Old/New Testament
29 “This is the ceremony for the dedication of Aaron and his sons as priests: get a young bull and two rams with no defects, 2 and bread made without yeast, and thin sheets of sweetened bread mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers with oil poured over them. (The various kinds of bread shall be made with finely ground wheat flour.) 3-4 Place the bread in a basket and bring it to the entrance of the Tabernacle, along with the young bull and the two rams.
“Bathe Aaron and his sons there at the entrance. 5 Then put Aaron’s robe on him, and the embroidered shirt, ephod, chestpiece, and sash, 6 and place on his head the turban with the gold plate. 7 Then take the anointing oil and pour it upon his head. 8 Next, dress his sons in their robes, 9 with their woven sashes, and place caps on their heads. They will then be priests forever; thus you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.
10 “Then bring the young bull to the Tabernacle, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon its head; 11 and you shall kill it before the Lord, at the entrance of the Tabernacle. 12 Place its blood upon the horns of the altar, smearing it on with your finger, and pour the rest at the base of the altar. 13 Then take all the fat that covers the inner parts, also the gall bladder and two kidneys, and the fat on them, and burn them upon the altar. 14 Then take the body, including the skin and the dung, outside the camp and burn it as a sin offering.
15-16 “Next, Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon the head of one of the rams as it is killed. Its blood shall also be collected and sprinkled upon the altar. 17 Cut up the ram and wash off the entrails and the legs; place them with the head and the other pieces of the body, 18 and burn it all upon the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord, and very pleasant to him.
19-20 “Now take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon its head as it is killed. Collect the blood and place some of it upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron and his sons, and upon their right thumbs and the big toes of their right feet; sprinkle the rest of the blood over the altar. 21 Then scrape off some of the blood from the altar and mix it with some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it upon Aaron and his sons and upon their clothes; and they and their clothing shall be sanctified to the Lord.
22 “Then take the fat of the ram, including the fat tail and the fat that covers the insides, also the gall bladder and the two kidneys and the fat surrounding them, and the right thigh—for this is the ram for ordination of Aaron and his sons— 23 and one loaf of bread, one cake of shortening bread, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that was placed before the Lord: 24 Place these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, to wave them in a gesture of offering to the Lord. 25 Afterwards, take them from their hands and burn them on the altar as a fragrant burnt offering to him. 26 Then take the breast of Aaron’s ordination ram and wave it before the Lord in a gesture of offering; afterwards, keep it for yourself.
27 “Give the breast and thigh of the consecration ram 28 to Aaron and his sons. The people of Israel must always contribute this portion of their sacrifices—whether peace offerings or thanksgiving offerings—as their contribution to the Lord.
29 “These sacred garments of Aaron shall be preserved for the consecration of his son who succeeds him, from generation to generation, for his anointing ceremony. 30 Whoever is the next High Priest after Aaron shall wear these clothes for seven days before beginning to minister in the Tabernacle and the Holy Place.
31 “Take the ram of consecration—the ram used in the ordination ceremony—and boil its meat in a sacred area. 32 Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat, also the bread in the basket, at the door of the Tabernacle. 33 They alone shall eat those items used in their atonement (that is, in their consecration ceremony). The ordinary people shall not eat them, for these things are set apart and holy. 34 If any of the meat or bread remains until the morning, burn it; it shall not be eaten, for it is holy.
35 “This, then, is the way you shall ordain Aaron and his sons to their offices. This ordination shall go on for seven days. 36 Every day you shall sacrifice a young bull as a sin offering for atonement; afterwards,[a] purge the altar by making atonement for it; pour olive oil upon it to sanctify it. 37 Make atonement for the altar and consecrate it to God every day for seven days. After this the altar shall be exceedingly holy, so that whatever touches it shall be set apart for God.[b]
38 “Each day offer two yearling lambs upon the altar, 39 one in the morning and the other in the evening. 40 With one of them offer 3 quarts of finely ground flour mixed with 2-1/2 pints of oil, pressed from olives; also 2-1/2 pints of wine, as an offering.
41 Offer the other lamb in the evening, along with the flour and the wine as in the morning, for a fragrant offering to the Lord, an offering made to the Lord by fire.
42 “This shall be a perpetual daily offering at the door of the Tabernacle before the Lord, where I will meet with you and speak with you. 43 And I will meet with the people of Israel there, and the Tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 Yes, I will sanctify the Tabernacle and the altar and Aaron and his sons who are my ministers, the priests. 45 And I will live among the people of Israel and be their God, 46 and they shall know that I am the Lord their God. I brought them out of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am Jehovah their God.
30 “Then make a small altar for burning incense. It shall be made from acacia wood. 2 It is to be eighteen inches square and three feet high, with horns carved from the wood of the altar—they are not to be merely separate parts that are attached. 3 Overlay the top, sides, and horns of the altar with pure gold, and run a gold molding around the entire altar. 4 Beneath the molding, on each of two sides, construct two gold rings to hold the carrying poles. 5 The poles are to be made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. 6 Place the altar just outside the veil, near the place of mercy that is above the Ark containing the Ten Commandments. I will meet with you there.
