Exodus 29; Exodus 30; Matthew 22:1-22

Exodus 29

1 “This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without defect.

2 And from the finest wheat flour make round loaves without yeast, thick loaves without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, and thin loaves without yeast and brushed with olive oil.

3 Put them in a basket and present them along with the bull and the two rams.

4 Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

5 Take the garments and dress Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself and the breastpiece. Fasten the ephod on him by its skillfully woven waistband.

6 Put the turban on his head and attach the sacred emblem to the turban.

7 Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head.

8 Bring his sons and dress them in tunics

9 and fasten caps on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons. The priesthood is theirs by a lasting ordinance. “Then you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.

10 “Bring the bull to the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.

11 Slaughter it in the LORD’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

12 Take some of the bull’s blood and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar.

13 Then take all the fat on the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar.

14 But burn the bull’s flesh and its hide and its intestines outside the camp. It is a sin offering.

15 “Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.

16 Slaughter it and take the blood and splash it against the sides of the altar.

17 Cut the ram into pieces and wash the internal organs and the legs, putting them with the head and the other pieces.

18 Then burn the entire ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the LORD.

19 “Take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head.

20 Slaughter it, take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then splash blood against the sides of the altar.

21 And take some blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. Then he and his sons and their garments will be consecrated.

22 “Take from this ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat on the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh. (This is the ram for the ordination.)

23 From the basket of bread made without yeast, which is before the LORD, take one round loaf, one thick loaf with olive oil mixed in, and one thin loaf.

24 Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and have them wave them before the LORD as a wave offering.

25 Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar along with the burnt offering for a pleasing aroma to the LORD, a food offering presented to the LORD.

26 After you take the breast of the ram for Aaron’s ordination, wave it before the LORD as a wave offering, and it will be your share.

27 “Consecrate those parts of the ordination ram that belong to Aaron and his sons: the breast that was waved and the thigh that was presented.

28 This is always to be the perpetual share from the Israelites for Aaron and his sons. It is the contribution the Israelites are to make to the LORD from their fellowship offerings.

29 “Aaron’s sacred garments will belong to his descendants so that they can be anointed and ordained in them.

30 The son who succeeds him as priest and comes to the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place is to wear them seven days.

31 “Take the ram for the ordination and cook the meat in a sacred place.

32 At the entrance to the tent of meeting, Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket.

33 They are to eat these offerings by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no one else may eat them, because they are sacred.

34 And if any of the meat of the ordination ram or any bread is left over till morning, burn it up. It must not be eaten, because it is sacred.

35 “Do for Aaron and his sons everything I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them.

36 Sacrifice a bull each day as a sin offering to make atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it.

37 For seven days make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy.

38 “This is what you are to offer on the altar regularly each day: two lambs a year old.

39 Offer one in the morning and the other at twilight.

40 With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering.

41 Sacrifice the other lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and its drink offering as in the morning—a pleasing aroma, a food offering presented to the LORD.

42 “For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the LORD. There I will meet you and speak to you;

43 there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.

44 “So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests.

45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.

46 They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

Exodus 30

1 “Make an altar of acacia wood for burning incense.

2 It is to be square, a cubit long and a cubit wide, and two cubits high —its horns of one piece with it.

3 Overlay the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it.

4 Make two gold rings for the altar below the molding—two on each of the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it.

5 Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

6 Put the altar in front of the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law—before the atonement cover that is over the tablets of the covenant law—where I will meet with you.

7 “Aaron must burn fragrant incense on the altar every morning when he tends the lamps.

8 He must burn incense again when he lights the lamps at twilight so incense will burn regularly before the LORD for the generations to come.

9 Do not offer on this altar any other incense or any burnt offering or grain offering, and do not pour a drink offering on it.

10 Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. This annual atonement must be made with the blood of the atoning sin offering for the generations to come. It is most holy to the LORD.”

11 Then the LORD said to Moses,

12 “When you take a census of the Israelites to count them, each one must pay the LORD a ransom for his life at the time he is counted. Then no plague will come on them when you number them.

13 Each one who crosses over to those already counted is to give a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.

14 All who cross over, those twenty years old or more, are to give an offering to the LORD.

15 The rich are not to give more than a half shekel and the poor are not to give less when you make the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives.

16 Receive the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will be a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD, making atonement for your lives.”

17 Then the LORD said to Moses,

18 “Make a bronze basin, with its bronze stand, for washing. Place it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it.

19 Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with water from it.

20 Whenever they enter the tent of meeting, they shall wash with water so that they will not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by presenting a food offering to the LORD,

21 they shall wash their hands and feet so that they will not die. This is to be a lasting ordinance for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.”

22 Then the LORD said to Moses,

23 “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant calamus,

24 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil.

25 Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil.

26 Then use it to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law,

27 the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense,

28 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand.

29 You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy.

30 “Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them so they may serve me as priests.

31 Say to the Israelites, ‘This is to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come.

32 Do not pour it on anyone else’s body and do not make any other oil using the same formula. It is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred.

33 Whoever makes perfume like it and puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut off from their people.’ ”

34 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts,

35 and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred.

36 Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.

37 Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD.

38 Whoever makes incense like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from their people.”

Matthew 22:1-22

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:

2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.

3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.

6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.

7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.

9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’

10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.

12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

15 Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.

16 They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are.

17 Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”

18 But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?

19 Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius,

20 and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?”

21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

22 When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.