Parashat Pekudei

²¹ These are the accounts of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, as they were recorded according to the commandment of Moses, by the service of the Levites, under the hand of Ithamar son of Aaron the kohen. ²² Bezalel son of Uri son of Hur of the tribe of Judah made all that Adonai commanded Moses. ²³ Along with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan, a craftsman, a skillful workman, and a weaver of colors, in blue, purple, scarlet and fine linen.

²⁴ The entirety of the gold that was used for the work of the Sanctuary, including the gold of the offering, was 29 talents^[a] and 730 shekels, according to the Sanctuary shekel. ²⁵ The silver from those numbered from the congregation was 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the Sanctuary shekel— ²⁶ that is, a beka, or half a shekel per head, according to the shekel of the Sanctuary, for everyone who was recorded, from 20 years old and upward, for 603,550 men. ²⁷ The 100 talents of silver were for casting the bases of the Sanctuary, and the bases for the inner curtain, 100 bases for 100 talents, a talent for each base. ²⁸ The 1,775 shekels he made into hooks for the pillars, overlaid their capitals, and made bands for them.

²⁹ The bronze from the offering was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels. ³⁰ With it he made the bases for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, the bronze altar, the bronze grating, all the utensils for the altar, ³¹ along with the bases of the courtyard all around, the bases for the gate of the courtyard, as well as all the pegs of the Tabernacle and the pegs for the courtyard all around.

Holy Garments for Aaron and His Sons

39 Next they made woven garments of blue, purple and scarlet, for ministering in the holy place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, as Adonai commanded Moses.

² He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet and finely twisted linen. ³ They hammered the gold into thin plates, and cut it into threads, to work it in with the blue, purple and scarlet, within the fine linen, the work of a skillful craftsman. ⁴ Then they made shoulder pieces for it, joined together at the two ends. ⁵ The artfully woven band on the ephod, with which to gird it, was of the same piece and the same kind of workmanship of gold, blue, purple, scarlet and finely twisted linen, as Adonai commanded Moses.

⁶ They placed the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold, etched with the engravings of a signet seal, according to the names of Bnei-Yisrael. ⁷ He put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, to be memorial stones for Bnei-Yisrael, as Adonai commanded Moses.

⁸ He made the breastplate, the work of a skillful craftsman, like the work of the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, scarlet and finely twisted linen. ⁹ It was square and folded doubled, a span long and a span wide. ¹⁰ They mounted within it four rows of stones. A row of ruby, topaz and emerald were the first row. ¹¹ In the second row were a turquoise, a sapphire and a diamond. ¹² In the third row were a jacinth, an agate and an amethyst, ¹³ and in the fourth row were a beryl, an onyx and a jasper. They were enclosed in fittings of gold within their settings. ¹⁴ The stones corresponded to the names of Bnei-Yisrael, like the engravings of a signet seal, each one according to its name for the twelve tribes.

¹⁵ They attached braided chains to the breastplate, of wreathed work from pure gold. ¹⁶ They made two settings of gold, and two golden rings, and set the two rings on the two ends of the breastplate. ¹⁷ They attached the two golden chains to the two rings at the ends of the breastplate. ¹⁸ The other two ends of the chains they placed on the two settings, and fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod, in the front. ¹⁹ They also made two golden rings, and set them on the two ends of the breastplate, on the edge that was toward the side of the ephod facing inward. ²⁰ They made two more rings of gold, and put them on the two shoulder pieces of the ephod underneath, in the front, enclosed by their coupling, above the artfully woven band of the ephod. ²¹ Then they bound the breastplate by the rings to the rings of the ephod with a blue thread, so that it would rest on the artfully woven band and not be loosened from the ephod, as Adonai commanded Moses.

²² He also made the robe of the ephod from woven work, all of blue, ²³ with a hole in the center of the robe, and a binding woven around the hole as a collar, so that it would not be torn. ²⁴ They also made, on the hem of the robe, pomegranates of blue, purple, scarlet and twisted linen. ²⁵ Then they made bells of pure gold and put the bells between the pomegranates on the hem of the robe all around, between the pomegranates, ²⁶ a bell and a pomegranate, then another bell and a pomegranate, all around on the hem of the robe, to minister in, as Adonai commanded Moses.

²⁷ Then they made the sashes of fine linen, woven work for Aaron and for his sons, ²⁸ the turban of fine linen, the headwear, the linen undergarments of finely twisted linen, ²⁹ along with the tunic of checkered work, in blue, purple and scarlet, the work of a color weaver, as Adonai commanded Moses.

³⁰ Finally they made the plate of the holy coronet from pure gold, and wrote an inscription on it, like the engraving of a signet seal: HOLY TO Adonai. ³¹ They tied to it a blue thread, to fasten onto the turban above, as Adonai commanded Moses.

