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Special clothes for the priests
28 Bring your brother Aaron and his sons from among the other Israelites. They will serve me as my priests. That will be Aaron and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 2 Make special clothes for Aaron. They will be beautiful clothes to show that he deserves honour. 3 I have given special skills to some workers so that they know how to make beautiful things. Tell them to make clothes for Aaron. They will show that I have chosen him to serve me as my priest. 4 These are the clothes that they must make:
a breastpiece,
an ephod,
a robe,
a long shirt,
a linen hat,
and a long belt of cloth.
They must make these special clothes for your brother Aaron and for his sons. Then Aaron and his sons will serve me as my priests. 5 The workers who have special skills must use beautiful material that is gold, blue, purple and red, as well as good linen.
The ephod
6 Use gold, blue, purple and red material, as well as good linen, to make the ephod. A worker should use special skills to make it so that it looks beautiful. 7 Fix pieces of cloth on its two edges. These will go over the priest's shoulders to join the front and the back parts of the ephod. 8 Make a beautiful belt to tie around the ephod. The belt and the ephod must be one piece of work. Use the same materials to make both of them: gold, blue, purple and red material, and good linen.
9 Take two onyx stones and write on them with a sharp tool. Write the names of the sons of Israel. 10 Begin with the name of the oldest son and finish with the name of the youngest son. Write six names on one stone and six names on the other stone. 11 A worker who has skill to cut letters into metal must do this work. Then fix the stones into beautiful gold around their edges. 12 Fix the two stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod so that they show the names of the 12 sons of Israel. Aaron will carry the names on his shoulders as he serves the Lord. Then the Lord will remember to bless his people. 13 Use gold to make beautiful pieces to hold the stones. 14 And use pure gold to make two thin chains, like strings. Fix these chains to the gold pieces that hold the onyx stones.
The breastpiece
15 A worker must use special skills to make a breastpiece so that it looks beautiful. The breastpiece will help the priest to know what God is saying. Make it like the ephod. Use gold, blue, purple and red material, and good linen to make it. 16 Bend a piece of cloth over to make a square pocket, 22 centimetres long and 22 centimetres wide. 17 Then fix four rows of jewels on it. These are the names of the jewels:
a ruby, a topaz and a beryl in the first row;
18 a turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald in the second row;
19 a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst in the third row;
20 a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper in the fourth row.
Fix each jewel into beautiful gold around its edges. 21 There will be 12 jewels, one jewel for each of Israel's sons. You must carefully write one tribe's name on each jewel with a sharp tool.
22 Use pure gold to make two thin chains like strings. These will fix the breastpiece to the ephod. 23 Make two gold rings and fix them to the two top corners of the breastpiece. 24 Fix the two gold chains to the two rings on the corners of the breastpiece. 25 Fix the other ends of the two chains to the shoulder pieces of the ephod, in the front. Join them to the gold pieces that hold the onyx stones. 26 Make two gold rings and fix them to the two bottom corners of the breastpiece. Put them on its inside edge, so that they are next to the ephod. 27 Make two more gold rings. Fix them to the bottom edge of the shoulder pieces, on the front of the ephod. Put them just above the ephod's belt. 28 Use a string of blue material to tie the rings on the breastpiece to the rings on the ephod. Fix them together above the ephod's belt. Then the breastpiece and the belt will not become separate.
29 When Aaron goes into the Holy Place, he will wear the breastpiece. So he will carry the names of Israel's sons over his heart. And the Lord will always remember to bless the Israelites. 30 Put the Urim and Thummim in the pocket of the breastpiece. They will also be over Aaron's heart when he goes in there to serve the Lord. The Urim and Thummim will always be there to show Aaron what the Lord is saying about the Israelites. He will carry this help over his heart all the time.
Other clothes for the priests
31 Use only blue cloth to make the robe for the ephod.[a] 32 Make a hole in the top of the robe, in the middle. Make an edge around this hole, for the priest's head to go through. Make the edge so that it will not tear. 33 Use blue, purple and red material to make pictures of pomegranates. Also make gold bells. The pomegranates and the bells will go all around the bottom edge of the robe. 34 There will be a bell then a pomegranate, another bell then a pomegranate, all around the edge of the robe.
35 Aaron must wear the robe when he is serving the Lord. The bells will make a noise when he goes into the Holy Place to serve the Lord. They will also make a sound when he comes out. Then he will not die.
36 Use pure gold to make a thin plate and write on it carefully with a sharp tool. Write this sign on it: “Holy to the Lord”. 37 Fix a blue string to the plate and tie it to the front of the linen hat. 38 Aaron will always wear this sign on the front of his head. When the Israelites bring gifts to God, they may be guilty of sins. When Aaron has this sign on his head, he himself will be guilty instead of them. Then the Lord will accept the gifts that his people offer to him.
39 Use good linen to make the long shirt and the hat for the priest. A worker with special skills must make the long belt, so that it looks beautiful.
40 Make shirts, belts and hats for Aaron's sons. These clothes must be beautiful to give them honour.
41 Dress your brother Aaron and his sons with these clothes. Then pour oil on their heads to show that they have my authority. Make them separate from the other Israelites as my holy servants. They will serve me as my priests.
