Old/New Testament

The Altar

27 “Make an altar for burnt offerings out of acacia wood. Make it 4½ feet high. It should be square: 7½ feet long and 7½ feet wide. ² Make each of the four corners of the altar stick out like a horn. The corners with their horns must be all one piece. Then cover the whole altar with bronze.

³ “Use bronze to make all the tools and dishes that will be used on the altar. Make pots to remove the ashes. Make shovels, bowls for sprinkling blood, meat forks and pans for carrying the burning wood.

⁴ “Make a large, bronze screen to hold the burning wood. And put a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the screen. ⁵ Put the screen inside the altar, under its rim, halfway up from the bottom.

⁶ “Make poles of acacia wood for the altar. And cover them with bronze. ⁷ Put the poles through the rings on both sides of the altar to carry it. ⁸ Make the altar out of boards and leave the inside hollow. Make it as you were shown on the mountain.

The Courtyard of the Holy Tent

⁹ “Make a wall of curtains to form a courtyard around the Holy Tent. The south side should have a wall of fine linen curtains 150 feet long. ¹⁰ Hang the curtain with silver hooks and bands. Put these on 20 bronze posts on 20 bronze bases. ¹¹ The north side must also be 150 feet long. Hang its curtains on silver hooks and bands. Put these on 20 bronze posts on 20 bronze bases.

¹² “The west end of the courtyard must have a wall of curtains 75 feet long. It must have 10 posts and 10 bases on that wall. ¹³ The east end of the courtyard must also be 75 feet long. ¹⁴ On one side of the entry, there is to be a wall of curtains. It is to be 22½ feet long. It is to be held up by 3 posts on 3 bases. ¹⁵ On the other side of the entry, there is to be a wall of curtains. It is to be 22½ feet long. It is to be held up by 3 posts on 3 bases.

¹⁶ “The entry to the courtyard is to be a curtain 30 feet wide. It is to be made of fine linen with blue, purple and red thread. Someone who can sew well is to sew designs on it. It is to be held up by 4 posts on 4 bases. ¹⁷ All the posts around the courtyard must have silver bands and hooks and bronze bases. ¹⁸ The courtyard must be 150 feet long and 75 feet wide. The wall of curtains around it should be 7½ feet high. They must be made of fine linen. The bases in which the posts are set must be bronze. ¹⁹ All the things used in the Holy Tent must be made of bronze. And all the tent pegs for the Holy Tent and the wall around the courtyard must be made of bronze.

Oil for the Lamp

²⁰ “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure olive oil. It is to be made from pressed olives. This is to keep the lamps on the lampstand burning. ²¹ Aaron and his sons must keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening till morning. This will be in the Meeting Tent. It is outside the curtain which is in front of the Ark of the Covenant. The Israelites and their descendants must obey this rule from now on.

Clothes for the Priests

28 “Tell your brother Aaron to come to you. His sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar must come with him. Separate them from the other Israelites. These men must serve as priests. ² Make holy clothes for your brother Aaron to give him honor and beauty. ³ Speak to all the people to whom I have given the ability to make clothes. Tell these skilled craftsmen to make the clothes for Aaron. Use these clothes to make him belong to me. Then he may serve me as a priest. ⁴ These are the clothes they must make: a chest covering, a holy vest, an outer robe, a woven inner robe, a turban and a cloth belt. The craftsmen must make these holy clothes. They are for your brother Aaron and his sons. Then Aaron and his sons may serve me as priests. ⁵ The craftsmen must use gold and blue, purple and red thread, and fine linen.

The Holy Vest

⁶ “Use gold and blue, purple and red thread, and fine linen to make the holy vest. The craftsmen are to make this holy vest. ⁷ At each top corner of this holy vest there will be a pair of shoulder straps. These are to be tied together over each shoulder.

⁸ “The craftsmen will very carefully weave a belt on the holy vest. Make the belt with gold and blue, purple and red thread, and fine linen.

⁹ “Take two onyx stones. Write the name of the 12 sons of Israel on these jewels. ¹⁰ Write 6 names on one stone and 6 names on the other stone. Write the names in order, from the oldest son to the youngest. ¹¹ Carve the names of the sons of Israel on these stones. Do this the same way a person carves words and designs on the seals. Put gold around the stones to hold them on the holy vest. ¹² Put the two stones on the two straps of the holy vest. These stones are reminders of the 12 sons of Israel. Aaron is to wear their names on his shoulders. They are before the Lord as reminders of the sons of Israel. ¹³ Make two gold pieces to hold the stones. ¹⁴ Then make two chains of pure gold. Twist them together like a rope. Attach the chains to the two gold pieces that hold the stones.

The Chest Covering

¹⁵ “Make a chest covering to help in making decisions. The craftsmen should make it as they made the holy vest. They must use gold and blue, purple and red thread, and fine linen. ¹⁶ The chest covering must be square. It should be nine inches long and nine inches wide. Fold it double to make a pocket. ¹⁷ Put four rows of beautiful gems on the chest covering. The first row of jewels must have a ruby, topaz and yellow quartz. ¹⁸ The second row must have turquoise, a sapphire and an emerald. ¹⁹ The third row must have a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst. ²⁰ The fourth row must have a chrysolite, an onyx and a jasper. Put gold around these jewels to attach them to the chest covering. ²¹ There must be 12 jewels on the chest covering. That is 1 jewel for each of the names of the sons of Israel. Carve the name of one of the 12 tribes on each of the stones. Carve them as you would carve a seal.

