Exodus 35-40
GOD’S WORD Translation
Rules about the Day of Rest
35 Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, “These are the things the Lord has commanded you to do: 2 You may work for six days, but the seventh day is a holy day of rest, a day when you don’t work. It is dedicated to the Lord. Whoever does any work on this day should be put to death. 3 Never light a fire in any of your homes on this day of rest.”
The People Contribute Their Wealth(A)
4 Then Moses said to the whole Israelite community, “This is what the Lord has commanded: 5 Choose something of your own to give as a special contribution to the Lord. Let everyone who is willing bring this kind of contribution to the Lord: gold, silver, and bronze, 6 violet, purple, and bright red yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, 7 rams’ skins dyed red, fine leather, acacia wood, 8 olive oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet-smelling incense, 9 onyx stones, and other precious stones to be set in the ⌞chief priest’s⌟ ephod [a] and breastplate.
The Craftsmen for the Tent(B)
10 “Have all the skilled craftsmen among you come and make everything the Lord has commanded: 11 the inner tent, the outer tent, and cover, along with the fasteners, frames, crossbars, posts, and sockets, 12 the ark with its poles, the throne of mercy and the canopy over it, 13 the table with its poles, all the dishes, the bread of the presence, 14 the lamp stand used for the light with its utensils, its lamps and the olive oil for the lamps, 15 the altar for incense with its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet-smelling incense, the screen for the entrance to the tent, 16 the altar for burnt offerings with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its accessories, the basin with its stand, 17 the curtains for the courtyard, the posts, bases, and the screen for the entrance to the courtyard, 18 the pegs for the tent and the courtyard with their ropes, 19 the special clothes worn for official duties in the holy place—both the holy clothes for Aaron the priest and the clothes for his sons when they serve as priests.”
20 Then the whole Israelite community left Moses. 21 Those who were willing and whose hearts moved them came and brought their contributions to the Lord. The gifts were used to construct the tent of meeting, to pay other expenses, and to make the holy clothes. 22 All who were willing—men and women alike—came and brought all kinds of gold jewelry: pins, earrings, signet rings, and pendants. They took these gifts of gold and offered them to the Lord. 23 Those who had violet, purple, or bright red yarn, fine linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, or fine leather brought them. 24 Those who could give silver or bronze brought it as their contribution to the Lord. Those who had acacia wood that could be used in the construction brought it. 25 All the women who were skilled in spinning yarn brought violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and fine linen, which they had made by hand. 26 All the women who were willing and had the skill spun the goats’ hair. 27 The leaders brought onyx stones and other precious stones to be set in the ⌞chief priest’s⌟ ephod and breastplate. 28 They also brought the spices and the olive oil for the lamps, the anointing oil, and the sweet-smelling incense. 29 Every Israelite man and woman who was willing brought all these items to the Lord as a freewill offering. They brought these items to be used to make everything the Lord had commanded through Moses.
30 Then Moses said to the Israelites, “The Lord has chosen Bezalel, son of Uri and grandson of Hur, from the tribe of Judah. 31 The Lord has filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, making him highly skilled, resourceful, and knowledgeable in all trades. 32 He’s a master artist familiar with gold, silver, and bronze. 33 He knows how to cut and set stones and how to work with wood. He’s an expert in all trades. 34 Also, the Lord has given Bezalel and Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan the ability to teach others. 35 The Lord has made these men highly skilled in all trades. They can do the work of jewelers, carpenters, and designers. They know how to embroider violet, purple and bright red yarn on fine linen. They know how to weave yarn on a loom. They can do all kinds of trades. They are master artists.”
36 ⌞Moses continued,⌟ “So Bezalel and Oholiab will do the work as the Lord has commanded. They will do this with the help of every other craftsman to whom the Lord has given the necessary skills and talents. They will know how to do all the work for constructing the holy place.”
2 Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every other craftsman to whom the Lord had given these skills and who was willing to come and do the work.
Excess Contributions
3 Moses turned over to them all the contributions the Israelites had brought for the work of constructing the holy place. But the people still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning. 4 Finally, all the skilled craftsmen who were working on the holy place stopped what they were doing. They all came to Moses. 5 They said, “The people are bringing much more than we need for doing the work the Lord commanded us to do.”
