Exodus 24–31

God and Israel Make Their Agreement

24The Lord told Moses, “You, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel must come up to me and worship me from a distance. ²Then Moses alone must come near me; the others must not come near. The rest of the people must not come up the mountain with Moses.”

³Moses told the people all the Lord’s words and laws for living. Then all of the people answered out loud together, “We will do all the things the Lord has said.” ⁴So Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. And he got up early the next morning and built an altar near the bottom of the mountain. He set up twelve stones, one stone for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. ⁵Then Moses sent young Israelite men to offer whole burnt offerings and to sacrifice young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. ⁶Moses put half of the blood of these animals in bowls, and he sprinkled the other half of the blood on the altar. ⁷Then he took the Book of the Agreement and read it so the people could hear him. And they said, “We will do everything that the Lord has said; we will obey.”

⁸Then Moses took the blood from the bowls and sprinkled it on the people, saying, “This is the blood that begins the Agreement, the Agreement which the Lord has made with you about all these words.”

⁹Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up the mountain ¹⁰and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was a surface that looked as if it were paved with blue sapphire stones, and it was as clear as the sky! ¹¹These leaders of the Israelites saw God, but God did not destroy them. Then they ate and drank together.

God Promises Moses the Stone Tablets

¹²The Lord said to Moses, “Come up the mountain to me. Wait there, and I will give you two stone tablets. On these are the teachings and the commands I have written to instruct the people.”

¹³So Moses and his helper Joshua set out, and Moses went up to Sinai, the mountain of God. ¹⁴Moses said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you, and anyone who has a disagreement with others can take it to them.”

Moses Meets with God

¹⁵When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it. ¹⁶The glory of the Lord came down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. ¹⁷To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a fire burning on top of the mountain. ¹⁸Then Moses went into the cloud and went higher up the mountain. He was on the mountain for forty days and forty nights.

Gifts for the Lord

25The Lord said to Moses, ²“Tell the Israelites to bring me gifts. Receive for me the gifts each person wants to give. ³These are the gifts that you should receive from them: gold, silver, bronze; ⁴blue, purple, and red thread; fine linen, goat hair, ⁵sheepskins that are dyed red; fine leather; acacia wood; ⁶olive oil to burn in the lamps; spices for sweet-smelling incense, and the special olive oil poured on a person’s head to make him a priest; ⁷onyx stones, and other jewels to be put on the holy vest and the chest covering.

⁸“The people must build a holy place for me so that I can live among them. ⁹Build this Holy Tent and everything in it by the plan I will show you.

The Ark of the Agreement

¹⁰“Use acacia wood and build an Ark forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ¹¹Cover the Ark inside and out with pure gold, and put a gold strip all around it. ¹²Make four gold rings for the Ark and attach them to its four feet, two rings on each side. ¹³Then make poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. ¹⁴Put the poles through the rings on the sides of the Ark, and use these poles to carry it. ¹⁵These poles must always stay in the rings of the Ark. Do not take them out. ¹⁶Then put in the Ark the Agreement which I will make with you.

¹⁷“Then make a lid of pure gold for the Ark; this is the mercy seat. Make it forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide. ¹⁸Then hammer gold to make two creatures with wings, and put one on each end of the lid. ¹⁹Attach one creature on one end of the lid and the other creature on the other end. Make them to be one piece with the lid at the ends. ²⁰The creatures’ wings should be spread upward, covering the lid, and the creatures are to face each other across the lid. ²¹Put this lid on top of the Ark, and put in the Ark the Agreement which I will make with you. ²²I will meet with you there, above the lid between the two winged creatures on the Ark of the Agreement. There I will give you all my commands for the Israelites.

The Table

²³“Make a table out of acacia wood, thirty-six inches long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ²⁴Cover it with pure gold, and put a gold strip around it. ²⁵Make a frame three inches high that stands up all around the edge, and put a gold strip around it. ²⁶Then make four gold rings. Attach them to the four corners of the table where the four legs are. ²⁷Put the rings close to the frame around the top of the table, because they will hold the poles for carrying it. ²⁸Make the poles out of acacia wood, cover them with gold, and carry the table with these poles. ²⁹Make the plates and bowls for the table, as well as the jars and cups, out of pure gold. They will be used for pouring out the drink offerings. ³⁰On this table put the bread that shows you are in my presence so that it is always there in front of me.

