Exodus 35-37
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Sabbath Regulations
35 Moses assembled all the congregation of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do:(A)
2 “Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy Sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.(B) 3 You shall kindle no fire in all your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”(C)
Preparations for Making the Tabernacle
4 Moses said to all the congregation of the Israelites, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded:(D) 5 Take from among you an offering to the Lord; let whoever is of a generous heart bring the Lord’s offering: gold, silver, and bronze; 6 blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine linen; goats’ hair, 7 tanned rams’ skins, and fine leather;[a] acacia wood, 8 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 9 and onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and the breastpiece.
10 “All who are skillful among you shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded: 11 the tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its clasps and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases;(E) 12 the ark with its poles, the cover, and the curtain for the screen; 13 the table with its poles and all its utensils and the bread of the Presence;(F) 14 and the lampstand for the light, with its utensils and its lamps and the oil for the light; 15 and the altar of incense, with its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the entrance, the entrance of the tabernacle;(G) 16 the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin with its stand; 17 the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court; 18 the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court and their cords; 19 the finely worked vestments for ministering in the holy place, the holy vestments for the priest Aaron, and the vestments of his sons, for their service as priests.”(H)
Offerings for the Tabernacle
20 Then all the congregation of the Israelites withdrew from the presence of Moses. 21 And they came, everyone whose heart was stirred and everyone whose spirit was willing, and brought the Lord’s offering to be used for the tent of meeting and for all its service and for the sacred vestments.(I) 22 So they came, both men and women; all who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and pendants, all sorts of gold objects, everyone bringing an offering of gold to the Lord. 23 And everyone who possessed blue or purple or crimson yarn or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or fine leather[b] brought them.(J) 24 Everyone who could make an offering of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord’s offering, and everyone who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it. 25 All the skillful women spun with their hands and brought what they had spun in blue and purple and crimson yarns and fine linen;(K) 26 all the women whose hearts moved them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. 27 And the leaders brought onyx stones and gems to be set in the ephod and the breastpiece(L) 28 and spices and oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense.(M) 29 All the Israelite men and women whose hearts made them willing to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.(N)
Bezalel and Oholiab
30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah;(O) 31 he has filled him with a divine spirit,[c] with ability, intelligence, and knowledge, and with every kind of skill, 32 to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, 33 in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of artistic craft. 34 And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. 35 He has filled them with skill to do every kind of work done by an artisan or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue, purple, and crimson yarns and in fine linen or by a weaver—by any sort of skilled worker or designer.(P)
36 “Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and understanding to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.”(Q)
2 Moses then called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given skill, everyone whose heart was stirred to come to do the work,(R) 3 and they received from Moses all the offerings that the Israelites had brought for the work of constructing the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning,(S) 4 so that all the skilled workers who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task being performed, 5 and said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.”(T) 6 So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work.
Construction of the Tabernacle
8 All those with skill among the workers made the tabernacle with ten curtains; they were made of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and crimson yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked into them.(U) 9 The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains were of the same size.
10 He joined five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he joined to one another. 11 He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain of the first set; likewise he made them on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set; 12 he made fifty loops on the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set; the loops were opposite one another.(V) 13 And he made fifty clasps of gold and joined the curtains one to the other with clasps; so the tabernacle was one whole.
14 He also made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains.(W) 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains were of the same size. 16 He joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 17 He made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the one set and fifty loops on the edge of the other connecting curtain. 18 He made fifty clasps of bronze to join the tent together so that it might be one whole. 19 And he made for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and an outer covering of fine leather.[d](X)
20 Then he made the upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood.(Y) 21 Ten cubits was the length of a frame and a cubit and a half the width of each frame. 22 Each frame had two pegs for fitting together; he did this for all the frames of the tabernacle. 23 The frames for the tabernacle he made in this way: twenty frames for the south side, 24 and he made forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under the first frame for its two pegs and two bases under the next frame for its two pegs.(Z) 25 For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty frames 26 and their forty bases of silver, two bases under the first frame and two bases under the next frame. 27 For the rear of the tabernacle westward he made six frames.(AA) 28 He made two frames for the corners of the tabernacle in the rear. 29 They were separate beneath but joined at the top at the first ring; he made two of them in this way for the two corners. 30 There were eight frames with their bases of silver: sixteen bases, under every frame two bases.
31 He made bars of acacia wood: five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle,(AB) 32 and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle at the rear westward. 33 He made the middle bar to pass through from end to end halfway up the frames. 34 And he overlaid the frames with gold and made rings of gold for them to hold the bars and overlaid the bars with gold.
35 He made the curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine twisted linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.(AC) 36 He made for it four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four bases of silver. 37 He also made a screen for the entrance to the tent, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine twisted linen, embroidered with needlework, 38 and its five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their bases with gold, but their five bases were of bronze.
Making the Ark of the Covenant
37 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; it was two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.(AD) 2 He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside and made a molding of gold around it. 3 He cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side.(AE) 4 He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold 5 and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark. 6 He made a cover of pure gold; two cubits and a half was its length and a cubit and a half its width.(AF) 7 He made two cherubim of hammered gold; at the two ends of the cover he made them, 8 one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; of one piece with the cover he made the cherubim at its two ends. 9 The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the cover with their wings. They faced one another; the faces of the cherubim were turned toward the cover.
Making the Table for the Bread of the Presence
10 He also made the table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high.(AG) 11 He overlaid it with pure gold and made a molding of gold around it. 12 He also made around it a rim a handbreadth wide, and he made a molding of gold around the rim. 13 He cast for it four rings of gold and fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 14 The rings that held the poles used for carrying the table were close to the rim. 15 He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table and overlaid them with gold. 16 And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings.(AH)
Making the Lampstand
17 He also made the lampstand of pure gold. The base and the shaft of the lampstand were made of hammered work; its cups, its calyxes, and its petals were of one piece with it.(AI) 18 There were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 19 three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with calyx and petals, on one branch, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with calyx and petals, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand.(AJ) 20 On the lampstand itself there were four cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its calyxes and petals. 21 There was a calyx of one piece with it under the first pair of branches, a calyx of one piece with it under the next pair of branches, and a calyx of one piece with it under the last pair of branches—so for the six branches going out of it.(AK) 22 Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it, the whole of it one hammered piece of pure gold. 23 He made its seven lamps and its snuffers and its trays of pure gold. 24 He made it and all its utensils of a talent of pure gold.
Making the Altar of Incense
25 He made the altar of incense of acacia wood, one cubit long and one cubit wide; it was square and was two cubits high; its horns were of one piece with it.(AL) 26 He overlaid it with pure gold, its top and its sides all around and its horns, and he made a molding of gold around it 27 and two golden rings for it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, to hold the poles with which to carry it. 28 And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.
Making the Anointing Oil and the Incense
29 He made the holy anointing oil also and the pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer.(AM)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.