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¹²⁹ Your decrees are wonderful;
   therefore my soul keeps them.
¹³⁰ The unfolding of your words gives light;
   it imparts understanding to the simple.
¹³¹ With open mouth I pant,
   because I long for your commandments.
¹³² Turn to me and be gracious to me,
   as is your custom towards those who love your name.
¹³³ Keep my steps steady according to your promise,
   and never let iniquity have dominion over me.
¹³⁴ Redeem me from human oppression,
   that I may keep your precepts.
¹³⁵ Make your face shine upon your servant,
   and teach me your statutes.
¹³⁶ My eyes shed streams of tears
   because your law is not kept.

¹³⁷ You are righteous, O Lord,
   and your judgements are right.
¹³⁸ You have appointed your decrees in righteousness
   and in all faithfulness.
¹³⁹ My zeal consumes me
   because my foes forget your words.
¹⁴⁰ Your promise is well tried,
   and your servant loves it.
¹⁴¹ I am small and despised,
   yet I do not forget your precepts.
¹⁴² Your righteousness is an everlasting righteousness,
   and your law is the truth.
¹⁴³ Trouble and anguish have come upon me,
   but your commandments are my delight.
¹⁴⁴ Your decrees are righteous for ever;
   give me understanding that I may live.

¹⁴⁵ With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord.
   I will keep your statutes.
¹⁴⁶ I cry to you; save me,
   that I may observe your decrees.
¹⁴⁷ I rise before dawn and cry for help;
   I put my hope in your words.
¹⁴⁸ My eyes are awake before each watch of the night,
   that I may meditate on your promise.
¹⁴⁹ In your steadfast love hear my voice;
   O Lord, in your justice preserve my life.
¹⁵⁰ Those who persecute me with evil purpose draw near;
   they are far from your law.
¹⁵¹ Yet you are near, O Lord,
   and all your commandments are true.
¹⁵² Long ago I learned from your decrees
   that you have established them for ever.

Responsibility of Priests and Levites

18The Lord said to Aaron: You and your sons and your ancestral house with you shall bear responsibility for offences connected with the sanctuary, while you and your sons alone shall bear responsibility for offences connected with the priesthood. ²So bring with you also your brothers of the tribe of Levi, your ancestral tribe, in order that they may be joined to you, and serve you while you and your sons with you are in front of the tent of the covenant.^{* 3}They shall perform duties for you and for the whole tent. But they must not approach either the utensils of the sanctuary or the altar, otherwise both they and you will die. ⁴They are attached to you in order to perform the duties of the tent of meeting, for all the service of the tent; no outsider shall approach you. ⁵You yourselves shall perform the duties of the sanctuary and the duties of the altar, so that wrath may never again come upon the Israelites. ⁶It is I who now take your brother Levites from among the Israelites; they are now yours as a gift, dedicated to the Lord, to perform the service of the tent of meeting. ⁷But you and your sons with you shall diligently perform your priestly duties in all that concerns the altar and the area behind the curtain. I give your priesthood as a gift; ^* any outsider who approaches shall be put to death.

The Priests’ Portion

8 The Lord spoke to Aaron: I have given you charge of the offerings made to me, all the holy gifts of the Israelites; I have given them to you and your sons as a priestly portion due to you in perpetuity. ⁹This shall be yours from the most holy things, reserved from the fire: every offering of theirs that they render to me as a most holy thing, whether grain-offering, sin-offering, or guilt-offering, shall belong to you and your sons. ¹⁰As a most holy thing you shall eat it; every male may eat it; it shall be holy to you. ¹¹This also is yours: I have given to you, together with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual due, whatever is set aside from the gifts of all the elevation-offerings of the Israelites; everyone who is clean in your house may eat them. ¹²All the best of the oil and all the best of the wine and of the grain, the choice produce that they give to the Lord, I have given to you. ¹³The first fruits of all that is in their land, which they bring to the Lord, shall be yours; everyone who is clean in your house may eat of it. ¹⁴Every devoted thing in Israel shall be yours. ¹⁵The first issue of the womb of all creatures, human and animal, which is offered to the Lord, shall be yours; but the firstborn of human beings you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. ¹⁶Their redemption price, reckoned from one month of age, you shall fix at five shekels of silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary (that is, twenty gerahs). ¹⁷But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy. You shall dash their blood on the altar, and shall turn their fat into smoke as an offering by fire for a pleasing odour to the Lord; ¹⁸but their flesh shall be yours, just as the breast that is elevated and as the right thigh are yours. ¹⁹All the holy offerings that the Israelites present to the Lord I have given to you, together with your sons and daughters, as a perpetual due; it is a covenant of salt for ever before the Lord for you and your descendants as well. ²⁰Then the Lord said to Aaron: You shall have no allotment in their land, nor shall you have any share among them; I am your share and your possession among the Israelites.

