Making the Ark

37 (A)Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits[a] and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it. And he cast for it four rings of gold for its (B)four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side. And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat, one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.

Making the Table

10 (C)He also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 11 And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a molding of gold around it. 12 And he made a rim around it a handbreadth[b] wide, and made a molding of gold around the rim. 13 He cast for it four rings of gold and fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 14 Close to the frame were the rings, as holders for the poles to carry the table. 15 He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table, and overlaid them with gold. 16 And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings.

Making the Lampstand

17 (D)He also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it. 18 And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 19 three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. 20 And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, 21 and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out of it. 22 Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole of it was a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. 23 And he made its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold. 24 He made it and all its utensils out of a talent[c] of pure gold.

Making the Altar of Incense

25 (E)He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit. It was square, and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it. 26 He overlaid it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And he made a molding of gold around it, 27 and made two rings of gold on it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, as holders for the poles with which to carry it. 28 And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

29 (F)He made the holy anointing oil also, and the (G)pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer.

Making the Altar of Burnt Offering

38 (H)He made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood. Five cubits[d] was its length, and five cubits its breadth. It was square, and three cubits was its height. He made horns for it on its four corners. Its horns were of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with bronze. And he made all the utensils of the altar, the pots, the shovels, the basins, the forks, and the fire pans. He made all its utensils of bronze. And he made for the altar a grating, a network of bronze, under its ledge, extending halfway down. He cast four rings on the four corners of the bronze grating as holders for the poles. He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. And he put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it with them. He made it hollow, with boards.

Making the Bronze Basin

(I)He made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the (J)ministering women who ministered in the entrance of the tent of meeting.

Making the Court

(K)And he made the court. For the south side the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, a hundred cubits; 10 their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 11 And for the north side there were hangings of a hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 12 And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their ten pillars, and their ten bases; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. 13 And for the front to the east, fifty cubits. 14 The hangings for one side of the gate were fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and three bases. 15 And so for the other side. On both sides of the gate of the court were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases. 16 All the hangings around the court were of fine twined linen. 17 And the bases for the pillars were of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver. The overlaying of their capitals was also of silver, and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver. 18 And the screen for the gate of the court was embroidered with needlework in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high in its breadth, corresponding to the hangings of the court. 19 And their pillars were four in number. Their four bases were of bronze, their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their capitals and their fillets of silver. 20 And all the pegs for the tabernacle and for the court all around were of bronze.

Materials for the Tabernacle

21 These are the records of the tabernacle, (L)the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites (M)under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 22 (N)Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses; 23 and with him was (O)Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.

24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels,[e] by (P)the shekel of the sanctuary. 25 The silver from those of the congregation who were recorded was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary: 26 a (Q)beka[f] a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for (R)603,550 men. 27 The hundred talents of silver were for casting the (S)bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent a base. 28 And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their capitals and made fillets for them. 29 The bronze that was offered was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels; 30 with it he made the (T)bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, (U)the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar, 31 the (V)bases around the court, and the (W)bases of the gate of the court, all the (X)pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs around the court.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 37:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
  2. Exodus 37:12 A handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters
  3. Exodus 37:24 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms
  4. Exodus 38:1 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
  5. Exodus 38:24 A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms; a shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
  6. Exodus 38:26 A beka was about 1/5 ounce or 5.5 grams

10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
    and find (A)no fault in them.[a]
11 And they say, (B)“How can God know?
    Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
    always at ease, they (C)increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I (D)kept my heart clean
    and (E)washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been (F)stricken
    and (G)rebuked (H)every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
    I would have betrayed (I)the generation of your children.

16 But when I thought how to understand this,
    it seemed to me (J)a wearisome task,
17 until I went into (K)the sanctuary of God;
    then I discerned their (L)end.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 73:10 Probable reading; Hebrew the waters of a full cup are drained by them

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

(A)The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, (B)the son of David, (C)the son of Abraham.

