Exodus 39–40

Making the Garments of the Priesthood

39Of the ^ablue, purple, and scarlet thread they made ^bgarments ¹of ministry, for ministering in the ²holy place, and made the holy garments for Aaron, ^cas the Lord had commanded Moses.

Making the Ephod

^2dHe made the ^eephod of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen. ³And they beat the gold into thin sheets and cut it into threads, to work it in with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and the fine linen, into artistic designs. ⁴They made shoulder straps for it to couple it together; it was coupled together at its two edges. ⁵And the intricately woven band of his ephod that was on it was of the same workmanship, woven of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^6fAnd they set onyx stones, enclosed in ³settings of gold; they were engraved, as signets are engraved, with the names of the sons of Israel. ⁷He put them on the shoulders of the ephod as ^gmemorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Making the Breastplate

^8hAnd he made the breastplate, artistically woven like the workmanship of the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and of fine woven linen. ⁹They made the breastplate square by doubling it; a span was its length and a span its width when doubled. ¹⁰ⁱAnd they set in it four rows of stones: a row with a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald was the first row; ¹¹the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; ¹²the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ¹³the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold in their mountings. ¹⁴There were ^jtwelve stones according to the names of the sons of Israel: according to their names, engraved like a signet, each one with its own name according to the twelve tribes. ¹⁵And they made chains for the breastplate at the ends, like braided cords of pure gold. ¹⁶They also made two settings of gold and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. ¹⁷And they put the two braided chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate. ¹⁸The two ends of the two braided chains they fastened in the two settings, and put them on the shoulder straps of the ephod in the front. ¹⁹And they made two rings of gold and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge of it, which was on the inward side of the ephod. ²⁰They made two other gold rings and put them on the two shoulder straps, underneath the ephod toward its front, right at the seam above the intricately woven band of the ephod. ²¹And they bound the breastplate by means of its rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue cord, so that it would be above the intricately woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate would not come loose from the ephod, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Making the Other Priestly Garments

^22kHe made the ^lrobe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. ²³And there was an opening in the middle of the robe, like the opening in a coat of mail, with a woven binding all around the opening, so that it would not tear. ²⁴They made on the hem of the robe pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, and of fine woven linen. ²⁵And they made ^mbells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates on the hem of the robe all around between the pomegranates: ²⁶a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe to ⁴minister in, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²⁷ⁿThey made tunics, artistically woven of fine linen, for Aaron and his sons, ^28oa turban of fine linen, exquisite hats of fine linen, ^pshort trousers of fine woven linen, ^29qand a sash of fine woven linen with blue, purple, and scarlet thread, made by a weaver, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^30rThen they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription like the engraving of a signet:

^sHOLINESS TO THE LORD

³¹And they tied to it a blue cord, to fasten it above on the turban, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Work Completed

³²Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was ^tfinished. And the children of Israel did ^uaccording to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; so they did. ³³And they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings: its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; ³⁴the covering of ram skins dyed red, the covering of badger skins, and the veil of the covering; ³⁵the ark of the Testimony with its poles, and the mercy seat; ³⁶the table, all its utensils, and the ^vshowbread; ³⁷the pure gold lampstand with its lamps (the lamps set in order), all its utensils, and the oil for light; ³⁸the gold altar, the anointing oil, and the sweet incense; the screen for the tabernacle door; ³⁹the bronze altar, its grate of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils; the laver with its base; ⁴⁰the hangings of the court, its pillars and its sockets, the screen for the court gate, its cords, and its pegs; all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; ⁴¹and the ⁵garments of ministry, to ⁶minister in the holy place: the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons’ garments, to minister as priests.

⁴²According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the children of Israel ^wdid all the work. ⁴³Then Moses looked over all the work, and indeed they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, just so they had done it. And Moses ^xblessed them.

The Tabernacle Erected and Arranged

40Then the Lord ^aspoke to Moses, saying: ²“On the first day of the ^bfirst month you shall set up ^cthe tabernacle of the tent of meeting. ^3dYou shall put in it the ark of the Testimony, and ¹partition off the ark with the veil. ^4eYou shall bring in the table and ^farrange the things that are to be set in order on it; ^gand you shall bring in the lampstand and ²light its lamps. ^5hYou shall also set the altar of gold for the incense before the ark of the Testimony, and put up the screen for the door of the tabernacle. ⁶Then you shall set the ⁱaltar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. ⁷And ^jyou shall set the laver between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. ⁸You shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen at the court gate.

⁹“And you shall take the anointing oil, and ^kanoint the tabernacle and all that is in it; and you shall hallow it and all its utensils, and it shall be holy. ¹⁰You shall ^lanoint the altar of the burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar. ^mThe altar shall be most holy. ¹¹And you shall anoint the laver and its base, and consecrate it.

¹²ⁿ“Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the tabernacle of meeting and wash them with water. ¹³You shall put the holy ^ogarments on Aaron, ^pand anoint him and consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest. ¹⁴And you shall bring his sons and clothe them with tunics. ¹⁵You shall anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may minister to Me as priests; for their anointing shall surely be ^qan everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.”

¹⁶Thus Moses did; according to all that the Lord had commanded him, so he did.

¹⁷And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the ^rtabernacle was ³raised up. ¹⁸So Moses raised up the tabernacle, fastened its sockets, set up its boards, put in its bars, and raised up its pillars. ¹⁹And he spread out the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on top of it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²⁰He took ^sthe Testimony and put it into the ark, inserted the poles through the rings of the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark. ²¹And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, ^thung up the veil of the covering, and partitioned off the ark of the Testimony, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^22uHe put the table in the tabernacle of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil; ^23vand he set the bread in order upon it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^24wHe put the lampstand in the tabernacle of meeting, across from the table, on the south side of the tabernacle; ²⁵and ^xhe lit the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^26yHe put the gold altar in the tabernacle of meeting in front of the veil; ^27zand he burned sweet incense on it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^28aHe hung up the screen at the door of the tabernacle. ^29bAnd he put the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and ^coffered upon it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^30dHe set the laver between the tabernacle of meeting and the altar, and put water there for washing; ³¹and Moses, Aaron, and his sons would ^ewash their hands and their feet with water from it. ³²Whenever they went into the tabernacle of meeting, and when they came near the altar, they washed, ^fas the Lord had commanded Moses. ^33gAnd he raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the screen of the court gate. So Moses ^hfinished the work.

The Cloud and the Glory

³⁴ⁱThen the ^jcloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the ^kglory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵And Moses ^lwas not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ^36mWhenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would ⁴go onward in all their journeys. ³⁷But ⁿif the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. ³⁸For ^othe cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.