Old/New Testament
The Consecration of the Priests
29 “This is what you are to do to them in order to consecrate them to serve me as priests: Take a young bull, two rams without blemish, 2 unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread[a] with oil, which you are to make from fine wheat flour. 3 You are to put them[b] in one basket and bring them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams. 4 You are to bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, and wash them with water. 5 Take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breast piece, and then gird him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 6 Then put the turban on his head, and place the holy crown on the turban. 7 You are to take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him. 8 Then you are to bring his sons and clothe them with tunics. 9 You are to gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and tie headdresses on them. The priesthood is to belong to them by perpetual ordinance, and you are to ordain[c] Aaron and his sons.
10 “You are to bring the bull in front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 Then you are to slaughter the bull in the Lord’s presence at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. 12 Take some of the blood of the bull, put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out the rest[d] of the blood at the base of the altar. 13 You are to take all the fat that covers the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them and send them up in smoke on the altar. 14 You are to burn the flesh of the bull, its hide, and its refuse with fire outside the camp. It is a sin offering.
15 “You are to take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its[e] head. 16 Then you are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and scatter it around the altar. 17 You are to cut the ram into pieces,[f] wash its entrails and legs, put them on the altar along[g] with the pieces[h] and its head, 18 and send up the whole ram in smoke on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord; it’s a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
19 “You are to take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20 You are to slaughter the ram, take some of its blood, and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, the lobe of his sons’ right ears, the thumbs of their right hands, and the big toes of their right feet. Then you are to scatter the rest of the blood around the altar. 21 You are to take some of the blood which is on the altar, along with some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and their[i] garments. He is to be consecrated with his garments, along with his sons and their garments.
22 “You are to take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, the right thigh (for it’s a ram of ordination), 23 and one loaf of bread, one cake of bread mixed with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is in the Lord’s presence. 24 You are to put all of these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and present them as a wave offering in the Lord’s presence. 25 Then you are to take them from their hands and send them up in smoke on the altar on top of the burnt offering for a soothing aroma in the Lord’s presence. It is an offering by fire to the Lord.
26 “You are to take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination, and present it as a wave offering in the Lord’s presence, and it is to be your portion. 27 You are to consecrate the portion of the ram of ordination that belongs to Aaron and his sons:[j] the breast of the wave offering that was waved and the thigh of the presented offering that was presented.[k] 28 These offerings[l] from the Israelis are to be a perpetual ordinance for Aaron and his sons. They are presented offerings, and they are to be presented offerings from the Israelis out of their peace offerings. They are presented offerings to the Lord.
29 “The holy garments of Aaron are to be for his sons after him[m] so that they may be anointed in them and ordained in them. 30 Aaron’s son, who is priest in his place, is to wear them for seven days when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place.
31 “You are to take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a Holy Place. 32 Then Aaron and his sons are to eat the flesh of the ram along with the bread that is in the basket at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. 33 They are to eat these things by which atonement was made at their ordination to consecrate them, but an unqualified person[n] is not to eat because these things are holy. 34 If any of the flesh of the ordination ram[o] or any of the bread is left until morning, you are to burn what is left with fire. Because it’s holy, what remains is not to be eaten. 35 You are to do this for Aaron and his sons, just as I’ve commanded you. You are to ordain them for seven days, 36 and every day you are to offer a bull as a sin offering for atonement. Offer the sin offering on the altar when you make atonement for it and anoint the altar to consecrate it. 37 You are to make atonement for the altar for seven days and consecrate it. It will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy.”
The Altar for Burnt Offering(A)
38 “This is what you are to offer on the altar continually: two one year old lambs each day. 39 “You are to offer one lamb in the morning and the other[p] at twilight, 40 and there is to be a tenth measure of choice flour mixed with one fourth of a hin[q] of oil extracted by hand,[r] and one fourth of a hin[s] of wine as a drink offering for one lamb. 41 You are to offer the other lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and drink offering as in the morning. You are to offer it as a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. 42 It is to be a regular burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway to the Tent of Meeting in the Lord’s presence, where I’ll meet with you to speak to you there. 43 I’ll meet there with the Israelis, and it is to be consecrated by my glory. 44 I’ll consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I’ll consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve as my priests. 45 I’ll live among the Israelis, and I’ll be their God. 46 They are to know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I may live among them. I am the Lord your God.”
The Altar of Incense
30 “You are to make an altar for burning incense. You are to make it of acacia wood. 2 It is to be a square, one cubit[t] long and one cubit[u] wide, and it is to be two cubits[v] high, with its horns of one piece with it. 3 You are to overlay it with pure gold, its top, its sides all around, and its horns, and you are to make a molding of gold all around it.
4 “You are to make two gold rings for it under its molding. You are to make them on its two opposite sides, and they are to be holders for poles by which to carry it. 5 You are to make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 6 You are to put the altar[w] in front of the curtain that is over the Ark of the Testimony, in front of the Mercy Seat[x] that is over the Testimony where I’ll meet with you. 7 Aaron is to offer fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he trims the lamps he is to offer it, 8 and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he is to offer it as a continual incense offering in the Lord’s presence throughout your generations. 9 You are not to offer strange incense, a burnt offering, or a grain offering on it, nor are you to pour out a libation on it. 10 Each year Aaron is to make atonement on its horns with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. He is to make atonement on it each year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord.”
