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Making the Bronze Altar and the Basin

38 And he made the burnt-offering altar of acacia wood; its length was five cubits, and its width was five cubits—it was square—and its height was three cubits. And he made its horns on its four corners; its horns were of one piece with it;[a] and he overlaid it with bronze. And he made all the equipment of the altar—the pots and the shovels and the sprinkling bowls and the forks[b] and the fire pans—all its equipment he made with bronze. And he made for the altar a grating, a work of bronze network under its ledge, below, up to its middle. And he cast four rings on the four ends of the bronze grating as holders[c] for the poles. And he made the poles of acacia wood, and he overlaid them with bronze. And he put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it with them. He made it hollow with boards.

And he made the basin of bronze and its stand of bronze from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the entrance of the tent of assembly.

Making the Courtyard

And he made the courtyard; for the south[d] side were the hangings of the court of finely twisted linen, one hundred cubits, 10 with their twenty pillars and their twenty bases of bronze and with the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver. 11 And for the north side the hangings were one hundred cubits with their twenty pillars and their twenty bases of bronze and with the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver. 12 And for the west[e] side fifty cubits of hangings with their ten pillars and their ten bases and with the hooks of the pillars and their bands of silver. 13 And for the eastward side, toward sunrise, fifty cubits; 14 fifteen cubits of hangings were to the shoulder,[f] with their three pillars and their three bases, 15 and for the second shoulder[g] on each side[h] of the gate of the courtyard were fifteen cubits of hangings, with their three pillars and their three bases. 16 All the hangings of the courtyard all around were finely twisted linen, 17 and the bases for the pillars were bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their bands were silver, and the overlay of their tops was silver, and all the pillars of the courtyard were banded with silver.

18 And the screen of the gate of the courtyard was the work of an embroiderer, with blue and purple and crimson yarns and finely twisted linen; it was twenty cubits long and five cubits high,[i] like the hangings of the courtyard, 19 and with their four pillars and their four bases of bronze, with their silver hooks and with their tops and their bands of silver. 20 And all the pegs[j] for the tabernacle and for the courtyard all around were bronze.

Amounts of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Used

21 These are the records of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, which were recorded at the command of[k] Moses, the work of the Levites, in the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 22 And Bezalel the son of Uri the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, did all that Yahweh commanded Moses. 23 And with him was Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan, a skilled craftsman and a designer and an embroiderer with the blue and with the purple and with the crimson yarns and with the linen.

24 And all the gold used for the work, in the work of the sanctuary, it was the gold of the wave offering—twenty-nine talents and seven hundred and thirty shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.

25 And the silver recorded from the community was a hundred talents and a thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel. 26 It was a bekah for the individual, the half shekel according to the sanctuary shekel, for everyone who was counted,[l] from twenty years old[m] and above, for six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty. 27 And it was one hundred talents of the silver to cast the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the curtain—one hundred bases for one hundred talents of silver, a talent for each base. 28 And from the thousand seven hundred and seventy-five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and he overlaid their tops, and he made bands for them.

29 And the bronze of the wave offering was seventy talents and two thousand four hundred shekels. 30 And he made with it the bases of the entrance of the tent of assembly and the bronze altar and the bronze grating that belonged to it and all the equipment of the altar 31 and the bases of the courtyard all around and the bases of the gate of the courtyard and all the pegs[n] of the tabernacle and all the pegs[o] of the courtyard all around.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 38:2 Literally “from it”
  2. Exodus 38:3 1 Samuel 2:13 mentions a fork with “three teeth” used by priests
  3. Exodus 38:5 Literally “houses”
  4. Exodus 38:9 Or “southward southward”
  5. Exodus 38:12 Literally “sea”
  6. Exodus 38:14 Or “side,” referring to the span on one side of the courtyard’s entry
  7. Exodus 38:15 Or “side,” referring to the span on one side of the courtyard’s entry
  8. Exodus 38:15 Literally “from this and from this”
  9. Exodus 38:18 Literally “height in width”
  10. Exodus 38:20 Literally “hands”
  11. Exodus 38:21 Literally “mouth of”
  12. Exodus 38:26 Literally “all of the going over to the being counted”
  13. Exodus 38:26 Literally “a son of twenty years”
  14. Exodus 38:31 Literally “hands”
  15. Exodus 38:31 Literally “hands”

The Tabernacle Completed

38 (A)Then he made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, [a]five cubits [b]long, and five cubits [c]wide, square, and three cubits [d]high. And he made its horns on its four corners, its horns [e]being of one piece with it, and he overlaid it with [f]bronze. He also made all the utensils of the altar, the pails, the shovels, the basins, the meat-forks, and the firepans; he made all its utensils of bronze. And he made for the altar a grating of bronze netting beneath, under its ledge, reaching halfway up. He also cast four rings on the four ends of the bronze grating as holders for the poles. He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. Then he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar, with which to carry it. He made it hollow with planks.

