Exodus 39–40

Making Garments for Priests

39And from the blue and the purple and the crimson yarns they made woven garments for serving in the sanctuary, and they made the holy garments that were for Aaron, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ²And he made the ephod of gold, blue, and purple and crimson yarns, and finely twisted linen. ³And he hammered out the leaves of gold, and he cut off cords to weave in the midst of the blue and in the midst of the purple and in the midst of the crimson and in the midst of the linen—the work of a skilled craftsman. ⁴They made joined shoulder pieces for it; it was joined on its two edges. ⁵And the waistband of his ephod, which was of one piece with it,^a was of like work, gold, blue, and purple and crimson yarns, and finely twisted linen, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ⁶And they made onyx stones mounted in gold filigree settings, engraved with seal engravings according to the names of the Israelites.^{b 7}And he set them on the ephod’s shoulder pieces as stones of remembrance for the Israelites,^c as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

⁸And he made the breast piece, the work of a skilled craftsman, like the work of the ephod, of gold, blue, and purple and crimson yarns, and finely twisted linen. ⁹It was squared; they made the breast piece doubled; its length was a span, and its width was a span when doubled. ¹⁰And they filled it with four rows of stone; a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald was the first row; ¹¹and the second row was a malachite, a sapphire, and a moonstone; ¹²and the third row was a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ¹³and the fourth row was a turquoise, an onyx, and a jasper. They were set with gold filigree settings in their mountings. ¹⁴And the stones were according to the names of the Israelites;^d they were twelve according to their names, with seal engravings, each according to its name for the twelve tribes.

¹⁵And they made on the breast piece braided chains, a work of pure gold ornamental cord. ¹⁶And they made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and they put the two rings on the two edges of the breast piece. ¹⁷And they put the two gold ornamental cords on the two rings on the edges of the breast piece. ¹⁸And they put the two ends of the two ornamental cords on the two filigree settings, and they put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it. ¹⁹And they made two gold rings, and they placed them on the two edges of the breast piece, on its lip that is on the other side^e of the ephod, to the inside.^{f 20}And they made two gold rings and put them on the ephod’s two shoulder pieces below, at its front near its seam above the waistband of the ephod. ²¹And they tied the breast piece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord so that the breast piece would be on the waistband of the ephod and not come loose from the ephod, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

²²And he made the robe of the ephod, weaver’s work, totally of blue yarn. ²³And the opening of the robe in the middle of it was like the opening of a sturdy garment, with an edge for its opening all around so that it would not be torn. ²⁴And they made on the hem of the robe pomegranates of finely twisted blue and purple and crimson. ²⁵And they made pure gold bells and put the bells in the midst of the pomegranates on the hem of the robe all around in the midst of the pomegranates, ²⁶a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate on the hem of the robe all around for serving, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

²⁷And they made the tunics of fine linen, a weaver’s work, for Aaron and for his sons, ²⁸and the turban of fine linen and the headdresses of the headbands of fine linen and undergarments of the linen cloth, finely twisted, ²⁹and the sash of finely twisted linen and blue and purple and crimson yarns, the work of an embroiderer, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³⁰And they made the rosette^g of the holy diadem of pure gold, and they wrote on it with the writing of seal engravings: “A holy object for Yahweh.” ³¹And they put a blue cord on it to put it above on the turban, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

Preparations Complete

³²And all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of assembly was finished, and the Israelites^h had done according to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses; so they did. ³³And they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its equipment, its hooks, its frames,ⁱ its bars, and its pillars and its bases; ³⁴and the covering of the red-dyed ram skins and the covering of fine leather and the curtain of the screen; ³⁵the ark of the testimony and its poles and the atonement cover; ³⁶the table, all its equipment, and the bread of the presence; ³⁷the pure gold lampstand, its lamps—the lamps of the row—and all its equipment and the oil of the light; ³⁸the gold altar, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense, and the screen of the entrance of the tent; ³⁹the bronze altar, and the bronze grating that is for it, its poles, and all its equipment, the basin and its stand, ⁴⁰the hangings of the courtyard, its pillars, and its bases; and the screen for the courtyard gate, its tent cords and its pegs;^j and all the equipment of the service of the tabernacle for the tent of assembly, ⁴¹the woven garments for serving in the sanctuary—the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests. ⁴²According to all that Yahweh had commanded Moses, so the Israelites^k did all the work. ⁴³And Moses saw all the work, and, indeed, they had done it as Yahweh had commanded; so they did, and Moses blessed them.

Completion of the Tabernacle

40And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ²“On the first day of the month, you will set up the tabernacle of the tent of assembly. ³And you will put there the ark of the testimony, and you will cover over the ark with the curtain.^{a 4}And you will bring the table, and you will arrange its setting, and you will bring the lampstand, and you will set up its lamps. ⁵And you will put the gold altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and you will set up the entrance screen for the tabernacle. ⁶And you will put the altar of the burnt offering before the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of assembly. ⁷And you will put the basin between the tent of assembly and the altar, and you will put water in it.^{b 8}And you will set up the courtyard all around, and you will put up the screen of the gate of the courtyard.

⁹“And you will take the anointing oil, and you will anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and you will consecrate all of its equipment,^c and it will be holy. ¹⁰And you will anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all of its equipment,^d and you will consecrate the altar, and the altar will be a most holy thing.^{e 11}And you will anoint the basin and its stand, and you will consecrate it. ¹²And you will bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of assembly, and you will wash them with the water. ¹³And you will clothe Aaron with the holy garments, and you will anoint him, and you will consecrate him, and he will serve as a priest for me. ¹⁴And you will bring his sons, and you will clothe them with tunics. ¹⁵And you will anoint them as you anointed their father, and they will serve as priests for me. And their anointing will be for them to be a lasting priesthood^f throughout their generations.” ¹⁶And Moses did according to all that Yahweh had commanded him; so he did.

¹⁷In^g the first month of the second year, on the first of the month, the tabernacle was set up. ¹⁸And Moses raised the tabernacle, and he placed its bases, and he set up its frames,^h and he placed its bars, and he raised its pillars. ¹⁹And he spread the tent over the tabernacle; he placed the covering of the tent over it, above it, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ²⁰And he took and he put the testimony into the ark, and he placed the poles on the ark, and he put the atonement cover on the ark, above it. ²¹And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and he set up the curtain of the screening, and he shielded the ark of the testimony, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

²²And he put the table in the tent of assembly on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain. ²³And he arranged on it an arrangement of bread before Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ²⁴And he placed the lampstand in the tent of assembly opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle. ²⁵And he set up the lamps before Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ²⁶And he placed the gold altar in the tent of assembly before the curtain. ²⁷And he turned fragrant incense into smoke on it, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

²⁸And he set up the entrance screen for the tabernacle. ²⁹And the altar of burnt offering he placed at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of assembly, and he offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. ³⁰And he placed the basin between the tent of assembly and the altar, and he put there water for washing. ³¹And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet from it. ³²At their going into the tent of assembly and at their approaching the altar, they washed, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.

³³And he set up the courtyard all around the tabernacle and the altar, and he put up the screen of the gate of the courtyard, and Moses completed the work. ³⁴And the cloud covered the tent of assembly, and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle. ³⁵And Moses was unable to go into the tent of assembly because the cloud settled on it and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle. ³⁶And when the cloud was lifted from the tabernacle, the Israelitesⁱ set out on all their journeys. ³⁷But if the cloud was not lifted, they did not set out until the day of its being lifted. ³⁸For the cloud of Yahweh was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night before the eyes of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.