Old/New Testament
Gifts for the Lord
25 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to bring me gifts. Receive for me the gifts each man wants to give. 3 These are the gifts that you should receive from them: gold, silver, bronze, 4 blue, purple and red thread, and fine linen. Receive cloth made of goat hair. 5 Receive the male sheep skins that are dyed red. Receive fine leather, acacia wood 6 and olive oil to burn in the lamps. And receive spices for sweet-smelling incense and the special olive oil poured on a person’s head to make him a priest. 7 Also accept onyx stones and other jewels to be put on the holy vest and the chest covering.
8 “The people must build a holy place for me. Then I can live among them. 9 Build this Holy Tent and everything in it by the plan I will show you.
The Ark of the Covenant
10 “Use acacia wood and build an Ark. It must be 45 inches long, 27 inches wide and 27 inches high. 11 Cover the Ark of the Covenant inside and out with pure gold. And put a gold strip all around it. 12 Make four gold rings for the Ark of the Covenant. Attach the gold rings to its four feet, two rings on each side. 13 Then make poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. 14 Put the poles through the rings on the sides of the Ark. Use these poles to carry the Ark of the Covenant. 15 These poles must always stay in the rings of the Ark of the Covenant. Do not take the poles out. 16 Then put the two flat stones in the Ark of the Covenant. I will give you these stones on which the commands are written.
17 “Then make a lid of pure gold for the Ark of the Covenant. This lid is the mercy seat. Make it 45 inches long and 27 inches wide. 18 Then hammer gold to make two creatures with wings. Put one on each end of the lid. 19 Put one creature with wings on one end of the lid. And put the other creature with wings on the other end. Attach the creatures with wings to the lid so that they will all be one piece. 20 The creatures’ wings should be spread out over the lid. The creatures are to face each other across the lid. 21 Put this lid on top of the Ark of the Covenant. Also put in this Ark of the Covenant the agreement which I will make with you. 22 I will meet with you there, above the lid between the two creatures with wings. These are on the Ark of the Covenant. There I will give you all my commands for the Israelites.
The Table
23 “Make a table out of acacia wood. It must be 36 inches long, 18 inches wide and 27 inches high. 24 Cover it with pure gold. Put a gold strip around it. 25 Then make a frame three inches high that stands up all around the edge. Put a gold strip around the frame. 26 Then make four gold rings. Attach them to the four corners of the table where the four legs are. 27 Put the rings close to the frame around the top of the table. These rings will hold the poles for carrying the table. 28 Make the poles out of acacia wood and cover them with gold. Carry the table with these poles. 29 Make the plates and bowls for the table out of pure gold. Make the jars and cups out of pure gold. They will be used for pouring out the drink offerings. 30 On this table put the bread that shows you are in my presence. It must always be there in front of me.
The Lampstand
31 “Hammer pure gold to make a lampstand. Its base, stand, flower-like cups, buds and petals must all be joined together in one piece. 32 The lampstand must have three branches on one side and three branches on the other. 33 Each branch must have three cups shaped like almond flowers on it. Each cup must have a bud and a petal. 34 And there must be four more cups made like almond flowers on the lampstand itself. These cups must also have buds and petals. 35 Put a bud under each pair of branches that goes out from the lampstand. 36 The branches, buds and lampstand must be one piece of pure, hammered gold.
37 “Then make seven small oil lamps and put them on the lampstand. They will give light to the area in front of the lampstand. 38 The wick trimmers and trays must be made of pure gold. 39 Use 75 pounds of pure gold to make the lampstand and everything with it. 40 Be very careful to make them by the plan I showed you on the mountain.
The Holy Tent
26 “Make the Holy Tent with ten pieces of cloth. These pieces must be made of fine linen and blue, purple and red thread. Have a skilled craftsman sew designs of creatures with wings on the pieces of cloth. 2 Make each piece the same size. Each piece should be 42 feet long and 6 feet wide. 3 Sew five pieces of cloth together for one set. Sew the other pieces together for the second set. 4 Make loops of blue cloth down the edge of the end piece of each set. 5 Make 50 loops on the end piece of the first set. And make 50 loops on the end piece of the second set. These loops must be opposite each other. 6 And make 50 gold hooks. Use these to join the two sets of cloth. This will make the Holy Tent one piece.
