M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan
36 “Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the other workers to whom the Lord has given skill and understanding, who know how to make everything needed to build the sacred Tent, are to make everything just as the Lord has commanded.”
The People Bring Many Gifts
2 Moses called Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the other skilled men to whom the Lord had given ability and who were willing to help, and Moses told them to start working. 3 They received from him all the offerings which the Israelites had brought for constructing the sacred Tent. But the people of Israel continued to bring Moses their offerings every morning. 4 Then the skilled men who were doing the work went 5 and told Moses, “The people are bringing more than is needed for the work which the Lord commanded to be done.”
6 So Moses sent a command throughout the camp that no one was to make any further contribution for the sacred Tent; so the people did not bring any more. 7 What had already been brought was more than enough to finish all the work.
Making the Tent of the Lord's Presence(A)
8 The most skilled men among those doing the work made the Tent of the Lord's presence. They made it out of ten pieces of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. 9 Each piece was the same size, 14 yards long and 2 yards wide. 10 They sewed five of them together in one set and did the same with the other five. 11 They made loops of blue cloth on the edge of the outside piece in each set. 12 They put fifty loops on the first piece of the first set and fifty loops matching them on the last piece of the second set. 13 They made fifty gold hooks, with which to join the two sets into one piece.
14 Then they made a cover for the Tent out of eleven pieces of cloth made of goats' hair. 15 They made them all the same size, 15 yards long and 2 yards wide. 16 They sewed five of them together in one set and the other six in another set. 17 They put fifty loops on the edge of the last piece of one set and fifty loops on the edge of the other set. 18 They made fifty bronze hooks to join the two sets, so as to form one cover. 19 They made two more coverings, one of rams' skin dyed red and the other of fine leather, to serve as an outer cover.
20 They made upright frames of acacia wood for the Tent. 21 Each frame was 15 feet tall and 27 inches wide, 22 with two matching projections, so that the frames could be joined together. All the frames had these projections. 23 They made twenty frames for the south side 24 and forty silver bases to go under them, two bases under each frame to hold its two projections. 25 They made twenty frames for the north side of the Tent 26 and forty silver bases, two under each frame. 27 For the back of the Tent, on the west, they made six frames 28 and two frames for the corners. 29 These corner frames were joined at the bottom and connected all the way to the top. The two frames that formed the two corners were made in this way. 30 So there were eight frames and sixteen silver bases, two under each frame.
31 They made fifteen crossbars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the Tent, 32 five for the frames on the other side, and five for the frames on the west end, at the back. 33 The middle crossbar, set halfway up the frames, extended from one end of the Tent to the other. 34 They covered the frames with gold and fitted them with gold rings to hold the crossbars, which were also covered with gold.
35 They made a curtain of fine linen, woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered it with figures of winged creatures. 36 They made four posts of acacia wood to hold the curtain, covered them with gold, and fitted them with gold hooks. Then they made four silver bases to hold the posts. 37 For the entrance of the Tent they made a curtain of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool and decorated with embroidery. 38 For this curtain they made five posts fitted with hooks, covered their tops and their rods with gold, and made five bronze bases for the posts.
Jesus the Real Vine
15 “I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. 3 You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you. 4 Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5 “I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me. 6 Those who do not remain in me are thrown out like a branch and dry up; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, where they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, then you will ask for anything you wish, and you shall have it. 8 My Father's glory is shown by your bearing much fruit; and in this way you become my disciples. 9 I love you just as the Father loves me; remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love.
11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 (A)My commandment is this: love one another, just as I love you. 13 The greatest love you can have for your friends is to give your life for them. 14 And you are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, because servants do not know what their master is doing. Instead, I call you friends, because I have told you everything I heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me; I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit, the kind of fruit that endures. And so the Father will give you whatever you ask of him in my name. 17 This, then, is what I command you: love one another.
The World's Hatred
18 “If the world hates you, just remember that it has hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, then the world would love you as its own. But I chose you from this world, and you do not belong to it; that is why the world hates you. 20 (B)Remember what I told you: ‘Slaves are not greater than their master.’ If people persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours too. 21 But they will do all this to you because you are mine; for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 They would not have been guilty of sin if I had not come and spoken to them; as it is, they no longer have any excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father also. 24 They would not have been guilty of sin if I had not done among them the things that no one else ever did; as it is, they have seen what I did, and they hate both me and my Father. 25 (C)This, however, was bound to happen so that what is written in their Law may come true: ‘They hated me for no reason at all.’
26 “The Helper will come—the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God and who comes from the Father. I will send him to you from the Father, and he will speak about me. 27 And you, too, will speak about me, because you have been with me from the very beginning.
