Making the Ark

37 Bezalel(A) made the ark of acacia wood, forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high.[a] He overlaid it with pure gold inside and out and made a gold molding all around it. He cast four gold rings for it, for its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark for carrying the ark.

He made a mercy seat of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide.[b] He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat, one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end. At each end, he made a cherub of one piece with the mercy seat. They had wings spread out. They faced each other and covered the mercy seat with their wings. The faces of the cherubim were looking toward the mercy seat.

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Footnotes

  1. 37:1 Lit two and a half cubits its length, one and a half cubits its width, and one and a half cubits its height
  2. 37:6 Lit two and a half cubits its length and one and a half cubits its width

The Making of the Ark

37 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was 45 inches, its width 27 inches, and its height 27 inches. He overlaid it with pure gold, inside and out, and he made a surrounding border[a] of gold for it. He cast four gold rings for it that he put[b] on its four feet, with[c] two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. He made poles of acacia wood, overlaid them with gold, and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark.

He made[d] an atonement lid of pure gold; its length was 45 inches, and its width was 27 inches. He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered metal on the two ends of the atonement lid, one cherub on one end[e] and one cherub on the other end.[f] He made the cherubim from the atonement lid on its two ends. The cherubim were spreading their wings[g] upward, overshadowing the atonement lid with their wings. The cherubim[h] faced each other,[i] looking toward the atonement lid.[j]

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 37:2 tn Or “molding.”
  2. Exodus 37:3 tn “that he put” has been supplied.
  3. Exodus 37:3 tn This is taken as a circumstantial clause; the clause begins with the conjunction vav.
  4. Exodus 37:6 tn Heb “and he made.”
  5. Exodus 37:8 tn Heb “from/at [the] end, from this.”
  6. Exodus 37:8 tn The repetition of the expression indicates it has the distributive sense.
  7. Exodus 37:9 tn The construction is a participle in construct followed by the genitive “wings”—“spreaders of wings.”
  8. Exodus 37:9 tn The subject, “the cherubim,” has been added again in the translation for smoothness.
  9. Exodus 37:9 tn Heb “and their faces a man to his brother.”
  10. Exodus 37:9 tn Heb “to the atonement lid were the faces of the cherubim.”