21 To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for a possession in return for the service that they perform, the service in the tent of meeting. ²²From now on the Israelites shall no longer approach the tent of meeting, or else they will incur guilt and die. ²³But the Levites shall perform the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear responsibility for their own offences; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. But among the Israelites they shall have no allotment, ²⁴because I have given to the Levites as their portion the tithe of the Israelites, which they set apart as an offering to the Lord. Therefore I have said of them that they shall have no allotment among the Israelites.

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ²⁶You shall speak to the Levites, saying: When you receive from the Israelites the tithe that I have given you from them for your portion, you shall set apart an offering from it to the Lord, a tithe of the tithe. ²⁷It shall be reckoned to you as your gift, the same as the grain of the threshing-floor and the fullness of the wine press. ²⁸Thus you also shall set apart an offering to the Lord from all the tithes that you receive from the Israelites; and from them you shall give the Lord’s offering to the priest Aaron. ²⁹Out of all the gifts to you, you shall set apart every offering due to the Lord; the best of all of them is the part to be consecrated. ³⁰Say also to them: When you have set apart the best of it, then the rest shall be reckoned to the Levites as produce of the threshing-floor, and as produce of the wine press. ³¹You may eat it in any place, you and your households; for it is your payment for your service in the tent of meeting. ³²You shall incur no guilt by reason of it, when you have offered the best of it. But you shall not profane the holy gifts of the Israelites, on pain of death.

The Plot to Kill Jesus

14It was two days before the Passover and the festival of Unleavened Bread. The chief priests and the scribes were looking for a way to arrest Jesus^* by stealth and kill him; ²for they said, ‘Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.’

The Anointing at Bethany

3 While he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,^* as he sat at the table, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment of nard, and she broke open the jar and poured the ointment on his head. ⁴But some were there who said to one another in anger, ‘Why was the ointment wasted in this way? ⁵For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii,^* and the money given to the poor.’ And they scolded her. ⁶But Jesus said, ‘Let her alone; why do you trouble her? She has performed a good service for me. ⁷For you always have the poor with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you wish; but you will not always have me. ⁸She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for its burial. ⁹Truly I tell you, wherever the good news^* is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

10 Then Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve, went to the chief priests in order to betray him to them. ¹¹When they heard it, they were greatly pleased, and promised to give him money. So he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.

The Passover with the Disciples

12 On the first day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed, his disciples said to him, ‘Where do you want us to go and make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ ¹³So he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you; follow him, ¹⁴and wherever he enters, say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks, Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” ¹⁵He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.’ ¹⁶So the disciples set out and went to the city, and found everything as he had told them; and they prepared the Passover meal.

17 When it was evening, he came with the twelve. ¹⁸And when they had taken their places and were eating, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me.’ ¹⁹They began to be distressed and to say to him one after another, ‘Surely, not I?’ ²⁰He said to them, ‘It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread^* into the bowl^* with me. ²¹For the Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born.’

The Institution of the Lord’s Supper

22 While they were eating, he took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to them, and said, ‘Take; this is my body.’ ²³Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, and all of them drank from it. ²⁴He said to them, ‘This is my blood of the^* covenant, which is poured out for many. ²⁵Truly I tell you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.’

¹⁵³ Look on my misery and rescue me,
   for I do not forget your law.
¹⁵⁴ Plead my cause and redeem me;
   give me life according to your promise.
¹⁵⁵ Salvation is far from the wicked,
   for they do not seek your statutes.
¹⁵⁶ Great is your mercy, O Lord;
   give me life according to your justice.
¹⁵⁷ Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
   yet I do not swerve from your decrees.
¹⁵⁸ I look at the faithless with disgust,
   because they do not keep your commands.
¹⁵⁹ Consider how I love your precepts;
   preserve my life according to your steadfast love.
¹⁶⁰ The sum of your word is truth;
   and every one of your righteous ordinances endures for ever.

