Exodus 39
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 39
The Priestly Vestments. 1 With the blue, purple, and scarlet cloth were made the finely woven vestments for ministering in the sanctuary, as well as the sacred vestments for Aaron as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Ephod. 2 He made the ephod of gold and blue, purple, and scarlet cloth and fine twisted linen. 3 The gold was beaten into fine plates and cut into wires and was interwoven into the blue, purple, and scarlet cloth and the linen with skilled craftsmanship. 4 Two shoulder pieces were made for the ephod that were attached to its two ends so that it might be joined together. 5 The skillfully woven band to bind it together that was placed over it was of the same workmanship and the same materials, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet cloth and twisted linen, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
6 The onyx stones were prepared and set into settings of gold filigree. They were engraved with the names of the children of Israel, like an engraver engraves a signet ring. 7 The two stones were set on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of remembrance for the children of Israel, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Breastplate. 8 He made the breastplate like the ephod, with fine workmanship. It was made of gold, blue, purple and scarlet cloth and fine twisted linen. 9 It was square and doubled over, a span in length and a span in width. 10 They covered it with settings of precious stones arranged in four rows. The first row had a ruby, a topaz, and an emerald. 11 The second row had a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond. 12 The third row had a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst. 13 The fourth row had a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were set in gold filigree settings. 14 The stones corresponded to the names of the children of Israel. There were twelve, standing for their names. They were engraved like the engraving of a signet ring, each name corresponding to a name of one of the twelve tribes.
15 They made chains of pure gold on the breastplate in the shape of twisted cords. 16 They also made two filigree settings of gold and two golden rings and placed the two rings at the two edges of the breastplate. 17 They attached the two golden chains to the two rings at the edges of the breastplate. 18 They attached the other ends of the chains to the two filigree settings and they thus attached it to the front part of the shoulder pieces of the ephod. 19 They made two other golden rings and placed them on the two edges of the breastplate, on its inside edge, next to the ephod. 20 They made two other golden rings and placed them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at their bottom on the front side, next to the place where it is attached to the skillfully woven band of the ephod.
21 Other Priestly Vestments. They then tied the breastplate with its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue material so that it might lie upon the skillfully woven band of the ephod and that the breastplate might not pull away from the ephod, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
22 The Robe. He made a robe of the ephod all in blue 23 with an opening in the middle and a woven border around the opening so that it might not be torn. 24 They made a design of pomegranates on the hem of the garment with blue, purple, and scarlet cloth and fine twisted linen. 25 They also made bells out of pure gold and placed the bells in between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe. 26 There was a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, around the hem of the robe used for ministering, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
27 Other Vestments. They also wove tunics from fine linen for Aaron and his sons, 28 a turban of fine linen, caps of fine linen, and undergarments of fine twisted linen, 29 and a sash of fine twisted linen, of blue, purple, and scarlet cloth, embroidered with fine needlework, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
30 The Turban. They made the plate of the holy crown out of pure gold and they wrote on it as an engraver would engrave a signet ring, “Holy to the Lord.” 31 They attached it with a blue cord to the front part of the turban, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
32 Moses Inspects the Tabernacle. Thus, all of the work of the tabernacle, of the tent of meeting, was finished. The children of Israel had done everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 33 They then brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its accessories, its clasps, boards, bars, columns, and bases, 34 the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, the covering of sheep skins, the veil of the screen; 35 the Ark of Testimony with its poles, and the seat of atonement, 36 the table with all its accessories and the bread of the Presence, 37 the lampstand made of pure gold with its lamps, that is, the lamps that were to be placed on top of it, with all its accessories, the oil for light, 38 the altar of gold, the oil of anointing, the fragrant incense; the screen for the entrance to the tent, 39 the altar of bronze with its bronze grating, its poles and all its accessories, the basin and its base, 40 the drapes for the courtyard, their columns, their bases, and the screen for the gate to the courtyard, their cords, their pegs, and all the utensils for ministering in the tabernacle, for the meeting tent; 41 the finely woven vestments for ministering in the sanctuary, the holy vestments for Aaron the priest, and the vestments for his sons in their priestly ministry. 42 Whatever the Lord had commanded Moses, this is how the children of Israel did all their work. 43 Moses examined all the work, and behold, it was done as the Lord had commanded. So Moses blessed them.
