The Daily Audio Bible

39 For the priests who served in the holy place, they decorated finely woven garments with blue, purple, and scarlet thread donated by the people. They also made the sacred garments Aaron was to wear, exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses.

² Bezalel had Aaron’s vest of gold made out of finely woven linen embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet thread. ³ Craftsmen hammered gold into gold leaf, sliced it into individual threads, and interlaced them with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread as they embroidered intricate designs into the fine linens. ⁴ They also made two pieces for the shoulders of the vest that attached so that the front and back form one piece. ⁵ The vest’s waistband was skillfully made of the same materials—blue, purple, and scarlet thread on finely woven linen—and with a similar design made by skilled artisans exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses. ⁶ They prepared onyx stones, engraved them the same way signet rings are engraved, and set them in ornamental gold settings. ⁷ As the Eternal instructed Moses, he positioned the onyx stones on the shoulder pieces of Aaron’s vest as a memorial for the people of Israel before the Eternal One.

⁸ He then had skilled workers make the breast piece in the same style as the vest out of finely woven linen embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with gold. ⁹ They made it square by folding over the material to double it and created a pouch in it nine inches by nine inches. ¹⁰ They placed four rows of stones in it. The first row was ruby, topaz, and emerald; ¹¹ the second row was turquoise, sapphire, and diamond; ¹² the third row was jacinth, agate, and amethyst; ¹³ the fourth row was beryl, onyx, and jasper. They were all attached to the breast piece with ornamental gold settings. ¹⁴ The twelve stones stood for the twelve tribes of Israel. Each was engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes. ¹⁵ They braided strands of pure gold into chains and attached them to the breast piece. ¹⁶ They fashioned two ornamental gold settings and two gold rings, and they placed the two rings on opposite ends of the breast piece. ¹⁷ Then they fastened the two gold chains to the two gold rings at the two ends of the breast piece. ¹⁸ They fastened the loose ends of the chains to the two ornamental gold settings at the front of Aaron’s vest on the shoulders. ¹⁹ Then they fashioned two more gold rings and attached them to the breast piece at the inside edge next to the vest. ²⁰ They made two additional gold rings and attached them to the front of the vest below the shoulders near the seam just above the waistband. ²¹ They connected the rings on the breast piece to the rings on the vest using blue cord, so that it would be attached above the vest’s waistband and not come loose from the vest. They did all this exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses.

²² He then made the robe worn under the vest blue. ²³ They made a hole for the head and formed a collar around the hole by lining it with extra material so that it might not tear. ²⁴ All around the hem they stitched pomegranates out of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. ²⁵ They also fashioned bells out of pure gold and attached them all around the hem between the pomegranates. ²⁶ They used an alternating pattern: bell, pomegranate, bell, pomegranate, and so on. They did this exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses.

²⁷ They made tunics out of finely woven linen for Aaron and his sons. ²⁸ They made the turban, caps, and undergarments out of fine linen as well. ²⁹ They also made the sash out of finely woven linen and embroidered it with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. They did all this exactly as the Eternal One instructed Moses.

³⁰ They made the medallion, the sacred emblem that set the high priest apart, out of pure gold and engraved it like a seal with the inscription, “Holy to the Eternal.” ³¹ They fastened it with a blue cord to the front of Aaron’s turban, exactly as the Eternal One instructed Moses.

³² All the work that went into the sanctuary of the congregation tent was finally finished. The Israelites did everything exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses.

³³ Then the Israelites brought all they made to Moses. They brought the tent and all its furnishings, including its hooks, frame panels, crossbars, posts, and bases; ³⁴ the layers of red-dyed rams’ skins and the sea-cow skin that covered the sanctuary; the veil shrouding the most holy place; ³⁵ the covenant chest with its poles and the seat of mercy; ³⁶ the table, its tools, the bread of the Presence; ³⁷ the gold lampstand, its lamps and all its tools, the lamp oil; ³⁸ the golden altar of incense, the anointing oil and the scented incense; the fabric screen for the tent’s entrance; ³⁹ the bronze altar for burnt offerings, the bronze grating, its poles and tools, the basin and its stand; ⁴⁰ the panels that enclose the courtyard, the posts and bases, the screen that covers the court’s entrance, the cords and pegs; and all the tools used in the sanctuary of the congregation tent, ⁴¹ the finely woven clothing for priests serving in the holy place, the sacred garments worn by Aaron the high priest, and the clothes his sons are to wear when they serve as priests as well. ⁴² The Israelites completed each part of the project exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses.

⁴³ Moses inspected every piece of work they had completed, and he saw that they had done it all with excellence according to the specifications given to Him by the Eternal One. So Moses blessed them.

40 Then the Eternal One instructed Moses.

¹⁶ Moses did exactly as the Eternal One instructed him.

