The Daily Audio Bible

The Ark of the Covenant

37 Bezalel^[a] made the ark^[b] of acacia wood. It was forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ² He overlaid it with pure gold on the inside and the outside, and he made a gold border around it. ³ He cast four gold rings for it and placed them next to its four feet—two rings on one side of it and two rings on the other side. ⁴ He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. ⁵ He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark.

⁶ He made an atonement seat^[c] of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide. ⁷ He made two cherubim of hammered gold for the two ends of the atonement seat, ⁸ one cherub for one end and one cherub for the other. The cherubim on its two ends formed one piece with the atonement seat.^{[d] 9} The cherubim spread their wings upward so that they covered the atonement seat with their wings, and they faced each other. The faces of the cherubim were looking inward toward the atonement seat.

The Table

¹⁰ He made a table of acacia wood, thirty-six inches long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ¹¹ He overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold border around it.^{[e] 12} He made a three-inch rim around it. He made a gold border on its rim all the way around it. ¹³ He made four gold rings for it and put the rings at the four corners above the four legs of the table. ¹⁴ The rings were close to the border to hold the poles used to carry the table. ¹⁵ He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, so that the table could be carried with them. ¹⁶ He made the vessels and the accessories for the table out of pure gold—its dishes,^[f] its small bowls,^[g] its larger bowls, and its pitchers^[h] to pour out drink offerings.

The Lampstand

¹⁷ He made a lampstand^[i] of pure gold. The lampstand was made of hammered metal. Its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers were all formed as one piece with the lampstand. ¹⁸ There were six branches going out from its sides. Three branches of the lampstand went out from one side, and three branches of the lampstand went out from the other side. ¹⁹ Three cups like almond blossoms with buds and flowers were on the first branch, and three cups like almond blossoms with buds and flowers were on the branch opposite it. It was the same for all six branches that went out from the lampstand. ²⁰ On the lampstand itself he made four cups like almond blossoms with buds and flowers. ²¹ The buds under one pair of branches formed one piece with the lampstand, and the buds under the second pair of branches formed one piece with the lampstand, and the buds under the third pair of branches formed one piece with the lampstand—the same for all six branches going out of the lampstand. ²² Its buds and branches were made as one piece with it. All of it was one hammered work of pure gold.

²³ He made seven lamps for it. Its wick trimmers and its pans^[j] were pure gold. ²⁴ It was made with seventy-five pounds^[k] of pure gold, along with all these accessories.

The Altar for Incense

²⁵ He made the altar for incense. He made it of acacia wood. Its length was eighteen inches, and its width was eighteen inches. It was square, and its height was three feet. Its horns formed one piece with it. ²⁶ He overlaid it with pure gold, its top, all its sides, and its horns. He made a gold border^[l] around it. ²⁷ He made two gold rings to go under its border. He made them for two opposite sides. They were holders for poles with which to carry it. ²⁸ He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

²⁹ He made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of fragrant spices, the work of a perfume maker.

The Altar for Sacrifices

38 He made the altar for burnt offerings from acacia wood. It was square, seven and a half feet long and seven and a half feet wide. It was four and a half feet high. ² He made horns on its four corners. These horns were made as one piece with the altar, and he overlaid the altar with bronze. ³ He made all the utensils for the altar—the pails, the shovels, the basins, the meat hooks,^[m] and the fire pans—of bronze. ⁴ He made a grate for it, which was a latticework of bronze, and he made four bronze rings for the four corners of the latticework grate. ⁵ He set the grate in place below the top edge of the altar, so that the grate rested halfway down from the top of the altar.^{[n] 6} He made poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with bronze. ⁷ He put these poles through the rings on two sides of the altar for carrying it. He made the altar hollow. Its sides were made of boards.

The Large Basin

⁸ He made a large bronze basin. Its pedestal also was bronze. He made it from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

The Courtyard

⁹ He made the courtyard. For the south side of the courtyard he made hangings of fine woven linen, one hundred fifty feet long for that side. ¹⁰ He made twenty posts for it and twenty bronze socket bases for them. The hooks for the posts and the connectors were silver.^{[o] 11} In the same way, for the north side there were hangings one hundred fifty feet long, with twenty posts and twenty bronze socket bases. The hooks for the posts and their connectors were silver. ¹² For the courtyard on the west side there were hangings seventy-five feet wide, with ten posts and ten socket bases. ¹³ The width of the court on the east side was seventy-five feet. ¹⁴ The hangings on one side of the entry gate were twenty-two feet six inches wide with three posts and three socket bases. ¹⁵ For the other side there were hangings twenty-two feet six inches wide with three posts and three socket bases. ¹⁶ All the hangings around the court were of fine woven linen. ¹⁷ The socket bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks of the posts and their connectors were silver, and the overlay of the capitals on top of the posts was silver, and all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands.

¹⁸ There was a screen for the entry gate of the courtyard, made of blue, purple, and scarlet material and of fine woven linen, the work of an embroiderer. It was thirty feet wide, and like the hangings of the courtyard it was seven and a half feet high. ¹⁹ It had four posts and four bronze socket bases. The hooks of the posts and their connectors were silver, and the overlay of the capitals on top of the posts was silver. ²⁰ All the tent stakes for the Dwelling and all the stakes for the surrounding courtyard were bronze.

The Materials

²¹ These are the inventories of the material used for the Dwelling, that is, the Dwelling of the Testimony, as they were recorded by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest, as Moses had commanded. ²² Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord had commanded Moses. ²³ With him was Oholiab son of Ahisamak, from the tribe of Dan, an engraver, a skilled workman, and an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet material and in fine linen.

²⁴ All the gold that was used for all the work of the sanctuary project (that is, the gold from the wave offering) was 29 talents and 730 shekels,^[p] measured by the shekel of the sanctuary. ²⁵ The silver received from those who were counted in the census of the community was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, measured by the shekel of the sanctuary. ²⁶ The rate was one beka a head (that is, half a shekel a head), measured by the shekel of the sanctuary. One beka was given by each man as he passed over to those who had been counted—a beka each was given by 603,550 men from twenty years old and older. ²⁷ The one hundred talents of silver were used for casting the sockets for the sanctuary and the sockets for the veil. One hundred sockets were made from the one hundred talents, a talent per socket.^{[q] 28} From the 1,775 shekels, Bezalel made hooks for the posts, overlaid their capitals, and made connectors for them. ²⁹ The bronze from the offering was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels. ³⁰ With this he made the sockets for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grate for it, all the utensils for the altar, ³¹ the sockets around the courtyard, the sockets for the gate of the courtyard, all the stakes for the tent, and all the stakes around the courtyard.

Jesus’ Resurrection

28 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. ² Suddenly, there was a great earthquake! For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and going to the tomb, he rolled away the stone and was sitting on it. ³ His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. ⁴ The guards were so terrified of him that they shook and became like dead men. ⁵ The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶ He is not here. He has risen, just as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ⁷ Go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead! And look, he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him.’ See, I have told you!”

⁸ They hurried away from the tomb, with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly^[a] Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!”

They approached, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him.

¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go, tell my brothers that they should go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

The Guards’ Report

¹¹ As they were on their way, there were some members of the guard who went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. ¹² After the chief priests had assembled with the elders and had reached a decision, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers ¹³ and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came at night and stole him away while we were sleeping.’ ¹⁴ If the governor hears about it, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵ After the soldiers took the money, they did as they were instructed. And this story has been repeated among the Jews until this day.

“Go and Gather Disciples”

¹⁶ The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some hesitated because they were uncertain.^{[b] 18} Jesus approached and spoke to them saying, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in^[c] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.”