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28 The Lord also told Moses 29-30 to say to the people of Israel:
If you want to offer a sacrifice to ask my blessing, you must bring the part to be burned and lay it on the bronze altar. But you must first lift up[a] the choice ribs with their fat to show that the offering is dedicated to me. 31 A priest from Aaron's family will then send the fat up in smoke, but the ribs belong to the priests. 32-33 The upper joint of the right hind leg is for the priest who offers the blood and the fat of the animal. 34 I have decided that the people of Israel must always give the choice ribs and the upper joint of the right hind leg to Aaron's descendants 35 who have been ordained as priests to serve me. 36 This law will never change. I am the Lord!
37 These are the ceremonies for sacrifices to please the Lord, to give him thanks, and to ask for his blessing or his forgiveness, as well as the ceremonies for those sacrifices that demand a payment and for the sacrifices that are offered when priests are ordained. 38 While Moses and the people of Israel were in the desert at Mount Sinai, the Lord commanded them to start offering these sacrifices.
The Ceremony for Ordaining Priests
(Exodus 29.1-37)
8 The Lord said to Moses:
2 Send for Aaron and his sons, as well as their priestly clothes, the oil for ordination, the bull for the sin offering, the two rams, and a basket of bread made without yeast. 3 Then bring the whole community of Israel together at the entrance to the sacred tent.
4 Moses obeyed the Lord, and when everyone had come together, 5 he said, “We are here to follow the Lord's instructions.”
6 After Moses told Aaron and his sons to step forward, he told them to wash themselves. 7 He put the priestly shirt and robe on Aaron and wrapped the sash around his waist. Then he put the sacred vest on Aaron and fastened it with the finely woven belt. 8 Next, he put on Aaron the sacred breastpiece that was used in finding out what the Lord wanted his people to do. 9 He placed the turban on Aaron's head, and on the front of the turban was the narrow strip of thin gold as a sign of his dedication to the Lord.
10 Moses then dedicated the sacred tent and everything in it to the Lord by sprinkling them with some of the oil for ordination. 11 He sprinkled the bronze altar seven times, and he sprinkled its equipment, as well as the large bronze bowl and its base. 12 He also poured some of the oil on Aaron's head to dedicate him to the Lord. 13 Next, Moses dressed Aaron's sons in their shirts, then tied sashes around them and put special caps on them, just as the Lord had commanded.
14 Moses led out the bull that was to be sacrificed for sin, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. 15 After it was killed, Moses dipped a finger in the blood and smeared some of it on each of the four corners of the bronze altar, before pouring out the rest at the foot of the altar. This purified the altar and made it a fit place for offering the sacrifice for sin. 16 Moses then took the fat on the bull's insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat, and sent them up in smoke on the altar fire. 17 Finally, he took the skin and the flesh of the bull, together with the food still in its stomach, and burned them outside the camp, just as the Lord had commanded.
18 Moses led out the ram for the sacrifice to please the Lord.[b] After Aaron and his sons had laid their hands on its head, 19 Moses killed the ram and splattered its blood against the four sides of the altar. 20-21 Moses had the animal cut up, and he washed its insides and hind legs. Then he laid the head, the fat, and the rest of the ram on the altar and sent them up in smoke with a smell that pleased the Lord. All this was done just as the Lord had commanded.
22 Moses led out the ram for the ceremony of ordination. Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head, 23 and it was killed. Moses smeared some of its blood on Aaron's right earlobe, some on his right thumb, and some on the big toe of his right foot. 24 Moses did the same thing for Aaron's sons, before splattering the rest of the blood against the four sides of the altar. 25 He took the animal's fat tail, the fat on its insides, and the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat, and the right hind leg. 26 Then he took from a basket some of each of the three kinds of bread[c] that had been made without yeast and had been dedicated to the Lord.
27 Moses placed the bread on top of the meat and gave it all to Aaron and his sons, who lifted it up[d] to show that it was dedicated to the Lord. 28 After this, Moses placed it on the fires of the altar and sent it up in smoke with a smell that pleased the Lord. This was part of the ordination ceremony. 29 Moses lifted up[e] the choice ribs of the ram to show that they were dedicated to the Lord. This was the part that the Lord had said Moses could have.
30 Finally, Moses sprinkled the priestly clothes of Aaron and his sons with some of the oil for ordination and with some of the blood from the altar. So Aaron and his sons, together with their priestly clothes, were dedicated to the Lord.
31 Moses said to Aaron and his sons:
The Lord told me that you must boil this meat at the entrance to the sacred tent and eat it there with the bread. 32 Burn what is left over 33 and stay near the entrance to the sacred tent until the ordination ceremony ends seven days from now. 34 We have obeyed the Lord in everything that has been done today, so that your sins may be forgiven.[f] 35 The Lord has told me that you must stay near the entrance to the tent for seven days and nights, or else you will die.
