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28 “Consecrate Aaron your brother, and his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to be priests, to minister to me. 2 Make special clothes for Aaron, to indicate his separation to God—beautiful garments that will lend dignity to his work. 3 Instruct those to whom I have given special skill as tailors to make the garments that will set him apart from others, so that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. 4 This is the wardrobe they shall make: a chestpiece, an ephod,[a] a robe, an embroidered shirt, a turban, and a sash. They shall also make special garments for Aaron’s sons.
5-6 “The ephod shall be made by the most skilled of the workmen, using gold, blue, purple, and scarlet threads of fine linen. 7 It will consist of two pieces, front and back, joined at the shoulders. 8 And the sash shall be made of the same material—threads of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet fine-twined linen. 9 Take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the tribes of Israel. 10 Six names shall be on each stone, so that all the tribes are named in the order of their births. 11 When engraving these names, use the same technique as in making a seal; and mount the stones in gold settings. 12 Fasten the two stones upon the shoulders of the ephod, as memorial stones for the people of Israel: Aaron will carry their names before the Lord as a constant reminder. 13-14 Two chains of pure, twisted gold shall be made and attached to gold clasps on the shoulder of the ephod.
15 “Then, using the most careful workmanship, make a chestpiece to be used as God’s oracle; use the same gold, blue, purple, and scarlet threads of fine-twined linen as you did in the ephod. 16 This chestpiece is to be of two folds of cloth, forming a pouch nine inches square. 17 Attach to it four rows of stones: A ruby, a topaz, and an emerald shall be in the first row. 18 The second row will be carbuncle, a sapphire, and a diamond. 19 The third row will be an amber, an agate, and an amethyst. 20 The fourth row will be an onyx, a beryl, and a jasper—all set in gold settings. 21 Each stone will represent one of the tribes of Israel and the name of that tribe will be engraved upon it like a seal.
22-24 “Attach the top of the chestpiece to the ephod by means of two twisted cords of pure gold. One end of each cord is attached to gold rings placed at the outer top edge of the chestpiece. 25 The other ends of the two cords are attached to the front edges of the two settings of the onyx stones on the shoulder of the ephod. 26 Then make two more gold rings and place them on the two lower, inside edges of the chestpiece; 27 also make two other gold rings for the bottom front edge of the ephod at the sash. 28 Now attach the bottom of the chestpiece to the bottom rings of the ephod by means of blue ribbons; this will prevent the chestpiece from coming loose from the ephod. 29 In this way Aaron shall carry the names of the tribes of Israel on the chestpiece over his heart (it is God’s oracle) when he goes into the Holy Place; thus Jehovah will be reminded of them continually. 30-31 Insert into the pocket of the chestpiece the Urim and Thummim,[b] to be carried over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before Jehovah. Thus Aaron shall always be carrying the oracle over his heart when he goes in before the Lord.
“The ephod shall be made of blue cloth, 32 with an opening for Aaron’s head. It shall have a woven band around this opening, just as on the neck of a coat of mail, so that it will not fray. 33-34 The bottom edge of the ephod shall be embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet pomegranates, alternated with gold bells. 35 Aaron shall wear the ephod whenever he goes in to minister to the Lord; the bells will tinkle as he goes in and out of the presence of the Lord in the Holy Place, so that he will not die.
36 “Next, make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, just as you would upon a seal, ‘Consecrated to Jehovah.’ 37-38 This plate is to be attached by means of a blue ribbon to the front of Aaron’s turban. In this way Aaron will be wearing it upon his forehead, and thus bear the guilt connected with any errors regarding the offerings of the people of Israel. It shall always be worn when he goes into the presence of the Lord, so that the people will be accepted and forgiven.
39 “Weave Aaron’s embroidered shirt from fine-twined linen, using a checkerboard pattern; make the turban, too, of this linen; and make him an embroidered sash.
40 “Then, for Aaron’s sons, make robes, sashes, and turbans to give them honor and respect. 41 Clothe Aaron and his sons with these garments, and then dedicate these men to their ministry by anointing their heads with olive oil, thus sanctifying them as the priests, my ministers. 42 Also make linen undershorts for them, to be worn beneath their robes next to their bodies, reaching from hips to knees. 43 These are to be worn whenever Aaron and his sons go into the Tabernacle or to the altar in the Holy Place, lest they be guilty and die. This is a permanent ordinance for Aaron and his sons.
31 “But when I, the Messiah,[a] shall come in my glory, and all the angels with me, then I shall sit upon my throne of glory. 32 And all the nations shall be gathered before me. And I will separate the people[b] as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and place the sheep at my right hand, and the goats at my left.
34 “Then I, the King, shall say to those at my right, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, into the Kingdom prepared for you from the founding of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me water; I was a stranger and you invited me into your homes; 36 naked and you clothed me; sick and in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Sir, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you anything to drink? 38 Or a stranger, and help you? Or naked, and clothe you? 39 When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?’
40 “And I, the King, will tell them, ‘When you did it to these my brothers, you were doing it to me!’ 41 Then I will turn to those on my left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. 42 For I was hungry and you wouldn’t feed me; thirsty, and you wouldn’t give me anything to drink; 43 a stranger, and you refused me hospitality; naked, and you wouldn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?’
45 “And I will answer, ‘When you refused to help the least of these my brothers, you were refusing help to me.’
46 “And they shall go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous into everlasting life.”
26 When Jesus had finished this talk with his disciples, he told them,
2 “As you know, the Passover celebration begins in two days, and I[c] shall be betrayed and crucified.”
3 At that very moment the chief priests and other Jewish officials were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas the high priest, 4 to discuss ways of capturing Jesus quietly and killing him. 5 “But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “for there would be a riot.”
6 Jesus now proceeded to Bethany, to the home of Simon the leper. 7 While he was eating, a woman came in with a bottle of very expensive perfume and poured it over his head.
8-9 The disciples were indignant. “What a waste of good money,” they said. “Why, she could have sold it for a fortune and given it to the poor.”
10 Jesus knew what they were thinking and said, “Why are you criticizing her? For she has done a good thing to me. 11 You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me. 12 She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. 13 And she will always be remembered for this deed. The story of what she has done will be told throughout the whole world, wherever the Good News is preached.”
9-10 O Lord, have mercy on me in my anguish. My eyes are red from weeping; my health is broken from sorrow. I am pining away with grief; my years are shortened, drained away because of sadness. My sins have sapped my strength; I stoop with sorrow and with shame.[a] 11 I am scorned by all my enemies and even more by my neighbors and friends. They dread meeting me and look the other way when I go by. 12 I am forgotten like a dead man, like a broken and discarded pot. 13 I heard the lies about me, the slanders of my enemies. Everywhere I looked I was afraid, for they were plotting against my life.
14-15 But I am trusting you, O Lord. I said, “You alone are my God; my times are in your hands. Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly. 16 Let your favor shine again upon your servant; save me just because you are so kind! 17 Don’t disgrace me, Lord, by not replying when I call to you for aid. But let the wicked be shamed by what they trust in; let them lie silently in their graves, 18 their lying lips quieted at last—the lips of these arrogant men who are accusing honest men of evil deeds.”
12 Wisdom and good judgment live together, for wisdom knows where to discover knowledge and understanding. 13 If anyone respects and fears God, he will hate evil. For wisdom hates pride, arrogance, corruption, and deceit of every kind.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.