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.

¹⁷ So the tabernacle^(V) was set up on the first day of the first month^(W) in the second year. ¹⁸ When Moses^(X) set up the tabernacle, he put the bases in place, erected the frames,^(Y) inserted the crossbars and set up the posts. ¹⁹ Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering^(Z) over the tent, as the Lord commanded^(AA) him.

²⁰ He took the tablets of the covenant law^(AB) and placed them in the ark,^(AC) attached the poles to the ark and put the atonement cover^(AD) over it. ²¹ Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle and hung the shielding curtain^(AE) and shielded the ark of the covenant law, as the Lord commanded^(AF) him.

²² Moses placed the table^(AG) in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain ²³ and set out the bread^(AH) on it before the Lord, as the Lord commanded^(AI) him.

²⁴ He placed the lampstand^(AJ) in the tent of meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle ²⁵ and set up the lamps^(AK) before the Lord, as the Lord commanded^(AL) him.

²⁶ Moses placed the gold altar^(AM) in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain ²⁷ and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord commanded^(AN) him.

²⁸ Then he put up the curtain^(AO) at the entrance to the tabernacle. ²⁹ He set the altar^(AP) of burnt offering near the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it burnt offerings and grain offerings,^(AQ) as the Lord commanded^(AR) him.

³⁰ He placed the basin^(AS) between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, ³¹ and Moses and Aaron and his sons used it to wash^(AT) their hands and feet. ³² They washed whenever they entered the tent of meeting or approached the altar,^(AU) as the Lord commanded^(AV) Moses.

³³ Then Moses set up the courtyard^(AW) around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain^(AX) at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.

The Glory of the Lord

³⁴ Then the cloud^(AY) covered the tent of meeting, and the glory^(AZ) of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory^(BA) of the Lord filled the tabernacle.^(BB)

³⁶ In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out;^{(BC) 37} but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. ³⁸ So the cloud^(BD) of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.

Jesus Sentenced to Be Crucified^(A)

19 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.^{(B) 2} The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe ³ and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!”^(C) And they slapped him in the face.^(D)

⁴ Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out^(E) to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”^{(F) 5} When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe,^(G) Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

⁶ As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!”

But Pilate answered, “You take him and crucify him.^(H) As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him.”^(I)

⁷ The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die,^(J) because he claimed to be the Son of God.”^(K)

⁸ When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, ⁹ and he went back inside the palace.^(L) “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer.^{(M) 10} “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”

¹¹ Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.^(N) Therefore the one who handed me over to you^(O) is guilty of a greater sin.”

¹² From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king^(P) opposes Caesar.”

¹³ When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat^(Q) at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic^(R) is Gabbatha). ¹⁴ It was the day of Preparation^(S) of the Passover; it was about noon.^(T)

“Here is your king,”^(U) Pilate said to the Jews.

¹⁵ But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

¹⁶ Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.^(V)

The Crucifixion of Jesus^(W)

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷ Carrying his own cross,^(X) he went out to the place of the Skull^(Y) (which in Aramaic^(Z) is called Golgotha). ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others^(AA)—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

¹⁹ Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: jesus of nazareth,^(AB) the king of the jews.^{(AC) 20} Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city,^(AD) and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. ²¹ The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, “Do not write ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews.”^(AE)

²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

²³ When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom.

²⁴ “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.”

This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled^(AF) that said,

So this is what the soldiers did.

²⁵ Near the cross^(AH) of Jesus stood his mother,^(AI) his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.^{(AJ) 26} When Jesus saw his mother^(AK) there, and the disciple whom he loved^(AL) standing nearby, he said to her, “Woman,^[b] here is your son,” ²⁷ and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

The Death of Jesus^(AM)

²⁸ Later, knowing that everything had now been finished,^(AN) and so that Scripture would be fulfilled,^(AO) Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar^(AP) was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”^(AQ) With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

³¹ Now it was the day of Preparation,^(AR) and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jewish leaders did not want the bodies left on the crosses^(AS) during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. ³² The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other.^{(AT) 33} But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. ³⁴ Instead, one of the soldiers pierced^(AU) Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water.^{(AV) 35} The man who saw it^(AW) has given testimony, and his testimony is true.^(AX) He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. ³⁶ These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled:^(AY) “Not one of his bones will be broken,”^{[c](AZ) 37} and, as another scripture says, “They will look on the one they have pierced.”^[d](BA)

The Burial of Jesus^(BB)

³⁸ Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders.^(BC) With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away. ³⁹ He was accompanied by Nicodemus,^(BD) the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.^{[e] 40} Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen.^(BE) This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.^{(BF) 41} At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. ⁴² Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation^(BG) and since the tomb was nearby,^(BH) they laid Jesus there.

No Confidence in the Flesh

3 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again,^(A) and it is a safeguard for you. ² Watch out for those dogs,^(B) those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. ³ For it is we who are the circumcision,^(C) we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus,^(D) and who put no confidence in the flesh— ⁴ though I myself have reasons for such confidence.^(E)

If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised^(F) on the eighth day, of the people of Israel,^(G) of the tribe of Benjamin,^(H) a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee;^{(I) 6} as for zeal,^(J) persecuting the church;^(K) as for righteousness based on the law,^(L) faultless.

⁷ But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss^(M) for the sake of Christ. ⁸ What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing^(N) Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ^{(O) 9} and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law,^(P) but that which is through faith in^[a] Christ—the righteousness^(Q) that comes from God on the basis of faith.^{(R) 10} I want to know^(S) Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings,^(T) becoming like him in his death,^{(U) 11} and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection^(V) from the dead.

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal,^(W) but I press on to take hold^(X) of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.^{(Y) 13} Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind^(Z) and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on^(AA) toward the goal to win the prize^(AB) for which God has called^(AC) me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Following Paul’s Example

¹⁵ All of us, then, who are mature^(AD) should take such a view of things.^(AE) And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.^{(AF) 16} Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

¹⁷ Join together in following my example,^(AG) brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.^{(AH) 18} For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears,^(AI) many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.^{(AJ) 19} Their destiny^(AK) is destruction, their god is their stomach,^(AL) and their glory is in their shame.^(AM) Their mind is set on earthly things.^{(AN) 20} But our citizenship^(AO) is in heaven.^(AP) And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,^{(AQ) 21} who, by the power^(AR) that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies^(AS) so that they will be like his glorious body.^(AT)