The Daily Audio Bible

Moses tells the priests which parts of the animal they can eat

²⁸ The Lord said to Moses, ²⁹ ‘Say to Israel's people, “When a person gives an animal as a friendship offering, he must bring part of it to the Lord. ³⁰ He must carry the offering in his own hands to the fire. He must bring the fat and the meat of the ribs and he must lift the meat to the Lord. ³¹ The priest will burn the fat at the altar. He will lift the meat of the ribs to God. Then Aaron's sons can eat it. ³² The top part of the back right leg of the animal is a gift. ³³ It is for the priest who offers the blood and the fat. ³⁴ The ribs and the top part of the right leg are gifts. They are from the friendship offering. God wants Aaron and his sons to have them. People must give these parts of their gift to the priests. ³⁵ The Lord gave this part of the Israelites' offerings to Aaron's sons. He gave it to them on the day when they became the Lord's priests. ³⁶ The Lord told the Israelites that they must do this. He told them that on the day that Aaron's sons became priests. All their sons and grandsons must always give these offerings to the priests.” ’

³⁷ These are all the rules that a person must use. They are for when he gives a gift to God. They are the rules for offerings of grain and the friendship offering. And they are rules for the offerings that people give to take away their sin. The rules tell them how to make Aaron's sons priests. And they tell people who have done bad things what to do. They must show God that they are sorry. ³⁸ Israel's people were in the Sinai desert. The Lord gave the rules to Moses on Sinai mountain. That was on the day that the Lord spoke to the people. He told them that they should bring their offerings to him there.

Moses anoints Aaron and his sons

8 The Lord said to Moses, ² ‘Fetch Aaron and his sons.^[a] Bring their special clothes. Bring the oil. Bring the basket of bread that they made without yeast. Also bring the bull for the sin offering and the two male sheep. ³ Cause all the people to come to the door of the Tent of Meeting.’

⁴ Moses did what the Lord said. Moses and the priests and all the people came to the door of the Tent of Meeting. ⁵ Moses said to the people, ‘The Lord said that I must do this.’ ⁶ Moses washed Aaron and his sons with water. ⁷ Moses put a shirt on Aaron and he tied a belt round Aaron. He put a robe and an ephod on him. He tied the ephod with its special belt. ⁸ Moses put the breastpiece on Aaron, and he put the Urim and Thummim in its pocket.^{[b] 9} Moses tied a piece of linen as a hat round Aaron's head. On the front of this linen he put a plate of gold with valuable stones on it. The Lord had said that Moses must do this.

¹⁰ Moses put some of the special olive oil on the tabernacle and on everything in it. He did this to make those things holy. ¹¹ Moses shook oil on the altar seven times. He put oil on the altar table and on all the tools to use with it. He put oil on the washing dish and on the table on which it stood. ¹² Moses anointed Aaron's head with oil to make him holy. ¹³ He put a robe on each of Aaron's sons. He tied cloth belts around them and cloth hats on their heads. The Lord had commanded Moses to do this.

¹⁴ Moses brought the bull as a gift to God. Aaron and his sons put their hands on the bull's head. ¹⁵ Moses killed the bull. He put his finger in the blood. He put the blood on the horns of the altar. That made it holy. Moses poured out the blood that he had not used. He poured it onto the floor in front of the altar. This is how he made the altar ready to make sacrifices. ¹⁶ He burnt the fat and the kidneys and the best piece of the liver on the altar. ¹⁷ Moses burnt the meat with the inside parts and the skin of the bull outside the camp. The Lord had said that Moses must do this.

¹⁸ Moses brought a male sheep to burn as a gift to God. Aaron and his sons put their hands on the sheep's head. ¹⁹ Moses killed the sheep. He threw the blood onto the sides of the altar. ²⁰ Moses cut the sheep into small pieces. He burnt the fat and the head and the pieces on the altar. ²¹ He washed the legs and the inside parts. He burnt them on the altar as an offering to the Lord. The smell of them while they were burning gave the Lord pleasure. The Lord had said that Moses must do this.

²² Moses brought the other male sheep. It was a gift. It showed that God had chosen Aaron's family to become his priests. Aaron and his sons put their hands on the sheep's head. ²³ Moses killed the sheep. He put some of its blood on Aaron's right ear. He also put blood on the thumb of Aaron's right hand. And he put some on the big toe of his right foot.^{[c] 24} Moses did the same to Aaron's sons. Then he threw blood on all the sides of the altar. ²⁵ Moses took the fat tail and the fat and the kidneys from inside the animal. He took the best piece of the liver from inside the animal. He took the top part of the right back leg. ²⁶ Moses took two flat loaves of bread that they had made without yeast and a biscuit. He took them from the basket that was in front of the Lord. One of the loaves had oil in it. He put them on top of the fat and the leg. ²⁷ Moses gave them to Aaron and to his sons. They lifted them up as a special gift to the Lord. ²⁸ Moses took the special gift from them and he burnt it on the altar. The smell of it while it was burning gave the Lord pleasure. ²⁹ Moses took his part of the animal, the meat of the ribs, and he lifted it up to the Lord. The Lord had said that Moses must do this.

³⁰ Moses took some of the oil and some of the blood from the altar. He shook them on Aaron and his sons. He also shook some of the blood and some of the oil on their clothes. He did that to make them holy.