The Lampstand

³¹“Hammer pure gold to make a lampstand. Its base, stand, flower-like cups, buds, and petals must all be joined together in one piece. ³²The lampstand must have six branches going out from its sides—three on one side and three on the other. ³³Each branch must have three cups shaped like almond flowers on it. Each cup must have a bud and a petal. Each of the six branches going out from the lampstand must be the same. ³⁴And there must be four more cups made like almond flowers on the lampstand itself. These cups must also have buds and petals. ³⁵Put a bud under each pair of branches that goes out from the lampstand. Each of the six branches going out from the lampstand must be the same. ³⁶The branches, buds, and lampstand must be made of one piece, hammered out of pure gold.

³⁷“Then make seven small oil lamps and put them on the lampstand so that they give light to the area in front of it. ³⁸The wick trimmers and trays must be made of pure gold. ³⁹Use seventy-five pounds of pure gold to make the lampstand and everything with it. ⁴⁰Be very careful to make them by the plan I showed you on the mountain.

The Holy Tent

26“Make for the Holy Tent ten curtains of fine linen and blue, purple, and red thread. Have a skilled craftsman sew designs of creatures with wings on the pieces of cloth. ²Make each curtain the same size—forty-two feet long and six feet wide. ³Sew five curtains together for one set, and sew the other curtains together for the second set. ⁴Make loops of blue cloth on the edge of the end curtain of one set, and do the same for the end curtain of the other set. ⁵Make fifty loops on the end curtain of the first set and fifty loops on the end curtain of the second set. These loops must be opposite each other. ⁶And make fifty gold hooks to join the two sets of curtains so that the Holy Tent is one piece.

⁷“Then make another tent that will cover the Holy Tent, using eleven curtains made from goat hair. ⁸All these curtains must be the same size—forty-five feet long and six feet wide. ⁹Sew five of the curtains together into one set. Then sew the other six curtains together into the second set. Fold the sixth curtain double over the front of the Tent. ¹⁰Make fifty loops down the edge of the end curtain of one set, and do the same for the end curtain of the other set. ¹¹Then make fifty bronze hooks and put them in the loops to join the tent together so that the covering is one piece. ¹²Let the extra half piece of cloth hang over the back of the Holy Tent. ¹³There will be eighteen inches hanging over the sides of the Holy Tent, to protect it. ¹⁴Make a covering for the Holy Tent from sheepskins colored red, and over that make a covering from fine leather.

¹⁵“Use acacia wood to make upright frames for the Holy Tent. ¹⁶Each frame must be fifteen feet long and twenty-seven inches wide, ¹⁷with two pegs side by side. Every frame must be made the same way. ¹⁸Make twenty frames for the south side of the Holy Tent. ¹⁹Each frame must have two silver bases to go under it, a peg fitting into each base. You must make forty silver bases for the frames. ²⁰Make twenty more frames for the north side of the Holy Tent ²¹and forty silver bases for them—two bases for each frame. ²²You must make six frames for the rear or west end of the Holy Tent ²³and two frames for each corner at the rear. ²⁴The two frames are to be doubled at the bottom and joined at the top with a metal ring. Both corner frames must be made this way. ²⁵So there will be a total of eight frames at the rear of the Tent, and there will be sixteen silver bases—two bases under each frame.

²⁶“Make crossbars of acacia wood to connect the upright frames of the Holy Tent. Make five crossbars to hold the frames together on one side ²⁷and five to hold the frames together on the other side. Also make five crossbars to hold the frames together on the west end, at the rear. ²⁸The middle crossbar is to be set halfway up the frames, and it is to run along the entire length of each side and rear. ²⁹Make gold rings on the sides of the frames to hold the crossbars, and cover the frames and the crossbars with gold. ³⁰Set up the Holy Tent by the plan shown to you on the mountain.

³¹“Make a curtain of fine linen and blue, purple, and red thread, and have a skilled craftsman sew designs of creatures with wings on it. ³²Hang the curtain by gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood that are covered with gold, and set them in four silver bases. ³³Hang the…