The Tabernacle Erected

40 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “^(A)On the first day of the first month you shall set up the ^[a]tabernacle of the tent of meeting. ^3 (B)You shall place the ark of the testimony there, and you shall screen the ark with the veil. ⁴ You shall ^(C)bring in the table and ^[b](D)arrange what belongs on it; and you shall ^(E)bring in the lampstand and ^[c]mount its lamps. ⁵ Moreover, you shall ^(F)set the gold altar of incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the veil for the doorway to the tabernacle. ⁶ You shall set the altar of burnt offering in front of the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. ⁷ You shall ^(G)set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water ^[d]in it. ⁸ You shall set up the court all around and ^[e]hang up the veil for the gateway of the court. ⁹ Then you shall take the anointing oil and ^(H)anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and shall consecrate it and all its ^[f]furnishings; and it shall be holy. ¹⁰ You shall anoint the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, and ^(I)the altar shall be most holy. ¹¹ You shall anoint the laver and its stand, and consecrate it. ¹² Then you shall ^(J)bring Aaron and his sons to the doorway of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. ^13 (K)You shall put the holy garments on Aaron and anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister as a priest to Me. ¹⁴ You shall bring his sons and put tunics on them; ¹⁵ and you shall anoint them even as you have anointed their father, that they may minister as priests to Me; and their anointing will ^[g]qualify them for a ^(L)perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.” ¹⁶ Thus Moses did; according to all that the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

¹⁷ Now ^(M)in the first month ^[h]of the second year, on the first day of the month, the ^[i]tabernacle was erected. ¹⁸ Moses erected the tabernacle and ^[j]laid its ^[k]sockets, and set up its boards, and ^[l]inserted its bars and erected its pillars. ¹⁹ He spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent ^[m]on top of it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²⁰ Then he took ^(N)the testimony and put it into the ark, and ^[n]attached the poles to the ark, and put the ^[o]mercy seat ^[p]on top of the ark. ²¹ He brought the ark into the tabernacle, and ^(O)set up a veil for the screen, and screened off the ark of the testimony, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²² Then he ^(P)put the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil. ²³ He set the arrangement of ^(Q)bread in order on it before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²⁴ Then he placed the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle. ²⁵ He ^(R)lighted the lamps before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²⁶ Then he ^(S)placed the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the veil; ²⁷ and he ^(T)burned fragrant incense on it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²⁸ Then he set up the ^[q]veil for the doorway of the tabernacle. ²⁹ He ^(U)set the altar of burnt offering before the doorway of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and ^(V)offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ³⁰ He placed the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing. ^31 (W)From it Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. ³² When they entered the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ³³ He ^(X)erected the court all around the ^[r]tabernacle and the altar, and ^[s]hung up the veil for the gateway of the court. Thus Moses finished the work.

The Glory of the Lord

^34 (Y)Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the ^(Z)glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses ^(AA)was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁶ Throughout all their journeys ^(AB)whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; ³⁷ but ^(AC)if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. ³⁸ For throughout all their journeys, ^(AD)the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.

Authority Challenged

^23 (A)When He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him ^(B)while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” ²⁴ Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one ^[a]thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. ²⁵ The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the ^[b]people; for they all regard John as ^(C)a prophet.” ²⁷ And answering Jesus, they said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

Parable of Two Sons

²⁸ “But what do you think? A man had two ^[c]sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘^[d]Son, go work today in the ^(D)vineyard.’ ²⁹ And he answered, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. ³⁰ The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. ³¹ Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that ^(E)the tax collectors and prostitutes ^[e]will get into the kingdom of God before you. ³² For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but ^(F)the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him.

Parable of the Landowner

³³ “Listen to another parable. ^(G)There was a ^[f]landowner who ^(H)planted a ^(I)vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to ^[g]vine-growers and ^(J)went on a journey. ³⁴ When the ^[h]harvest time approached, he ^(K)sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. ³⁵ The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Again he ^(L)sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. ³⁷ But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. ⁴⁰ Therefore when the ^[i]owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” ⁴¹ They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and ^(M)will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”

⁴² Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,

⁴³ Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a ^[j]people, producing the fruit of it. ⁴⁴ And ^(O)he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ When they sought to seize Him, they ^(P)feared the ^[k]people, because they considered Him to be a ^(Q)prophet.