Exodus 35-36

Complete Jewish Bible

Parashah 22: Vayak’hel (He assembled) 35:1–38:20

[In regular years read with Parashah 23, in leap years read separately]

35 Moshe assembled the whole community of the people of Isra’el and said to them, “These are the things which Adonai has ordered you to do. ² On six days work is to be done, but the seventh day is to be a holy day for you, a Shabbat of complete rest in honor of Adonai. Whoever does any work on it is to be put to death. ³ You are not to kindle a fire in any of your homes on Shabbat.”

⁴ Moshe said to the whole community of the people of Isra’el, “Here is what Adonai has ordered: ⁵ ‘Take up a collection for Adonai from among yourselves — anyone whose heart makes him willing is to bring the offering for Adonai: gold, silver and bronze; ⁶ blue, purple and scarlet yarn; fine linen, goat’s hair, ⁷ tanned ram skins and fine leather; acacia-wood; ⁸ oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; ⁹ onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ritual vest and the breastplate.

¹⁰ “‘Then let all the craftsmen among you come and make everything Adonai has ordered: ¹¹ the tabernacle with its tent, covering, fasteners, planks, crossbars, posts and sockets; ¹² the ark with its poles, ark-cover and the curtain to screen it; ¹³ the table with its poles, all its utensils and the showbread; ¹⁴ the menorah for the light, with its utensils and lamps, and the oil for the light; ¹⁵ the incense altar with its poles; the anointing oil; the fragrant incense; the screen for the entranceway at the entrance to the tabernacle; ¹⁶ the altar for burnt offerings, with its poles and all its utensils; the basin with its base; ¹⁷ the tapestries for the courtyard, with their posts and sockets; the screen for the gateway of the courtyard; ¹⁸ the tent pegs for the tabernacle; the tent pegs for the courtyard, with their ropes; ¹⁹ the garments for officiating, for serving in the Holy Place; and the holy garments for Aharon the cohen and the garments for his sons, so that they can serve in the office of cohen.’”

²⁰ Then the whole community of the people of Isra’el withdrew from Moshe’s presence; (LY: ii) ²¹ and they came, everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit made him willing, and brought Adonai’s offering for the work on the tent of meeting, for the service in it and for the holy garments. ²² Both men and women came, as many as had willing hearts; they brought nose-rings, earrings, signet-rings, belts, all kinds of gold jewelry — everyone bringing an offering of gold to Adonai. ²³ Everyone who had blue, purple or scarlet yarn; fine linen; tanned ram skins or fine leather brought them. ²⁴ Everyone contributing silver or bronze brought his offering for Adonai, and everyone who had acacia-wood suitable for any of the work brought it. ²⁵ All the women who were skilled at spinning got to work and brought what they had spun, the blue, purple and scarlet yarn and the fine linen. ²⁶ Likewise the women whose heart stirred them to use their skill spun the goat’s hair. ²⁷ The leaders brought the onyx stones and the stones to be set, for the ritual vest and the breasplate; ²⁸ the spices; and the oil for the light, for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense. ²⁹ Thus every man and woman of the people of Isra’el whose heart impelled him to contribute to any of the work Adonai had ordered through Moshe brought it to Adonai as a voluntary offering.

(RY: ii, LY: iii) ³⁰ Moshe said to the people of Isra’el, “See, Adonai has singled out B’tzal’el the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Y’hudah. ³¹ He has filled him with the Spirit of God — with wisdom, understanding and knowledge concerning every kind of artisanry. ³² He is a master of design in gold, silver, bronze, ³³ cutting precious stones to be set, woodcarving and every other craft. ³⁴ [Adonai] has also given him and Oholi’av the son of Achisamakh, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others. ³⁵ He has filled them with the skill needed for every kind of work, whether done by an artisan, a designer, an embroiderer using blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen, or a weaver — they have the skill for every kind of work and design.

