Exodus 39
The Voice
39 For the priests who served in the holy place, they decorated finely woven garments with blue, purple, and scarlet thread donated by the people. They also made the sacred garments Aaron was to wear, exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses.
2 Bezalel had Aaron’s vest of gold made out of finely woven linen embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet thread. 3 Craftsmen hammered gold into gold leaf, sliced it into individual threads, and interlaced them with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread as they embroidered intricate designs into the fine linens. 4 They also made two pieces for the shoulders of the vest that attached so that the front and back form one piece. 5 The vest’s waistband was skillfully made of the same materials—blue, purple, and scarlet thread on finely woven linen—and with a similar design made by skilled artisans exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses. 6 They prepared onyx stones, engraved them the same way signet rings are engraved, and set them in ornamental gold settings. 7 As the Eternal instructed Moses, he positioned the onyx stones on the shoulder pieces of Aaron’s vest as a memorial for the people of Israel before the Eternal One.
8 He then had skilled workers make the breast piece in the same style as the vest out of finely woven linen embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet thread and with gold. 9 They made it square by folding over the material to double it and created a pouch in it nine inches by nine inches. 10 They placed four rows of stones in it. The first row was ruby, topaz, and emerald; 11 the second row was turquoise, sapphire, and diamond; 12 the third row was jacinth, agate, and amethyst; 13 the fourth row was beryl, onyx, and jasper. They were all attached to the breast piece with ornamental gold settings. 14 The twelve stones stood for the twelve tribes of Israel. Each was engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes. 15 They braided strands of pure gold into chains and attached them to the breast piece. 16 They fashioned two ornamental gold settings and two gold rings, and they placed the two rings on opposite ends of the breast piece. 17 Then they fastened the two gold chains to the two gold rings at the two ends of the breast piece. 18 They fastened the loose ends of the chains to the two ornamental gold settings at the front of Aaron’s vest on the shoulders. 19 Then they fashioned two more gold rings and attached them to the breast piece at the inside edge next to the vest. 20 They made two additional gold rings and attached them to the front of the vest below the shoulders near the seam just above the waistband. 21 They connected the rings on the breast piece to the rings on the vest using blue cord, so that it would be attached above the vest’s waistband and not come loose from the vest. They did all this exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses.
22 He then made the robe worn under the vest blue. 23 They made a hole for the head and formed a collar around the hole by lining it with extra material so that it might not tear. 24 All around the hem they stitched pomegranates out of the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. 25 They also fashioned bells out of pure gold and attached them all around the hem between the pomegranates. 26 They used an alternating pattern: bell, pomegranate, bell, pomegranate, and so on. They did this exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses.
27 They made tunics out of finely woven linen for Aaron and his sons. 28 They made the turban, caps, and undergarments out of fine linen as well. 29 They also made the sash out of finely woven linen and embroidered it with the blue, purple, and scarlet thread. They did all this exactly as the Eternal One instructed Moses.
30 They made the medallion, the sacred emblem that set the high priest apart, out of pure gold and engraved it like a seal with the inscription, “Holy to the Eternal.” 31 They fastened it with a blue cord to the front of Aaron’s turban, exactly as the Eternal One instructed Moses.
32 All the work that went into the sanctuary of the congregation tent was finally finished. The Israelites did everything exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses.
33 Then the Israelites brought all they made to Moses. They brought the tent and all its furnishings, including its hooks, frame panels, crossbars, posts, and bases; 34 the layers of red-dyed rams’ skins and the sea-cow skin that covered the sanctuary; the veil shrouding the most holy place; 35 the covenant chest with its poles and the seat of mercy; 36 the table, its tools, the bread of the Presence; 37 the gold lampstand, its lamps and all its tools, the lamp oil; 38 the golden altar of incense, the anointing oil and the scented incense; the fabric screen for the tent’s entrance; 39 the bronze altar for burnt offerings, the bronze grating, its poles and tools, the basin and its stand; 40 the panels that enclose the courtyard, the posts and bases, the screen that covers the court’s entrance, the cords and pegs; and all the tools used in the sanctuary of the congregation tent, 41 the finely woven clothing for priests serving in the holy place, the sacred garments worn by Aaron the high priest, and the clothes his sons are to wear when they serve as priests as well. 42 The Israelites completed each part of the project exactly as the Eternal One had instructed Moses.
43 Moses inspected every piece of work they had completed, and he saw that they had done it all with excellence according to the specifications given to Him by the Eternal One. So Moses blessed them.
Exodus 39
New English Translation
The Making of the Priestly Garments
39 From the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn they made woven garments for serving in the sanctuary; they made holy garments that were for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.[a]
The Ephod
2 He made the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet yarn, and fine twisted linen. 3 They hammered the gold into thin sheets and cut it into narrow strips to weave[b] them into the blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and into the fine linen, the work of an artistic designer. 4 They made shoulder pieces for it, attached to two of its corners, so it could be joined together. 5 The artistically woven waistband of the ephod that was on it was like it, of one piece with it,[c] of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
6 They set the onyx stones in gold filigree settings, engraved as with the engravings of a seal[d] with the names of the sons of Israel.[e] 7 He put[f] them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod as stones of memorial for the Israelites, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Breastpiece of Decision
8 He made the breastpiece, the work of an artistic designer, in the same fashion as the ephod, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and fine twisted linen. 9 It was square—they made the breastpiece doubled, nine inches long and nine inches wide when doubled. 10 They set on it[g] four rows of stones: a row with a ruby, a topaz, and a beryl—the first row; 11 and the second row, a turquoise, a sapphire, and an emerald; 12 and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; 13 and the fourth row, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in gold filigree settings. 14 The stones were for the names of the sons of Israel, twelve, corresponding to the number of[h] their names. Each name corresponding to one of the twelve tribes was like the engravings of a seal.
