The Daily Audio Bible Reading for Wednesday February 8, 2023 (NIV)

The Priestly Garments

28 “Have your brother Aaron, with his sons, come to you from the Israelites to serve me as priest—Aaron, his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.^{(A) 2} Make holy garments^(B) for your brother Aaron, for glory and beauty. ³ You are to instruct all the skilled artisans,^[a](C) whom I have filled with a spirit of wisdom, to make Aaron’s garments for consecrating him to serve me as priest. ⁴ These are the garments that they must make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a specially woven tunic,^[b] a turban, and a sash. They are to make holy garments for your brother Aaron and his sons so that they may serve me as priests. ⁵ They should use^[c] gold; blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; and fine linen.

The Ephod

⁶ “They^(D) are to make the ephod of finely spun linen embroidered^[d] with gold, and with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. ⁷ It must have two shoulder pieces attached to its two edges so that it can be joined together. ⁸ The artistically woven waistband that is on the ephod^[e] must be of one piece,^[f] according to the same workmanship of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen.

⁹ “Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of Israel’s sons: ¹⁰ six of their names on the first stone and the remaining six names on the second stone, in the order of their birth. ¹¹ Engrave the two stones with the names of Israel’s sons as a gem cutter engraves a seal. Mount them, surrounded with gold filigree settings. ¹² Fasten both stones on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the Israelites. Aaron will carry their names on his two shoulders before the Lord as a reminder.^{(E) 13} Fashion gold filigree settings ¹⁴ and two chains of pure gold; you will make them of braided cord work, and attach the cord chains to the settings.

The Breastpiece

¹⁵ “You^(F) are to make an embroidered breastpiece for making decisions.^[g] Make it with the same workmanship as the ephod; make it of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen. ¹⁶ It must be square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide.^{[h] 17} Place a setting of gemstones^[i] on it, four rows of stones:

They should be adorned with gold filigree in their settings. ²¹ The twelve stones are to correspond to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone must be engraved like a seal, with one of the names of the twelve tribes.

²² “You are to make braided chains^[n] of pure gold cord work for the breastpiece. ²³ Fashion two gold rings for the breastpiece and attach them to its two corners. ²⁴ Then attach the two gold cords to the two gold rings at the corners of the breastpiece. ²⁵ Attach the other ends of the two cords to the two filigree settings, and in this way attach them to the ephod’s shoulder pieces in the front. ²⁶ Make two other gold rings and put them at the two other corners of the breastpiece on the edge that is next to the inner border of the ephod. ²⁷ Make two more gold rings and attach them to the bottom of the ephod’s two shoulder pieces on its front, close to its seam,^[o] and above the ephod’s woven waistband. ²⁸ The artisans are to tie the breastpiece from its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece is above the ephod’s waistband and does not come loose from the ephod.

²⁹ “Whenever he enters the sanctuary, Aaron is to carry the names of Israel’s sons over his heart on the breastpiece for decisions, as a continual reminder before the Lord. ³⁰ Place the Urim and Thummim^(G) in the breastpiece for decisions, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the Lord. Aaron will continually carry the means of decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.

The Robe

³¹ “You^(H) are to make the robe of the ephod entirely of blue yarn. ³² There should be an opening at its top in the center of it. Around the opening, there should be a woven collar with an opening like that of body armor^[p] so that it does not tear. ³³ Make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn on its lower hem and all around it. Put gold bells between them all the way around, ³⁴ so that gold bells and pomegranates alternate around the lower hem of the robe. ³⁵ The robe will be worn by Aaron whenever he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he enters the sanctuary before the Lord and when he exits, so that he does not die.

The Turban

³⁶ “You are to make a pure gold medallion and engrave it, like the engraving of a seal:^(I) Holy to the Lord. ³⁷ Fasten it to a cord of blue yarn so it can be placed on the turban; the medallion is to be on the front of the turban. ³⁸ It will be on Aaron’s forehead so that Aaron may bear the guilt^(J) connected with the holy offerings that the Israelites consecrate as all their holy gifts. It is always to be on his forehead, so that they may find acceptance with the Lord.

Other Priestly Garments

³⁹ “You are to weave the tunic from fine linen, make a turban of fine linen, and make an embroidered sash. ⁴⁰ Make tunics, sashes, and headbands for Aaron’s sons to give them glory and beauty.^{(K) 41} Put these on your brother Aaron and his sons; then anoint,^(L) ordain,^[q] and consecrate^(M) them, so that they may serve me as priests. ⁴² Make them linen undergarments^(N) to cover their naked bodies; they must extend from the waist to the thighs. ⁴³ These must be worn by Aaron and his sons whenever they enter the tent of meeting or approach the altar to minister in the sanctuary area, so that they do not incur guilt^(O) and die. This is to be a permanent statute^(P) for Aaron and for his future descendants.

The Sheep and the Goats

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels^[a](A) with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.^{(B) 32} All the nations^[b](C) will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.^{(D) 33} He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom^(E) prepared for you from the foundation of the world.^(F)

³⁵ “‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; ³⁶ I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you took care of me; I was in prison and you visited me.’^(G)

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and take you in, or without clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick, or in prison, and visit you?’

⁴⁰ “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’^(H)

⁴¹ “Then he will also say to those on the left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels!^{(I) 42} For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger and you didn’t take me in; I was naked and you didn’t clothe me, sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of me.’

⁴⁴ “Then they too will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or without clothes, or sick, or in prison, and not help you?’

⁴⁵ “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’^(J)

⁴⁶ “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”^(K)

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things,^(L) he told his disciples, ² “You know^[c] that the Passover takes place after two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”^(M)

³ Then the chief priests^[d] and the elders of the people assembled in the courtyard of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas,^{(N) 4} and they conspired to arrest Jesus in a treacherous way and kill him.^{(O) 5} “Not during the festival,” they said, “so there won’t be rioting among the people.”

The Anointing at Bethany

⁶ While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon^(P) the leper,^{[e] 7} a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. ⁸ When the disciples^(Q) saw it, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. ⁹ “This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.”

¹⁰ Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for me. ¹¹ You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.^{(R) 12} By pouring this perfume on my body, she has prepared me for burial. ¹³ Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel^(S) is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”