Exodus 39
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Making the Priestly Garments
39 They made specially woven[a] garments for ministry in the sanctuary, and the holy garments for Aaron from the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.(A)
Making the Ephod
2 Bezalel(B) made the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen. 3 They hammered out thin sheets of gold, and he[b] cut threads from them to interweave with the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and the fine linen in a skillful design. 4 They made shoulder pieces for attaching it; it was joined together at its two edges. 5 The artistically woven waistband that was on the ephod was of one piece with the ephod, according to the same workmanship of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
6 Then they mounted the onyx stones surrounded with gold filigree settings, engraved with the names of Israel’s sons as a gem cutter engraves a seal. 7 He fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Making the Breastpiece
8 He(C) also made the embroidered breastpiece with the same workmanship as the ephod of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of finely spun linen. 9 They made the breastpiece square and folded double, nine inches long and nine inches wide.[c] 10 They mounted four rows of gemstones[d] on it. The first row was a row of carnelian, topaz, and emerald;[e] 11 the second row, a turquoise,[f] a sapphire,[g] and a diamond;[h] 12 the third row, a jacinth,[i] an agate, and an amethyst; 13 and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were surrounded with gold filigree in their settings.
14 The 12 stones corresponded to the names of Israel’s sons. Each stone was engraved like a seal with one of the names of the 12 tribes.
15 They made braided chains of pure gold cord for the breastpiece. 16 They also fashioned two gold filigree settings and two gold rings and attached the two rings to its two corners. 17 Then they attached the two gold cords to the two gold rings on the corners of the breastpiece. 18 They attached the other ends of the two cords to the two filigree settings and, in this way, attached them to the ephod’s shoulder pieces in front. 19 They made two other gold rings and put them at the two other corners of the breastpiece on the edge that is next to the inner border of the ephod. 20 They made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the ephod’s two shoulder pieces on its front, close to its seam,[j] above the ephod’s woven waistband. 21 Then they tied the breastpiece from its rings to the rings of the ephod with a cord of blue yarn, so that the breastpiece was above the ephod’s waistband and did not come loose from the ephod. They did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Making the Robe
22 They(D) made the woven robe of the ephod entirely of blue yarn. 23 There was an opening in the center of the robe like that of body armor[k] with a collar around the opening so that it would not tear. 24 They made pomegranates of finely spun blue, purple, and scarlet yarn[l] on the lower hem of the robe. 25 They made bells of pure gold and attached the bells between the pomegranates, all around the hem of the robe between the pomegranates, 26 a bell and a pomegranate alternating all around the lower hem of the robe[m] to be worn for ministry. They made it just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Other Priestly Garments
27 They made the tunics of fine woven linen for Aaron and his sons. 28 They also made the turban and the ornate headbands[n] of fine linen, the undergarments,(E) 29 and the sash of finely spun linen of embroidered blue, purple, and scarlet yarn. They did just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Making the Holy Diadem
30 They also made a medallion, the holy diadem, out of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription like the engraving on a seal:(F)
HOLY TO THE LORD.
31 Then they attached a cord of blue yarn to it in order to mount it on the turban, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Moses’ Inspection of the Tabernacle
32 So all the work for the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was finished. The Israelites did everything just as the Lord had commanded Moses.(G) 33 Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses: the tent with all its furnishings, its clasps, its planks, its crossbars, and its posts and bases; 34 the covering of ram skins dyed red and the covering of manatee skins;[o] the veil for the screen; 35 the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat; 36 the table, all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; 37 the pure gold lampstand, with its lamps arranged and all its utensils, as well as the oil for the light; 38 the gold altar; the anointing oil; the fragrant incense; the screen for the entrance to the tent; 39 the bronze altar with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand; 40 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and bases, the screen for the gate of the courtyard, its ropes and tent pegs, and all the equipment for the service of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; 41 and the specially woven[p] garments for ministering in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests. 42 The Israelites had done all the work according to everything the Lord had commanded Moses.(H) 43 Moses inspected all the work they had accomplished. They had done just as the Lord commanded. Then Moses blessed them.(I)
Footnotes
- Exodus 39:1 Hb obscure
- Exodus 39:3 Sam, Syr, Tg read they
- Exodus 39:9 Lit a span its length and a span its width
- Exodus 39:10 Many of these stones cannot be identified with certainty.
- Exodus 39:10 Or beryl
- Exodus 39:11 Or malachite, or garnet
- Exodus 39:11 Or lapis lazuli
- Exodus 39:11 Hb uncertain; LXX, Vg read jasper
- Exodus 39:12 Hb obscure
- Exodus 39:20 The place where the shoulder pieces join the front of the ephod
- Exodus 39:23 Hb obscure
- Exodus 39:24 Sam, LXX, Vg add and linen
- Exodus 39:26 Lit bell and pomegranate, bell and pomegranate, on the hem of the robe around
- Exodus 39:28 Lit and the headdresses of headbands
- Exodus 39:34 Or of dolphin skins, or of fine leather; Hb obscure
- Exodus 39:41 Hb obscure
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