Exodus 35:4–36:7

The People Contribute Their Wealth—Exodus 25:1–7

⁴Then Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ⁵Choose something of your own to give as a special contribution to the Lord. Let everyone who is willing bring this kind of contribution to the Lord: gold, silver, and bronze, ⁶violet, purple, and bright red yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, ⁷rams’ skins dyed red, fine leather,acacia wood, ⁸olive oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense, ⁹onyx stones, and other precious stones to be set in the ⸤chief priest’s⸥ ephod^band breastplate. 

The Craftsmen for the Tent—Exodus 31:2–6

¹⁰“Have all the skilled craftsmen among you come and make everything the Lord has commanded: ¹¹the inner tent, the outer tent, and cover, along with the fasteners, frames, crossbars, posts, and sockets, ¹²the ark with its poles, the throne of mercy and the canopy over it, ¹³the table with its poles, all the dishes, the bread of the presence, ¹⁴the lamp stand used for the light with its utensils, its lamps and the olive oil for the lamps, ¹⁵the altar for incense with its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet-smelling incense, the screen for the entrance to the tent, ¹⁶the altar for burnt offerings with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its accessories, the basin with its stand, ¹⁷the curtains for the courtyard, the posts, bases, and the screen for the entrance to the courtyard, ¹⁸the pegs for the tent and the courtyard with their ropes, ¹⁹the special clothesworn for official duties in the holy place—both the holy clothes for Aaron the priest and the clothes for his sons when they serve as priests.” 

²⁰Then the whole Israelite community left Moses. ²¹Those who were willing and whose hearts moved them came and brought their contributions to the Lord. The gifts were used to construct the tent of meeting, to pay other expenses, and to make the holy clothes. ²²All who were willing—men and women alike—came and brought all kinds of gold jewelry: pins,earrings, signet rings, and pendants. They took these gifts of gold and offered them to the Lord. ²³Those who had violet, purple, or bright red yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, or fine leather brought them. ²⁴Those who could give silver or bronze brought it as their contribution to the Lord. Those who had acacia wood that could be used in the construction brought it. ²⁵All the women who were skilled in spinning yarn brought violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and fine linen, which they had made by hand. ²⁶All the women who were willing and had the skill spun the goats’ hair. ²⁷The leaders brought onyx stones and other precious stones to be set in the ⸤chief priest’s⸥ ephod and breastplate. ²⁸They also brought the spices and the olive oil for the lamps, the anointing oil, and the sweet-smelling incense. ²⁹Every Israelite man and woman who was willing brought all these items to the Lord as a freewill offering. They brought these items to be used to make everything the Lord had commanded through Moses. 

³⁰Then Moses said to the Israelites, “The Lord has chosen Bezalel, son of Uri and grandson of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. ³¹The Lord has filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, making him highly skilled, resourceful, and knowledgeable in all trades. ³²He’s a master artist familiar with gold, silver, and bronze. ³³He knows how to cut and set stones and how to work with wood. He’s an expert in all trades. ³⁴Also, the Lord has given Bezalel and Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan the ability to teach others. ³⁵The Lord has made these men highly skilled in all trades. They can do the work of jewelers, carpenters, and designers. They know how to embroider violet, purple and bright red yarn on fine linen. They know how to weave yarn on a loom. They can do all kinds of trades. They are master artists.” 

36TH CHAPTER

¹⸤Moses continued,⸥ “So Bezalel and Oholiab will do the work as the Lord has commanded. They will do this with the help of every other craftsman to whom the Lord has given the necessary skills and talents. They will know how to do all the work for constructing the holy place.” 

²Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every other craftsman to whom the Lord had given these skills and who was willing to come and do the work. 

Excess Contributions

³Moses turned over to them all the contributions the Israelites had brought for the work of constructing the holy place. But the people still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning. ⁴Finally, all the skilled craftsmen who were working on the holy place stopped what they were doing. They all came to Moses. ⁵They said, “The people are bringing much more than we need for doing the work the Lord commanded us to do.” 

⁶So Moses gave instructions to have the following message announced all over camp: “No man or woman needs to make anything more to give as their special contribution to the holy place.” Then the people stopped bringing gifts. ⁷The material they had was more than enough to do the job.