Exodus 36
New King James Version
Building the Tabernacle
36 “And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every (A)gifted artisan in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the (B)sanctuary,[a] shall do according to all that the Lord has commanded.”
The People Give More than Enough
2 Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone (C)whose heart [b]was stirred, to come and do the work. 3 And they received from Moses all the (D)offering which the children of Israel (E)had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. 4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, 5 and they spoke to Moses, saying, (F)“The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do.”
6 So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too (G)much.
Building the Tabernacle(H)
8 (I)Then all the gifted artisans among them who worked on the tabernacle made ten curtains woven of fine linen, and of blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim they made them. 9 The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the curtains were all the same size. 10 And he coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. 11 He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain on the selvedge of one set; likewise he did on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set. 12 (J)Fifty loops he made on one curtain, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain on the end of the second set; the loops held one curtain to another. 13 And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, that it might be one tabernacle.
14 (K)He made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains were the same size. 16 He coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 17 And he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain of the second set. 18 He also made fifty bronze clasps to couple the tent together, that it might be one. 19 (L)Then he made a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red, and a covering of [c]badger skins above that.
20 For the tabernacle (M)he made boards of acacia wood, standing upright. 21 The length of each board was ten cubits, and the width of each board a cubit and a half. 22 Each board had two [d]tenons (N)for binding one to another. Thus he made for all the boards of the tabernacle. 23 And he made boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. 24 Forty sockets of silver he made to go under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. 25 And for the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards 26 and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. 27 For the west side of the tabernacle he made six boards. 28 He also made two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. 29 And they were coupled at the bottom and [e]coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus he made both of them for the two corners. 30 So there were eight boards and their sockets—sixteen sockets of silver—two sockets under each of the boards.
31 And he made (O)bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle on the far side westward. 33 And he made the middle bar to pass through the boards from one end to the other. 34 He overlaid the boards with gold, made their rings of gold to be holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.
35 And he made (P)a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen; it was worked with an artistic design of cherubim. 36 He made for it four pillars of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, with their hooks of gold; and he cast four sockets of silver for them.
37 He also made a (Q)screen for the tabernacle door, of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a [f]weaver, 38 and its five pillars with their hooks. And he overlaid their capitals and their rings with gold, but their five sockets were bronze.
Footnotes
- Exodus 36:1 holy place
- Exodus 36:2 lifted him up
- Exodus 36:19 Or dolphin
- Exodus 36:22 Projections for joining, lit. hands
- Exodus 36:29 Lit. doubled
- Exodus 36:37 Lit. variegator, a weaver in colors
Exodus 36
The Message
36 “Bezalel and Oholiab, along with everyone whom God has given the skill and know-how for making everything involved in the worship of the Sanctuary as commanded by God, are to start to work.”
2-3 Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab along with all whom God had gifted with the ability to work skillfully with their hands. The men were eager to get started and engage in the work. They took from Moses all the offerings that the Israelites had brought for the work of constructing the Sanctuary. The people kept on bringing in their freewill offerings, morning after morning.
4-5 All the artisans who were at work making everything involved in constructing the Sanctuary came, one after another, to Moses, saying, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing this work that God has commanded us to do!”
6-7 So Moses sent out orders through the camp: “Men! Women! No more offerings for the building of the Sanctuary!”
The people were ordered to stop bringing offerings! There was plenty of material for all the work to be done. Enough and more than enough.
The Tapestries
8-13 Then all the skilled artisans on The Dwelling made ten tapestries of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet fabric with an angel-cherubim design worked into the material. Each panel of tapestry was forty-six feet long and six feet wide. Five of the panels were joined together, and then the other five. Loops of blue were made along the edge of the outside panel of the first set, and the same on the outside panel of the second set. They made fifty loops on each panel, with the loops opposite each other. Then they made fifty gold clasps and joined the tapestries together so that The Dwelling was one whole.
14-19 Next they made tapestries of woven goat hair for a tent that would cover The Dwelling. They made eleven panels of these tapestries. The length of each panel was forty-five feet long and six feet wide. They joined five of the panels together, and then the other six, by making fifty loops along the edge of the end panel and fifty loops along the edge of the joining panel, then making fifty clasps of bronze, connecting the clasps to the loops, bringing the tent together. They finished it off by covering the tapestries with tanned rams’ skins dyed red, and covered that with dolphin skins.
The Framing
20-30 They framed The Dwelling with vertical planks of acacia wood, each section of frame fifteen feet long and two and a quarter feet wide, with two pegs for securing them. They made all the frames identical: twenty frames for the south side, with forty silver sockets to receive the two tenons from each of the twenty frames; they repeated that construction on the north side of The Dwelling. For the rear of The Dwelling facing west, they made six frames, with two additional frames for the rear corners. Both of the two corner frames were double in thickness from top to bottom and fit into a single ring—eight frames altogether with sixteen sockets of silver, two under each frame.
