All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.
Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord's contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord.
Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded.
And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,
and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each.
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you.
“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.
Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly. Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever.
Then the leaders of fathers' houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king's work.
Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God:
My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord.
“That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the Lord!
“Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.
you shall be careful to do all the statutes and the rules that I am setting before you today.
You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.
And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning,
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.