Consecration of Aaron and His Sons

¹wThe Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Take Aaron and his sons with him, and xthe garments and ythe anointing oil and the bull of the sin offering and the two rams and the basket of unleavened bread. ³And assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting.” ⁴And Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the congregation was assembled at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

⁵And Moses said to the congregation, z“This is the thing that the Lord has commanded to be done.” ⁶And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. ⁷And he put athe coat on him and tied the sash around his waist and clothed him with the robe and put the ephod on him and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band.1 ⁸And he placed the breastpiece on him, and bin the breastpiece he put the Urim and the Thummim. ⁹And he set athe turban on his head, and con the turban, in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown, as the Lord commanded Moses.

¹⁰dThen Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, and consecrated them. ¹¹And he sprinkled some of it on the altar seven times, and anointed the altar and all its utensils and the basin and its stand, to consecrate them. ¹²And ehe poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head and anointed him to consecrate him. ¹³And Moses brought Aaron's sons and clothed them with coats and tied sashes around their waists and bound caps on them, as the Lord commanded Moses.

¹⁴Then he brought fthe bull of the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons glaid their hands on the head of the bull of the sin offering. ¹⁵And he2 killed it, and hMoses took the blood, and with his finger put it on the horns of the altar around it and purified the altar and poured out the blood at the base of the altar and consecrated it to make atonement for it. ¹⁶iAnd he took all the fat that was on the entrails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat, and Moses burned them on the altar. ¹⁷But jthe bull and its skin and its flesh and its dung he burned up with fire outside the camp, as the Lord commanded Moses.

¹⁸kThen he presented the ram of the burnt offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ¹⁹And he killed it, and Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. ²⁰He cut the ram into pieces, and Moses burned lthe head and the pieces and the fat. ²¹He washed the entrails and the legs with water, and Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering for the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses.

²²Then mhe presented the other ram, the ram of ordination, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on the head of the ram. ²³And he killed it, and Moses took some of its blood and nput it on the lobe of Aaron's right ear and on the thumb of his right hand and on the big toe of his right foot. ²⁴Then he presented Aaron's sons, and Moses put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet. And Moses threw the blood against the sides of the altar. ²⁵Then he took the fat and the fat tail and all the fat that was on the entrails and the long lobe of the liver and the two kidneys with their fat and the right thigh, ²⁶and out of the basket of unleavened bread that was before the Lord he took one unleavened loaf and one loaf of bread with oil and one wafer and placed them on the pieces of fat and on the right thigh. ²⁷And he put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons and waved them as a wave offering before the Lord. ²⁸Then Moses took them from their hands and burned them on the altar with the burnt offering. This was an ordination offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering to the Lord. ²⁹And Moses took the breast and waved it for a wave offering before the Lord. It was Moses' portion of the ram of ordination, as the Lord commanded Moses.

³⁰Then oMoses took some of the anointing oil and of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and also on his sons and his sons' garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons' garments with him.

³¹And Moses said to Aaron and his sons, “Boil the flesh at the entrance of the tent of meeting, and there eat it and the bread that is in the basket of ordination offerings, as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ ³²And what remains of the flesh and the bread you shall burn up with fire. ³³And you shall not go outside the entrance of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the days of your ordination are completed, for it pwill take seven days to ordain you. ³⁴As has been done today, the Lord has commanded to be done to make atonement for you. ³⁵At the entrance of the tent of meeting you shall remain day and night for seven days, performing what the Lord has qcharged, so that you do not die, for so I have been commanded.” ³⁶And Aaron and his sons did all the things that the Lord commanded by Moses.

I Will Recount Your Wonderful Deeds

1 To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben.2 A Psalm of David.

¹I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;

I will recount all of your gwonderful deeds.

²I will be glad and hexult in you;

I will ising praise to your name, jO Most High.

³When my enemies turn back,

they stumble and perish before3 your presence.

⁴For you have kmaintained my just cause;

you have lsat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.

⁵You have mrebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;

you have nblotted out their name forever and ever.

⁶The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;

their cities you rooted out;

the very memory of them has perished.

⁷But the Lord sits enthroned forever;

he has established his throne for justice,

⁸and he ojudges the world with righteousness;

he pjudges the peoples with uprightness.

⁹The Lord is qa stronghold for rthe oppressed,

a stronghold in stimes of trouble.

¹⁰And those who tknow your name put their trust in you,

for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

¹¹Sing praises to the Lord, who usits enthroned in Zion!

Tell among the peoples his vdeeds!

¹²For he who wavenges blood is mindful of them;

he xdoes not forget the cry of the afflicted.

¹³yBe gracious to me, O Lord!

