Exodus 39
New American Standard Bible
The Priestly Garments
39 Now from the [a](A)violet, purple, and scarlet material they made finely (B)woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, [b]as well as the holy garments which were for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
2 (C)He made the ephod of gold and of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen. 3 Then they hammered out gold sheets and cut them into threads [c]to be woven in with the violet, the purple, and the scarlet material, and the fine linen, the work of a skilled embroiderer. 4 They made attaching shoulder pieces for [d]the ephod; it was attached at its two upper ends. 5 And the skillfully woven band of its overlay which was on it was like its workmanship, [e]of the same material: of gold and of violet, purple, and scarlet material, and fine twisted linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
6 (D)They also made the onyx stones, set in gold filigree settings; they were engraved like the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the sons of Israel. 7 And (E)he placed them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8 And (F)he made the breastpiece, the work of a skilled embroiderer, like the workmanship of the ephod: of gold and of violet, purple, and scarlet material and fine twisted linen. 9 It was square; they made the breastpiece folded double, a [f]span [g]long and a span [h]wide when folded double. 10 And they [i]mounted four rows of stones on it. The first row was a row of ruby, topaz, and emerald; 11 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; 12 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 13 and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were set in gold filigree settings when they were [j]mounted. 14 The stones corresponded to the names of the sons of Israel; they were twelve, corresponding to their names, engraved with the engravings of a signet, each with its name for the twelve tribes. 15 And they made for the breastpiece chains like cords, work of twisted cords of pure gold. 16 They made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two ends of the breastpiece. 17 Then they put the two gold cords in the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. 18 And they put the other two ends of the two cords on the two filigree settings, and put them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it. 19 They made two gold rings and placed them on the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inner edge which was next to the ephod. 20 Furthermore, they made two gold rings and placed them on the bottom of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, on the front of it, close to the place where it joined, above the woven band of the ephod. 21 And they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a violet cord, so that it would be on the woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece would not come loose from the ephod, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
22 (G)Then he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of violet; 23 (H)and the opening of the robe was at the top in the center, as the opening of a coat of mail, with a binding all around its opening, so that it would not be torn. 24 And they made pomegranates of violet, purple, and scarlet material and twisted linen on the hem of the robe. 25 They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates all around on the hem of the [k]robe, 26 [l]alternating a bell and a pomegranate all around on the hem of the robe for the service, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
27 (I)They also made the tunics of finely woven linen for Aaron and his sons, 28 and the turban of fine linen, and the decorated [m]caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twisted linen, 29 and the sash of fine twisted linen, and violet, purple, and scarlet material, the work of the [n]weaver, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
30 (J)They also made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and [o]inscribed it like the engravings of a signet, “Holy to the Lord.” 31 Then they [p]fastened a violet cord to it, to [q]fasten it on the turban above, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
32 So all the work of the [r]tabernacle of the tent of meeting was completed; and the sons of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; so they did. 33 Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its [s]furnishings: its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; 34 and the covering of rams’ skins [t]dyed red, and the covering of [u]fine leather, and the covering curtain; 35 the ark of the testimony, its poles, and the [v]atoning cover; 36 the table, all its utensils, and the bread of the [w]Presence; 37 the pure gold lampstand, [x]with its arrangement of lamps and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; 38 and the gold altar, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the curtain for the doorway of the tent; 39 the [y]bronze altar and its [z]bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils, the basin and its stand; 40 the hangings for the courtyard, its pillars and its bases, and the curtain for the gate of the courtyard, its ropes and its pegs, and all the [aa]equipment for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; 41 the woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, and the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to serve as priests. 42 So the sons of Israel did all the work according to everything that the Lord had commanded Moses. 43 And Moses [ab]examined all the work, and behold, they had done it; just as the Lord had commanded, this they had done. So Moses (K)blessed them.
Footnotes
- Exodus 39:1 Or bluish; LXX hyacinth in color, and so throughout the ch
- Exodus 39:1 Lit and they made
- Exodus 39:3 Lit to work
- Exodus 39:4 Lit it
- Exodus 39:5 Lit from it
- Exodus 39:9 About 9 in. or 23 cm
- Exodus 39:9 Lit its length
- Exodus 39:9 Lit its width
- Exodus 39:10 Lit filled
- Exodus 39:13 Lit filled
- Exodus 39:25 Lit robe, between the pomegranates
- Exodus 39:26 Lit a bell and a pomegranate, a bell...
- Exodus 39:28 Lit headgear
- Exodus 39:29 Lit variegator; i.e., a weaver in colors
- Exodus 39:30 Lit wrote on it a writing
- Exodus 39:31 Lit put
- Exodus 39:31 Lit put
- Exodus 39:32 Lit dwelling place
- Exodus 39:33 Or utensils
- Exodus 39:34 Or tanned
- Exodus 39:34 Meaning of the Heb uncertain
- Exodus 39:35 Also called mercy seat; i.e., where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement
- Exodus 39:36 Lit Face
- Exodus 39:37 Lit its lamps, the lamps set in order
- Exodus 39:39 Or copper
- Exodus 39:39 Or copper
- Exodus 39:40 Or utensils
- Exodus 39:43 Lit saw
Exodus 39
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Vestments
39 From the blue, purple, and scarlet material, they made finely woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, and they made the holy garments for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Special Vest
2 He[a] made the special vest[b] from gold and from blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine woven linen. 3 They beat the gold into thin sheets and cut it into threads so that they could work it into the blue, purple, and scarlet material and into the fine linen, the work of a skilled craftsman.[c] 4 They made two shoulder straps for the top, one on each side, so that the vest could be fastened together. 5 The decorated sash, which is attached to the vest, was made just like it: of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet material, and of fine woven linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
6 They took two onyx stones and mounted them in gold settings and engraved on them the names of the sons of Israel, like the engraving on signet seals. 7 They mounted them on the shoulder straps of the vest as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Chest Pouch
8 Bezalel made a folded pouch, the work of a skillful craftsman. He made it with the same workmanship as the vest. He made it of gold, and of blue, purple, and scarlet material and of fine woven linen. 9 It was square, nine inches by nine inches when it was folded double.
