The Daily Audio Bible

The tabernacle

26 Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of very good linen. Also use blue, purple and red material. Tell a worker to use special skills to make pictures of cherubs on the curtains. ² All the curtains must be the same size: 12 metres long and 2 metres wide. ³ Join five of the curtains together. Do the same thing with the other five curtains. ⁴ Fix rings of blue material along the edge of the last curtain in each set of five curtains. ⁵ Put 50 rings on the edge of the first set. Put 50 rings on the edge of the other set. Do this so that the rings on one curtain are opposite to the rings on the other curtain. ⁶ Then use 50 small gold hooks to join the curtains together. In this way, a single piece of curtain will make the whole tabernacle.

⁷ Use goats' hair to make 11 curtains. They will cover the tabernacle, like a tent. ⁸ All the curtains must be the same size: 13.5 metres long and 2 metres wide. ⁹ Join five of the curtains together to make one set. Fix the other six curtains together to make a second set. Turn the sixth curtain of this set over itself to cover the entrance of the tent. ¹⁰ Use material to make 50 rings along the edge of the end curtain in each set. ¹¹ Then make 50 bronze hooks. Use them to join the two sets of curtains together so that it makes a single tent. ¹² The curtains for the tent will be longer than the curtains for the tabernacle. The extra half of the curtain for the tent will hang at the back of the tabernacle. ¹³ The curtains of the tent will be half a metre longer on both sides. The extra material will hang over each side of the tabernacle to cover it completely.

¹⁴ Use red leather from sheep's skins to cover the tent. Then use another kind of good leather to cover the red leather.

¹⁵ Use acacia wood to make boards to hold up the tabernacle. ¹⁶ Each board must be 4 metres high and 65 centimetres wide. ¹⁷ Make two wooden pegs on each board, beside each other. Make all the boards of the tabernacle like this. ¹⁸ Make 20 boards for the south side of the tabernacle. ¹⁹ Then use silver to make 40 heavy bases to hold up the boards. Two bases will hold up each board. The pegs on the boards will fit into holes in the bases. ²⁰ Also make 20 boards for the north side of the tabernacle. ²¹ Make 40 silver bases, two bases under each board. ²² Make six boards for the west side, at the back of the tabernacle. ²³ Then make two boards for the corners at the back of the tabernacle. ²⁴ You must fix the two boards together, from the bottom to the top. Use a ring to fix them together at the top. Make both the corners in the same way. ²⁵ So there will be eight boards at the back of the tabernacle and 16 silver bases, two bases under each board.

²⁶ You must also use acacia wood to make bars to fix across the boards. Make five bars for the south side of the tabernacle, ²⁷ five bars for the north side, and five bars for the west side at the back of the tabernacle. ²⁸ The bar that goes across the centre of the boards must reach from one end of the tabernacle to the other end. ²⁹ Use gold to cover the boards and to make rings for the boards. These rings will hold the bars in place across the boards. Also cover the wooden bars with gold.

³⁰ Make the tabernacle the same as the plan that I showed to you on the mountain.

The curtain inside the tabernacle

³¹ Use blue, purple and red material and good linen to make a special curtain. A worker must use special skills to make pictures of cherubs on it. ³² Use gold rings to hang the curtain from four poles of acacia wood. Cover these poles with gold. Then fix them on four silver bases. ³³ Hang the top of the curtain from the rings. Put the Covenant Box behind the curtain, in the Most Holy Place. The curtain will hang between the Most Holy Place and the Holy Place so that they are separate. ³⁴ Put the special lid on the Covenant Box, in the Most Holy Place.^{[a] 35} Put the special table in the Holy Place, outside the curtain. It will be on the north side of the tabernacle. Put the lampstand opposite the table, on the south side.

³⁶ Make a curtain for the entrance of the tent. Use blue, purple and red material and good linen to make it. A worker must use special skills to make it so that it looks beautiful. ³⁷ Use acacia wood to make five poles. Cover them with gold. Fix gold rings to the poles. Use bronze to make five bases to hold up the poles. Then hang the curtain from the rings on the poles.

The altar for sacrifices

27 Use acacia wood to make an altar. It must be square, 2.2 metres long and 2.2 metres wide. It must be 1.3 metres high. ² Make four horns, one at each corner of the altar. The horns and the altar itself must be one piece of work. Then cover the whole altar with bronze. ³ Make all the tools for the altar with bronze. Make pots to remove the ashes, spades and bowls. Make forks for the meat. Make dishes to carry the fire. ⁴ Use bronze to make a square net and rings at each corner. ⁵ Fix this net inside the altar, in the middle, between the top of the altar and the ground.^{[b] 6} Use acacia wood to make poles for the altar. Cover them with bronze. ⁷ You must put the poles through the rings when you carry the altar. There will be a pole on each of two sides of the altar. ⁸ Use boards to make the altar, so that it is empty inside. You must make it in the way that the Lord showed you on the mountain.

The yard

⁹ Make a yard around the tent of the tabernacle. The south side must be 45 metres long. It will have curtains that are made of good linen. ¹⁰ Make 20 poles and 20 bronze bases to hold the poles. Use silver to make hooks and sticks to hold the curtains. ¹¹ The north side of the yard must also be 45 metres long. It will also have 20 poles with their bronze bases, as well as their silver hooks and sticks.

¹² The west end of the yard must be 23 metres long. Make curtains for it, with ten poles and their bronze bases. ¹³ The entrance to the yard is at its east end. That end must also be 23 metres long. ^14-15 There will be 7 metres of curtain on each side of the entrance. There will be three poles with their bases to hold the curtains on each side.

