Exodus 37–39

The Ark

37:1–9pp—Ex 25:10–20

37Bezalel^y made the ark^z of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.^{a 2}He overlaid it with pure gold,^a both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it. ³He cast four gold rings for it and fastened them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. ⁴Then he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. ⁵And he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it.

⁶He made the atonement cover^b of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. ⁷Then he made two cherubim^c out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. ⁸He made one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; at the two ends he made them of one piece with the cover. ⁹The cherubim had their wings spread upward, overshadowing^d the cover with them. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the cover.^e

The Table

37:10–16pp—Ex 25:23–29

¹⁰They^b made the table^f of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high.^{c 11}Then they overlaid it with pure gold^g and made a gold molding around it. ¹²They also made around it a rim a handbreadth^d wide and put a gold molding on the rim. ¹³They cast four gold rings for the table and fastened them to the four corners, where the four legs were. ¹⁴The rings^h were put close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. ¹⁵The poles for carrying the table were made of acacia wood and were overlaid with gold. ¹⁶And they made from pure gold the articles for the table—its plates and dishes and bowls and its pitchers for the pouring out of drink offerings.

The Lampstand

37:17–24pp—Ex 25:31–39

¹⁷They made the lampstandⁱ of pure gold. They hammered out its base and shaft, and made its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. ¹⁸Six branches extended from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. ¹⁹Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on one branch, three on the next branch and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. ²⁰And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. ²¹One bud was under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. ²²The buds and the branches were all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.^j

²³They made its seven lamps,^k as well as its wick trimmers and trays, of pure gold. ²⁴They made the lampstand and all its accessories from one talent^e of pure gold.

The Altar of Incense

37:25–28pp—Ex 30:1–5

²⁵They made the altar of incense^l out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide and two cubits high^f—its horns^m of one piece with it. ²⁶They overlaid the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it. ²⁷They made two gold ringsⁿ below the molding—two on each of the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it. ²⁸They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.^o

²⁹They also made the sacred anointing oil^p and the pure, fragrant incense^q—the work of a perfumer.

The Altar of Burnt Offering

38:1–7pp—Ex 27:1–8

38They^a built the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, three cubits^b high; it was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide.^{c 2}They made a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar were of one piece, and they overlaid the altar with bronze.^{r 3}They made all its utensils^s of bronze—its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. ⁴They made a grating for the altar, a bronze network, to be under its ledge, halfway up the altar. ⁵They cast bronze rings to hold the poles for the four corners of the bronze grating. ⁶They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. ⁷They inserted the poles into the rings so they would be on the sides of the altar for carrying it. They made it hollow, out of boards.

The Basin for Washing

⁸They made the bronze basin^t and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women^u who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

The Courtyard

38:9–20pp—Ex 27:9–19

⁹Next they made the courtyard. The south side was a hundred cubits^d long and had curtains of finely twisted linen, ¹⁰with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. ¹¹The north side was also a hundred cubits long and had twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts.

¹²The west end was fifty cubits^e wide and had curtains, with ten posts and ten bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts. ¹³The east end, toward the sunrise, was also fifty cubits wide. ¹⁴Curtains fifteen cubits^f long were on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases, ¹⁵and curtains fifteen cubits long were on the other side of the entrance to the courtyard, with three posts and three bases. ¹⁶All the curtains around the courtyard were of finely twisted linen. ¹⁷The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks and bands on the posts were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver; so all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands.

¹⁸The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer. It was twenty cubits^g long and, like the curtains of the courtyard, five cubits^h high, ¹⁹with four posts and four bronze bases. Their hooks and bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver. ²⁰All the tent pegs^v of the tabernacle and of the surrounding courtyard were bronze.

The Materials Used

²¹These are the amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the covenant law,^w which were recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar^x son of Aaron, the priest. ²²(Bezalel^y son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything the Lord commanded Moses; ²³with him was Oholiab^z son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan—an engraver and designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen.) ²⁴The total amount of the gold from the wave offering used for all the work on the sanctuary^a was 29 talents and 730 shekels,ⁱ according to the sanctuary shekel.^b

²⁵The silver obtained from those of the community who were counted in the census^c was 100 talents^j and 1,775 shekels,^k according to the sanctuary shekel—²⁶one beka per person,^d that is, half a shekel,^l according to the sanctuary shekel,^e from everyone who had crossed over to those counted, twenty years old or more,^f a total of 603,550 men.^{g 27}The 100 talents of silver were used to cast the bases^h for the sanctuary and for the curtain—100 bases from the 100 talents, one talent for each base. ²⁸They used the 1,775 shekels to make the hooks for the posts, to overlay the tops of the posts, and to make their bands.

²⁹The bronze from the wave offering was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels.^{m 30}They used it to make the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar with its bronze grating and all its utensils, ³¹the bases for the surrounding courtyard and those for its entrance and all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and those for the surrounding courtyard.

The Priestly Garments

39From the blue, purple and scarlet yarnⁱ they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary.^j They also made sacred garments^k for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Ephod

39:2–7pp—Ex 28:6–14

²They^a made the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. ³They hammered out thin sheets of gold and cut strands to be worked into the blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen—the work of skilled hands. ⁴They made shoulder pieces for the ephod, which were attached to two of its corners, so it could be fastened. ⁵Its skillfully woven waistband was like it—of one piece with the ephod and made with gold, and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁶They mounted the onyx stones in gold filigree settings and engraved them like a seal with the names of the sons of Israel. ⁷Then they fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial^l stones for the sons of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Breastpiece

39:8–21pp—Ex 28:15–28

⁸They fashioned the breastpiece^m—the work of a skilled craftsman. They made it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. ⁹It was square—a span^b long and a span wide—and folded double. ¹⁰Then they mounted four rows of precious stones on it. The first row was carnelian, chrysolite and beryl; ¹¹the second row was turquoise, lapis lazuli and emerald; ¹²the third row was jacinth, agate and amethyst; ¹³the fourth row was topaz, onyx and jasper.^c They were mounted in gold filigree settings. ¹⁴There were twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.ⁿ

¹⁵For the breastpiece they made braided chains of pure gold, like a rope. ¹⁶They made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and fastened the rings to two of the corners of the breastpiece. ¹⁷They fastened the two gold chains to the rings at the corners of the breastpiece, ¹⁸and the other ends of the chains to the two settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front. ¹⁹They made two gold rings and attached them to the other two corners of the breastpiece on the inside edge next to the ephod. ²⁰Then they made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the seam just above the waistband of the ephod. ²¹They tied the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with blue cord, connecting it to the waistband so that the breastpiece would not swing out from the…