391 And from the needlework of blue and purple and red they made the robes used for the work of the holy place, and the holy robes for Aaron, as the Lord had given orders to Moses. 2 The ephod he made of gold and blue and purple and red and the best linen; 3 Hammering the gold into thin plates and cutting it into wires to be worked into the blue and the purple and the red and the linen by the designer. 4 And they made two bands for joining its edges together at the top of the arms. 5 And the beautifully worked band which went on it was of the same design and the same material, worked in gold and blue and purple and red and twisted linen-work, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. 6 Then they made the beryl stones, fixed in twisted frames of gold and cut like the cutting of a stamp, with the names of the children of Israel. 7 These he put on the ephod, over the arm-holes, to be stones of memory for the children of Israel, as the Lord had said to Moses. 8 The priest's bag was designed like the ephod, of the best linen worked with gold and blue and purple and red. 9 It was square and folded in two, as long and as wide as the stretch of a man's hand; 10 And on it they put four lines of stones: in the first line was a carnelian, a chrysolite, and an emerald; 11 In the second, a ruby, a sapphire, and an onyx; 12 In the third, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 13 In the fourth, a topaz, a beryl, and a jasper; they were fixed in twisted frames of gold. 14 There were twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel; on every one the name of one of the tribes of Israel was cut, like the cutting of a stamp. 15 And on the bag they put gold chains, twisted like cords. 16 And they made two gold frames and two gold rings, the rings being fixed to the ends of the priest's bag; 17 And they put the two twisted chains on the two rings at the ends of the priest's bag; 18 And the other two ends of the chains were joined to the two frames and fixed to the front of the ephod over the arm-holes. 19 And they made two rings of gold and put them on the two lower ends of the bag, on the inner side nearest to the ephod. 20 And two other gold rings were put on the front of the ephod, over the arm-holes, at the join, and over the worked band. 21 And the rings on the bag were fixed to the rings of the ephod by a blue cord, keeping it in place over the band, so that the bag might not get loose, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. 22 The robe which went with the ephod was made all of blue; 23 With a hole at the top in the middle, like the hole in the coat of a fighting-man, edged with a band to make it strong. 24 The skirts of the robe were worked all round with fruits in blue and purple and red made of twisted linen. 25 And between the fruits all round the skirt they put gold bells, as the Lord gave orders to Moses. 26 All round the skirt of the robe were bells and fruits in turn. 27 The coats for Aaron and his sons they made of the best linen; 28 And the twisted head-dress for Aaron, and beautiful head-dresses of linen, and linen trousers, 29 And a linen band worked with a design of blue and purple and red, as the Lord had said to Moses. 30 The plate for the holy crown was made of the best gold, and on it were cut these words, HOLY TO THE Lord. 31 It was fixed to the head-dress by a blue cord, as the Lord had given orders to Moses.
32 So all the work on the House of the Tent of meeting was done; as the Lord had given orders to Moses, so the children of Israel did it. 33 Then they took the House to Moses, the tent with all the things for it; its hooks, its boards, its rods, its pillars, and its bases; 34 The outer cover of sheepskins coloured red, and the cover of leather, and the veil for the doorway; 35 The ark of the law, with its rods and its cover; 36 The table, with all its vessels and the holy bread; 37 The support for the lights, with the vessels for the lights to be put in their places on it, and all its vessels, and the oil for the lights; 38 And the gold altar, and the holy oil, and the sweet perfume for burning, and the curtain for the doorway of the tent; 39 And the brass altar, with its network of brass, and its rods and all its vessels, and the washing-vessel and its base; 40 The hangings for the open space, with the pillars and their bases, and the curtain for the doorway, and the cords and nails, and all the instruments necessary for the work of the House of the Tent of meeting; 41 The robes for use in the holy place, and the holy robes for Aaron and his sons when acting as priests. 42 The children of Israel did everything as the Lord had given orders to Moses. 43 Then Moses, when he saw all their work and saw that they had done everything as the Lord had said, gave them his blessing.
401 And the Lord said to Moses, 2 On the first day of the first month you are to put up the House of the Tent of meeting. 3 And inside it put the ark of the law, hanging the veil before it. 4 And put the table inside, placing all the things on it in order; and put in the support for the lights, and let its lights be burning. 5 And put the gold altar for burning perfumes in front of the ark of the law, hanging the curtain over the doorway of the House. 6 And put the altar of burned offerings before the doorway of the House of the Tent of meeting. 7 And let the washing-vessel, with water in it, be put between the Tent of meeting and the altar. 8 And put up the hangings forming the open space all round it, with the curtain over its doorway. 9 And take the holy oil and put it on the House and everything in it, and make it and everything in it holy: 10 And put oil on the altar of burned offering, and make it and all its vessels holy; this altar is to be most holy. 11 And put oil on the washing-vessel and its base, and make them holy. 12 Then let Aaron and his sons come to the door of the Tent of meeting; and after washing them with water, 13 You are to put on Aaron the holy robes; and you are to put oil on him, and make him holy, so that he may be my priest. 14 And take his sons with him and put coats on them; 15 And put oil on them as you did on their father, so that they may be my priests: the putting on of oil will make them priests for ever, from generation to generation.
