The Daily Audio Bible
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Money for the tabernacle
11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 ‘When you count the number of the Israelites, each person must pay the Lord a price for his life. Everyone must do this at the time when you count them. Then no bad illness will happen to them as you count them. 13 Each person that you count must give six grams of silver. That is the proper weight that they use in the tabernacle. The silver is an offering to the Lord. 14 You must count every person who is 20 years old or more. Each person must offer his gift to the Lord. 15 Rich people must not give more than six grams of silver. Poor people must not give less than that. That is the offering that you must each give to the Lord. It is the price that everyone must pay for his life. 16 Receive these silver coins from the Israelites. Use the money to take care of the Tent of Meeting.[a] Then the Lord will always remember that you belong to him. You have paid money for your lives.’
The bronze bowl
17 Then the Lord said to Moses, 18 ‘Use bronze to make a large bowl for water. Also use bronze to make a base for it to stand on. Put it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar. Fill it with water.
19 Aaron and his sons must use the water from the bowl to wash their hands and their feet. 20 Every time they go into the Tent of Meeting, they must wash in the same way. Then they will not die. They must also wash before they go to the altar to make a burnt offering to the Lord. 21 If they wash their hands and their feet, they will not die as they serve me. This will always be a rule for Aaron and for his descendants, the priests.’
Special oil and incense
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, 23 ‘Mix together these special spices:
6 kilograms of pure myrrh,
3 kilograms of sweet cinnamon,
3 kilograms of sweet grasses,
24 6 kilograms of cassia,[b]
and 4 litres of olive oil.
25 Mix these spices to make a special oil. A worker should use special skills to make it, so that it has a sweet smell, like perfume. It will be a very special oil to put on things that belong to me.
26 Then pour some of this special oil on these things:
the Tent of Meeting,
the Covenant Box,
27 the special table and all its tools,
the lampstand and its tools,
the altar for incense,
28 the altar for burnt offerings and all its tools,
and the large bowl of water with its base.
29 You must make all these things special for me. They will be very holy things. Anything that touches them will also become holy.
30 Pour some of the special oil on Aaron's head and on the heads of his sons. Make them special for me. Then they can serve me as my priests. 31 Say to the Israelites, “This will always be my special oil for all time. 32 Do not put it on the bodies of anyone, except priests. Do not use spices like this to make oil for yourselves. It is holy and you must always think about it as holy. 33 Nobody must make a perfume that has a sweet smell like this oil. Nobody must put this oil on any person who is not a priest. Anyone who does not obey this rule will no longer belong to my people.” ’
34 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Use the same amount of each of these sweet spices to make some incense: gum resin, onycha, galbanum and frankincense.[c] 35 Give them to a worker who can use special skills to make the incense. It must have a sweet smell, like a perfume. Add some salt to it so that it is a pure and holy incense. 36 Beat some of the incense to make powder. Put this in front of the Covenant Box, in the Tent of Meeting. That is where I will meet with you. This incense will be a very holy thing for you. 37 Do not make any incense like this for yourselves. You must always think about it as very holy. It belongs to the Lord. 38 If anyone makes any incense like it for his own perfume, he will no longer belong to my people.’
Bezalel and Oholiab
31 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 ‘Look! I have chosen Bezalel, the son of Uri and the grandson of Hur. He belongs to the tribe of Judah. 3 I have filled him with my Spirit so that he has special skills. He knows how to make many kinds of things. 4 He can draw pictures of beautiful things that he wants to make. Then he uses gold, silver or bronze to make them. 5 He knows how to cut valuable stones and make them look beautiful. He knows how to cut wood into different shapes. He is very clever at all kinds of work.
6 I have also chosen Oholiab to help Bezalel. Oholiab is the son of Ahisamach. He belongs to the tribe of Dan. I have also helped all the workers who have special skills. They will be able to make everything that I have commanded you to make. 7 They will make these things:
the Tent of Meeting,
the Covenant Box with its special lid,
the other things that will be in the tabernacle.
8 Those things include:
the special table with all its tools,
the pure gold lampstand with all its tools,
the altar for incense,
9 the altar for burnt offerings with all its tools,
the large bowl for water and its base,
10 the beautiful clothes for Aaron the priest,
the clothes for his sons as they serve as priests,
11 the special oil to show that things belong to me,
and the sweet incense for the Holy Place.
The workers must make all these things in the way that I have commanded you.’
The Sabbath day
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, 13 ‘Say to the Israelites, “You must keep my Sabbath days as special days. This will help you and your descendants to remember that you belong to me. You will remember that I, the Lord, have chosen you to be my people.
14 The Sabbath day must be special for you, because it is a holy day. If anyone does not make the Sabbath a special day, you must punish him with death. If anyone does any work on a Sabbath day, he can no longer belong to my people. 15 You may work for six days each week, but the seventh day is a day of rest. It is a holy day that is special to me, the Lord. If anyone does any work on a Sabbath day, you must punish him with death. 16 The Israelites must always keep the Sabbath as a special day. They must obey the rules for the Sabbath day. Those rules are part of my covenant with my people that continues for ever. 17 It will always be a sign that I have chosen the Israelites to be my people. You will remember that the Lord made the heavens and the earth in six days. Then, on the seventh day, he stopped working and he rested.” ’
18 The Lord finished speaking to Moses on Sinai mountain. Then he gave Moses the two flat stones with the special commands that God himself had written on them.
