Exodus 38–40

38TH CHAPTER

The Altar for Burnt Offerings—Exodus 27:1–8

¹He made the altar for burnt offerings out of acacia wood 7½ feet square and 4½ feet high. ²He made a horn at each of its four corners. He made the four horns and the altar out of one piece ⸤of wood⸥ covered with bronze. 

³He made all the utensils out of bronze: pots, shovels, bowls, forks, and incense burners. 

⁴He made a grate for the altar out of bronze mesh, ⸤and put it⸥ under the ledge, halfway up the altar. ⁵He cast four rings to hold the poles (one for each of the four corners of the bronze grate). ⁶He made the poles out of acacia wood and covered them with bronze. ⁷He put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it. He made the altar out of boards so that it was hollow inside. 

The Bronze Basin—Exodus 30:17–21

⁸He made the basin and stand out of the bronze mirrors given by the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 

The Courtyard—Exodus 27:9–19

⁹He also made the courtyard. The south side of the courtyard was 150 feet long and had curtains made out of fine linen yarn, ¹⁰⸤hung⸥ on 20 posts ⸤set in⸥ 20 bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts were made of silver. ¹¹The north side was also 150 feet long with 20 posts and 20 bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts were made of silver. 

¹²The west side was 75 feet long and had curtains ⸤hung⸥ on 10 posts ⸤set in⸥ 10 bases. The hooks and bands on the posts were made of silver. ¹³The east side, facing the rising sun, was 75 feet ⸤wide⸥. ^14–15Each side of the entrance to the courtyard was 22½ feet wide with curtains ⸤hung⸥ on three posts ⸤set in⸥ three bases. ¹⁶All the curtains around the courtyard were made out of fine linen yarn. ¹⁷The bases for the posts were made of bronze. The hooks and bands on the posts were made of silver. The tops of the posts were covered with silver. And the bands on all the posts of the courtyard were made of silver. 

¹⁸The screen for the entrance to the courtyard was made of violet, purple, and bright red yarn embroidered on ⸤fabric made from⸥ fine linen yarn. It was 30 feet long and 7½ feet high, just like the curtains of the courtyard. ¹⁹It was hung on four posts ⸤set in⸥ four bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts were made of silver. The tops of the posts were covered with silver. 

²⁰All the pegs for the tent and the surrounding courtyard were made of bronze. 

The Amount of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Used

²¹This is the amount of material that was used for the tent (the tent of the words of God’s promise). An inventory was ordered by Moses and carried out by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar, son of the priest Aaron. 

²²Now Bezalel, son of Uri and grandson of Hur, from the tribe of Judah, made everything the Lord had commanded Moses. ²³He was a jeweler, carpenter, designer, and he knew how to embroider violet, purple, and bright red yarn on fine linen. His assistant was Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan. 

²⁴The total amount of gold from the offerings presented to the Lord used in building the holy place weighed over 2,193 pounds, using the standard weight of the holy place. 

²⁵The silver collected when the census of the community was taken weighed 7,544 pounds, using the standard weight of the holy place. ²⁶This came to one-fifth of an ounce per person, for everyone counted who was at least 20 years old: 603,550 people. ²⁷He used 7,500 pounds of silver to cast the 100 bases for the holy place and the canopy. This was 75 pounds per base. ²⁸He used 44 pounds of silver to make the hooks and bands for the posts and the coverings for the tops of the posts. 

²⁹The bronze from the offerings presented to the Lord weighed 5,310 pounds. ³⁰With this he made the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar with its bronze grate and all its accessories, ³¹the bases all around the courtyard, the bases for the entrance to the courtyard, all the pegs for the tent, and all the pegs for the surrounding courtyard. 

39TH CHAPTER

The Holy Clothes—Exodus 28:1–5

¹From the violet, purple, and bright red yarn they made special clothes worn for official duties in the holy place. They also made the holy clothes for Aaron. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 

The Ephod—Exodus 28:6–14

²They made the ephod out of fine linen yarn and gold, violet, purple, and bright red yarn. ³They hammered the gold into thin sheets and cut them up. They twisted the gold into threads, which they creatively worked into each strand of the violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and throughout the fine linen. ⁴They made two shoulder straps attached at the ⸤top⸥ corners so that the ephod could be fastened. ⁵They made the belt that is attached to the ephod out of the same fabric. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses. ⁶They mounted the onyx stones in gold settings, and engraved on them the names of the sons of Israel. ⁷Then they fastened them on the shoulder straps of the ephod as a reminder of who the Israelites are. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 

