Exodus 24–31

24TH CHAPTER

The Promise Sealed with Blood

¹The Lord said to Moses, “You and Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of Israel’s leaders come up the mountain to me and worship at a distance. ²Moses may come near the Lord, but the others may not. The people must not come along with Moses.” 

³Moses went and told the people all the Lord’s words and legal decisions. Then all the people answered with one voice, “We will do everything the Lord has told us to do.” ⁴So Moses wrote down all the Lord’s words. 

Early the next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and ⸤set up⸥ 12 sacred stones for the 12 tribes of Israel. ⁵Then he sent young Israelite men, and they sacrificed bulls as burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord. ⁶Moses took half of the blood and put it into bowls, and he threw the other half against the altar. ⁷Then he took the Book of the Lord’s Promise^aand read it while the people listened. They said, “We will obey and do everything the Lord has said.” 

⁸Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, “Here is the blood which seals the promise that the Lord has made to you based on everything you have just heard.” 

⁹Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and 70 of Israel’s leaders. ¹⁰They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made out of sapphire as clear and blue as the sky itself. ¹¹God didn’t harm these leaders of the Israelites. So they saw God, and then they ate and drank. 

Moses Goes up the Mountain to Receive God’s Words Written on Stone

¹²The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain. Stay there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the teachings and the commandments I have written for the people’s instruction.” 

¹³Moses set out with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. ¹⁴He said to the leaders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are here with you. Take all your disagreements to them.” 

¹⁵So Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered it. ¹⁶The glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered it, and on the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. ¹⁷To the Israelites, the glory of the Lord looked like a raging fire on top of the mountain. ¹⁸Moses entered the cloud as he went up the mountain. He stayed on the mountain 40 days and 40 nights. 

25TH CHAPTER

Gifts for Use in the Tent of Meeting—Exodus 35:4–9

¹The Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the Israelites to choose something to give me as a special contribution. You must accept whatever contribution each person freely gives. ³This is the kind of contribution you will accept from them: gold, silver, and bronze, ⁴violet, purple, and bright red yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ⁵rams’ skins dyed red, fine leather,acacia wood, ⁶olive oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense, ⁷onyx stones, and other precious stones to be set in the ⸤chief priest’s⸥ ephod^band his breastplate. 

⁸“Then have them make a holy place for me, and I will live among them. ⁹Make the tent and all its furnishings exactly like the plans I am showing you. 

The Ark—Exodus 37:1–9

¹⁰“Make an ark of acacia wood 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high. ¹¹Cover it with pure gold inside and out, and put a gold molding around it. ¹²Cast four gold rings for it, and fasten them to its four feet, two rings on each side. ¹³Make poles of acacia wood, and cover them with gold. ¹⁴Put the poles through the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry it. ¹⁵The poles must stay in the rings of the ark. Never remove them. ¹⁶Then you will put into the ark the words of my promise which I will give you. 

¹⁷“Make a throne of mercy to cover the ark out of pure gold 45 inches long and 27 inches wide. ¹⁸Make two angels^cout of hammered gold for the two ends of the throne of mercy, ¹⁹one on each end. Form the angels and the throne of mercy out of one piece of gold. ²⁰The angels should have their wings spread above the throne of mercy, overshadowing it. They should face each other, looking at the throne of mercy. ²¹After you put into the ark the words of my promise which I will give you, place the throne of mercy on top. ²²I will be above the throne of mercy between the angels whenever I meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites. 

The Table—Exodus 37:10–16

²³“Make a table of acacia wood 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high. ²⁴Cover it with pure gold, and put a gold molding around it. ²⁵Make a rim three inches wide around it, and put a gold molding around the rim. ²⁶Make four gold rings for it, and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are. ²⁷The rings are to be close to the rim. They are to hold the poles for carrying the table. ²⁸Make the poles out of acacia wood, cover them with gold, and use them to carry the table. ²⁹Make plates and dishes for the table out of pure gold, as well as pitchers and bowls to be used for pouring wine offerings. ³⁰Put the bread of the presence on this table so that it will be in front of me all the time. 

