People Affirm Their Covenant with God

24 Then He said to Moses, “^(A)Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, ^(B)Nadab and Abihu, and ^(C)seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance. ² Moses alone, however, shall approach the Lord, but they shall not approach, nor shall the people come up with him.”

³ Then Moses came and reported to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ^[a]ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “^(D)All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!” ⁴ And ^(E)Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he got up early in the morning, and built an ^(F)altar ^[b]at the foot of the mountain with twelve memorial stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ And he sent young men of the sons of Israel, ^(G)and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. ^6 (H)Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷ Then he took ^(I)the Book of the Covenant and read it ^[c]as the people listened; and they said, “^(J)All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” ⁸ So ^(K)Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold ^(L)the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has ^[d]made with you ^[e]in accordance with all these words.”

⁹ Then Moses went up ^[f]with Aaron, ^(M)Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, ¹⁰ and ^(N)they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet ^[g](O)there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, ^[h]as clear as the sky itself. ¹¹ Yet He did not reach out with His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and ^(P)they saw God, and they ate and drank.

¹² Now the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and ^[i]stay there, and ^(Q)I will give you the stone tablets ^[j]with the Law and the ^[k]commandments which I have written for their instruction.” ¹³ So Moses got up ^[l]along with ^(R)Joshua his ^[m]servant, and Moses went up to ^(S)the mountain of God. ¹⁴ But to the elders he said, “^(T)Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, ^(U)Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever ^[n]has a legal matter, have him approach them.” ¹⁵ Then Moses went up to the mountain, and ^(V)the cloud covered the mountain. ^16 (W)The glory of the Lord ^[o]settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He ^(X)called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. ^17 (Y)And to the eyes of the sons of Israel, the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a ^(Z)consuming fire on the mountain top. ¹⁸ Then Moses entered the midst of the cloud ^[p]as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain for ^(AA)forty days and forty nights.

Jesus Teaches at the Feast

7 After these things Jesus ^(A)was walking in Galilee, for He was unwilling to walk in Judea because ^(B)the Jews ^(C)were seeking to kill Him. ² Now the feast of the Jews, ^(D)the Feast of Booths, was near. ³ So His ^(E)brothers said to Him, “Move on from here and go into Judea, so that Your ^(F)disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. ⁴ For no one does anything in secret ^[a]when he himself is striving to be known publicly. If You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.” ⁵ For not even His ^(G)brothers believed in Him. ⁶ So Jesus *said to them, “^(H)My time is not yet here, but your time is always ready. ^7 (I)The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify about it, that ^(J)its deeds are evil. ⁸ Go up to the feast yourselves; I am not going up to this feast, because ^(K)My time has not yet fully arrived.” ⁹ Now having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ But when His ^(L)brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as though in secret. ^11 (M)So the Jews ^(N)were looking for Him at the feast and saying, “Where is He?” ¹² And there was a great deal of talk about Him in secret among the crowds: ^(O)some were saying, “He is a good man”; others were saying, “No, on the contrary, He is misleading the people.” ¹³ However, no one was speaking openly about Him, for ^(P)fear of ^[b]the Jews.

¹⁴ But when it was now the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple area, and began to ^(Q)teach. ^15 (R)The Jews then were astonished, saying, “How has this man ^(S)become learned, not having been educated?” ¹⁶ So Jesus answered them and said, “^(T)My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me. ^17 (U)If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know about the teaching, whether it is of God, or I am speaking from Myself. ¹⁸ The one who speaks from himself ^(V)seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

¹⁹ “^(W)Did Moses not give you the Law, and yet none of you carries out the Law? Why are you ^(X)seeking to kill Me?” ²⁰ The crowd answered, “^(Y)You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill You?” ²¹ Jesus answered them, “I did ^(Z)one ^[c]deed, and you all are astonished. ²² For this reason ^(AA)Moses has given you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from ^(AB)the fathers), and even on a Sabbath you circumcise a man. ^23 (AC)If a man receives circumcision on a Sabbath so that the Law of Moses will not be broken, are you angry at Me because I made an entire man well on a Sabbath? ²⁴ Do not ^(AD)judge by the outward appearance, but judge ^[d]with righteous judgment.”