31-34 They made crossbars of acacia wood, five for the frames on one side of The Dwelling, five for the other side, and five for the back side facing west. The center crossbar ran from end to end halfway up the frames. They covered the frames with a veneer of gold, made gold rings to hold the crossbars, and covered the crossbars with a veneer of gold.
35-36 They made the curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. They wove a design of angel-cherubim into it. They made four posts of acacia wood, covered them with a veneer of gold, and cast four silver bases for them.
37-38 They made a screen for the door of the tent, woven from blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine twisted linen with embroidery. They framed the weaving with five poles of acacia wood covered with a veneer of gold, and made gold hooks to hang the weaving and five bronze bases for the poles.
Exodus 36
Holman Christian Standard Bible
36 1 Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the skilled[a] people are to work based on everything the Lord has commanded. The Lord has given them wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work of constructing the sanctuary.”(A)
2 So Moses summoned Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled[b] person in whose heart the Lord had placed wisdom, everyone whose heart moved him,(B) to come to the work and do it. 3 They took from Moses’ presence all the contributions that the Israelites had brought for the task of making the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning.
4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work for the sanctuary came one by one from the work they were doing 5 and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than is needed(C) for the construction of the work the Lord commanded to be done.”
6 After Moses gave an order, they sent a proclamation throughout the camp: “Let no man or woman make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people stopped. 7 The materials were sufficient for them to do all the work. There was more than enough.
Building the Tabernacle
8 All(D) the skilled craftsmen[c] among those doing the work made the tabernacle with 10 curtains. Bezalel made them of finely spun linen, as well as blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with a design of cherubim worked into them. 9 The length of each curtain was 42 feet,[d] and the width of each curtain six feet;[e] all the curtains had the same measurements. 10 He joined five of the curtains to each other, and the other five curtains he joined to each other. 11 He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the last curtain in the first set and did the same on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 12 He made 50 loops on the one curtain and 50 loops on the edge of the curtain in the second set, so that the loops lined up with each other. 13 He also made 50 gold clasps and joined the curtains to each other, so that the tabernacle became a single unit.
14 He made curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made 11 of them. 15 The length of each curtain was 45 feet,[f] and the width of each curtain six feet.[g] All 11 curtains had the same measurements. 16 He joined five of the curtains together, and the other six together. 17 He made 50 loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set and 50 loops on the edge of the corresponding curtain in the second set. 18 He made 50 bronze clasps to join the tent together as a single unit. 19 He also made a covering for the tent from ram skins dyed red and a covering of manatee skins[h] on top of it.
20 He(E) made upright planks[i] of acacia wood for the tabernacle. 21 The length of each plank was 15 feet,[j] and the width of each was 27 inches.[k] 22 There were two tenons connected to each other for each plank. He did the same for all the planks of the tabernacle. 23 He made planks for the tabernacle as follows: 20 for the south side, 24 and he made 40 silver bases to put under the 20 planks, two bases under the first plank for its two tenons, and two bases under each of the following planks for their two tenons; 25 for the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made 20 planks, 26 with their 40 silver bases, two bases under the first plank and two bases under each of the following ones; 27 and for the west side of the tabernacle he made six planks. 28 He also made two additional planks for the two back corners of the tabernacle. 29 They were paired at the bottom and joined together[l] at the[m] top in a single ring. This is what he did with both of them for the two corners. 30 So there were eight planks with their 16 silver bases, two bases under each one.
31 He made five crossbars of acacia wood for the planks on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five crossbars for the planks on the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for those at the back of the tabernacle on the west. 33 He made the central crossbar run through the middle of the planks from one end to the other. 34 He overlaid them with gold and made their rings out of gold as holders for the crossbars. He also overlaid the crossbars with gold.
35 Then(F) he made the veil with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen. He made it with a design of cherubim worked into it. 36 He made four posts of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were of gold. And he cast four silver bases for the posts.
37 He made a screen embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen for the entrance to the tent, 38 together with its five posts and their hooks. He overlaid the tops of the posts and their bands with gold, but their five bases were bronze.
Footnotes
- Exodus 36:1 Lit wise of heart
- Exodus 36:2 Lit wise of heart
- Exodus 36:8 Lit the wise of heart
- Exodus 36:9 Lit 28 cubits
- Exodus 36:9 Lit four cubits
- Exodus 36:15 Lit 30 cubits
- Exodus 36:15 Lit four cubits
- Exodus 36:19 Or of dolphin skins, or of fine leather; Hb obscure
- Exodus 36:20 Or made frames
- Exodus 36:21 Lit 10 cubits
- Exodus 36:21 Lit a cubit and a half
- Exodus 36:29 Lit and together they are to be complete
- Exodus 36:29 Lit its
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.