Building the Tabernacle

36 “And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every (A)gifted artisan in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the (B)sanctuary,[a] shall do according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

The People Give More than Enough

Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone (C)whose heart [b]was stirred, to come and do the work. And they received from Moses all the (D)offering which the children of Israel (E)had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, and they spoke to Moses, saying, (F)“The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do.”

So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing, for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too (G)much.

Building the Tabernacle(H)

(I)Then all the gifted artisans among them who worked on the tabernacle made ten curtains woven of fine linen, and of blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim they made them. The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the curtains were all the same size. 10 And he coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. 11 He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain on the selvedge of one set; likewise he did on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set. 12 (J)Fifty loops he made on one curtain, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain on the end of the second set; the loops held one curtain to another. 13 And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, that it might be one tabernacle.

14 (K)He made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains were the same size. 16 He coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 17 And he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain of the second set. 18 He also made fifty bronze clasps to couple the tent together, that it might be one. 19 (L)Then he made a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red, and a covering of [c]badger skins above that.

20 For the tabernacle (M)he made boards of acacia wood, standing upright. 21 The length of each board was ten cubits, and the width of each board a cubit and a half. 22 Each board had two [d]tenons (N)for binding one to another. Thus he made for all the boards of the tabernacle. 23 And he made boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. 24 Forty sockets of silver he made to go under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. 25 And for the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards 26 and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. 27 For the west side of the tabernacle he made six boards. 28 He also made two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. 29 And they were coupled at the bottom and [e]coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus he made both of them for the two corners. 30 So there were eight boards and their sockets—sixteen sockets of silver—two sockets under each of the boards.

31 And he made (O)bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle on the far side westward. 33 And he made the middle bar to pass through the boards from one end to the other. 34 He overlaid the boards with gold, made their rings of gold to be holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

35 And he made (P)a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen; it was worked with an artistic design of cherubim. 36 He made for it four pillars of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, with their hooks of gold; and he cast four sockets of silver for them.

37 He also made a (Q)screen for the tabernacle door, of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a [f]weaver, 38 and its five pillars with their hooks. And he overlaid their capitals and their rings with gold, but their five sockets were bronze.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 36:1 holy place
  2. Exodus 36:2 lifted him up
  3. Exodus 36:19 Or dolphin
  4. Exodus 36:22 Projections for joining, lit. hands
  5. Exodus 36:29 Lit. doubled
  6. Exodus 36:37 Lit. variegator, a weaver in colors

36 Then Bezalel and Oholiav, and kol ish chacham lev, in whom Hashem gave chochmah and tevunah to have da’as to do all manner of work for the Avodas HaKodesh, according to all that Hashem had commanded.

And Moshe called Bezalel and Oholiav, and kol ish chochmah lev, in whose lev Hashem had given chochmah, even every one whose lev stirred him up to come unto the work to do it;

And they received of Moshe kol haterumah, which the Bnei Yisroel had brought for the work of the Avodas HaKodesh, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him nedavah every boker.

And all the chachamim, that wrought all the work of HaKodesh, came every man from his work which they were doing;

And they spoke unto Moshe, saying, HaAm bring much more than enough for the Avodah of the work, which Hashem commanded to do.

And Moshe gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the machaneh, saying, Let neither ish nor isha make any more work for the terumat HaKodesh. So HaAm were restrained from bringing.

For the work had been sufficient for all the work to do it v’hoter.

And kol chacham lev among them that wrought the work of the Mishkan made ten curtains of fine linen, twisted with turquoise, and purple, and scarlet wool; with keruvim in a woven artistic design made he [Bezalel] them.

The length of each curtain was twenty and eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the curtains were all of the one size.

10 And he joined five curtains one unto another; and the other five curtains he joined one unto another.

11 And he made loops of turquoise wool on the edge of one curtain at the end of the first set; likewise he made them along the edge of the end curtains of the second set.

12 Fifty loops made he in one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the end curtain in the second set; the loops were to be opposite one another.

13 And he made fifty hooks of zahav, and joined the curtains one unto another with the hooks; so it became Mishkan Echad.

14 And he made curtains of goat hair for the Ohel over the Mishkan; eleven curtains he made them.

15 The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the width of one curtain; the eleven curtains were of the one size.

16 And he joined five curtains into a set, and six curtains into a set.

17 And he made fifty loops upon the uttermost edge of the curtain at the end of the set, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain of the other set.

18 And he made fifty hooks of nechoshet to attach the Ohel together, that it might be echad (one).

19 And he made a Mikhseh (Cover) for the Ohel of dyed red ram skin, and a tachash hide Mikhseh above that.

20 And he made kerashim (planks) for the Mishkan of acacia wood, standing erect.

21 The length of a keresh (plank) was ten cubits, and the width of a keresh one cubit and a half.

22 One keresh had two yadot (projections, tenons), equally distant one from another; thus did he make for all the kerashim of the Mishkan.

