Exodus 37:25-39:21

New International Version - UK

The altar of incense

²⁵ They made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long and a cubit wide and two cubits high^[a] – its horns of one piece with it. ²⁶ They overlaid the top and all the sides and the horns with pure gold, and made a gold moulding around it. ²⁷ They made two gold rings below the moulding – two on each of the opposite sides – to hold the poles used to carry it. ²⁸ They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

²⁹ They also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense – the work of a perfumer.

The altar of burnt offering

38 They^[b] built the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood, three cubits^[c] high; it was square, five cubits long and five cubits wide.^{[d] 2} They made a horn at each of the four corners, so that the horns and the altar were of one piece, and they overlaid the altar with bronze. ³ They made all its utensils of bronze – its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks and firepans. ⁴ They made a grating for the altar, a bronze network, to be under its ledge, halfway up the altar. ⁵ They cast bronze rings to hold the poles for the four corners of the bronze grating. ⁶ They made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze. ⁷ They inserted the poles into the rings so they would be on the sides of the altar for carrying it. They made it hollow, out of boards.

The basin for washing

⁸ They made the bronze basin and its bronze stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

The courtyard

⁹ Next they made the courtyard. The south side was a hundred cubits^[e] long and had curtains of finely twisted linen, ¹⁰ with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and with silver hooks and bands on the posts. ¹¹ The north side was also a hundred cubits long and had twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts.

¹² The west end was fifty cubits^[f] wide and had curtains, with ten posts and ten bases, with silver hooks and bands on the posts. ¹³ The east end, towards the sunrise, was also fifty cubits wide. ¹⁴ Curtains fifteen cubits^[g] long were on one side of the entrance, with three posts and three bases, ¹⁵ and curtains fifteen cubits long were on the other side of the entrance to the courtyard, with three posts and three bases. ¹⁶ All the curtains around the courtyard were of finely twisted linen. ¹⁷ The bases for the posts were bronze. The hooks and bands on the posts were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver; so all the posts of the courtyard had silver bands.

¹⁸ The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was made of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen – the work of an embroiderer. It was twenty cubits^[h] long and, like the curtains of the courtyard, five cubits^[i] high, ¹⁹ with four posts and four bronze bases. Their hooks and bands were silver, and their tops were overlaid with silver. ²⁰ All the tent pegs of the tabernacle and of the surrounding courtyard were bronze.

The materials used

²¹ These are the amounts of the materials used for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the covenant law, which were recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron, the priest. ²² (Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything the Lord commanded Moses; ²³ with him was Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan – an engraver and designer, and an embroiderer in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen.) ²⁴ The total amount of the gold from the wave offering used for all the work on the sanctuary was 29 talents and 730 shekels,^[j] according to the sanctuary shekel.

²⁵ The silver obtained from those of the community who were counted in the census was 100 talents^[k] and 1,775 shekels,^[l] according to the sanctuary shekel – ²⁶ one beka per person, that is, half a shekel,^[m] according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone who had crossed over to those counted, twenty years old or more, a total of 603,550 men. ²⁷ The 100 talents of silver were used to cast the bases for the sanctuary and for the curtain – 100 bases from the 100 talents, one talent for each base. ²⁸ They used the 1,775 shekels to make the hooks for the posts, to overlay the tops of the posts, and to make their bands.

²⁹ The bronze from the wave offering was 70 talents and 2,400 shekels.^{[n] 30} They used it to make the bases for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar with its bronze grating and all its utensils, ³¹ the bases for the surrounding courtyard and those for its entrance and all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and those for the surrounding courtyard.

The priestly garments

39 From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for ministering in the sanctuary. They also made sacred garments for Aaron, as the Lord commanded Moses.

The ephod

² They^[o] made the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. ³ They hammered out thin sheets of gold and cut strands to be worked into the blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen – the work of skilled hands. ⁴ They made shoulder pieces for the ephod, which were attached to two of its corners, so that it could be fastened. ⁵ Its skilfully woven waistband was like it – of one piece with the ephod and made with gold, and with blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and with finely twisted linen, as the Lord commanded Moses.

⁶ They mounted the onyx stones in gold filigree settings and engraved them like a seal with the names of the sons of Israel. ⁷ Then they fastened them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, as the Lord commanded Moses.

The breastpiece

⁸ They fashioned the breastpiece – the work of a skilled craftsman. They made it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. ⁹ It was square – a span^[p] long and a span wide – and folded double. ¹⁰ Then they mounted four rows of precious stones on it. The first row was carnelian, chrysolite and beryl; ¹¹ the second row was turquoise, lapis lazuli and emerald; ¹² the third row was jacinth, agate and amethyst; ¹³ the fourth row was topaz, onyx and jasper.^[q] They were mounted in gold filigree settings. ¹⁴ There were twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

¹⁵ For the breastpiece they made braided chains of pure gold, like a rope. ¹⁶ They made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and fastened the rings to two of the corners of the breastpiece. ¹⁷ They fastened the two gold chains to the rings at the corners of the breastpiece, ¹⁸ and the other ends of the chains to the two settings, attaching them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front. ¹⁹ They made two gold rings and attached them to the other two corners of the breastpiece on the inside edge next to the ephod. ²⁰ Then they made two more gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the seam just above the waistband of the ephod. ²¹ They tied the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod with blue cord, connecting it to the waistband so that the breastpiece would not swing out from the ephod – as the Lord commanded Moses.