The Daily Audio Bible
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Priests are special servants of God
29 When you make the priests God's special servants, do it in this way: Take a young bull and two male sheep. They must not have anything wrong with them. 2 Use good flour from wheat to make three kinds of bread, with no yeast in it. Mix olive oil with some of the flour before you cook it. Cook some of the flour without any oil in it. And cook some flour to make biscuits that you then put oil on. 3 Put the bread and the biscuits into a basket. Bring them to the Tent of Meeting with the bull and the two sheep.[a]
4 Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Use water to wash them there and make them clean. 5 Then take the special clothes. Dress Aaron in the shirt, the robe, the ephod and the breastpiece. Tie the ephod on him with its special belt. 6 Put the linen hat on Aaron's head. Fix the special gold sign to the hat. 7 Take the special olive oil. Pour it on his head to show that God has chosen him to be his servant.
8 Bring Aaron's sons and dress them in their special shirts. 9 Put the cloth hats on their heads. Tie the long cloth belts around Aaron and on his sons. These men and their descendants will always be priests. That is a law that continues for ever. That is how you must make Aaron and his sons God's special servants.
10 Bring the bull to the front of the Tent of Meeting. Aaron and his sons must put their hands on the bull's head. 11 Then kill the animal as an offering to the Lord, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. 12 Take some of the bull's blood. Use your finger to put some of it on the horns of the altar. Pour the blood that remains on the ground around the altar. 13 Take all the fat that is round the inside parts of the animal. Take the best part of the liver. Take both the kidneys with the fat that is round them. Burn all these things on the altar. 14 But burn the rest of the bull's body outside the camp, with its skin and the food in its stomach. It is an offering to make the priests clean from their sins.
15 Take one of the male sheep. Aaron and his sons must put their hands on its head. 16 Kill the sheep and take its blood to the altar. Throw some of the blood onto every side of the altar. 17 Cut the sheep into pieces. Wash its inside parts and its legs. Then put them together with its head and the other pieces. 18 Completely burn the whole sheep on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. Its smell pleases him.
19 Take the second male sheep. Aaron and his sons must put their hands on its head. 20 Kill the sheep. Put some of its blood on Aaron's right ear, the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. Do the same thing to each of his sons. Then throw some of the sheep's blood onto every side of the altar. 21 Mix together some of the blood on the altar and some of the special oil. Splash this onto Aaron and onto his clothes. Splash it also onto his sons and onto their clothes. Then Aaron and his sons and their clothes will be holy.
22 Take all the fat from this male sheep. Take its fat tail, the fat around its inside parts and the best part of the liver. Take the two kidneys with the fat that is round them. Also take the top part of its right leg. (This is the sheep that makes Aaron and his sons special servants of God.) 23 Take one piece of each kind of flat bread out of the basket: bread that has no oil in it, bread with oil in it and a biscuit. These are an offering to the Lord. 24 Put all these things in the hands of Aaron and his sons. Then lift these things up to the Lord as an offering to him. 25 Then take them from Aaron and his sons and burn them on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. Its smell pleases him.
26 Take the meat from the ribs of the sheep that makes Aaron God's special servant. Lift it up to the Lord as an offering to him. Then you may eat this meat from the sheep. 27 You must keep separate this meat from the sheep's ribs, as well as the top part of its right leg. Those are the pieces that you lifted up to the Lord as an offering to him. Those pieces belong to Aaron and his sons. 28 In the future, when the Israelites bring a peace offering to the Lord, these pieces will belong to Aaron and his descendants. This will always be the regular gift from the Israelites to the priests. That is the law that will continue for ever. It is the gift that the Israelites must bring to the Lord.
29 Aaron's special clothes will belong to his descendants after he dies. When they too become God's special servants as his priests, they will wear them. 30 After Aaron's death, his son who becomes priest will first take seven days to serve the Lord in the tabernacle. The new priest must wear the special clothes in the Holy Place for those seven days.
31 Take the male sheep that makes Aaron God's special servant. Cook its meat in a holy place in the yard of the tabernacle. 32 Aaron and his sons must eat this meat and the bread that was in the basket. They must do this at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. 33 That meat was part of the sacrifice which made them clean from their sins. It made them God's special servants as his priests. No other person may eat those things, because they are holy. 34 But if any of the meat from the offerings remains until the morning, you must burn it. Also burn any bread that remains. You must not eat it, because it is holy.
