Consecration of the Priests

¹“Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. bTake one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, ²cand unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them of fine wheat flour. ³You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams. ⁴You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and dwash them with water. ⁵Then eyou shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the coat and the robe of the ephod, and the ephod, and the breastpiece, and gird him with the fskillfully woven band of the ephod. ⁶gAnd you shall set the turban on his head and put the holy crown on the turban. ⁷You shall take hthe anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. ⁸Then you ishall bring his sons and put coats on them, ⁹and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with jsashes and bind caps on them. And kthe priesthood shall be theirs by a statute forever. Thus you shall lordain Aaron and his sons.

¹⁰“Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting. mAaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. ¹¹Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting, ¹²and nshall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the ohorns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of1 the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar. ¹³And you shall take all pthe fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar. ¹⁴But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire qoutside the camp; rit is a sin offering.

¹⁵“Then syou shall take one of the rams, and tAaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, ¹⁶and you shall kill the ram and shall take its blood and throw it against the sides of the altar. ¹⁷Then you shall ucut the ram into pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head, ¹⁸and burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord. It is a vpleasing aroma, a food offering2 to the Lord.

¹⁹w“You shall take the other ram, tand Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram, ²⁰and you shall kill the ram and take part of its blood and put it on the tip of the right ear of Aaron and on the tips of the right ears of his sons, and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the great toes of their right feet, and throw the rest of the blood against the sides of the altar. ²¹Then you shall take part of the blood that is on the altar, and of the xanointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, and on his sons and his sons' garments with him. He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons' garments with him.

²²“You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail and the yfat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh (for it is a ram of zordination), ²³and aone loaf of bread and one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer out of the basket of unleavened bread that is before the Lord. ²⁴You shall put all these on the palms of Aaron and on the palms of his sons, and bwave them for a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁵Then cyou shall take them from their hands and burn them on the altar on top of the burnt offering, as a dpleasing aroma before the Lord. It is a food offering to the Lord.

²⁶“You shall take the ebreast of the ram of Aaron's fordination and gwave it for a wave offering before the Lord, and it shall be your portion. ²⁷And you shall consecrate the hbreast of the wave offering that is waved and the ithigh of the priests' portion that is contributed from the ram of fordination, from what was Aaron's and his sons'. ²⁸It shall be for Aaron and his sons as a jperpetual due from the people of Israel, for it is a gcontribution. It shall be a gcontribution from the people of Israel from their peace offerings, their contribution to the Lord.

²⁹“The holy garments of Aaron kshall be for his sons after him; they shall lbe anointed in them and ordained in them. ³⁰The son who succeeds him as priest, who comes into the tent of meeting to minister in the Holy Place, shall wear them mseven days.

³¹“You shall take the ram of ordination and nboil its flesh in a holy place. ³²And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the obread that is in the basket in the entrance of the tent of meeting. ³³pThey shall eat those things with which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration, but an qoutsider shall not eat of them, because they are holy. ³⁴And if any of the flesh for the ordination or of the bread remain until the morning, then you shall rburn the remainder with fire. It shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

³⁵“Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through sseven days shall you ordain them, ³⁶and every day you shall offer a tbull as a sin offering for atonement. Also you shall purify the altar, when you make atonement for it, and shall uanoint it to consecrate it. ³⁷Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it, and the valtar shall be most holy. wWhatever touches the altar shall become holy.

³⁸“Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: xtwo lambs a year old yday by day regularly. ³⁹One lamb you shall offer zin the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer aat twilight. ⁴⁰And with the first lamb a tenth measure3 of fine flour mingled with a fourth of a hin4 of beaten oil, and a fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering. ⁴¹The other lamb you shall offer aat twilight, and shall offer with it a grain offering and its drink offering, as bin the morning, for a cpleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. ⁴²It shall be a dregular burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the tent of meeting before the Lord, ewhere I will meet with you, to speak to you there. ⁴³There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be fsanctified by my glory. ⁴⁴I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar. gAaron also and his sons I will consecrate to serve me as priests. ⁴⁵hI will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God. ⁴⁶And they shall know that iI 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.

I Am the Light of the World

¹²lAgain Jesus spoke to them, saying, m“I am the light of the world. Whoever nfollows me will not owalk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” ¹³So the Pharisees said to him, p“You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.” ¹⁴Jesus answered, “Even if I do bear witness about myself, qmy testimony is true, for I know rwhere I came from and swhere I am going, but tyou do not know where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵uYou judge according to the flesh; vI judge no one. ¹⁶Yet even if I do judge, wmy judgment is true, for xit is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father1 who sent me. ¹⁷yIn your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. ¹⁸I am the one who bears witness about myself, and zthe Father who sent me bears witness about me.” ¹⁹They said to him therefore, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, a“You know neither me nor my Father. bIf you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰These words he spoke in cthe treasury, as he taught in the temple; but dno one arrested him, because ehis hour had not yet come.

²¹So he said to them again, f“I am going away, and gyou will seek me, and hyou will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” ²²So the Jews said, i“Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” ²³He said to them, j“You are from below; I am from above. kYou are of this world; lI am not of this world. ²⁴I told you that you mwould die in your sins, for nunless you believe that oI am he you will die in your sins.” ²⁵So they said to him, p“Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. ²⁶I have much to say about you and much to judge, but qhe who sent me is true, and I declare rto the world swhat I have heard from him.” ²⁷They did not understand that the had been speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said to them, “When you have ulifted up the Son of Man, vthen you will know that wI am he, and that xI do nothing on my own authority, but yspeak just as the Father taught me. ²⁹And zhe who sent me is with me. zHe has not left me alone, for aI always do the things that are pleasing to him.” ³⁰As he was saying these things, bmany believed in him.