6 So Moses gave instructions to have the following message announced all over camp: “No man or woman needs to make anything more to give as their special contribution to the holy place.” Then the people stopped bringing gifts. 7 The material they had was more than enough to do the job.
The Tent(C)
8 All the skilled craftsmen among the workers made the inner tent with ten sheets made from fine linen yarn and violet, purple, and bright red yarn. An angel [b] design was creatively worked into the fabric. 9 Each sheet was 42 feet long and 6 feet wide—all the same size. 10 Five of the sheets were sewn together, and the other five were also sewn together. 11 Then they made 50 violet loops along the edge of the end sheet in each set, 12 placing the loops opposite each other. 13 They also made 50 gold fasteners. They used them to link the ⌞two sets of⌟ sheets together so that the inner tent was a single unit.
14 They made 11 sheets of goats’ hair to form an outer tent over the inner tent. 15 Each of the 11 sheets was 45 feet long and 6 feet wide. 16 Five of the sheets were sewn together into one set, and the remaining six into another set. 17 Then they made 50 loops along the edge of the end sheet in each set. 18 They also made 50 bronze fasteners to link the inner tent together as a single unit. 19 They made a cover out of rams’ skins that had been dyed red for the outer tent, and over that they put a cover made of fine leather.
20 They made a framework out of acacia wood for the inner tent. 21 Each frame was 15 feet long and 27 inches wide, 22 with two identical pegs. They made all the frames for the inner tent this same way. 23 They made 20 frames for the south side of the inner tent. 24 Then they made 40 silver sockets at the bottom of the 20 frames, two sockets at the bottom of each frame for the two pegs. 25 For the north side of the inner tent ⌞they made⌟ 20 frames 26 and 40 silver sockets, two at the bottom of each frame. 27 They made six frames for the far end, the west side. 28 They made two frames for ⌞each of⌟ the corners at the far end of the inner tent. 29 They were held together at the bottom and held tightly at the top by a single ring.[c] Both corner frames were made this way. 30 There were eight frames with 16 silver sockets, two at the bottom of each frame.
31 They also made crossbars out of acacia wood. Five were for the frames on one side of the inner tent, 32 five were for those on the other side, and five were for the frames on the far side of the inner tent, the west side. 33 They made the middle crossbar so that it ran from one end to the other, halfway up the frames. 34 They covered the frames with gold and made gold rings to hold the crossbars. They also covered the crossbars with gold.
35 They made the canopy out of violet, purple, and bright red yarn and fine linen yarn. An angel design was creatively worked into the fabric. 36 They made four posts of acacia wood for it and covered them with gold. They made gold hooks for the posts, and they cast four silver bases for them.
37 They made a screen out of fine linen yarn for the entrance to the outer tent. It was embroidered with violet, purple, and bright red yarn. 38 They also made five posts with hooks for ⌞hanging⌟ the screen. They covered the tops of the posts and the bands with gold, but the five bases for the posts were made of bronze.
The Ark(D)
37 Bezalel made the ark out of acacia wood 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high. 2 He covered it with pure gold inside and out and put a gold molding around it. 3 He cast four gold rings for its four feet, two rings on each side. 4 Then he made poles out of acacia wood and covered them with gold. 5 He put them through the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry it.
6 He made the throne of mercy out of pure gold 45 inches long and 27 inches wide. 7 Then he made two angels [d] out of hammered gold for the two ends of the throne of mercy, 8 one on each end. He formed the angels and the throne of mercy out of one piece ⌞of gold⌟. 9 The angels had their wings spread above the throne of mercy, overshadowing it. They faced each other, looking at the throne of mercy.
The Table(E)
10 He made the table out of acacia wood 36 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 27 inches high. 11 He covered it with pure gold and put a gold molding around it. 12 He made a rim 3 inches wide around it and put a gold molding around the rim. 13 He cast four gold rings for it and fastened the rings to the four corners, where the four legs were. 14 The rings were put close to the rim to hold the poles for carrying the table. 15 These poles were made out of acacia wood and were covered with gold. 16 For the table he made plates, dishes, bowls, and pitchers to be used for pouring wine offerings. All of them were made out of pure gold.