³¹ Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, ‘Cook the meat at the door of the Tent of Meeting. Eat the meat with the bread in the basket by the door of the Tent of Meeting. ³² Burn the meat and bread that you do not eat. ³³ You must stay at the door of the Tent of Meeting for seven days. This will make you holy. You must stay for seven days to become holy. ³⁴ The Lord said that you must do this to atone for your sin. ³⁵ Remember that you must stay at the door of the Tent of Meeting. You must stay there for seven days and seven nights. The Lord told me that you must do this. If you do not obey him, you will die.’ ³⁶ So Aaron and his sons did everything that the Lord had told Moses.

The priests begin their work

9 On the eighth day, Moses told Aaron and his sons and the leaders of Israel that they must come.^{[d] 2} He said to Aaron, ‘Bring a young bull for your sin offering. And bring a male sheep for your burnt offering. They must be perfect to give to the Lord.’ ³ Moses said to Aaron, ‘Tell Israel's people that they must bring a male goat for a sin offering. And they must bring a young cow and a young sheep. The young cow and the young sheep must be one year old. They must be perfect to burn as an offering. ⁴ Tell Israel's people that they must bring a bull and a male sheep. They must bring them to sacrifice as a friendship offering to the Lord. They will sacrifice them. They must mix grain and oil to offer with them. They must do that because the Lord will appear to them today.’

⁵ The people brought all the animals and the grain to the door of the Tent of Meeting. Moses and all the people came. And they stood at the door of the Tent of Meeting to worship the Lord. ⁶ Moses said to the people, ‘The Lord has told you that you must do this. Do it. And then the Lord will show you how great he is.’

Jesus' mother and his brothers come to look for him

³¹ Then, Jesus' mother and his brothers arrived and they stood outside the house. They sent someone into the house with a message. They wanted Jesus to come out to speak to them. ³² A crowd of people was sitting around Jesus. Somebody said to him, ‘Look! Your mother and brothers are outside. They are looking for you.’

³³ Jesus replied, ‘I will tell you who my mother and brothers really are.’

³⁴ Then he looked at the people who were sitting around him. He said, ‘Look! Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ My brothers and sisters and my mother are the people who do what God wants.’^[a]

Jesus tells a story about a farmer's seeds

4 Again, Jesus began to teach people near the edge of Lake Galilee. A large crowd came together to listen to him. So he went and sat in a boat that was on the water. The crowd of people stayed on the shore. ² Jesus used stories to teach them many things. He said to them, ³ ‘Listen to me! A farmer went out to plant seeds in his field.^{[b] 4} While he was throwing the seeds, some of them fell on the path. The birds came and they ate those seeds. ⁵ Other seeds fell on ground which had many rocks. There was not much soil in that place. The seeds quickly began to grow, because the soil was not deep. ⁶ But when the sun rose, it burned the young plants. They soon died because they had not grown down well into the soil. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorn bushes. Those bushes grew up with the young plants. They stopped the seeds from growing into strong plants. So the plants could not make any new seeds. ⁸ But some seeds fell on good soil. Good strong plants grew from these seeds. Some plants made 30 new seeds. Some plants made 60 new seeds. And some plants made 100 new seeds.’

⁹ Then Jesus said, ‘You have ears, so listen well to what I say!’

Jesus explains to his disciples why he uses stories

¹⁰ When Jesus was alone, the 12 apostles and other people who were there asked him about the stories. ¹¹ Jesus replied, ‘God has let you understand how he rules in the lives of his people. But these other people only listen to stories. ¹² This is so that:

If they did understand, they would turn to God. Then God would forgive them.’

Jesus explains the story about the seeds

¹³ Then Jesus answered the people who had asked him about the story. ‘You should understand this story. If you do not understand it, you will not understand any of my stories. ¹⁴ The seeds are like the message from God. The farmer is like a person who tells people about that message. ¹⁵ Some seeds fell on the path. That is like some people who listen to the message. But then Satan comes and he quickly takes the message away from their minds. ¹⁶ Some of the seeds fell on soil with rocks in it. This is also like some people who hear God's message. These people are happy to believe it for a time. ¹⁷ But they are like plants that have not grown down well into the soil. So they only believe for a short time. They may have problems. Or because they obey God's message, other people may do bad things to them. When that happens, these people soon stop believing. ¹⁸ Some seeds fell among thorn bushes. This is like some other people who hear God's message. ¹⁹ But they have many troubles in their minds. They think that more money and other valuable things will make them happy. So they do not let God's message change them. They are like plants that do not grow well and make new seeds. ²⁰ But some seeds fell on good soil. This is like other people who listen to the message from God. They understand the message and they believe it. These people are like good plants that grow well. From one seed, some good plants make 30 new seeds. Other good plants make 60 new seeds, and some good plants make 100 new seeds.’

People put a light in a high place

²¹ Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Nobody brings a lamp into a house and puts it under a pot or under a bed. You do not do that. You put it up on a high place.^{[c] 22} God hides some things now. But there will be a time when people will see them. God keeps some things secret now. But there will be a time when people will understand those things.’ ²³ Then Jesus said, ‘You have ears, so listen well to what I say.’

²⁴ Jesus then said, ‘Think carefully about the things that you hear. God will give to you in the same way that you give to other people. And you will receive even more. ²⁵ A person who has received some things will receive more things. Some other people have nothing. They will lose even the little bit that they do have.’^[d]