The Truth Will Set You Free

³¹So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, c“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³²and you will dknow the truth, and the truth ewill set you free.” ³³They answered him, f“We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, geveryone who practices sin is a slave2 to sin. ³⁵hThe slave does not remain in the house forever; ithe son remains forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet jyou seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. ³⁸kI speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard lfrom your father.”

You Are of Your Father the Devil

³⁹They answered him, m“Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, n“If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, ⁴⁰but now oyou seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth pthat I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, q“We were not born of sexual immorality. We have rone Father—even God.” ⁴²Jesus said to them, s“If God were your Father, you would love me, for tI came from God and uI am here. vI came not of my own accord, but whe sent me. ⁴³xWhy do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot ybear to hear my word. ⁴⁴zYou are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. aHe was a murderer from the beginning, and bdoes not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. cWhen he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. ⁴⁶Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷dWhoever is of God hears the words of God. eThe reason why you do not hear them is that fyou are not of God.”

Before Abraham Was, I Am

⁴⁸The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and ghave a demon?” ⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but hI honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰Yet iI do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹Truly, truly, jI say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never ksee death.” ⁵²The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! lAbraham died, as did the prophets, yet myou say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never ntaste death.’ ⁵³oAre you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” ⁵⁴Jesus answered, p“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. qIt is my Father who glorifies me, rof whom you say, ‘He is our God.’3 ⁵⁵But syou have not known him. tI know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be ua liar vlike you, but I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶wYour father Abraham xrejoiced ythat he would see my day. zHe saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”4 ⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, aI am.” ⁵⁹So bthey picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Warning Against Adultery

¹wMy son, be attentive to my wisdom;

xincline your ear to my understanding,

²that you may keep ydiscretion,

and your lips may zguard knowledge.

³For the lips of aa forbidden1 woman drip honey,

and her speech2 is bsmoother than oil,

⁴but in the end she is cbitter as dwormwood,

esharp as fa two-edged sword.

⁵Her feet ggo down to death;

her steps follow the path to3 Sheol;

⁶she hdoes not ponder the path of life;

her ways wander, and she does not know it.

⁷And inow, O sons, listen to me,

and do not depart from the words of my mouth.

⁸Keep your way far from her,

and do not go near the door of her house,

⁹lest you give your honor to others

and your years to the merciless,

¹⁰lest strangers take their fill of your strength,

and your jlabors go to the house of a foreigner,

¹¹and at the end of your life you kgroan,

when your flesh and body are consumed,

¹²and you say, l“How I hated discipline,

and my heart mdespised reproof!

¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers

or incline my ear to my instructors.

¹⁴nI am at the brink of utter ruin

in the assembled congregation.”

¹⁵Drink owater from your own cistern,

flowing water from your own well.

¹⁶Should your psprings be scattered abroad,

streams of water qin the streets?

¹⁷rLet them be for yourself alone,

and not for strangers with you.

¹⁸Let your ofountain be blessed,

and srejoice in tthe wife of your youth,

¹⁹a lovely udeer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts vfill you at all times with delight;

be intoxicated4 always in her love.

²⁰Why should you be intoxicated, my son, with wa forbidden woman

and embrace the bosom of wan adulteress?5

²¹For xa man's ways are ybefore the eyes of the Lord,

and he zponders6 all his paths.

²²The ainiquities of the wicked bensnare him,

and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.

²³cHe dies for lack of discipline,

and because of his great folly he is dled astray.

Sons and Heirs

¹I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave,1 though he is the owner of everything, ²but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. ³In the same way we also, when we were children, cwere enslaved to the elementary principles2 of the world. ⁴But dwhen the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, eborn fof woman, born gunder the law, ⁵hto redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive iadoption as sons. ⁶And because you are sons, God has sent jthe Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” ⁷So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then kan heir through God.

Paul's Concern for the Galatians

⁸Formerly, when you ldid not know God, you mwere enslaved to those that by nature nare not gods. ⁹But now that you have come to know God, or rather oto be known by God, phow can you turn back again to qthe weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? ¹⁰rYou observe days and months and seasons and years! ¹¹I am afraid sI may have labored over you in vain.

¹²Brothers,3 tI entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. uYou did me no wrong. ¹³You know it was vbecause of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you wat first, ¹⁴and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me xas an angel of God, yas Christ Jesus. ¹⁵What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶Have I then become your enemy by ztelling you the truth?4 ¹⁷They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. ¹⁸It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and anot only when I am present with you, ¹⁹bmy little children, cfor whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ dis formed in you! ²⁰I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.

Example of Hagar and Sarah

²¹Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? ²²For it is written that Abraham had two sons, eone by a slave woman and fone by a free woman. ²³But gthe son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while hthe son of the free woman was born through promise. ²⁴Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two icovenants. jOne is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. ²⁵Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia;5 she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. ²⁶But kthe Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. ²⁷For it is written,

l“Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;

break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor!

For the children of the desolate one will be more

than those of the one who has a husband.”

²⁸Now you,6 brothers, mlike Isaac, nare children of promise. ²⁹But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh opersecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, pso also it is now. ³⁰But what does the Scripture say? q“Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” ³¹So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but rof the free woman.