Exodus 35–39

Rules About the Sabbath

35Moses gathered all the Israelite community together and said to them, “These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do. ²You are to work for six days, but the seventh day will be a holy day, a Sabbath of rest to honor the Lord. Anyone who works on that day must be put to death. ³On the Sabbath day you must not light a fire in any of your houses.”

⁴Moses said to all the Israelites, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ⁵From what you have, take an offering for the Lord. Let everyone who is willing bring this offering to the Lord: gold, silver, bronze, ⁶blue, purple and red thread, and fine linen, goat hair ⁷and male sheepskins that are colored red. They may also bring fine leather, acacia wood, ⁸olive oil for the lamps, spices for the special olive oil used for appointing priests and for the sweet-smelling incense, ⁹onyx stones, and other jewels to be put on the holy vest and chest covering of the priests.

¹⁰“Let all the skilled workers come and make everything the Lord commanded: ¹¹the Holy Tent, its outer tent and its covering, the hooks, frames, crossbars, posts, and bases; ¹²the Ark of the Agreement, its poles, lid, and the curtain in front of it; ¹³the table, and its poles, all the things that go with the table, and the bread that shows we are in God’s presence; ¹⁴the lampstand for the light and all the things that go with it, the lamps, and olive oil for the light; ¹⁵the altar of incense and its poles, the special oil and the sweet-smelling incense, the curtain for the entrance of the Meeting Tent; ¹⁶the altar of burnt offering and its bronze screen, its poles and all its tools, the bronze bowl and its base; ¹⁷the curtains around the courtyard, their posts and bases, and the curtain at the entry to the courtyard; ¹⁸the pegs of the Holy Tent and of the courtyard and their ropes; ¹⁹the special clothes that the priest will wear in the Holy Place. These are the holy clothes for Aaron the priest and his sons to wear when they serve as priests.”

²⁰Then all the people of Israel went away from Moses. ²¹Everyone who wanted to give came and brought a gift to the Lord for making the Meeting Tent, all the things in the Tent, and the special clothes. ²²All the men and women who wanted to give brought gold jewelry of all kinds—pins, earrings, rings, and bracelets. They all presented their gold to the Lord. ²³Everyone who had blue, purple, and red thread, and fine linen, and anyone who had goat hair or male sheepskins colored red or fine leather brought them to the Lord. ²⁴Everyone who could give silver or bronze brought that as a gift to the Lord, and everyone who had acacia wood to be used in the work brought it. ²⁵Every skilled woman used her hands to make the blue, purple, and red thread, and fine linen, and they brought what they had made. ²⁶All the women who were skilled and wanted to help made thread of the goat hair. ²⁷The leaders brought onyx stones and other jewels to put on the holy vest and chest covering for the priest. ²⁸They also brought spices and olive oil for the sweet-smelling incense, the special oil, and the oil to burn in the lamps. ²⁹All the men and women of Israel who wanted to help brought gifts to the Lord for all the work the Lord had commanded Moses and the people to do.

³⁰Then Moses said to the Israelites, “Look, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. ³¹The Lord has filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God and has given him the skill, ability, and knowledge to do all kinds of work. ³²He is able to design pieces to be made of gold, silver, and bronze, ³³to cut stones and jewels and put them in metal, to carve wood, and to do all kinds of work. ³⁴Also, the Lord has given Bezalel and Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach from the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. ³⁵The Lord has given them the skill to do all kinds of work. They are able to cut designs in metal and stone. They can plan and sew designs in the fine linen with the blue, purple, and red thread. And they are also able to weave things.

36¹So Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person will do the work the Lord has commanded, because he gave them the wisdom and understanding to do all the skilled work needed to build the Holy Tent.”

²Then Moses called Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the other skilled people to whom the Lord had given skills, and they came because they wanted to help with the work. ³They received from Moses everything the people of Israel had brought as gifts to build the Holy Tent. The people continued to bring gifts each morning because they wanted to. ⁴So all the skilled workers left the work they were doing on the Holy Tent, ⁵and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than we need to do the work the Lord commanded.”

⁶Then Moses sent this command throughout the camp: “No man or woman should make anything else as a gift for the Holy Tent.” So the people were kept from giving more, ⁷because what they had was already more than enough to do all the work.

