Setting Up the Tabernacle

40 Then the Lord said to Moses: ² “Set up^(A) the tabernacle, the tent of meeting,^(B) on the first day of the first month.^{(C) 3} Place the ark^(D) of the covenant law in it and shield the ark with the curtain. ⁴ Bring in the table^(E) and set out what belongs on it.^(F) Then bring in the lampstand^(G) and set up its lamps. ⁵ Place the gold altar^(H) of incense in front of the ark of the covenant law and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle.

⁶ “Place the altar^(I) of burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; ⁷ place the basin^(J) between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it. ⁸ Set up the courtyard^(K) around it and put the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard.

⁹ “Take the anointing oil and anoint^(L) the tabernacle and everything in it; consecrate it and all its furnishings,^(M) and it will be holy. ¹⁰ Then anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils; consecrate^(N) the altar, and it will be most holy. ¹¹ Anoint the basin and its stand and consecrate them.

¹² “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting^(O) and wash them with water.^{(P) 13} Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments,^(Q) anoint him and consecrate^(R) him so he may serve me as priest. ¹⁴ Bring his sons and dress them in tunics.^{(S) 15} Anoint them just as you anointed their father, so they may serve me as priests. Their anointing will be to a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.^(T)” ¹⁶ Moses did everything just as the Lord commanded^(U) him.

The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon^(A)

10 When the queen of Sheba^(B) heard about the fame^(C) of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions.^{(D) 2} Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan^(E)—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. ³ Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, ⁵ the food on his table,^(F) the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at^[a] the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.

⁶ She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your achievements and your wisdom is true. ⁷ But I did not believe^(G) these things until I came and saw with my own eyes. Indeed, not even half was told me; in wisdom and wealth^(H) you have far exceeded the report I heard. ⁸ How happy your people must be! How happy your officials, who continually stand before you and hear^(I) your wisdom! ⁹ Praise^(J) be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love^(K) for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice^(L) and righteousness.”

¹⁰ And she gave the king 120 talents^[b] of gold,^(M) large quantities of spices, and precious stones. Never again were so many spices brought in as those the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.

¹¹ (Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir;^(N) and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood^[c] and precious stones. ¹² The king used the almugwood to make supports^[d] for the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never been imported or seen since that day.)

¹³ King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked for, besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty. Then she left and returned with her retinue to her own country.

Solomon’s Splendor^(O)

¹⁴ The weight of the gold^(P) that Solomon received yearly was 666 talents,^{[e] 15} not including the revenues from merchants and traders and from all the Arabian kings and the governors of the territories.

¹⁶ King Solomon made two hundred large shields^(Q) of hammered gold; six hundred shekels^[f] of gold went into each shield. ¹⁷ He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold, with three minas^[g] of gold in each shield. The king put them in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.^(R)

¹⁸ Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. ¹⁹ The throne had six steps, and its back had a rounded top. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. ²⁰ Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom. ²¹ All King Solomon’s goblets were gold, and all the household articles in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold.^(S) Nothing was made of silver, because silver was considered of little value in Solomon’s days. ²² The king had a fleet of trading ships^[h](T) at sea along with the ships^(U) of Hiram. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and baboons.

²³ King Solomon was greater in riches^(V) and wisdom^(W) than all the other kings of the earth. ²⁴ The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom^(X) God had put in his heart. ²⁵ Year after year, everyone who came brought a gift^(Y)—articles of silver and gold, robes, weapons and spices, and horses and mules.

²⁶ Solomon accumulated chariots and horses;^(Z) he had fourteen hundred chariots and twelve thousand horses,^[i] which he kept in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem. ²⁷ The king made silver as common^(AA) in Jerusalem as stones,^(AB) and cedar as plentiful as sycamore-fig^(AC) trees in the foothills. ²⁸ Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Kue^[j]—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the current price. ²⁹ They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty.^[k] They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites^(AD) and of the Arameans.

³³ This is what the Lord Almighty says:

Psalm 75^[a]

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A psalm of Asaph. A song.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,^[a] the Son of God,^{[b](B) 2} as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

⁴ And so John the Baptist^(E) appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance^(F) for the forgiveness of sins.^{(G) 5} The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. ⁶ John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist,^(H) and he ate locusts^(I) and wild honey. ⁷ And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.^{(J) 8} I baptize you with^[e] water, but he will baptize you with^[f] the Holy Spirit.”^(K)

The Baptism and Testing of Jesus^(L)(M)

⁹ At that time Jesus came from Nazareth^(N) in Galilee and was baptized by John^(O) in the Jordan. ¹⁰ Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.^{(P) 11} And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son,^(Q) whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”^(R)

¹² At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, ¹³ and he was in the wilderness forty days,^(S) being tempted^[g] by Satan.^(T) He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.

Jesus Announces the Good News^(U)

¹⁴ After John^(V) was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee,^(W) proclaiming the good news of God.^(X)

The Nature of True Apostleship

4 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants^(A) of Christ and as those entrusted^(B) with the mysteries^(C) God has revealed. ² Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. ³ I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ My conscience^(D) is clear, but that does not make me innocent.^(E) It is the Lord who judges me.^{(F) 5} Therefore judge nothing^(G) before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes.^(H) He will bring to light^(I) what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.^(J)

⁶ Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.”^(K) Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.^{(L) 7} For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?^(M) And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

⁸ Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich!^(N) You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! ⁹ For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die^(O) in the arena. We have been made a spectacle^(P) to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. ¹⁰ We are fools for Christ,^(Q) but you are so wise in Christ!^(R) We are weak, but you are strong!^(S) You are honored, we are dishonored! ¹¹ To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless.^{(T) 12} We work hard with our own hands.^(U) When we are cursed, we bless;^(V) when we are persecuted,^(W) we endure it; ¹³ when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage^(X) of the world—right up to this moment.