The Daily Audio Bible
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28 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 29 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘He who offers the sacrifice of his peace offerings to the Lord shall bring his offering to the Lord from the sacrifice of his peace offerings. 30 With his own hands he is to bring offerings by fire to the Lord; he shall bring the fat with the breast, so that the breast may be presented as a wave offering before the Lord. 31 The priest shall offer up the fat in smoke on the altar, but the breast shall be for Aaron and his sons. 32 You shall give the right thigh to the priest as a contribution from the sacrifices of your peace offerings. 33 The son of Aaron who offers the blood of the peace offerings and the fat shall have the right thigh as his portion. 34 For I have taken the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering from the Israelites, from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, and I have given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their perpetual portion from the Israelites.
35 ‘This is the consecrated portion from the offerings by fire to the Lord that was designated for Aaron and his sons on the day he presented them to serve as priests to the Lord. 36 The Lord commanded this to be given to the priests by the Israelites on the day that He anointed them. It is their portion perpetually throughout their generations.’”
37 This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the consecration (ordination) offering, and the sacrifice of peace offerings, 38 which the Lord commanded Moses at Mount Sinai on the day He commanded the Israelites to present their offerings to the Lord, in the Wilderness of Sinai.
The Consecration of Aaron and His Sons
8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments [which are symbols of their office], and the anointing oil, and the bull for the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread; 3 and assemble the entire congregation at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting.” 4 Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the congregation was assembled at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. 5 Moses said to the congregation, “This is what the Lord has commanded us to do.”
6 Then Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. 7 He put the undertunic on Aaron, tied the sash around him, clothed him in the robe, and put the [a]ephod (an upper vestment) on him. He tied the [skillfully woven] band of the ephod around him, with which he secured it to Aaron. 8 Moses then put the breastpiece on Aaron, and he put in the breastpiece the Urim and the Thummim [the sacred articles the high priest used when seeking God’s will concerning the nation]. 9 He also put the turban on Aaron’s head, and on it, in the front, Moses placed the golden plate, the holy crown, just as the Lord had commanded him.
10 Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. 11 He sprinkled some of the oil on the altar seven times and anointed the altar and all its utensils, and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. 12 Then he poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him, to consecrate him. 13 Next Moses brought Aaron’s sons forward, put undertunics on them, belted them with sashes, and bound caps on them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
14 Then he brought the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull. 15 Next Moses killed it and took the blood and with his finger put some of it around on the horns of the altar and purified it [from sin]. Then he poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it, to make atonement for it. 16 He took all the fat that was on the entrails, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with their fat, and Moses offered them up in smoke on the altar. 17 But the bull (the sin offering) and its hide, its meat, and its refuse he burned in the fire outside the camp, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
18 He brought the ram for the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 19 Moses killed it and sprinkled the blood around on the altar. 20 When he had cut the ram into pieces, Moses offered up the head, the pieces, and the fat in smoke. 21 After he had washed the entrails and the legs in water, Moses offered up the whole ram in smoke on the altar. It was a burnt offering for a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
22 Then he brought the second ram, the ram of consecration (ordination), and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. 23 Moses killed it and took some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot. 24 He also brought Aaron’s sons forward and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears, and the thumbs of their right hands, and the big toes of their right feet; and Moses sprinkled the rest of the blood around on the altar. 25 He took the fat, the fat tail, all the fat that was on the entrails, the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and their fat, and the right thigh; 26 and from the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord, he took one unleavened cake, a cake of oiled bread, and one wafer and put them on the fat and on the right thigh; 27 and he put all these things in Aaron’s hands and his sons’ hands and presented them as a wave offering before the Lord. 28 Then Moses took these things from their hands and offered them up in smoke on the altar with the burnt offering. They were a consecration (ordination) offering for a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. 29 Moses also took the breast and presented it as a wave offering before the Lord; it was Moses’ portion of the ram of consecration (ordination), just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
30 So Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood which was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and also on his sons and their garments with him; so Moses consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
31 Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the meat at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting and eat it there together with the bread that is in the basket of the consecration (ordination) offering, just as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ 32 And what remains of the meat and of the bread you shall burn in the fire. 33 You shall not go outside the doorway of the Tent of Meeting for seven days, until the days of your consecration (ordination) are ended; for it will take seven days to consecrate you. 34 As has been done this day, so the Lord has commanded to do for your atonement. 35 You shall remain day and night for seven days at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting, doing what the Lord has required you to do, so that you will not die; for so I (Moses) have been commanded.” 36 So Aaron and his sons did all the things which the Lord had commanded through Moses.
