Building the Ark of the Covenant

37 Next Bezalel made the Ark of acacia wood—a sacred chest 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high.^{[a] 2} He overlaid it inside and outside with pure gold, and he ran a molding of gold all around it. ³ He cast four gold rings and attached them to its four feet, two rings on each side. ⁴ Then he made poles from acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. ⁵ He inserted the poles into the rings at the sides of the Ark to carry it.

⁶ Then he made the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—from pure gold. It was 45 inches long and 27 inches wide.^{[b] 7} He made two cherubim from hammered gold and placed them on the two ends of the atonement cover. ⁸ He molded the cherubim on each end of the atonement cover, making it all of one piece of gold. ⁹ The cherubim faced each other and looked down on the atonement cover. With their wings spread above it, they protected it.

Building the Table

¹⁰ Then Bezalel^[c] made the table of acacia wood, 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high.^{[d] 11} He overlaid it with pure gold and ran a gold molding around the edge. ¹² He decorated it with a 3-inch border^[e] all around, and he ran a gold molding along the border. ¹³ Then he cast four gold rings for the table and attached them at the four corners next to the four legs. ¹⁴ The rings were attached near the border to hold the poles that were used to carry the table. ¹⁵ He made these poles from acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. ¹⁶ Then he made special containers of pure gold for the table—bowls, ladles, jars, and pitchers—to be used in pouring out liquid offerings.

Building the Lampstand

¹⁷ Then Bezalel made the lampstand of pure, hammered gold. He made the entire lampstand and its decorations of one piece—the base, center stem, lamp cups, buds, and petals. ¹⁸ The lampstand had six branches going out from the center stem, three on each side. ¹⁹ Each of the six branches had three lamp cups shaped like almond blossoms, complete with buds and petals. ²⁰ The center stem of the lampstand was crafted with four lamp cups shaped like almond blossoms, complete with buds and petals. ²¹ There was an almond bud beneath each pair of branches where the six branches extended from the center stem, all made of one piece. ²² The almond buds and branches were all of one piece with the center stem, and they were hammered from pure gold.

²³ He also made seven lamps for the lampstand, lamp snuffers, and trays, all of pure gold. ²⁴ The entire lampstand, along with its accessories, was made from 75 pounds^[f] of pure gold.

Building the Incense Altar

²⁵ Then Bezalel made the incense altar of acacia wood. It was 18 inches square and 36 inches high,^[g] with horns at the corners carved from the same piece of wood as the altar itself. ²⁶ He overlaid the top, sides, and horns of the altar with pure gold, and he ran a gold molding around the entire altar. ²⁷ He made two gold rings and attached them on opposite sides of the altar below the gold molding to hold the carrying poles. ²⁸ He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

²⁹ Then he made the sacred anointing oil and the fragrant incense, using the techniques of a skilled incense maker.

Building the Altar of Burnt Offering

38 Next Bezalel^[h] used acacia wood to construct the square altar of burnt offering. It was 7 1⁄2 feet wide, 7 1⁄2 feet long, and 4 1⁄2 feet high.^{[i] 2} He made horns for each of its four corners so that the horns and altar were all one piece. He overlaid the altar with bronze. ³ Then he made all the altar utensils of bronze—the ash buckets, shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans. ⁴ Next he made a bronze grating and installed it halfway down the side of the altar, under the ledge. ⁵ He cast four rings and attached them to the corners of the bronze grating to hold the carrying poles. ⁶ He made the poles from acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. ⁷ He inserted the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar. The altar was hollow and was made from planks.

Building the Washbasin

⁸ Bezalel made the bronze washbasin and its bronze stand from bronze mirrors donated by the women who served at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^[j]

Building the Courtyard

⁹ Then Bezalel made the courtyard, which was enclosed with curtains made of finely woven linen. On the south side the curtains were 150 feet long.^{[k] 10} They were held up by twenty posts set securely in twenty bronze bases. He hung the curtains with silver hooks and rings. ¹¹ He made a similar set of curtains for the north side—150 feet of curtains held up by twenty posts set securely in bronze bases. He hung the curtains with silver hooks and rings. ¹² The curtains on the west end of the courtyard were 75 feet long,^[l] hung with silver hooks and rings and supported by ten posts set into ten bases. ¹³ The east end, the front, was also 75 feet long.

