I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1

Exodus 35-36

Exodus 35

The Sabbath

¹ Moses assembled the entire congregation of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the words which the Lord has commanded that you should do. ² ‘Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. ³ You shall kindle no fire throughout your homes on the Sabbath day.’ ”

Materials for the Tabernacle

⁴ Moses spoke to the entire congregation of the Israelites, saying, “This is what the Lord commanded, saying, ⁵ ‘Take from among you, an offering to the Lord. Whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it–an offering to the Lord: gold, and silver, and bronze, ⁶ and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, ⁷ and rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, ⁸ and oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil and for the sweet incense, ⁹ and onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate.

The Skilled Tabernacle Workman

¹⁰ Let everyone among you who has wisdom in his craft come and make everything that the Lord has commanded:

¹¹ the tabernacle, its outer covering, its roof, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets;
¹² the ark, and its poles, the mercy seat, the veil of the screen;
¹³ the table with its poles and all its vessels, and the show bread;
¹⁴ the lamp stand also for the light, with its vessels, its lamps, and the oil for the light;
¹⁵ and the altar of incense with its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle;
¹⁶ the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its vessels, the basin and its base;
¹⁷ the hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court;
¹⁸ the pins of the tabernacle, the pins of the court, and their cords;
¹⁹ the finely worked garments for ministering in the holy place—the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons—to minister in the priest’s office.’ ”

The People Offer Gifts

²⁰ The entire Israelite community departed from the presence of Moses. ²¹ They came, everyone whose heart was stirred and everyone whose spirit was made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering for the work of the Tent of Meeting and for all of its service and for the holy garments.

²² They came, both men and women, as many as were willing-hearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold, and every man who made an offering of gold to the Lord.

²³ Everyone with whom was found blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and sea cow hides, brought them.

²⁴ Everyone who could make an offering of silver and bronze brought the Lord’s offering, and everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it.

²⁵ All the women that were skilled and spun with their hands brought that which they had spun: from blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and from fine linen. ²⁶ All the women whose hearts were stirred up in wisdom spun the goats’ hair.

²⁷ The rulers brought onyx stones and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate, ²⁸ and spice and oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense.

²⁹ The Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Lord, every man and woman whose heart was made willing to bring something for all the work that the Lord, through Moses, had commanded to be done.

Bezelel and Oholiab

³⁰ Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has called by name, Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³¹ He has filled him with the Spirit of the Lord, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all kinds of workmanship; ³² and to make skillful designs, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, ³³ in cutting of stones for setting and in carving of wood, to work in all kinds of skillful workmanship.

³⁴ He has put in his heart the ability to teach, both he and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. ³⁵ He has filled his heart with wisdom to perform all manner of work: of the engraver, the skillful workman, and the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen, and of the weaver: of those who do any workmanship or artistic design.”

Exodus 36

The Tabernacle Underwritten

¹ “Bezalel and Oholiab shall work with everyone who has wisdom in his craft, in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

² Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every wise craftsman in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom and everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work.

³ They received from Moses, all of the offering which the Israelites had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, with which to make it. They kept bringing freewill offerings to him every morning.

⁴ All the wise men, who performed all the work of the sanctuary, each came from the work which he was doing. ⁵ They spoke to Moses, saying, “The people have brought much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded to make.”

⁶ Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman make anything else for the offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing more. ⁷ For the goods they had were more than sufficient to do all the work.

The Curtains

⁸ All the wise craftsman among those who did the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twined linen: blue, purple, and scarlet. They made them with cherubim, the work of a skillful craftsman. ⁹ The length of each curtain was 42 feet long and six feet wide. All the curtains had the same measurement.

¹⁰ He coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. ¹¹ He made loops of blue yarn along the edge of the outermost curtain in the first coupling, and likewise, he made loops along the edge of the outermost curtain in the second coupling. ¹² He made 50 loops in the one curtain, and he made 50 loops in the edge of the curtain that was in the second coupling. The loops were opposite to one another. ¹³ He made 50 clasps of gold and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, so the tabernacle was a unit.

The Curtains of Goat’s Hair

¹⁴ He made curtains of goats’ hair for a covering over the tabernacle. He made eleven of them. ¹⁵ The length of each curtain was 45 feet, and the width of each curtain was six feet. All eleven curtains were the same measurement.

¹⁶ He coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. ¹⁷ He made 50 loops on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the coupling, and he made 50 loops on the edge of the curtain which was outermost in the second coupling. ¹⁸ He made 50 clasps of bronze to couple the tent together so that it might be one unit.

The Covering of Skins

¹⁹ He made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering of sea cow hides above.