³² So all the work of the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, was finished. Bnei-Yisrael did everything according to what Adonai had commanded Moses—they did it just so. ³³ Then they brought the Tabernacle to Moses, along with the tent and all of its furnishings, its clasps, its boards, its crossbars, its pillars, and its bases; ³⁴ along with the covering of ram skins dyed red, and the covering of sealskins, the veil of the curtain; ³⁵ as well as the Ark of the Testimony with its poles, and the atonement cover; ³⁶ the table and all of its utensils, the showbread; ³⁷ the pure menorah with its lamps to be set in order, along with all of its utensils, and oil for the light; ³⁸ the golden altar, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, and the curtain for the entrance of the tent; ³⁹ the bronze altar, its grating and its poles along with all of its utensils, and the basin and its base; ⁴⁰ the hangings for the courtyard, with its pillars, its bases and the curtain for the gate of the courtyard, with its cords and its pegs, along with all the instruments for the service of the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting; ⁴¹ as well as the woven garments for ministering in the Sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the kohen and for his sons to serve as kohanim.

⁴² According to everything that Adonai had commanded Moses, Bnei-Yisrael had done all the work just so. ⁴³ When Moses saw the entire work, and that they had done it just as Adonai had commanded, Moses blessed them.

Setting up the Tabernacle

40 Then Adonai spoke to Moses saying, ² “On the first day of the first month, you will set up the Tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting. ³ You are to put the Ark of the Testimony there, and screen off the Ark with the curtain. ⁴ Then bring in the table, and set in order the bread that is on it. Bring in the menorah and light its lamps. ⁵ Set the golden incense altar in front of the Ark of the Testimony, and hang the curtain over the entrance of the Tabernacle.

⁶ “Set the altar of burnt offering before the entrance of the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting. ⁷ Set up the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it. ⁸ Set up the courtyard all around, and hang the curtain of the gate of the courtyard.

⁹ “Take the anointing oil and anoint the Tabernacle, and everything within it, and consecrate it, along with all of its furnishings, and it will be holy. ¹⁰ Also you are to anoint the altar of burnt offering with all of its utensils and consecrate the altar. The altar will be most holy. ¹¹ Then you are to anoint the basin along with its base and sanctify it.

¹² “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and wash them with water. ¹³ Put the holy garments on Aaron, anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may minister to Me as a kohen. ¹⁴ Also bring his sons and put tunics upon them. ¹⁵ You are to anoint them, as you did their father, so that they too may minister to Me as kohanim. Their anointing will be for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.” ¹⁶ Moses did so, just as Adonai had commanded him.

¹⁷ Now it happened during the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the Tabernacle was raised up. ¹⁸ Moses raised the Tabernacle, and laid its bases, set up the framework of boards, put in the crossbars and set up its pillars. ¹⁹ Then he spread the tent over the Tabernacle and put the covering of the tent on it, just as Adonai had commanded Moses.

²⁰ He placed the Testimony into the Ark, set the poles on the Ark, and put the atonement cover on top of the Ark. ²¹ He brought the Ark into the Tabernacle, set up the curtain as a screen, and screened off the Ark of the Testimony, just as Adonai had commanded Moses.

²² Then he set up the table inside the Tent of Meeting, on the side of the Tabernacle northward, outside the curtain. ²³ He set a row of bread in order upon it before Adonai, just as Adonai had commanded Moses. ²⁴ Then he placed the menorah in the Tent of Meeting, over against the table, on the south side of the Tabernacle. ²⁵ Then he lit the lamps before Adonai, just as Adonai had commanded Moses.

²⁶ Next he placed the golden altar in the Tent of Meeting before the curtain, ²⁷ and he burned sweet spices of incense there, just as Adonai had commanded Moses. ²⁸ He hung the curtain over the entrance of the Tabernacle. ²⁹ Then he set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the grain offering, just as Adonai had commanded Moses.

³⁰ Next he set up the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, ³¹ so that Moses, Aaron and his sons could wash their hands and their feet there. ³² When they went into the Tent of Meeting and when they came near to the altar, they washed, just as Adonai had commanded Moses.

³³ He set up the courtyard around the Tabernacle and the altar and set up the screen at the gate of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.

Glory Fills the Tabernacle

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of Adonai filled the Tabernacle. ³⁵ Moses was unable to enter into the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud resided there and the glory of Adonai filled the Tabernacle.

³⁶ Now whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tabernacle, Bnei-Yisrael went onward, throughout all their journeys. ³⁷ But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not move out until the day that it was. ³⁸ For the cloud of Adonai was on the Tabernacle by day and a fire was there by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.