7 “Then make another tent that will cover the Holy Tent. Make this tent of 11 pieces of cloth made from goat hair. 8 All these pieces of cloth must be the same size. They must be 45 feet long and 6 feet wide. 9 Sew five of the pieces together into one set. Then sew the other six pieces together into the second set. Fold the sixth piece double over the front of the Tent. 10 Make 50 loops down the edge of the end piece of one set. Do the same for the end piece of the other set. 11 Then make 50 bronze hooks. Put these in the loops to join the two sets of cloth. This will make the covering one piece. 12 Let the extra half piece of cloth hang over the back of the Holy Tent. 13 There will be 18 inches hanging over the sides of the Holy Tent. This will protect the Tent. 14 Make two more coverings for the Holy Tent. One should be made from male sheep skins colored red. The outer covering should be from fine leather.
15 “Use acacia wood to make upright frames for the Holy Tent. 16 Each frame must be 15 feet long and 27 inches wide. 17 Every frame must be made the same way. There must be two pegs side by side in each frame. 18 Make 20 frames for the south side of the Holy Tent. 19 Each frame must have 2 silver bases to go under it. A peg fits into each silver base. You must make 40 silver bases for the frames. 20 Make 20 more frames for the north side of the Holy Tent. 21 Make 40 silver bases for them. Make 2 bases for each frame. 22 You must make 6 frames for the rear or west end of the Holy Tent. 23 Make 2 frames for each corner at the rear. 24 The 2 frames at each corner are to be joined together. Hold them together from bottom to top with a metal ring. Both corner frames must be made this way. 25 So there will be a total of 8 frames at the rear of the Tent. And there will be 16 silver bases—2 bases under each frame.
26 “Make crossbars of acacia wood to connect the upright frames of the Holy Tent. Make five crossbars to hold the frames together on one side. 27 Also make five crossbars to hold the frames together on the other side. And make crossbars to hold the frames together on the west end, at the rear. 28 The middle crossbar is to be set halfway up the frames. It is to run along the entire length of each side and rear. 29 Make gold rings on the sides of the frames. Pass the crossbars through the rings. Cover the frames and the crossbars with gold. 30 Set up the Holy Tent by the plan shown to you on the mountain.
31 “Make a curtain of fine linen and blue, purple and red thread. Have a skilled craftsman sew designs of creatures with wings on the curtain. 32 Hang the curtain by gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood. Cover these posts with gold and set them in four silver bases. 33 Hang the curtain from the hooks in the roof. Put the Ark of the Covenant containing the two flat stones behind the curtain. This curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. 34 Put the lid on the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place.
35 “Outside the curtain, put the table on the north side of the Holy Tent. And put the lampstand on the south side of the Holy Tent. This will be across from the table.
The Entrance of the Holy Tent
36 “Then make a curtain for the entrance of the Tent. Make it with fine linen and blue, purple and red thread. Someone who can sew well is to sew designs on it. 37 Make five posts of acacia wood covered with gold. Make five gold hooks on which to hang the curtain from the posts. And make five bronze bases for the five posts.
Jesus Talks About His Own Death
17 Jesus was going to Jerusalem. His 12 followers were with him. While they were on the way, Jesus gathered the followers together and spoke to them privately. He said to them, 18 “We are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be turned over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law. They will say that he must die. 19 They will give the Son of Man to the non-Jewish people. They will laugh at him and beat him with whips, and then they will kill him on a cross. But on the third day after his death, he will be raised to life again.”
A Mother Asks Jesus a Favor
20 Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus. Her sons were with her. The mother bowed before Jesus and asked him to do something for her.
21 Jesus asked, “What do you want?”
She said, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right side in your kingdom. And promise that the other son will sit at your left side.”
22 But Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you accept the kind of suffering that I must suffer?”[a]
The sons answered, “Yes, we can!”
23 Jesus said to them, “Truly you will suffer the same things that I will suffer. But I cannot choose who will sit at my right side or my left side. Those places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them.”
24 The other ten followers heard this and were angry with the two brothers.
25 Jesus called all the followers together. He said, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority. 26 But it should not be that way among you. If one of you wants to become great, then he must serve the rest of you like a servant. 27 If one of you wants to become first, then he must serve the rest of you like a slave. 28 So it is with the Son of Man. The Son of Man did not come for other people to serve him. He came to serve others. The Son of Man came to give his life to save many people.”
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
29 When Jesus and his followers were leaving Jericho, a great many people followed Jesus. 30 There were two blind men sitting by the road. The blind men heard that Jesus was going by, so they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, please help us!”
31 All the people criticized the blind men. They told them to be quiet. But the blind men shouted more and more, “Lord, Son of David, please help us!”
32 Jesus stopped and said to the blind men, “What do you want me to do for you?”
33 They answered, “Lord, we want to be able to see.”
34 Jesus felt sorry for the blind men. He touched their eyes, and at once they were able to see. Then the men followed Jesus.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.