Exodus 29
1 “This is what you shall do to consecrate Aaron and his sons so that they may serve Me as priests: take one young bull and two rams, without blemish, 2 and unleavened bread and unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with oil; you shall make them of fine wheat flour. 3 You shall put them in one basket, and present them in the basket along with the bull and the two rams. 4 Then bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the Tent of Meeting [out where the basin is] and wash them with water. 5 Then you shall take the garments, and put on Aaron the tunic and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastpiece, and wrap him with the skillfully woven sash of the ephod; 6 and you shall put 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 And you shall wrap them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the [ornamental] caps on them; and the priest’s office shall be theirs by a perpetual statute. So you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.
10 “Then you shall bring the bull before the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the bull’s head. 11 Then you shall kill the bull before the Lord by the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. 12 And you shall take some of the blood of the bull and with your finger put it on the horns of the altar [of burnt offering], and you shall pour out the remainder of the blood at the base of the altar. 13 You shall take all the fat that covers the intestines and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar. 14 But the meat of the bull, its hide, and the contents of its intestines you shall burn in the fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
15 “And you shall take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; 16 then you shall kill the ram and you shall take its blood and sprinkle it around the altar [of burnt offering]. 17 Then you shall cut the ram into pieces, and wash its intestines and legs, and place them with its pieces and its head, 18 and you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the Lord: it is a sweet and soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
19 “Then 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 ears of Aaron and his sons and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the [rest of the] blood around on the altar [of burnt offering]. 21 Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. Now Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments shall be consecrated (dedicated, made holy, declared sacred for God’s purpose).
22 “You shall also take the fat of the ram, the fat tail, the fat that covers the intestines, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and the right thigh; (for it is a ram of ordination), 23 and one loaf of bread and one cake of oiled bread and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the Lord; 24 and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons, and wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 Then you shall take them from their hands, add them to the burnt offering, and burn them on the altar for a sweet and soothing aroma before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.
26 “Then you shall take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination, and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your (Moses) portion. 27 You shall consecrate the waved breast offering [of the ram] used in the ordination and the waved thigh offering of the priests’ portion, since it is [a contribution] for Aaron and for his sons. 28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their due portion from the Israelites forever, for it is a heave offering. It shall be a heave offering to the Lord from the Israelites from the sacrifices of their peace offerings.
29 “The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, to be anointed and ordained in them. 30 That son who is [high] priest in his place shall put them on [each day for] seven days when he comes into the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place.
31 “You shall take the ram of the ordination and boil its meat in a holy place. 32 Aaron and his sons shall eat the meat of the ram and the bread in the basket, at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. 33 They shall eat those things by which atonement was made at their ordination and consecration; but a layman shall not eat them, because they are holy [that is, set apart to the worship of God]. 34 And if any of the meat of ordination or the bread remains until morning, you shall burn it in the fire; it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
35 “So you shall do to Aaron and to his sons in accordance with all I have commanded you; during seven days you are to ordain them. 36 You shall offer a bull every day as a sin offering for atonement. You shall cleanse the altar from sin when you make atonement for it, and you shall anoint it to consecrate it [for God’s sacred purpose]. 37 For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar [of burnt offering] and consecrate it; then the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar must be holy (set apart for God’s service).
38 “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs shall be offered each day, continuously. 39 One lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb at twilight; 40 and with the one lamb there shall be one-tenth of a measure of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten [olive] oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering [to be poured out]. 41 And the other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and do with it as with the grain offering of the morning and with the drink offering, for a sweet and soothing aroma [to appease God], an offering by fire to the Lord. 42 This will be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43 There I will meet with the Israelites, and the Tent of Meeting shall be sanctified by My glory [the Shekinah, God’s dwelling presence]. 44 I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar [of burnt offering]; also I will sanctify Aaron and his sons to serve as priests to Me. 45 I will dwell among the sons of Israel and be their God. 46 They shall know [from personal experience] and acknowledge that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.
John 8
1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning He came back into the temple [court], and all the people were coming to Him. He sat down and began teaching them. 3 Now the scribes and Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery. They made her stand in the center of the court, 4 and they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women [to death]. So what do You say [to do with her—what is Your sentence]?” 6 They said this to test Him, hoping that they would have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and began writing on the ground with His finger. 7 However, when they persisted in questioning Him, He straightened up and said, “He who is without [any] sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then He stooped down again and started writing on the ground. 9 They listened [to His reply], and they began to go out one by one, starting with the oldest ones, until He was left alone, with the woman [standing there before Him] in the center of the court. 10 Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She answered, “No one, Lord!” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go. From now on sin no more.”]