(D)Abraham was the father of Isaac, and (E)Isaac the father of Jacob, and (F)Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and (G)Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram,[a] and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by (H)Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and (I)Jesse the father of David the king.

And (J)David was the father of Solomon by (K)the wife of Uriah, and (L)Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,[b] and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, (M)and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 10 and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos,[c] and Amos the father of Josiah, 11 and (N)Josiah the father of (O)Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

12 And after the deportation to Babylon: (P)Jechoniah was the father of (Q)Shealtiel,[d] and (R)Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, 13 and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, 14 and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, 15 and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, 16 and Jacob the father of (S)Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to (T)the Christ fourteen generations.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

18 Now the birth of (U)Jesus Christ[e] took place in this way. (V)When his mother Mary had been betrothed[f] to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child (W)from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling (X)to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, (Y)an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and (Z)you shall call his name Jesus, (AA)for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 (AB)All this took place (AC)to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

23 (AD)“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
    and they shall call his name (AE)Immanuel”

(which means, God (AF)with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And (AG)he called his name Jesus.

The Visit of the Wise Men

Now (AH)after Jesus was born in (AI)Bethlehem of Judea (AJ)in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men[g] from (AK)the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born (AL)king of the Jews? For we saw (AM)his star when it rose[h] and have come to (AN)worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where (AO)the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

(AP)“‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
    who will (AQ)shepherd my people Israel.’”

Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, (AR)they offered him gifts, (AS)gold and (AT)frankincense and (AU)myrrh. 12 And (AV)being warned (AW)in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

The Flight to Egypt

13 Now when they had departed, behold, (AX)an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. (AY)This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, (AZ)“Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Herod Kills the Children

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 (BA)Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:

18 (BB)“A voice was heard in Ramah,
    weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
    she refused to be comforted, because they (BC)are no more.”

The Return to Nazareth

19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for (BD)those who sought the child's life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and (BE)being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called (BF)Nazareth, (BG)so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

(BH)In those days (BI)John the Baptist came preaching in (BJ)the wilderness of Judea, (BK)“Repent, for (BL)the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”[i] For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,

(BM)“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
(BN)‘Prepare[j] the way of the Lord;
    make his paths straight.’”

Now John wore (BO)a garment of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was (BP)locusts and (BQ)wild honey. Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, (BR)confessing their sins.

But when he saw many of (BS)the Pharisees and (BT)Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, (BU)“You brood of (BV)vipers! Who warned you to flee from (BW)the wrath to come? Bear fruit (BX)in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, (BY)‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from (BZ)these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. (CA)Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 (CB)“I baptize you with water (CC)for repentance, but (CD)he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you (CE)with the Holy Spirit and (CF)fire. 12 His (CG)winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and (CH)gather his wheat into the barn, (CI)but the chaff he will burn with (CJ)unquenchable fire.”

The Baptism of Jesus

13 (CK)Then Jesus came (CL)from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 (CM)John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, (CN)the heavens were opened to him,[k] and he (CO)saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, (CP)a voice from heaven said, (CQ)“This is my beloved Son,[l] with whom I am well pleased.”

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 1:3 Greek Aram; also verse 4
  2. Matthew 1:7 Asaph is probably an alternate spelling of Asa; some manuscripts Asa; also verse 8
  3. Matthew 1:10 Amos is probably an alternate spelling of Amon; some manuscripts Amon; twice in this verse
  4. Matthew 1:12 Greek Salathiel; twice in this verse
  5. Matthew 1:18 Some manuscripts of the Christ
  6. Matthew 1:18 That is, legally pledged to be married
  7. Matthew 2:1 Greek magi; also verses 7, 16
  8. Matthew 2:2 Or in the east; also verse 9
  9. Matthew 3:2 Or the kingdom of heaven has come near
  10. Matthew 3:3 Or crying: Prepare in the wilderness
  11. Matthew 3:16 Some manuscripts omit to him
  12. Matthew 3:17 Or my Son, my (or the) Beloved

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