The Daily Audio Bible

The Covenant Box

37 Bezalel used acacia wood to make the Covenant Box.^[a] It was 1 metre long, 75 centimetres wide and 75 centimetres high. ² He covered it with gold, inside and outside. He built up the edges of the box with gold. ³ He made four gold rings for it and he fixed them to its four feet. He fixed two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. ⁴ He used acacia wood to make two poles. He also covered them with gold. ⁵ He pushed the poles through the rings on the sides of the Covenant Box, to carry it.

⁶ He used pure gold to make the special lid for the Covenant Box. It was 1 metre long and 75 centimetres wide. ⁷ He used gold to make images of two cherubs. He used a hammer to make them the right shape. He made them to stand at the two ends of the lid. ⁸ One cherub stood at one end of the lid and one cherub stood at the other end. He made the two cherubs and the lid from one piece of gold. ⁹ The cherubs looked at each other and they watched over the lid. Their wings touched each other over the top of the lid.

The special table

¹⁰ Bezalel used acacia wood to make the special table. It was 1 metre long, 50 centimetres wide and 75 centimetres high. ¹¹ He covered the wood with gold. He built up the edges of the table with gold. ¹² He fixed an extra piece of wood around its edge. It was 7 centimetres wide. He built up the edges of this piece with gold. ¹³ He made four gold rings for the table. He fixed them to the four corners, one beside each leg of the table. ¹⁴ The rings were near to the extra piece of wood. They would hold the poles to carry the table. ¹⁵ He used acacia wood to make the poles and he covered them with gold. They would use the poles to carry the table. ¹⁶ He used pure gold to make the things that would be on the table. He made plates, big spoons, jars and bowls. They would use those things to pour out drink offerings.

The lampstand

¹⁷ Bezalel used one piece of pure gold to make the lampstand. He used a hammer to make it the right shape. He used the gold to make its base, its middle pole and the cups to hold the oil. The cups were like open flowers and closed flowers. ¹⁸ There were six branches on the lampstand, three branches on each side of the middle pole. ¹⁹ Three cups in the shape of almond flowers and their leaves were on each branch. Each of the six branches of the lampstand had three cups like that.

²⁰ On the lampstand itself there were four cups in the shape of almond flowers and their leaves. ²¹ There was one closed flower under the first pair of branches. There was a second closed flower under the second pair of branches. There was a third closed flower under the third pair of branches. So there were three closed flowers for the six branches. ²² He made the flowers and the branches from the same piece of pure gold as the lampstand. He used a hammer to make the gold into the right shape.

²³ He used pure gold to make seven lamps for the lampstand, as well as the small tools and dishes to take care of the lamps. ²⁴ He used 34 kilograms of pure gold to make the lampstand and all its tools.

The altar for incense

²⁵ Bezalel used acacia wood to make the altar for incense. It was square, 45 centimetres long, 45 centimetres wide and 90 centimetres high. The altar's horns were part of it, made from one piece of wood. ²⁶ He covered all the altar with gold: its top, its sides and the horns. He built up an edge of gold around the four sides. ²⁷ He made two gold rings for the altar. He fixed them below the gold edge, on two opposite sides. They would hold the poles to carry the altar. ²⁸ He used acacia wood to make the poles and he covered them with gold.

²⁹ He also made the special oil that would make things holy. He also made the incense with a sweet smell, like perfume.

The altar for burnt offerings

38 Bezalel used acacia wood to build the altar for burnt offerings.^[b] It was square, 2.2 metres long and 2.2 metres wide. It was 1.3 metres high. ² He made four horns, one at each corner of the altar. The horns and the altar itself were one piece of work. He covered the whole altar with bronze. ³ He made all the tools for the altar with bronze. He made pots to remove the ashes, and also spades and bowls. He made forks for the meat and dishes to carry the fire.

⁴ He used bronze to make a square net for the altar. He fixed it inside the altar, in the middle between the top and the ground. ⁵ He used bronze to make four rings. He fixed them to the four corners of the net. The poles would go through these rings. ⁶ He used acacia wood to make the poles. He covered them with bronze. ⁷ He put the poles through the rings on each side of the altar, to carry it. He used boards to make the altar so that it was empty inside.

⁸ He used bronze to make a large bowl for water, and a base for it to stand on. He used the bronze from small mirrors to make these things. The mirrors had belonged to women who worked at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

The yard of the tabernacle

⁹ Bezalel made the yard around the tent. The south side of the yard was 45 metres long. It had curtains that were made from good linen. ¹⁰ He made 20 poles and 20 bronze bases to hold the poles. He used silver to make hooks and sticks to hold the curtains. ¹¹ The north side of the yard was also 45 metres long. It also had 20 poles and their bronze bases, as well as their silver hooks and sticks.

¹² The west end of the yard was 23 metres long. It had curtains with ten poles and their ten bronze bases. The poles had silver hooks and sticks. ¹³ The entrance of the yard was at its east end. That end was also 23 metres long. ^14-15 There were 7 metres of curtain on each side of the entrance. Three poles with their bases held the curtains on each side. ¹⁶ The workers used good linen to make all the curtains around the yard.