35 Do everything that I have commanded you, to make Aaron and his sons my special servants. Take seven days to do this. 36 Kill a bull each day, as a sacrifice that makes people clean from their sins.
Also make the altar clean and pure. Pour oil over it to make it holy for me. 37 Do this to the altar for seven days to make it pure. Then it will be completely holy. Anything that touches the altar will become holy too. 38 You must offer a regular gift on the altar each day. This offering must be two lambs that are one year old. 39 Offer one lamb in the morning and the other lamb in the evening. 40 With the first lamb, offer two litres of good flour. Mix the flour with one litre of olive oil. Also offer one litre of wine as a drink offering. 41 Kill the other lamb in the evening. Offer it with the same gifts of food and drink as in the morning. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. Its smell pleases him.
42 You and your descendants must continue to make this burnt offering as a regular offering to me, the Lord. Offer it to me at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. I will meet with you there and I will speak to you. 43 I will meet with the Israelites there. My bright glory will make it a holy place.
44 In that way I will make the Tent of Meeting and its altar a special, holy place. Aaron and his sons will become my special servants. They will serve me as my priests. 45 I will live among the Israelites and I will be their God. 46 They will know that I am the Lord their God. I brought them out of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am the Lord their God.
The altar for incense
30 Use acacia wood to make an altar so that you can burn incense on it. 2 The altar must be square. Make it 45 centimetres long, 45 centimetres wide and 90 centimetres high. The altar's horns must be part of it, made from one piece of wood. 3 Cover all the altar with gold: its top, its sides and the horns. Build up an edge of gold around the four sides. 4 Make two gold rings for the altar. Fix them below the gold edge on two opposite sides. They will hold the poles for you to carry the altar. 5 Use acacia wood to make the poles. Cover them with gold.
6 Put the altar for incense in the Holy Place in the tabernacle. Put it in front of the curtain that hides the Covenant Box. It will be near the special lid that covers the Covenant Box. That is the place where I will meet with you.
7 Every morning, Aaron must burn sweet incense on this altar. He must do this when he goes in to take care of the lamps. 8 He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps in the evening. Incense must burn there as an offering to the Lord every day from now on. 9 Only offer proper incense on this altar. Do not offer any burnt offerings or grain offerings on it. And do not pour any drink offerings on it. 10 Once every year, Aaron must make the altar clean and pure. He must put some of the blood from the sin offering on the horns of the altar. A priest must do this every year from now on. The altar is holy because it belongs to me, the Lord.’
Judas Iscariot promises to sell Jesus for money
14 Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus' 12 apostles. He went to see the leaders of the priests 15 and he asked them, ‘How much money will you give me if I help you to take hold of Jesus?’ The priests gave Judas 30 silver coins. 16 Judas then waited for the right moment to help them to take hold of Jesus.
Jesus eats his last meal with his 12 disciples
17 The first day of the festival when the Jews eat flat bread arrived.[a] Jesus' disciples came to him and they asked him, ‘Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal for you to eat?’
18 Jesus replied, ‘Go to a certain man in the city and say to him, “The teacher says: This is the moment that God has prepared for me. I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples in your house.” ’ 19 So Jesus' disciples did what he had told them to do. They went and they prepared the Passover meal.
20 When it was evening, Jesus and the 12 apostles sat down to eat the Passover meal together. 21 While they were eating, Jesus said, ‘I tell you this: One of you will help the Jewish leaders to take hold of me.’
22 They were very sad about what Jesus had said. Each one of them said to Jesus, ‘Lord, surely you do not mean me, do you?’
23 Jesus said to them ‘The man who will give me to the rulers is eating from the same dish as I am.[b] 24 The Son of Man must die in the way that the Bible says. But it will be very bad for the man who gives me to my enemies. It would be better for that man if he had not been born.’
25 Judas was the one who would give Jesus to the Jewish leaders. But he said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, surely you do not mean me, do you?’ Jesus replied to him, ‘Yes, you have said it.’
26 While Jesus and his disciples were eating, he took a loaf of bread. He thanked God for it and then he broke the bread into pieces. He gave some of it to each of them. He said, ‘Take this bread and eat it. This is my body.’