12 (A)Any who love knowledge want to be told when they are wrong. It is stupid to hate being corrected.
2 The Lord is pleased with good people, but condemns those who plan evil.
3 Wickedness does not give security, but righteous people stand firm.
4 A good wife is her husband's pride and joy; but a wife who brings shame on her husband is like a cancer in his bones.
5 Honest people will treat you fairly; the wicked only want to deceive you.
6 The words of the wicked are murderous, but the words of the righteous rescue those who are threatened.
7 The wicked meet their downfall and leave no descendants, but the families of the righteous live on.
8 If you are intelligent, you will be praised; if you are stupid, people will look down on you.
9 It is better to be an ordinary person working for a living than to play the part of someone great but go hungry.
10 Good people take care of their animals, but wicked people are cruel to theirs.
11 A hard-working farmer has plenty to eat, but it is stupid to waste time on useless projects.
12 All that wicked people want is to find evil things to do, but the righteous stand firm.[a]
13 The wicked are trapped by their own words, but honest people get themselves out of trouble.
14 Your reward depends on what you say and what you do; you will get what you deserve.
15 Stupid people always think they are right. Wise people listen to advice.
16 When a fool is annoyed, he quickly lets it be known. Smart people will ignore an insult.
17 When you tell the truth, justice is done, but lies lead to injustice.
18 Thoughtless words can wound as deeply as any sword, but wisely spoken words can heal.
19 A lie has a short life, but truth lives on forever.
20 Those who plan evil are in for a rude surprise, but those who work for good will find happiness.
21 Nothing bad happens to righteous people, but the wicked have nothing but trouble.
22 The Lord hates liars, but is pleased with those who keep their word.
23 Smart people keep quiet about what they know, but stupid people advertise their ignorance.
24 Hard work will give you power; being lazy will make you a slave.
25 Worry can rob you of happiness, but kind words will cheer you up.
26 The righteous person is a guide to his friend, but the path of the wicked leads them astray.
27 If you are lazy, you will never get what you are after, but if you work hard, you will get a fortune.[b]
28 Righteousness is the road to life; wickedness[c] is the road to death.
Living in the Light
5 Since you are God's dear children, you must try to be like him. 2 (A)Your life must be controlled by love, just as Christ loved us and gave his life for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice that pleases God.
3 Since you are God's people, it is not right that any matters of sexual immorality or indecency or greed should even be mentioned among you. 4 Nor is it fitting for you to use language which is obscene, profane, or vulgar. Rather you should give thanks to God. 5 You may be sure that no one who is immoral, indecent, or greedy (for greed is a form of idolatry) will ever receive a share in the Kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Do not let anyone deceive you with foolish words; it is because of these very things that God's anger will come upon those who do not obey him. 7 So have nothing at all to do with such people. 8 You yourselves used to be in the darkness, but since you have become the Lord's people, you are in the light. So you must live like people who belong to the light, 9 for it is the light[a] that brings a rich harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth. 10 Try to learn what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the worthless things that people do, things that belong to the darkness. Instead, bring them out to the light. (12 It is really too shameful even to talk about the things they do in secret.) 13 And when all things are brought out to the light, then their true nature is clearly revealed; 14 for anything that is clearly revealed becomes light.[b] That is why it is said,
“Wake up, sleeper,
and rise from death,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15 So be careful how you live. Don't live like ignorant people, but like wise people. 16 (B)Make good use of every opportunity you have, because these are evil days. 17 Don't be fools, then, but try to find out what the Lord wants you to do.
18 Do not get drunk with wine, which will only ruin you; instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 (C)Speak to one another with the words of psalms, hymns, and sacred songs; sing hymns and psalms to the Lord with praise in your hearts. 20 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, always give thanks for everything to God the Father.
Wives and Husbands
21 Submit yourselves to one another because of your reverence for Christ.
22 (D)Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For a husband has authority over his wife just as Christ has authority over the church; and Christ is himself the Savior of the church, his body. 24 And so wives must submit themselves completely to their husbands just as the church submits itself to Christ.
25 (E)Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. 26 He did this to dedicate the church to God by his word, after making it clean by washing it in water, 27 in order to present the church to himself in all its beauty—pure and faultless, without spot or wrinkle or any other imperfection. 28 Men ought to love their wives just as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. (29 None of us ever hate our own bodies. Instead, we feed them, and take care of them, just as Christ does the church; 30 for we are members of his body.) 31 (F)As the scripture says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.” 32 There is a deep secret truth revealed in this scripture, which I understand as applying to Christ and the church. 33 But it also applies to you: every husband must love his wife as himself, and every wife must respect her husband.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.