16 And Moses did this; as the Lord gave him orders, so he did. 17 So on the first day of the first month in the second year the House was put up. 18 Moses put up the House; placing its bases in position and lifting up its uprights, putting in the rods and planting the pillars in their places; 19 Stretching the outer tent over it, and covering it, as the Lord had given him orders. 20 And he took the law and put it inside the ark, and put the rods at its side and the cover over it; 21 And he took the ark into the House, hanging up the veil before it as the Lord had given him orders. 22 And he put the table in the Tent of meeting, on the north side outside the veil. 23 And he put the bread on it in order before the Lord, as the Lord had said. 24 The support for the lights he put in the Tent of meeting, opposite the table, on the south side: 25 Lighting the lights before the Lord, as the Lord had given him orders. 26 And he put the gold altar in the Tent of meeting, in front of the veil: 27 Burning sweet perfumes on it, as the Lord had given him orders. 28 And he put up the curtain at the doorway of the House. 29 And at the door of the House of the Tent of meeting, he put the altar of burned offerings, offering on it the burned offering and the meal offering, as the Lord had given him orders. 30 And between the altar and the Tent of meeting he put the vessel with water in it for washing. 31 In it the hands and feet of Moses and Aaron and his sons were washed, 32 Whenever they went into the Tent of meeting, and when they came near the altar, as the Lord had given orders to Moses. 33 And he put up the hangings forming the open space round the House and the altar, and put the curtain over the doorway. So Moses made the work complete.
34 Then the cloud came down covering the Tent of meeting, and the House was full of the glory of the Lord; 35 So that Moses was not able to go into the Tent of meeting, because the cloud was resting on it, and the House was full of the glory of the Lord. 36 And whenever the cloud was taken up from the House, the children of Israel went forward on their journey: 37 But while the cloud was there, they made no move till it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the Lord was resting on the House by day, and at night there was fire in the cloud, before the eyes of all the people of Israel, and so it was through all their journeys.
23 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you make men give a tenth of all sorts of sweet-smelling plants, but you give no thought to the more important things of the law, righteousness, and mercy, and faith; but it is right for you to do these, and not to let the others be undone. 24 You blind guides, who take out a fly from your drink, but make no trouble over a camel. 25 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of violent behaviour and uncontrolled desire. 26 You blind Pharisee, first make clean the inside of the cup and of the plate, so that the outside may become equally clean. 27 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! for you are like the resting-places of the dead, which are made white, and seem beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and of all unclean things. 28 Even so you seem to men to be full of righteousness, but inside you are all false and full of wrongdoing. 29 A curse is on you, scribes and Pharisees, false ones! because you put up buildings for housing the dead bodies of the prophets, and make fair the last resting-places of good men, and say, 30 If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 So that you are witnesses against yourselves that you are the sons of those who put the prophets to death. 32 Make full, then, the measure of your fathers. 33 You snakes, offspring of snakes, how will you be kept from the punishment of hell?
34 For this reason, I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them you will put to death and put on the cross, and to some of them you will give blows in your Synagogues, driving them from town to town; 35 So that on you may come all the blood of the upright on the earth, from the blood of upright Abel to the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom you put to death between the Temple and the altar. 36 Truly I say to you, All these things will come on this generation.
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who are sent to her! Again and again would I have taken your children to myself as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, and you would not! 38 See, your house is made waste. 39 For I say to you, You will not see me from this time till you say, A blessing on him who comes in the name of the Lord.
(Read Matthew 23:13-33)
The scribes and Pharisees were enemies to the gospel of Christ, and therefore to the salvation of the souls of men. It is bad to keep away from Christ ourselves, but worse also to keep others from him. Yet it is no new thing for the show and form of godliness to be made a cloak to the greatest enormities. But dissembled piety will be reckoned double iniquity. They were very busy to turn souls to be of their party. Not for the glory of God and the good of souls, but that they might have the credit and advantage of making converts. Gain being their godliness, by a thousand devices they made religion give way to their worldly interests. They were very strict and precise in smaller matters of the law, but careless and loose in weightier matters. It is not the scrupling a little sin that Christ here reproves; if it be a sin, though but a gnat, it must be strained out; but the doing that, and then swallowing a camel, or, committing a greater sin. While they would seem to be godly, they were neither sober nor righteous. We are really, what we are inwardly. Outward motives may keep the outside clean, while the inside is filthy; but if the heart and spirit be made new, there will be newness of life; here we must begin with ourselves. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was like the ornaments of a grave, or dressing up a dead body, only for show. The deceitfulness of sinners' hearts appears in that they go down the streams of the sins of their own day, while they fancy that they should have opposed the sins of former days. We sometimes think, if we had lived when Christ was upon earth, that we should not have despised and rejected him, as men then did; yet Christ in his Spirit, in his word, in his ministers, is still no better treated. And it is just with God to give those up to their hearts' lusts, who obstinately persist in gratifying them. Christ gives men their true characters.
(Read Matthew 23:34-39)
Our Lord declares the miseries the inhabitants of Jerusalem were about to bring upon themselves, but he does not notice the sufferings he was to undergo. A hen gathering her chickens under her wings, is an apt emblem of the Saviour's tender love to those who trust in him, and his faithful care of them. He calls sinners to take refuge under his tender protection, keeps them safe, and nourishes them to eternal life. The present dispersion and unbelief of the Jews, and their future conversion to Christ, were here foretold. Jerusalem and her children had a large share of guilt, and their punishment has been signal. But ere long, deserved vengeance will fall on every church which is Christian in name only. In the mean time the Saviour stands ready to receive all who come to him. There is nothing between sinners and eternal happiness, but their proud and unbelieving unwillingness.
