Exodus 39; Exodus 40; Matthew 23:23-39

Exodus 39

1 They used the blue, purple, and deep red yarns to make the woven clothing for those ministering as priests in the sanctuary. They made the holy clothes for Aaron as the LORD had commanded Moses.

2 They made the vest of gold, of blue, purple, and deep red yarns, and of fine twisted linen.

3 They beat out thin sheets of gold and cut them into threads to work into designs among the blue, purple, and deep red yarns and the fine linen.

4 They made shoulder pieces for it attached to its two edges so that they could be joined together.

5 The vest's belt was attached to it and made in the same way of gold, of blue, purple, and deep red yarns, and of fine twisted linen, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

6 They prepared the gemstones by mounting them in gold settings and engraving on them the names of Israel's sons, like an official seal is engraved.

7 The stones were attached to the vest's shoulder pieces as reminder stones for the Israelites, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

8 They made the embroidered chest pendant in the style of the vest, using gold, blue, purple, and deep red yarns, and fine twisted linen.

9 They made the chest pendant square and doubled, nine inches long and nine inches wide when doubled.

10 They set in it four rows of gemstones. The first row was a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald stones.

11 The second row was a turquoise, a sapphire, and a moonstone.

12 The third row was a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst.

13 The fourth row was a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. The settings around them were decorative gold.

14 There were twelve stones with names corresponding to the names of Israel's sons. They were engraved like official seals, each with its name for the twelve tribes.

15 They made chains of pure gold, twisted like cords, for the chest pendant.

16 They made two gold settings and two gold rings. They attached the two rings to the two edges of the chest pendant.

17 They attached the two gold cords to the two rings at the edges of the chest pendant.

18 Then they fastened the two ends of the two cords to the two gold settings and attached them to the front of the vest's shoulder pieces.

19 They made two gold rings, and they attached them to the two edges of the chest pendant, on its inside edge facing the vest.

20 They made two gold rings and fastened them on the front of the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the vest, at its seam just above the vest's belt.

21 The chest pendant was held in place by a blue cord binding its rings to the vest's rings so that the chest pendant rested on the vest's belt and didn't come loose from the vest, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

22 They also made the vest's robe, woven completely in blue.

23 The opening of the robe in the middle of it was reinforced with a strong border so that it didn't tear.

24 On the robe's lower hem, they added pomegranates made of blue, purple, and deep red yarns and of fine twisted linen.

25 They also made pure gold bells and sewed the bells between the pomegranates, all around the robe's lower hem,

26 with a bell and a pomegranate alternating all around the lower hem of the robe that is used for ministering as a priest, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

27 They also made the tunics woven out of fine linen for Aaron and his sons,

28 the turban of fine linen, the decorated turbans of fine linen, the linen undergarments of fine twisted linen,

29 the sashes of fine twisted linen, and of blue, purple, and crimson yarns, decorated with needlework, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

30 They made the flower ornament for the holy crown out of pure gold. Like the engraving on an official seal, they engraved on it the saying "Holy to the LORD."

31 They fastened to it a blue cord to tie it to the top of the turban, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

32 In this way all the work of the meeting tent dwelling was finished. The Israelites did everything just exactly as the LORD had commanded Moses.

33 Then they brought to Moses the dwelling, the tent, and all its equipment: its clasps, its boards, its bars, its posts, and its bases,

34 the covering of rams' skins dyed red, the covering of beaded leather, and the veil for a screen,

35 the chest containing the covenant with its poles and the cover,

36 the table with all its equipment and the bread of the presence,

37 the pure lampstand with its lamps set on it and all its equipment, and the oil for the light,

38 the gold altar, the anointing oil, and the sweet-smelling incense, the screen for the tent's entrance,

39 the copper altar and its copper grate, its poles, and all its equipment, the washbasin with its stand,

40 the courtyard's drapes, its posts, and its bases, the screen for the plaza's gate, its cords, and its tent pegs, and all the other equipment for the service of the dwelling, for the meeting tent,

41 the woven clothes for ministering as priests in the sanctuary, the holy clothes for the priest Aaron and the clothes for his sons to serve as priests.

42 The Israelites did all of the work just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

43 When Moses saw that they in fact had done all the work exactly as the LORD had commanded, Moses blessed them.

Exodus 40

1 The LORD spoke to Moses:

2 Set up the meeting tent dwelling on the first day of the first month.

3 Place the chest containing the covenant inside the dwelling. Hide the chest from view with the veil.

4 Bring in the table and arrange its items. Bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps.

5 Place the gold altar for burning incense in front of the chest containing the covenant. Set up the screen at the dwelling's entrance.

