^38:1He made the altar for the burnt offering of acacia wood seven feet six inches long and seven feet six inches wide—it was square—and its height was four feet six inches. ^38:2He made its horns on its four corners; its horns were part of it,¹ and he overlaid it with bronze. ^38:3He made all the utensils of the altar—the pots, the shovels, the tossing bowls, the meat hooks, and the fire pans—he made all its utensils of bronze. ^38:4He made a grating for the altar, a network of bronze under its ledge, halfway up from the bottom. ^38:5He cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grating, to provide places for the poles. ^38:6He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. ^38:7He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made the altar² hollow, out of boards.

^38:8He made the large basin of bronze and its pedestal of bronze from the mirrors of the women who served³ at the entrance of the tent of meeting.

The Construction of the Courtyard

^38:9He made the courtyard. For the south side⁴ the hangings of the courtyard were of fine twisted linen, one hundred fifty feet long, ^38:10with⁵ their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. ^38:11For the north side the hangings were⁶ one hundred fifty feet, with their twenty posts and their twenty bronze bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. ^38:12For the west side there were⁷ hangings seventy-five feet long, with⁸ their ten posts and their ten bases, with the hooks of the posts and their bands of silver. ^38:13For the east side, toward the sunrise, it was seventy-five feet wide,⁹^38:14with hangings on one side¹⁰ of the gate that were twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases, ^38:15and for the second side of the gate of the courtyard, just like the other,¹¹ the hangings were twenty-two and a half feet long, with their three posts and their three bases. ^38:16All the hangings around the courtyard were of fine twisted linen. ^38:17The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks of the posts and their bands were silver, their tops were overlaid with silver, and all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands.¹²^38:18The curtain¹³ for the gate of the courtyard was of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer. It was thirty feet long, and like the hangings in the courtyard, it was seven and a half feet high, ^38:19with four posts and their four bronze bases. Their hooks and their bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver. ^38:20All the tent pegs of the tabernacle and of the courtyard all around were bronze.

The Materials of the Construction

^38:21This is the inventory¹⁴ of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which was counted¹⁵ by the order¹⁶ of Moses, being the work¹⁷ of the Levites under the direction¹⁸ of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest. ^38:22Now Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that the Lord had commanded Moses; ^38:23and with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an artisan, a designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen.

^38:24All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary¹⁹ (namely,²⁰ the gold of the wave offering) was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels,²¹ according to the sanctuary shekel.

^38:25The silver of those who were numbered of the community was one hundred talents and 1,775 shekels,²² according to the sanctuary shekel, ^38:26one beka per person, that is, a half shekel,²³ according to the sanctuary shekel, for everyone who crossed over to those numbered, from twenty years old or older,²⁴ 603,550 in all.²⁵^38:27The one hundred talents of silver were used for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the special curtain—one hundred bases for one hundred talents, one talent per base. ^38:28From the remaining 1,775 shekels²⁶ he made hooks for the posts, overlaid their tops, and made bands for them.

^38:29The bronze of the wave offering was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels.²⁷^38:30With it he made the bases for the door of the tent of meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating for it, and all the utensils of the altar, ^38:31the bases for the courtyard all around, the bases for the gate of the courtyard, all the tent pegs of the tabernacle, and all the tent pegs of the courtyard all around.²⁸

The Making of the Priestly Garments

^39:1From the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for serving in the sanctuary; they made holy garments that were for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.¹

The Ephod

^39:2He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen. ^39:3They hammered the gold into thin sheets and cut it into narrow strips to weave² them into the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and into the fine linen, the work of an artistic designer. ^39:4They made shoulder pieces for it, attached to two of its corners, so it could be joined together. ^39:5The artistically woven waistband of the ephod that was on it was like it, of one piece with it,³ of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^39:6They set the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved as with the engravings of a seal⁴ with the names of the sons of Israel.⁵^39:7He put⁶ them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of memorial for the Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Breastpiece of Decision

^39:8He made the breastpiece, the work of an artistic designer, in the same fashion as the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine twisted linen. ^39:9It was square—they made the breastpiece doubled, nine inches long and nine inches wide when doubled. ^39:10They set on it⁷ four rows of stones: a row with a ruby, a topaz, and a beryl—the first row; ^39:11and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; ^39:12and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ^39:13and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold filigree settings. ^39:14The stones were for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, corresponding to the number of⁸ their names. Each name corresponding to one of the twelve tribes was like the engravings of a seal.

