36 Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the skilled[a] people are to work based on everything the Lord has commanded. The Lord has given them wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work of constructing the sanctuary.”(A)

So Moses summoned Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person in whose heart the Lord had placed wisdom, all whose hearts moved them,(B) to come to the work and do it. They took from Moses’s presence all the contributions that the Israelites had brought for the task of making the sanctuary. Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning.

Then all the artisans who were doing all the work for the sanctuary came one by one from the work they were doing and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than is needed(C) for the construction of the work the Lord commanded to be done.”

After Moses gave an order, they sent a proclamation throughout the camp: “Let no man or woman make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people stopped. The materials were sufficient for them to do all the work. There was more than enough.

Building the Tabernacle

All(D) the skilled artisans[b] among those doing the work made the tabernacle with ten curtains. Bezalel made them of finely spun linen, as well as blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with a design of cherubim worked into them. Each curtain was forty-two feet[c] long and six feet[d] wide; all the curtains had the same measurements. 10 He joined five of the curtains to each other, and the other five curtains he joined to each other. 11 He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the last curtain in the first set and did the same on the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 12 He made fifty loops on the one curtain and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain in the second set, so that the loops lined up with each other. 13 He also made fifty gold clasps and joined the curtains to each other, so that the tabernacle became a single unit.

14 He made curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven of them. 15 Each curtain was forty-five feet[e] long and six feet wide. All eleven curtains had the same measurements. 16 He joined five of the curtains together, and the other six together. 17 He made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set and fifty loops on the edge of the corresponding curtain in the second set. 18 He made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together as a single unit. 19 He also made a covering for the tent from ram skins dyed red and a covering of fine leather[f] on top of it.

20 He(E) made upright supports[g] of acacia wood for the tabernacle. 21 Each support was fifteen feet[h] long and twenty-seven inches[i] wide. 22 Each support had two tenons for joining one to another. He did the same for all the supports of the tabernacle. 23 He made supports for the tabernacle as follows: He made twenty for the south side, 24 and he made forty silver bases to put under the twenty supports, two bases under the first support for its two tenons, and two bases under each of the following supports for their two tenons. 25 For the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty supports, 26 with their forty silver bases, two bases under the first support and two bases under each of the following ones. 27 And for the back of the tabernacle, on the west side, he made six supports. 28 He also made two additional supports for the two back corners of the tabernacle. 29 They were paired at the bottom and joined together[j] at the[k] top in a single ring. This is what he did with both of them for the two corners. 30 So there were eight supports with their sixteen silver bases, two bases under each one.

31 He made five crossbars of acacia wood for the supports on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five crossbars for the supports on the other side of the tabernacle, and five crossbars for those at the back of the tabernacle on the west. 33 He made the central crossbar run through the middle of the supports from one end to the other. 34 He overlaid them with gold and made their rings out of gold as holders for the crossbars. He also overlaid the crossbars with gold.

35 Then(F) he made the curtain with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen. He made it with a design of cherubim worked into it. 36 He made four pillars of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were of gold. And he cast four silver bases for the pillars.

37 He made a screen embroidered[l] with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen for the entrance to the tent, 38 together with its five pillars and their hooks. He overlaid the tops of the pillars and their bands with gold, but their five bases were bronze.

Footnotes

  1. 36:1 Lit wise of heart, also in v. 2
  2. 36:8 Lit the wise of heart
  3. 36:9 Lit 28 cubits
  4. 36:9 Lit four cubits, also in v. 15
  5. 36:15 Lit 30 cubits
  6. 36:19 Hb obscure
  7. 36:20 Or made frames
  8. 36:21 Lit 10 cubits
  9. 36:21 Lit a cubit and a half
  10. 36:29 Lit and together they are to be complete
  11. 36:29 Lit its
  12. 36:37 Or woven

36 “Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and understanding to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.”(A)

Moses then called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given skill, everyone whose heart was stirred to come to do the work,(B) and they received from Moses all the offerings that the Israelites had brought for the work of constructing the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning,(C) so that all the skilled workers who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task being performed, and said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.”(D) So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, for what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work.

Construction of the Tabernacle

All those with skill among the workers made the tabernacle with ten curtains; they were made of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and crimson yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked into them.(E) The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains were of the same size.

10 He joined five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he joined to one another. 11 He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain of the first set; likewise he made them on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set; 12 he made fifty loops on the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set; the loops were opposite one another.(F) 13 And he made fifty clasps of gold and joined the curtains one to the other with clasps; so the tabernacle was one whole.

14 He also made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains.(G) 15 The length of each curtain was thirty cubits and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains were of the same size. 16 He joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. 17 He made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the one set and fifty loops on the edge of the other connecting curtain. 18 He made fifty clasps of bronze to join the tent together so that it might be one whole. 19 And he made for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and an outer covering of fine leather.[a](H)

20 Then he made the upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood.(I) 21 Ten cubits was the length of a frame and a cubit and a half the width of each frame. 22 Each frame had two pegs for fitting together; he did this for all the frames of the tabernacle. 23 The frames for the tabernacle he made in this way: twenty frames for the south side, 24 and he made forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under the first frame for its two pegs and two bases under the next frame for its two pegs.(J) 25 For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty frames 26 and their forty bases of silver, two bases under the first frame and two bases under the next frame. 27 For the rear of the tabernacle westward he made six frames.(K) 28 He made two frames for the corners of the tabernacle in the rear. 29 They were separate beneath but joined at the top at the first ring; he made two of them in this way for the two corners. 30 There were eight frames with their bases of silver: sixteen bases, under every frame two bases.

31 He made bars of acacia wood: five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle,(L) 32 and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle at the rear westward. 33 He made the middle bar to pass through from end to end halfway up the frames. 34 And he overlaid the frames with gold and made rings of gold for them to hold the bars and overlaid the bars with gold.

35 He made the curtain of blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine twisted linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.(M) 36 He made for it four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four bases of silver. 37 He also made a screen for the entrance to the tent, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns and fine twisted linen, embroidered with needlework, 38 and its five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their bases with gold, but their five bases were of bronze.

Footnotes

  1. 36.19 Meaning of Heb uncertain