¹⁷ All the poles had bronze bases to hold them. But the workers used silver to make the hooks that were on the poles, and the sticks. They covered the tops of the poles with silver too. All the poles around the yard had silver sticks to join them together.

¹⁸ They used blue, purple and red material, as well as good linen, to make the curtain for the entrance of the yard. A worker used special skills so that it looked beautiful. It was 9 metres wide and 2.2 metres high. All the curtains around the yard were 2.2 metres high. ¹⁹ Four poles in bronze bases held the curtain at the entrance. The poles had silver hooks and silver sticks. Silver also covered the tops of the poles. ²⁰ The workers used bronze to make the pegs that fixed the tabernacle to the ground. They also made bronze pegs to fix all the curtains around the yard to the ground.

The materials for the tabernacle

²¹ This is a list of the materials that the workers used to make the tabernacle with the Covenant Box inside it. Moses commanded the Levites to write this list. Ithamar, the son of Aaron the priest, was the leader of this work.

²² Bezalel, the son of Uri and grandson of Hur, made all the things that the Lord had commanded Moses. Bezalel belonged to the tribe of Judah. ²³ Ahisamach's son Oholiab helped him. He belonged to the tribe of Dan. He had a special skill to draw things that he wanted to make. He could make beautiful pictures on cloth, with blue, purple and red materials, as well as good linen.

²⁴ The workers used 1,000 kilograms of gold to do all the work to make the tabernacle. That was its proper weight. The Israelites had lifted up this gold as an offering to the Lord.

²⁵ The people had also brought 3,430 kilograms of silver as an offering for the work. ²⁶ Each person who was 20 years old when Moses counted them had given the right amount, about ten grams. There were 603,550 men that Moses had counted.

²⁷ The workers used 34 kilograms of silver to make each base to hold the poles. There were 100 bases to hold the tabernacle and the special curtain inside it. So they used 3,400 kilograms of silver to make the bases. ²⁸ Then they used the 30 kilograms that still remained. With this, they made the hooks and the sticks for the poles, and they covered the tops of the poles.

²⁹ The people had also lifted up 2,425 kilograms of bronze as an offering to the Lord. ³⁰ The workers used this bronze to make the bases for the entrance to the tabernacle. They also used it to make the bronze altar, with its net and all its tools. ³¹ They used this bronze to make the bases for the curtains around the yard and for the entrance to the yard. They used it to make the pegs to fix the tabernacle and the curtain around the yard to the ground.

Jesus becomes alive again

28 After the day of rest had finished, Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of James got up early. It was dawn on the first day of the week. They went to the hole in the rock where Joseph had put the dead body of Jesus.

² At that moment, the ground moved about very strongly. One of the Lord God's angels came from heaven. He went to the rock. He rolled the big stone away from the hole and then he sat on top of it. ³ He shone brightly like lightning. His clothes were very white like snow. ⁴ The soldiers who were carefully watching that place were very frightened. They suddenly fell down on the ground. Like dead men, they could not move.

⁵ Then the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus. The soldiers killed him on a cross. ⁶ But he is not here. He has become alive again. That is what he said would happen. Come here. You can see the place where he was lying. ⁷ Then you must go quickly to his disciples. Tell them, “Jesus is alive again, and he is going to Galilee. You must also go there and you will see him.” That is the message that I have brought for you.’

⁸ So the women went away quickly from the hole in the rock. They were very frightened, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell the disciples the angel's message. ⁹ At that moment, Jesus met the two women and he said, ‘Hello.’ They went near to him. They held on to his feet and they worshipped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my disciples to go to Galilee. They will see me there.’

The soldiers tell the leaders of the priests what happened

¹¹ The women went to tell the disciples Jesus' message. At the same time, some of the soldiers who had watched the rock also went into the city. The soldiers told the leaders of the priests everything that had happened at the rock. ¹² The leaders of the priests and the important Jews met together. They decided what they should do now. They gave the soldiers a lot of money as a bribe. ¹³ They said to the soldiers, ‘When people ask you, you must say this: “Jesus' disciples came to the rock in the night and they took his body away. We were asleep when they did this.” ¹⁴ If the Roman ruler Pilate hears about this, we will explain things to him. Do not be afraid. He will not punish you.’

¹⁵ The soldiers took the money. They told people what the Jewish leaders told them to say. Many Jews heard the soldiers' story. Even today they still believe that it happened like that.

Jesus appears to his apostles

¹⁶ After this, the 11 disciples went to Galilee. They went to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they arrived at the place, they saw Jesus. Then they went down on their knees and they worshipped him. But some of the disciples were not sure that it really was Jesus. ¹⁸ Jesus went near to them and he said to them, ‘God has given me authority over everyone and everything. I have all authority in heaven and in this world. ¹⁹ So you must go to people in every country of the world. Teach them how to become my disciples. Baptize them by the authority of God the Father, his Son and the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach them to obey everything that I have taught you. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will be with you until the end of time.’

⁹ If you teach a wise person, he will become even more wise. If you teach a righteous person, he will learn whatever you tell him.

¹⁰ If you want to be wise in the way that you live, first you must respect the Lord with fear. If you know God, the Holy One, you will understand what is right.