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14 (A)Three times a year you shall celebrate a pilgrim feast to me.[a] 15 You shall keep the feast of Unleavened Bread. As I have commanded you, you must eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for it was then that you came out of Egypt. No one shall appear before me[b] empty-handed. 16 You shall also keep the feast of the grain harvest with the first fruits of the crop that you sow in the field; and finally, the feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you collect your produce from the fields. 17 Three times a year shall all your men appear before the Lord God.
18 You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened;(B) nor shall the fat of my feast be kept overnight till the next day. 19 The choicest first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of the Lord, your God.
You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.[c]
Reward of Fidelity. 20 See, I am sending an angel(C) before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Be attentive to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your sin. My authority is within him.[d] 22 If you obey him and carry out all I tell you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.
23 My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites; and I will wipe them out. 24 Therefore, you shall not bow down to their gods and serve them, nor shall you act as they do; rather, you must demolish them and smash their sacred stones.[e](D) 25 You shall serve the Lord, your God; then he will bless your food and drink, and I will remove sickness from your midst; 26 no woman in your land will be barren or miscarry; and I will give you a full span of life.
27 I will have the terror of me precede you, so that I will throw into panic every nation you reach.(E) I will make all your enemies turn from you in flight, 28 and ahead of you I will send hornets[f] to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them all out before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild animals multiply against you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have grown numerous enough to take possession of the land. 31 (F)I will set your boundaries from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines,[g] and from the wilderness to the Euphrates; all who dwell in this land I will hand over to you and you shall drive them out before you. 32 You shall not make a covenant with them or their gods. 33 They must not live in your land. For if you serve their gods, this will become a snare to you.(G)
Chapter 24
Ratification of the Covenant. 1 Moses himself was told: Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, with Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. You shall bow down at a distance. 2 Moses alone is to come close to the Lord; the others shall not come close, and the people shall not come up with them.
3 When Moses came to the people and related all the words and ordinances of the Lord, they all answered with one voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has told us.”(H) 4 Moses then wrote down all the words of the Lord and, rising early in the morning, he built at the foot of the mountain an altar and twelve sacred stones[h] for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 (I)Then, having sent young men of the Israelites to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice young bulls as communion offerings to the Lord, 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in large bowls; the other half he splashed on the altar. 7 Taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, who answered, “All that the Lord has said, we will hear and do.” 8 Then he took the blood and splashed it on the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.”
9 Moses then went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel, 10 and they beheld the God of Israel. Under his feet there appeared to be sapphire tilework, as clear as the sky itself. 11 Yet he did not lay a hand on these chosen Israelites. They saw God,[i] and they ate and drank.
Moses on the Mountain. 12 The Lord said to Moses: Come up to me on the mountain and, while you are there, I will give you the stone tablets(J) on which I have written the commandments intended for their instruction. 13 So Moses set out with Joshua, his assistant, and went up to the mountain of God. 14 He told the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are with you. Anyone with a complaint should approach them.” 15 Moses went up the mountain. Then the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord settled upon Mount Sinai. The cloud covered it for six days, and on the seventh day he called to Moses from the midst of the cloud.(K) 17 To the Israelites the glory of the Lord was seen as a consuming fire on the top of the mountain.(L) 18 But Moses entered into the midst of the cloud and went up on the mountain. He was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.(M)
Chapter 25
Collection of Materials. 1 The Lord spoke to Moses:(N) 2 Speak to the Israelites: Let them receive contributions for me. From each you shall receive the contribution that their hearts prompt them to give me. 3 These are the contributions you shall accept from them: gold, silver, and bronze;(O) 4 violet, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair; 5 rams’ skins dyed red, and tahash[j] skins; acacia wood; 6 oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; 7 onyx stones and other gems for mounting on the ephod and the breastpiece. 8 They are to make a sanctuary for me, that I may dwell in their midst.(P) 9 According to all that I show you regarding the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of its furnishings, so you are to make it.(Q)
Plan of the Ark. 10 You shall make an ark of acacia wood,(R) two and a half cubits[k] long, one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. 11 Plate it inside and outside with pure gold, and put a molding of gold around the top of it. 12 Cast four gold rings and put them on the four supports of the ark, two rings on one side and two on the opposite side. 13 Then make poles of acacia wood and plate them with gold. 14 These poles you are to put through the rings on the sides of the ark, for carrying it; 15 they must remain in the rings of the ark and never be withdrawn. 16 In the ark you are to put the covenant which I will give you.
