Exodus 37

¹⁰And they are to construct an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

¹¹Overlay it with pure gold both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it.

³³And hang the veil from the clasps and place the ark of the Testimony behind the veil. So the veil will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.

³³So they set out on a three-day journey from the mountain of the Lord, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord traveling ahead of them for those three days to seek a resting place for them.

³⁴And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp.

²⁰Moses took the Testimony and placed it in the ark, attaching the poles to the ark; and he set the mercy seat atop the ark.

²¹Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle, put up the veil for the screen, and shielded off the ark of the Testimony, just as the Lord had commanded him.

⁷the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat upon it, and all the other furnishings of the tent—

³Put the ark of the Testimony in it and screen off the ark with the veil.

³Overlay with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns, and make a molding of gold around it.

¹⁴and place on it all the vessels used to serve there: the firepans, meat forks, shovels, and sprinkling bowls—all the equipment of the altar. They are to spread over it a covering of fine leather and insert the poles.

¹⁵When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy objects, or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the Tent of Meeting.

⁷so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹⁵“Go!” said the Lord. “This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the people of Israel.

¹⁸For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,

¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.

⁵⁰Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it.

¹⁵When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all their equipment, as soon as the camp is ready to move, the Kohathites shall come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy objects, or they will die. These are the transportation duties of the Kohathites regarding the Tent of Meeting.

³They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart,

⁴bringing with it the ark of God. And Ahio was walking in front of the ark.

⁵Above the ark were the cherubim of glory, overshadowing the mercy seat. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now.

²He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

¹⁷And you are to construct a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

¹⁸Make two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat,

²⁵God presented Him as an atoning sacrifice in His blood through faith, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

¹⁴He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.

¹²Then he must take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense, and take them inside the veil.

¹³He is to put the incense on the fire before the Lord, and the cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat above the Testimony, so that he will not die.

⁴He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.

²³In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim, each ten cubits high, out of olive wood.

²⁴One wing of the first cherub was five cubits long, and the other wing was five cubits long as well. So the full wingspan was ten cubits.

²And the Lord said to the man clothed in linen, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.

¹For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth

¹⁸And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

²Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.

¹⁰His purpose was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,

¹⁴Are not the angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

¹²It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

¹And I looked and saw above the expanse, above the heads of the cherubim, the likeness of a throne of sapphire.

²And the Lord said to the man clothed in linen, “Go inside the wheelwork beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in.

⁴Then bring in the table and set out its arrangement; bring in the lampstand as well, and set up its lamps.

²⁷To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

³⁹Inside the portico of the gateway were two tables on each side, on which the burnt offerings, sin offerings, and guilt offerings were to be slaughtered.

⁴⁰Outside, as one goes up to the entrance of the north gateway, there were two tables on one side and two more tables on the other side of the gate’s portico.

¹³the table with its poles, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence;

¹⁶From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

²⁹You are also to make the plates and dishes, as well as the pitchers and bowls for pouring drink offerings. Make them out of pure gold.

¹³However, the money brought into the house of the Lord was not used for making silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets, or any articles of gold or silver for the house of the Lord.

¹⁸They also took away the pots, shovels, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes, and all the articles of bronze used in the temple service.

¹⁹The captain of the guard also took away the basins, censers, sprinkling bowls, pots, lampstands, pans, and drink offering bowls—anything made of pure gold or fine silver.

²⁰A large house contains not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some indeed are for honorable use, but others are for common use.

⁵⁰the pure gold basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, ladles, and censers; and the gold hinges for the doors of the inner temple (that is, the Most Holy Place) as well as for the doors of the main hall of the temple.

³¹Then you are to make a lampstand of pure, hammered gold. It shall be made of one piece, including its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals.

³²Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other.

²A tabernacle was prepared. In its first room were the lampstand, the table, and the consecrated bread. This was called the Holy Place.

¹¹Every morning and every evening they present burnt offerings and fragrant incense to the Lord. They set out the rows of showbread on the ceremonially clean table, and every evening they light the lamps of the gold lampstand. We are carrying out the requirements of the Lord our God, while you have forsaken Him.

²⁴He also placed the lampstand in the Tent of Meeting opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle

²⁵and set up the lamps before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him.

⁴He shall tend the lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord continually.

¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they set it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

⁸The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron’s staff, representing the house of Levi, had sprouted, put forth buds, blossomed, and produced almonds.

⁵when men fear the heights and dangers of the road, when the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper loses its spring, and the caper berry shrivels—for then man goes to his eternal home and mourners walk the streets.

¹¹And the word of the Lord came to me, asking, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” “I see a branch of an almond tree,” I replied.

³³There are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms on the first branch, each with buds and petals, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches that extend from the lampstand.

³⁵For the six branches that extend from the lampstand, a bud must be under the first pair of branches, a bud under the second pair, and a bud under the third pair.

³¹Then you are to make a lampstand of pure, hammered gold. It shall be made of one piece, including its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals.

⁴What more could have been done for My vineyard than I have done for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?

⁵Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.

¹⁰For ten acres of vineyard will yield but a bath of wine, and a homer of seed only an ephah of grain.”

²⁷No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

¹⁷The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

⁵Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

²“What do you see?” he asked. “I see a solid gold lampstand,” I replied, “with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven spouts to the lamps.

²“Speak to Aaron and tell him: ‘When you set up the seven lamps, they are to light the area in front of the lampstand.’”

²⁰This is the mystery of the seven stars you saw in My right hand and of the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

³⁷Make seven lamps and set them up on the lampstand so that they illuminate the area in front of it.

¹²Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands,

⁵From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. Before the throne burned seven torches of fire. These are the seven spirits of God.

¹“You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense.

²It is to be square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns must be of one piece.

³Then another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.

⁴And the smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, rose up before God from the hand of the angel.

²⁵Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.

⁵you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

²⁶Moses placed the gold altar in the Tent of Meeting, in front of the veil,

²⁷and he burned fragrant incense on it, just as the Lord had commanded him.

⁹he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

¹⁰And at the hour of the incense offering, the whole congregation was praying outside.

²³“Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane,

²⁴500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil.

²⁷And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.

¹As dead flies bring a stench to the perfumer’s oil, so a little folly outweighs wisdom and honor.

²May my prayer be set before You like incense; my uplifted hands, like the evening offering.

¹For the choirmaster. Of David. The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; their acts are vile. There is no one who does good.

²The Lord looks down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if any understand, if any seek God.

²¹Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us,

²²placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come.