36 Aaron and his sons obeyed everything that the Lord had told Moses they must do.
The First Sacrifices Offered by Aaron and His Sons
9 Eight days later Moses called together Aaron, his sons, and Israel's leaders. 2 Then he said to Aaron:
Find a young bull and a ram that have nothing wrong with them. Offer the bull to the Lord as a sacrifice for sin and the ram as a sacrifice to please him.[g]
3 Tell the people of Israel that they must offer sacrifices as well. They must offer a goat[h] as a sacrifice for sin, and a bull and a ram as a sacrifice to please the Lord. The bull and the ram must be a year old and have nothing wrong with them. 4 Then the people must offer a bull and a ram as a sacrifice to ask the Lord's blessing[i] and also a grain sacrifice[j] mixed with oil. Do this, because the Lord will appear to you today.
5 After the animals and the grain had been brought to the front of the sacred tent, and the people were standing there in the presence of the Lord, 6 Moses said:
The Lord has ordered you to do this, so that he may appear to you in all of his glory.
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
(Matthew 12.46-50; Luke 8.19-21)
31 Jesus' mother and brothers came and stood outside. Then they sent someone with a message for him to come out to them. 32 The crowd sitting around Jesus told him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters[a] are outside and want to see you.”
33 Jesus asked, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” 34 Then he looked at the people sitting around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 35 Anyone who obeys God is my brother or sister or mother.”
A Story about a Farmer
(Matthew 13.1-9; Luke 8.4-8)
4 (A) The next time Jesus taught beside Lake Galilee, a big crowd gathered. It was so large that he had to sit in a boat out on the lake, while the people stood on the shore. 2 He used stories to teach them many things, and this is part of what he taught:
3 Now listen! A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. 4 While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds. 5 Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn't very deep. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have deep roots. 7 Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked out the plants. So they did not produce any grain. 8 But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants grew and produced 30 or 60 or even 100 times as much as was scattered.
9 Then Jesus said, “If you have ears, pay attention.”
Why Jesus Used Stories
(Matthew 13.10-17; Luke 8.9,10)
10 When Jesus was alone with the twelve apostles and some others, they asked him about these stories. 11 He answered:
I have explained the secret about God's kingdom to you, but for others I can use only stories. 12 (B) The reason is,
“These people will look
and look, but never see.
They will listen and listen,
but never understand.
If they did,
they would turn to God
and be forgiven.”
Jesus Explains the Story about the Farmer
(Matthew 13.18-23; Luke 8.11-15)
13 Jesus then told them:
If you don't understand this story, you won't understand any others. 14 What the farmer is spreading is really the message about the kingdom. 15 The seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message. But Satan soon comes and snatches it away from them. 16 The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it at once. 17 But they don't have roots, and they don't last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up.
18 The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. 19 But they start worrying about the needs of this life. They are fooled by the desire to get rich and to have all kinds of other things. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything. 20 The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and welcome the message. They produce 30 or 60 or even 100 times as much as was planted.
Light
(Luke 8.16-18)
21 (C) Jesus also said:
You don't light a lamp and put it under a clay pot or under a bed. Don't you put a lamp on a lampstand? 22 (D) There is nothing hidden that will not be made public. There is no secret that will not be well known. 23 If you have ears, pay attention!
24 (E) Listen carefully to what you hear! The way you treat others will be the way you will be treated—and even worse. 25 (F) Everyone who has something will be given more. But people who don't have anything will lose what little they have.
12 Merciless people make plots
against good people
and snarl like animals,
13 but the Lord laughs and knows
their time is coming soon.
14 The wicked kill with swords
and shoot arrows to murder
the poor and the needy
and all who do right.
15 But they will be killed
by their own swords,
and their arrows
will be broken.
16 It is better to live right
and be poor
than to be sinful and rich.
17 The wicked will lose all
of their power,
but the Lord gives strength
to everyone who is good.
18 Those who obey the Lord
are daily in his care,
and what he has given them
will be theirs forever.
19 They won't be in trouble
when times are bad,
and they will have plenty
when food is scarce.
20 Wicked people are enemies
of the Lord
and will vanish like smoke
from a field on fire.
21 An evil person borrows
and never pays back;
a good person is generous
and never stops giving.
22 Everyone the Lord blesses
will receive the land;
everyone the Lord curses
will be destroyed.
23 If you do what the Lord wants,
he will make certain
each step you take is sure.
24 The Lord will hold your hand,
and if you stumble,
you still won't fall.
25 As long as I can remember,
good people have never
been left helpless,
and their children have never
gone begging for food.
26 They gladly give and lend,
and their children
turn out good.
27 If you stop sinning
and start doing right,
you will keep living
and be secure forever.
28 The Lord loves justice,
and he won't ever desert
his faithful people.
He always protects them,
but destroys the children
of the wicked.
29 God's people will own the land
and live here forever.
5 At harvest season
it's smart to work hard,
but stupid to sleep.
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