did that come from God or from man?”
The priests and the leaders argued about Jesus’ question. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’ 26 But if we say, ‘It was from man,’ we are afraid of what the people will do because they all believe that John was a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Then Jesus said, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things!
A Story About Two Sons
28 “Tell me what you think about this: There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ 29 The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later the son decided he should go, and he went. 30 Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard.’ The son answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work.’ But he did not go. 31 Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”
The priests and leaders answered, “The first son.”
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth. The tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you do. 32 John came to show you the right way to live. And you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John. You saw this, but you still refused to change and believe him.
God Sends His Son
33 “Listen to this story: There was a man who owned a vineyard. He put a wall around the vineyard and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. 34 Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent his servants to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. 35 But the farmers grabbed the servants, beat one, killed another, and then killed a third servant with stones. 36 So the man sent some other servants to the farmers. He sent more servants than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to the servants that they had done before. 37 So the man decided to send his son to the farmers. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’ 38 But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, then his vineyard will be ours!’ 39 So the farmers grabbed the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 So what will the owner of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?”
41 The priests and leaders said, “He will surely kill those evil men. Then he will lease the vineyard to some other farmers. They will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Surely you have read this in the Scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders did not want
became the cornerstone.
The Lord did this,
and it is wonderful to us.’ Psalm 118:22-23
43 “So I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who do the things God wants in his kingdom. 44 The person who falls on this stone will be broken. But if the stone falls on him, he will be crushed.”[a]
45 The leading priests and the Pharisees heard these stories that Jesus told. They knew he was talking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him. But they were afraid of the people, because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.