27 Then Jesus took a cup. He thanked God for the wine in the cup. Then he gave it to them and he said, ‘All of you should drink some of this wine. 28 This is my blood that shows God's promise. When I die, my blood will pour out of my body. In that way God will forgive many people for the wrong things that they have done. That is the promise that God makes because of my death. 29 I tell you this. I will not drink wine again until I drink it with you in my Father's kingdom. Then it will be new wine.’[c]
30 Then Jesus and his disciples sang a song to praise God.[d] Then they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus tells Peter what will happen
31 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Tonight, all of you will turn away from me. It will happen in the way that the Bible says:
God says, “I will kill the shepherd who leads the sheep.
Then all the sheep will run away in different directions.” ’[e]
32 Jesus then said, ‘But after that happens, I will become alive again. Then I will go to Galilee, and you will meet me there.’
33 Peter said to Jesus, ‘Even if everyone else runs away, I will not leave you.’
34 Jesus replied to Peter, ‘I tell you this: Even tonight, you will say three times that you do not know me. This will happen before the cockerel sings early tomorrow morning.’
35 But Peter said to Jesus, ‘I will die with you if I need to. But I will never say that I do not know you.’ All the other disciples said the same thing.
Jesus prays in a garden on the Mount of Olives
36 Then Jesus and his disciples arrived at a large garden called Gethsemane. Jesus said to the disciples, ‘Sit here while I go over there to pray.’ 37 Then Jesus took Peter and Zebedee's two sons, James and John, with him. He became very sad and upset. 38 He said to them, ‘I am very sad. I feel as if I could die because I feel so sad. Wait here with me and stay awake.’
39 Jesus went a short way beyond them. He went down with his face on the ground. He prayed, ‘Father, if it is possible, please save me from this time of great pain. But Father, I do not ask you to do what I want. Do what you want to do.’
40 Jesus returned to the three disciples. Now they were sleeping. He said to Peter, ‘You men could not stay awake with me for even one hour! 41 You must stay awake and pray. God can help you, so that you will not do something wrong. You really want to do the right thing, but your bodies are weak.’
42 Jesus went away a second time and he prayed, ‘My Father, if it is not possible to save me from this time of great pain, then I want to obey you. Do what you want for me.’
43 Then Jesus returned again to Peter, James and John. He saw that they were sleeping. They could not keep their eyes open. 44 So Jesus went away from them again and he prayed a third time. He said the same words to God.
45 When he returned to the disciples, he said, ‘You should not still be sleeping and resting. Look! The moment has arrived! Someone will now give me, the Son of Man, to my enemies. 46 Stand up, we will go now. Look! The man who will give me to my enemies is here.’
19 You have prepared many good things
to bless people who respect you.
While everyone watches,
you bless those who come to you for help.
20 You give them a place to hide,
and you keep them safe with you.
When their enemies want to attack them,
you take care of them.
When their enemies speak lies against them,
they are safe with you.
21 Praise the Lord!
When my enemies were all around me,
he showed me that his faithful love is very great.
22 When I was afraid, I said,
‘God is no longer with me!’
But I spoke too soon.
When I called to you for help,
you heard me and you answered me.
23 Love the Lord, all you people who belong to him!
If people serve the Lord faithfully,
he keeps them safe.
But if people are proud,
he punishes them as they deserve.
24 All you people who trust the Lord to help you,
you should be strong and very brave!
14 I tell people how to do wise things that are right.
I understand what is right and I am strong.
15 I help kings to rule well.
I help rulers to make fair laws.
16 I help leaders, officers and all judges to lead people in a good way.
17 I love those people who love me.
Whoever looks for me will find me.
18 I am able to give people riches and honour.
I help people to use their money well and to do what is right.
19 What you receive from me is better than the best gold.
It is better than the best silver.
20 I walk along the way that is righteous.
I follow the path of justice.
21 In that way, people who love me will receive riches.
I fill their houses with valuable things.
22 The Lord created me as the first thing that he did.
That was the first of his acts long ago.
23 He chose me as his servant from the beginning of time.
That was before the world began.
24 I was born before the deep seas were there.
There were not yet springs that poured out water.
25 I was born before the mountains or the hills appeared in their places.
26 I was born before the Lord made the earth and its fields,
before there was soil on the earth.
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