Exodus 37–39

MAKING THE ARK

37Bezalel^d made the ark of acacia wood, forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high.^{H 2}He overlaid it with pure gold inside and out and made a gold molding all around it. ³He cast four gold rings for it, for its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. ⁴He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. ⁵He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark for carrying the ark.

⁶He made a mercy seat of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide.^{A 7}He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat, ⁸one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end. At each end, he made a cherub of one piece with the mercy seat. ⁹They had wings spread out. They faced each other and covered the mercy seat with their wings. The faces of the cherubim were looking toward the mercy seat.

MAKING THE TABLE

¹⁰He^a constructed the table of acacia wood, thirty-six inches long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high.^{B 11}He overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding all around it. ¹²He made a three-inch^C frame all around it and made a gold molding all around its frame. ¹³He cast four gold rings for it and attached the rings to the four corners at its four legs. ¹⁴The rings were next to the frame as holders for the poles to carry the table. ¹⁵He made the poles for carrying the table from acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. ¹⁶He also made the utensils that would be on the table out of pure gold: its plates and cups, as well as its bowls and pitchers for pouring drink offerings.

MAKING THE LAMPSTAND

¹⁷Then^b he made the lampstand out of pure hammered gold. He made it all of one piece: its base and shaft, its ornamental cups, and its buds and petals. ¹⁸Six branches extended from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side and three branches of the lampstand from the other side. ¹⁹There were 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 was this way for the six branches that extended from the lampstand. ²⁰There were four cups shaped like almond blossoms on the lampstand shaft along with its buds and petals. ²¹For the six branches that extended from it, a bud was 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. ²²Their buds and branches were of one piece with it. All of it was a single hammered piece of pure gold. ²³He also made its seven lamps, snuffers, and firepans of pure gold. ²⁴He made it and all its utensils of seventy-five pounds^D of pure gold.

MAKING THE ALTAR OF INCENSE

²⁵He^c made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, eighteen inches long and eighteen inches wide; it was thirty-six inches high.^E Its horns were of one piece with it. ²⁶He overlaid it, its top, all around its sides, and its horns with pure gold. Then he made a gold molding all around it. ²⁷He made two gold rings for it under the molding on two of its sides; he put these on opposite sides of it to be holders for the poles to carry it with. ²⁸He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

²⁹He also made the holy anointing oil and the pure, fragrant, and expertly blended incense.^d

MAKING THE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING

38Bezalel^e constructed the altar of burnt offering from acacia wood. It was square, 7½ feet long and 7½ feet wide,^A and was 4½ feet^B high. ²He made horns for it on its four corners; the horns were of one piece with it. Then he overlaid it with bronze.

³He made all the altar’s utensils: the pots, shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans; he made all its utensils of bronze. ⁴He constructed for the altar a grate of bronze mesh under its ledge,^C halfway up from the bottom. ⁵He cast four rings at the four corners of the bronze grate as holders for the poles. ⁶He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. ⁷Then he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar in order to carry it with them. He constructed the altar with boards so that it was hollow.

MAKING THE BRONZE BASIN

⁸He made the bronze basin and its stand from the bronze mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.^f

MAKING THE COURTYARD

⁹Then^g he made the courtyard. The hangings on the south side of the courtyard were of finely spun linen, 150 feet long, ¹⁰including their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and silver bands for the posts. ¹¹The hangings on the north side were also 150 feet long, including their twenty posts and twenty bronze bases. The hooks and bands of the posts were silver. ¹²The hangings on the west side were 75 feet long, including their ten posts and their ten bases, with silver hooks and silver bands for the posts. ¹³And for the east side toward the sunrise, 75 feet long, ¹⁴the hangings on one side of the gate were 22½ feet, including their three posts and their three bases. ¹⁵It was the same for the other side of the courtyard gate. The hangings were 22½ feet, including their three posts and their three bases. ¹⁶All the hangings around the courtyard were of finely spun linen. ¹⁷The bases for the posts were bronze; the hooks and bands of the posts were silver; and the plating for the tops of the posts was silver. All the posts of the courtyard were banded with silver.

¹⁸The screen for the gate of the courtyard was made of finely spun linen, expertly embroidered^H with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. It was 30 feet^I long, and like the hangings of the courtyard, 7½ feet^J high.^{K 19}It had four posts with their four bronze bases. Their hooks were silver, and their top plating and their bands were silver. ²⁰All the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the surrounding courtyard were bronze.

INVENTORY OF MATERIALS

²¹This is the inventory for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony,^a that was recorded at Moses’s command. It was the work of the Levites under the direction of^A Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.^{b 22}Bezalel son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that the Lord commanded Moses. ²³With him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, a gem cutter, a designer, and an embroiderer with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine linen.

²⁴All the gold of the presentation offering that was used for the project in all the work on the sanctuary, was 2,193 pounds,^B according to the sanctuary shekel.^{c 25}The silver from those of the community who were registered was 7,544 pounds,^C according to the sanctuary shekel—²⁶one-fifth of an ounce^D per man, that is, half a shekel according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone twenty years old or more who had crossed over to the registered group, 603,550 men. ²⁷There were 7,500 pounds^E of silver used to cast the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the curtain—one hundred bases from 7,500 pounds, 75 pounds^F for each base.^{d 28}With the remaining 44 pounds^G he made the hooks for the posts, overlaid their tops, and supplied bands for them.

²⁹The bronze of the presentation offering totaled 5,310 pounds.^{H 30}He made with it the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar and its bronze grate, all the utensils for the altar, ³¹the bases for the surrounding courtyard, the bases for the gate of the courtyard, all the tent pegs for the tabernacle, and all the tent pegs for the surrounding courtyard.

MAKING THE PRIESTLY GARMENTS

39They made specially woven^I garments for ministry in the sanctuary, and the holy garments for Aaron from the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.^e

MAKING THE EPHOD

²Bezalel^f made the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen. ³They hammered out thin sheets of gold, and he^J cut threads from them to interweave with the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and the fine linen in a skillful design. ⁴They made shoulder pieces for attaching it; it was joined together at its two edges. ⁵The artistically woven waistband that was on the ephod was of one piece with the ephod, according to the same workmanship of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁶Then they mounted the onyx stones surrounded with gold filigree settings, engraved with the names of Israel’s sons as a gem cutter engraves a seal. ⁷He fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

MAKING THE BREASTPIECE

⁸He^g also made the embroidered^K breastpiece with the same workmanship as the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen. ⁹They made the breastpiece square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide.^{A 10}They mounted four rows of gemstones^B on it.

The first row was

a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald;^C

¹¹the second row,

a turquoise,^D a lapis lazuli, and a diamond;^E

¹²the third row,

a jacinth,^F an agate, and an amethyst;

¹³and the fourth row,

a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper.

They were surrounded with gold filigree in their settings.

¹⁴The twelve stones corresponded to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone was engraved like a seal with one of the names of the twelve tribes.

¹⁵They made braided chains of pure gold cord for the breastpiece. ¹⁶They also fashioned two gold filigree settings and two gold rings and attached the two rings to its two corners. ¹⁷Then they attached the two gold cords to the two gold rings on the corners of the breastpiece. ¹⁸They attached the other ends of the two cords to the two filigree settings, and in this way they attached them to the ephod’s shoulder pieces in front. ¹⁹They made two other gold rings and put them at the two other corners of the breastpiece on the…