One Year Bible.

The Altar of Incense

¹“You are also to make an altar of acacia wood for the burning of incense. ²It is to be square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns must be of one piece. ³Overlay with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns, and make a molding of gold around it. ⁴And make two gold rings below the molding on opposite sides to hold the poles used to carry it. ⁵Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold.

⁶Place the altar in front of the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony— before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony— where I will meet with you. ⁷And Aaron is to burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps. ⁸When Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he must burn the incense perpetually before the LORD for the generations to come. ⁹On this altar you must not offer unauthorized incense or a burnt offering or grain offering; nor are you to pour a drink offering on it.

¹⁰Once a year Aaron shall make atonement on the horns of the altar. Throughout your generations he shall make atonement on it annually with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. The altar is most holy to the LORD.”

The Census Offering

¹¹Then the LORD said to Moses, ¹²“When you take a census of the Israelites to number them, each man must pay the LORD a ransom for his life when he is counted. Then no plague will come upon them when they are numbered. ¹³Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.

¹⁴Everyone twenty years of age or older who crosses over must give this offering to the LORD. ¹⁵In making the offering to the LORD to atone for your lives, the rich shall not give more than a half shekel, nor shall the poor give less. ¹⁶Take the atonement money from the Israelites and use it for the service of the Tent of Meeting. It will serve as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD to make atonement for your lives.”

The Bronze Basin

¹⁷And the LORD said to Moses, ¹⁸“You are to make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. Set it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it, ¹⁹with which Aaron and his sons are to wash their hands and feet. ²⁰Whenever they enter the Tent of Meeting or approach the altar to minister by presenting a food offering to the LORD, they must wash with water so that they will not die. ²¹Thus they are to wash their hands and feet so that they will not die; this shall be a permanent statute for Aaron and his descendants for the generations to come.”

The Anointing Oil

²²Then the LORD said to Moses, ²³“Take the finest spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half that amount (250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane, ²⁴500 shekels of cassia — all according to the sanctuary shekel — and a hin of olive oil. ²⁵Prepare from these a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer; it will be a sacred anointing oil.

²⁶Use this oil to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, ²⁷the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense, ²⁸the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. ²⁹You are to consecrate them so that they will be most holy. Whatever touches them shall be holy. ³⁰Anoint Aaron and his sons and consecrate them to serve Me as priests.

³¹And you are to tell the Israelites, ‘This will be My sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. ³²It must not be used to anoint an ordinary man, and you must not make anything like it with the same formula. It is holy, and it must be holy to you. ³³Anyone who mixes perfume like it or puts it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’”

The Incense

³⁴The LORD also said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices — gum resin, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincense — in equal measures, ³⁵and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy. ³⁶Grind some of it into fine powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. ³⁷You are never to use this formula to make incense for yourselves; you shall regard it as holy to the LORD. ³⁸Anyone who makes something like it to enjoy its fragrance shall be cut off from his people.”

Bezalel and Oholiab

¹Then the LORD said to Moses, ²“See, I have called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. ³And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship, ⁴to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze, ⁵to cut gemstones for settings, and to carve wood, so that he may be a master of every craft.

⁶Moreover, I have selected Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, as his assistant.

I have also given skill to all the craftsmen, that they may fashion all that I have commanded you: ⁷the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony and the mercy seat upon it, and all the other furnishings of the tent— ⁸the table with its utensils, the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, ⁹the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the basin with its stand— ¹⁰as well as the woven garments, both the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests, ¹¹in addition to the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them according to all that I have commanded you.”

The Sign of the Sabbath

¹²And the LORD said to Moses, ¹³“Tell the Israelites, ‘Surely you must keep My Sabbaths, for this will be a sign between Me and you for the generations to come, so that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you. ¹⁴Keep the Sabbath, for it is holy to you. Anyone who profanes it must surely be put to death. Whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from among his people. ¹⁵For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must surely be put to death.

¹⁶The Israelites must keep the Sabbath, celebrating it as a permanent covenant for the generations to come. ¹⁷It is a sign between Me and the Israelites forever; for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’”

Moses Receives the Tablets

¹⁸When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.

Habakkuk’s Prayer

¹This is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, according to Shigionoth:

²O LORD, I have heard the report of You;

I stand in awe, O LORD, of Your deeds.

Revive them in these years;

make them known in these years.

In Your wrath, remember mercy!

³God came from Teman,

and the Holy One from Mount Paran.

Selah

His glory covered the heavens,

and His praise filled the earth.

⁴His radiance was like the sunlight;

rays flashed from His hand,

where His power is hidden.

⁵Plague went before Him,

and fever followed in His steps.

