Exodus 27–28

1 You shall make an altar of acacia wood, five cubits long and five cubits wide. The altar shall be square, and its height shall be three cubits. 2 You shall make its horns on its four corners. Its horns shall be part of it, and you shall overlay it with bronze. 3 You shall make its pots for its ashes, and its shovels, and its basins, and its meat hooks, and its fire pans. You shall make all of its vessels out of bronze. 4 You shall make a grating for it, a network of bronze, and on the net you shall make four bronze rings at its four corners. 5 You shall put it under the ledge of the altar beneath, so that the net will reach halfway up the altar. 6 You shall make poles for the altar, poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. 7 The poles shall be put into the rings, so that the poles shall be on the two sides of the altar when carrying it. 8 You shall make it hollow with boards. Just as it was shown you on the mountain, so shall they make it.

9 You shall make the court of the tabernacle. On the south side there shall be curtains for the court of fine twined linen one hundred cubits long for one side; 10 and it shall have twenty pillars with twenty bronze sockets. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver. 11 Likewise for the north side in length there shall be curtains one hundred cubits long, and its twenty pillars and their twenty sockets of bronze. The hooks of the pillars and their bands shall be of silver.

12 For the width of the court on the west side shall be curtains of fifty cubits with their ten pillars and their ten sockets. 13 The width of the court on the east side shall be fifty cubits. 14 The curtains on one side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three sockets. 15 On the other side shall be curtains fifteen cubits with their three pillars and their three sockets.

16 For the gate of the court there shall be a curtain of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer, with their four pillars and their four sockets. 17 All the pillars around about the court shall be furnished with silver bands. Their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of bronze. 18 The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the width fifty throughout, and the height five cubits of fine twisted linen, and their sockets of bronze. 19 All the utensils of the tabernacle used in all its service, and all its tent pegs, and all the tent pegs of the court shall be of bronze.

20 You shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of olive pressed for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a perpetual statute for the children of Israel for generations to come.

Chapter 28

1 And bring near to yourself Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him from among the children of Israel, so that they may minister to Me as priests—Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, Aaron’s sons. 2 You shall make holy garments for your brother Aaron, for glory and for beauty. 3 You shall speak to all who are specially skilled, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as a priest. 4 These are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and an embroidered coat, a turban, and a sash. They shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may minister to Me as priest. 5 They shall take the gold, the blue, the purple, and the scarlet, and fine linen.

6 They shall make the ephod of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of a skilled workman. 7 It shall have the two shoulder pieces attached to its two corners, so it shall be joined together. 8 The skillfully woven waistband of the ephod, which is on it, shall be of the same workmanship, of the same material: of gold, of blue and purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen.

9 You shall take two onyx stones and engrave on them the names of the children of Israel, 10 six of their names on one stone, and the other six names of the rest on the other stone, according to their birth. 11 With the work of an engraver in stone, like the engravings of a signet, you shall engrave the two stones with the names of the children of Israel. You shall set them in filigree of gold. 12 You shall put the two stones on the shoulders of the ephod as stones of memorial for the children of Israel, and Aaron shall bear their names before the Lord on his two shoulders as a memorial. 13 You shall make filigree settings of gold, 14 and two chains of pure gold. You shall make them of twisted cord and fasten the braided chains to the filigree settings.

15 You shall make the breastplate of judgment, the work of a skillful workman. You shall make it in the same manner as the ephod. Of gold, of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twisted linen you shall make it. 16 It is to be square when doubled: a span in length and a span in width. 17 You shall set in it four rows of stones. The first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle; 18 the second row an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They shall be set in gold filigree. 21 The stones shall be according to the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, each like the engravings of a signet, every one according to his name for the twelve tribes.

22 You shall make for the breastplate braided chains of pure gold. 23 You shall make on the breastplate two rings of gold and shall put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. 24 You shall put the two braided chains of gold on the two rings which are on the ends of the breastplate. 25 You shall fasten the other two ends of the two braided chains in the two filigree settings and put them on the front of the shoulder pieces of the ephod. 26 You shall make two rings of gold and shall put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it which is toward the inner side of the ephod. 27 You shall make two other rings of gold and shall put them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod underneath toward the front, close to the place where it is joined above the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod. 28 They shall bind the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it may be above the skillfully woven waistband of the ephod, and so that the breastplate will not come loose from the ephod.

29 Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel on the breastplate of judgment over his heart when he goes into the holy place, as a memorial before the Lord continually. 30 You shall put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastplate of judgment, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord. And Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel over his heart before the Lord continually.

31 You shall make the robe of the ephod completely blue. 32 There shall be a hole at the top of it, in the middle of it. Around its opening it shall have a binding of woven work, like the opening of a coat of mail, so that it will not be torn. 33 You shall make on its hem pomegranates of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around: 34 a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe. 35 It shall be on Aaron when he ministers. And its sound shall be heard when he goes into the holy place before the Lord, and when he comes out, so that he does not die.

36 You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engravings of a signet,

HOLINESS TO THE LORD.

37 You shall put it on a blue cord, so that it may be upon the turban. It is to be on the front of the turban. 38 It shall be on Aaron’s forehead, so that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall consecrate in regard to all their holy gifts. And it shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be accepted before the Lord.

39 You shall embroider the tunic of fine linen, and you shall make the turban of fine linen, and you shall make the sash, the work of an embroiderer. 40 For Aaron’s sons you shall make tunics. You shall make sashes for them, and you shall make caps for them, for glory and for beauty. 41 You shall put them on Aaron your brother, and on his sons with him, and shall anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that they may minister to Me as priests.

42 You shall make linen undergarments for them to cover their naked skin. They shall reach from the waist to the thighs. 43 They shall be on Aaron and on his sons when they come into the tent of meeting or when they come near to the altar to minister in the holy place, so that they may not bear iniquity and die.

It shall be a perpetual statute to him and his descendants after him.

Matthew 21:1–22

1 When they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, on the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go over into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to Me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them.’ And he will send them immediately.”

4 All this was done to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying:

5 “Tell the daughter of Zion,

‘Look, your King is coming to you,

humble, and sitting on a donkey,

and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

6 The disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their garments on them, and He sat on them. 8 A very large crowd spread their garments on the road. Others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went before Him and that followed Him cried out:

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Hosanna in the highest!”

10 When He entered Jerusalem, the entire city was moved, saying, “Who is He?”

11 The crowds said, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.”

12 Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who sold and bought in the temple and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it ‘a den of thieves.’”

14 The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were extremely displeased 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these are saying?”

Jesus said to them, “Yes. Have you never read,

‘Out of the mouth of children and infants

You have perfected praise’?”

17 And He left them and went out of the city into Bethany, and He lodged there.

18 Now in the morning as He returned to the city, He became hungry. 19 When He saw a fig tree by the road, He went to it but found nothing on it except leaves. He said to it, “Let no fruit ever grow on you again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

20 When the disciples saw it, they were amazed, saying, “How did the fig tree wither away instantly?”

21 Jesus answered them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be removed, and be thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 And whatever you ask in prayer, if you believe, you will receive.”