7 “Every morning when Aaron trims the lamps, he shall burn sweet spices on the altar, 8 and each evening when he lights the lamps he shall burn the incense before the Lord, and this shall go on from generation to generation. 9 Offer no unauthorized incense, burnt offerings, meal offerings, or wine offerings.
10 “Once a year Aaron must sanctify the altar,[c] placing upon its horns the blood of the sin offering for atonement. This shall be a regular, annual event from generation to generation, for this is the Lord’s supremely holy altar.”
11-12 And Jehovah said to Moses, “Whenever you take a census of the people of Israel, each man who is numbered shall give a ransom to the Lord for his soul, so that there will be no plague among the people when you number them. 13 His payment shall be half a dollar.[d] 14 All who have reached their twentieth birthday shall give this offering. 15 The rich shall not give more and the poor shall not give less, for it is an offering to the Lord to make atonement for yourselves. 16 Use this money for the care of the Tabernacle; it is to bring you, the people of Israel, to the Lord’s attention, and to make atonement for you.”
17-18 And the Lord said to Moses, “Make a bronze basin with a bronze pedestal. Put it between the Tabernacle and the altar, and fill it with water. 19 Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet there, 20 when they go into the Tabernacle to appear before the Lord, or when they approach the altar to burn offerings to the Lord. They must always wash before doing so, or they will die. 21 These are instructions to Aaron and his sons from generation to generation.”
22-23 Then the Lord told Moses to collect the choicest of spices—eighteen pounds of pure myrrh; half as much of cinnamon and of sweet cane; 24 the same amount of cassia as of myrrh; and 1-1/2 gallons of olive oil. 25 The Lord instructed skilled perfume makers to compound all this into a holy anointing oil.
26-27 “Use this,” he said, “to anoint the Tabernacle, the Ark, the table and all its instruments, the lampstand and all its utensils, the incense altar, 28 the burnt offering altar with all its instruments, and the washbasin and its pedestal. 29 Sanctify them, to make them holy; whatever touches them shall become holy.[e] 30 Use it to anoint Aaron and his sons, sanctifying them so that they can minister to me as priests. 31 And say to the people of Israel, ‘This shall always be my holy anointing oil. 32 It must never be poured upon an ordinary person, and you shall never make any of it yourselves, for it is holy, and it shall be treated by you as holy. 33 Anyone who compounds any incense like it or puts any of it upon someone who is not a priest shall be excommunicated.’”
34 These were the Lord’s directions to Moses concerning the incense: “Use sweet spices—stacte, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense, weighing out the same amounts of each, 35 using the usual techniques of the incense maker, and seasoning it with salt; it shall be a pure and holy incense. 36 Beat some of it very fine and put some of it in front of the Ark where I meet with you in the Tabernacle; this incense is most holy. 37 Never make it for yourselves, for it is reserved for the Lord and you must treat it as holy. 38 Anyone making it for himself shall be excommunicated.”
23 When he had returned to the Temple and was teaching, the chief priests and other Jewish leaders came up to him and demanded to know by whose authority he had thrown out the merchants the day before.[a]
24 “I’ll tell you if you answer one question first,” Jesus replied. 25 “Was John the Baptist sent from God or not?”
They talked it over among themselves. “If we say, ‘From God,’” they said, “then he will ask why we didn’t believe what John said. 26 And if we deny that God sent him, we’ll be mobbed, for the crowd all think he was a prophet.” 27 So they finally replied, “We don’t know!”
And Jesus said, “Then I won’t answer your question either.
28 “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work on the farm today.’ 29 ‘I won’t,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 Then the father told the youngest, ‘You go!’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t. 31 Which of the two was obeying his father?”
They replied, “The first, of course.”
Then Jesus explained his meaning: “Surely evil men and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom before you do. 32 For John the Baptist told you to repent and turn to God, and you wouldn’t, while very evil men and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to repent, and so you couldn’t believe.
33 “Now listen to this story: A certain landowner planted a vineyard with a hedge around it, and built a platform for the watchman, then leased the vineyard to some farmers on a sharecrop basis, and went away to live in another country.
34 “At the time of the grape harvest he sent his agents to the farmers to collect his share. 35 But the farmers attacked his men, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.
36 “Then he sent a larger group of his men to collect for him, but the results were the same. 37 Finally the owner sent his son, thinking they would surely respect him.
38 “But when these farmers saw the son coming, they said among themselves, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate; come on, let’s kill him and get it for ourselves!’ 39 So they dragged him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “When the owner returns, what do you think he will do to those farmers?”
41 The Jewish leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will pay him promptly.”
42 Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone rejected by the builders has been made the honored cornerstone;[b] how remarkable! what an amazing thing the Lord has done’?
43 “What I mean is that the Kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and given to a nation that will give God his share of the crop.[c] 44 All who stumble on this rock of truth[d] shall be broken, but those it falls on will be scattered as dust.”
45 When the chief priests and other Jewish leaders realized that Jesus was talking about them—that they were the farmers in his story— 46 they wanted to get rid of him but were afraid to try because of the crowds, for they accepted Jesus as a prophet.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.