²² “Make chains of pure gold for the chest covering. Twist them together like rope. ²³ Make two gold rings. Put them on the two upper corners of the chest covering. ²⁴ Attach the two gold chains to the two rings. These are at the upper corners of the chest covering. ²⁵ Attach the other ends of the two chains to the two gold pieces on the shoulder straps. This will tie the chains to the shoulder straps in the front of the holy vest.

²⁶ “Make two more gold rings. Put them at the two lower corners of the chest covering. Put them on the inside edge of the chest covering next to the holy vest. ²⁷ Make two more gold rings. Attach them to the bottom of the shoulder straps in the front of the holy vest. Put the gold rings close to the seam above the woven belt of the holy vest. ²⁸ Join the rings of the chest covering to the rings of the holy vest with blue ribbon. This will connect it to the woven belt. In this way the chest covering will not swing out from the holy vest.

²⁹ “When Aaron enters the Holy Place, he will wear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart. These names are on the chest covering that helps in making decisions. This will be a continual reminder before the Lord. ³⁰ And put the Urim and Thummim inside the chest covering. These things will be on Aaron’s heart when he goes before the Lord. They will help in making decisions for the Israelites. So Aaron will always carry them with him when he is before the Lord.

³¹ “Make the outer robe to be worn under the holy vest, using only blue cloth. ³² Make a hole in the center for Aaron’s head. And there must be a woven collar around the hole so it will not tear. ³³ Make balls like pomegranates of blue, purple and red thread. Hang these pomegranate balls around the bottom of the outer robe. And hang gold bells between them. ³⁴ So all around the bottom of the outer robe there should be a gold bell and a pomegranate ball, a gold bell and a pomegranate ball. ³⁵ Aaron must wear this robe when he serves as priest. The ringing of the bells will be heard. They will ring when he enters and leaves the Holy Place before the Lord. This way Aaron will not be killed.

³⁶ “Make a strip of pure gold. Carve these words on the gold strip as you would carve on a seal: ‘Holy to the Lord.’ ³⁷ Use blue ribbon to tie a strip of gold to the turban. Put it on the front of the turban. ³⁸ Aaron must wear this on his forehead. In this way, he will be blamed if anything is wrong with the gifts of the Israelites. Aaron must always wear this on his head so the Lord will accept the gifts of the people.

³⁹ “Make the woven inner robe of fine linen. Make the turban of fine linen, also. Make the cloth belt with designs sewn on it. ⁴⁰ Also make woven inner robes, cloth belts and headbands for Aaron’s sons. This will give them honor and beauty. ⁴¹ Put these clothes on your brother Aaron and his sons. Then pour olive oil on their heads to appoint them as priests. Make them belong to me so they may serve me as priests.

⁴² “Make for them linen underclothes to cover them from the waist to the upper parts of the legs. ⁴³ Aaron and his sons must wear these underclothes when they enter the Meeting Tent. And they must wear these clothes anytime they come near the altar to serve as priests in the Holy Place. If they do not wear these clothes, they will be guilty of wrong. And they will be killed. This will be a law that will last from now on for Aaron and all his descendants.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King

21 Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. But first they stopped at Bethphage at the hill called the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers into the town. ² He said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a donkey tied there with its colt. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, tell him, ‘The Master needs them. He will send them back soon.’” ⁴ This was to make clear the full meaning of what the prophet said:

⁶ The followers went and did what Jesus told them to do. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt to Jesus. They laid their coats on the donkeys, and Jesus sat on them. ⁸ Many people spread their coats on the road before Jesus. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were walking behind him. All the people were shouting,

¹⁰ Then Jesus went into Jerusalem. The city was filled with excitement. The people asked, “Who is this man?”

¹¹ The crowd answered, “This man is Jesus. He is the prophet from the town of Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus Goes to the Temple

¹² Jesus went into the Temple. He threw out all the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables that belonged to the men who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. ¹³ Jesus said to all the people there, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be a house where people will pray.’^[b] But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hideout for robbers.’”^[c]

¹⁴ The blind and crippled people came to Jesus in the Temple, and Jesus healed them. ¹⁵ The leading priests and the teachers of the law saw that Jesus was doing wonderful things. They saw the children praising him in the Temple. The children were saying, “Praise^[d] to the Son of David.” All these things made the priests and the teachers of the law very angry.

¹⁶ They asked Jesus, “Do you hear the things these children are saying?”

Jesus answered, “Yes. Haven’t you read in the Scriptures, ‘You have taught children and babies to sing praises’?”^[e]

¹⁷ Then Jesus left and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

The Power of Faith

¹⁸ Early the next morning, Jesus was going back to the city. He was very hungry. ¹⁹ He saw a fig tree beside the road. Jesus went to it, but there were no figs on the tree. There were only leaves. So Jesus said to the tree, “You will never again have fruit!” The tree immediately dried up.

²⁰ His followers saw this and were amazed. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?”

²¹ Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth. If you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to this tree. And you will be able to do more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, mountain, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. ²² If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.”