Aaron Offers Sacrifices
9 And it happened on the eighth day that Moses called Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel; 2 and he said to Aaron, “Take a bull calf as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering, [each] without blemish, and offer both before the Lord.(A) 3 Then say to the Israelites, ‘Take a male goat as a sin offering, and a calf and a lamb, both one year old, without blemish, as a burnt offering, 4 and a bull and a ram as peace offerings to sacrifice before the Lord, and a grain offering mixed with [olive] oil, for today the Lord will appear to you.’” 5 So they took what Moses had commanded to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and all the congregation approached and stood before the Lord. 6 Moses said, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded you to do, so that the glory of the Lord may appear to you.”
31 Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called for Him.(A) 32 A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Look! Your mother and Your brothers are outside asking for You.” 33 And He replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” 34 Looking at those who were sitting in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For [a]whoever does the will of God [by believing in Me, and following Me], he is My brother and sister and mother.”
Parable of the Sower and Soils
4 Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea [of Galilee]. And a very large crowd gathered around Him, so He got into a boat [anchoring it a short distance out] on the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the shore.(B) 2 And He taught them many things in parables, and in His teaching He said to them, 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow seed; 4 and as he was sowing, some seed fell by the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Other seed fell on rocks where there was not much soil; and immediately a plant sprang up [b]because the soil had no depth. 6 And when the sun came up, the plant was scorched; and because it had no root, it dried up and withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seed fell into good soil, and as the plants grew and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundred times [as much as had been sown].” 9 And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”
10 As soon as He was alone, those who were around Him, together with the twelve [disciples], began asking Him about [the interpretation of] the parables. 11 He said to them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you [who have teachable hearts], but those who are outside [the unbelievers, the spiritually blind] get everything in parables, 12 so that they will continually look but not see, and they will continually hear but not understand, otherwise they might turn [from their rejection of the truth] and be forgiven.”(C)
Explanation
13 Then He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand and grasp the meaning of all the parables?(D) 14 The sower sows the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation]. 15 These [in the first group] are the ones along the road where the word is sown; but when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 In a similar way these [in the second group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on rocky ground, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy [but accept it only superficially]; 17 and they have no real root in themselves, so they endure only for a little while; then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they [are offended and displeased at being associated with Me and] stumble and fall away. 18 And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries and cares of the world [the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures], and the deceitfulness [and the false security or glamour] of wealth [or fame], and the passionate desires for all the other things creep in and choke out the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those [in the last group] are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word [of God, the good news regarding the way of salvation] and accept it and bear fruit—thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much [as was sown].”
21 He said to them, “A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed, is it? Is it not [brought in] to be put on the lampstand?(E) 22 For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been kept secret, but that it would come to light [that is, things are hidden only temporarily, until the appropriate time comes for them to be known].(F) 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.” 24 Then He said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By your own standard of measurement [that is, to the extent that you study spiritual truth and apply godly wisdom] it will be measured to you [and you will be given even greater ability to respond]—and more will be given to you besides. 25 For [c]whoever has [a teachable heart], to him more [understanding] will be given; and whoever does not have [a yearning for truth], even what he has will be taken away from him.”(G)
12
The wicked plots against the righteous
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13
The Lord laughs at him [the wicked one—the one who oppresses the righteous],
For He sees that his day [of defeat] is coming.
14
The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow
To cast down the afflicted and the needy,
To slaughter those who are upright in conduct [those with personal integrity and godly character].
15
The sword [of the ungodly] will enter their own heart,
And their bow will be broken.
16
Better is the little of the righteous [who seek the will of God]
Than the abundance (riches) of many wicked (godless).(A)
17
For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the Lord upholds and sustains the righteous [who seek Him].
18
The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
And their inheritance will continue forever.
19
They will not be [a]ashamed in the time of evil,
And in the days of famine they will have plenty and be satisfied.
20
But the wicked (ungodly) will perish,
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the [b]glory of the pastures and like the fat of lambs [that is consumed in smoke],
They vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
21
The wicked borrows and does not pay back,
But the righteous is gracious and kind and gives.
22
For those blessed by God will [at last] inherit the land,
But those cursed by Him will be cut off.(B)
23
The steps of a [good and righteous] man are directed and established by the Lord,
And He delights in his way [and blesses his path].
24
When he falls, he will not be hurled down,
Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand and sustains him.
25
I have been young and now I am old,
Yet I have not seen the righteous (those in right standing with God) abandoned
Or his descendants pleading for bread.
26
All day long he is gracious and lends,
And his descendants are a blessing.
27
Depart from evil and do good;
And you will dwell [securely in the land] forever.
28
For the Lord delights in justice
And does not abandon His saints (faithful ones);
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked will [in time] be cut off.
29
The righteous will inherit the land
And live in it forever.
5
He who gathers during summer and takes advantage of his opportunities is a son who acts wisely,
But he who sleeps during harvest and ignores the moment of opportunity is a son who acts shamefully.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.