⁶He stood and measured the earth;

He looked and startled the nations;

the ancient mountains crumbled;

the perpetual hills collapsed.

His ways are everlasting.

⁷I saw the tents of Cushan in distress;

the curtains of Midian were trembling.

⁸Were You angry at the rivers, O LORD?

Was Your wrath against the streams?

Did You rage against the sea

when You rode on Your horses,

on Your chariots of salvation?

⁹You brandished Your bow;

You called for many arrows.

Selah

You split the earth with rivers.

¹⁰The mountains saw You and quaked;

torrents of water swept by.

The deep roared with its voice

and lifted its hands on high.

¹¹Sun and moon stood still

in their places

at the flash of Your flying arrows,

at the brightness of Your shining spear.

¹²You marched across the earth with fury;

You threshed the nations in wrath.

¹³You went forth for the salvation of Your people,

to save Your anointed.

You crushed the head of the house of the wicked

and stripped him from head to toe.

Selah

¹⁴With his own spear You pierced his head,

when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,

gloating as though ready

to secretly devour the weak.

¹⁵You trampled the sea with Your horses,

churning the great waters.

¹⁶I heard and trembled within;

my lips quivered at the sound.

Decay entered my bones;

I trembled where I stood.

Yet I must wait patiently for the day of distress

to come upon the people who invade us.

Habakkuk Rejoices

¹⁷Though the fig tree does not bud

and no fruit is on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though the sheep are cut off from the fold

and no cattle are in the stalls,

¹⁸yet I will exult in the LORD;

I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!

¹⁹GOD the Lord is my strength;

He makes my feet like those of a deer;

He makes me walk upon the heights! For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.

The Woman Caught in Adultery

¹But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

²Early in the morning He went back into the temple courts. All the people came to Him, and He sat down to teach them. ³The scribes and Pharisees, however, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before them ⁴and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do You say?”

⁶They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger.

⁷When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” ⁸And again He bent down and wrote on the ground.

⁹When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there. ¹⁰Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹“No one, Lord,” she answered.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.”

Jesus the Light of the World

¹²Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”

¹³So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not valid.”

¹⁴Jesus replied, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going. ¹⁵You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. ¹⁶But even if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone; I am with the Father who sent Me. ¹⁷Even in your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. ¹⁸I am One who testifies about Myself, and the Father, who sent Me, also testifies about Me.”

¹⁹“Where is Your Father?” they asked Him.

“You do not know Me or My Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would know My Father as well.”

²⁰He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts, near the treasury. Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.

²¹Again He said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for Me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”

²²So the Jews began to ask, “Will He kill Himself, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”

²³Then He told them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. ²⁴That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

²⁵“Who are You?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. ²⁶“I have much to say about you and much to judge. But the One who sent Me is truthful, and what I have heard from Him, I tell the world.”

²⁷They did not understand that He was telling them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me. ²⁹He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.”

The Truth Will Set You Free

³⁰As Jesus spoke these things, many believed in Him. ³¹So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples. ³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³“We are Abraham’s descendants,” they answered. “We have never been slaves to anyone. How can You say we will be set free?”

³⁴Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵A slave does not remain in the house forever, but a son remains forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

³⁷I know you are Abraham’s descendants, but you are trying to kill Me because My word has no place within you. ³⁸I speak of what I have seen in the presence of the Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.”

³⁹“Abraham is our father,” they replied.

“If you were children of Abraham,” said Jesus, “you would do the works of Abraham. ⁴⁰But now you are trying to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. ⁴¹You are doing the works of your father.”

“We are not illegitimate children,” they declared. “Our only Father is God Himself.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on My own, but He sent Me.

⁴³Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to accept My message. ⁴⁴You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out his desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me!

⁴⁶Which of you can prove Me guilty of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷Whoever belongs to God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Before Abraham Was Born, I Am

⁴⁸The Jews answered Him, “Are we not right to say that You are a Samaritan and You have a demon?”

⁴⁹“I do not have a demon,” Jesus replied, “but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. ⁵⁰I do not seek My own glory. There is One who seeks it, and He is the Judge. ⁵¹Truly, truly, I tell you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death.”

⁵²“Now we know that You have a demon!” declared the Jews. “Abraham died, and so did the prophets, yet You say that anyone who keeps Your word will never taste death. ⁵³Are You greater than our father Abraham? He died, as did the prophets. Who do You claim to be?”

⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory means nothing. The One who glorifies Me is My Father, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ ⁵⁵You do not know Him, but I know Him. If I said I did not know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word. ⁵⁶Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see My day. He saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and You have seen Abraham?”

⁵⁸“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

⁵⁹At this, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple area.