Offerings for the Tent
11 The Lord told Moses, 12 “When you take a census of the Israelis to register them, each is to give a ransom for himself[y] to the Lord when they’re registered so there won’t be a plague among them when they’re registered. 13 This is what everyone who is registered[z] is to give: half a shekel[aa] according to the shekel[ab] of the sanctuary (the shekel[ac] weighs 20 gerahs), half a shekel[ad] as a contribution to the Lord. 14 All who are registered, 20 years of age and older, are to give a contribution to the Lord. 15 The rich person is not to give more,[ae] nor is the poor person to give less[af] than the half shekel,[ag] when you give a contribution to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves.[ah] 16 You are to take the atonement money from the Israelis and give it for the service of the Tent of Meeting, and it is to be a memorial for the Israelis in the Lord’s presence to make atonement for yourselves.”[ai]
The Bronze Basin
17 The Lord told Moses, 18 “You are to make a bronze basin with a bronze base for washing. You are to pace it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, put water in it,[aj] 19 and Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and their feet from it. 20 When they enter the Tent of Meeting or when they approach the altar to minister to make an offering by fire to the Lord, they are to wash with water so they don’t die. 21 They are to wash their hands and their feet so that they don’t die, and it is to be for them a perpetual ordinance for Aaron[ak] and his seed from generation to generation.”
The Anointing Oil
22 The Lord told Moses, 23 “You are to take for yourself the finest spices: 500 shekels[al]by weight of liquid myrrh, half as much fragrant cinnamon (250 shekels), 250 shekels of fragrant reeds, 24 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the shekel of the sanctuary—and a hin[am] of olive oil. 25 You are to make them into a holy anointing oil, a perfume mixture made by a perfumer. It is to be a holy anointing oil. 26 You are to use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the Ark of the Testimony, 27 the table and all its utensils, the lamp stand and its utensils, the altar of incense, 28 the altar for burnt offerings and all its utensils, and the basin and its base. 29 You are to consecrate them and they are to be most holy. Whatever touches them is to be holy. 30 You are to anoint Aaron and his sons, and you are to consecrate them to serve as my priests. 31 You are to address the Israelis and tell them, ‘This is to be holy anointing oil for me from generation to generation. 32 It is not to be poured out on a person’s body,[an] nor are you to make anything like it with similar formulations. It is holy, and it is to be holy to you. 33 Anyone who mixes anything like it or who puts any of it on an unqualified person[ao] is to be cut off from his people.’”
The Incense
34 The Lord told Moses, “Take for yourself spices: stacte, onycha, galbanum, and spices with pure frankincense, all in equal amounts. 35 You are to make it into a fragrant incense, expertly[ap] blended,[aq] pure, and holy. 36 You are to grind some of it fine, and put some before the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting where I will meet with you. It is to be most holy to you. 37 You are not to make the incense that you make in this formulation for your own use. It is to be holy to the Lord for you. 38 Anyone who makes anything like it to use it as perfume is to be cut off from his people.”
Jesus’ Authority is Challenged(A)
23 Then Jesus[a] went into the Temple. While he was teaching, the high priests and the elders of the people came to him and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus answered them, “I, too, will ask you one question.[b] If you answer it for me, I will also tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 Where did John’s authority to baptize[c] come from? From heaven or from humans?”
They began discussing this among themselves: “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From humans,’ we are afraid of the crowd, because everyone regards John as a prophet.” 27 So they told Jesus, “We don’t know.”
He in turn told them, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
The Parable about Two Sons
28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 His son[d] replied, ‘I don’t want to,’ but later he changed his mind and went. 30 Then the father[e] went to the other son[f] and told him the same thing. He replied, ‘I will,[g] sir,’ but he didn’t go. 31 Which of the two did the father’s will?”
They answered, “The first one.”
Jesus told them, “I tell all of you[h] with certainty, tax collectors and prostitutes will get into God’s kingdom ahead of you! 32 John came to you living a righteous life,[i] and you didn’t believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes did. But even when you saw that, you didn’t change your minds[j] at last and believe him.”
The Parable about the Tenant Farmers(B)
33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenant farmers and went abroad. 34 When harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenant farmers to collect his produce. 35 But the farmers took his servants and beat one, killed another, and attacked another with stones. 36 Again, he sent other servants to them, a greater number than the first, but the tenant farmers[k] treated them the same way. 37 Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenant farmers saw his son, they told one another, ‘This is the heir. Come on, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’ 39 So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard returns, what will he do to those farmers?”
41 They told him, “He will put those horrible men to a horrible death. Then he will lease the vineyard to other farmers who will give him his produce at harvest time.”
42 Jesus asked them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures,
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.[l]
This was the Lord’s[m] doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes.’?[n]
43 That is why I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce fruit for it. 44 The person who falls over this stone will be broken to pieces, but it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”[o]
45 When the high priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they knew that he was talking about them. 46 Although they wanted to arrest him, they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus[p] to be a prophet.
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