¹⁶¹ Princes persecute me without cause,
   but my heart stands in awe of your words.
¹⁶² I rejoice at your word
   like one who finds great spoil.
¹⁶³ I hate and abhor falsehood,
   but I love your law.
¹⁶⁴ Seven times a day I praise you
   for your righteous ordinances.
¹⁶⁵ Great peace have those who love your law;
   nothing can make them stumble.
¹⁶⁶ I hope for your salvation, O Lord,
   and I fulfil your commandments.
¹⁶⁷ My soul keeps your decrees;
   I love them exceedingly.
¹⁶⁸ I keep your precepts and decrees,
   for all my ways are before you.

¹⁶⁹ Let my cry come before you, O Lord;
   give me understanding according to your word.
¹⁷⁰ Let my supplication come before you;
   deliver me according to your promise.
¹⁷¹ My lips will pour forth praise,
   because you teach me your statutes.
¹⁷² My tongue will sing of your promise,
   for all your commandments are right.
¹⁷³ Let your hand be ready to help me,
   for I have chosen your precepts.
¹⁷⁴ I long for your salvation, O Lord,
   and your law is my delight.
¹⁷⁵ Let me live that I may praise you,
   and let your ordinances help me.
¹⁷⁶ I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek out your servant,
   for I do not forget your commandments.

Zophar Speaks: Wickedness Receives Just Retribution

20Then Zophar the Naamathite answered:
² ‘Pay attention! My thoughts urge me to answer,
   because of the agitation within me.
³ I hear censure that insults me,
   and a spirit beyond my understanding answers me.
⁴ Do you not know this from of old,
   ever since mortals were placed on earth,
⁵ that the exulting of the wicked is short,
   and the joy of the godless is but for a moment?
⁶ Even though they mount up high as the heavens,
   and their head reaches to the clouds,
⁷ they will perish for ever like their own dung;
   those who have seen them will say, “Where are they?”
⁸ They will fly away like a dream, and not be found;
   they will be chased away like a vision of the night.
⁹ The eye that saw them will see them no more,
   nor will their place behold them any longer.
¹⁰ Their children will seek the favour of the poor,
   and their hands will give back their wealth.
¹¹ Their bodies, once full of youth,
   will lie down in the dust with them.

¹² ‘Though wickedness is sweet in their mouth,
   though they hide it under their tongues,
¹³ though they are loath to let it go,
   and hold it in their mouths,
¹⁴ yet their food is turned in their stomachs;
   it is the venom of asps within them.
¹⁵ They swallow down riches and vomit them up again;
   God casts them out of their bellies.
¹⁶ They will suck the poison of asps;
   the tongue of a viper will kill them.
¹⁷ They will not look on the rivers,
   the streams flowing with honey and curds.
¹⁸ They will give back the fruit of their toil,
   and will not swallow it down;
from the profit of their trading
   they will get no enjoyment.
¹⁹ For they have crushed and abandoned the poor,
   they have seized a house that they did not build.

²⁰ ‘They knew no quiet in their bellies;
   in their greed they let nothing escape.
²¹ There was nothing left after they had eaten;
   therefore their prosperity will not endure.
²² In full sufficiency they will be in distress;
   all the force of misery will come upon them.
²³ To fill their belly to the full
   God^* will send his fierce anger into them,
   and rain it upon them as their food.^*
24 They will flee from an iron weapon;
   a bronze arrow will strike them through.
²⁵ It is drawn forth and comes out of their body,
   and the glittering point comes out of their gall;
   terrors come upon them.
²⁶ Utter darkness is laid up for their treasures;
   a fire fanned by no one will devour them;
   what is left in their tent will be consumed.
²⁷ The heavens will reveal their iniquity,
   and the earth will rise up against them.
²⁸ The possessions of their house will be carried away,
   dragged off on the day of God’s^* wrath.
²⁹ This is the portion of the wicked from God,
   the heritage decreed for them by God.’

A Call to Persevere

19 Therefore, my friends,^* since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, ²⁵not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

26 For if we wilfully persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷but a fearful prospect of judgement, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ²⁸Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy ‘on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ ²⁹How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? ³⁰For we know the one who said, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ ³¹It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 But recall those earlier days when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, ³³sometimes being publicly exposed to abuse and persecution, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. ³⁴For you had compassion for those who were in prison, and you cheerfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you yourselves possessed something better and more lasting. ³⁵Do not, therefore, abandon that confidence of yours; it brings a great reward. ³⁶For you need endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. ³⁷For yet
‘in a very little while,
   the one who is coming will come and will not delay;
³⁸ but my righteous one will live by faith.
   My soul takes no pleasure in anyone who shrinks back.’
³⁹But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.