The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

⁴⁴ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and ^(A)sells all that he has and ^(B)buys that field.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price

⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, ⁴⁶ who, when he had found ^(C)one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The Parable of the Dragnet

⁴⁷ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and ^(D)gathered some of every kind, ⁴⁸ which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. ⁴⁹ So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, ^(E)separate the wicked from among the just, ⁵⁰ and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

^51 [a]Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”

They said to Him, “Yes, ^[b]Lord.”

⁵² Then He said to them, “Therefore every ^[c]scribe instructed ^[d]concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure ^(F)things new and old.”

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth^(G)

⁵³ Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. ^54 (H)When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? ^55 (I)Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And ^(J)His brothers ^(K)James, ^[e]Joses, Simon, and Judas? ⁵⁶ And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” ⁵⁷ So they ^(L)were offended at Him.

But Jesus said to them, ^(M)“A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” ⁵⁸ Now ^(N)He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

²³ And ^(A)about that time there arose a great commotion about ^(B)the Way. ²⁴ For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of ^[a]Diana, brought ^(C)no small profit to the craftsmen. ²⁵ He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. ²⁶ Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that ^(D)they are not gods which are made with hands. ²⁷ So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and ^[b]her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸ Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” ²⁹ So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized ^(E)Gaius and ^(F)Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions. ³⁰ And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him. ³¹ Then some of the ^[c]officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater. ³² Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³ And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And ^(G)Alexander ^(H)motioned with his hand, and wanted to make his defense to the people. ³⁴ But when they found out that he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

³⁵ And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the great goddess ^[d]Diana, and of the image which fell down from ^[e]Zeus? ³⁶ Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. ³⁷ For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of ^[f]your goddess. ³⁸ Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a ^[g]case against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹ But if you have any other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly. ⁴⁰ For we are in danger of being ^[h]called in question for today’s uproar, there being no reason which we may give to account for this disorderly gathering.” ⁴¹ And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

The Joy of Forgiveness

A Psalm of David. A ^[a]Contemplation.

Israel Affirms the Covenant

24 Now He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, ^(A)Nadab and Abihu, ^(B)and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. ² And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near; nor shall the people go up with him.”

³ So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the ^[a]judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ^(C)“All the words which the Lord has said we will do.” ⁴ And Moses ^(D)wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve ^(E)pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵ Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered ^(F)burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. ⁶ And Moses ^(G)took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. ⁷ Then he ^(H)took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.” ⁸ And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is ^(I)the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”

On the Mountain with God

⁹ Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, ¹⁰ and they ^(J)saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of ^(K)sapphire stone, and it was like the ^(L)very^[b] heavens in its clarity. ¹¹ But on the nobles of the children of Israel He ^(M)did not ^[c]lay His hand. So ^(N)they saw God, and they ^(O)ate and drank.

¹² Then the Lord said to Moses, ^(P)“Come up to Me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you ^(Q)tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”

¹³ So Moses arose with ^(R)his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. ¹⁴ And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Indeed, Aaron and ^(S)Hur are with you. If any man has a difficulty, let him go to them.” ¹⁵ Then Moses went up into the mountain, and ^(T)a cloud covered the mountain.

¹⁶ Now ^(U)the glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day He called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. ¹⁷ The sight of the glory of the Lord was like ^(V)a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. ¹⁸ So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And ^(W)Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Offerings for the Sanctuary^(X)

25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² “Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an ^[d]offering. ^(Y)From everyone who gives it willingly with his heart you shall take My offering. ³ And this is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, and bronze; ⁴ blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; ⁵ ram skins dyed red, ^[e]badger skins, and acacia wood; ^6 (Z)oil for the light, and ^(AA)spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; ⁷ onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ^(AB)ephod and in the breastplate. ⁸ And let them make Me a ^(AC)sanctuary,^[f] that ^(AD)I may dwell among them. ⁹ According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it.

The Ark of the Testimony^(AE)

^10 (AF)“And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. ¹¹ And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of ^(AG)gold all around. ¹² You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. 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, that the ark may be carried by them. ^15 (AH)The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. ¹⁶ And you shall put into the ark ^(AI)the Testimony which I will give you.

^17 (AJ)“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. ¹⁸ And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. ²⁰ And ^(AK)the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. ^21 (AL)You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and ^(AM)in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. ²² And ^(AN)there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from ^(AO)between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.

