Exodus 38–40

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 edge that is next to the inner border of the ephod. ²⁰They made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the ephod’s two shoulder pieces on its front, close to its seam,^G above the ephod’s woven waistband. ²¹Then they tied the breastpiece from its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece was above the ephod’s waistband and did not come loose from the ephod. They did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

MAKING THE ROBE

²²They^a made the woven robe of the ephod entirely of blue yarn. ²³There was an opening in the center of the robe like that of body armor^F with a collar around the opening so that it would not tear. ²⁴They made pomegranates of finely spun blue, purple, and scarlet yarn^H on the lower hem of the robe. ²⁵They made bells of pure gold and attached the bells between the pomegranates, all around the hem of the robe between the pomegranates, ²⁶a bell and a pomegranate alternating all around the lower hem of the robe^I to be worn for ministry. They made it just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

THE OTHER PRIESTLY GARMENTS

²⁷They made the tunics of fine woven linen for Aaron and his sons. ²⁸They made the turban and the ornate headbands^J of fine linen, the linen undergarments of finely spun linen,^{b 29}and the sash of finely spun linen expertly embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. They did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

MAKING THE HOLY DIADEM

³⁰They made a medallion, the holy diadem, out of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription like the engraving on a seal:^c Holy to the Lord. ³¹They attached a cord of blue yarn to it in order to mount it on the turban, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

MOSES’S INSPECTION OF THE TABERNACLE

³²So all the work for the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was finished. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.^{d 33}They brought the tabernacle to Moses: the tent with all its furnishings, its clasps, its supports, its crossbars, and its pillars and bases; ³⁴the covering of ram skins dyed red and the covering of fine leather;^A the curtain for the screen; ³⁵the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat; ³⁶the table, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence; ³⁷the pure gold lampstand, with its lamps arranged and all its utensils, as well as the oil for the light; ³⁸the gold altar; the anointing oil; the fragrant incense; the screen for the entrance to the tent; ³⁹the bronze altar with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand; ⁴⁰the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and bases, the screen for the gate of the courtyard, its ropes and tent pegs, and all the furnishings for the service of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; ⁴¹and the specially woven^A garments for ministering in the sanctuary, the holy garments for the priest Aaron and the garments for his sons to serve as priests. ⁴²The Israelites had done all the work according to everything the Lord had commanded Moses.^{a 43}Moses inspected all the work they had accomplished. They had done just as the Lord commanded. Then Moses blessed them.^b

SETTING UP THE TABERNACLE

40The Lord spoke to Moses: ²“You are to set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, on the first day of the first month.^{Bc 3}Put the ark^d of the testimony there and screen off the ark with the curtain. ⁴Then bring in the table and lay out its arrangement; also bring in the…