Exodus 36-38 (Contemporary English Version)

Exodus 36

 ¹The LORD has given to Bezalel, Oholiab, and others the skills needed for building a place of worship, and they will follow the LORD's instructions.

    ²Then Moses brought together these workers who were eager to work, ³and he gave them the money that the people of Israel had donated for building the place of worship. In fact, so much money was being given each morning, ⁴that finally everyone stopped working ⁵and said, " Moses, there is already more money than we need for what the LORD has assigned us to do." ⁶So Moses sent word for the people to stop giving, and they did. ⁷But there was already more than enough to do what needed to be done.

   

The Curtains and Coverings for the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 26.1-14)

 ^8-9The skilled workers got together to make the sacred tent and its linen curtains woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. Each of the ten panels was fourteen yards long and two yards wide, ¹⁰and they were sewn together to make two curtains with five panels each. ^11-13Then fifty loops of blue cloth were put along one of the wider sides of each curtain, and the two curtains were fastened together at the loops with fifty gold hooks.

    ^14-15As the material for the tent, goat hair was used to weave eleven sections fifteen yards by two yards each. ¹⁶These eleven sections were joined to make two panels, one with five and the other with six sections. ¹⁷Fifty loops were put along one of the wider sides of each panel, ¹⁸and the two panels were fastened at the loops with fifty bronze hooks. ¹⁹Two other coverings were made--one with fine leather and the other with ram skins dyed red.

   

The Framework for the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 26.15-30)

 ²⁰Acacia wood was used to build the framework for the walls of the sacred tent. ²¹Each frame was fifteen feet high and twenty-seven inches wide ^22-26with two wooden pegs near the bottom. Then two silver stands were placed under each frame with sockets for the pegs, so they could be joined together. Twenty of these frames were used along the south side and twenty more along the north. ²⁷Six frames were used for the back wall along the west side ^28-29with two more at the southwest and northwest corners. These corner frames were joined from top to bottom. ³⁰Altogether, along the back wall there were eight frames with two silver stands under each of them.

    ^31-33Five crossbars were made for each of the wooden frames, with the center crossbar running the full length of the wall. ³⁴The frames and crossbars were covered with gold, and gold rings were attached to the frames to run the crossbars through.

   

The Inside Curtain for the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 26.31-37)

 ³⁵They made the inside curtain ^[a] of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool, and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. ³⁶They also made four acacia wood posts and covered them with gold. Then gold rings were fastened to the posts, which were set on silver stands. ³⁷For the entrance to the tent, they used a curtain of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with fancy needlework. ³⁸They made five posts, covered them completely with gold, and set them each on a gold-covered bronze stand. Finally, they attached hooks for the curtain.

   

Exodus 37

The Sacred Chest

(Exodus 25.10-22)

 ¹Bezalel built a chest of acacia wood forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ²He covered it inside and out with pure gold and put a gold edging around the top. ³He made four gold rings and fastened one of them to each of the four legs of the chest. ⁴Then he made two poles of acacia wood, covered them with gold, ⁵and put them through the rings, so the chest could be carried by the poles.

    ⁶The entire lid of the chest, which was also covered with pure gold, was the place of mercy. ^{[b] 7-9}On each of the two ends of the chest he made a winged creature of hammered gold. They faced each other, and their wings covered the place of mercy.

The Table for the Sacred Bread

(Exodus 25.23-30)

 ¹⁰Bezalel built a table of acacia wood thirty-six inches long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ^11-12He covered it with pure gold and put a gold edging around it with a border three inches wide. ^{[c] 13}He made four gold rings and attached one to each of the legs ¹⁴near the edging. The poles for carrying the table were placed through these rings ¹⁵and were made of acacia wood covered with gold. ¹⁶Everything that was to be set on the table was made of pure gold--the bowls, plates, jars, and cups for wine offerings.

