Day 49 reading

Wisdom·Psalms 33:18–34:4

¹⁸Surely the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His loving devotion ¹⁹to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. ²⁰Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. ²¹For our hearts rejoice in Him, since we trust in His holy name. ²²May Your loving devotion rest on us, O LORD, as we put our hope in You.

34I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. ²My soul boasts in the LORD; let the oppressed hear and rejoice. ³Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together. ⁴I sought the LORD, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.

New Testament·Matthew 28

¹After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. ²Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it. ³His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. ⁴The guards trembled in fear of him and became like dead men. ⁵But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. ⁶He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay. ⁷Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ See, I have told you.” ⁸So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples. ⁹Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him. ¹⁰“Do not be afraid,” said Jesus. “Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see Me.” ¹¹While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. ¹²And after the chief priests had met with the elders and formed a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money ¹³and instructed them: “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ ¹⁴If this report reaches the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” ¹⁵So the guards took the money and did as they were instructed. And this account has been circulated among the Jews to this very day. ¹⁶Meanwhile, the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain Jesus had designated. ¹⁷When they saw Him, they worshiped Him, but some doubted. ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Old Testament·Exodus 37–38

¹Bezalel went on to construct the ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. ²He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it. ³And he cast four gold rings for its four feet, two rings on one side and two on the other. ⁴Then he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. ⁵He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry it. ⁶He constructed a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. ⁷He made two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat, ⁸one cherub on one end and one on the other, all made from one piece of gold. ⁹And the cherubim had wings that spread upward, overshadowing the mercy seat. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the mercy seat. ¹⁰He also made the table of acacia wood two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high. ¹¹He overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding around it. ¹²And he made a rim around it a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim. ¹³He cast four gold rings for the table and fastened them to the four corners at its four legs. ¹⁴The rings were placed close to the rim, to serve as holders for the poles used to carry the table. ¹⁵He made the poles of acacia wood for carrying the table and overlaid them with gold. ¹⁶He also made the utensils for the table out of pure gold: its plates and dishes, as well as its bowls and pitchers for pouring drink offerings. ¹⁷Then he made the lampstand out of pure hammered gold, all of one piece: its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals. ¹⁸Six branches extended from the sides, three on one side and three on the other. ¹⁹There were three cups shaped like almond blossoms on the first branch, each with buds and petals, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches that extended from the lampstand. ²⁰And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals. ²¹A bud was under the first pair of branches that extended from the lampstand, a bud under the second pair, and a bud under the third pair. ²²The buds and branches were all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold. ²³He also made its seven lamps, its wick trimmers, and trays of pure gold. ²⁴He made the lampstand and all its utensils from a talent of pure gold. ²⁵He made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns were of one piece. ²⁶And he overlaid with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns. Then he made a molding of gold around it. ²⁷He made two gold rings below the molding on opposite sides to hold the poles used to carry it. ²⁸And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. ²⁹He also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.

38Bezalel constructed the altar of burnt offering from acacia wood. It was square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high. ²He made a horn at each of its four corners, so that the horns and altar were of one piece, and he overlaid the altar with bronze. ³He made all the altar’s utensils of bronze—its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks, and firepans. ⁴He made a grate of bronze mesh for the altar under its ledge, halfway up from the bottom. ⁵At the four corners of the bronze grate he cast four rings as holders for the poles. ⁶And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. ⁷Then he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar for carrying it. He made the altar with boards so that it was hollow. ⁸Next he made the bronze basin and its stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. ⁹Then he constructed the courtyard. The south side of the courtyard was a hundred cubits long and had curtains of finely spun linen, ¹⁰with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. ¹¹The north side was also a hundred cubits long, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases. The hooks and bands of the posts were silver. ¹²The west side was fifty cubits long and had curtains, with ten posts and ten bases. The hooks and bands of the posts were silver. ¹³And the east side, toward the sunrise, was also fifty cubits long. ¹⁴The curtains on one side of the entrance were fifteen cubits long, with three posts and three bases. ¹⁵And the curtains on the other side were also fifteen cubits long, with three posts and three bases as well. ¹⁶All the curtains around the courtyard were made of finely spun linen. ¹⁷The bases for the posts were bronze, the hooks and bands were silver, and the plating for the tops of the posts was silver. So all the posts of the courtyard were banded with silver. ¹⁸The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen. It was twenty cubits long and, like the curtains of the courtyard, five cubits high, ¹⁹with four posts and four bronze bases. Their hooks were silver, as well as the bands and the plating of their tops. ²⁰All the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the surrounding courtyard were bronze. ²¹This is the inventory for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, as recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest. ²²Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that the LORD had commanded Moses. ²³With him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, designer, and embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen. ²⁴All the gold from the wave offering used for the work on the sanctuary totaled 29 talents and 730 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel. ²⁵The silver from those numbered among the congregation totaled 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel— ²⁶a beka per person, that is, half a shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone twenty years of age or older who had crossed over to be numbered, a total of 603,550 men. ²⁷The hundred talents of silver were used to cast the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil—100 bases from the 100 talents, one talent per base. ²⁸With the 1,775 shekels of silver he made the hooks for the posts, overlaid their tops, and supplied bands for them. ²⁹The bronze from the wave offering totaled 70 talents and 2,400 shekels. ³⁰He used it to make the bases for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the bronze altar and its bronze grating, all the utensils for the altar, ³¹the bases for the surrounding courtyard and its gate, and all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and its surrounding courtyard.