The Ark of the Covenant

^10 (A)“They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits^[a] and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. ¹¹ You shall overlay it with ^(B)pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it. ¹² You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its ^(C)four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. ¹³ You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. ¹⁵ The ^(D)poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. ^16 (E)And you shall put into the ark the ^(F)testimony that I shall give you.

^17 (G)“You shall make a mercy seat^[b] of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. ¹⁸ And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of ^(H)hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. ^(I)Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. ^20 (J)The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. ²¹ And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. ^22 (K)There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from ^(L)between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.

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. ² And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it. ³ 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. ⁴ And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold ⁵ and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. ⁶ 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. ⁷ And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat, ⁸ 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. ⁹ 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.

New Tablets of Stone

10 “At that time the Lord said to me, ^(A)‘Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain and ^(B)make an ark of wood. ² And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets that you broke, and ^(C)you shall put them in the ark.’ ³ So I made an ark ^(D)of acacia wood, and ^(E)cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand. ⁴ And ^(F)he wrote on the tablets, in the same writing as before, the Ten Commandments^{[a] (G)}that the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire ^(H)on the day of the assembly. And the Lord gave them to me. ⁵ Then I turned and ^(I)came down from the mountain and ^(J)put the tablets in the ark that I had made. ^(K)And there they are, as the Lord commanded me.”

⁶ (The people of Israel ^(L)journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan^[b] to Moserah. ^(M)There Aaron died, and there he was buried. And his son Eleazar ministered as priest in his place. ^7 (N)From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with brooks of water. ⁸ At that time ^(O)the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi ^(P)to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord ^(Q)to stand before the Lord to minister to him and ^(R)to bless in his name, to this day. ^9 (S)Therefore Levi has no portion or inheritance with his brothers. The Lord is his inheritance, as the Lord your God said to him.)

^10 (T)“I myself stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, ^(U)and the Lord listened to me that time also. The Lord was unwilling to destroy you. ^11 (V)And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go on your journey at the head of the people, so that they may go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give them.’

Circumcise Your Heart

¹² “And now, Israel, ^(W)what does the Lord your God require of you, but ^(X)to fear the Lord your God, ^(Y)to walk in all his ways, ^(Z)to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and ^(AA)to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today ^(AB)for your good? ¹⁴ Behold, ^(AC)to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, ^(AD)the earth with all that is in it. ¹⁵ Yet ^(AE)the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. ¹⁶ Circumcise therefore ^(AF)the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer ^(AG)stubborn. ¹⁷ For the Lord your God is ^(AH)God of gods and ^(AI)Lord of lords, ^(AJ)the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is ^(AK)not partial and takes no bribe. ^18 (AL)He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. ^19 (AM)Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. ^20 (AN)You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and ^(AO)hold fast to him, and ^(AP)by his name you shall swear. ^21 (AQ)He is your praise. He is your God, ^(AR)who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. ²² Your fathers went down to Egypt ^(AS)seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you ^(AT)as numerous as the stars of heaven.