Exodus 38:21-39

Common English Bible

A listing of materials used

²¹ These are the accounts of the dwelling, the covenant dwelling, that were recorded at Moses’ instructions. They are the work of the Levites, under the direction of Ithamar, Aaron the priest’s son. ²² Bezalel, Uri’s son and Hur’s grandson from the tribe of Judah, made everything that the Lord had commanded Moses to make. ²³ Working with Bezalel was Oholiab, Ahisamach’s son from the tribe of Dan, who was a gem cutter, a designer, and a needleworker in blue, purple, and deep red yarns and in fine linen.

²⁴ The total amount of the gold that was used for construction of the whole sanctuary, gold from the uplifted offerings, was twenty-nine kikkars and seven hundred thirty shekels in weight, measured by the sanctuary shekel. ²⁵ The silver from the community census totaled one hundred kikkars and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels in weight, measured by the sanctuary shekel. ²⁶ They gave a beqa per person (that is, half a shekel, measured by the sanctuary shekel) for everyone who was counted in the census, 20 years old and above, 603,550 men. ²⁷ One hundred kikkars of silver were used to cast the bases for the sanctuary and the bases for the veil, one hundred bases from one hundred kikkars of silver, one kikkar for every base. ²⁸ He used one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels of silver^[a] to make the hooks for the posts, cover their tops, and make bands for them. ²⁹ The amount of copper from the uplifted offering was seventy kikkars and two thousand four hundred shekels in weight. ³⁰ He used it to make the bases for the meeting tent’s entrance, the copper altar, its copper grate, and all the altar’s equipment, ³¹ the bases all around the courtyard, and the bases for the courtyard’s gate, all the dwelling’s tent pegs, and all the tent pegs used around the courtyard.

Making the priests’ clothing

39 They used the blue, purple, and deep red yarns to make the woven clothing for those ministering as priests in the sanctuary. They made the holy clothes for Aaron as the Lord had commanded Moses.

² They made the vest^[b] of gold, of blue, purple, and deep red yarns, and of fine twisted linen. ³ They beat out thin sheets of gold and cut them into threads to work into designs among the blue, purple, and deep red yarns and the fine linen. ⁴ They made shoulder pieces for it attached to its two edges so that they could be joined together. ⁵ The vest’s belt was attached to it and made in the same way of gold, of blue, purple, and deep red yarns, and of fine twisted linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁶ They prepared the gemstones by mounting them in gold settings and engraving on them the names of Israel’s sons, like an official seal is engraved. ⁷ The stones were attached to the vest’s shoulder pieces as reminder stones for the Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁸ They made the embroidered chest pendant in the style of the vest, using gold, blue, purple, and deep red yarns, and fine twisted linen. ⁹ They made the chest pendant square and doubled, nine inches long and nine inches wide when doubled. ¹⁰ They set in it four rows of gemstones. The first row was a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald stones. ¹¹ The second row was a turquoise, a sapphire, and a moonstone. ¹² The third row was a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst. ¹³ The fourth row was a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. The settings around them were decorative gold. ¹⁴ There were twelve stones with names corresponding to the names of Israel’s sons. They were engraved like official seals, each with its name for the twelve tribes. ¹⁵ They made chains of pure gold, twisted like cords, for the chest pendant. ¹⁶ They made two gold settings and two gold rings. They attached the two rings to the two edges of the chest pendant. ¹⁷ They attached the two gold cords to the two rings at the edges of the chest pendant. ¹⁸ Then they fastened the two ends of the two cords to the two gold settings and attached them to the front of the vest’s shoulder pieces. ¹⁹ They made two gold rings, and they attached them to the two edges of the chest pendant, on its inside edge facing the vest. ²⁰ They made two gold rings and fastened them on the front of the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the vest, at its seam just above the vest’s belt. ²¹ The chest pendant was held in place by a blue cord binding its rings to the vest’s rings so that the chest pendant rested on the vest’s belt and didn’t come loose from the vest, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.