The Tabernacle^(A)

26 “Make the tabernacle^(B) with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim^(C) woven into them by a skilled worker. ² All the curtains are to be the same size^(D)—twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide.^{[a] 3} Join five of the curtains together, and do the same with the other five. ⁴ Make loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and do the same with the end curtain in the other set. ⁵ Make fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. ⁶ Then make fifty gold clasps and use them to fasten the curtains together so that the tabernacle is a unit.^(E)

⁷ “Make curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven altogether. ⁸ All eleven curtains are to be the same size^(F)—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide.^{[b] 9} Join five of the curtains together into one set and the other six into another set. Fold the sixth curtain double at the front of the tent. ¹⁰ Make fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and also along the edge of the end curtain in the other set. ¹¹ Then make fifty bronze clasps and put them in the loops to fasten the tent together as a unit.^{(G) 12} As for the additional length of the tent curtains, the half curtain that is left over is to hang down at the rear of the tabernacle. ¹³ The tent curtains will be a cubit^[c] longer on both sides; what is left will hang over the sides of the tabernacle so as to cover it. ¹⁴ Make for the tent a covering^(H) of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of the other durable leather.^[d](I)

²⁴ Mephibosheth,^(A) Saul’s grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely. ²⁵ When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why didn’t you go with me,^(B) Mephibosheth?”

²⁶ He said, “My lord the king, since I your servant am lame,^(C) I said, ‘I will have my donkey saddled and will ride on it, so I can go with the king.’ But Ziba^(D) my servant betrayed me. ²⁷ And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel^(E) of God; so do whatever you wish. ²⁸ All my grandfather’s descendants deserved nothing but death^(F) from my lord the king, but you gave your servant a place among those who eat at your table.^(G) So what right do I have to make any more appeals to the king?”

²⁹ The king said to him, “Why say more? I order you and Ziba to divide the land.”

³⁰ Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him take everything, now that my lord the king has returned home safely.”

³¹ Barzillai^(H) the Gileadite also came down from Rogelim to cross the Jordan with the king and to send him on his way from there. ³² Now Barzillai was very old, eighty years of age. He had provided for the king during his stay in Mahanaim, for he was a very wealthy^(I) man. ³³ The king said to Barzillai, “Cross over with me and stay with me in Jerusalem, and I will provide for you.”

³⁴ But Barzillai answered the king, “How many more years will I live, that I should go up to Jerusalem with the king? ³⁵ I am now eighty^(J) years old. Can I tell the difference between what is enjoyable and what is not? Can your servant taste what he eats and drinks? Can I still hear the voices of male and female singers?^(K) Why should your servant be an added^(L) burden to my lord the king? ³⁶ Your servant will cross over the Jordan with the king for a short distance, but why should the king reward me in this way? ³⁷ Let your servant return, that I may die in my own town near the tomb of my father^(M) and mother. But here is your servant Kimham.^(N) Let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him whatever you wish.”

³⁸ The king said, “Kimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him whatever you wish. And anything you desire from me I will do for you.”

³⁹ So all the people crossed the Jordan, and then the king crossed over. The king kissed Barzillai and bid him farewell,^(O) and Barzillai returned to his home.

⁴⁰ When the king crossed over to Gilgal, Kimham crossed with him. All the troops of Judah and half the troops of Israel had taken the king over.

⁴¹ Soon all the men of Israel were coming to the king and saying to him, “Why did our brothers, the men of Judah, steal the king away and bring him and his household across the Jordan, together with all his men?”^(P)

⁴² All the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “We did this because the king is closely related to us. Why are you angry about it? Have we eaten any of the king’s provisions? Have we taken anything for ourselves?”

⁴³ Then the men of Israel^(Q) answered the men of Judah, “We have ten shares in the king; so we have a greater claim on David than you have. Why then do you treat us with contempt? Weren’t we the first to speak of bringing back our king?”

But the men of Judah pressed their claims even more forcefully than the men of Israel.

²⁶ Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ²⁷ “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind.^(A) Is anything too hard for me?^{(B) 28} Therefore this is what the Lord says: I am about to give this city into the hands of the Babylonians and to Nebuchadnezzar^(C) king of Babylon, who will capture it.^{(D) 29} The Babylonians who are attacking this city will come in and set it on fire; they will burn it down,^(E) along with the houses^(F) where the people aroused my anger by burning incense on the roofs to Baal and by pouring out drink offerings^(G) to other gods.^(H)

³⁰ “The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth;^(I) indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger^(J) with what their hands have made,^(K) declares the Lord. ³¹ From the day it was built until now, this city^(L) has so aroused my anger and wrath that I must remove^(M) it from my sight. ³² The people of Israel and Judah have provoked^(N) me by all the evil^(O) they have done—they, their kings and officials,^(P) their priests and prophets, the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem. ³³ They turned their backs^(Q) to me and not their faces; though I taught^(R) them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline.^{(S) 34} They set up their vile images^(T) in the house that bears my Name^(U) and defiled^(V) it. ³⁵ They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom^(W) to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molek,^(X) though I never commanded—nor did it enter my mind^(Y)—that they should do such a detestable^(Z) thing and so make Judah sin.^(AA)

³⁶ “You are saying about this city, ‘By the sword, famine and plague^(AB) it will be given into the hands of the king of Babylon’; but this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ³⁷ I will surely gather^(AC) them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger^(AD) and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety.^{(AE) 38} They will be my people,^(AF) and I will be their God. ³⁹ I will give them singleness^(AG) of heart and action, so that they will always fear^(AH) me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. ⁴⁰ I will make an everlasting covenant^(AI) with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire^(AJ) them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me.^{(AK) 41} I will rejoice^(AL) in doing them good^(AM) and will assuredly plant^(AN) them in this land with all my heart and soul.^(AO)

⁴² “This is what the Lord says: As I have brought all this great calamity^(AP) on this people, so I will give them all the prosperity I have promised^(AQ) them. ⁴³ Once more fields will be bought^(AR) in this land of which you say, ‘It is a desolate^(AS) waste, without people or animals, for it has been given into the hands of the Babylonians.’ ⁴⁴ Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds^(AT) will be signed, sealed and witnessed^(AU) in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country, of the western foothills and of the Negev,^(AV) because I will restore^(AW) their fortunes,^[a] declares the Lord.”

The Little Children and Jesus^(A)

¹³ People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.^{(B) 15} Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”^{(C) 16} And he took the children in his arms,^(D) placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters^(A)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? ² For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.^{(B) 3} So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.^(C) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

⁴ So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law^(D) through the body of Christ,^(E) that you might belong to another,^(F) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For when we were in the realm of the flesh,^[a](G) the sinful passions aroused by the law^(H) were at work in us,^(I) so that we bore fruit for death.^{(J) 6} But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law^(K) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.^(L)

The Law and Sin

⁷ What shall we say, then?^(M) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!^(N) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.^(O) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”^{[b](P) 8} But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,^(Q) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.^{(R) 9} Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. ¹⁰ I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life^(S) actually brought death. ¹¹ For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,^(T) deceived me,^(U) and through the commandment put me to death. ¹² So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.^(V)

¹³ Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good^(W) to bring about my death,^(X) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.