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Provision of Skilled People

31 And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “See, I have called by name[a] Bezalel the son of Uri the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and with skill[b] and with knowledge and with every kind of craftsmanship, to devise designs, to work with gold and with silver and with bronze, and in stonecutting for setting and in cutting wood, for doing every kind of craftsmanship. And, look, I have given with him Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, and I have put skill in the heart of all the skilled of heart, and they will make all that I have commanded you— the tent of assembly and the ark of the testimony and the atonement cover that is on it and all the equipment of the tent, and the table and all its equipment, and the pure gold lampstand and all its equipment, and the incense altar, and the altar of burnt offering and all its equipment, and the basin and its stand, 10 and the garments of woven material, and the garments of the sanctuary[c] for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons to serve as priests, 11 and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense for the sanctuary. According to all that I have commanded you, they will make it.

Provision of Rest from Work

12 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and said, 13 “And you, speak to the Israelites,[d] saying, ‘Surely you must keep my Sabbaths, because it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, in order to know that I am Yahweh, who consecrates you. 14 And you must keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you; defilers[e] of it will surely be put to death, because anyone who does work on it—that person will be cut off from among his people. 15 On six days work can be done, and on the seventh is a Sabbath of complete rest,[f] a holy day[g] for Yahweh; anyone doing work on the Sabbath day will surely be put to death. 16 The Israelites[h] will pay attention to the Sabbath in order to fulfill the Sabbath[i] throughout their generations as a lasting covenant. 17 It is a sign between me and the Israelites[j] forever, because in six days Yahweh made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh he ceased[k] and recovered.”[l]

18 And when he finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave to Moses the two tablets of the testimony, stone tablets, written with the finger of God.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 31:2 In other words, “specifically chosen”
  2. Exodus 31:3 Or “understanding,” “discernment,” “cleverness”
  3. Exodus 31:10 Literally “the garments of the holiness” or “the holy garments”
  4. Exodus 31:13 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  5. Exodus 31:14 Or “profaners,” those who treat it as common
  6. Exodus 31:15 Literally “a Sabbath of ‘Sabbathation.’” “Sabbathation” is not a real word, but devised as an attempt to convey the sounds of the related nouns in the Hebrew phrase
  7. Exodus 31:15 Literally “holiness”
  8. Exodus 31:16 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  9. Exodus 31:16 Or “keep the Sabbath to do/observe the Sabbath”
  10. Exodus 31:17 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  11. Exodus 31:17 Or “rested”
  12. Exodus 31:17 Or “breathed freely,” “got his breath”

Artisans for Building the Tabernacle(A)

31 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: (B)“See, I have called by name Bezalel the (C)son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have (D)filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.

“And I, indeed I, have appointed with him (E)Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan; and I have put wisdom in the hearts of all the (F)gifted artisans, that they may make all that I have commanded you: (G)the tabernacle of meeting, (H)the ark of the Testimony and (I)the mercy seat that is on it, and all the furniture of the tabernacle— (J)the table and its utensils, (K)the pure gold lampstand with all its utensils, the altar of incense, (L)the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and (M)the laver and its base— 10 (N)the [a]garments of ministry, the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests, 11 (O)and the anointing oil and (P)sweet incense for the holy place. According to all that I have commanded you they shall do.”

The Sabbath Law

12 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: (Q)‘Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who (R)sanctifies[b] you. 14 (S)You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who [c]profanes it shall surely be put to death; for (T)whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Work shall be done for (U)six days, but the (V)seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Therefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant. 17 It is (W)a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for (X)in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.’ ”

18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses (Y)two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 31:10 Or woven garments
  2. Exodus 31:13 consecrates
  3. Exodus 31:14 defiles

31 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah:

And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship,

To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass,

And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

And I, behold, I have given with him Aholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan: and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee;

The tabernacle of the congregation, and the ark of the testimony, and the mercy seat that is thereupon, and all the furniture of the tabernacle,

And the table and his furniture, and the pure candlestick with all his furniture, and the altar of incense,

And the altar of burnt offering with all his furniture, and the laver and his foot,

10 And the cloths of service, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, to minister in the priest's office,

11 And the anointing oil, and sweet incense for the holy place: according to all that I have commanded thee shall they do.

12 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.

14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.

17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

Bezalel and Oholiab

31 Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “I have chosen Bezalel, the son of Uri. Uri is the son of Hur. Bezalel is from the tribe of Judah. I have filled him with the Spirit of God. I have filled Bezalel with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skill. He can make beautiful patterns in gold, silver and bronze. He can cut and set stones. He can work with wood. In fact, he can work in all kinds of crafts. I have also appointed Oholiab, the son of Ahisamak, to help him. Oholiab is from the tribe of Dan.

“I have given ability to all the skilled workers. They can make everything I have commanded you to make. Here is the complete list.

“the tent of meeting

the ark where the tablets of the covenant law are kept

the cover for the ark

the table for the holy bread and its things

the pure gold lampstand and everything used with it

the altar for burning incense

the altar for burnt offerings and all its tools

the large bowl with its stand

10 the sacred clothes for Aaron the priest and the clothes for his sons when they serve as priests

11 the anointing oil

and the sweet-smelling incense for the Holy Room

“The skilled workers must make them just as I commanded you.”

The Sabbath Day

12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses. 13 He said, “Tell the people of Israel, ‘You must always keep my Sabbath days. That will be the sign of the covenant I have made between me and you for all time to come. Then you will know that I am the Lord. I am the one who makes you holy.

14 “ ‘Keep the Sabbath day. It is holy to you. Those who misuse it must be put to death. Those who do any work on that day must be separated from their people. 15 Do your work in six days. But the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest. You must rest on it. It is set apart for the Lord. Those who work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 The Israelites must keep the Sabbath day. They must celebrate it for all time to come. It will be a covenant that lasts forever. 17 It will be the sign of the covenant I have made between me and the Israelites forever. The Lord made the heavens and the earth in six days. But on the seventh day he did not work. He rested.’ ”

18 The Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai. Then he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law. They were made out of stone. The words on them were written by the finger of God.

Bezalel and Oholiab(A)

31 Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have chosen Bezalel(B) son of Uri, the son of Hur,(C) of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge(D) and with all kinds of skills(E) to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts. Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab(F) son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan,(G) to help him. Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers(H) to make everything I have commanded you: the tent of meeting,(I) the ark of the covenant law(J) with the atonement cover(K) on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent— the table(L) and its articles, the pure gold lampstand(M) and all its accessories, the altar of incense,(N) the altar of burnt offering(O) and all its utensils, the basin(P) with its stand— 10 and also the woven garments(Q), both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests, 11 and the anointing oil(R) and fragrant incense(S) for the Holy Place. They are to make them just as I commanded(T) you.”

The Sabbath

12 Then the Lord said to Moses, 13 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths.(U) This will be a sign(V) between me and you for the generations to come,(W) so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.(X)

14 “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death;(Y) those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people. 15 For six days work(Z) is to be done, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest,(AA) holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day is to be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath,(AB) celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign(AC) between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.(AD)’”(AE)

18 When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai,(AF) he gave him the two tablets of the covenant law, the tablets of stone(AG) inscribed by the finger of God.(AH)