The Altar of Burnt Offering

27 “You shall make the altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide; the altar shall be square, and it shall be three cubits high.^{(A) 2} You shall make horns for it on its four corners; its horns shall be of one piece with it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. ³ You shall make pots for its ashes and shovels and basins and forks and firepans; you shall make all its utensils of bronze.^{(B) 4} You shall also make for it a grating, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. ⁵ You shall set it under the ledge of the altar so that the net shall extend halfway down the altar. ⁶ You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze; ⁷ the poles shall be put through the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when it is carried. ⁸ You shall make it hollow, with boards. They shall be made just as you were shown on the mountain.^(C)

The Court and Its Hangings

⁹ “You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side the court shall have hangings of fine twisted linen one hundred cubits long for that side;^{(D) 10} its twenty pillars and their twenty bases shall be of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.^{(E) 11} Likewise for its length on the north side there shall be hangings one hundred cubits long, their pillars twenty and their bases twenty, of bronze, but the hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver. ¹² For the width of the court on the west side there shall be fifty cubits of hangings, with ten pillars and ten bases. ¹³ The width of the court on the front to the east shall be fifty cubits. ¹⁴ There shall be fifteen cubits of hangings on one side, with three pillars and three bases.^{(F) 15} There shall be fifteen cubits of^[a] hangings on the other side, with three pillars and three bases. ¹⁶ For the gate of the court there shall be a screen twenty cubits long, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns and of fine twisted linen, embroidered with needlework; it shall have four pillars and with them four bases.^{(G) 17} All the pillars around the court shall be banded with silver; their hooks shall be of silver and their bases of bronze. ¹⁸ The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, the width fifty, and the height five cubits, with hangings of fine twisted linen and bases of bronze. ¹⁹ All the utensils of the tabernacle for every use, and all its pegs and all the pegs of the court, shall be of bronze.

The Oil for the Lamp

²⁰ “You shall further command the Israelites to bring you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, so that a lamp may be set up to burn continually.^{(H) 21} In the tent of meeting, outside the curtain that is before the covenant, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual ordinance to be observed throughout their generations by the Israelites.^(I)

5 ¹ For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.^(A)

The Nature of Christian Freedom

² Listen! I, Paul, am telling you that, if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. ³ Once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the entire law. ⁴ You who want to be reckoned as righteous^[a] by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.^{(B) 5} For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.^{(C) 6} For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything; the only thing that counts is faith working^[b] through love.^(D)

⁷ You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth?^{(E) 8} Such persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. ⁹ A little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough. ¹⁰ I am confident about you in the Lord that you will not think otherwise. But whoever it is that is confusing you will pay the penalty.^{(F) 11} But my brothers and sisters, why am I still being persecuted if I am still preaching circumcision? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. ¹² I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves!

¹³ For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence,^[c] but through love become enslaved to one another.^{(G) 14} For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”^{(H) 15} If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

The Works of the Flesh

¹⁶ Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.^{(I) 17} For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.^{(J) 18} But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.^{(K) 19} Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery,^{(L) 20} idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, ²¹ envy,^[d] drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.^(M)

The Fruit of the Spirit

²² By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,^{(N) 23} gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. ²⁴ And those who belong to Christ^[e] have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.^{(O) 25} If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.