(B)Moreover, he made the basin of bronze with its base of bronze, [g]from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

(C)Then he made the courtyard: [h]for the south side the hangings of the courtyard were of fine twisted linen, a hundred cubits; 10 their twenty pillars, and their twenty bases, were made of bronze; the hooks of the pillars and their [i]bands were of silver. 11 For the north side there were a hundred cubits; their twenty pillars and their twenty bases were of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their [j]bands were of silver. 12 For the west side there were hangings of fifty cubits with their ten pillars and their ten bases; the hooks of the pillars and their [k]bands were of silver. 13 For the [l]east side, fifty cubits. 14 The hangings for the one [m]side of the gate were fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases, 15 and so for the [n]other [o]side. [p]On both sides of the gate of the courtyard were hangings of fifteen cubits, with their three pillars and their three bases. 16 All the hangings of the courtyard all around were of fine twisted linen. 17 And the bases for the pillars were of bronze, the hooks of the pillars and their [q]bands, of silver; and the overlaying of their tops, of silver, and all the pillars of the courtyard were furnished with silver [r]bands. 18 Now the curtain of the gate of the courtyard was the work of the [s]weaver, of [t]violet, purple, and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. And the length was twenty cubits and the [u]height was five cubits, corresponding to the hangings of the courtyard. 19 Their four pillars and their four bases were of bronze; their hooks were of silver, and the overlaying of their tops and their [v]bands were of silver. 20 All the pegs of the [w]tabernacle and of the courtyard all around were of bronze.

The Cost of the Tabernacle

21 [x]This is the number of the things for the [y]tabernacle, the [z]tabernacle of the testimony, as they were [aa]counted according to the [ab]command of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 22 Now (D)Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that the Lord had commanded Moses. 23 With him was (E)Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and a skilled embroiderer, and a [ac]weaver in violet, in purple, and in scarlet material, and fine linen.

24 All the gold that was used for the work, in all the work of the sanctuary, [ad]which was the gold of the wave offering, was twenty-nine [ae]talents and 730 [af]shekels, according to (F)the shekel of the sanctuary. 25 And (G)the silver of those of the congregation who were [ag]counted was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary; 26 (H)a beka a head (that is, half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary), assessed to each one who passed over to those who were [ah]counted, from twenty years old and upward, for (I)603,550 men. 27 The hundred talents of silver were used for casting the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent for a base. 28 And of the 1,775 shekels, he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their tops and made [ai]bands for them. 29 And the bronze of the wave offering was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels. 30 With it he made the bases to the doorway of the tent of meeting, and the bronze altar and its bronze grating, and all the utensils of the altar, 31 and the bases of the courtyard all around and the bases of the gate of the courtyard, and all the pegs of the [aj]tabernacle and all the pegs of the courtyard all around.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 38:1 About 7.5 ft. square and 4.5 ft. high or 2.3 m and 1.4 m
  2. Exodus 38:1 Lit its length
  3. Exodus 38:1 Lit its width
  4. Exodus 38:1 Lit its height
  5. Exodus 38:2 Lit were
  6. Exodus 38:2 Or copper, and so for bronze throughout the ch
  7. Exodus 38:8 Lit with
  8. Exodus 38:9 Lit to the side of the Negev, to the south
  9. Exodus 38:10 Or rings
  10. Exodus 38:11 Or rings
  11. Exodus 38:12 Or rings
  12. Exodus 38:13 Lit east side, eastward
  13. Exodus 38:14 Lit shoulder
  14. Exodus 38:15 Lit second
  15. Exodus 38:15 Lit shoulder
  16. Exodus 38:15 Lit On this side and on that side
  17. Exodus 38:17 Or rings
  18. Exodus 38:17 Or rings
  19. Exodus 38:18 Lit variegator; i.e., a weaver in colors
  20. Exodus 38:18 Or bluish; LXX hyacinth in color, and so throughout the ch
  21. Exodus 38:18 Lit height in width
  22. Exodus 38:19 Or rings
  23. Exodus 38:20 Lit dwelling place
  24. Exodus 38:21 Lit These are the appointed things of the tabernacle
  25. Exodus 38:21 Lit dwelling place
  26. Exodus 38:21 Lit dwelling place
  27. Exodus 38:21 Lit appointed
  28. Exodus 38:21 Lit mouth
  29. Exodus 38:23 Lit variegator; i.e., a weaver in colors
  30. Exodus 38:24 Lit and it was
  31. Exodus 38:24 A talent was about 75 lb. or 34 kg
  32. Exodus 38:24 A shekel was about 0.5 oz. or 14 gm
  33. Exodus 38:25 Lit mustered
  34. Exodus 38:26 Lit mustered
  35. Exodus 38:28 Or rings
  36. Exodus 38:31 Lit dwelling place