Beginning

Gifts for the Lord

25 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Tell the Israelites to bring me gifts. Receive for me the gifts each man wants to give. ³ These are the gifts that you should receive from them: gold, silver, bronze, ⁴ blue, purple and red thread, and fine linen. Receive cloth made of goat hair. ⁵ Receive the male sheep skins that are dyed red. Receive fine leather, acacia wood ⁶ and olive oil to burn in the lamps. And receive spices for sweet-smelling incense and the special olive oil poured on a person’s head to make him a priest. ⁷ Also accept onyx stones and other jewels to be put on the holy vest and the chest covering.

⁸ “The people must build a holy place for me. Then I can live among them. ⁹ Build this Holy Tent and everything in it by the plan I will show you.

The Ark of the Covenant

¹⁰ “Use acacia wood and build an Ark. It must be 45 inches long, 27 inches wide and 27 inches high. ¹¹ Cover the Ark of the Covenant inside and out with pure gold. And put a gold strip all around it. ¹² Make four gold rings for the Ark of the Covenant. Attach the gold rings to its four feet, two rings on each side. ¹³ Then make poles from acacia wood and cover them with gold. ¹⁴ Put the poles through the rings on the sides of the Ark. Use these poles to carry the Ark of the Covenant. ¹⁵ These poles must always stay in the rings of the Ark of the Covenant. Do not take the poles out. ¹⁶ Then put the two flat stones in the Ark of the Covenant. I will give you these stones on which the commands are written.

¹⁷ “Then make a lid of pure gold for the Ark of the Covenant. This lid is the mercy seat. Make it 45 inches long and 27 inches wide. ¹⁸ Then hammer gold to make two creatures with wings. Put one on each end of the lid. ¹⁹ Put one creature with wings on one end of the lid. And put the other creature with wings on the other end. Attach the creatures with wings to the lid so that they will all be one piece. ²⁰ The creatures’ wings should be spread out over the lid. The creatures are to face each other across the lid. ²¹ Put this lid on top of the Ark of the Covenant. Also put in this Ark of the Covenant the agreement which I will make with you. ²² I will meet with you there, above the lid between the two creatures with wings. These are on the Ark of the Covenant. There I will give you all my commands for the Israelites.

The Table

²³ “Make a table out of acacia wood. It must be 36 inches long, 18 inches wide and 27 inches high. ²⁴ Cover it with pure gold. Put a gold strip around it. ²⁵ Then make a frame three inches high that stands up all around the edge. Put a gold strip around the frame. ²⁶ Then make four gold rings. Attach them to the four corners of the table where the four legs are. ²⁷ Put the rings close to the frame around the top of the table. These rings will hold the poles for carrying the table. ²⁸ Make the poles out of acacia wood and cover them with gold. Carry the table with these poles. ²⁹ Make the plates and bowls for the table out of pure gold. Make the jars and cups out of pure gold. They will be used for pouring out the drink offerings. ³⁰ On this table put the bread that shows you are in my presence. It must always be there in front of me.

The Lampstand

³¹ “Hammer pure gold to make a lampstand. Its base, stand, flower-like cups, buds and petals must all be joined together in one piece. ³² The lampstand must have three branches on one side and three branches on the other. ³³ Each branch must have three cups shaped like almond flowers on it. Each cup must have a bud and a petal. ³⁴ And there must be four more cups made like almond flowers on the lampstand itself. These cups must also have buds and petals. ³⁵ Put a bud under each pair of branches that goes out from the lampstand. ³⁶ The branches, buds and lampstand must be one piece of pure, hammered gold.

³⁷ “Then make seven small oil lamps and put them on the lampstand. They will give light to the area in front of the lampstand. ³⁸ The wick trimmers and trays must be made of pure gold. ³⁹ Use 75 pounds of pure gold to make the lampstand and everything with it. ⁴⁰ Be very careful to make them by the plan I showed you on the mountain.

The Holy Tent

26 “Make the Holy Tent with ten pieces of cloth. These pieces must be made of fine linen and blue, purple and red thread. Have a skilled craftsman sew designs of creatures with wings on the pieces of cloth. ² Make each piece the same size. Each piece should be 42 feet long and 6 feet wide. ³ Sew five pieces of cloth together for one set. Sew the other pieces together for the second set. ⁴ Make loops of blue cloth down the edge of the end piece of each set. ⁵ Make 50 loops on the end piece of the first set. And make 50 loops on the end piece of the second set. These loops must be opposite each other. ⁶ And make 50 gold hooks. Use these to join the two sets of cloth. This will make the Holy Tent one piece.

⁷ “Then make another tent that will cover the Holy Tent. Make this tent of 11 pieces of cloth made from goat hair. ⁸ All these pieces of cloth must be the same size. They must be 45 feet long and 6 feet wide. ⁹ Sew five of the pieces together into one set. Then sew the other six pieces together into the second set. Fold the sixth piece double over the front of the Tent. ¹⁰ Make 50 loops down the edge of the end piece of one set. Do the same for the end piece of the other set. ¹¹ Then make 50 bronze hooks. Put these in the loops to join the two sets of cloth. This will make the covering one piece. ¹² Let the extra half piece of cloth hang over the back of the Holy Tent. ¹³ There will be 18 inches hanging over the sides of the Holy Tent. This will protect the Tent. ¹⁴ Make two more coverings for the Holy Tent. One should be made from male sheep skins colored red. The outer covering should be from fine leather.

¹⁵ “Use acacia wood to make upright frames for the Holy Tent. ¹⁶ Each frame must be 15 feet long and 27 inches wide. ¹⁷ Every frame must be made the same way. There must be two pegs side by side in each frame. ¹⁸ Make 20 frames for the south side of the Holy Tent. ¹⁹ Each frame must have 2 silver bases to go under it. A peg fits into each silver base. You must make 40 silver bases for the frames. ²⁰ Make 20 more frames for the north side of the Holy Tent. ²¹ Make 40 silver bases for them. Make 2 bases for each frame. ²² You must make 6 frames for the rear or west end of the Holy Tent. ²³ Make 2 frames for each corner at the rear. ²⁴ The 2 frames at each corner are to be joined together. Hold them together from bottom to top with a metal ring. Both corner frames must be made this way. ²⁵ So there will be a total of 8 frames at the rear of the Tent. And there will be 16 silver bases—2 bases under each frame.

²⁶ “Make crossbars of acacia wood to connect the upright frames of the Holy Tent. Make five crossbars to hold the frames together on one side. ²⁷ Also make five crossbars to hold the frames together on the other side. And make crossbars to hold the frames together on the west end, at the rear. ²⁸ The middle crossbar is to be set halfway up the frames. It is to run along the entire length of each side and rear. ²⁹ Make gold rings on the sides of the frames. Pass the crossbars through the rings. Cover the frames and the crossbars with gold. ³⁰ Set up the Holy Tent by the plan shown to you on the mountain.

³¹ “Make a curtain of fine linen and blue, purple and red thread. Have a skilled craftsman sew designs of creatures with wings on the curtain. ³² Hang the curtain by gold hooks on four posts of acacia wood. Cover these posts with gold and set them in four silver bases. ³³ Hang the curtain from the hooks in the roof. Put the Ark of the Covenant containing the two flat stones behind the curtain. This curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. ³⁴ Put the lid on the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place.

³⁵ “Outside the curtain, put the table on the north side of the Holy Tent. And put the lampstand on the south side of the Holy Tent. This will be across from the table.

The Entrance of the Holy Tent

³⁶ “Then make a curtain for the entrance of the Tent. Make it with fine linen and blue, purple and red thread. Someone who can sew well is to sew designs on it. ³⁷ Make five posts of acacia wood covered with gold. Make five gold hooks on which to hang the curtain from the posts. And make five bronze bases for the five posts.

The Altar

27 “Make an altar for burnt offerings out of acacia wood. Make it 4½ feet high. It should be square: 7½ feet long and 7½ feet wide. ² Make each of the four corners of the altar stick out like a horn. The corners with their horns must be all one piece. Then cover the whole altar with bronze.

³ “Use bronze to make all the tools and dishes that will be used on the altar. Make pots to remove the ashes. Make shovels, bowls for sprinkling blood, meat forks and pans for carrying the burning wood.

⁴ “Make a large, bronze screen to hold the burning wood. And put a bronze ring at each of the four corners of the screen. ⁵ Put the screen inside the altar, under its rim, halfway up from the bottom.

⁶ “Make poles of acacia wood for the altar. And cover them with bronze. ⁷ Put the poles through the rings on both sides of the altar to carry it. ⁸ Make the altar out of boards and leave the inside hollow. Make it as you were shown on the mountain.

The Courtyard of the Holy Tent

⁹ “Make a wall of curtains to form a courtyard around the Holy Tent. The south side should have a wall of fine linen curtains 150 feet long. ¹⁰ Hang the curtain with silver hooks and bands. Put these on 20 bronze posts on 20 bronze bases. ¹¹ The north side must also be 150 feet long. Hang its curtains on silver hooks and bands. Put these on 20 bronze posts on 20 bronze bases.

¹² “The west end of the courtyard must have a wall of curtains 75 feet long. It must have 10 posts and 10 bases on that wall. ¹³ The east end of the courtyard must also be 75 feet long. ¹⁴ On one side of the entry, there is to be a wall of curtains. It is to be 22½ feet long. It is to be held up by 3 posts on 3 bases. ¹⁵ On the other side of the entry, there is to be a wall of curtains. It is to be 22½ feet long. It is to be held up by 3 posts on 3 bases.

¹⁶ “The entry to the courtyard is to be a curtain 30 feet wide. It is to be made of fine linen with blue, purple and red thread. Someone who can sew well is to sew designs on it. It is to be held up by 4 posts on 4 bases. ¹⁷ All the posts around the courtyard must have silver bands and hooks and bronze bases. ¹⁸ The courtyard must be 150 feet long and 75 feet wide. The wall of curtains around it should be 7½ feet high. They must be made of fine linen. The bases in which the posts are set must be bronze. ¹⁹ All the things used in the Holy Tent must be made of bronze. And all the tent pegs for the Holy Tent and the wall around the courtyard must be made of bronze.

Oil for the Lamp

²⁰ “Command the people of Israel to bring you pure olive oil. It is to be made from pressed olives. This is to keep the lamps on the lampstand burning. ²¹ Aaron and his sons must keep the lamps burning before the Lord from evening till morning. This will be in the Meeting Tent. It is outside the curtain which is in front of the Ark of the Covenant. The Israelites and their descendants must obey this rule from now on.