The Sabbath Emphasized

35 Moses gathered all the congregation of the sons of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the things which the Lord has commanded you to do:

² “For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of complete rest to the Lord; whoever does any kind of work on that day shall be put to death. ³ You shall not kindle a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

⁴ And Moses said to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, “This is the thing which the Lord has commanded: ⁵ ‘Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever has a willing heart, let him bring it as the Lord’s offering: gold, silver, and bronze, ⁶ blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, fine linen, goats’ hair, ⁷ and ^[a]rams’ skins dyed red, and skins of ^[b]porpoises, and acacia wood, ⁸ and [olive] oil for the lighting, and balsam for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense, ⁹ and ^[c]onyx stones and other stones to be set for the ephod and the breastpiece.

Tabernacle Workmen

¹⁰ ‘Let every skilled and talented man among you come, and make everything that the Lord has commanded: ¹¹ the tabernacle (sacred dwelling of God), its tent and its covering, its hooks, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; ¹² the ark [of the covenant] and its carrying poles, with the ^[d]mercy seat and the veil (partition curtain) of the screen [to hang between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies]; ¹³ the table and its carrying poles, and all its utensils, and the bread of the [divine] Presence (showbread); ¹⁴ the lampstand also for the light and its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light; ¹⁵ and the altar of incense and its carrying poles, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, the screen (curtain) for the doorway at the entrance of the tabernacle; ¹⁶ the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its carrying poles, and all its utensils, the wash basin and its base (stand); ¹⁷ the court’s curtains, its support poles and their sockets, and the curtain for the gate of the courtyard; ¹⁸ the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court and their cords; ¹⁹ 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 as priests.’”

Gifts Received

²⁰ Then all the congregation of the Israelites left Moses’ presence. ²¹ Everyone whose heart stirred him and everyone whose spirit moved him came and brought the Lord’s offering to be used for the Tent of Meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. ²² Then all whose hearts moved them, both men and women, came and brought brooches, earrings or nose rings, signet rings, and necklaces, all jewels of gold; everyone bringing an offering of gold to the Lord. ²³ Every man who had in his possession blue or purple or scarlet fabric, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and ^[e]rams’ skins dyed red and ^[f]porpoise skins, brought them. ²⁴ Everyone who could make an offering of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord’s offering; every man who had in his possession acacia wood for any work of the service brought it. ²⁵ All the skilled and talented women spun thread with their hands, and brought what they had spun, blue and purple and scarlet fabric and fine linen. ²⁶ All the women whose heart stirred with a skill spun the goats’ hair. ²⁷ The leaders brought onyx stones and other stones to be put in settings for the ephod and for the breastpiece, ²⁸ and spice and [olive] oil for the light and for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense. ²⁹ The Israelites, all the men and women whose heart moved them to bring material for all the work which the Lord had commanded through Moses to be done, brought a freewill (voluntary) offering to the Lord.

³⁰ Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; ³¹ and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom and skill, with intelligence and understanding, and with knowledge in all [areas of] craftsmanship, ³² to devise artistic designs to work in gold, silver, and bronze, ³³ and in the cutting of stones for setting and in the carving of wood, for work in every skilled craft. ³⁴ He has also put in Bezalel’s heart [the willingness] to teach [others the same skills], both he and Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. ³⁵ He has filled them with skill to do the work of an engraver, of a designer, and of an embroiderer, in blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and in fine linen, and of a weaver; makers of every work and embroiderers of [excellent] designs.

The Tabernacle Underwritten

36 “Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skilled person in whom the Lord has put ability and understanding to know how to do all the work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall work according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

² So Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom the Lord had put ability, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to do the work. ³ They received from Moses all the offerings which the Israelites had brought for the construction of the sanctuary, to prepare it for service. And they continued to bring him freewill (voluntary) offerings every morning. ⁴ And all the skilled men who were doing all the work on the sanctuary came, each one from the work which he was doing, ⁵ and they said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the construction work which the Lord commanded us to do.” ⁶ So Moses issued a command, and it was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the sanctuary offering.” So the people were restrained from bringing anything more; ⁷ for the material they had was sufficient and more than enough to do all the work.