The soldiers take hold of Jesus
47 While Jesus was still speaking, Judas arrived. He was one of Jesus' 12 disciples. A crowd also came with him. They were carrying swords and heavy sticks. The leaders of the priests and the important Jews had sent these people with Judas. 48 Judas was ready to help the Jewish leaders to take hold of Jesus. Before this, he had told them, ‘I will kiss one of the men. You must take hold of that man.’
49 Now Judas went immediately to Jesus. He said, ‘Hello, Teacher.’ Then he kissed Jesus in a friendly way.[a]
50 Jesus said to Judas, ‘My friend, now do what you have come here to do.’
Then the crowd of men came up to Jesus. They took hold of him to lead him away. 51 Then one of Jesus' disciples took hold of his sword. He hit the servant of the leader of the priests with it and he cut off the servant's ear.
52 Then Jesus said to the disciple, ‘Put your sword back in its place. People who use a sword to kill others will themselves die in the same way. Someone will kill them with a sword. 53 You should know that I could ask my Father God to help me. He would immediately send more than 12 large groups of angels to fight for me. 54 They would save me. But then the things that God has said in the Bible about this would not happen. So it must happen in this way.’
55 At that time, Jesus said to the crowd, ‘You have come out here with swords and heavy sticks to take hold of me. Do you really believe that I am leading people to fight against our country's rulers? No! I was teaching people every day in the yard of the temple. But you did not try to take hold of me then. 56 The prophets wrote long ago that all this would happen to me. Now it has become true.’
Then all of Jesus' disciples ran away and left him.
Jesus stands in front of all the important rulers
57 Then those men who had taken hold of Jesus took him to Caiaphas's house. Caiaphas was the most important priest. The teachers of God's Law and the important Jews were meeting there together with Caiaphas.[b]
58 Peter followed Jesus into the yard of Caiaphas' house. But he did not go near Jesus. He sat down in the yard with the police who worked in the temple. He wanted to see what would happen.
59 The leaders of the priests and all the Jewish leaders wanted to punish Jesus with death. So they tried to find some people who would say things against Jesus that were not true. 60 Many people did come. And they said things against Jesus that were not true. But still the Jewish leaders could not find a reason to kill Jesus.[c]
Then two men stood up and they said, 61 ‘We heard this man say, “I can destroy the temple and in three days I can build it again.” ’
62 Then Caiaphas stood up. He said to Jesus, ‘You must reply now to what these men have said against you. Are the things that they say true?’ 63 But Jesus did not say anything.
So Caiaphas said to him, ‘I use the authority of the God who lives. You must promise to tell us what is true. Are you the Messiah? Are you the Son of God?’
64 ‘You have said it,’ Jesus replied. ‘And I tell all of you, soon you will see the Son of Man. He will be sitting in the most important place at the right side of the Most Powerful God. You will also see him coming to earth. He will be riding on the clouds in the sky.’
65 Then Caiaphas tore his clothes to show that he was angry.[d] He said, ‘Jesus has spoken bad words against God. We do not need anyone else to speak against him. You have heard him speak bad words against God. 66 Do you think that he is guilty?’
They replied, ‘He is guilty and he deserves to die.’
67 Then some of them spat into Jesus' face. They also hit him with their fists. 68 When they hit him, they said, ‘Messiah! Show us that you are a prophet. Tell us who hit you!’
This is a special song that David wrote.
Tell God about your sins[a]
32 When God has forgiven someone's sins,
they are truly happy!
They may have turned against God,
but when God forgives them, they are happy.
2 They may have done something bad,
but when the Lord says, ‘Not guilty!’,
he has truly blessed them.
They are happy because they no longer try to hide their sins.
3 When I said nothing to God about my sin,
my whole body became weak.
I cried all the time because of the pain.
4 In the day and in the night,
you punished me very much.
It seemed as if the hot sun was taking away my strength.
Selah.
5 Then I told you about my sins.
I did not try to hide the bad things that I had done.
I said, ‘I will tell the Lord
about the things that I have done against him.’
When I did that, you forgave my sins.
Selah.
6 Because of this, all your own people should pray to you.
They should pray while they still have the chance.[b]
Then, when danger comes to them like a river of deep water,
they will still be safe.
7 Yes, Lord, you are a place where I can hide.
You will keep me safe from trouble.
I will hear happy songs all around me,
because you save your people from danger.
Selah.
8 I will teach you the right way to live.
I will be your guide
and I will take care of you.[c]
9 Do not be like a silly horse, or a mule.
You have to use a rope to show them which way to go.
Without that, they will not obey you.
10 Wicked people will receive a lot of trouble and pain.
But if anyone trusts in the Lord,
they will know that God always loves them.
11 So all you people who belong to the Lord,
praise him and be happy!
All of you who are good, honest people,
shout aloud because you are so happy!
27 I was there when he put the heavens in their place.
I was there when he made the border of the sea where it meets the sky.
28 I was there when he put the clouds in the sky.
I was there when he made streams of water fill the seas.
29 He gave his command to the seas, that they should obey him.
The waters of the sea must stay inside its borders.
I was there when he built the foundations of the earth.
30 When the Lord made all that happen,
I was beside him as his faithful helper.
I pleased him every day, and I was happy to be with him.
31 The world that he had made gave me great joy.
The people who lived on it made me happy.
32 So listen to me, my children.
Anyone who obeys my teaching will be happy.
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