Exodus 26  Contemporary English Version

Curtains and Coverings for the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 36.8-19)

The Lord said to Moses:

26 The top of the sacred tent must be made from ten pieces of the finest linen, woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. ² Make each piece twelve meters long and two meters wide ³ and sew them together into two panels with five sections each. ^4-6 Put 50 loops of blue cloth along one of the wider sides of each panel, then fasten the two panels at the loops with 50 gold hooks.

^7-8 As the material for protecting the tent, use goat hair to weave eleven sections of cloth 13 meters by 2 meters each. ⁹ Sew five of the sections together to make one panel. Then sew the other six together to make a second panel, and fold the sixth section double over the front of the tent. ¹⁰ Put 50 loops along one of the wider sides of each panel ¹¹ and fasten the two panels at the loops with 50 bronze hooks. ^12-13 The panel of goat hair will be a meter longer than the tent itself, so fold 50 centimeters of the material behind the tent and on each side as a protective covering. ¹⁴ Make two more coverings—one with tanned ram skins and the other with fine leather.

The Framework for the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 36.20-34)

The Lord said:

¹⁵ Build a framework of acacia wood for the walls of the sacred tent. ¹⁶ Make each frame 4 meters high and 66 centimeters wide ¹⁷ with two wooden pegs near the bottom. ^18-21 Place two silver stands under each frame with sockets for the pegs, so the frames can be joined together. Put 20 of these frames along the south side and 20 more along the north. ²² For the back wall along the west side use six frames ^23-24 with two more at the southwest and northwest corners. Make certain that these corner frames are joined from top to bottom. ²⁵ Altogether, this back wall will have eight frames with two silver stands under each one.

^26-27 Make five crossbars for each of the wooden frames, ²⁸ with the center crossbar running the full length of the wall. ²⁹ Cover the frames and the crossbars with gold and attach gold rings to the frames to run the crossbars through. ³⁰ Then set up the tent in the way I showed you on the mountain.

The Curtain inside the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 36.35-38)

The Lord said:

^31-33 (A) Make a curtain to separate the holy place from the most holy place. Use fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool, and embroidered with figures of winged creatures. Cover four acacia wood posts with gold and set them each on a silver stand. Then fasten gold hooks to the posts and hang the curtain there.

³⁴ Inside the most holy place, put the sacred chest that has the place of mercy on its lid.^{[a] 35} Outside the most holy place, as you face the curtain, put the table for the sacred bread on the right side and the gold lampstand on the left.

³⁶ For the entrance to the tent, use a piece of fine linen woven with blue, purple, and red wool and embroidered with fancy needlework. ³⁷ Cover five acacia wood posts with gold and set them each on a bronze stand. Then put gold hooks on the posts and hang the curtain there.