Offerings for the Sanctuary

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “^(A)Tell the sons of Israel to take a ^[a]contribution for Me; ^(B)from everyone whose heart moves him you shall take My ^[b]contribution. ³ This is the ^[c]contribution which you are to take from them: gold, silver, and bronze, ^4 [d](C)violet, purple, and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, ⁵ rams’ skins dyed red, ^[e]fine leather, acacia wood, ^6 (D)oil for lighting, ^(E)balsam oil for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, ⁷ onyx stones and setting stones for the ^(F)ephod and for the ^[f](G)breastpiece. ⁸ Have them ^(H)construct a sanctuary for Me, ^(I)so that I may dwell among them. ^9 (J)According to all that I am going to show you as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, so you shall construct it.

Ark of the Covenant

¹⁰ “Now ^(K)they shall construct an ^[g]ark of acacia wood ^[h]two and a half cubits ^[i]long, one and a half cubits ^[j]wide, and one and a half cubits ^[k]high. ¹¹ You shall ^(L)overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding ^[l]around it. ¹² You shall also cast four gold rings for it and ^[m]fasten them on its four feet; two rings shall be on one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. ¹³ And you shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. ¹⁵ The ^(M)poles shall ^[n]remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it. ¹⁶ You shall ^(N)put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.

¹⁷ “And you shall ^(O)make ^[o]an atoning cover of pure gold, ^[p]two and a half cubits ^[q]long and one and a half cubits ^[r]wide. ¹⁸ You shall make two cherubim of gold; make them of hammered work ^[s]at the two ends of the atoning cover. ¹⁹ Make one cherub ^[t]at one end and one cherub ^[u]at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece ^[v]with the atoning cover at its two ends. ²⁰ And ^(P)the cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the atoning cover with their wings and ^[w]facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the atoning cover. ²¹ Then ^(Q)you shall put the atoning cover ^[x]on top of the ark, and ^(R)in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. ^22 (S)There I will meet with you; and from above the atoning cover, from ^(T)between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about ^[y]every commandment that I will give you for the sons of Israel.

Correcting False Teaching

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of ^(B)Christ Jesus ^(C)according to the commandment of ^(D)God our Savior, and of ^(E)Christ Jesus, who is our ^(F)hope,

² To ^(G)Timothy, ^(H)my true ^[a]son in the faith: ^(I)Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and ^(J)Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ Just as I urged you ^[b]upon my departure for ^(K)Macedonia, to remain on at ^(L)Ephesus so that you would instruct certain people not to ^(M)teach strange doctrines, ⁴ nor to ^[c]pay attention to ^(N)myths and endless ^(O)genealogies, which give rise to useless ^(P)speculation rather than ^(Q)advance ^[d]the plan of God, which is by faith, so I urge you now. ⁵ But the goal of our ^[e](R)instruction is love ^(S)from a pure heart, from a ^(T)good conscience, and from a sincere ^(U)faith. ⁶ Some people have strayed from these things and have turned aside to ^(V)fruitless discussion, ^7 (W)wanting to be ^(X)teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

⁸ But we know that ^(Y)the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, ⁹ realizing the fact that ^(Z)law is not made for a righteous person but for those who are lawless and ^(AA)rebellious, for the ^(AB)ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and ^(AC)worldly, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ for the ^[f](AD)sexually immoral, ^(AE)homosexuals, ^[g](AF)slave traders, ^(AG)liars, ^(AH)perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to ^(AI)sound teaching, ¹¹ according to ^(AJ)the glorious gospel of ^(AK)the blessed God, with which I have been ^(AL)entrusted.

Paul’s Testimony

¹² I thank ^(AM)Christ Jesus our Lord, who has ^(AN)strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, ^(AO)putting me into service, ¹³ even though I was previously a blasphemer and a ^(AP)persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was ^(AQ)shown mercy because ^(AR)I acted ignorantly in unbelief; ¹⁴ and the ^(AS)grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the ^(AT)faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. ^15 (AU)It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that ^(AV)Christ Jesus came into the world to ^(AW)save sinners, among whom ^(AX)I am foremost. ¹⁶ Yet for this reason I ^(AY)found mercy, so that in me as the foremost sinner Jesus Christ might ^(AZ)demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those ^[h]who would believe in Him for eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the ^(BA)King ^[i]eternal, ^(BB)immortal, ^(BC)invisible, the ^(BD)only God, ^(BE)be honor and glory ^[j]forever and ever. Amen.