^39:15They made for the breastpiece braided chains like cords of pure gold, ^39:16and they made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and they attached the two rings to the upper⁹ two ends of the breastpiece. ^39:17They attached the two gold chains to the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece; ^39:18the other¹⁰ two ends of the two chains they attached to the two settings, and they attached them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it. ^39:19They made two rings of gold and put them on the other¹¹ two ends of the breastpiece on its edge, which is on the inner side of the ephod.¹²^39:20They made two more¹³ gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the juncture above the waistband of the ephod. ^39:21They tied the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod by blue cord, so that it was above the waistband of the ephod, so that the breastpiece would not be loose from the ephod, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Other Garments

^39:22He made the robe of the ephod completely blue, the work of a weaver. ^39:23There was an opening in the center of the robe, like the opening of a collar, with an edge all around the opening so that it could not be torn. ^39:24They made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and twisted linen¹⁴ around the hem of the robe. ^39:25They made bells of pure gold and attached the bells between the pomegranates around the hem of the robe between the pomegranates. ^39:26There was¹⁵ a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe, to be used in ministering,¹⁶ just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^39:27They made tunics of fine linen—the work of a weaver, for Aaron and for his sons—^39:28and the turban of fine linen, the headbands of fine linen, and the undergarments of fine twisted linen. ^39:29The sash was of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, the work of an embroiderer, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^39:30They made a plate, the holy diadem, of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription, as on the engravings of a seal, “Holiness to the Lord.” ^39:31They attached to it a blue cord, to attach it to the turban above, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Moses Inspects the Sanctuary

^39:32¹⁷ So all the work of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was completed, and the Israelites did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses—they did it exactly so. ^39:33They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings, clasps, frames, bars, posts, and bases; ^39:34and the coverings of ram skins dyed red, the covering of fine leather,¹⁸ and the protecting¹⁹ curtain; ^39:35the ark of the testimony and its poles, and the atonement lid; ^39:36the table, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence; ^39:37the pure²⁰ lampstand, its lamps, with the lamps set in order, and all its accessories, and oil for the light; ^39:38and the gold altar, and the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense; and the curtain for the entrance to the tent; ^39:39the bronze altar and its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils; the large basin with its pedestal; ^39:40the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway of the courtyard, its ropes and its tent pegs, and all the furnishings²¹ for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; ^39:41the woven garments for serving²² in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to…