10 They mounted on it four rows of precious stones. The first row was carnelian, diamond, and jacinth; 11 the second row agate, sapphire, and emerald; 12 the third row beryl, jasper, and ruby; 13 and the fourth row topaz, onyx, and turquoise.[d] The stones were mounted in gold settings. 14 There were twelve stones, corresponding to the names of the sons of Israel. Each one was like an engraved seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.
15 They made braided chains of pure gold for the pouch. 16 They made two gold rings for the pouch and attached the two rings to the top corners of the pouch. 17 They put the two braided gold chains into the two rings at the top corners of the pouch. 18 The other ends of the two braided chains they attached to the two settings, and then attached them to the shoulder straps on the front of the vest. 19 They made two gold rings and put them on the two lower corners of the pouch, on its inside edge, which is toward the vest. 20 They made two more gold rings and attached them to the two shoulder straps of the vest in the front, close to the bottom where it is joined to the sash of the vest. 21 They tied the rings of the pouch to the rings of the vest with a blue cord, so that the pouch was kept right next to the woven sash of the vest and would not swing out from the vest—just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Robe Worn With the Vest
22 The robe that was to be worn under the vest was the work of a weaver. It was all blue. 23 It had an opening in the middle of its top for the head. It had a woven binding around the opening, like the opening of a collar,[e] to prevent it from tearing. 24 For its hem they made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet material. 25 They put the pomegranates around its hem with gold bells alternating with them 26 (a gold bell, then a pomegranate, a gold bell, then a pomegranate), all around the hem of the robe that was worn when ministering, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Tunics and Pants
27 They wove the tunics of fine linen, the work of a weaver, for Aaron and for his sons. 28 They made the turban and the small pointed turbans of fine linen,[f] and the underwear was made from a special kind of finely woven linen.[g] 29 The sash was made of finely woven linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet material, the work of an embroiderer, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
The Gold Medallion
30 They made a medallion of pure gold to serve as a crest and engraved on it (like the engravings on a seal): Holy to the Lord. 31 They put it on a blue cord to fasten it to the turban on the front, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Completion of the Dwelling
32 In this way all the work on the Dwelling, that is, the Tent of Meeting, was finished. The people of Israel did everything exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses. 33 They brought the Dwelling to Moses: the tent with all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, its crossbars, its posts, its socket bases, 34 the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, the covering made from hides of sea cows, the special veil, 35 the Ark of the Testimony with its poles, the atonement seat, 36 the table, all its utensils, the Bread of the Presence, 37 the pure gold lampstand, its lamps (that is, the lamps to be set out in order), all its vessels and utensils, the oil for the Light, 38 the golden altar, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense, the screen for the door of the Tent, 39 the bronze altar, its bronze grate, its poles, all of its utensils, the basin and its pedestal, 40 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts, its sockets, the screen for the gate of the courtyard, its ropes, its stakes, all the equipment for the service of the Dwelling (that is, the Tent of Meeting), 41 the finely woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister in the priest’s office. 42 So the people of Israel did all the work according to everything that the Lord had commanded Moses. 43 Moses inspected all the work, and he saw that they had done it exactly as the Lord had commanded, so Moses blessed them.
Footnotes
- Exodus 39:2 Some of the Hebrew pronouns and verbs in this section are singular referring to the leader Bezalel. Some are plural referring to the craftsmen who worked under his supervision. It is likely most items were the work of several craftsmen directed by Bezalel.
- Exodus 39:2 Hebrew ephod
- Exodus 39:3 Here we have the clearest description of how the five materials (gold, blue, purple, and scarlet threads, and linen) were woven together into one fabric. The material from which the blue, purple, and scarlet threads were made is a question because Deuteronomy 22:11 forbids fabric that is a mixture of wool and linen. Perhaps this mixture was reserved for the sacred material.
- Exodus 39:13 The specific identification of these gems is uncertain, and translations vary widely. The translation uses names of recognizable modern gemstones, even if they might not have the same mineral makeup as the ancient stones. The Jewish commentator Ibn Ezra writes, “We have no way to identify what they are, having no tradition to rely on.”
- Exodus 39:23 The meaning of this word is uncertain. Traditionally a coat of mail.
- Exodus 39:28 The Hebrew word mitznephet most likely refers to a turban, since the word for putting it on comes from a Hebrew root meaning “to wrap.” The turban worn by the high priest was larger than the head coverings of the priests and was wound so that it formed a broad, flat-topped turban, resembling the blossom of a flower or a chef’s hat. The head covering of the priests was different, being wound so that it formed a cone-shaped turban, called a migbahat.
- Exodus 39:28 There are two different words for linen in this verse. The precise distinction between them is unknown.
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