Exodus 40
Lexham English Bible
Completion of the Tabernacle
40 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “On the first day of the month, you will set up the tabernacle of the tent of assembly. 3 And you will put there the ark of the testimony, and you will cover over the ark with the curtain.[a] 4 And you will bring the table, and you will arrange its setting, and you will bring the lampstand, and you will set up its lamps. 5 And you will put the gold altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and you will set up the entrance screen for the tabernacle. 6 And you will put the altar of the burnt offering before the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of assembly. 7 And you will put the basin between the tent of assembly and the altar, and you will put water in it.[b] 8 And you will set up the courtyard all around, and you will put up the screen of the gate of the courtyard.
9 “And you will take the anointing oil, and you will anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and you will consecrate all of its equipment,[c] and it will be holy. 10 And you will anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all of its equipment,[d] and you will consecrate the altar, and the altar will be a most holy thing.[e] 11 And you will anoint the basin and its stand, and you will consecrate it. 12 And you will bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of assembly, and you will wash them with the water. 13 And you will clothe Aaron with the holy garments, and you will anoint him, and you will consecrate him, and he will serve as a priest for me. 14 And you will bring his sons, and you will clothe them with tunics. 15 And you will anoint them as you anointed their father, and they will serve as priests for me. And their anointing will be for them to be a lasting priesthood[f] throughout their generations.” 16 And Moses did according to all that Yahweh had commanded him; so he did.
17 In[g] the first month of the second year, on the first of the month, the tabernacle was set up. 18 And Moses raised the tabernacle, and he placed its bases, and he set up its frames,[h] and he placed its bars, and he raised its pillars. 19 And he spread the tent over the tabernacle; he placed the covering of the tent over it, above it, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 20 And he took and he put the testimony into the ark, and he placed the poles on the ark, and he put the atonement cover on the ark, above it. 21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and he set up the curtain of the screening, and he shielded the ark of the testimony, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
22 And he put the table in the tent of assembly on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain. 23 And he arranged on it an arrangement of bread before Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 24 And he placed the lampstand in the tent of assembly opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle. 25 And he set up the lamps before Yahweh, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 26 And he placed the gold altar in the tent of assembly before the curtain. 27 And he turned fragrant incense into smoke on it, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
28 And he set up the entrance screen for the tabernacle. 29 And the altar of burnt offering he placed at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of assembly, and he offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as Yahweh had commanded Moses. 30 And he placed the basin between the tent of assembly and the altar, and he put there water for washing. 31 And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet from it. 32 At their going into the tent of assembly and at their approaching the altar, they washed, as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
33 And he set up the courtyard all around the tabernacle and the altar, and he put up the screen of the gate of the courtyard, and Moses completed the work. 34 And the cloud covered the tent of assembly, and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was unable to go into the tent of assembly because the cloud settled on it and the glory of Yahweh filled the tabernacle. 36 And when the cloud was lifted from the tabernacle, the Israelites[i] set out on all their journeys. 37 But if the cloud was not lifted, they did not set out until the day of its being lifted. 38 For the cloud of Yahweh was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night before the eyes of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
Footnotes
- Exodus 40:3 Or “veil the ark with the curtain”
- Exodus 40:7 Literally “there”
- Exodus 40:9 Or “vessels” or “utensils” or “contents”
- Exodus 40:10 Or “vessels” or “utensils” or “contents”
- Exodus 40:10 Literally “holiness of holinesses,” that is, “a holy thing among holy things”
- Exodus 40:15 Or “a priesthood of eternity”
- Exodus 40:17 Literally “and it was in”
- Exodus 40:18 Or “boards” or “planks”
- Exodus 40:36 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
Exodus 40
Common English Bible
Moses sets up the dwelling
40 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 Set up the meeting tent dwelling on the first day of the first month.[a] 3 Place the chest containing the covenant inside the dwelling. Hide the chest from view with the veil. 4 Bring in the table and arrange its items. Bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 Place the gold altar for burning incense in front of the chest containing the covenant. Set up the screen at the dwelling’s entrance. 6 Put the altar for entirely burned offerings in front of the entrance to the meeting tent dwelling. 7 Put the washbasin between the meeting tent and the altar and put water in it. 8 Set up the courtyard all around. Hang up the screen at the courtyard gate. 9 Then take the anointing oil and anoint the dwelling and everything in it. Make holy the dwelling and all its equipment, and it will be holy. 10 Anoint the altar for entirely burned offerings and all its equipment. Make the altar holy, and the altar will be most holy. 11 Anoint the washbasin with its stand and make it holy.
12 Then bring Aaron and his sons to the meeting tent’s entrance and wash them with water. 13 Dress Aaron in the holy clothes. Anoint him and make him holy so that he may serve me as priest. 14 Then bring his sons and dress them in tunics. 15 Anoint them like you anointed their father so that they may serve me as priests. Their anointing is to the priesthood for all time in every generation.
16 Moses did everything exactly as the Lord had commanded him. 17 In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the dwelling was set up. 18 Moses set up the dwelling. He laid out its bases. He set up its boards, inserted its bars, and raised up its posts. 19 He spread the tent out over the dwelling, and he put the covering of the tent over it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 20 He took the covenant document and placed it inside the chest. He put the poles on the chest, and he set the cover on top of the chest. 21 He brought the chest into the dwelling. He set up the veil as a screen to hide from view the chest containing the covenant, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 22 He placed the table in the meeting tent, on the north side of the dwelling, outside the veil. 23 He set the bread in its proper place on the table in the Lord’s presence, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 24 He put the lampstand in the meeting tent, opposite the table on the south side of the dwelling. 25 He set up the lamps in the Lord’s presence, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 26 He put the gold altar in the meeting tent in front of the veil. 27 He burned sweet-smelling incense on it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 28 He also set up the screen at the entrance to the dwelling. 29 He placed the altar for entirely burned offerings at the entrance to the meeting tent dwelling. He offered the entirely burned offering and the grain offering on it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 30 He put the washbasin between the meeting tent and the altar, and put water in it for washing. 31 Moses, Aaron, and his sons used it to wash their hands and their feet. 32 Whenever they went into the meeting tent and whenever they approached the altar, they washed themselves, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 33 He set up the courtyard around the dwelling and the altar, and he hung up the screen at the courtyard’s gate.
God’s presence fills the dwelling!
When Moses had finished all the work, 34 the cloud covered the meeting tent and the Lord’s glorious presence filled the dwelling. 35 Moses couldn’t enter the meeting tent because the cloud had settled on it, and the Lord’s glorious presence filled the dwelling. 36 Whenever the cloud rose from the dwelling, the Israelites would set out on their journeys. 37 But if the cloud didn’t rise, then they didn’t set out until the day it rose. 38 The Lord’s cloud stayed over the dwelling during the day, with lightning in it at night, clearly visible to the whole household of Israel at every stage of their journey.
Footnotes
- Exodus 40:2 March–April, Abib
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