The Holy Tent

⁸Then the skilled workers made the Holy Tent. They made the ten curtains of blue, purple, and red cloth, and they sewed designs of creatures with wings on the curtains. ⁹Each curtain was the same size—forty-two feet long and six feet wide. ¹⁰Five of the curtains were fastened together to make one set, and the other five were fastened together to make another set. ¹¹Then they made loops of blue cloth along the edge of the end curtain on the first set of five, and they did the same thing with the other set of five. ¹²There were fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the other curtain, with the loops opposite each other. ¹³They made fifty gold hooks to join the two curtains together so that the Holy Tent was joined together as one piece.

¹⁴Then the workers made another tent of eleven curtains made of goat hair, to put over the Holy Tent. ¹⁵All eleven curtains were the same size—forty-five feet long and six feet wide. ¹⁶The workers sewed five curtains together into one set and six together into another set. ¹⁷They made fifty loops along the edge of the outside curtain of one set and fifty loops along the edge of the outside curtain of the other set. ¹⁸Then they made fifty bronze rings to join the two sets of cloth together and make the tent one piece. ¹⁹They made two more coverings for the outer tent—one made of male sheepskins colored red and the other made of fine leather.

²⁰Then they made upright frames of acacia wood for the Holy Tent. ²¹Each frame was fifteen feet tall and twenty-seven inches wide, ²²and there were two pegs side by side on each one. Every frame of the Holy Tent was made this same way. ²³They made twenty frames for the south side of the Tent, ²⁴and they made forty silver bases that went under the twenty frames. There were two bases for every frame—one for each peg of each frame. ²⁵They also made twenty frames for the north side of the Holy Tent ²⁶and forty silver bases—two to go under each frame. ²⁷They made six frames for the rear or west end of the Holy Tent ²⁸and two frames for the corners at the rear of the Holy Tent. ²⁹These two frames were doubled at the bottom and joined at the top with a metal ring. They did this for each of these corners. ³⁰So there were eight frames and sixteen silver bases—two bases under each frame.

³¹Then they made crossbars of acacia wood to connect the upright frames of the Holy Tent. Five crossbars held the frames together on one side of the Tent, ³²and five held the frames together on the other side. Also, five crossbars held the frames together on the west end, at the rear of the Tent. ³³They made the middle crossbar run along the entire length of each side and rear of the Tent. It was set halfway up the frames. ³⁴They made gold rings on the sides of the frames to hold the crossbars, and they covered the frames and the crossbars with gold.

³⁵Then they made the curtain of blue, purple, and red thread, and fine linen. A skilled craftsman sewed designs of creatures with wings on it. ³⁶They made four posts of acacia wood for it and covered them with gold. Then they made gold hooks for the posts, as well as four silver bases in which to set the posts. ³⁷For the entrance to the Tent, they made a curtain of blue, purple, and red thread, and fine linen. A person who sewed well sewed designs on it. ³⁸Then they made five posts and hooks for it. They covered the tops of the posts and their bands with gold, and they made five bronze bases for the posts.

The Ark of the Agreement

37Bezalel made the Ark of acacia wood; it was forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ²He covered it, both inside and out, with pure gold, and he put a gold strip around it. ³He made four gold rings for it and attached them to its four feet, with two rings on each side. ⁴Then he made poles of acacia wood and covered them with gold. ⁵He put the poles through the rings on each side of the Ark to carry it. ⁶Then he made a lid of pure gold that was forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide. ⁷Then Bezalel hammered gold to make two creatures with wings and attached them to each end of the lid. ⁸He made one creature on one end of the lid and the other creature on the other end. He attached them to the lid so that it would be one piece. ⁹The creatures’ wings were spread upward, covering the lid, and the creatures faced each other across the lid.

The Table

¹⁰Then he made the table of acacia wood; it was thirty-six inches long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ¹¹He covered it with pure gold and put a gold strip around it. ¹²He made a frame three inches high that stood up all around the edge, and he put a gold strip around it. ¹³Then he made four gold rings for the table and attached them to the four corners of the table where the four legs were. ¹⁴The rings were put close to the frame around the top of the table, because they held the…