¹⁴ The courtyard entrance was on the east end, flanked by two curtains. The curtain on the right side was 22 1⁄2 feet long^[m] and was supported by three posts set into three bases. ¹⁵ The curtain on the left side was also 22 1⁄2 feet long and was supported by three posts set into three bases. ¹⁶ All the curtains used in the courtyard were made of finely woven linen. ¹⁷ Each post had a bronze base, and all the hooks and rings were silver. The tops of the posts of the courtyard were overlaid with silver, and the rings to hold up the curtains were made of silver.

¹⁸ He made the curtain for the entrance to the courtyard of finely woven linen, and he decorated it with beautiful embroidery in blue, purple, and scarlet thread. It was 30 feet long, and its height was 7 1⁄2 feet,^[n] just like the curtains of the courtyard walls. ¹⁹ It was supported by four posts, each set securely in its own bronze base. The tops of the posts were overlaid with silver, and the hooks and rings were also made of silver.

²⁰ All the tent pegs used in the Tabernacle and courtyard were made of bronze.

Inventory of Materials

²¹ This is an inventory of the materials used in building the Tabernacle of the Covenant.^[o] The Levites compiled the figures, as Moses directed, and Ithamar son of Aaron the priest served as recorder. ²² Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²³ He was assisted by Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, a craftsman expert at engraving, designing, and embroidering with blue, purple, and scarlet thread on fine linen cloth.

²⁴ The people brought special offerings of gold totaling 2,193 pounds,^[p] as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel. This gold was used throughout the Tabernacle.

²⁵ The whole community of Israel gave 7,545 pounds^[q] of silver, as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel. ²⁶ This silver came from the tax collected from each man registered in the census. (The tax is one beka, which is half a shekel,^[r] based on the sanctuary shekel.) The tax was collected from 603,550 men who had reached their twentieth birthday. ²⁷ The hundred bases for the frames of the sanctuary walls and for the posts supporting the inner curtain required 7,500 pounds of silver, about 75 pounds for each base.^{[s] 28} The remaining 45 pounds^[t] of silver was used to make the hooks and rings and to overlay the tops of the posts.

²⁹ The people also brought as special offerings 5,310 pounds^[u] of bronze, ³⁰ which was used for casting the bases for the posts at the entrance to the Tabernacle, and for the bronze altar with its bronze grating and all the altar utensils. ³¹ Bronze was also used to make the bases for the posts that supported the curtains around the courtyard, the bases for the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard, and all the tent pegs for the Tabernacle and the courtyard.

Psalm 19

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

Peter Explains His Actions

11 Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers^[a] in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God. ² But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers^[b] criticized him. ³ “You entered the home of Gentiles^[c] and even ate with them!” they said.

⁴ Then Peter told them exactly what had happened. ⁵ “I was in the town of Joppa,” he said, “and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me. ⁶ When I looked inside the sheet, I saw all sorts of tame and wild animals, reptiles, and birds. ⁷ And I heard a voice say, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat them.’

⁸ “‘No, Lord,’ I replied. ‘I have never eaten anything that our Jewish laws have declared impure or unclean.^[d]’

⁹ “But the voice from heaven spoke again: ‘Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.’ ¹⁰ This happened three times before the sheet and all it contained was pulled back up to heaven.

¹¹ “Just then three men who had been sent from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying. ¹² The Holy Spirit told me to go with them and not to worry that they were Gentiles. These six brothers here accompanied me, and we soon entered the home of the man who had sent for us. ¹³ He told us how an angel had appeared to him in his home and had told him, ‘Send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. ¹⁴ He will tell you how you and everyone in your household can be saved!’

¹⁵ “As I began to speak,” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning. ¹⁶ Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with^[e] water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ And since God gave these Gentiles the same gift he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God’s way?”

¹⁸ When the others heard this, they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, “We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.”

The Church in Antioch of Syria

¹⁹ Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews. ²⁰ However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles^[f] about the Lord Jesus. ²¹ The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord.

²² When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. ²³ When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. ²⁴ Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord.

²⁵ Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. ²⁶ When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers^[g] were first called Christians.)

²⁷ During this time some prophets traveled from Jerusalem to Antioch. ²⁸ One of them named Agabus stood up in one of the meetings and predicted by the Spirit that a great famine was coming upon the entire Roman world. (This was fulfilled during the reign of Claudius.) ²⁹ So the believers in Antioch decided to send relief to the brothers and sisters^[h] in Judea, everyone giving as much as they could. ³⁰ This they did, entrusting their gifts to Barnabas and Saul to take to the elders of the church in Jerusalem.