Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart,
all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24
Exodus 29
Consecration of the Priests
1 “This is what you shall do to consecrate them so they may minister as my priests: take one young bull and two rams without defect, 2 unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3 You shall put them into one basket and bring them in the basket, with the bull and the two rams.
4 You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the Tent of Meeting and shall wash them with water. 5 Take the garments and put on Aaron: the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastplate, and clothe him with the skillfully woven band of the ephod. 6 You shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. 7 Then you shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him.
8 You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. 9 You shall clothe them with belts, Aaron and his sons and bind headbands on them. The office of Priest shall be theirs by a perpetual statute. You shall consecrate Aaron and his sons.”
Order of the Sacrifices
10 “You shall bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 You shall kill the bull before the Lord at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 12 Take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger and pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. 13 Take all the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But the meat of the bull and its skin and its dung, you shall burn with fire outside of the camp. It is a sin offering.
15 You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 16 You shall kill the ram and take some of its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar. 17 Cut the ram into its pieces and wash its innards and its legs and put them with its head and its pieces, on the altar. 18 Burn the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.
19 You shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20 Then you shall kill the ram and take some of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tip of the right ear of his sons and on the thumb of their right hand and on the big toe of their right foot, and sprinkle the blood around on the altar. 21 You shall take from the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron, and on his garments and on his sons and on the garments of his sons with him, and he shall be made holy and his garments and his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
22 Also you shall take some of the ram’s fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the innards, the cover of the liver, the two kidneys, the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of consecration), 23 and one loaf of bread, one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord. 24 You shall put all of this in Aaron’s hands, and in his sons’ hands and shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 You shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on the burnt offering, as a pleasant aroma before the Lord; it is an offering made by fire to the Lord.
26 You shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of consecration and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord. It shall be your portion. 27 You shall sanctify the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the wave offering, which is waved and which is raised up, of the ram of consecration, of that which is for Aaron and of that which is for his sons. 28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the Israelites, for it is a wave offering. It shall be a wave offering from the Israelites of the sacrifices of their peace offerings, their wave offering to the Lord.
29 The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed in them and to be consecrated in them. 30 Seven days shall the son who is priest in his place put them on, when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the holy place.”
Food for the Priests
31 “You shall take the ram of consecration and boil its meat in a holy place. 32 Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 33 They shall eat those things with which atonement was made, to consecrate and sanctify them, but a stranger shall not eat of it, because these things are holy. 34 If anything of the meat of the consecration or of the bread remains to the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten because it is holy.
35 You shall do so to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. You shall consecrate them for seven days. 36 Every day you shall offer the bull of sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar when you make atonement for it. You shall anoint it, to sanctify it. 37 Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it, and the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar shall be holy.”
The Daily Offerings
38 “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar day by day continually: two one year old lambs. 39 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight, 40 and with the one lamb two quarts of fine flour mixed with one quart of beaten oil, and one quart of wine for a drink offering. 41 The other lamb you shall offer at evening and shall do to it according to the grain offering of the morning and according to its drink offering, as a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to the Lord.
42 It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you. 43 There I will meet with the Israelites, and the place shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar. I will also sanctify Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest’s office.”
God will Dwell Among the People
45 “I will dwell among the Israelites and will be their God. 46 They shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.”
Matthew 26:14-46
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
14 Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me, that I should deliver him to you?” They weighed out for him 30 pieces of silver. 16 From that time he sought the opportunity to betray Jesus.
The Last Supper
17 Now on the first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus, saying to him, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?”
18 He said, “Go into the city to a certain person and tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time is at hand. I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.’ ”
19 The disciples did as Jesus commanded them, and they prepared the Passover. 20 Now when evening had come, he was reclining at the table with the twelve disciples. 21 As they were eating, he said, “Most certainly I tell you that one of you will betray me.”
22 They were exceedingly sorrowful and each began to ask him, “It isn’t me, is it Lord?”
23 He answered, “He who dipped his hand with me in the dish will betray me. 24 The Son of Man will go, just as it is written of him, but woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would be better for that man if he had not been born.”
25 Judas, who betrayed him, answered, “It isn’t me, is it Rabbi?”
He said to him, “You said it.”
The Lord’s Supper Instituted
26 As they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks for it, and broke it. He gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” 27 He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “All of you, drink of it, 28 for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the remission of sins. 29 But I tell you that I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s Kingdom.”
30 When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
31 Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to fall away because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.”
33 But Peter answered him, “Even if everyone falls away because of you, I will never fall.”
34 Jesus said to him, “Most certainly I tell you that tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”
35 Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you.” All of the disciples also said likewise.
Jesus Prays at Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go there and pray.”
37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and became sorrowful and severely troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with me.”
39 He went forward a little, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup be taken from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
40 He came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, “What, could you not watch with me for one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that you do not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 Again, a second time he went away and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass from me unless I drink it, then your will be done.” 43 He came back and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.
44 He left them again, went away, and prayed a third time, saying the same words. 45 Then he came to his disciples and said to them, “Sleep on now and take your rest. The hour is at hand and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up. Let us be going. He who betrays me is at hand.”
Psalm 31:19-24
19 Oh how great is your goodness,
which you have laid up for those who fear you,
which you have worked for those who take refuge in you,
before the sons of men!
20 In the shelter of your presence you will hide them from the plotting of man.
You will keep them secretly in a dwelling away from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord, for he has shown me his marvelous mercy in a strong city.
22 As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.”
Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.
23 Oh love the Lord, all you his saints!
For the Lord preserves the faithful,
and fully pays back the proud.
24 Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart,
all you who hope in the Lord.
Proverbs 8:14-26
Wisdom
14 “Counsel and sound knowledge are mine.
I have understanding and power.
15 By me kings reign,
and princes decree justice.
16 By me princes rule,
nobles, and all the righteous rulers of the earth.
17 I love those who love me.
Those who seek me diligently will find me.
18 With me are riches, honor,
enduring wealth, and prosperity.
19 My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold,
my yield than choice silver.
20 I lead in the way of righteousness,
in the midst of the paths of justice,
21 that I may give wealth to those who love me.
I fill their treasuries.
22 The Lord created me and brought me forth,
the first of his deeds, long ago.
23 I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, before the earth existed.
24 Before the oceans, I was born,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled in place,
before the hills, I was born;
26 while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields,
nor the beginning of the dust of the world.