The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Thursday February 8, 2018 (NIV)

Garments for the Priests^(A)

28 “Summon your brother Aaron and his sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. Separate them from the people of Israel, so that they may serve me as priests. ² Make priestly garments for your brother Aaron, to provide him with dignity and beauty. ³ Call all the skilled workers to whom I have given ability, and tell them to make Aaron's clothes, so that he may be dedicated as a priest in my service. ⁴ Tell them to make a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, an embroidered shirt, a turban, and a sash. They are to make these priestly garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so that they can serve me as priests. ⁵ The skilled workers are to use blue, purple, and red wool, gold thread, and fine linen.

⁶ “They are to make the ephod of blue, purple, and red wool, gold thread, and fine linen, decorated with embroidery. ⁷ Two shoulder straps, by which it can be fastened, are to be attached to the sides. ⁸ A finely woven belt made of the same materials is to be attached to the ephod so as to form one piece with it. ⁹ Take two carnelian stones and engrave on them the names of the twelve sons of Jacob, ¹⁰ in the order of their birth, with six on one stone and six on the other. ¹¹ Have a skillful jeweler engrave on the two stones the names of the sons of Jacob, and mount the stones in gold settings. ¹² Put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. In this way Aaron will carry their names on his shoulders, so that I, the Lord, will always remember my people. ¹³ Make two gold settings ¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold twisted like cords, and attach them to the settings.

The Breastpiece^(B)

¹⁵ “Make a breastpiece for the High Priest to use in determining God's will. It is to be made of the same materials as the ephod and with similar embroidery. ¹⁶ It is to be square and folded double, 9 inches long and 9 inches wide. ¹⁷ Mount four rows of precious stones on it; in the first row mount a ruby, a topaz, and a garnet; ¹⁸ in the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; ¹⁹ in the third row, a turquoise, an agate, and an amethyst; ²⁰ and in the fourth row, a beryl, a carnelian, and a jasper. These are to be mounted in gold settings. ²¹ Each of these twelve stones is to have engraved on it the name of one of the sons of Jacob, to represent the tribes of Israel. ²² For the breastpiece make chains of pure gold, twisted like cords. ²³ Make two gold rings and attach them to the upper corners of the breastpiece, ²⁴ and fasten the two gold cords to the two rings. ²⁵ Fasten the other two ends of the cords to the two settings, and in this way attach them in front to the shoulder straps of the ephod. ²⁶ Then make two rings of gold and attach them to the lower corners of the breastpiece on the inside edge next to the ephod. ²⁷ Make two more gold rings and attach them to the lower part of the front of the two shoulder straps of the ephod, near the seam and above the finely woven belt. ²⁸ Tie the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that the breastpiece rests above the belt and does not come loose.

²⁹ “When Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will wear this breastpiece engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel, so that I, the Lord, will always remember my people. ^30 (C)Put the Urim and Thummim^[a] in the breastpiece, so that Aaron will carry them when he comes into my holy presence. At such times he must always wear this breastpiece, so that he can determine my will for the people of Israel.

The Other Priestly Garments^(D)

³¹ “The robe that goes under the ephod is to be made entirely of blue wool. ³² It is to have a hole for the head, and this hole is to be reinforced with a woven binding to keep it from tearing. ^33-34 (E)All around its lower hem put pomegranates of blue, purple, and red wool, alternating with gold bells. ³⁵ Aaron is to wear this robe when he serves as priest. When he comes into my presence in the Holy Place or when he leaves it, the sound of the bells will be heard, and he will not be killed.

³⁶ “Make an ornament of pure gold and engrave on it ‘Dedicated to the Lord.’ ³⁷ Tie it to the front of the turban with a blue cord. ³⁸ Aaron is to wear it on his forehead, so that I, the Lord, will accept all the offerings that the Israelites dedicate to me, even if the people commit some error in offering them.

³⁹ “Weave Aaron's shirt of fine linen and make a turban of fine linen and also a sash decorated with embroidery.

⁴⁰ “Make shirts, sashes, and caps for Aaron's sons, to provide them with dignity and beauty. ⁴¹ Put these clothes on your brother Aaron and his sons. Then ordain them and dedicate them by anointing them with olive oil, so that they may serve me as priests. ⁴² Make linen shorts for them, reaching from the waist to the thighs, so that they will not expose themselves. ⁴³ Aaron and his sons must always wear them when they go into the Tent of my presence or approach the altar to serve as priests in the Holy Place, so that they will not be killed for exposing themselves. This is a permanent rule for Aaron and his descendants.

The Final Judgment

^31 (A)“When the Son of Man comes as King and all the angels with him, he will sit on his royal throne, ³² and the people of all the nations will be gathered before him. Then he will divide them into two groups, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the righteous people at his right and the others at his left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father! Come and possess the kingdom which has been prepared for you ever since the creation of the world. ^35 (B)I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me a drink; I was a stranger and you received me in your homes, ³⁶ naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me, in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷ The righteous will then answer him, ‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? ³⁸ When did we ever see you a stranger and welcome you in our homes, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’ ⁴⁰ The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you did this for one of the least important of these followers of mine, you did it for me!’

⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Away from me, you that are under God's curse! Away to the eternal fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels! ⁴² I was hungry but you would not feed me, thirsty but you would not give me a drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger but you would not welcome me in your homes, naked but you would not clothe me; I was sick and in prison but you would not take care of me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they will answer him, ‘When, Lord, did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and we would not help you?’ ⁴⁵ The King will reply, ‘I tell you, whenever you refused to help one of these least important ones, you refused to help me.’ ^46 (C)These, then, will be sent off to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go to eternal life.”

The Plot against Jesus^(D)

26 When Jesus had finished teaching all these things, he said to his disciples, ^2 (E)“In two days, as you know, it will be the Passover Festival, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

³ Then the chief priests and the elders met together in the palace of Caiaphas, the High Priest, ⁴ and made plans to arrest Jesus secretly and put him to death. ⁵ “We must not do it during the festival,” they said, “or the people will riot.”

Jesus Is Anointed at Bethany^(F)

⁶ Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon, a man who had suffered from a dreaded skin disease. ^7 (G)While Jesus was eating, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar filled with an expensive perfume, which she poured on his head. ⁸ The disciples saw this and became angry. “Why all this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This perfume could have been sold for a large amount and the money given to the poor!”

¹⁰ Jesus knew what they were saying, and so he said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? It is a fine and beautiful thing that she has done for me. ^11 (H)You will always have poor people with you, but you will not always have me. ¹² What she did was to pour this perfume on my body to get me ready for burial. ¹³ Now, I assure you that wherever this gospel is preached all over the world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”