The Lampstand

(Exodus 25.31-40)

 ¹⁷Bezalel made a lampstand of pure gold. The whole lampstand, including its decorative flowers, was made from a single piece of hammered gold, ¹⁸with three branches on each of its two sides. ¹⁹There were three decorative almond blossoms on each branch ²⁰and four on the stem. ²¹There was also a blossom where each pair of branches came out from the stem. ²²The lampstand, including its branches and decorative flowers, was made from a single piece of hammered pure gold. ^23-24The lamp and its equipment, including the tongs and trays, were made of about seventy-five pounds of pure gold.

   

The Altar for Burning Incense

(Exodus 30.1-5)

 ²⁵For burning incense, Bezalel made an altar of acacia wood. It was eighteen inches square and thirty-six inches high with each of its four corners sticking up like the horn of a bull. ²⁶He covered it with pure gold and put a gold edging around it. ²⁷Then below the edging on opposite sides he attached two gold rings through which he put the poles for carrying the altar. ²⁸These poles were also made of acacia wood and covered with gold.

   

The Oil for Dedication and the Incense

(Exodus 30.22-38)

 ²⁹Bezalel mixed the oil for dedication and the sweet-smelling spices for the incense.

   

Exodus 38

The Altar for Offering Sacrifices

(Exodus 27.1-8)

 ¹Bezalel built an altar of acacia wood for offering sacrifices. It was seven and a half feet square and four and a half feet high ²with each of its four corners sticking up like the horn of a bull, and it was completely covered with bronze. ³The equipment for the altar was also made of bronze--the pans for the hot ashes, the shovels, the meat forks, and the fire pans. ⁴Midway up the altar he built a ledge around it and covered the bottom half of the altar with a decorative bronze grating. ⁵Then he attached a bronze ring beneath the ledge at the four corners to put the poles through. ⁶He covered two acacia wood poles with bronze and ⁷put them through the rings for carrying the altar, which was shaped like an open box.

   

The Large Bronze Bowl

(Exodus 30.18-21)

 ⁸Bezalel made a large bowl and a stand out of bronze from the mirrors of the women who helped at the entrance to the sacred tent.

   

The Courtyard around the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 27.9-19)

 ^9-17Around the sacred tent Bezalel built a courtyard one hundred fifty feet long on the south and north and seventy-five feet wide on the east and west. He used twenty bronze posts on bronze stands for the south and north and ten for the west. Then he hung a curtain of fine linen on the posts along each of these three sides by using silver hooks and rods. He placed three bronze posts on each side of the entrance at the east and hung a curtain seven and a half yards wide on each set of posts.

    ^18-19For the entrance to the courtyard, Bezalel made a curtain ten yards long, which he hung on four bronze posts that were set on bronze stands. This curtain was the same height as the one for the rest of the courtyard and was made of fine linen embroidered and woven with blue, purple, and red wool. He hung the curtain on the four posts, using silver hooks and rods. ²⁰The pegs for the tent and for the curtain around the tent were made of bronze.

   

The Sacred Tent

 ^21-23Bezalel had worked closely with Oholiab, ^[d] who was an expert at designing and engraving, and at embroidering blue, purple, and red wool. The two of them completed the work that the LORD had commanded. Moses made Aaron's son Ithamar responsible for keeping record of the metals used for the sacred tent. ²⁴According to the official weights, the amount of gold given was two thousand two hundred nine pounds, ²⁵and the silver that was collected when the people were counted ^[e] came to seven thousand five hundred fifty pounds. ²⁶Everyone who was counted paid the required amount, and there was a total of 603,550 men who were twenty years old or older. ²⁷Seventy-five pounds of the silver were used to make each of the one hundred stands for the sacred tent and the curtain. ²⁸The remaining fifty pounds of silver were used for the hooks and rods and for covering the tops of the posts.

    ²⁹Five thousand three hundred pounds of bronze were given. ³⁰And it was used to make the stands for the entrance to the tent, the altar and its grating, the equipment for the altar, ³¹the stands for the posts that surrounded the courtyard, including those at the entrance to the courtyard, and the pegs for the tent and the courtyard.