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Making the Ark of the Covenant

37 Bez′alel made the ark of acacia wood; two cubits and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a molding of gold around it. And he cast for it four rings of gold for its four corners, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side. And he made poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark. And he made a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And he made two cherubim of hammered gold; on the two ends of the mercy seat he made them, one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.

Making the Table for the Bread of the Presence

10 He also made the table of acacia wood; two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height; 11 and he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a molding of gold around it. 12 And he made around it a frame a handbreadth wide, and made a molding of gold around the frame. 13 He cast for it four rings of gold, and fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 14 Close to the frame were the rings, as holders for the poles to carry the table. 15 He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table, and overlaid them with gold. 16 And he made the vessels of pure gold which were to be upon the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour libations.

Making the Lampstand

17 He also made the lampstand of pure gold. The base and the shaft of the lampstand were made of hammered work; its cups, its capitals, and its flowers were of one piece with it. 18 And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 19 three cups made like almonds, each with capital and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almonds, each with capital and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. 20 And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like almonds, with their capitals and flowers, 21 and a capital of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out of it. 22 Their capitals and their branches were of one piece with it; the whole of it was one piece of hammered work of pure gold. 23 And he made its seven lamps and its snuffers and its trays of pure gold. 24 He made it and all its utensils of a talent of pure gold.

Making the Altar of Incense

25 He made the altar of incense of acacia wood; its length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit; it was square, and two cubits was its height; its horns were of one piece with it. 26 He overlaid it with pure gold, its top, and its sides round about, and its horns; and he made a molding of gold round about it, 27 and made two rings of gold on it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, as holders for the poles with which to carry it. 28 And he made the poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold.

Making the Anointing Oil and the Incense

29 He made the holy anointing oil also, and the pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer.

37 After this Bezalel built the covenant chest out of acacia wood. It was 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high. He overlaid the entire thing, inside and out, with pure gold, and decorated it with gold trim all the way around it. He cast four gold rings and attached them to its four corners—two rings on each side of the chest. He made poles out of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. He slid the poles through the rings on the sides of the chest in order to carry it without touching it. The poles were never to be removed.

He built a cover for the chest out of pure gold. It is known as the seat of mercy—where sins are atoned—and it was 45 inches long and 27 inches wide. He also fashioned two winged guardians out of hammered gold and placed them at both ends of the seat of mercy. He placed one winged creature at each end of the seat of mercy. He had it made so that the winged guardians appeared as one solid piece with the cover. The guardians faced one another with bowed heads, their wings spread so that they were reaching up and covering the seat of mercy.

10 Bezalel then built the table out of acacia wood—36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high. 11 He overlaid it with pure gold, and decorated it with gold trim around the edge. 12 He put a three-inch-wide rim around it and placed gold trim around the rim. 13 Then he cast four gold rings and attached them to each of the table’s four corners at its four legs. 14 The rings were placed just beneath the rim so they could hold the poles in order to carry the table. 15 He made the poles out of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. 16 He had his artisans make different kinds of vessels for use at the table—platters, pans, pitchers, and bowls—out of pure gold for use with the offerings of incense and drink.

17 Then Bezalel fashioned a lampstand out of pure, hammered gold. He made its base, trunk, branches, decorative buds and blossoms, and lamp cups out of one solid piece. 18 Six branches extended from the trunk’s sides—three on one side and three on the other. 19 Each of the six branches had three decorative cups shaped like almond blossoms whose buds have just flowered. 20 On the trunk of the lampstand, there were four cups, shaped like almond blossoms whose buds have just flowered. 21 A single almond bud sat beneath each pair of six branches extending out from the trunk of the lampstand. 22 All the buds and branches were crafted out of pure, hammered gold of one solid piece. 23 Bezalel had his artisans make seven lamps, trays, and tongs out of pure gold. 24 He made the lampstand and all its accessories out of 75 pounds of pure gold.

25 Bezalel then built the altar of incense out of more acacia wood. He made it in the shape of a square—18 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 36 inches high. He carved the horns and the top of the altar out of one piece of wood. 26 He overlaid the whole thing, the top, the sides, and the horns with pure gold and attached a gold trim around its edges. 27 He fashioned two gold rings and attached them beneath the trim on the two opposite sides to hold the poles used to carry the altar. 28 He made the poles out of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

29 With the skill of a master perfumer, he blended the ingredients to make the sacred anointing oil and fragrant incense.

The Ark(A)

37 Bezalel(B) made the ark(C) of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.[a] He overlaid it with pure gold,(D) both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it. He cast four gold rings for it and fastened them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. Then he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. And he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it.

He made the atonement cover(E) of pure gold—two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. Then he made two cherubim(F) out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. He made one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; at the two ends he made them of one piece with the cover. The cherubim had their wings spread upward, overshadowing(G) the cover with them. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the cover.(H)

The Table(I)

10 They[b] made the table(J) of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high.[c] 11 Then they overlaid it with pure gold(K) and made a gold molding around it. 12 They also made around it a rim a handbreadth[d] wide and put a gold molding on the rim. 13 They cast four gold rings for the table and fastened them to the four corners, where the four legs were. 14 The rings(L) were put close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. 15 The poles for carrying the table were made of acacia wood and were overlaid with gold. 16 And they made from pure gold the articles for the table—its plates and dishes and bowls and its pitchers for the pouring out of drink offerings.

The Lampstand(M)

17 They made the lampstand(N) of pure gold. They hammered out its base and shaft, and made its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. 18 Six branches extended from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. 19 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms were on one branch, three on the next branch and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. 20 And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. 21 One bud was under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. 22 The buds and the branches were all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.(O)

23 They made its seven lamps,(P) as well as its wick trimmers and trays, of pure gold. 24 They made the lampstand and all its accessories from one talent[e] of pure gold.

The Altar of Incense(Q)

25 They made the altar of incense(R) out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide and two cubits high[f]—its horns(S) of one piece with it. 26 They overlaid the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and made a gold molding around it. 27 They made two gold rings(T) below the molding—two on each of the opposite sides—to hold the poles used to carry it. 28 They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.(U)

29 They also made the sacred anointing oil(V) and the pure, fragrant incense(W)—the work of a perfumer.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 37:1 That is, about 3 3/4 feet long and 2 1/4 feet wide and high or about 1.1 meters long and 68 centimeters wide and high; similarly in verse 6
  2. Exodus 37:10 Or He; also in verses 11-29
  3. Exodus 37:10 That is, about 3 feet long, 1 1/2 feet wide and 2 1/4 feet high or about 90 centimeters long, 45 centimeters wide and 68 centimeters high
  4. Exodus 37:12 That is, about 3 inches or about 7.5 centimeters
  5. Exodus 37:24 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms
  6. Exodus 37:25 That is, about 1 1/2 feet long and wide and 3 feet high or about 45 centimeters long and wide and 90 centimeters high