12 Once more Jesus addressed the crowd. He said, “I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 13 Then the Pharisees told Him, “You are testifying on Your own behalf; Your testimony is not valid.” 14 Jesus replied, “Even if I do testify on My own behalf, My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to human standards [just by what you see]. I do not judge anyone. 16 But even if I do judge, My judgment is true and My decision is right; for I am not alone [in making it], but I and the Father who sent Me [make the same judgment]. 17 Even in your own law it is written that the testimony of two persons is true [valid and admissible]. 18 I am One [of the Two] who testifies about Myself, and My Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” 19 Then the Pharisees said to Him, “Where is this Father of Yours?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” 20 Jesus said these things in the treasury, as He taught in the temple [courtyard]; and no one seized Him, because His time had not yet come.
21 Then He said again to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, and you will die [unforgiven and condemned] in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews were asking [among themselves], “Will He kill Himself? Is that why He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 That is why I told you that you will die [unforgiven and condemned] in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am the One [I claim to be], you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to Him, “Who are You [anyway]?” Jesus replied, “What have I been saying to you from the beginning? 26 I have many things to say and judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and I say to the world [only] the things that I have heard from Him.” 27 They did not realize [or have the spiritual insight to understand] that He was speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man [on the cross], you will know then [without any doubt] that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own authority, but I say these things just as My Father taught Me. 29 And He who sent Me is [always] with Me; He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.” 30 As He said these things, many believed in Him.
31 So Jesus was saying to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word [continually obeying My teachings and living in accordance with them, then] you are truly My disciples. 32 And you will know the truth [regarding salvation], and the truth will set you free [from the penalty of sin].” 33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone. What do You mean by saying, ‘You will be set free’?”
34 Jesus answered, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, everyone who practices sin habitually is a slave of sin. 35 Now the slave does not remain in a household forever; the son [of the master] does remain forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, then you are unquestionably free. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you plan to kill Me, because My word has no place [to grow] in you [and it makes no change in your heart]. 38 I tell the things that I have seen at My Father’s side [in His very presence]; so you also do the things that you heard from your father.”
39 They answered, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are [truly] Abraham’s children, then do the works of Abraham and follow his example. 40 But as it is, you want to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. This is not the way Abraham acted. 41 You are doing the works of your [own] father.” They said to Him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one [spiritual] Father: God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father [but He is not], you would love and recognize Me, for I came from God [out of His very presence] and have arrived here. For I have not even come on My own initiative [as self-appointed], but He [is the One who] sent Me. 43 Why do you misunderstand what I am saying? It is because [your spiritual ears are deaf and] you are unable to hear [the truth of] My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and it is your will to practice the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar and the father of lies and half-truths. 45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me [and continue in your unbelief]. 46 Which one of you [has proof and] convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 Whoever is of God and belongs to Him hears [the truth of] God’s words; for this reason you do not hear them: because you are not of God and you are not in fellowship with Him.”
48 The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right when we say You are a Samaritan and [that You] have a demon [and are under its power]?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon. On the contrary, I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 However, I am not seeking glory for Myself. There is One who seeks [glory for Me] and judges [those who dishonor Me]. 51 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, if anyone keeps My word [by living in accordance with My message] he will indeed never, ever see and experience death.” 52 The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon [and are under its power]. Abraham died, and also the prophets; yet You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never, ever taste of death.’ 53 Are You greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too! Whom do You make Yourself out to be?” 54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is [worth] nothing. It is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ 55 Yet you do not know Him, but I know Him fully. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him and keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham [greatly] rejoiced to see My day (My incarnation). He saw it and was delighted.” 57 Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not even fifty years old, and You [claim to] have seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus replied, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, before Abraham was born, I Am.” 59 So they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus concealed Himself and left the temple.
Proverbs 5
1 My son, be attentive to my wisdom [godly wisdom learned by costly experience],
Incline your ear to my understanding;
2
That you may exercise discrimination and discretion (good judgment),
And your lips may reserve knowledge and answer wisely [to temptation].
3
For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey [like a honeycomb]
And her speech is smoother than oil;
4
But in the end she is bitter like [the extract of] wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.
5
Her feet go down to death;
Her steps take hold of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
6
So that she does not think [seriously] about the path of life;
Her ways are aimless and unstable; you cannot know where her path leads.
7
Now then, my sons, listen to me
And do not depart from (forget) the words of my mouth.
8
Let your way [in life] be far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house [avoid even being near the places of temptation],
9
Or you will give your honor to others,
And your years to the cruel one,
10
And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned wealth will go to the house of a foreigner [who does not know God];
11
And you will groan when your life is ending,
When your flesh and your body are consumed;
12
And you say, “How I hated instruction and discipline,
And my heart despised correction and reproof!