The Breastplate—Exodus 28:15–28

⁸They made the breastplate as creatively as they made the ephod. It was made out of gold, violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and of fine linen yarn. ⁹It was folded in half and was 9 inches square. ¹⁰They fastened four rows of precious stones on it. In the first row they put red quartz, topaz, and emerald. ¹¹In the second row they put turquoise, sapphire, and crystal. ¹²In the third row they put jacinth, agate, and amethyst. ¹³In the fourth row they put beryl, onyx, and gray quartz. The stones were mounted in gold settings. ¹⁴They corresponded to the 12 sons of Israel, by name, each stone engraved (like a signet ring) with the name of one of the 12 tribes. 

¹⁵For the breastplate they made chains out of pure gold, twisted like ropes. ¹⁶They made two gold settings and two gold rings and attached the two rings to the ⸤top⸥ two corners of the breastplate. ¹⁷They fastened the two gold ropes to the rings at the ⸤top⸥ corners of the breastplate. ¹⁸They fastened the other ends of the ropes to the two settings on the shoulder straps of the ephod ⸤so that the breastplate hung⸥ in front of it. ¹⁹They made two gold rings and fastened them to the other two corners of the breastplate on the inside edge next to the ephod. ²⁰They made two ⸤more⸥ gold rings and fastened them to the bottom of the shoulder straps on the front of the ephod. This was close to the seam just above the belt of the ephod. ²¹Then they fastened the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a violet cord. So the breastplate was attached just above the belt of the ephod and was held in place. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 

Other Clothes for Aaron and His Sons—Exodus 28:31–43

²²They made the robe that is worn with the ephod, woven entirely of violet yarn. ²³The opening in the center of the robe had a finished edge (like a leather collar) all around it to keep it from tearing. ²⁴On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and fine yarn. ²⁵They made bells out of pure gold and fastened them in between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe. ²⁶A gold bell alternated with a pomegranate all around the hem of the robe that is worn by Aaron when he serves as priest. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 

²⁷They wove inner robes out of fine linen for Aaron and his sons. ²⁸They also made the chief priest’s turban and the other beautiful turbans out of fine linen. They made the undergarments and belt out of fine linen yarn. ²⁹The belt was embroidered with violet, purple, and bright red yarn. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 

³⁰They made the flower-shaped medallion (the holy crown) out of pure gold and engraved on it (as on a signet ring): Holy to the Lord. ³¹They fastened a violet cord to it and tied it on top of the turban. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 

The Tent Is Brought to Moses

³²So all the work on the inner tent (the tent of meeting) was now done. The Israelites followed all the Lord’s instructions to Moses. ³³Then they brought everything to Moses—the inner tent, the outer tent and all its furnishings, the fasteners, frames, crossbars, posts, sockets, ³⁴the cover made of rams’ skins dyed red, the cover made of fine leather,the canopy over ⸤the ark⸥, ³⁵the ark containing the words of God’s promise with its poles and the throne of mercy, ³⁶the table with all the dishes, the bread of the presence, ³⁷the pure ⸤gold⸥ lamp stand with its lamps in a row and all its utensils, the olive oil for the lamps, ³⁸the gold altar, the anointing oil, the sweet-smelling incense, the screen for the entrance to the tent, ³⁹the bronze altar with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its accessories, the basin with its stand, ⁴⁰the curtains for the courtyard, the posts, bases, and screen for the entrance to the courtyard, the ropes and pegs—all the equipment needed for the service of the inner tent (the tent of meeting)—⁴¹the special clothes worn when serving as priests in the holy place—both the holy clothes for the priest Aaron and the clothes for his sons when serving as priests. ⁴²The Israelites had done all the work following the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 

⁴³Moses inspected all the work and saw that they had followed the Lord’s instructions. So Moses blessed them. 

40TH CHAPTER

Instructions for Setting Up the Tent

¹Then the Lord said to Moses, ²“Set up the tent (the tent of meeting) on the first day of the first month of the year. ³Place the ark containing the words of my promise inside it, and hang the canopy over the ark. ⁴Bring in the table, and arrange everything on it. Bring in the lamp stand, and set up the lamps. ⁵Put the gold altar for incense in front of the ark. Put up the screen at the entrance to the tent. 

⁶“Put the altar for burnt offerings in front of the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁷Put…