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Moses called together the whole community of the people of Israel and said to them, "This is what the LORD has commanded you to do:
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You have six days in which to do your work, but the seventh day is to be sacred, a solemn day of rest dedicated to me, the LORD. Anyone who does any work on that day is to be put to death.
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Do not even light a fire in your homes on the Sabbath."
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Moses said to all the people of Israel, "This is what the LORD has commanded:
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Make an offering to the LORD. Everyone who wishes to do so is to bring an offering of gold, silver, or bronze;
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fine linen; blue, purple, and red wool; cloth made of goats' hair;
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rams' skin dyed red; fine leather; acacia wood;
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oil for the lamps; spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense;
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carnelians and other jewels to be set in the High Priest's ephod and in his breastpiece.
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"All the skilled workers among you are to come and make everything that the LORD commanded:
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the Tent, its covering and its outer covering, its hooks and its frames, its crossbars, its posts, and its bases;
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the Covenant Box, its poles, its lid, and the curtain to screen it off;
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the table, its poles, and all its equipment; the bread offered to God;
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the lampstand for the light and its equipment; the lamps with their oil;
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the altar for burning incense and its poles; the anointing oil; the sweet-smelling incense; the curtain for the entrance of the Tent;
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the altar on which to burn offerings, with its bronze grating attached, its poles, and all its equipment; the washbasin and its base;
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the curtains for the enclosure, its posts and bases; the curtain for the entrance of the enclosure;
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the Tent pegs and ropes for the Tent and the enclosure;
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and the magnificent garments the priests are to wear when they serve in the Holy Place---the sacred clothes for Aaron the priest and for his sons."
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All the people of Israel left,
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and everyone who wished to do so brought an offering to the LORD for making the Tent of the LORD's presence. They brought everything needed for use in worship and for making the priestly garments.
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All who wanted to, both men and women, brought decorative pins, earrings, rings, necklaces, and all kinds of gold jewelry and dedicated them to the LORD.
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Everyone who had fine linen; blue, purple, or red wool; cloth of goats' hair; rams' skin dyed red; or fine leather, brought it.
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All who were able to contribute silver or bronze brought their offering for the LORD, and all who had acacia wood which could be used for any of the work brought it.
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All the skilled women brought fine linen thread and thread of blue, purple, and red wool, which they had made.
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They also made thread of goats' hair.
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The leaders brought carnelians and other jewels to be set in the ephod and the breastpiece
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and spices and oil for the lamps, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet-smelling incense.
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All the people of Israel who wanted to brought their offering to the LORD for the work which he had commanded Moses to do.
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Moses said to the Israelites, "The LORD has chosen Bezalel, the son of Uri and grandson of Hur from the tribe of Judah.
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God has filled him with his power and given him skill, ability, and understanding for every kind of artistic work,
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for planning skillful designs and working them in gold, silver, and bronze;
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for cutting jewels to be set; for carving wood; and for every other kind of artistic work.
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The LORD has given to him and to Oholiab son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach their crafts to others.
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He has given them skill in all kinds of work done by engravers, designers, and weavers of fine linen; blue, purple, and red wool; and other cloth. They are able to do all kinds of work and are skillful designers.
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"Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the other workers to whom the LORD has given skill and understanding, who know how to make everything needed to build the sacred Tent, are to make everything just as the LORD has commanded."
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Moses called Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the other skilled men to whom the LORD had given ability and who were willing to help, and Moses told them to start working.
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They received from him all the offerings which the Israelites had brought for constructing the sacred Tent. But the people of Israel continued to bring Moses their offerings every morning.
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Then the skilled men who were doing the work went
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and told Moses, "The people are bringing more than is needed for the work which the LORD commanded to be done."
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So Moses sent a command throughout the camp that no one was to make any further contribution for the sacred Tent; so the people did not bring any more.
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What had already been brought was more than enough to finish all the work.
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The most skilled men among those doing the work made the Tent of the LORD's presence. They made it out of ten pieces of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with figures of winged creatures.
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Each piece was the same size, 14 yards long and 2 yards wide.
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They sewed five of them together in one set and did the same with the other five.
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They made loops of blue cloth on the edge of the outside piece in each set.
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They put fifty loops on the first piece of the first set and fifty loops matching them on the last piece of the second set.
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They made fifty gold hooks, with which to join the two sets into one piece.
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Then they made a cover for the Tent out of eleven pieces of cloth made of goats' hair.
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They made them all the same size, 15 yards long and 2 yards wide.
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They sewed five of them together in one set and the other six in another set.
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They put fifty loops on the edge of the last piece of one set and fifty loops on the edge of the other set.
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They made fifty bronze hooks to join the two sets, so as to form one cover.
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They made two more coverings, one of rams' skin dyed red and the other of fine leather, to serve as an outer cover.
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They made upright frames of acacia wood for the Tent.
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Each frame was 15 feet tall and 27 inches wide,
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with two matching projections, so that the frames could be joined together. All the frames had these projections.
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They made twenty frames for the south side
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and forty silver bases to go under them, two bases under each frame to hold its two projections.
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They made twenty frames for the north side of the Tent
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and forty silver bases, two under each frame.
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For the back of the Tent, on the west, they made six frames
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and two frames for the corners.
