¹⁰ “Let all the skilled workers come and make everything the Lord commanded: ¹¹ the Holy Tent, its outer tent and its covering, the hooks, frames, crossbars, posts, and bases; ¹² the Ark of the Agreement, its poles, lid, and the curtain in front of it; ¹³ the table, and its poles, all the things that go with the table, and the bread that shows we are in God’s presence; ¹⁴ the lampstand for the light and all the things that go with it, the lamps, and olive oil for the light; ¹⁵ the altar of incense and its poles, the special oil and the sweet-smelling incense, the curtain for the entrance of the Meeting Tent; ¹⁶ the altar of burnt offering and its bronze screen, its poles and all its tools, the bronze bowl and its base; ¹⁷ the curtains around the courtyard, their posts and bases, and the curtain at the entry to the courtyard; ¹⁸ the pegs of the Holy Tent and of the courtyard and their ropes; ¹⁹ the special clothes that the priest will wear in the Holy Place. These are the holy clothes for Aaron the priest and his sons to wear when they serve as priests.”

²⁰ Then all the people of Israel went away from Moses. ²¹ Everyone who wanted to give came and brought a gift to the Lord for making the Meeting Tent, all the things in the Tent, and the special clothes. ²² All the men and women who wanted to give brought gold jewelry of all kinds—pins, earrings, rings, and bracelets. They all presented their gold to the Lord. ²³ Everyone who had blue, purple, and red thread, and fine linen, and anyone who had goat hair or male sheepskins colored red or fine leather brought them to the Lord. ²⁴ Everyone who could give silver or bronze brought that as a gift to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood to be used in the work brought it. ²⁵ Every skilled woman used her hands to make the blue, purple, and red thread, and fine linen, and they brought what they had made. ²⁶ All the women who were skilled and wanted to help made thread of the goat hair. ²⁷ The leaders brought onyx stones and other jewels to put on the holy vest and chest covering for the priest. ²⁸ They also brought spices and olive oil for the sweet-smelling incense, the special oil, and the oil to burn in the lamps. ²⁹ All the men and women of Israel who wanted to help brought gifts to the Lord for all the work the Lord had commanded Moses and the people to do.

³⁰ Then Moses said to the Israelites, “Look, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. ³¹ The Lord has filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God and has given him the skill, ability, and knowledge to do all kinds of work. ³² He is able to design pieces to be made of gold, silver, and bronze, ³³ to cut stones and jewels and put them in metal, to carve wood, and to do all kinds of work. ³⁴ Also, the Lord has given Bezalel and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach from the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. ³⁵ The Lord has given them the skill to do all kinds of work. They are able to cut designs in metal and stone. They can plan and sew designs in the fine linen with the blue, purple, and red thread. And they are also able to weave things. 36 ¹ So Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person will do the work the Lord has commanded, because he gave them the wisdom and understanding to do all the skilled work needed to build the Holy Tent.”

² Then Moses called Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the other skilled people to whom the Lord had given skills, and they came because they wanted to help with the work. ³ They received from Moses everything the people of Israel had brought as gifts to build the Holy Tent. The people continued to bring gifts each morning because they wanted to. ⁴ So all the skilled workers left the work they were doing on the Holy Tent, ⁵ and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than we need to do the work the Lord commanded.”

⁶ Then Moses sent this command throughout the camp: “No man or woman should make anything else as a gift for the Holy Tent.” So the people were kept from giving more, ⁷ because what they had was already more than enough to do all the work.

The Holy Tent

⁸ Then the skilled workers made the Holy Tent. They made the ten curtains of blue, purple, and red cloth, and they sewed designs of creatures with wings on the curtains. ⁹ Each curtain was the same size—forty-two feet long and six feet wide. ¹⁰ Five of the curtains were fastened together to make one set, and the other five were fastened together to make another set. ¹¹ Then they made loops of blue cloth along the edge of the end curtain on the first set of five, and they did the same thing with the other set of five. ¹² There were fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the other curtain, with the loops opposite each other. ¹³ They made fifty gold hooks to join the two curtains together so that the Holy Tent was joined together as one piece.

¹⁴ Then the workers made another tent of eleven curtains made of goat hair, to put over the Holy Tent. ¹⁵ All eleven curtains were the same size—forty-five feet long and six feet wide. ¹⁶ The workers sewed five curtains together into one set and six together into another set. ¹⁷ They made fifty loops along the edge of the outside curtain of one set and fifty loops along the edge of the outside curtain of the other set. ¹⁸ Then they made fifty bronze rings to join the two sets of cloth together and make the tent one piece. ¹⁹ They made two more coverings for the outer tent—one made of male sheepskins colored red and the other made of fine leather.