See my affliction from those who hate me,

O you who lift me up from zthe gates of death,

¹⁴that I may recount all your praises,

that in the gates of athe daughter of Zion

I may brejoice in your salvation.

¹⁵The nations have sunk in cthe pit that they made;

in dthe net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.

¹⁶The Lord has made himself eknown; he has executed judgment;

the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion.4 Selah

¹⁷The wicked shall freturn to Sheol,

all the nations that gforget God.

¹⁸For the needy shall not always be forgotten,

and hthe hope of the poor shall not perish forever.

¹⁹iArise, O Lord! Let not jman prevail;

let the nations be judged before you!

²⁰Put them in fear, O Lord!

Let the nations know that they are but jmen! Selah

¹When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

observe carefully what1 is before you,

²and put a knife to your throat

if you are given to appetite.

³cDo not desire his delicacies,

for they are deceptive food.

⁴dDo not toil to acquire wealth;

ebe discerning enough to desist.

⁵When your eyes light on it, it is gone,

ffor suddenly it sprouts wings,

flying like an eagle toward heaven.

⁶gDo not eat the bread of a man who is hstingy;2

ido not desire his delicacies,

⁷for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.3

“Eat and drink!” he says to you,

but his jheart is not with you.

⁸You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,

and waste your pleasant words.

⁹Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,

for he will despise the good sense of your words.

¹⁰kDo not move an ancient landmark

or enter the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹for their lRedeemer is strong;

he will mplead their cause against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction

and your ear to words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold ndiscipline from a child;

oif you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

¹⁴If you strike him with the rod,

you will psave his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵qMy son, if your heart is wise,

my heart too will be glad.

¹⁶My rinmost being4 will exult

when your lips speak swhat is right.

¹⁷Let not your heart tenvy sinners,

but continue in uthe fear of the Lord all the day.

¹⁸Surely vthere is a future,

and your whope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear, my son, and xbe wise,

and ydirect your heart in the way.

²⁰Be not among zdrunkards5

or among agluttonous eaters of meat,

²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

and bslumber will clothe them with rags.

²²cListen to your father who gave you life,

dand do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³eBuy truth, and do not sell it;

buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

²⁴fThe father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;

he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

²⁵fLet your father and mother be glad;

let gher who bore you rejoice.

²⁶My son, give me your heart,

and let your eyes observe6 my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is ha deep pit;

ian adulteress7 is a narrow jwell.

²⁸kShe lies in wait like a robber

and increases the traitors among mankind.

²⁹lWho has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has strife? Who has complaining?

Who has mwounds without cause?

Who has nredness of eyes?

³⁰Those who otarry long over wine;

those who go to try pmixed wine.

³¹Do not look at wine when it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup

and goes down smoothly.

³²In the end it qbites like a serpent

and stings like an adder.

³³Your eyes will see strange things,

and your heart utter rperverse things.

³⁴You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,

like one who lies on the top of a mast.8

³⁵“They sstruck me,” you will say,9 “but I was not hurt;

they beat me, but I did not feel it.

When shall I awake?

I tmust have another drink.”

Paul's Ministry to the Thessalonians

¹For you yourselves know, brothers,1 that our fcoming to you gwas not in vain. ²But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated hat Philippi, as you know, iwe had boldness in our God jto declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much kconflict. ³For lour appeal does not spring from merror or nimpurity or oany attempt to deceive, ⁴but just as we have been approved by God pto be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not qto please man, but to please God rwho tests our hearts. ⁵sFor we never came with words of flattery,2 as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—tGod is witness. ⁶uNor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, vthough we could have made wdemands as xapostles of Christ. ⁷But we were ygentle3 among you, zlike a nursing mother taking care of her own children. ⁸So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God abut also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

⁹For you remember, brothers, bour labor and toil: we cworked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. ¹⁰You are witnesses, and dGod also, ehow holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. ¹¹For you know how, flike a father with his children, ¹²we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and gcharged hyou to walk in a manner worthy of God, iwho calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

¹³And jwe also thank God constantly4 for this, that when you received kthe word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it lnot as the word of men5 but as what it really is, the word of God, mwhich is at work in you believers. ¹⁴For you, brothers, nbecame imitators of othe churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For pyou suffered the same things from your own countrymen qas they did from the Jews,6 ¹⁵rwho killed both the Lord Jesus and sthe prophets, and drove us out, and displease God and toppose all mankind ¹⁶uby hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be saved—so as always vto fill up the measure of their sins. But wwrath has come upon them at last!7

Paul's Longing to See Them Again

¹⁷But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, xin person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire yto see you face to face, ¹⁸because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan zhindered us. ¹⁹For what is our hope or ajoy or crown of boasting bbefore our Lord Jesus at his ccoming? Is it not you? ²⁰For you are our glory and joy.