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These corner frames were joined at the bottom and connected all the way to the top. The two frames that formed the two corners were made in this way.
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So there were eight frames and sixteen silver bases, two under each frame.
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They made fifteen crossbars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the Tent,
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five for the frames on the other side, and five for the frames on the west end, at the back.
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The middle crossbar, set halfway up the frames, extended from one end of the Tent to the other.
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They covered the frames with gold and fitted them with gold rings to hold the crossbars, which were also covered with gold.
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They made a curtain of fine linen, woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered it with figures of winged creatures.
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They made four posts of acacia wood to hold the curtain, covered them with gold, and fitted them with gold hooks. Then they made four silver bases to hold the posts.
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For the entrance of the Tent they made a curtain of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool and decorated with embroidery.
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For this curtain they made five posts fitted with hooks, covered their tops and their rods with gold, and made five bronze bases for the posts.
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There was a man in Caesarea named Cornelius, who was a captain in the Roman army regiment called "The Italian Regiment."
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He was a religious man; he and his whole family worshiped God. He also did much to help the Jewish poor people and was constantly praying to God.
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It was about three o'clock one afternoon when he had a vision, in which he clearly saw an angel of God come in and say to him, "Cornelius!"
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He stared at the angel in fear and said, "What is it, sir?" The angel answered, "God is pleased with your prayers and works of charity, and is ready to answer you.
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And now send some men to Joppa for a certain man whose full name is Simon Peter.
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He is a guest in the home of a tanner of leather named Simon, who lives by the sea."
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Then the angel went away, and Cornelius called two of his house servants and a soldier, a religious man who was one of his personal attendants.
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He told them what had happened and sent them off to Joppa.
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The next day, as they were on their way and coming near Joppa, Peter went up on the roof of the house about noon in order to pray.
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He became hungry and wanted something to eat; while the food was being prepared, he had a vision.
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He saw heaven opened and something coming down that looked like a large sheet being lowered by its four corners to the earth.
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In it were all kinds of animals, reptiles, and wild birds.
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A voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat!"
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But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord! I have never eaten anything ritually unclean or defiled."
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The voice spoke to him again, "Do not consider anything unclean that God has declared clean."
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This happened three times, and then the thing was taken back up into heaven.
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While Peter was wondering about the meaning of this vision, the men sent by Cornelius had learned where Simon's house was, and they were now standing in front of the gate.
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They called out and asked, "Is there a guest here by the name of Simon Peter?"
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Peter was still trying to understand what the vision meant, when the Spirit said, "Listen! Three men are here looking for you.
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So get ready and go down, and do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them."
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So Peter went down and said to the men, "I am the man you are looking for. Why have you come?"
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"Captain Cornelius sent us," they answered. "He is a good man who worships God and is highly respected by all the Jewish people. An angel of God told him to invite you to his house, so that he could hear what you have to say."
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Peter invited the men in and had them spend the night there. The next day he got ready and went with them; and some of the believers from Joppa went along with him.
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The following day he arrived in Caesarea, where Cornelius was waiting for him, together with relatives and close friends that he had invited.
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As Peter was about to go in, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and bowed down before him.
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But Peter made him rise. "Stand up," he said, "I myself am only a man."
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Peter kept on talking to Cornelius as he went into the house, where he found many people gathered.
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He said to them, "You yourselves know very well that a Jew is not allowed by his religion to visit or associate with Gentiles. But God has shown me that I must not consider any person ritually unclean or defiled.
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And so when you sent for me, I came without any objection. I ask you, then, why did you send for me?"
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Cornelius said, "It was about this time three days ago that I was praying in my house at three o'clock in the afternoon. Suddenly a man dressed in shining clothes stood in front of me
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and said: 'Cornelius! God has heard your prayer and has taken notice of your works of charity.
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Send someone to Joppa for a man whose full name is Simon Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner of leather, who lives by the sea.'
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And so I sent for you at once, and you have been good enough to come. Now we are all here in the presence of God, waiting to hear anything that the Lord has instructed you to say."
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Peter began to speak: "I now realize that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis.
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Those who fear him and do what is right are acceptable to him, no matter what race they belong to.
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You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, proclaiming the Good News of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
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You know of the great event that took place throughout the land of Israel, beginning in Galilee after John preached his message of baptism.
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You know about Jesus of Nazareth and how God poured out on him the Holy Spirit and power. He went everywhere, doing good and healing all who were under the power of the Devil, for God was with him.
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We are witnesses of everything that he did in the land of Israel and in Jerusalem. Then they put him to death by nailing him to a cross.
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But God raised him from death three days later and caused him to appear,
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not to everyone, but only to the witnesses that God had already chosen, that is, to us who ate and drank with him after he rose from death.
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And he commanded us to preach the gospel to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God has appointed judge of the living and the dead.
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All the prophets spoke about him, saying that all who believe in him will have their sins forgiven through the power of his name."
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While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who were listening to his message.
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The Jewish believers who had come from Joppa with Peter were amazed that God had poured out his gift of the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles also.
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For they heard them speaking in strange tongues and praising God's greatness. Peter spoke up:
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"These people have received the Holy Spirit, just as we also did. Can anyone, then, stop them from being baptized with water?"
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So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay with them for a few days.