13
“I have not listened to the voice of my teachers,
Nor have I inclined my ear to those who instructed me.
14
“I was almost in total ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”
15
Drink water from your own cistern [of a pure marriage relationship]
And fresh running water from your own well.
16
Should your springs (children) be dispersed,
As streams of water in the streets?
17
[Confine yourself to your own wife.] Let your children be yours alone,
And not the children of strangers with you.
18
Let your fountain (wife) be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity],
And rejoice in the wife of your youth.
19
Let her be as a loving hind and graceful doe,
Let her breasts refresh and satisfy you at all times;
Always be exhilarated and delight in her love.
20
Why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an immoral woman
And embrace the bosom of an outsider (pagan)?
21
For the ways of man are directly before the eyes of the Lord,
And He carefully watches all of his paths [all of his comings and goings].
22
The iniquities done by a wicked man will trap him,
And he will be held with the cords of his sin.
23
He will die for lack of instruction (discipline),
And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray and be lost.
Galatians 4
1 Now what I mean [when I talk about children and their guardians] is this: as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave even though he is the [future owner and] master of all [the estate]; 2 but he is under [the authority of] guardians and household administrators or managers until the date set by his father [when he is of legal age]. 3 So also we [whether Jews or Gentiles], when we were children (spiritually immature), were kept like slaves under the elementary [man-made religious or philosophical] teachings of the world. 4 But when [in God’s plan] the proper time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the [regulations of the] Law, 5 so that He might redeem and liberate those who were under the Law, that we [who believe] might be adopted as sons [as God’s children with all rights as fully grown members of a family]. 6 And because you [really] are [His] sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave (bond-servant), but a son; and if a son, then also an heir through [the gracious act of] God [through Christ].
8 But at that time, when you did not know [the true] God and were unacquainted with Him, you [Gentiles] were slaves to those [pagan] things which by [their very] nature were not and could not be gods at all. 9 Now, however, since you have come to know [the true] God [through personal experience], or rather to be known by God, how is it that you are turning back again to the weak and worthless elemental principles [of religions and philosophies], to which you want to be enslaved all over again? 10 [For example,] you observe [particular] days and months and seasons and years. 11 I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored [to the point of exhaustion] over you in vain.
12 Believers, I beg of you, become as I am [free from the bondage of Jewish ritualism and ordinances], for I have become as you are [a Gentile]. You did me no wrong [when I first came to you; do not do it now]. 13 On the contrary, you know that it was because of a physical illness that I [remained and] preached the gospel to you the first time; 14 and even though my physical condition was a trial to you, you did not regard it with contempt, or scorn and reject me; but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus Himself. 15 What then has become of that sense of blessing and the joy that you once had [from your salvation and your relationship with Christ]? For I testify of you that, if possible, you would have torn out your own eyes and given them to me [to replace mine]. 16 So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 These men [the Judaizers] eagerly seek you [to entrap you with honeyed words and attention, to win you over to their philosophy], not honorably [for their purpose is not honorable or worthy of consideration]. They want to isolate you [from us who oppose them] so that you will seek them. 18 Now it is always pleasant to be eagerly sought after [provided that it is] for a good purpose, and not just when I am with you [seeking you myself—but beware of the others doing it]. 19 My little children, for whom I am again in [the pains of] labor until Christ is [completely and permanently] formed within you— 20 how I wish that I were with you now and could change my tone, because I am perplexed in regard to you.
21 Tell me, you who are bent on being under the Law, do you not listen to [what] the Law [really says]? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman [Hagar] and one by the free woman [Sarah]. 23 But the child of the slave woman was born according to the flesh and had an ordinary birth, while the son of the free woman was born in fulfillment of the promise. 24 Now these facts are about to be used [by me] as an allegory [that is, I will illustrate by using them]: for these women can represent two covenants: one [covenant originated] from Mount Sinai [where the Law was given] that bears children [destined] for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is (represents) Mount Sinai in Arabia and she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above [that is, the way of faith, represented by Sarah] is free; she is our mother. 27 For it is written [in the Scriptures],
“Rejoice, o barren woman who has not given birth;
Break forth into a [joyful] shout, you who are not in labor;
For the desolate woman has many more children
Than she who has a husband.”
28 And we, [believing] brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children [not merely of physical descent, like Ishmael, but are children born] of promise [born miraculously]. 29 But as at that time the child [of ordinary birth] born according to the flesh persecuted the son who was born according to [the promise and working of] the Spirit, so it is now also. 30 But what does the Scripture say?
“Cast out the bondwoman [Hagar] and her son [Ishmael],
For never shall the son of the bondwoman be heir and share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.”
31 So then, believers, we [who are born again—reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose] are not children of a slave woman [the natural], but of the free woman [the supernatural].