The Boards and Sockets

²⁰ He made the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing up. ²¹ The length of each plank was fifteen feet, and the width of each was 27 inches. ²² Each board had two tenons, joined to one another. He made all the boards of the tabernacle this way. ²³ He made upright boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. ²⁴ He made 40 sockets of silver under the twenty boards: two sockets under one board for its two tenons and two sockets under another board for its two tenons.

²⁵ For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty boards ²⁶ and their 40 sockets of silver: two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board.

²⁷ For the west side of the tabernacle, he made six boards. ²⁸ He made two boards for the corners of the tabernacle in the far end. ²⁹ They were coupled together to one ring, at the bottom and at the top. Thus he did to both of them in the two corners.

³⁰ There were eight boards and their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets—under every board two sockets.

The Bars

³¹ He made bars of acacia wood: five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle ³² and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the rear side to the west.

³³ He made the middle bar to pass through in the middle of the boards from the one end to the other. ³⁴ He overlaid the boards with gold and made their rings of gold as places for the bars and overlaid the bars with gold.

The Veil

³⁵ He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, with cherubim. He made it the work of a skillful workman. ³⁶ He made four pillars of acacia for it and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold. He cast four sockets of silver for them.

The Curtain for the Door

³⁷ He made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer, ³⁸ and the five pillars of it with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their fillets with gold and their five sockets were of bronze.

Matthew 27:32-66

The Crucifixion

³² As they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they compelled him to carry Jesus’ cross. ³³ When they came to a place called “Golgotha”, that is to say, “The place of a skull”, ³⁴ they gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall, but after tasting it, he would not drink it.

³⁵ When they had crucified him, they divided his clothing among them, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet,

“They parted my garments among themselves,
and upon my clothing they cast lots.” ^a

³⁶ Sitting down, they kept guard over him there. ³⁷ They set up over his head, the accusation written against him, “THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”

³⁸ Then there were two thieves being crucified with him, one on his right hand and one on the left. ³⁹ Those who passed by reviled him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!”

⁴¹ Likewise the chief priests also mocking, with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders, said, ⁴² “He saved others, but he can’t save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ” ⁴⁴ The thieves also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach.

The Death of Jesus

⁴⁵ Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. ⁴⁶ And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying,

“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”

That is,

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

⁴⁷ Some of them who stood there, when they heard it, said, “This man is calling Elijah.”

⁴⁸ Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with vinegar and put it on a reed and gave him a drink. ⁴⁹ The rest said, “Let him be. Let’s see whether Elijah comes to save him.”

⁵⁰ Jesus cried again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. ⁵¹ And the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom. The earth quaked, and the rocks were split. ⁵² The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose; ⁵³ and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they entered into the holy city and appeared to many.

⁵⁴ Now the centurion and those who were with him watching Jesus, when they saw the earthquake and the things that were done, feared greatly, saying, “Truly this was the Son of God.”

⁵⁵ Many women who had followed Jesus from Galilee were there watching from afar, ministering to him. ⁵⁶ Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.

The Burial of Jesus

⁵⁷ When evening had come, a rich man from Arimathaea, named Joseph, who himself was also Jesus’ disciple, came. ⁵⁸ This man went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given up. ⁵⁹ Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth ⁶⁰ and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut out of the rock, and he rolled a great stone against the door of the tomb and departed. ⁶¹ Mary Magdalene was there and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.

The Guard at the Tomb

⁶² Now the next day, which was the day after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees were gathered together before Pilate, ⁶³ saying, “Sir, we remember what that deceiver said while he was still alive: ‘After three days I will rise again.’ ⁶⁴ Command therefore that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come at night and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He is risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.”

⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “You have a guard. Go, make it as secure as you can.” ⁶⁶ So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone.

^{a Psalm 22:18}

Psalm 34:1-10

Taste and See the Lord is Good

By David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.

¹  I will bless the Lord at all times.
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
² I shall boast in the Lord.
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
³ Oh magnify the Lord with me.
Let us exalt his name together.
⁴ I sought the Lord, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.

⁵ They looked to him and were radiant.
Their faces shall never be covered with shame.
⁶ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him,
and saved him out of all his troubles.
⁷ The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and delivers them.

⁸ Oh taste and see that the Lord is good.
Blessed is the man who trusts in him.
⁹ Oh fear the Lord, you his saints,
for there is no lack for those who fear him.
¹⁰ The young lions do lack and suffer hunger,
but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

Proverbs 9:7-8

⁷ One who corrects a mocker invites insult.
One who reproves a wicked man invites abuse.
⁸ Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you.
Reprove a wise person, and he will love you.

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