The Lamp Stand(F)
17 He made the lamp stand out of pure gold. The lamp stand, its base, and its shaft, as well as the flower cups, buds, and petals were hammered out of one piece ⌞of gold⌟. 18 Six branches came out of its sides, three branches on one side and three on the other. 19 Each of the six branches coming out of the lamp stand had three flower cups shaped like almond blossoms, with buds and petals. 20 The lamp stand itself had four flower cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a bud and petals. 21 There was a bud under each of the three pairs of branches coming out of the lamp stand. 22 The buds and branches were hammered out of the same piece of pure gold as the lamp stand.
23 He made the seven lamps, the tongs, and the incense burners out of pure gold. 24 The lamp stand and all the utensils were made out of 75 pounds of pure gold.
The Altar for Incense(G)
25 He made an altar out of acacia wood for burning incense. It was 18 inches square and 36 inches high. The horns and altar were made out of one piece ⌞of wood⌟. 26 He covered all of it with pure gold—the top, the sides, and the horns—and he put a gold molding around it. 27 He made two gold rings and put them below the molding on opposite sides to hold the poles for carrying it. 28 He made the poles out of acacia wood and covered them with gold.
29 He also had a perfumer make the holy oil to be used for anointing and for the pure, sweet-smelling incense.
The Altar for Burnt Offerings(H)
38 He made the altar for burnt offerings out of acacia wood 7½ feet square and 4½ feet high. 2 He made a horn at each of its four corners. He made the four horns and the altar out of one piece ⌞of wood⌟ covered with bronze.
3 He made all the utensils out of bronze: pots, shovels, bowls, forks, and incense burners.
4 He made a grate for the altar out of bronze mesh, ⌞and put it⌟ under the ledge, halfway up the altar. 5 He cast four rings to hold the poles (one for each of the four corners of the bronze grate). 6 He made the poles out of acacia wood and covered them with bronze. 7 He put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it. He made the altar out of boards so that it was hollow inside.
The Bronze Basin(I)
8 He made the basin and stand out of the bronze mirrors given by the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.
The Courtyard(J)
9 He also made the courtyard. The south side of the courtyard was 150 feet long and had curtains made out of fine linen yarn, 10 ⌞hung⌟ on 20 posts ⌞set in⌟ 20 bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts were made of silver. 11 The north side was also 150 feet long with 20 posts and 20 bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts were made of silver.
12 The west side was 75 feet long and had curtains ⌞hung⌟ on 10 posts ⌞set in⌟ 10 bases. The hooks and bands on the posts were made of silver. 13 The east side, facing the rising sun, was 75 feet ⌞wide⌟.
14-15 Each side of the entrance to the courtyard was 22½ feet wide with curtains ⌞hung⌟ on three posts ⌞set in⌟ three bases. 16 All the curtains around the courtyard were made out of fine linen yarn. 17 The bases for the posts were made of bronze. The hooks and bands on the posts were made of silver. The tops of the posts were covered with silver. And the bands on all the posts of the courtyard were made of silver.
18 The screen for the entrance to the courtyard was made of violet, purple, and bright red yarn embroidered on ⌞fabric made from⌟ fine linen yarn. It was 30 feet long and 7½ feet high, just like the curtains of the courtyard. 19 It was hung on four posts ⌞set in⌟ four bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts were made of silver. The tops of the posts were covered with silver.
20 All the pegs for the tent and the surrounding courtyard were made of bronze.
The Amount of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Used
21 This is the amount of material that was used for the tent (the tent of the words of God’s promise). An inventory was ordered by Moses and carried out by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar, son of the priest Aaron.
22 Now Bezalel, son of Uri and grandson of Hur, from the tribe of Judah, made everything the Lord had commanded Moses. 23 He was a jeweler, carpenter, designer, and he knew how to embroider violet, purple, and bright red yarn on fine linen. His assistant was Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan.
24 The total amount of gold from the offerings presented to the Lord used in building the holy place weighed over 2,193 pounds, using the standard weight of the holy place.