42 Use good linen to make trousers that will cover the lower parts of their bodies. 43 Aaron and his sons must wear them when they go into the Tent of Meeting. They must also wear them when they go near to the altar to serve me in the Holy Place. Then they will not be guilty. I will not punish them with death. This will always be a rule for Aaron and his descendants.
God judges everybody
31 Jesus said, ‘I, the Son of Man, will return one day. Then people will see that I am great and powerful. All God's angels will come with me. I will sit on my great seat as king. 32 People from all the countries in the world will come together in front of me. I will put them into two groups. I will do it in the same way that a shepherd puts his sheep and goats into two groups. 33 He puts the sheep on his right side and the goats on his left side.[a]
34 The king will say to those people who are on his right side, “Come here. My Father has been good to you. He has prepared a place for you in his kingdom. That kingdom has been ready for you since the time that God made the world. 35 I was hungry and you gave me some food to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me some water to drink. I was visiting your town and you asked me to stay in your home. 36 I did not have enough clothes and you gave me some clothes to wear. I was ill and you took care of me. I was in prison and you came to visit me there.”
37 Then the people on the right side will say to the king, “Master, when did we see that you were hungry and give you some food? When did we see that you were thirsty and we gave you some water to drink? 38 When did we ask you to stay in our home because you were alone? When did we give you some clothes to wear? 39 When did we take care of you because you were ill? When did we come to visit you in prison?”
40 The king will answer them, “I tell you this: You did all these things to help other people. They were not important people, but they were my friends. When you helped them, then you also helped me.”
41 Then the king will say to those people who are at his left side, “Go away from me. God has decided to punish you. He has prepared a fire that will burn for ever. He has prepared it for Satan and his servants. You will also go into that fire. 42 I was hungry but you did not give me any food to eat. I was thirsty but you did not give me anything to drink. 43 I visited your town but you did not ask me to stay in your home. I did not have enough clothes but you did not give me anything to wear. I was ill but you did not take care of me. I was in prison but you did not come to visit me.”
44 Then these other people will say, “Master, when did we see you and you were hungry, or you were thirsty? When did we see you alone or without clothes? When did we see you and you were ill, or in prison? When did you need our help and we did not help you?”
45 Then the king will reply, “I tell you this: You did not help people who are my friends. They were not important people. But when you did not help them, you also did not help me.”
46 Then those people on the king's left side will go away to the place where God will punish them for ever. But the good people on the king's right side will live for ever with God.’
Those who are against Jesus want to take hold of him
26 When Jesus finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 ‘You know that after two days it will be the time of the Passover festival. Then those people who are against me will put me into the power of the rulers. They will fix me, the Son of Man, to a cross to kill me.’[b]
3 Then the leaders of the priests and the important Jews met together in the house of the most important priest. His name was Caiaphas. 4 They wanted to kill Jesus. But they wanted to take hold of him secretly. So they tried to decide how they could do that. 5 They said to each other, ‘We do not want to take hold of him during the Passover festival. If we do that, the people will be angry and they may fight against us.’
A woman pours beautiful oil on Jesus' head
6 Then Jesus went to Bethany and he visited Simon at his house. At one time, Simon had had a bad disease of the skin.[c]
7 While Jesus was eating a meal there, a woman came into the house. She brought a small stone jar with her. The jar contained expensive oil with a very nice smell.[d] She poured the oil over Jesus' head while he sat there.
8 Jesus' disciples saw what the woman had done. They became angry and they said, ‘This woman should not have wasted the oil. 9 She could have sold it for a lot of money. Then she could have given the money to poor people.’
10 Jesus knew what his disciples were saying. So he said to them, ‘Do not cause trouble for her. She has done a good thing to me. 11 You will always have poor people with you. But you will not always have me with you. 12 She has poured oil over my body. So now I will be ready for people to bury me. 13 I tell you this: Everywhere in the world people will speak about this good news. At the same time, they will also tell people about the good thing that this woman has done. And so people will remember her.’
9 Lord, I am very upset,
so please be kind to me.
My eyes are tired because I weep so much.
My whole body has become very weak.
10 I am near to death, because I am so sad.
I am crying with pain as my life comes to an end.
I have so much trouble
that I have no strength at all.
Even my bones have become weak.
11 All my enemies hate me.
My friends insult me.
Everyone who knows me is afraid of me.
They run away when they see me in the street.
12 Everybody has forgotten about me.
I might as well be dead!
They think that I am useless,
like a broken plate.
13 I hear what many people are saying against me.
News from everywhere makes me afraid.
They are deciding together
how to kill me.
14 But I continue to trust you, Lord.
I say, ‘You are my God!’[a]
15 You are the one who decides
what will happen to me in my whole life.
Save me from the power of my enemies
and from the people who want to catch me.
16 Turn towards me, your servant,
and be kind to me!
Keep me safe,
because of your faithful love.
17 Lord, do not let me become ashamed.
I call to you for help.
Cause evil people to become ashamed.
Let them go to their graves
and be silent there!
18 May people that tell lies become silent.
They insult righteous people.
They are proud people,
and they boast about themselves.
12 I, wisdom, live with an honest mind as my friend.
I have knowledge and I understand what is right.
13 If you respect the Lord with fear, then you will hate anything that is evil.
I hate proud people who boast.
I hate people who live evil lives.
I hate people who say things to deceive others.
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