The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday February 9, 2022 (NIV)

Instructions for Ordaining Priests

The Lord said to Moses:

29 When you ordain one of Aaron’s sons as my priest, choose a young bull and two rams that have nothing wrong with them. ² Then from your finest flour make three batches of dough without yeast. Shape some of it into larger loaves, some into smaller loaves mixed with olive oil, and the rest into thin wafers brushed with oil. ³ Put all of this bread in a basket and bring it when you come to sacrifice the three animals to me.

⁴ Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the sacred tent and have them wash themselves. ⁵ Dress Aaron in the priestly shirt, the robe that goes under the sacred vest, the vest itself, the breastpiece, and the sash. ⁶ Put on his turban with its narrow strip of engraved gold ⁷ and then ordain him by pouring olive oil on his head.

⁸ Next, dress Aaron’s sons in their special shirts ⁹ and caps and their sashes,^[a] then ordain them, because they and their descendants will always be priests.

¹⁰ Lead the bull to the entrance of the sacred tent, where Aaron and his sons will lay their hands on its head. ¹¹ Kill the bull near my altar in front of the tent. ¹² Use a finger to smear some of its blood on each of the four corners of the altar and pour out the rest of the blood on the ground next to the altar. ¹³ Then take the fat from the animal’s insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat, and send them up in smoke on the altar. ¹⁴ But the meat, the skin, and the food still in the bull’s stomach must be burned outside the camp as an offering to ask forgiveness for the sins of the priests.^[b]

¹⁵ Bring one of the rams to Aaron and his sons and have them lay their hands on its head. ¹⁶ Kill the ram and splatter its blood against all four sides of the altar. ¹⁷ Cut up the ram, wash its insides and legs, and lay all of its parts on the altar, including the head. ¹⁸ Then make sure that the whole animal goes up in smoke with a smell that pleases me.

¹⁹ Bring the other ram to Aaron and his sons and have them lay their hands on its head. ²⁰ Kill the ram and place some of its blood on Aaron’s right ear lobe, his right thumb, and the big toe of his right foot. Do the same for each of his sons and splatter the rest of the blood against the four sides of the altar. ²¹ Then take some of the blood from the altar, mix it with the oil used for ordination, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his clothes, and also on his sons and their clothes. This will show that they and their clothes have been dedicated to me.

²² This ram is part of the ordination service. So remove its right hind leg,^[c] its fat tail, the fat on its insides, as well as the lower part of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat. ²³ Take one loaf of each kind of bread^[d] from the basket, ²⁴ and put this bread, together with the meat, into the hands of Aaron and his sons. Then they will lift it all up^[e] to show that it is dedicated to me. ²⁵ After this, the meat and bread are to be placed on the altar and sent up in smoke with a smell that pleases me.

²⁶ You may eat the choice ribs from this second ram, but you must first lift them up^[f] to show that this meat is dedicated to me.

^27-28 In the future, when anyone from Israel offers the ribs and a hind leg of a ram either to ordain a priest or to ask for my blessing, the meat belongs to me, but it may be eaten by the priests. This law will never change.

^29-30 After Aaron’s death, his priestly clothes are to be handed down to each descendant who succeeds him as high priest, and these clothes must be worn during the seven-day ceremony of ordination.

³¹ Boil the meat of the ordination ram in a sacred place, ³² then have Aaron and his sons eat it together with the three kinds of bread ^[g] at the entrance to the sacred tent. ³³ At their ordination, a ceremony of forgiveness was performed for them with this sacred food, and only they have the right to eat it. ³⁴ If any of the sacred food is left until morning, it must be burned up.

³⁵ Repeat this ordination ceremony for Aaron and his sons seven days in a row, just as I have instructed you. ³⁶ Each day you must offer a bull as a sacrifice for sin and as a way of purifying the altar. In addition, you must smear the altar with olive oil to make it completely holy. ³⁷ Do this for seven days, and the altar will become so holy that anyone who touches it will become holy.

Daily Sacrifices

The Lord said:

³⁸ Each day you must sacrifice two lambs a year old, ³⁹ one in the morning and one in the evening. ^40-41 With each lamb offer two pounds of your finest flour mixed with a quart of pure olive oil, and also pour out a quart of wine as an offering. The smell of this sacrifice on the fires of the altar will be pleasing to me. ^42-43 You and your descendants must always offer this sacrifice on the altar at the entrance to the sacred tent.