36 “B’tzal’el and Oholi’av, along with all the craftsmen whom Adonai has endowed with the wisdom and skill necessary to carry out the work needed for the sanctuary, are to do exactly according to everything Adonai has ordered.”

² Moshe summoned B’tzal’el, Oholi’av and every craftsman to whom Adonai had given wisdom, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come and take part in the work. ³ They received from Moshe all the offering which the people of Isra’el had brought for the work of building the sanctuary. But they still kept bringing voluntary offerings every morning, ⁴ until all the craftsmen doing the work for the sanctuary left the work they were involved with ⁵ to tell Moshe, “The people are bringing far more than is needed to do the work Adonai has ordered done.” ⁶ So Moshe gave an order which was proclaimed throughout the camp: “Neither men nor women are to make any further efforts for the sanctuary offering.” In this way, the people were restrained from making additional contributions. ⁷ For what they had already was not only sufficient for doing all the work, but too much!

(LY: iv) ⁸ All the skilled men among them who did the work made the tabernacle, using ten sheets of finely woven linen and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn. He made them with k’ruvim worked in that had been crafted by a skilled artisan. ⁹ Each sheet was forty-two feet long and six feet wide; all the sheets were the same size. ¹⁰ He joined five sheets one to another, and the other five sheets he joined one to another. ¹¹ He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost sheet in the first set and did the same on the edge of the outermost sheet in the second set. ¹² He made fifty loops on the one sheet, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the sheet in the second set; the loops were opposite one another. ¹³ He made fifty fasteners of gold and coupled the sheets to each other with the fasteners, so that the tabernacle formed a single unit.

¹⁴ He made sheets of goat’s hair to be used as a tent covering the tabernacle; he made eleven sheets. ¹⁵ Each sheet was forty-five feet long and six feet wide; all eleven sheets were the same size. ¹⁶ He joined five sheets together and six sheets together. ¹⁷ He made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost sheet in the first set and fifty loops on the outermost sheet in the second set. ¹⁸ He made fifty fasteners of bronze to join the tent together, so that it would be a single unit.

¹⁹ He made a covering for the tent of tanned ram skins and an outer covering of fine leather.

(LY: v) ²⁰ He made the upright planks of acacia-wood for the tabernacle. ²¹ Each plank was fifteen feet long and two-and-a-quarter feet wide. ²² There were two projections on each plank, and the planks were joined one to another. This is how he made all the planks for the tabernacle.

²³ He made the planks for the tabernacle as follows: twenty planks for the south side, facing southward. ²⁴ He made forty silver sockets under the twenty planks, two sockets under one plank for its two projections and two sockets under another plank for its two projections. ²⁵ For the second side of the tabernacle, to the north, he made twenty planks ²⁶ and their forty silver sockets, two sockets under one plank and two under another. ²⁷ For the rear part of the tabernacle, toward the west, he made six planks. ²⁸ For the corners of the tabernacle in the rear he made two planks, ²⁹ double from the bottom all the way to the top but joined at a single ring. He did the same with both of them at the two corners. ³⁰ Thus there were eight planks with their silver sockets, sixteen sockets, two sockets under each plank.

³¹ He made crossbars of acacia-wood, five for the planks of the one side of the tabernacle, ³² five crossbars for the planks of the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for the planks at the side of the tabernacle at the rear toward the west. ³³ He made the middle crossbar so that it extended from one end of the planks to the other, halfway up. ³⁴ He overlaid the planks with gold, made gold rings for them through which the crossbars could pass and overlaid the crossbars with gold.

³⁵ He made the curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely woven linen. He made them with k’ruvim worked in that had been crafted by a skilled artisan. ³⁶ He made for it four posts of acacia-wood and overlaid them with gold, and gold hooks; and cast for them four silver sockets.

³⁷ For the entrance to the tent he made a screen of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely woven linen, in colors, the work of a weaver; ³⁸ with its five posts and their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their attached rings for hanging with gold, while their five sockets were of bronze.