The Table for the Showbread^(AP)

^23 (AQ)“You shall also make a table of acacia wood; two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its width, and a cubit and a half its height. ²⁴ And you shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a molding of gold all around. ²⁵ You shall make for it a frame of a handbreadth all around, and you shall make a gold molding for the frame all around. ²⁶ And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings on the four corners that are at its four legs. ²⁷ The rings shall be close to the frame, as holders for the poles to bear the table. ²⁸ And you shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them. ²⁹ You shall make ^(AR)its dishes, its pans, its pitchers, and its bowls for pouring. You shall make them of pure gold. ³⁰ And you shall set the ^(AS)showbread on the table before Me always.

The Gold Lampstand^(AT)

^31 (AU)“You shall also make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and flowers shall be of one piece. ³² And six branches shall come out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side. ^33 (AV)Three bowls shall be made like almond blossoms on one branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower, and three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower—and so for the six branches that come out of the lampstand. ^34 (AW)On the lampstand itself four bowls shall be made like almond blossoms, each with its ornamental knob and flower. ³⁵ And there shall be a knob under the first two branches of the same, a knob under the second two branches of the same, and a knob under the third two branches of the same, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. ³⁶ Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece; all of it shall be one hammered piece of pure gold. ³⁷ You shall make seven lamps for it, and ^(AX)they shall arrange its lamps so that they ^(AY)give light in front of it. ³⁸ And its wick-trimmers and their trays shall be of pure gold. ³⁹ It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. ⁴⁰ And ^(AZ)see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.

The Tabernacle^(BA)

26 “Moreover ^(BB)you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine woven linen and blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim you shall weave them. ² The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits. And every one of the curtains shall have ^[g]the same measurements. ³ Five curtains shall be coupled to one another, and the other five curtains shall be coupled to one another. ⁴ And you shall make loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain on the selvedge of one set, and likewise you shall do on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set. ⁵ Fifty loops you shall make in the one curtain, and fifty loops you shall make on the edge of the curtain that is on the end of the second set, that the loops may be clasped to one another. ⁶ And you shall make fifty clasps of gold, and couple the curtains together with the clasps, so that it may be one tabernacle.

^7 (BC)“You shall also make curtains of goats’ hair, to be a tent over the tabernacle. You shall make eleven curtains. ⁸ The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; and the eleven curtains shall all have the same measurements. ⁹ And you shall couple five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the forefront of the tent. ¹⁰ You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain of the second set. ¹¹ And you shall make fifty bronze clasps, put the clasps into the loops, and couple the tent together, that it may be one. ¹² The remnant that remains of the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that remains, shall hang over the back of the tabernacle. ¹³ And a cubit on one side and a cubit on the other side, of what remains of the length of the curtains of the tent, shall hang over the sides of the tabernacle, on this side and on that side, to cover it.

^14 (BD)“You shall also make a covering of ram skins dyed red for the tent, and a covering of badger skins above that.

¹⁵ “And for the tabernacle you shall ^(BE)make the boards of acacia wood, standing upright. ¹⁶ Ten cubits shall be the length of a board, and a cubit and a half shall be the width of each board. ¹⁷ Two ^[h]tenons shall be in each board for binding one to another. Thus you shall make for all the boards of the tabernacle. ¹⁸ And you shall make the boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. ¹⁹ You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. ²⁰ And for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, there shall be twenty boards ²¹ and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. ²² For the far side of the tabernacle, westward, you shall make six boards. ²³ And you shall also make two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. ²⁴ They shall be ^[i]coupled together at the bottom and they shall be coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus it shall be for both of them. They shall be for the two corners. ²⁵ So there shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver—sixteen sockets—two sockets under each of the boards.

²⁶ “And you shall make bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle, ²⁷ five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle, for the far side westward. ²⁸ The ^(BF)middle bar shall pass through the midst of the boards from end to end. ²⁹ You shall overlay the boards with gold, make their rings of gold as holders for the bars, and overlay the bars with gold. ³⁰ And you shall raise up the tabernacle ^(BG)according to its pattern which you were shown on the mountain.

^31 (BH)“You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim. ³² You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall be gold, upon four sockets of silver. ³³ And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring ^(BI)the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between ^(BJ)the holy place and the Most Holy. ^34 (BK)You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy. ^35 (BL)You shall set the table outside the veil, and ^(BM)the lampstand across from the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and you shall put the table on the north side.

^36 (BN)“You shall make a screen for the door of the tabernacle, woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a weaver. ³⁷ And you shall make for the screen ^(BO)five pillars of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold; their hooks shall be gold, and you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.