²⁰ Then they made upright frames of acacia wood for the Holy Tent. ²¹ Each frame was fifteen feet tall and twenty-seven inches wide, ²² and there were two pegs side by side on each one. Every frame of the Holy Tent was made this same way. ²³ They made twenty frames for the south side of the Tent, ²⁴ and they made forty silver bases that went under the twenty frames. There were two bases for every frame—one for each peg of each frame. ²⁵ They also made twenty frames for the north side of the Holy Tent ²⁶ and forty silver bases—two to go under each frame. ²⁷ They made six frames for the rear or west end of the Holy Tent ²⁸ and two frames for the corners at the rear of the Holy Tent. ²⁹ These two frames were doubled at the bottom and joined at the top with a metal ring. They did this for each of these corners. ³⁰ So there were eight frames and sixteen silver bases—two bases under each frame.

³¹ Then they made crossbars of acacia wood to connect the upright frames of the Holy Tent. Five crossbars held the frames together on one side of the Tent, ³² and five held the frames together on the other side. Also, five crossbars held the frames together on the west end, at the rear of the Tent. ³³ They made the middle crossbar run along the entire length of each side and rear of the Tent. It was set halfway up the frames. ³⁴ They made gold rings on the sides of the frames to hold the crossbars, and they covered the frames and the crossbars with gold.

³⁵ Then they made the curtain of blue, purple, and red thread, and fine linen. A skilled craftsman sewed designs of creatures with wings on it. ³⁶ They made four posts of acacia wood for it and covered them with gold. Then they made gold hooks for the posts, as well as four silver bases in which to set the posts. ³⁷ For the entrance to the Tent, they made a curtain of blue, purple, and red thread, and fine linen. A person who sewed well sewed designs on it. ³⁸ Then they made five posts and hooks for it. They covered the tops of the posts and their bands with gold, and they made five bronze bases for the posts.

Jesus Is Crucified

³² As the soldiers were going out of the city with Jesus, they forced a man from Cyrene, named Simon, to carry the cross for Jesus. ³³ They all came to the place called Golgotha, which means the Place of the Skull. ³⁴ The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with gall^[a] to drink. He tasted the wine but refused to drink it. ³⁵ When the soldiers had crucified him, they threw lots to decide who would get his clothes.^{[b] 36} The soldiers sat there and continued watching him. ³⁷ They put a sign above Jesus’ head with a charge against him. It said: this is jesus, the king of the jews. ³⁸ Two robbers were crucified beside Jesus, one on the right and the other on the left. ³⁹ People walked by and insulted Jesus and shook their heads, ⁴⁰ saying, “You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days. So save yourself! Come down from that cross if you are really the Son of God!”

⁴¹ The leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the Jewish elders were also making fun of Jesus. ⁴² They said, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! He says he is the king of Israel! If he is the king, let him come down now from the cross. Then we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God, so let God save him now, if God really wants him. He himself said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ And in the same way, the robbers who were being crucified beside Jesus also insulted him.

Jesus Dies

⁴⁵ At noon the whole country became dark, and the darkness lasted for three hours. ⁴⁶ About three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” This means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

⁴⁷ Some of the people standing there who heard this said, “He is calling Elijah.”

⁴⁸ Quickly one of them ran and got a sponge and filled it with vinegar and tied it to a stick and gave it to Jesus to drink. ⁴⁹ But the others said, “Don’t bother him. We want to see if Elijah will come to save him.”

⁵⁰ But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice and died.

⁵¹ Then the curtain in the Temple^[c] was torn into two pieces, from the top to the bottom. Also, the earth shook and rocks broke apart. ⁵² The graves opened, and many of God’s people who had died were raised from the dead. ⁵³ They came out of the graves after Jesus was raised from the dead and went into the holy city, where they appeared to many people.

⁵⁴ When the army officer and the soldiers guarding Jesus saw this earthquake and everything else that happened, they were very frightened and said, “He really was the Son of God!”

⁵⁵ Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to help him were standing at a distance from the cross, watching. ⁵⁶ Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of James and John were there.

Jesus Is Buried

⁵⁷ That evening a rich man named Joseph, a follower of Jesus from the town of Arimathea, came to Jerusalem. ⁵⁸ Joseph went to Pilate and asked to have Jesus’ body. So Pilate gave orders for the soldiers to give it to Joseph. ⁵⁹ Then Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. ⁶⁰ He put Jesus’ body in a new tomb that he had cut out of a wall of rock, and he rolled a very large stone to block the entrance of the tomb. Then Joseph went away. ⁶¹ Mary Magdalene and the other woman named Mary were sitting near the tomb.

The Tomb of Jesus Is Guarded

⁶² The next day, the day after Preparation Day, the leading priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. ⁶³ They said, “Sir, we remember that while that liar was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise from the dead.’ ⁶⁴ So give the order for the tomb to be guarded closely till the third day. Otherwise, his followers might come and steal the body and tell people that he has risen from the dead. That lie would be even worse than the first one.”

⁶⁵ Pilate said, “Take some soldiers and go guard the tomb the best way you know.” ⁶⁶ So they all went to the tomb and made it safe from thieves by sealing the stone in the entrance and putting soldiers there to guard it.

Praise God Who Judges and Saves

David’s song from the time he acted crazy so Abimelech would send him away, and David did leave.