Exodus 25–26

Offerings for the Sacred Tent

25The Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the Israelites to make an offering to me. Receive whatever offerings anyone wishes to give. ³These offerings are to be: gold, silver, and bronze; ⁴fine linen; blue, purple, and red wool; cloth made of goats’ hair; ⁵rams’ skin dyed red; fine leather; acacia wood; ⁶oil for the lamps; spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense; ⁷carnelians and other jewels to be set in the ephod^z of the High Priest and in his breast-piece. ⁸The people must make a sacred tent for me, so that I may live among them. ⁹Make it and all its furnishings according to the plan that I will show you.

The Covenant Box

¹⁰“Make a box out of acacia wood, 110 centimetres long, 66 centimetres wide, and 66 centimetres high. ¹¹Cover it with pure gold inside and out and put a gold border all round it. ¹²Make four carrying rings of gold for it and attach them to its four legs, with two rings on each side. ¹³Make carrying poles of acacia wood and cover them with gold ¹⁴and put them through the rings on each side of the box. ¹⁵The poles are to be left in the rings and must not be taken out. ¹⁶Then put in the box the two stone tablets that I will give you, on which the commandments are written.

^17*“Make a lid of pure gold, 110 centimetres long and 66 centimetres wide. ¹⁸Make two winged creatures^a of hammered gold, ¹⁹one for each end of the lid. Make them so that they form one piece with the lid. ²⁰The winged creatures are to face each other across the lid, and their outspread wings are to cover it. ²¹Put the two stone tablets inside the box and put the lid on top of it. ²²I will meet you there, and from above the lid between the two winged creatures I will give you all my laws for the people of Israel.

The Table for the Bread Offered to God

²³“Make a table out of acacia wood, 88 centimetres long, 44 centimetres wide, and 66 centimetres high. ²⁴Cover it with pure gold and put a gold border round it. ²⁵Make a rim 75 millimetres wide round it and a gold border round the rim. ²⁶Make four carrying rings of gold for it and put them at the four corners, where the legs are. ²⁷The rings to hold the poles for carrying the table are to be placed near the rim. ²⁸Make the poles of acacia wood and cover them with gold. ²⁹Make plates, cups, jars, and bowls to be used for the wine offerings. All of these are to be made of pure gold. ^30*The table is to be placed in front of the Covenant Box, and on the table there is always to be the sacred bread offered to me.

The Lamp-Stand

³¹“Make a lamp-stand of pure gold. Make its base and its shaft of hammered gold; its decorative flowers, including buds and petals, are to form one piece with it. ³²Six branches shall extend from its sides, three from each side. ³³Each of the six branches is to have three decorative flowers shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals. ³⁴The shaft of the lamp-stand is to have four decorative flowers shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals. ³⁵There is to be one bud below each of the three pairs of branches. ³⁶The buds, the branches, and the lamp-stand are to be a single piece of pure hammered gold. ³⁷Make seven lamps for the lamp-stand and set them up so that they shine towards the front. ³⁸Make its tongs and trays of pure gold. ³⁹Use 35 kilogrammes of pure gold to make the lamp-stand and all this equipment. ^40*Take care to make them according to the plan that I showed you on the mountain.^b

The Tent of the ’s Presence

26“Make the interior of the sacred Tent, the Tent of my presence, out of ten pieces of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool. Embroider them with figures of winged creatures. ²Make each piece the same size, 12 metres long and 2 metres wide. ³Sew five of them together in one set, and do the same with the other five. ⁴Make loops of blue cloth on the edge of the outside piece in each set. ⁵Put 50 loops on the first piece of the first set and 50 loops matching them on the last piece of the second set. ⁶Make 50 gold hooks with which to join the two sets into one piece.

⁷“Make a cover for the Tent out of eleven pieces of cloth made of goats’ hair. ⁸Make them all the same size, 13 metres long and 2 metres wide. ⁹Sew five of them together in one set, and the other six in another set. Fold the sixth piece double over the front of the Tent. ¹⁰Put 50 loops on the edge of the last piece of one set, and 50 loops on the edge of the other set. ¹¹Make 50 bronze hooks and put them in the loops to join the two sets so as to form one cover. ¹²Hang the extra half-piece over the back of the Tent. ¹³The extra 50 centimetres on each side of the length is to hang over the sides of the Tent to cover it.

¹⁴“Make two more coverings, one of rams’ skin dyed red and the other of fine leather, to serve as the outer cover.

¹⁵“Make upright frames for the Tent out of acacia wood. ¹⁶Each frame is to be 4 metres long and 66 centimetres wide, ¹⁷with two matching projections, so that the frames can be joined together. All the frames are to have these projections. ¹⁸Make twenty frames for the south side ¹⁹and forty silver bases to go under them, two bases under each frame to hold its two projections. ²⁰Make twenty frames for the north side of the Tent ²¹and forty silver bases, two under each frame. ²²For the back of the Tent on the west, make six frames, ²³and two frames for the corners. ²⁴These corner frames are to be joined at the bottom and connected all the way to the top. The two frames that form the two corners are to be made in this way. ²⁵So there will be eight frames with their sixteen silver bases, two under each frame.

²⁶“Make fifteen crossbars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of the Tent, ²⁷five for the frames on the other side, and five for the frames on the west end, at the back. ²⁸The middle crossbar, set halfway up the frames, is to extend from one end of the Tent to the other. ²⁹Cover the frames with gold and fit them with gold rings to hold the crossbars, which are also to be covered with gold. ³⁰Set up the Tent according to the plan that I showed you on the mountain.

³¹“Make a curtain of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool. Embroider it with figures of winged creatures. ³²Hang it on four posts of acacia wood covered with gold, fitted with hooks, and set in four silver bases. ^33*Place the curtain under the row of hooks in the roof of the Tent, and behind the curtain put the Covenant Box containing the two stone tablets. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. ³⁴Put the lid on the Covenant Box. ³⁵Outside the Most Holy Place put the table against the north side of the Tent and the lamp-stand against the south side.

³⁶“For the entrance of the Tent make a curtain of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool and decorated with embroidery. ³⁷For this curtain make five posts of acacia wood covered with gold and fitted with gold hooks; make five bronze bases for these posts.