25 The silver collected when the census of the community was taken weighed 7,544 pounds, using the standard weight of the holy place. 26 This came to one-fifth of an ounce per person, for everyone counted who was at least 20 years old: 603,550 people. 27 He used 7,500 pounds of silver to cast the 100 bases for the holy place and the canopy. This was 75 pounds per base. 28 He used 44 pounds of silver to make the hooks and bands for the posts and the coverings for the tops of the posts.
29 The bronze from the offerings presented to the Lord weighed 5,310 pounds. 30 With this he made the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar with its bronze grate and all its accessories, 31 the bases all around the courtyard, the bases for the entrance to the courtyard, all the pegs for the tent, and all the pegs for the surrounding courtyard.
The Holy Clothes(K)
39 From the violet, purple, and bright red yarn they made special clothes worn for official duties in the holy place. They also made the holy clothes for Aaron. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses.
The Ephod(L)
2 They made the ephod out of fine linen yarn and gold, violet, purple, and bright red yarn. 3 They hammered the gold into thin sheets and cut them up. They twisted the gold into threads, which they creatively worked into each strand of the violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and throughout the fine linen. 4 They made two shoulder straps attached at the ⌞top⌟ corners so that the ephod could be fastened. 5 They made the belt that is attached to the ephod out of the same fabric. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 6 They mounted the onyx stones in gold settings, and engraved on them the names of the sons of Israel. 7 Then they fastened them on the shoulder straps of the ephod as a reminder of who the Israelites are. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses.
The Breastplate(M)
8 They made the breastplate as creatively as they made the ephod. It was made out of gold, violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and of fine linen yarn. 9 It was folded in half and was 9 inches square. 10 They fastened four rows of precious stones on it. In the first row they put red quartz, topaz, and emerald. 11 In the second row they put turquoise, sapphire, and crystal. 12 In the third row they put jacinth, agate, and amethyst. 13 In the fourth row they put beryl, onyx, and gray quartz. The stones were mounted in gold settings. 14 They corresponded to the 12 sons of Israel, by name, each stone engraved (like a signet ring) with the name of one of the 12 tribes.
15 For the breastplate they made chains out of pure gold, twisted like ropes. 16 They made two gold settings and two gold rings and attached the two rings to the ⌞top⌟ two corners of the breastplate. 17 They fastened the two gold ropes to the rings at the ⌞top⌟ corners of the breastplate. 18 They fastened the other ends of the ropes to the two settings on the shoulder straps of the ephod ⌞so that the breastplate hung⌟ in front of it. 19 They made two gold rings and fastened them to the other two corners of the breastplate on the inside edge next to the ephod. 20 They made two ⌞more⌟ gold rings and fastened them to the bottom of the shoulder straps on the front of the ephod. This was close to the seam just above the belt of the ephod. 21 Then they fastened the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a violet cord. So the breastplate was attached just above the belt of the ephod and was held in place. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses.
Other Clothes for Aaron and His Sons(N)
22 They made the robe that is worn with the ephod, woven entirely of violet yarn. 23 The opening in the center of the robe had a finished edge (like a leather collar) all around it to keep it from tearing. 24 On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and fine yarn. 25 They made bells out of pure gold and fastened them in between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe. 26 A gold bell alternated with a pomegranate all around the hem of the robe that is worn by Aaron when he serves as priest. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses.
27 They wove inner robes out of fine linen for Aaron and his sons. 28 They also made the chief priest’s turban and the other beautiful turbans out of fine linen. They made the undergarments and belt out of fine linen yarn. 29 The belt was embroidered with violet, purple, and bright red yarn. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses.
30 They made the flower-shaped medallion (the holy crown) out of pure gold and engraved on it (as on a signet ring): Holy to the Lord. 31 They fastened a violet cord to it and tied it on top of the turban. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses.
