Exodus 24–31

THE COVENANT CEREMONY

24Then he said to Moses, “Go up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders,^d and bow in worship at a distance. ²Moses alone is to approach the Lord, but the others are not to approach, and the people are not to go up with him.”

³Moses came and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.”^{e 4}And Moses wrote^f down all the words of the Lord. He rose early the next morning and set up an altar and twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain. ⁵Then he sent out young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. ⁶Moses took half the blood and set it in basins; the other half of the blood he splattered on the altar. ⁷He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey all that the Lord has commanded.”

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

⁹Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of Israel’s elders, ¹⁰and they saw^h the God of Israel. Beneath his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as clear as the sky itself.^{i 11}God did not harm^I the Israelite nobles; they saw^j him, and they ate and drank.

¹²The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and stay there so that I may give you the stone tablets^k with the law and commandments I have written for their instruction.”

¹³So Moses arose with his assistant Joshua and went up the mountain of God.^{l 14}He told the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Whoever has a dispute should go to them.” ¹⁵When Moses went up the mountain, the cloud^m covered it. ¹⁶The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses from the cloud.^{n 17}The appearance of the Lord’s glory to the Israelites was like a consuming fire^o on the mountaintop. ¹⁸Moses entered the cloud as he went up the mountain, and he remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.^p

OFFERINGS TO BUILD THE TABERNACLE

25The Lord spoke to Moses: ²“Tell the Israelites to take an offering for me. You are to take my offering from everyone who is willing to give.^{q 3}This is the offering you are to receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze; ⁴blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair; ⁵ram skins dyed red^r and fine leather;^A acacia wood; ⁶oil^s for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; ⁷and onyx^B along with other gemstones for mounting on the ephod and breastpiece.^Ct

⁸“They are to make a sanctuary^u for me so that I may dwell^v among them. ⁹You must make it according to all that I show you—the pattern^w of the tabernacle as well as the pattern of all its furnishings.

THE ARK

¹⁰“They are to make an ark^x of acacia wood, forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high.^{D 11}Overlay it with pure gold; overlay it both inside and out. Also make a gold molding all around it. ¹²Cast four gold rings for it and place them on its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. ¹³Make 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 the ark with them. ¹⁵The poles are to remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed from it. ¹⁶Put the tablets of the testimony that I will give you into the ark.^{y 17}Make a mercy seat^z of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide.^{F 18}Make two cherubim of gold; make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end. At its two ends, make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat. ²⁰The cherubim are to have wings spread out above, covering^a the mercy seat with their wings, and are to face one another. The faces of the cherubim should be toward the mercy seat. ²¹Set the mercy seat on top of the ark and put the tablets of the testimony that I will give you into the ark.^{b 22}I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim^c that are over the ark of the testimony; I will speak with you from there about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.

THE TABLE

²³“You are to construct a table^d of acacia wood, thirty-six inches long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high.^{A 24}Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding all around it. ²⁵Make a three-inch^B frame all around it and make a gold molding for it all around its frame. ²⁶Make four gold rings for it, and attach the rings to the four corners at its four legs. ²⁷The rings should be next to the frame as holders for the poles to carry the table. ²⁸Make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, and the table can be carried by them. ²⁹You are also to make its plates^e and cups, as well as its pitchers and bowls for pouring drink offerings. Make them out of pure gold. ³⁰Put the Bread of the Presence^f on the table before me at all times.

THE LAMPSTAND

³¹“You^g are to make a lampstand^h out of pure, hammered gold. It is to be made of one piece: its base and shaft, its ornamental cups, and its buds^C and petals. ³²Six branches are to extend from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side and three branches of the lampstand from the other side. ³³There are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a bud and petals, on one branch, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a bud and petals, on the next branch. It is to be this way for the six branches that extend from the lampstand. ³⁴There are to be four cups shaped like almond blossoms on the lampstand shaft along with its buds and petals. ³⁵For the six branches that extend from the lampstand, a bud must be under the first pair of branches from it, a bud under the second pair of branches from it, and a bud under the third pair of branches from it. ³⁶Their buds and branches are to be of one piece.^D All of it is to be a single hammered piece of pure gold.

³⁷“Make its seven lamps,ⁱ and set them up so that they illuminate the area in front of it. ³⁸Its snuffers and firepans must be of pure gold. ³⁹The lampstand^E with all these utensils is to be made from seventy-five pounds^F of pure gold. ⁴⁰Be careful to make them according to the pattern^j you have been shown on the mountain.

THE TABERNACLE

26“You^k are to construct the tabernacle itself with ten curtains. You must make them of finely spun linen, and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with a design of cherubim worked into them. ²Each curtain should be forty-two feet^G long and six feet wide; all the curtains are to have the same measurements. ³Five of the curtains should be joined together, and the other five curtains joined together. ⁴Make loops of blue yarn on the edge of the last curtain in the first set, and do the same on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. ⁵Make fifty loops on the one curtain and make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain in the second set, so that the loops line up together. ⁶Also make fifty gold clasps and join the curtains together with the clasps, so that the tabernacle may be a single unit.

⁷“You are to make curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; make eleven of these curtains. ⁸Each curtain should be forty-five feet^A long and six feet wide. All eleven curtains are to have the same measurements. ⁹Join five of the curtains by themselves, and the other six curtains by themselves. Then fold the sixth curtain double at the front of the tent. ¹⁰Make fifty loops on the edge of one curtain, the outermost in the first set, and make fifty loops on the edge of the corresponding curtain of the second set. ¹¹Make fifty bronze clasps; put the clasps through the loops and join the tent together so that it is a single unit. ¹²As for the flap that remains from the tent curtains, the leftover half curtain is to hang over the back of the tabernacle. ¹³What remains along the length of the tent curtains—a half yard^B on one side and a half yard on the other side—should hang over the sides of the tabernacle on either side to cover it. ¹⁴Make a covering for the tent from ram skins dyed red^a and a covering of fine leather^C on top of that.

¹⁵“You are to make upright supports^D of acacia wood^b for the tabernacle. ¹⁶Each support is to be fifteen feet^E long and twenty-seven^F inches wide. ¹⁷Each support will have two tenons for joining. Do the same for all the supports of the tabernacle. ¹⁸Make the supports for the tabernacle as follows: twenty supports for the south side, ¹⁹and make forty silver bases under the twenty supports, two bases under the first support for its two tenons, and two bases under the next support for its two tenons; ²⁰twenty supports for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, ²¹along with their forty silver bases, two bases under the first support and two bases under each support; ²²and make six supports for the west side of the tabernacle. ²³Make two additional supports for the two back corners of the tabernacle. ²⁴They are to be paired at the bottom, and joined together^G at the top in a single ring. So it should be for both of them; they will serve as the two corners. ²⁵There are to be eight supports with their silver bases: sixteen bases; two bases under the first support and two bases under each support.

²⁶“You are to make five crossbars of acacia wood for the supports on one side of the tabernacle, ²⁷five crossbars for the supports on the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for the supports on the back side of the tabernacle on the west. ²⁸The central crossbar is to run through the…