7I will be glad and rejoice in Your loving devotion, for You have seen my affliction; You have known the anguish of my soul. 8You have not delivered me to the enemy; You have set my feet in the open. 9Be merciful to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes fail from sorrow, my soul and body as well. 10For my life is consumed with grief and my years with groaning; my iniquity has drained my strength, and my bones are wasting away. 11Among all my enemies I am a disgrace, and among my neighbors even more. I am dreaded by my friends— they flee when they see me on the street. 12I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind. I am like a broken vessel. 13For I hear the slander of many; there is terror on every side. They conspire against me and plot to take my life. 14But I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” 15My times are in Your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.
New Testament·Matthew 26:30–50
30And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 31Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of Me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” 33Peter said to Him, “Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will.” 34“Truly I tell you,” Jesus declared, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 35Peter replied, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never deny You.” And all the other disciples said the same thing. 36At that time Jesus went with His disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He told them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. 38Then He said to them, “My soul is consumed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with Me.” 39Going a little farther, He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” 40Then Jesus returned to the disciples and found them sleeping. “Were you not able to keep watch with Me for one hour?” He asked Peter. 41“Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” 42A second time He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.” 43And again Jesus returned and found them sleeping—for their eyes were heavy. 44So He left them and went away once more and prayed a third time, saying the same thing. 45Then He returned to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46Rise, let us go! See, My betrayer is approaching!” 47While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived, accompanied by a large crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The One I kiss is the man; arrest Him.” 49Going directly to Jesus, he said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” and kissed Him. 50“Friend,” Jesus replied, “do what you came for.” Then the men stepped forward, seized Jesus, and arrested Him.
Old Testament·Exodus 29
1“Now this is what you are to do to consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without blemish, 2along with unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil. Make them out of fine wheat flour, 3put them in a basket, and present them in the basket, along with the bull and the two rams. 4Then present Aaron and his sons at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. 5Take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself, and the breastplate. Fasten the ephod on him with its woven waistband. 6Put the turban on his head and attach the holy diadem to the turban. 7Then take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head. 8Present his sons as well and clothe them with tunics. 9Wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons and tie headbands on them. The priesthood shall be theirs by a permanent statute. In this way you are to ordain Aaron and his sons. 10You are to present the bull at the front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head. 11And you shall slaughter the bull before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 12Take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; then pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. 13Take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar. 14But burn the flesh of the bull and its hide and dung outside the camp; it is a sin offering. 15Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. 16You are to slaughter the ram, take its blood, and sprinkle it on all sides of the altar. 17Cut the ram into pieces, wash the entrails and legs, and place them with its head and other pieces. 18Then burn the entire ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. 19Take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on its head. 20Slaughter the ram, take some of its blood, and put it on the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Sprinkle the remaining blood on all sides of the altar. 21And take some of the blood on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments, as well as on his sons and their garments. Then he and his garments will be consecrated, as well as his sons and their garments. 22Take the fat from the ram, the fat tail, the fat covering the entrails, the lobe of the liver, both kidneys with the fat on them, and the right thigh (since this is a ram for ordination), 23along with one loaf of bread, one cake of bread made with oil, and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread that is before the LORD. 24Put all these in the hands of Aaron and his sons and wave them before the LORD as a wave offering. 25Then take them from their hands and burn them on the altar atop the burnt offering as a pleasing aroma before the LORD; it is an offering made by fire to the LORD. 26Take the breast of the ram of Aaron’s ordination and wave it before the LORD as a wave offering, and it will be your portion. 27Consecrate for Aaron and his sons the breast of the wave offering that is waved and the thigh of the heave offering that is lifted up from the ram of ordination. 28This will belong to Aaron and his sons as a regular portion from the Israelites, for it is the heave offering the Israelites will make to the LORD from their peace offerings. 29The holy garments that belong to Aaron will belong to his sons after him, so they can be anointed and ordained in them. 30The son who succeeds him as priest and enters the Tent of Meeting to minister in the Holy Place must wear them for seven days. 31You are to take the ram of ordination and boil its flesh in a holy place. 32At the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, Aaron and his sons are to eat the meat of the ram and the bread that is in the basket. 33They must eat those things by which atonement was made for their ordination and consecration. But no outsider may eat them, because these things are sacred. 34And if any of the meat of ordination or any bread is left until the morning, you are to burn up the remainder. It must not be eaten, because it is sacred. 35This is what you are to do for Aaron and his sons based on all that I have commanded you, taking seven days to ordain them. 36Sacrifice a bull as a sin offering each day for atonement. Purify the altar by making atonement for it, and anoint it to consecrate it. 37For seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will become most holy; whatever touches the altar will be holy. 38This is what you are to offer regularly on the altar, each day: two lambs that are a year old. 39Offer one lamb in the morning and the other at twilight. 40With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of fine flour, mixed with a quarter hin of oil from pressed olives, and a drink offering of a quarter hin of wine. 41And offer the second lamb at twilight with the same grain offering and drink offering as in the morning, as a pleasing aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. 42For the generations to come, this burnt offering shall be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD, where I will meet you to speak with you. 43I will also meet with the Israelites there, and that place will be consecrated by My glory. 44So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests. 45Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. 46And they will know 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.
Reflect
How do the three readings speak to each other today?