Exodus 39
Living Bible
39 Then, for the priests, the people made beautiful garments of blue, purple, and scarlet cloth—garments to be used while ministering in the Holy Place. This same cloth was used for Aaron’s sacred garments, in accordance with the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 2 The ephod was made from this cloth too, woven from fine-twined linen thread. 3 Bezalel beat gold into thin plates and cut it into wire threads, to work into the blue, purple, and scarlet linen; it was a skillful and beautiful piece of workmanship when finished.
4-5 The ephod was held together by shoulder straps at the top and was tied down by an elaborate one-piece woven sash made of the same gold, blue, purple, and scarlet cloth cut from fine-twined linen thread, just as God had directed Moses. 6-7 The two[a] onyx stones, attached to the two shoulder straps of the ephod, were set in gold, and the stones were engraved with the names of the tribes of Israel, just as initials are engraved upon a ring. These stones were reminders to Jehovah concerning the people of Israel; all this was done in accordance with the Lord’s instructions to Moses.
8 The chestpiece was a beautiful piece of work, just like the ephod, made from the finest gold, blue, purple, and scarlet linen. 9 It was a piece nine inches square, doubled over to form a pouch; 10 there were four rows of stones across it. In the first row were a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle; 11 in the second row were an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond. 12 In the third row were a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst. 13 In the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper—all set in gold filigree. 14 The stones were engraved like a seal, with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
15-18 To attach the chestpiece to the ephod,[b] a gold ring was placed at the top of each shoulder strap of the ephod, and from these gold rings, two strands of twined gold attached to gold clasps on the top corners of the chestpiece. 19 Two gold rings were also set at the lower edge of the chestpiece, on the under side, next to the ephod. 20 Two other gold rings were placed low on the shoulder straps of the ephod, close to where the ephod joined its beautifully woven sash. 21 The chestpiece was held securely above the beautifully woven sash of the ephod by tying the rings of the chestpiece to the rings of the ephod with a blue ribbon.
All this was commanded to Moses by the Lord.
22 The main part of the ephod was woven, all of blue, 23 and there was a hole at the center, just as in a coat of mail, for the head to go through, reinforced around the edge so that it would not tear. 24 Pomegranates were attached to the bottom edge of the robe; these were made of linen cloth, embroidered[c] with blue, purple, and scarlet. 25-26 Bells of pure gold were placed between the pomegranates along the bottom edge of the skirt, with bells and pomegranates alternating all around the edge. This robe was worn when Aaron ministered to the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
27 Robes were now made for Aaron and his sons from fine-twined linen thread. 28-29 The chestpiece, the beautiful turbans, and the caps and the underclothes were all made of this linen, and the linen belt was beautifully embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet threads, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses. 30 Finally, they made the holy plate of pure gold to wear on the front of the turban, engraved with the words, “Consecrated to Jehovah.” 31 It was tied to the turban with a blue cord, just as the Lord had instructed.
32 And so at last the Tabernacle was finished, following all of the Lord’s instructions to Moses.
33-40 Then they brought the entire Tabernacle to Moses:
Furniture; clasps; frames; bars;
Posts; bases; layers of covering for the roof and sides—the rams’ skins dyed red, the specially tanned goatskins, and the entrance drape; the Ark with the Ten Commandments in it;
The carrying poles;
The place of mercy;
The table and all its utensils;
The Bread of the Presence;
The pure gold[d] lampstand with its lamps, utensils, and oil;
The gold altar;
The anointing oil;
The sweet incense;
The curtain-door of the Tabernacle;
The bronze altar;
The bronze grating;
The poles and the utensils;
The washbasin and its base;
The drapes for the walls of the court and the posts holding them up;
The bases and the drapes at the gate of the court;
The cords and nails;
All the utensils used there in the work of the Tabernacle.
41 They also brought for his inspection the beautifully tailored garments to be worn while ministering in the Holy Place and the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and those for his sons, to be worn when on duty.
42 So the people of Israel followed all the Lord’s instructions to Moses. 43 And Moses inspected all their work and blessed them because it was all as the Lord had instructed him.
Footnotes
- Exodus 39:6 two . . . two, implied. reminders to Jehovah concerning the people of Israel, literally, “to be stones of memorial for the children of Israel.”