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Footnotes

1 Heb “its horns were from it,” meaning from the same piece.
2 Heb “it”; the referent (the altar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 The word for “serve” is not the ordinary one. It means “to serve in a host,” especially in a war. It appears that women were organized into bands and served at the tent of meeting. S. R. Driver thinks that this meant “no doubt” washing, cleaning, or repairing (Exodus, ). But there is no hint of that (see 1 Sam 2:22; and see Ps 68:11 [12 Hebrew text]). They seem to have had more to do than what Driver said.
4 Heb “south side southward.”
5 While this verse could be translated as an independent sentence, it is probably to be subordinated as a circumstantial clause in line with Exod 27:10–12, as well as v. 12 of this passage.
6 Here the phrase “the hangings were” has been supplied.
7 The phrase “there were” has been supplied.
8 The text simply has “their posts ten and their bases ten”; this may be added here as a circumstantial clause with the main sentence in order to make sense out of the construction.
9 The text simply says “seventy-five feet.”
10 The word literally means “shoulder.” The next words, “of the gate,” have been supplied here. The east end contained the courtyard’s entry with a wall of curtains on each side of the entry (see v. 15).
11 Heb “from this and from this” (cf, 17:12; 25:19; 26:13; 32:15; Josh 8:22, 33; 1 Kgs 10:19–20; Ezek 45:7).
12 Heb “they were banded with silver.”
13 This word is different from the word for hangings; it has more of the idea of a screen, shielding or securing the area.
14 The Hebrew word is פְּקוּדֵי (péqude), which in a slavishly literal way would be “visitations of” the tabernacle. But the word often has the idea of “numbering” or “appointing” as well. Here it is an accounting or enumeration of the materials that people brought, so the contemporary term “inventory” is a close approximation. By using this Hebrew word there is also the indication that whatever was given, i.e., appointed for the tabernacle, was changed forever in its use. This is consistent with this Hebrew root, which does have a sense of changing the destiny of someone (“God will surely visit you”). The list in this section will also be tied to the numbering of the people.
15 The same verb is used here, but now in the Pual perfect tense, third masculine singular. A translation “was numbered” or “was counted” works. The verb is singular because it refers to the tabernacle as a unit. This section will list what made up the tabernacle.
16 Heb “at/by the mouth of.”
17 The noun is “work” or “service.” S. R. Driver explains that the reckonings were not made for the Levites, but that they were the work of the Levites, done by them under the direction of Ithamar (Exodus, ).
18 Heb “by the hand of.”
19 These words form the casus pendens, or independent nominative absolute, followed by the apodosis beginning with the vav (ו; see U. Cassuto, Exodus, ).
20 Heb “and it was.”
21 There were 3000 shekels in a talent, and so the total weight here in shekels would be 87,730 shekels of gold. If the sanctuary shekel was 224 grs., then this was about 40,940 oz. troy. This is estimated to be a little over a ton (cf. “over 2,000 pounds”; “a thousand kilogrammes”; “two thousand two hundred nine pounds”; “about 2,200 pounds”), although other widely diverging estimates are also given.
22 This would be a total of 301,775 shekels (about 140,828 oz), being a half shekel exacted per person from 605,550 male Israelites 20 years old or more (Num 1:46). The amount is estimated to be around 3.75 tons.
23 The weight would be about half an ounce.
24 Heb “upward.”
25 The phrase “in all” has been supplied.
26 Here the word “shekels” is understood; about 45 pounds.
27 The total shekels would have been 212,400 shekels, which would be about 108,749 oz. This would make about 2.5 to 3 tons.
28 The bronze altar is the altar for the burnt offering; the large bronze basin is not included here in the list.
1 This chapter also will be almost identical to the instructions given earlier, with a few changes along the way.
2 The verb is the infinitive that means “to do, to work.” It could be given a literal rendering: “to work [them into] the blue.…” Weaving or embroidering is probably what is intended.
3 Heb “from it” or the same.
4 Or “as seals are engraved.”
5 The twelve names were those of Israel’s sons. The idea was not the remembrance of the twelve sons as such, but the twelve tribes that bore their names.
6 Or “attached.”
7 That is, they set in mountings.
8 The phrase “the number of” has been supplied.
9 Here “upper” has been supplied.
10 Here “other” has been supplied.
11 Here “other” has been supplied.
12 Heb “homeward side.”
13 Here “more” has been supplied.
14 The word is simply “twined” or “twisted.” It may refer to the twisted linen that so frequently is found in these lists; or, it may refer to the yarn twisted. The reads “fine twined linen.” This is not found in the text of Exod 28:33, except in and .
15 The words “there was” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
16 The infinitive “to minister” is present; “to be used” is supplied from the context.
17 The last sections of the book bring several themes together to a full conclusion. Not only is it the completion of the tabernacle, it is the fulfillment of God’s plan revealed at the beginning of the book, i.e., to reside with his people.
18 See the note on this phrase in .
19 Or “shielding” (); “the screening veil.”
20 Possibly meaning “pure gold lampstand.”
21 Heb “utensils, vessels.”
22 The form is the infinitive construct; it means the clothes to be used “to minister” in the holy place.