Exodus 39–40

Making the Priestly Garments

39From the ^oblue and purple and scarlet yarns they made ^pfinely woven garments,¹ for ministering in the Holy Place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, ^qas the Lord had commanded Moses.

^2rHe made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. ³And they hammered out gold leaf, and he cut it into threads to work into the blue and purple and the scarlet yarns, and into the fine twined linen, in skilled design. ⁴They made for the ephod attaching shoulder pieces, joined to it at its two edges. ⁵And the skillfully woven band on it was of one piece with it and made like it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁶They made the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold filigree, and engraved like the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the sons of Israel. ⁷And he set them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^8sHe made the breastpiece, in skilled work, in the style of the ephod, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. ⁹It was square. They made the breastpiece doubled, a span² its length and a span its breadth when doubled. ¹⁰And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row; ¹¹and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; ¹²and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ¹³and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold filigree. ¹⁴There were twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They were like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. ¹⁵And they made on the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. ¹⁶And they made two settings of gold filigree and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. ¹⁷And they put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. ¹⁸They attached the two ends of the two cords to the two settings of filigree. Thus they attached it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. ¹⁹Then they made two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. ²⁰And they made two rings of gold, and attached them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ²¹And they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it should lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece should not come loose from the ephod, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^22tHe also made the robe of the ephod woven all of blue, ²³and the opening of the robe in it was like the opening in a garment, with a binding around the opening, so that it might not tear. ²⁴On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. ²⁵They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates— ²⁶a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^27uThey also made the coats, woven of fine ^vlinen, for Aaron and his sons, ²⁸and the ^vturban of fine linen, and the caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twined linen, ²⁹and the sash of fine twined linen and of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, embroidered with needlework, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^30wThey made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the Lord.” ³¹And they tied to it a cord of blue to fasten it on the turban above, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³²Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did ^xaccording to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; so they did. ³³Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; ³⁴the covering of tanned rams’ skins and goatskins, and the ^yveil of the screen; ³⁵the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat; ³⁶the table with all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; ^37zthe lampstand of pure gold and its lamps with the lamps set and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; ^38athe golden altar, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and ^bthe screen for the entrance of the tent; ³⁹the bronze altar, and its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin and its stand; ^40cthe hangings of the court, its pillars, and its bases, and the ^dscreen for the gate of the court, its ^ecords, and its pegs; and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; ⁴¹the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons for their service as priests. ^42fAccording to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work. ⁴³And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses ^gblessed them.

The Tabernacle Erected

40The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“On the ^hfirst day of the first month you shall ⁱerect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. ³And you shall put in it the ark of the testimony, and you shall ^jscreen the ark with the veil. ⁴And ^kyou shall bring in the table and arrange it, and ^lyou shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. ^5mAnd you shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the screen for the door of the tabernacle. ⁶ⁿYou shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, ^7oand place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. ⁸And you shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court.

⁹“Then you shall take the ^panointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it may become holy. ¹⁰You shall also anoint ^qthe altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, ^rso that the altar may become most holy. ¹¹You shall also anoint the basin and its stand, and consecrate it. ^12sThen you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall wash them with water ¹³and put on Aaron the holy garments. And you shall anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve me as priest. ¹⁴You shall bring his sons also and put coats on them, ^15tand anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests. And their anointing shall admit them to a ^uperpetual priesthood throughout their generations.”

¹⁶This Moses did; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did. ¹⁷In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, ^vthe tabernacle was erected. ¹⁸Moses erected the tabernacle. He laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars. ¹⁹And he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²⁰He ^wtook the testimony and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark and set the mercy seat above on the ark. ²¹And he brought the ark into the tabernacle and ^xset up the veil of the screen, and screened ^ythe ark of the testimony, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^22zHe put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil, ²³and arranged the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^24aHe put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle, ^25band set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^26cHe put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil, ²⁷and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^28dHe put in place the screen for the door of the tabernacle. ^29eAnd he set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the ^fgrain offering, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^30gHe set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, ³¹with which Moses and ^hAaron and his sons ⁱwashed their hands and their feet. ³²When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses. ^33jAnd he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So ^kMoses finished the work.

The Glory of the Lord

³⁴Then ^lthe cloud covered the tent of meeting, and ^mthe glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁶Throughout all their journeys, ⁿwhenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. ³⁷But ^oif the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. ³⁸For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.