- Exodus 39:15 to the ephod, implied.
- Exodus 39:24 embroidered, implied.
- Exodus 39:33 gold, implied.
Exodus 39
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 39
The Priestly Vestments. 1 With violet, purple, and scarlet yarn were woven the service cloths for use in the sanctuary, as well as the sacred vestments(A) for Aaron, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
2 (B)The ephod was woven of gold thread and of violet, purple, and scarlet yarn and of fine linen twined. 3 Gold was first hammered into gold leaf and then cut up into threads, which were woven with the violet, purple, and scarlet yarn into an embroidered pattern on the fine linen. 4 Shoulder straps were made for it and joined to its two upper ends. 5 The embroidered belt on the ephod extended out from it, and like it, was made of gold thread, of violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, and of fine linen twined, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 6 The onyx stones were prepared and mounted in gold filigree work; they were engraved like seal engravings with the names of the sons of Israel. 7 These stones were set on the shoulder straps of the ephod as memorial stones of the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
8 (C)The breastpiece was embroidered like the ephod, with gold thread and violet, purple, and scarlet yarn on cloth of fine linen twined. 9 It was square and folded double, a span high and a span wide in its folded form. 10 Four rows of precious stones were mounted on it: in the first row a carnelian, a topaz, and an emerald; 11 in the second row, a garnet, a sapphire, and a beryl; 12 in the third row a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 13 in the fourth row a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were mounted in gold filigree work. 14 These stones were twelve, to match the names of the sons of Israel, and each stone was engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.
15 (D)Chains of pure gold, twisted like cords, were made for the breastpiece, 16 together with two gold filigree rosettes and two gold rings. The two rings were fastened to the two upper ends of the breastpiece. 17 The two gold chains were then fastened to the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece. 18 The other two ends of the two chains were fastened in front to the two filigree rosettes, which were attached to the shoulder straps of the ephod. 19 Two other gold rings were made and put on the two lower ends of the breastpiece, on the edge facing the ephod. 20 Two more gold rings were made and fastened to the bottom of the two shoulder straps next to where they joined the ephod in front, just above its embroidered belt. 21 Violet ribbons bound the rings of the breastpiece to the rings of the ephod, so that the breastpiece stayed right above the embroidered belt of the ephod and did not swing loose from it. All this was just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Other Vestments. 22 The robe of the ephod was woven entirely of violet yarn, 23 with an opening in its center like the opening of a shirt, with selvage around the opening to keep it from being torn. 24 At the hem of the robe pomegranates were made of violet, purple, and scarlet yarn and of fine linen twined; 25 bells of pure gold were also made and put between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe: 26 a bell, a pomegranate, a bell, a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe which was to be worn in performing the ministry—all this, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
27 For Aaron and his sons there were also woven tunics of fine linen;(E) 28 the turban of fine linen; the ornate skullcaps of fine linen; linen pants of fine linen twined; 29 and sashes of variegated work made of fine linen twined and of violet, purple, and scarlet yarn, as the Lord had commanded Moses. 30 (F)The plate of the sacred diadem was made of pure gold and inscribed, as on a seal engraving: “Sacred to the Lord.” 31 It was tied over the turban with a violet ribbon, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Presentation of the Work to Moses. 32 Thus the entire work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was completed. The Israelites did the work just as the Lord had commanded Moses; so it was done. 33 They then brought to Moses the tabernacle, the tent with all its furnishings, the clasps, the frames, the bars, the columns, the pedestals, 34 the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, the covering of tahash skins, the curtain veil; 35 the ark of the covenant with its poles, the cover, 36 the table with all its utensils and the showbread, 37 the pure gold menorah with its lamps set up on it and with all its utensils, the oil for the light, 38 the golden altar, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense; the curtain for the entrance of the tent, 39 the altar of bronze with its bronze grating, its poles and all its utensils, the basin with its stand, 40 the hangings of the court with their columns and pedestals, the curtain for the gate of the court with its ropes and tent pegs, all the equipment for the service of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting; 41 the service cloths for use in the sanctuary, the sacred vestments for Aaron the priest, and the vestments to be worn by his sons in their ministry. 42 Just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so the Israelites had carried out all the work. 43 So when Moses saw that all the work was done just as the Lord had commanded, he blessed them.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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