Making the Ark

¹sBezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits1 and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. ²And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it. ³And he cast for it four rings of gold for its tfour feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side. ⁴And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold ⁵and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. ⁶And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. ⁷And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat, ⁸one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends. ⁹The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.

Making the Table

¹⁰uHe also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. ¹¹And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a molding of gold around it. ¹²And he made a rim around it a handbreadth2 wide, and made a molding of gold around the rim. ¹³He cast for it four rings of gold and fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs. ¹⁴Close to the frame were the rings, as holders for the poles to carry the table. ¹⁵He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table, and overlaid them with gold. ¹⁶And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings.

Making the Lampstand

¹⁷vHe also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it. ¹⁸And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; ¹⁹three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. ²⁰And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, ²¹and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out of it. ²²Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole of it was a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. ²³And he made its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold. ²⁴He made it and all its utensils out of a talent3 of pure gold.

Making the Altar of Incense

²⁵wHe made the altar of incense of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit. It was square, and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it. ²⁶He overlaid it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And he made a molding of gold around it, ²⁷and made two rings of gold on it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, as holders for the poles with which to carry it. ²⁸And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

²⁹xHe made the holy anointing oil also, and the ypure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer.

¹“I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. ²xThey will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, ythe hour is coming when zwhoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³And they will do these things abecause they have not known the Father, nor me. ⁴But bI have said these things to you, that when ctheir hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, dbecause I was with you. ⁵But now eI am going to him who sent me, and fnone of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶But because I have said these things to you, gsorrow has filled your heart. ⁷Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for hif I do not go away, ithe Helper will not come to you. But jif kI go, lI will send him to you. ⁸mAnd when he comes, he will nconvict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹concerning sin, obecause they do not believe in me; ¹⁰pconcerning righteousness, qbecause I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹rconcerning judgment, because the ruler of this world sis judged.

¹²“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³When tthe Spirit of truth comes, uhe will vguide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but wwhatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴He will xglorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵yAll that the Father has is mine; ztherefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Your Sorrow Will Turn into Joy

¹⁶a“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and bagain a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷So csome of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, d‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, e‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? fWe do not know what he is talking about.” ¹⁹gJesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰Truly, truly, I say to you, hyou will weep and lament, but ithe world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but jyour sorrow will turn into joy. ²¹kWhen a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ²²lSo also you have sorrow now, but mI will see you again, and nyour hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. ²³oIn that day you will pask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, qwhatever you ask of the Father in my name, rhe will give it to you. ²⁴Until now you have asked nothing in my name. sAsk, and you will receive, tthat your joy may be full.

I Have Overcome the World

²⁵“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. uThe hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ²⁷vfor the Father himself loves you, because wyou have loved me and xhave believed that I came from God.1 ²⁸yI came from the Father and have come into the world, and now zI am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

²⁹His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not ausing figurative speech! ³⁰Now we know that byou know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that cyou came from God.” ³¹Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³²Behold, dthe hour is coming, indeed it has come, when eyou will be scattered, each to his own home, and fwill leave me alone. gYet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. ³³I have said these things to you, that hin me you may have peace. iIn the world you will have jtribulation. But ktake heart; lI have overcome the world.”

¹A wise son hears his father's instruction,

but qa scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

²From the fruit of his mouth a man reats what is good,

but the desire of the treacherous sis for violence.

³tWhoever guards his mouth preserves his life;

uhe who opens wide his lips vcomes to ruin.

⁴wThe soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing,

while the soul of the diligent xis richly supplied.

⁵The righteous hates falsehood,

but the wicked brings shame1 and disgrace.

⁶yRighteousness guards him whose zway is blameless,

but sin overthrows the wicked.

⁷aOne pretends to be rich,2 yet has nothing;

banother pretends to be poor,3 yet has great wealth.

⁸The ransom of a man's life is his wealth,

but a poor man chears no threat.

⁹dThe light of the righteous rejoices,

but ethe lamp of the wicked will be put out.

¹⁰fBy insolence comes nothing but strife,

but with those who take advice is wisdom.

¹¹gWealth gained hastily4 will dwindle,

but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

¹²Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

hbut a desire fulfilled is ia tree of life.

¹³Whoever jdespises kthe word5 brings destruction on himself,

but he who reveres the commandment6 will be lrewarded.

¹⁴The teaching of the wise is ma fountain of life,

that one may nturn away from the snares of death.

¹⁵oGood sense wins pfavor,

but the way of the treacherous is their ruin.7

¹⁶qEvery prudent man acts with knowledge,

rbut a fool flaunts his folly.

¹⁷A wicked messenger falls into trouble,

but sa faithful envoy brings healing.

¹⁸Poverty and disgrace come to him who tignores instruction,

ubut whoever vheeds reproof is honored.

¹⁹wA desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul,

but to turn away from evil is an abomination to fools.

²⁰Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,

but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

²¹xDisaster8 pursues sinners,

ybut the righteous are rewarded with good.

²²zA good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children,

but athe sinner's wealth is laid up for the righteous.

²³The fallow ground of the poor would yield much food,

but it is swept away through binjustice.

²⁴cWhoever spares the rod hates his son,

but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.9

²⁵dThe righteous has enough to satisfy his appetite,

but the belly of the wicked suffers want.

Children and Parents

¹sChildren, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ²t“Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), ³“that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” ⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, ubut bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters

⁵vBondservants,1 obey your earthly masters2 with fear and trembling, wwith a sincere heart, xas you would Christ, ⁶not by the way of eye-service, as ypeople-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, ⁸zknowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, awhether he is a bondservant or is free. ⁹Masters, do the same to them, band stop your threatening, knowing that che who is both their Master3 and yours is in heaven, and that dthere is no partiality with him.

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰Finally, ebe strong in the Lord and in fthe strength of his might. ¹¹gPut on hthe whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against ithe schemes of the devil. ¹²For jwe do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against kthe rulers, against the authorities, against lthe cosmic powers over mthis present darkness, against nthe spiritual forces of evil oin the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore ptake up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in qthe evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand therefore, rhaving fastened on the belt of truth, and shaving put on the breastplate of righteousness, ¹⁵and, tas shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ¹⁶In all circumstances take up uthe shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all vthe flaming darts of wthe evil one; ¹⁷and take sthe helmet of salvation, and xthe sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, ¹⁸praying yat all times zin the Spirit, awith all prayer and supplication. To that end, bkeep alert with all perseverance, making csupplication for all the saints, ¹⁹and dalso for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth eboldly to proclaim fthe mystery of the gospel, ²⁰for which I gam an ambassador hin chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.

Final Greetings

²¹iSo that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, jTychicus the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord will tell you everything. ²²I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may kencourage your hearts.

²³lPeace be to the brothers,4 and mlove with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴Grace be with all who nlove our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.