The Tent Is Brought to Moses
32 So all the work on the inner tent (the tent of meeting) was now done. The Israelites followed all the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 33 Then they brought everything to Moses—the inner tent, the outer tent and all its furnishings, the fasteners, frames, crossbars, posts, sockets, 34 the cover made of rams’ skins dyed red, the cover made of fine leather, the canopy over ⌞the ark⌟, 35 the ark containing the words of God’s promise with its poles and the throne of mercy, 36 the table with all the dishes, the bread of the presence, 37 the pure ⌞gold⌟ lamp stand with its lamps in a row and all its utensils, the olive oil for the lamps, 38 the gold altar, the anointing oil, the sweet-smelling incense, the screen for the entrance to the tent, 39 the bronze altar with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its accessories, the basin with its stand, 40 the curtains for the courtyard, the posts, bases, and screen for the entrance to the courtyard, the ropes and pegs—all the equipment needed for the service of the inner tent (the tent of meeting)— 41 the special clothes worn when serving as priests in the holy place—both the holy clothes for the priest Aaron and the clothes for his sons when serving as priests. 42 The Israelites had done all the work following the Lord’s instructions to Moses.
43 Moses inspected all the work and saw that they had followed the Lord’s instructions. So Moses blessed them.
Instructions for Setting Up the Tent
40 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Set up the tent (the tent of meeting) on the first day of the first month of the year. 3 Place the ark containing the words of my promise inside it, and hang the canopy over the ark. 4 Bring in the table, and arrange everything on it. Bring in the lamp stand, and set up the lamps. 5 Put the gold altar for incense in front of the ark. Put up the screen at the entrance to the tent.
6 “Put the altar for burnt offerings in front of the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 Put the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. 8 Set up the surrounding courtyard, and put up the screen at the entrance to the courtyard. 9 Take the anointing oil, and anoint the tent and everything in it. In this way you will dedicate it and all its furnishings. Then it will be holy. 10 Anoint the altar for burnt offerings and all the utensils. In this way you will dedicate the altar, and it will be most holy. 11 Anoint the basin and stand, and they will be dedicated.
12 “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and wash them. 13 Then dress Aaron in the holy clothes, and anoint him. In this way you will dedicate him to serve me as priest. 14 Have his sons come forward, and dress them in their linen robes. 15 Anoint them to serve me as priests, as you anointed their father. Their anointing will begin a permanent priesthood for them for generations to come.”
Moses Sets Up the Tent
16 Moses did everything as the Lord commanded him. 17 So the tent was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year ⌞after the Israelites had left Egypt⌟. 18 When Moses set up the tent, he put the sockets in place, put up the frames, inserted the crossbars, and set up the posts. 19 He spread the outer tent over the inner tent and put the cover on top. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions.
20 He took the words of God’s promise and put them in the ark. He put the poles on the ark and placed the throne of mercy on top of the ark. 21 Then he brought the ark into the tent and hung the canopy over it to mark off where the ark was. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions.
22 Moses put the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tent outside the canopy. 23 He arranged the bread on the table in the Lord’s presence, following the Lord’s instructions. 24 He placed the lamp stand in the tent of meeting opposite the table, on the south side of the tent. 25 He set up the lamps in the Lord’s presence, following the Lord’s instructions.
26 Moses put the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the canopy. 27 He burned sweet-smelling incense on it, following the Lord’s instructions. 28 Then he put up the screen at the entrance to the tent.
29 He put the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent (the tent of meeting). He sacrificed burnt offerings and grain offerings on it. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions.
30 He put the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing. 31 Moses, Aaron, and his sons used this water to wash their hands and feet. 32 They would wash whenever they went into the tent of meeting or whenever they approached the altar. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions.
33 He set up the courtyard around the tent and the altar and put up the screen at the entrance to the courtyard. Finally, Moses finished the work.
The Lord Comes to the Tent
34 Then the ⌞column of⌟ smoke covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tent. 35 Moses couldn’t go into the tent of meeting, because the smoke settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tent.
36 In all their travels, whenever the ⌞column of⌟ smoke moved from the tent, the Israelites would break camp. 37 But if the column didn’t move, they wouldn’t break camp. 38 So the Lord’s column stayed over the tent during the day, and there was fire in the smoke at night. In this way all the Israelites could see the column throughout their travels.
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