Exodus 25; Exodus 26; Matthew 20:17-34

Exodus 25

1 The Lord said to Moses,

2 "Tell the Israelites to make an offering to me. Receive whatever offerings anyone wishes to give.

3 These offerings are to be: gold, silver, and bronze;

4 fine linen; blue, purple, and red wool; cloth made of goats' hair;

5 rams' skin dyed red; fine leather; acacia wood;

6 oil for the lamps; spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense;

7 carnelians and other jewels to be set in the ephod of the High Priest and in his breastpiece.

8 The people must make a sacred Tent for me, so that I may live among them.

9 Make it and all its furnishings according to the plan that I will show you.

10 "Make a Box out of acacia wood, 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high.

11 Cover it with pure gold inside and out and put a gold border all around it.

12 Make four carrying rings of gold for it and attach them to its four legs, with two rings on each side.

13 Make carrying poles of acacia wood and cover them with gold

14 and put them through the rings on each side of the Box.

15 The poles are to be left in the rings and must not be taken out.

16 Then put in the Box the two stone tablets that I will give you, on which the commandments are written.

17 "Make a lid of pure gold, 45 inches long and 27 inches wide.

18 Make two winged creatures of hammered gold,

19 one for each end of the lid. Make them so that they form one piece with the lid.

20 The winged creatures are to face each other across the lid, and their outspread wings are to cover it.

21 Put the two stone tablets inside the Box and put the lid on top of it.

22 I will meet you there, and from above the lid between the two winged creatures I will give you all my laws for the people of Israel.

23 "Make a table out of acacia wood, 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high.

24 Cover it with pure gold and put a gold border around it.

25 Make a rim 3 inches wide around it and a gold border around the rim.

26 Make four carrying rings of gold for it and put them at the four corners, where the legs are.

27 The rings to hold the poles for carrying the table are to be placed near the rim.

28 Make the poles of acacia wood and cover them with gold.

29 Make plates, cups, jars, and bowls to be used for the wine offerings. All of these are to be made of pure gold.

30 The table is to be placed in front of the Covenant Box, and on the table there is always to be the sacred bread offered to me.

31 "Make a lampstand of pure gold. Make its base and its shaft of hammered gold; its decorative flowers, including buds and petals, are to form one piece with it.

32 Six branches shall extend from its sides, three from each side.

33 Each of the six branches is to have three decorative flowers shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.

34 The shaft of the lampstand is to have four decorative flowers shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.

35 There is to be one bud below each of the three pairs of branches.

36 The buds, the branches, and the lampstand are to be a single piece of pure hammered gold.

37 Make seven lamps for the lampstand and set them up so that they shine toward the front.

38 Make its tongs and trays of pure gold.

39 Use seventy-five pounds of pure gold to make the lampstand and all this equipment.

40 Take care to make them according to the plan that I showed you on the mountain.

Exodus 26

1 "Make the interior of the sacred Tent, the Tent of my presence, out of ten pieces of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool. Embroider them with figures of winged creatures.

2 Make each piece the same size, 14 yards long and 2 yards wide.

3 Sew five of them together in one set, and do the same with the other five.

4 Make loops of blue cloth on the edge of the outside piece in each set.

5 Put fifty loops on the first piece of the first set and fifty loops matching them on the last piece of the second set.

6 Make fifty gold hooks with which to join the two sets into one piece.

7 "Make a cover for the Tent out of eleven pieces of cloth made of goats' hair.

8 Make them all the same size, 15 yards long and 2 yards wide.

9 Sew five of them together in one set, and the other six in another set. Fold the sixth piece double over the front of the Tent.

10 Put fifty loops on the edge of the last piece of one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the other set.

11 Make fifty bronze hooks and put them in the loops to join the two sets so as to form one cover.

12 Hang the extra half piece over the back of the Tent.

13 The extra half yard on each side of the length is to hang over the sides of the Tent to cover it.

14 "Make two more coverings, one of rams' skin dyed red and the other of fine leather, to serve as the outer cover.

15 "Make upright frames for the Tent out of acacia wood.

16 Each frame is to be 15 feet long and 27 inches wide,

17 with two matching projections, so that the frames can be joined together. All the frames are to have these projections.

18 Make twenty frames for the south side

19 and forty silver bases to go under them, two bases under each frame to hold its two projections.

20 Make twenty frames for the north side of the Tent

21 and forty silver bases, two under each frame.

22 For the back of the Tent on the west, make six frames,

23 and two frames for the corners.

24 These corner frames are to be joined at the bottom and connected all the way to the top. The two frames that form the two corners are to be made in this way.

25 So there will be eight frames with their sixteen silver bases, two under each frame.

26 "Make fifteen crossbars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the Tent,

27 five for the frames on the other side, and five for the frames on the west end, at the back.

28 The middle crossbar, set halfway up the frames, is to extend from one end of the Tent to the other.

29 Cover the frames with gold and fit them with gold rings to hold the crossbars, which are also to be covered with gold.

30 Set up the Tent according to the plan that I showed you on the mountain.

31 "Make a curtain of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool. Embroider it with figures of winged creatures.

32 Hang it on four posts of acacia wood covered with gold, fitted with hooks, and set in four silver bases.

33 Place the curtain under the row of hooks in the roof of the Tent, and put behind the curtain the Covenant Box containing the two stone tablets. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place.

34 Put the lid on the Covenant Box.

35 Outside the Most Holy Place put the table against the north side of the Tent and the lampstand against the south side.

36 "For the entrance of the Tent make a curtain of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool and decorated with embroidery.

37 For this curtain make five posts of acacia wood covered with gold and fitted with gold hooks; make five bronze bases for these posts.

Matthew 20:17-34

17 As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and spoke to them privately, as they walked along.

18 "Listen," he told them, "we are going up to Jerusalem, where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law. They will condemn him to death

19 and then hand him over to the Gentiles, who will make fun of him, whip him, and crucify him; but three days later he will be raised to life."

20 Then the wife of Zebedee came to Jesus with her two sons, bowed before him, and asked him for a favor.

21 "What do you want?" Jesus asked her. She answered, "Promise me that these two sons of mine will sit at your right and your left when you are King."

22 "You don't know what you are asking for," Jesus answered the sons. "Can you drink the cup of suffering that I am about to drink?" "We can," they answered.

23 "You will indeed drink from my cup," Jesus told them, "but I do not have the right to choose who will sit at my right and my left. These places belong to those for whom my Father has prepared them."

24 When the other ten disciples heard about this, they became angry with the two brothers.

25 So Jesus called them all together and said, "You know that the rulers of the heathen have power over them, and the leaders have complete authority.

26 This, however, is not the way it shall be among you. If one of you wants to be great, you must be the servant of the rest;

27 and if one of you wants to be first, you must be the slave of the others

28 like the Son of Man, who did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life to redeem many people."

29 As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho, a large crowd was following.

30 Two blind men who were sitting by the road heard that Jesus was passing by, so they began to shout, "Son of David! Have mercy on us, sir!"

31 The crowd scolded them and told them to be quiet. But they shouted even more loudly, "Son of David! Have mercy on us, sir!"

32 Jesus stopped and called them. "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked them.

33 "Sir," they answered, "we want you to give us our sight!"

34 Jesus had pity on them and touched their eyes; at once they were able to see, and they followed him.