23 And he made kerashim (frames) for the Mishkan; twenty kerashim for the negev (south) side southward;

24 And arba’im sockets of kesef he made under the twenty kerashim; two sockets under one keresh for its two tenons, and two sockets under another keresh for its two tenons.

25 And for the other side of the Mishkan, which is toward the north, he made twenty kerashim,

26 And their arba’im sockets of kesef; two sockets under one keresh, and two sockets under another keresh.

27 And for the sides of the Mishkan westward he made six kerashim.

28 And two kerashim made he for the corners of the Mishkan in the back.

29 And they were doubled at the bottom, and joined together; at the top thereof, there was one ring; thus he did to both of them in both the corners.

30 And there were eight kerashim; and their sockets were sixteen sockets of kesef, under every keresh two sockets.

31 And he made crossbars of acacia wood; five for the kerashim of the one side of the Mishkan,

32 And five crossbars for the kerashim of the other side of the Mishkan, and five crossbars for the kerashim of the Mishkan for the sides westward.

33 And he made the middle crossbar to extend within the kerashim from the one end to the other.

34 And he overlaid the kerashim with zahav, and made their rings of zahav to be housing for the crossbars, and overlaid the crossbars with zahav.

35 And he made a Parochet [see Mk 15:38] of turquoise, and purple, and scarlet wool, and twisted fine linen; with keruvim made he it of artistic embroidery.

36 And he made thereunto four ammudim of acacia wood, and overlaid them with zahav; their hooks were of zahav; and he cast for them four sockets of kesef.

37 And he made a Masach for the petach of the Ohel of turquoise, and purple, and scarlet wool, and twisted fine linen, the work of artistic embroidery;

38 And the five ammudim of it with their hooks; and he overlaid their tops and their bands with zahav; but their five sockets were of nechoshet.

36 So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person(A) to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary(B) are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.”

Then Moses summoned Bezalel(C) and Oholiab(D) and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing(E) to come and do the work. They received from Moses all the offerings(F) the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough(G) for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.”

Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more(H) than enough to do all the work.

The Tabernacle(I)

All those who were skilled among the workers made the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by expert hands. All the curtains were the same size—twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide.[a] 10 They joined five of the curtains together and did the same with the other five. 11 Then they made loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and the same was done with the end curtain in the other set. 12 They also made fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. 13 Then they made fifty gold clasps and used them to fasten the two sets of curtains together so that the tabernacle was a unit.(J)

14 They made curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven altogether. 15 All eleven curtains were the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide.[b] 16 They joined five of the curtains into one set and the other six into another set. 17 Then they made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and also along the edge of the end curtain in the other set. 18 They made fifty bronze clasps to fasten the tent together as a unit.(K) 19 Then they made for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of the other durable leather.[c]

20 They made upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. 21 Each frame was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide,[d] 22 with two projections set parallel to each other. They made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 23 They made twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle 24 and made forty silver bases to go under them—two bases for each frame, one under each projection. 25 For the other side, the north side of the tabernacle, they made twenty frames 26 and forty silver bases—two under each frame. 27 They made six frames for the far end, that is, the west end of the tabernacle, 28 and two frames were made for the corners of the tabernacle at the far end. 29 At these two corners the frames were double from the bottom all the way to the top and fitted into a single ring; both were made alike. 30 So there were eight frames and sixteen silver bases—two under each frame.

31 They also made crossbars of acacia wood: five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five for those on the other side, and five for the frames on the west, at the far end of the tabernacle. 33 They made the center crossbar so that it extended from end to end at the middle of the frames. 34 They overlaid the frames with gold and made gold rings to hold the crossbars. They also overlaid the crossbars with gold.

35 They made the curtain(L) of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. 36 They made four posts of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold. They made gold hooks for them and cast their four silver bases. 37 For the entrance to the tent they made a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer;(M) 38 and they made five posts with hooks for them. They overlaid the tops of the posts and their bands with gold and made their five bases of bronze.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 36:9 That is, about 42 feet long and 6 feet wide or about 13 meters long and 1.8 meters wide
  2. Exodus 36:15 That is, about 45 feet long and 6 feet wide or about 14 meters long and 1.8 meters wide
  3. Exodus 36:19 Possibly the hides of large aquatic mammals (see 35:7)
  4. Exodus 36:21 That is, about 15 feet long and 2 1/4 feet wide or about 4.5 meters long and 68 centimeters wide