17 You shall then make a cover[l] of pure gold, two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide. 18 Make two cherubim[m] of beaten gold for the two ends of the cover; 19 make one cherub at one end, and the other at the other end, of one piece with the cover, at each end. 20 The cherubim shall have their wings spread out above, sheltering the cover with them; they shall face each other, with their faces looking toward the cover. 21 This cover you shall then place on top of the ark. In the ark itself you are to put the covenant which I will give you. 22 There I will meet you and there, from above the cover, between the two cherubim on the ark of the covenant, I will tell you all that I command you regarding the Israelites.
The Table. 23 You shall also make a table of acacia(S) wood, two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high. 24 Plate it with pure gold and make a molding of gold around it. 25 Make a frame[n] for it, a handbreadth high, and make a molding of gold around the frame. 26 You shall also make four rings of gold for it and fasten them at the four corners, one at each leg. 27 The rings shall be alongside the frame as holders for the poles to carry the table. 28 These poles for carrying the table you shall make of acacia wood and plate with gold. 29 You shall make its plates[o] and cups, as well as its pitchers and bowls for pouring libations; make them of pure gold. 30 On the table you shall always keep showbread set before me.(T)
The Menorah. 31 You shall make a menorah[p] of pure beaten gold(U)—its shaft and branches—with its cups and knobs and petals springing directly from it. 32 Six branches are to extend from its sides, three branches on one side, and three on the other. 33 [q]On one branch there are to be three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, each with its knob and petals; on the opposite branch there are to be three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, each with its knob and petals; and so for the six branches that extend from the menorah. 34 On the menorah there are to be four cups,[r] shaped like almond blossoms, with their knobs and petals. 35 The six branches that go out from the menorah are to have a knob under each pair. 36 Their knobs and branches shall so spring from it that the whole will form a single piece of pure beaten gold. 37 [s]You shall then make seven lamps(V) for it and so set up the lamps that they give their light on the space in front of the menorah. 38 These, as well as the trimming shears and trays,[t] must be of pure gold. 39 Use a talent[u] of pure gold for the menorah and all these utensils. 40 See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.(W)
The Coming of the Son of Man. 29 [a](A)“Immediately after the tribulation of those days,
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 (B)And then the sign of the Son of Man[b] will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 (C)And he will send out his angels[c] with a trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree.[d] 32 “Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, know that he is near, at the gates. 34 Amen, I say to you, this generation[e] will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 35 (D)Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
The Unknown Day and Hour.[f] 36 (E)“But of that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son,[g] but the Father alone. 37 [h](F)For as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 In [those] days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day that Noah entered the ark. 39 They did not know until the flood came and carried them all away. So will it be [also] at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 [i](G)Two men will be out in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left. 42 [j](H)Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come. 43 (I)Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour of night when the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and not let his house be broken into. 44 So too, you also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.
The Faithful or the Unfaithful Servant.[k] 45 (J)“Who, then, is the faithful and prudent servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household to distribute to them their food at the proper time?[l] 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master on his arrival finds doing so. 47 Amen, I say to you, he will put him in charge of all his property. 48 [m]But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is long delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with drunkards, 50 the servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour 51 (K)and will punish him severely[n] and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
Psalm 30[a]
Thanksgiving for Deliverance
1 A psalm. A song for the dedication of the Temple.[b] Of David.
I
2 I praise you, Lord, for you raised me up
and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
3 O Lord, my God,
I cried out to you for help and you healed[c] me.
4 Lord, you brought my soul up from Sheol;
you let me live, from going down to the pit.[d](A)
II
5 Sing praise to the Lord, you faithful;
give thanks to his holy memory.
6 For his anger lasts but a moment;
his favor a lifetime.
At dusk weeping comes for the night;
but at dawn there is rejoicing.
III
7 Complacent,[e] I once said,
“I shall never be shaken.”
8 Lord, you showed me favor,
established for me mountains of virtue.
But when you hid your face
I was struck with terror.(B)
9 To you, Lord, I cried out;
with the Lord I pleaded for mercy:
10 [f]“What gain is there from my lifeblood,
from my going down to the grave?
Does dust give you thanks
or declare your faithfulness?
11 Hear, O Lord, have mercy on me;
Lord, be my helper.”
IV
12 You changed my mourning into dancing;
you took off my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness.(C)
13 So that my glory may praise you
and not be silent.
O Lord, my God,
forever will I give you thanks.
24 So now, children, listen to me,[a]
be attentive to the words of my mouth!
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways,
do not go astray in her paths;
26 For many are those she has struck down dead,
numerous, those she has slain.
27 Her house is a highway to Sheol,
leading down into the chambers of death.(A)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.