Sabbath Regulations

1 Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. 2 ^cSix days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. 3 ^dYou shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”

Contributions for the Tabernacle

4 Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. 5 ^eTake from among you a contribution to the Lord. ^fWhoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats’ hair, 7 tanned rams’ skins, and goatskins;¹ acacia wood, 8 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9 and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.

10 “Let ^gevery skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 11 ^hthe tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its hooks and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 12 ⁱthe ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil of the screen; 13 ^jthe table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 14 ^kthe lampstand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the ^loil for the light; 15 and ^mthe altar of incense, with its poles, and ⁿthe anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle; 16 ^othe altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, ^pthe basin and its stand; 17 ^qthe hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18 the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court, and their cords; 19 ^rthe finely worked garments for ministering² in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests.”

20 Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. 21 And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 So they came, both men and women. ^sAll who were of a willing heart brought ^tbrooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord. 23 And every one who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or goatskins brought them. 24 Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord’s contribution. And every one who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it. 25 And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. 26 All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. 27 And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece, 28 and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. 29 All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.

Construction of the Tabernacle

30 Then Moses said to the people of Israel, ^u“See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; 31 and he has ^vfilled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, 32 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, 33 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. 34 And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.

1 “Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.”

2 And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. 3 And they received from Moses ^wall the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, 4 so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, 5 and said to Moses, ^x“The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” 6 So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.

8 ^yAnd all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains. They were made of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked. 9 The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits,³ and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains were the same size.

10 He⁴ coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. 11 He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain of the first set. Likewise he made them on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set. 12 He made fifty loops on the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set. The loops were opposite one another. 13 And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to the other with clasps. So the tabernacle was a single whole.

14 He also made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle. He made eleven curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains were the same size. 16 He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. 17 And he made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the other connecting curtain. 18 And he made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together that it might be a single whole. 19 And he made for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and goatskins.

20 Then he made the upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. 21 Ten cubits was the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each frame. 22 Each frame had two tenons for fitting together. He did this for all the frames of the tabernacle. 23 The frames for the tabernacle he made thus: twenty frames for the south side. 24 And he made forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under the next frame for its two tenons. 25 For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty frames 26 and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame and two bases under the next frame. 27 For the rear of the tabernacle westward he made six frames. 28 He made two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear. 29 And they were separate beneath but joined at the top, at the first ring. He made two of them this way for the two corners. 30 There were eight frames with their bases of silver: sixteen bases, under every frame two bases.

31 He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, 32 and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle at the rear westward. 33 And he made the middle bar to run from end to end halfway up the frames. 34 And he overlaid the frames with gold, and made their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

35 He made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; with cherubim skillfully worked into it he made it. 36 And for it he made four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four bases of silver. 37 He also made a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework, 38 and its five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals, and their fillets were of gold, but their five bases were of bronze.

Book Three

God Is My Strength and Portion Forever

A Psalm of Asaph.

Greeting

1 ^aSimeon¹ Peter, a servant² and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of ^bour God and Savior Jesus Christ:

2 ^cMay grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Confirm Your Calling and Election

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him ^dwho called us to³ his own glory and ^eexcellence,⁴ 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and ^fvery great promises, so that through them you may become ^gpartakers of the divine nature, having ^hescaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with ⁱvirtue,⁵ and ^jvirtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with ^klove. 8 For if these qualities⁶ are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or ^lunfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is ^mblind, having forgotten that he was ⁿcleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers,^{7 o}be all the more diligent to ^pconfirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never ^qfall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an ^rentrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are ^sestablished ^tin the truth that you have. 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this ^ubody,^{8 v}to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, ^was our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Christ’s Glory and the Prophetic Word

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised ^xmyths when ^ywe made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^zbut we were eyewitnesses of his ^amajesty. 17 For when he received honor and ^bglory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ^c“This is my beloved Son,⁹ with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a ^dlamp ^eshining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the ^fmorning star ^grises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 ^hFor no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but ⁱmen spoke from God as they were carried along ^jby the Holy Spirit.

False Prophets and Teachers

1 But ^kfalse prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will ^lsecretly bring in destructive heresies, even ^mdenying the Master who ⁿbought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their ^osensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their ^pgreed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation ^qfrom long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

4 ^rFor if ^sGod did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell¹⁰ and committed them to chains¹¹ of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, ^twhen he brought a ^uflood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by ^vturning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;¹² 7 and if he ^wrescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the ^xsensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to ^yrescue the godly from trials,¹³ and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge¹⁴ in the lust of defiling passion and ^zdespise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 ^awhereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 ^bBut these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, ^cblaspheming about ^dmatters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. ^eThey are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,¹⁵ while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery,¹⁶ insatiable for sin. They entice ^funsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed ^gthe way of ^hBalaam, the son of Beor, who loved ⁱgain from wrongdoing, 16 but was ^jrebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

17 These are ^kwaterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, ^lspeaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^mescaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are ⁿslaves¹⁷ of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^othe last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 ^pFor it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: ^q“The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after ^rwashing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

The Day of the Lord Will Come

1 This is now the ^ssecond letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am ^tstirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 ^uthat you should remember the ^vpredictions ^wof the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, ^xthat scoffers will come ^yin the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, ^z“Where is the promise of his ^acoming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, ^bthat the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water ^cby the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was ^ddeluged with water and ^eperished. 7 But by the same word ^fthe heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, ^gand a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is ^hpatient toward you,^{18 i}not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come ^jlike a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies¹⁹ will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.²⁰

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for ^knew heavens and a new earth ^lin which righteousness dwells.

Final Words

14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, ^mbe diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as ⁿour beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, ^otake care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.