14 Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.

15 You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread as I commanded you: At the appointed time in the month of Abib you are to eat unleavened bread for seven days, because that was the month you came out of Egypt. No one may appear before Me empty-handed.

16 You are also to keep the Feast of Harvest with the firstfruits of the produce from what you sow in the field.

And keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather your produce from the field.

17 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.

18 You must not offer the blood of My sacrifices with anything leavened, nor may the fat of My feast remain until morning.

19 Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God.

You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.

20 Behold, I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21Pay attention to him and listen to his voice; do not defy him, for he will not forgive rebellion, since My Name is in him.

22 But if you will listen carefully to his voice and do everything I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. 23For My angel will go before you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites, and I will annihilate them.

24 You must not bow down to their gods or serve them or follow their practices. Instead, you are to demolish them and smash their sacred stones to pieces.

25 So you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water. And I will take away sickness from among you. 26No woman in your land will miscarry or be barren; I will fulfill the number of your days.

27 I will send My terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn and run. 28I will send the hornet before you to drive the Hivites and Canaanites and Hittites out of your way.

29 I will not drive them out before you in a single year; otherwise the land would become desolate and wild animals would multiply against you. 30Little by little I will drive them out ahead of you, until you become fruitful and possess the land.

31 And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. 32You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. 33They must not remain in your land, lest they cause you to sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snareto you.”

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord — you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders — and you are to worship at a distance. 2Moses alone shall approach the Lord, but the others must not come near. And the people may not go up with him.”

3 When Moses came and told the people all the words and ordinances of the Lord, they all responded with one voice: “All the words that the Lord has spoken, we will do.”

4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord.

Early the next morning he got up and built an altar at the base of the mountain, along with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5Then he sent out some young men of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord.

6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he splattered on the altar. 7Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people, who replied, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.”

8 So Moses took the blood, splattered it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10and they saw the God of Israel. Under His feet was a work like a pavement made of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. 11But God did not lay His hand on the nobles of Israel; they saw Him, and they ate and drank.

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay here, so that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

13 So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant and went up on the mountain of God. 14And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute can go to them.”

15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it, 16and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered it, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from within the cloud. 17And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountaintop in the eyes of the Israelites.

18 Moses entered the cloud as he went up on the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2“Tell the Israelites to bring Me an offering. You are to receive My offering from every man whose heart compels him. 3This is the offering you are to accept from them:

8 And they are to make a sanctuary for Me, so that I may dwell among them. 9You must make the tabernacle and design all its furnishings according to the pattern I show you.

10 And they are to construct an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. 11Overlay it with pure gold both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it.

12 Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, two rings on one side and two on the other. 13And make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, in order to carry it. 15The poles are to remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed. 16And place inside the ark the Testimony, which I will give you.

17 And you are to construct a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. 18Make two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat, 19one cherub on one end and one on the other, all made from one piece of gold. 20And the cherubim are to have wings that spread upward, overshadowing the mercy seat. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the mercy seat.

21 Set the mercy seat atop the ark and put the Testimony that I will give you into the ark.

22 And I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony; I will speak with you about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.

23 You are also to make a table of acacia wood two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high. 24Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it. 25And make a rim around it a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.

26 Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners at its four legs. 27The rings are to be close to the rim, to serve as holders for the poles used to carry the table. 28Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that the table may be carried with them.

29 You are also to make the plates and dishes, as well as the pitchers and bowls for pouring drink offerings. Make them out of pure gold.

30 And place the Bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.

31 Then you are to make a lampstand of pure, hammered gold. It shall be made of one piece, including its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals.

32 Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand — three on one side and three on the other. 33There are to be 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 extend from the lampstand.

34 And on the lampstand there shall be four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals. 35For the six branches that extend from the lampstand, a bud must be under the first pair of branches, a bud under the second pair, and a bud under the third pair. 36The buds and branches are to be all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.

37 Make seven lamps and set them up on the lampstand so that they illuminate the area in front of it. 38The wick trimmers and their trays must be of pure gold. 39The lampstand and all these utensils shall be made from a talent of pure gold.

40 See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.’’

29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days:

30 At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

32 Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you know that summer is near. 33So also, when you see all these things, you will know that He is near, right at the door. 34Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. 35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

36 No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. 39And they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40Two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.

42 Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44For this reason, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect.

45 Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time? 46Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.

48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’ 49And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50The master of that servant will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not anticipate. 51Then he will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’’