The Lamp Stand—Exodus 37:17–24

³¹“Make a lamp stand out of pure gold. The lamp stand, its base, and its shaft, as well as the flower cups, buds, and petals must be hammered out of one piece of gold. ³²Six branches are to come out of the sides, three branches on one side and three on the other. ³³Each of the six branches coming out of the lamp stand is to have three flower cups shaped like almond blossoms, with buds and petals. ³⁴The lamp stand itself is to have four flower cups shaped like almond blossoms, with buds and petals. ³⁵There should be a bud under each of the three pairs of branches coming out of the lamp stand. ³⁶The buds and branches should also be hammered out of the same piece of pure gold as the lamp stand. 

³⁷“Make seven lamps, and set them on the lamp stand so that they light up ⸤the area⸥ in front of it. ³⁸The tongs and incense burners must be made of pure gold. ³⁹Use 75 pounds of pure gold to make the lamp stand and all the utensils. ⁴⁰Be sure to make them according to the plans you were shown on the mountain.” 

26TH CHAPTER

The Tent—Exodus 36:8–38

¹⸤The Lord continued,⸥ “Make the inner tent with ten sheets made from fine linen yarn. Take violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and creatively work an angel^adesign into the fabric. ²Each sheet will be 42 feet long and 6 feet wide—all the same size. ³Five of the sheets must be sewn together, and the other five must also be sewn together. ⁴Make 50 violet loops along the edge of the end sheet in each set, ⁵placing the loops opposite each other. ⁶Make 50 gold fasteners. Use them to link the ⸤two sets of⸥ sheets together so that the tent is a single unit. 

⁷“Make 11 sheets of goats’ hair to form an outer tent over the inner tent. ⁸Each of the 11 sheets will be 45 feet long and 6 feet wide. ⁹Sew five of the sheets together into one set and the remaining six into another set. Fold the sixth sheet in half ⸤to hang⸥ in front of the tent. ¹⁰Make 50 loops along the edge of the end sheet in each set. ¹¹Make 50 bronze fasteners, and put them through the loops to link the inner tent together as a single unit. ¹²The remaining half-sheet should hang over the back of the inner tent. ¹³There will be 18 inches left over on each side because of the length of the outer tent’s sheets. That part should hang over each side in order to cover the inner tent. ¹⁴Make a cover of rams’ skins that have been dyed red for the outer tent. Over that put a cover made of fine leather. 

¹⁵“Make a framework out of acacia wood for the inner tent. ¹⁶Each frame is to be 15 feet long and 27 inches wide, ¹⁷with two identical pegs. Make all the frames for the inner tent the same way. ¹⁸Make 20 frames for the south side of the inner tent. ¹⁹Then make 40 silver sockets at the bottom of the 20 frames, two sockets at the bottom of each frame for the two pegs. ²⁰For the north side of the inner tent ⸤make⸥ 20 frames ²¹and 40 silver sockets, two at the bottom of each frame. ²²Make six frames for the far end, the west side. ²³Make two frames for ⸤each of⸥ the corners at the far end of the inner tent. ²⁴These will be held together at the bottom and held tightly at the top by a single ring.^cBoth corner frames will be made this way. ²⁵There will be eight frames with 16 silver sockets, two at the bottom of each frame. 

²⁶“Make crossbars out of acacia wood: five for the frames on one side of the inner tent, ²⁷five for those on the other side, and five for the frames on the far end of the inner tent, the west side. ²⁸The middle crossbar will run from one end to the other, halfway up the frames. ²⁹Cover the frames with gold, make gold rings to hold the crossbars, and cover the crossbars with gold. 

³⁰“Set up the inner tent according to the plans you were shown on the mountain. 

³¹“Make a canopy of violet, purple, and bright red yarn. Creatively work an angel design into fine linen yarn. ³²Use gold hooks to hang it on four posts of acacia wood covered with gold, standing in four silver sockets. ³³Hang the canopy from the fasteners in the ceiling, and put the ark containing the words of my promise under it. The canopy will mark off the most holy place from the holy place. ³⁴Put the throne of mercy that is on the ark in the most holy place. 

³⁵“Place the table outside the canopy on the north side of the inner tent, and put the lamp stand opposite the table on the south side. 

³⁶“For the entrance of the outer tent, make a screen out of fine linen yarn, embroidered with violet, purple, and bright red yarn. ³⁷Make five posts of acacia wood for the screen and cover them with gold. Make gold hooks for this screen. Cast five bronze bases for the posts.” 

27TH CHAPTER

The Altar—Exodus 38:1–7

¹⸤The Lord continued,⸥ “Make an altar out of acacia wood. It should be 7½ feet square, and 4½ feet high. ²Make a horn at each of its four corners. The four horns and…