Exodus 36
1 Now Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the Lord put wisdom and knowledge to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the holy place, did according to all the Lord commanded.
The Gifts of the People
2 Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord put wisdom, everyone whose heart willed freely to come and do the work.†
3 They received from Moses all the offerings the children of Israel brought for all the works for making the holy place, and they continued bringing him freewill offerings every morning.
4 Then all the wise men who were doing all the work of the holy place came, each according to the work he was doing,
5 and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the work the Lord commanded us to do.”
6 So Moses gave a commandment and proclaimed it throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the holy place.” Thus the people were restrained from bringing more,†
7 for the material was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed, too much.
Articles for the Tabernacle
8 Then all the gifted artisans among them who worked on Aaron’s garments for the holy places did as the Lord commanded Moses.
9 He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, spun scarlet, and fine twined linen.
10 Thin plates of gold were then cut into threads to be woven into the blue, purple, spun scarlet, and fine twined linen; and they formed it as a woven piece.
11 He then coupled the ephod together from its two sides, a work woven by a mutual twisting of the parts into one another.
12 They constructed it according to the same workmanship of gold, blue, purple, spun scarlet, and fine twined linen, as the Lord commanded Moses.
13 Then they made two emerald stones, clasped together and set in gold, carved and engraved as signets are engraved with the names of the sons of Israel.
14 He attached these as memorial stones to the shoulders of the ephod for the children of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.
15 Then they made the oracle, a woven work of embroidery like the workmanship of the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, spun scarlet, and fine twined linen.
16 They made the oracle square by doubling it; a span was its length and a span its width when doubled.
17 Interwoven into this texture was a setting of four rows of stones: the first row, a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald;
18 and the second row, a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a jasper;
19 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst;
20 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, a beryl, and an onyx, set around with gold and fastened with gold.
21 The twelve stones bore the names of the sons of Israel, their names engraved like a signet, each one with its own name according to the twelve tribes.
22 Then they made on the oracle chains, plaited fringes of gold, a work of pure gold.
23 They also made two gold bosses and two gold rings.
24 Then they put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the oracle.
25 They also attached two golden clasps to the rings on both sides of the oracle, the two clasps to the two couplings.
26 Then they placed the two gold bosses, joining them to the shoulders of the ephod opposite one another in the front.
27 They made two gold rings and attached them to two loops on top of the oracle, near the back of it, the side toward the ephod.
28 Then they made two gold rings and attached them below the two shoulders of the ephod in front, woven into the ephod like the coupling above.
29 Then they bound the oracle by means of its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord.
30 That way it would be above the intricately woven band of the ephod, and the breastplate would not rip away from the ephod, as the Lord commanded Moses.
31 He made the undergarment of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.
32 The collar of the undergarment was plaited and interwoven, having a border all around that it would not tear.
33 Beneath the border of the robe there were knobs of flowering pomegranate, constructed of blue, purple, spun scarlet, and fine twined linen.
34 Then they made bells of pure gold and put the bells on the hem of the robe all around between the pomegranates.
35 The golden bells and pomegranates, all the hem of the robe, were for the ministry, as the Lord commanded Moses.
36 They made fine linen robes, woven work, for Aaron and his sons, and belts of fine linen, and turbans of fine linen, short trousers of fine linen,
37 and their sashes of fine woven linen, blue, purple, spun scarlet, made by a weaver according as the Lord commanded Moses.
38 Then they made the plate of gold, a dedicated thing of the holy place, of pure gold, and on it he wrote an inscription like the engraving of a signet: Holiness to the Lord.
39 And they tied a blue cord to it to fasten it above on the turban, in the manner the Lord commanded Moses.
Psalms 73
1 Of understanding; for Asaph. †O God, why have You rejected us to the end? Why has Your anger raged against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation You acquired from the beginning, That You redeemed the rod of Your inheritance, This Mount Zion, where You encamped.
3 Lift up Your hands against their arrogance to the end, Against everything the enemy prostituted in Your holy places.
4 Those who hate You boasted in the midst of Your feast; They set up their signs, yes signs, and they did not know.
5 As into an entrance hall,
6 As in a thicket of trees, they cut down its doors with axes; With battle axes and hammers, they broke it down.
7 They burned down Your sanctuary; They defiled the tabernacle of Your name to the ground.
8 Their kindred said in their heart together, “Come, let us abolish all the feasts of God from the earth.”
9 We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet, and He will no longer know us.
10 How long, O God, will the enemy reproach? Will the adversary provoke Your name to the end?
11 Why do You turn away Your hand, Your right hand from the midst of Your breast to the end?
Proverbs of Solomon 15
11 The instruction of the simple is known by those who pass by, But those who hate reproofs will die shamefully.
12 Hades and destruction are manifest before the Lord; How can the hearts of men not be also?
13 An uninstructed man will not love those who reprove him, And he will not keep company with the wise.†
14 When one’s heart is glad, his face is cheerful, But when it is in grief, his face is sad.
15 The upright heart seeks perception, But the mouth of the uninstructed will know evil things.†
Luke 3
The Baptist’s Call for Repentance
1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,†
2 while Annas and Caiaphas were high priests, the word of God came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.†
3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,†
4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight. †
5 Every valley shall be filled And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough ways smooth;
6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”
7 Then he said to the multitudes that came out to be baptized by him, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.†
9 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?”
11 He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”
12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?”
13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than what is appointed for you.”
14 Likewise the soldiers asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages.”
15 Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not,
16 John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.†
17 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”
18 And with many other exhortations he preached to the people.
19 But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,†
20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.