¹⁶ Make a curtain 9 metres wide for the entrance to the yard. Make it out of blue, purple and red material, as well as good linen. Choose a worker who can use special skills to make the curtain look beautiful. Make four poles and their bases to hold the curtain at the entrance.

¹⁷ All the poles around the yard must have bronze bases. They will also have silver hooks and sticks to hold the curtains. ¹⁸ The yard will be 45 metres long and 23 metres wide. Use good linen to make the curtains. They must be 2¼ metres high on the bronze bases.

¹⁹ Use bronze to make all the tools that you will use in the tabernacle. Also use bronze to make the pegs that fix the tent of the tabernacle to the ground. And make bronze pegs to fix the curtain around the yard to the ground.

Olive oil for the lamps

²⁰ Command the Israelites to bring you pure oil from fresh olives. You will use this oil to make the lamps give light all the time. ²¹ Aaron and his sons must make sure that the lamps always give light from evening until morning. The lampstand will be in the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that hangs in front of the Covenant Box.^[c] The lamps must always give light there, where the Lord is. This will always be a rule for the Israelites, now and in the future.

Jesus tells a story about ten young women

25 Jesus said, ‘I will tell you another story to show what the kingdom of heaven is like. There were ten young women who were going to a marriage party. They took their lamps with them and they went to meet the man who was marrying a wife. ² Five of these young women were silly. The other five young women were wise. ³ The silly women took their lamps with them, but they did not take any extra oil with them. ⁴ The five wise women took jars of oil with their lamps. ⁵ The man who was marrying a wife did not come for a long time. So all the young women became tired, and they went to sleep.

⁶ In the middle of the night, someone shouted out, “The man is coming! Come out to meet him!”

⁷ The ten young women woke up. Then they prepared their lamps to make them work well. ⁸ The five silly young women said to the other five young women, “Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are not giving much light.” ⁹ The wise women replied, “If we did that, then there would not be enough oil for all of us. You must go instead to the people who sell oil. You must buy some oil for yourselves.”

¹⁰ So these five women went to buy some oil. While they were away, the man arrived for the marriage party. The five wise women were ready. They went with him into the house for the party. Then the servants shut the door.

¹¹ Later, the five silly women also came to the house. They said, “Sir, Sir, please open the door for us.” ¹² But he replied, “I tell you, I do not know you.” ’

¹³ Then Jesus said to the people, ‘So you must watch carefully. You do not know on what day or at what time I will return.’^[a]

Jesus tells a story about three servants

¹⁴ Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of heaven is also like a man who began a journey. Before the master went away, he told his servants to come to him. He said to them, “Take care of all my money and all my things for me.” ¹⁵ The master gave one servant 5,000 gold coins. He gave another servant 2,000 gold coins, and to another servant he gave 1,000 gold coins. The master gave to each servant what he would be able to use well.^[b] Then he went away on his journey.

¹⁶ The servant who had received 5,000 gold coins went out immediately. He bought and sold things with the money. When he did this, he got 5,000 more gold coins. ¹⁷ The servant who had received 2,000 gold coins did the same thing. This servant got 2,000 more gold coins. ¹⁸ But the servant who had received only 1,000 gold coins did something different. He went outside and he dug a hole in the ground. He buried the money that his master had given him.

¹⁹ After a long time, the master came home.^[c] He asked the servants to come to him. He wanted to know how much money they had now. ²⁰ The servant who had received 5,000 gold coins came to his master. The servant said, “Master, you gave me 5,000 gold coins. Now I have an extra 5,000 gold coins.”

²¹ The master said to this servant, “You are a good servant and you have done really well. You were careful with a small amount of money. Now I will give you authority over many more things. I am really happy about this and I want you to be happy with me.”

²² The servant who had received 2,000 gold coins also came to his master. The servant said, “Master, you gave me 2,000 gold coins. Now I have an extra 2,000 gold coins.”

²³ The master said to this servant, “You are a good servant and you have done really well. You were careful with a small amount of money. Now I will give you authority over many more things. I am really happy about this and I want you to be happy with me.”

²⁴ The servant who had received 1,000 gold coins then came to his master. The servant said, “Master, I know what you are like. You tell people what they should do all the time. You take food from fields where you did not put any seed in the ground. You get fruit from trees that you did not plant. ²⁵ So I was afraid of you. I went and I buried your gold coins in the ground. Look! Here they are. You can have your money back again.”

²⁶ The master said to him, “You are a bad and lazy servant. You know what I am like, do you? I get food from fields where I did not put any seeds. I get fruit from trees that I did not plant. You knew all that. ²⁷ So you should have put the money into a bank. Then, when I came home, I could have received my money back from the bank, with extra money.”

²⁸ Then the master said to his other servants, “Take the 1,000 gold coins from this bad servant. Give them to the man who now has 10,000 coins. ²⁹ Some people have received good things. They will all receive even more and have lots of good things. Some other people have nothing. Those people will lose even the little bit that they do have. ³⁰ This servant cannot work for me any longer. Take him outside and throw him into a dark place. There, people will cry and they will bite their teeth together.” ’^[d]

This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.

Lord, please help me!

Listen to Wisdom!^[a]

8 Listen! Wisdom is calling out. She wants you to understand what is right, so she speaks in a loud voice. ² She stands where people will hear her, on the hills along the road. She stands where different paths meet. ³ She stands near the gates where people go into the city. This is what she says: