Exodus 40:1-33
New English Translation
Setting Up the Sanctuary
40 [a] Then the Lord spoke to Moses:[b] 2 “On the first day of the first month you are to set up[c] the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. 3 You are to place the ark of the testimony in it and shield the ark with the special curtain. 4 You are to bring in the table and set out the things that belong on it;[d] then you are to bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. 5 You are to put[e] the gold altar for incense in front of the ark of the testimony and put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. 6 You are to put the altar for the burnt offering in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. 7 You are to put the large basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it.[f] 8 You are to set up the courtyard around it and put the curtain at the gate of the courtyard. 9 And take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and sanctify it and all its furnishings, and it will be holy. 10 Then you are to anoint the altar for the burnt offering with[g] all its utensils; you are to sanctify the altar, and it will be the most holy altar. 11 You must also anoint the large basin and its pedestal, and you are to sanctify it.[h]
12 “You are to bring[i] Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. 13 Then you are to clothe Aaron with the holy garments and anoint him and sanctify him so that he may minister as my priest. 14 You are to bring[j] his sons and clothe them with tunics 15 and anoint them just as you anointed their father, so that they may minister as my priests; their anointing will make them a priesthood that will continue throughout their generations.” 16 This is what Moses did, according to all the Lord had commanded him—so he did.
17 So the tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month, in the second year. 18 When Moses set up the tabernacle and put its bases in place, he set up its frames, attached its bars, and set up its posts. 19 Then he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the Lord had commanded him.[k] 20 He took the testimony and put it in the ark, attached the poles to the ark, and then put the atonement lid on the ark. 21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung[l] the protecting curtain,[m] and shielded the ark of the testimony from view, just as the Lord had commanded him.[n]
22 And Moses[o] put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the curtain. 23 And he set the bread in order on it[p] before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him.[q]
24 And he put the lampstand in the tent of meeting opposite the table, on the south side of the tabernacle. 25 Then he set up the lamps before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded him.[r]
26 And he put the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain, 27 and he burned fragrant incense on it, just as the Lord had commanded him.[s]
28 Then Moses[t] put the curtain at the entrance to the tabernacle. 29 He also put the altar for the burnt offering by the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the meal offering, just as the Lord had commanded him.[u]
30 Then he put the large basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it[v] for washing. 31 Moses and Aaron and his sons would wash their hands and their feet from it. 32 Whenever they entered[w] the tent of meeting, and whenever they approached[x] the altar, they would wash,[y] just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
33 And he set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar, and put the curtain at the gate of the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.
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- Exodus 40:1 sn All of Exod 39:32-40:38 could be taken as a unit. The first section (39:32-43) shows that the Israelites had carefully and accurately completed the preparation and brought everything they had made to Moses: The work of the Lord builds on the faithful obedience of the people. In the second section are the instruction and the implementation (40:1-33): The work of the Lord progresses through the unifying of the work. The last part (40:34-38) may take the most attention: When the work was completed, the glory filled the tabernacle: By his glorious presence, the Lord blesses and directs his people in their worship.
- Exodus 40:1 tn Heb “and Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying.”
- Exodus 40:2 tn Heb “you will raise,” an imperfect of instruction.
- Exodus 40:4 tn Heb “and you will set in order its setting” or “arrange its arrangement.” See 25:29-30 for items that belonged on the table.
- Exodus 40:5 tn Heb “give” (also four additional times in vv. 6-8).
- Exodus 40:7 tn Heb “there.”
- Exodus 40:10 tn Heb “and.”
- Exodus 40:11 sn U. Cassuto (Exodus, 480) notes that the items inside the tent did not need to be enumerated since they were already holy, but items in the courtyard needed special attention. People needed to know that items outside the tent were just as holy.
- Exodus 40:12 tn The verb is “bring near,” or “present,” to Yahweh.
- Exodus 40:14 tn The verb is also “bring near” or “present.”
- Exodus 40:19 tn Heb “Moses”; the name has been replaced with the pronoun for stylistic reasons.
- Exodus 40:21 tn Heb “set up,” if it includes more than the curtain.
- Exodus 40:21 tn Or “shielding” (NIV); Heb “the veil of the covering” (cf. KJV).
- Exodus 40:21 tn Heb “Moses”; the name has been replaced with the pronoun for stylistic reasons.
- Exodus 40:22 tn Heb “him”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Exodus 40:23 tn Heb uses a cognate accusative construction, “he arranged the arrangement.”
- Exodus 40:23 tn Heb “Moses”; the name has been replaced with the pronoun for stylistic reasons.
- Exodus 40:25 tn Heb “Moses”; the name has been replaced with the pronoun for stylistic reasons.
- Exodus 40:27 tn Heb “Moses”; the name has been replaced with the pronoun for stylistic reasons.
- Exodus 40:28 tn Heb “him”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Exodus 40:29 tn Heb “Moses”; the name has been replaced with the pronoun for stylistic reasons.
- Exodus 40:30 tn Heb “there.”
- Exodus 40:32 tn The construction is the infinitive construct with the temporal preposition and the suffixed subjective genitive. This temporal clause indicates that the verb in the preceding verse was frequentative.
- Exodus 40:32 tn This is another infinitive construct in a temporal clause.
- Exodus 40:32 tn In this explanatory verse the verb is a customary imperfect.
Exodus 40:1-33
Expanded Bible
Setting Up the Holy Tent
40 Then the Lord said to Moses: 2 “On the first day of the first month, set up the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle], which is the Meeting Tent. 3 Put the Ark of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty; L Testimony; 25:10] in it and ·hang the curtain in front of the Ark [L screen the Ark with a curtain]. 4 Bring in the table [25:23–30] and arrange ·everything on the table that should be there [L its setting]. Then bring in the ·lampstand [L Menorah; 25:31–40] and set up its lamps. 5 Put the gold altar for ·burning incense [L offering smoke; 30:1–6] in front of the Ark of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty; L Testimony], and put the ·curtain [screen] at the entrance to the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle].
6 “Put the altar of burnt offerings [27:1–8] in front of the entrance of the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle], the Meeting Tent. 7 Put the bowl [30:17–21] between the Meeting Tent and the altar, and put water in it. 8 Set up the courtyard ·around the Holy Tent [L all around], and put the ·curtain [screen] at the ·entry [L gate] to the courtyard.
9 “Use the ·special [anointing] olive oil and ·pour it on [L anoint] the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] and everything in it, in order to ·give the Tent and all that is in it for service to the Lord [sanctify/consecrate it and all its utensils/tools]. They will be holy. 10 ·Pour the special oil on [L Anoint] the altar for burnt offerings and on all its ·tools [utensils]. ·Give the altar for service to God [Consecrate/Sanctify the altar], and it will be ·very holy [T a holy of holies]. 11 Then ·pour the special olive oil on [L anoint] the bowl and the base under it so that they will be ·given for service to God [consecrated; sanctified].
12 “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Meeting Tent, and wash them with water. 13 Then put the ·holy [sacred] clothes on Aaron. ·Pour the special oil on [L Anoint] him [Ps. 133], and ·give him for service to God [L consecrate/sanctify him] so that he may serve me as a priest. 14 Bring his sons and put the inner robes [28:39–41] on them. 15 ·Pour the special oil on [L Anoint] them in the same way that you ·appointed [L anointed] their father as priest so that they may also serve me as priests. ·Pouring oil on [L Anointing] them will make them a family of priests, they and their descendants ·from now on [L throughout their generations].” 16 Moses did everything that the Lord commanded him.
17 So the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] was set up on the first day of the first month during the second ·year after they left Egypt [L year]. 18 When Moses set up the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle], he put the bases in place, and he put the frames on the bases. Next he put ·the crossbars through the rings of the frames [L in the poles] and set up the ·posts [pillars]. 19 After that, Moses spread ·the cloth over the Holy Tent [L the tent over the Tabernacle] and put the covering over it, just as the Lord commanded.
20 Moses put the ·stone tablets that had the Agreement written on them [Covenant; Testimony; Treaty] into the Ark. He put the poles ·through the rings of [L on] the Ark and put the ·lid [mercy seat; atonement cover] on it. 21 Next he brought the Ark into the ·Tent [Tabernacle] and hung the curtain to ·cover [screen] the Ark [L of the Testimony], just as the Lord commanded him.
22 Moses put the table in the Meeting Tent on the north side of the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] in front of the curtain. 23 Then he ·put [arranged] the bread ·on the table [L in rows] before the Lord, just as the Lord commanded him. 24 Moses put the lampstand [L Menorah] in the Meeting Tent on the south side of the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] across from the table. 25 Then he put the lamps on the lampstand before the Lord, just as the Lord commanded him.
26 Moses put the gold altar for burning incense in the Meeting Tent in front of the curtain. 27 Then he ·burned [L turned into smoke] sweet-smelling incense on it, just as the Lord commanded him. 28 Then he hung the ·curtain [screen] at the entrance to the ·Holy Tent [L Tabernacle].
29 He put the altar for burnt offerings [Lev. 1] at the entrance to the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle], the Meeting Tent, and offered a whole burnt offering and ·grain [L gift; tribute; Lev. 3] offerings on it, just as the Lord commanded him. 30 Moses put the bowl [30:17–21] between the Meeting Tent and the altar for burnt offerings, and he put water in it for washing. 31 Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons used this water to wash their hands and feet [C cleansing rituals]. 32 They washed themselves every time they entered the Meeting Tent and every time they went near the altar for burnt offerings, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
33 Then Moses set up the courtyard around the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle] and the altar, and he put up the ·curtain [screen] at the entry to the courtyard. So Moses finished the work.
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