People of Israel, I will meet and speak with you there, and my shining glory will make the place holy. ⁴⁴ Because of who I am, the tent will become sacred, and Aaron and his sons will become worthy to serve as my priests. ⁴⁵ I will live among you as your God, ⁴⁶ and you will know that I am the Lord your God, the one who rescued you from Egypt, so that I could live among you.

The Altar for Burning Incense

The Lord said to Moses:

30 Build an altar of acacia wood where you can burn incense. ² Make it eighteen inches square and thirty-six inches high, and make each of its four corners stick up like the horn of a bull. ³ Cover it with pure gold and put a gold edging around it. ⁴ Then below the edging on opposite sides attach two gold rings through which you can put the poles for carrying the altar. ⁵ These poles are also to be made of acacia wood covered with gold.

⁶ Put the altar in front of the inside curtain of the sacred tent. The chest with the place of mercy^[h] is kept behind that curtain, and I will talk with you there. ^7-8 From now on, when Aaron tends the lamp each morning and evening, he must burn sweet-smelling incense to me on the altar. ⁹ Burn only the proper incense on the altar and never use it for grain sacrifices or animal sacrifices or drink offerings. ¹⁰ Once a year Aaron must purify the altar by smearing on its four corners^[i] the blood of an animal sacrificed for sin, and this practice must always be followed. The altar is sacred because it is dedicated to me.

Judas and the Chief Priests

¹⁴ Judas Iscariot^[a] was one of the twelve disciples. He went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and asked, “How much will you give me if I help you arrest Jesus?” They paid Judas thirty silver coins, ¹⁶ and from then on he started looking for a good chance to betray Jesus.

Jesus Eats the Passover Meal with His Disciples

¹⁷ On the first day of the Festival of Thin Bread, Jesus' disciples came to him and asked, “Where do you want us to prepare the Passover meal?”

¹⁸ Jesus told them to go to a certain man in the city and tell him, “Our teacher says, ‘My time has come! I want to eat the Passover meal with my disciples in your home.’ “ ¹⁹ They did as Jesus told them and prepared the meal.

^20-21 When Jesus was eating with his twelve disciples that evening, he said, “One of you will surely hand me over to my enemies.”

²² The disciples were very sad, and each one said to Jesus, “Lord, you can’t mean me!”

²³ He answered, “One of you men who has eaten with me from this dish will betray me. ²⁴ The Son of Man will die, as the Scriptures say. But it’s going to be terrible for the one who betrays me! That man would be better off if he had never been born.”

²⁵ Judas said, “Teacher, you surely don’t mean me!”

“That’s what you say!” Jesus replied. But later, Judas did betray him.

The Lord’s Supper

²⁶ During the meal Jesus took some bread in his hands. He blessed the bread and broke it. Then he gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this and eat it. This is my body.”

²⁷ Jesus picked up a cup of wine and gave thanks to God. He then gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this and drink it. ²⁸ This is my blood, and with it God makes his agreement with you. It will be poured out, so that many people will have their sins forgiven. ²⁹ From now on I am not going to drink any wine, until I drink new wine with you in my Father’s kingdom.” ³⁰ Then they sang a hymn and went out to the Mount of Olives.

Peter’s Promise

³¹ Jesus said to his disciples, “During this very night, all of you will reject me, as the Scriptures say,

³² But after I am raised to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”

³³ Peter spoke up, “Even if all the others reject you, I never will!”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “I promise you that before a rooster crows tonight, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” ³⁵ But Peter said, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never say I don’t know you.”

All the others said the same thing.

Jesus Prays

³⁶ Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane. When they got there, he told them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”

³⁷ Jesus took along Peter and the two brothers, James and John.^[b] He was very sad and troubled, ³⁸ and he said to them, “I am so sad that I feel as if I am dying. Stay here and keep awake with me.”

³⁹ Jesus walked on a little way. Then he knelt with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, don’t make me suffer by having me drink from this cup.^[c] But do what you want, and not what I want.”

⁴⁰ He came back and found his disciples sleeping. So he said to Peter, “Can’t any of you stay awake with me for just one hour? ⁴¹ Stay awake and pray that you won’t be tested. You want to do what is right, but you are weak.”

⁴² Again Jesus went to pray and said, “My Father, if there is no other way, and I must suffer, I will still do what you want.”

⁴³ Jesus came back and found them sleeping again. They simply could not keep their eyes open. ⁴⁴ He left them and prayed the same prayer once more.

⁴⁵ Finally, Jesus returned to his disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting?^[d] The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to sinners. ⁴⁶ Get up! Let’s go. The one who will betray me is already here.”