6 Put the altar for entirely burned offerings in front of the entrance to the meeting tent dwelling.

7 Put the washbasin between the meeting tent and the altar and put water in it.

8 Set up the courtyard all around. Hang up the screen at the courtyard gate.

9 Then take the anointing oil and anoint the dwelling and everything in it. Make holy the dwelling and all its equipment, and it will be holy.

10 Anoint the altar for entirely burned offerings and all its equipment. Make the altar holy, and the altar will be most holy.

11 Anoint the washbasin with its stand and make it holy.

12 Then bring Aaron and his sons to the meeting tent's entrance and wash them with water.

13 Dress Aaron in the holy clothes. Anoint him and make him holy so that he may serve me as priest.

14 Then bring his sons and dress them in tunics.

15 Anoint them like you anointed their father so that they may serve me as priests. Their anointing is to the priesthood for all time in every generation.

16 Moses did everything exactly as the LORD had commanded him.

17 In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the dwelling was set up.

18 Moses set up the dwelling. He laid out its bases. He set up its boards, inserted its bars, and raised up its posts.

19 He spread the tent out over the dwelling, and he put the covering of the tent over it, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

20 He took the covenant document and placed it inside the chest. He put the poles on the chest, and he set the cover on top of the chest.

21 He brought the chest into the dwelling. He set up the veil as a screen to hide from view the chest containing the covenant, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

22 He placed the table in the meeting tent, on the north side of the dwelling, outside the veil.

23 He set the bread in its proper place on the table in the LORD's presence, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

24 He put the lampstand in the meeting tent, opposite the table on the south side of the dwelling.

25 He set up the lamps in the LORD's presence, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

26 He put the gold altar in the meeting tent in front of the veil.

27 He burned sweet-smelling incense on it, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

28 He also set up the screen at the entrance to the dwelling.

29 He placed the altar for entirely burned offerings at the entrance to the meeting tent dwelling. He offered the entirely burned offering and the grain offering on it, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

30 He put the washbasin between the meeting tent and the altar, and put water in it for washing.

31 Moses, Aaron, and his sons used it to wash their hands and their feet.

32 Whenever they went into the meeting tent and whenever they approached the altar, they washed themselves, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

33 He set up the courtyard around the dwelling and the altar, and he hung up the screen at the courtyard's gate. When Moses had finished all the work,

34 the cloud covered the meeting tent and the LORD's glorious presence filled the dwelling.

35 Moses couldn't enter the meeting tent because the cloud had settled on it, and the LORD's glorious presence filled the dwelling.

36 Whenever the cloud rose from the dwelling, the Israelites would set out on their journeys.

37 But if the cloud didn't rise, then they didn't set out until the day it rose.

38 The LORD's cloud stayed over the dwelling during the day, with lightning in it at night, clearly visible to the whole household of Israel at every stage of their journey.

Matthew 23:23-39

23 “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You give to God a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, but you forget about the more important matters of the Law: justice, peace, and faith. You ought to give a tenth but without forgetting about those more important matters.

24 You blind guides! You filter out an ant but swallow a camel.

25 “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and plate, but inside they are full of violence and pleasure seeking.

26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup so that the outside of the cup will be clean too.

27 “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs. They look beautiful on the outside. But inside they are full of dead bones and all kinds of filth.

28 In the same way you look righteous to people. But inside you are full of pretense and rebellion.

29 “How terrible it will be for you legal experts and Pharisees! Hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous.

30 You say, ‘If we had lived in our ancestors' days, we wouldn't have joined them in killing the prophets.'

31 You testify against yourselves that you are children of those who murdered the prophets.

32 Go ahead, complete what your ancestors did.

33 You snakes! You children of snakes! How will you be able to escape the judgment of hell?

34 Therefore, look, I'm sending you prophets, wise people, and legal experts. Some of them you will kill and crucify. And some you will beat in your synagogues and chase from city to city.

35 Therefore, upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been poured out on the earth, from the blood of that righteous man Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you killed between the temple and the altar.

36 I assure you that all these things will come upon this generation.

37 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You who kill the prophets and stone those who were sent to you. How often I wanted to gather your people together, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. But you didn't want that.

38 Look, your house is left to you deserted.

39 I tell you, you won't see me until you say, Blessings on the one who comes in the Lord's name."