¹⁷ The congregation tent was erected on the first day of the first month of the second year after the exodus from Egypt. ¹⁸ Moses raised it. He began by laying down the bases, installing the frame panels, attaching the crossbars, and erecting the posts. ¹⁹ He covered the frame of the tent with the tent fabric and then covered that with other layers they made. He did this exactly as the Eternal One had instructed him.

²⁰ He then placed the stone tablets—as a witness to their agreement—inside the covenant chest. He slid the poles through the rings on the chest and covered the chest with the seat of mercy, where sins are atoned. ²¹ He carried the covenant chest into the congregation tent and hung the veil to screen it from sight exactly as the Eternal One had instructed him. ²² He then placed the table on the northern end of the sanctuary of the congregation tent outside of the veil. ²³ He arranged the bread on the table before the Eternal exactly as the Eternal One had instructed him. ²⁴ He took the lampstand into the sanctuary of the congregation tent and set it up on the southern end, directly opposite the table. ²⁵ He lit the lamps before the Eternal One, exactly as the Eternal One had instructed him. ²⁶ He put the golden altar in front of the veil within the sanctuary ²⁷ and burned fragrant incense on it, exactly as the Eternal One had instructed him. ²⁸ He hung the screen at the entrance of the congregation tent. ²⁹ He put the altar for burnt offering in front of the entrance to the sanctuary of the congregation tent, inside the courtyard. He offered burnt offerings and grain offerings on it exactly as the Eternal One had instructed him. ^30-31 He put the basin between the sanctuary and the altar for burnt offerings and filled it with water so Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons could wash their hands and feet and cleanse themselves. ³² When they went into the congregation tent and when they came near the altar, they washed themselves exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses. ³³ Moses then raised the posts and panels that enclosed the courtyard around the congregation tent and altar. He put up the screen at the court entrance. Moses completed the work.

³⁴ At that moment, a cloud blanketed the congregation tent, and the glory of the Eternal filled the sanctuary. ³⁵ Moses could not even go into the congregation tent because the cloud had enveloped it, and the glory of the Eternal filled the sanctuary. ³⁶ Through all their wanderings in the desert, whenever the cloud lifted up from the congregation tent, the Israelites would break camp and set out. ³⁷ But when the cloud covered the tent, they remained where they were and did not set out until once again the cloud lifted. ³⁸ Through all their wanderings, the cloud of the Eternal stood over the congregation tent during the day and at night fire was lit for all the community of Israel to see.

1 This is the beginning of the good news of Jesus, the Anointed One, the Liberating King, the Son of God.

² Isaiah the prophet told us what would happen before He came:

⁴ That messenger was John the Baptist,^[c] who appeared in the desert near the Jordan River preaching that people should be ritually cleansed through baptism with water as a sign of both their changed hearts^[d] and God’s forgiveness of their sins. ⁵ People from across the countryside of Judea and from the city of Jerusalem came to him and confessed that they were deeply flawed and needed help, so he cleansed^[e] them with the waters of the Jordan. ⁶ John dressed as some of the Hebrew prophets had, in clothes made of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist. He made his meals in the desert from locusts and wild honey. ⁷ He preached a message in the wilderness.

⁹ It was in those days that Jesus left Nazareth (a village in the region of Galilee) and came down to the Jordan, and John cleansed Him through baptism there in the same way all the others were ritually cleansed. ¹⁰ But as Jesus was coming out of the waters, He looked up and saw the sky split open. The Spirit of God descended upon Him like a dove, ¹¹ and a voice echoed in the heavens.

¹² After that the Spirit compelled Him to go into the wilderness, ¹³ and there in the desert He stayed for 40 days. He was tested by Satan himself and surrounded by wild animals; but through these trials, heavenly messengers cared for Him and ministered to Him.

¹⁴ After John was arrested by Herod, who ruled the Jewish lands on behalf of Roman interests, Jesus went back into the region of Galilee and began to proclaim the good news of God.

¹⁶ As Jesus walked along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He met the first of His disciples, two brothers, Simon and Andrew, both fishermen who were casting their fishing net into the shallow waters.

¹⁸ Simon and Andrew left their nets and followed Jesus at once.

¹⁹ When He had walked a little farther, He saw the sons of Zebedee, James and John, in their boat repairing their nets. ²⁰ Right away He called to them, and they dropped what they were doing and left their father Zebedee and the hired men aboard the boat to follow Him as His disciples.

²¹ They came at last to the village of Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee; and on the Sabbath Day, Jesus went straight into a synagogue, sat down, and began to teach. ²² The people looked at each other, amazed, because this strange teacher acted as One authorized by God, and what He taught affected them in ways their own scribes’ teachings could not. ²³ Just then a man in the gathering who was overcome by an unclean spirit shouted.

²⁶ The man’s body began to shake and shudder; and then, howling, the spirit flew out of the man. ²⁷ The people couldn’t stop talking about what they had seen.

²⁸ It wasn’t long before news of Jesus spread over the countryside of Galilee.

Psalm 35

A song of David.