15 They made for the breastpiece braided chains like cords of pure gold, 16 and they made two gold filigree settings and two gold rings, and they attached the two rings to the upper[i] two ends of the breastpiece. 17 They attached the two gold chains to the two rings at the ends of the breastpiece; 18 the other[j] two ends of the two chains they attached to the two settings, and they attached them to the shoulder pieces of the ephod at the front of it. 19 They made two rings of gold and put them on the other[k] two ends of the breastpiece on its edge, which is on the inner side of the ephod.[l] 20 They made two more[m] gold rings and attached them to the bottom of the two shoulder pieces on the front of the ephod, close to the juncture above the waistband of the ephod. 21 They tied the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod by blue cord, so that it was above the waistband of the ephod, so that the breastpiece would not be loose from the ephod, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Other Garments
22 He made the robe of the ephod completely blue, the work of a weaver. 23 There was an opening in the center of the robe, like the opening of a collar,[n] with an edge all around the opening so that it could not be torn. 24 They made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and twisted linen[o] around the hem of the robe. 25 They made bells of pure gold and attached the bells between the pomegranates around the hem of the robe between the pomegranates. 26 There was[p] a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe, to be used in ministering,[q] just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
27 They made tunics of fine linen—the work of a weaver, for Aaron and for his sons— 28 and the turban of fine linen, the headbands of fine linen, and the undergarments of fine twisted linen. 29 The sash was of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, the work of an embroiderer, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. 30 They made a plate, the holy diadem, of pure gold and wrote on it an inscription, as on the engravings of a seal, “Holiness to the Lord.” 31 They attached to it a blue cord to attach it to the turban above, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Moses Inspects the Tabernacle
32 [r] So all the work of the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was completed, and the Israelites did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses—they did it exactly so. 33 They brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its furnishings, clasps, frames, bars, posts, and bases; 34 and the coverings of ram skins dyed red, the covering of fine leather,[s] and the protecting[t] curtain; 35 the ark of the testimony and its poles, and the atonement lid; 36 the table, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence; 37 the pure[u] lampstand, its lamps, with the lamps set in order, and all its accessories, and oil for the light; 38 and the gold altar, and the anointing oil, and the fragrant incense; and the curtain for the entrance to the tent; 39 the bronze altar and its bronze grating, its poles, and all its utensils; the large basin with its pedestal; 40 the hangings of the courtyard, its posts and its bases, and the curtain for the gateway of the courtyard, its ropes and its tent pegs, and all the furnishings[v] for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; 41 the woven garments for serving[w] in the sanctuary, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister as priests.
42 The Israelites did all the work according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses. 43 Moses inspected[x] all the work, and[y] they had done it just as the Lord had commanded—they had done it exactly—and Moses blessed them.[z]
Footnotes
- Exodus 39:1 sn This chapter also will be almost identical to the instructions given earlier, with a few changes along the way.
- Exodus 39:3 tn The verb is the infinitive that means “to do, to work.” It could be given a literal rendering: “to work [them into] the blue….” Weaving or embroidering is probably what is intended.
- Exodus 39:5 tn Heb “from it” or the same.
- Exodus 39:6 tn Or “as seals are engraved.”
- Exodus 39:6 sn The twelve names were those of Israel’s sons. The idea was not the remembrance of the twelve sons as such, but the twelve tribes that bore their names.
- Exodus 39:7 tn Or “attached.”
- Exodus 39:10 tn That is, they set in mountings.
- Exodus 39:14 tn The phrase “the number of” has been supplied.
- Exodus 39:16 tn Here “upper” has been supplied.
- Exodus 39:18 tn Here “other” has been supplied.
- Exodus 39:19 tn Here “other” has been supplied.
- Exodus 39:19 tn Heb “homeward side.”
- Exodus 39:20 tn Here “more” has been supplied.
- Exodus 39:23 tn See the note on this word in Exod 28:32 for discussion of its meaning.
- Exodus 39:24 tn The word is simply “twined” or “twisted.” It may refer to the twisted linen that so frequently is found in these lists; or, it may refer to the yarn twisted. The LXX reads “fine twined linen.” This is not found in the text of Exod 28:33, except in Smr and LXX.
- Exodus 39:26 tn The words “there was” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- Exodus 39:26 tn The infinitive “to minister” is present; “to be used” is supplied from the context.
- Exodus 39:32 sn The last sections of the book bring several themes together to a full conclusion. Not only is it the completion of the tabernacle, it is the fulfillment of God’s plan revealed at the beginning of the book, i.e., to reside with his people.
- Exodus 39:34 tn See the note on this phrase in Exod 25:5.
- Exodus 39:34 tn Or “shielding” (NIV); NASB “the screening veil.”
- Exodus 39:37 tn Possibly meaning “pure gold lampstand.”
- Exodus 39:40 tn Heb “utensils, vessels.”
- Exodus 39:41 tn The form is the infinitive construct; it means the clothes to be used “to minister” in the Holy Place.
- Exodus 39:43 tn Or “examined” (NASB, TEV); NCV “looked closely at.”
- Exodus 39:43 tn The deictic particle draws attention to what he saw in such a way as to give the reader Moses’ point of view and a sense of his pleasure: “and behold, they….”
- Exodus 39:43 sn The situation and wording in Exod 39:43 are reminiscent of Gen 1:28 and 31, with the motifs of blessing people and inspecting what has been made.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.