One
day as Jesus was teaching the people in the temple courts and proclaiming the
good news, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, together with the
elders, came up to him. 2 “Tell us by what authority you are
doing these things,” they said. “Who gave you this authority?”
3 He
replied, “I will also ask you a question. Tell me: 4 John’s
baptism—was it from heaven, or of human origin?”
5 They
discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask,
‘Why didn’t you believe him?’ 6 But if we say, ‘Of human
origin,’ all the people will stone us, because they are persuaded that John was
a prophet.”
7 So
they answered, “We don’t know where it was from.”
8 Jesus
said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”
He
made a bronze altar twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and ten cubits high.[a]2 He
made the Sea of cast metal, circular in shape, measuring ten cubits from rim to
rim and five cubits[b] high. It
took a line of thirty cubits[c] to measure
around it. 3 Below the rim, figures of bulls encircled it—ten
to a cubit.[d] The bulls
were cast in two rows in one piece with the Sea.
4 The
Sea stood on twelve bulls, three facing north, three facing west, three facing
south and three facing east. The Sea rested on top of them, and their
hindquarters were toward the center. 5 It was a handbreadth[e] in
thickness, and its rim was like the rim of a cup, like a lily blossom. It held
three thousand baths.[f]
6 He
then made ten basins for washing and placed five on the south side and five on
the north. In them the things to be used for the burnt offerings were rinsed,
but the Sea was to be used by the priests for washing.
7 He
made ten gold lampstands according to the specifications for them and placed
them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.
8 He
made ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the south side and five
on the north. He also made a hundred gold sprinkling bowls.
9 He
made the courtyard of the priests, and the large court and the doors for the
court, and overlaid the doors with bronze. 10 He placed the Sea
on the south side, at the southeast corner.
11 And
Huram also made the pots and shovels and sprinkling bowls.
So
Huram finished the work he had undertaken for King Solomon in the temple of
God:
12 the
two pillars;
the
two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars;
the
two sets of network decorating the two bowl-shaped capitals on top of the
pillars;
13 the
four hundred pomegranates for the two sets of network (two rows of pomegranates
for each network, decorating the bowl-shaped capitals on top of the pillars);
14 the
stands with their basins;
15 the
Sea and the twelve bulls under it;
16 the
pots, shovels, meat forks and all related articles.
All
the objects that Huram-Abi made for King Solomon for the temple of the Lord were of polished bronze. 17 The
king had them cast in clay molds in the plain of the Jordan between Sukkoth and
Zarethan.[g]18 All
these things that Solomon made amounted to so much that the weight of the
bronze could not be calculated.
19 Solomon
also made all the furnishings that were in God’s temple:
the
golden altar;
the
tables on which was the bread of the Presence;
20 the
lampstands of pure gold with their lamps, to burn in front of the inner
sanctuary as prescribed;
21 the
gold floral work and lamps and tongs (they were solid gold);
22 the
pure gold wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, dishes and censers; and the gold
doors of the temple: the inner doors to the Most Holy Place and the doors of
the main hall.
35 As
Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 36 When
he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They
told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.”
38 He
called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
39 Those
who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the
more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 Jesus
stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus
asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
“Lord,
I want to see,” he replied.
42 Jesus
said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” 43 Immediately
he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw
it, they also praised God.
31 Jesus
took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and
everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be
fulfilled. 32 He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They
will mock him, insult him and spit on him; 33 they will flog
him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
34 The
disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and
they did not know what he was talking about.
