The Craftsmen for the Tent^(A)

31 The Lord said to Moses, ² “I have chosen Bezalel, son of Uri and grandson of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. ³ I have filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, making him highly skilled, resourceful, and knowledgeable in all trades. ⁴ He’s a master artist familiar with gold, silver, and bronze. ⁵ He knows how to cut and set stones and how to work with wood. He’s an expert in all trades. ⁶ Also, I have appointed Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, to help him. I have given every craftsman the skill necessary to make everything I have commanded you: ⁷ the tent of meeting, the ark containing the words of my promise with the throne of mercy on it, and all the ⌞other⌟ furnishings for the tent, ⁸ the table and the dishes, the pure ⌞gold⌟ lamp stand and all its utensils, the altar for incense, ⁹ the altar for burnt offerings and all its accessories, the basin with its stand, ¹⁰ the special clothes—the holy clothes for the priest Aaron and the clothes for his sons when they serve as priests, ¹¹ the anointing oil, and the sweet-smelling incense for the holy place. They will make all these things as I commanded you.”

The Sign between the Lord and His People

¹² The Lord said to Moses, ¹³ “Say to the Israelites, ‘Be sure to observe my days of rest as holy days. This will be a sign between me and you for generations to come so that you will know that I am the Lord who makes you holy.

¹⁴ “ ‘Observe the day of rest because it is holy to you. Whoever treats it like any other day must be put to death. Whoever works on that day must be excluded from the people. ¹⁵ You may work for six days, but the seventh day is a day of rest—a holy day, a day when you don’t work. It is holy to the Lord. Whoever works on that day must be put to death. ¹⁶ The Israelites must observe this day of rest as a holy day, celebrating it for generations to come as a permanent reminder of my promise.^{[a] 17} It will be a permanent sign between me and the Israelites, because the Lord made heaven and earth in six days, and on the seventh day he stopped working and was refreshed.’ ”

¹⁸ The Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai. Then he gave him the two tablets with his words on them, stone tablets inscribed by God himself.

Jesus Has Authority over the Day of Rest—a Holy Day^(A)

6 Once, on a day of rest—a holy day, Jesus was walking through some grainfields. His disciples were picking the heads of grain, removing the husks, and eating the grain.

² Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are your disciples doing something that is not right to do on the day of rest—a holy day?”

³ Jesus answered them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his men were hungry? ⁴ Haven’t you read how he went into the house of God, ate the bread of the presence, and gave some of it to the men who were with him? He had no right to eat those loaves. Only the priests have that right.”

⁵ Then he added, “The Son of Man has authority over the day of rest—a holy day.”

Jesus Heals on the Day of Rest—a Holy Day^(B)

⁶ On another day of rest—a holy day, Jesus went into a synagogue to teach. A man whose right hand was paralyzed was there. ⁷ The experts in Moses’ Teachings and the Pharisees were watching Jesus closely. They wanted to see whether he would heal the man on the day of rest—a holy day, so that they could find a way to accuse him of doing something wrong.

⁸ But Jesus knew what they were thinking. So he told the man with the paralyzed hand, “Get up, and stand in the center ⌞of the synagogue⌟!” The man got up and stood there. ⁹ Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you—what is the right thing to do on a day of rest—a holy day: to do good or evil, to give a person his health or to destroy it?” ¹⁰ He looked around at all of them and then said to the man, “Hold out your hand.” The man did so, and his hand became normal again.

¹¹ The experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees were furious and began to discuss with each other what they could do to Jesus.

Jesus Appoints Twelve Apostles^(C)

¹² At that time Jesus went to a mountain to pray. He spent the whole night in prayer to God.

¹³ When it was day, he called his disciples. He chose twelve of them and called them apostles. ¹⁴ They were Simon (whom Jesus named Peter) and Simon’s brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, ¹⁵ Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the Zealot), ¹⁶ Judas (son of James), and Judas Iscariot (who became a traitor).

Many People Are Cured^(D)

¹⁷ Jesus came down from the mountain with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples and many other people were there. They had come from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. ¹⁸ They wanted to hear him and be cured of their diseases. Those who were tormented by evil spirits were cured. ¹⁹ The entire crowd was trying to touch him because power was coming from him and curing all of them.