Construction Proceeds

⁸ All the skilled men among them who were doing the work on the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, with cherubim [worked into them], the work of an embroiderer, Bezalel made them. ⁹ Each curtain was twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide; all the curtains were one size. ¹⁰ Bezalel joined five curtains one to another, and [the other] five curtains he joined one to another. ¹¹ He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set; he also did this on the edge of the curtain that was outermost in the second set. ¹² He made fifty loops in the one curtain [of the first set] and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain which was in the second set; the loops were opposite one another. ¹³ He made fifty gold hooks and joined the curtains together with the hooks, so that the tabernacle became a unit.

¹⁴ Then he made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains in all. ¹⁵ Each curtain was thirty cubits long and four cubits wide; the eleven curtains were of equal size. ¹⁶ Bezalel joined five curtains by themselves and [the other] six curtains by themselves. ¹⁷ He made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set. ¹⁸ He made fifty bronze hooks to join the tent together into a unit. ¹⁹ He made a [third] covering for the tent of rams’ ^[g]skins dyed red, and above it a [fourth] covering of ^[h]porpoise skins.

²⁰ Bezalel made boards of acacia wood for the upright framework of the tabernacle. ²¹ Each board was ten cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. ²² Each board had two tenons (dovetails), fitted to one another; he did this for all the boards of the tabernacle. ²³ And [this is how] he made the boards [for frames] for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side; ²⁴ and he made under the twenty boards forty silver sockets; two sockets under one board for its two tenons (dovetails), and two sockets under another board for its two tenons. ²⁵ For the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards, ²⁶ and their forty silver sockets; two sockets under [the end of] each board. ²⁷ And for the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, he made six [frame] boards. ²⁸ And he made two boards for each corner of the tabernacle in the rear. ²⁹ They were separate below, but linked together at the top with one ring; thus he made both of them in both corners. ³⁰ There were eight boards with sixteen silver sockets, and under [the end of] each board two sockets.

³¹ Bezalel made bars of acacia wood, five for the [frame] boards of the one side of the tabernacle, ³² and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle’s other side, and five bars for the boards at the rear side to the west. ³³ And he made the middle bar pass through [horizontally] halfway up the boards from one end to the other. ³⁴ He overlaid the boards and the bars with gold and made their rings of gold as holders for the bars.

³⁵ Further, Bezalel made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen; he made it with cherubim, the work of an embroiderer.^{(A) 36} For the veil (partition curtain) he made four support poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold; their hooks were gold, and he cast for them four silver sockets. ³⁷ He made a screen (curtain) for the doorway of the tent, of blue, purple, and scarlet fabric, and fine twisted linen, the work of an embroiderer; ³⁸ and [he made] the five support poles with their hooks, and overlaid their [ornamental] tops and connecting rings with gold; but their five sockets were bronze.

Construction Continues

37 Bezalel made the ark [of the covenant] of acacia wood—it was two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. ² And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and out, and made a molding (border) of gold to go all around [the top of it]. ³ He cast four rings of gold for it on its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. ⁴ He made carrying poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. ⁵ He put the carrying poles through the rings at the sides of the ark, to carry it. ⁶ Bezalel made the mercy seat of pure gold; it was two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide. ⁷ He made two cherubim of hammered gold; he made them at the two ends of the mercy seat, ⁸ one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; he made the cherubim [of one piece] with the mercy seat at the two ends. ⁹ The cherubim spread out their wings upward, covering and protecting the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward each other; the faces of the cherubim were [looking downward] toward the mercy seat.^(B)

¹⁰ Bezalel made the table [for the bread] of acacia wood; it was two cubits long, a cubit wide, and one and a half cubits high. ¹¹ He overlaid it with pure gold, and made a border of gold for it all around [its top]. ¹² He made a rim for it [just under the top] a hand width wide all around, and a border of gold around its rim. ¹³ He cast four rings of gold for it and fastened the rings to the four corners that were at its four legs. ¹⁴ Close by the rim were the rings, the holders for the poles [to pass through] to carry the table. ¹⁵ Bezalel made the carrying poles of acacia wood to carry the table and overlaid them with gold. ¹⁶ He made the utensils which were to be on the table, its dishes and its pans [for bread], its bowls and its jars for pouring drink offerings, of pure gold.

¹⁷ Then he made the lampstand (menorah) of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work, its base and its [center] shaft; its cups, its ^[i]calyxes, and its flowers were all of one piece with it. ¹⁸ There were six branches coming out of the sides of the lampstand, three branches from one side of the center shaft and three branches from the other side of it; ¹⁹ three cups shaped like almond blossoms, a calyx and a flower in one branch, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, a calyx and a flower in the opposite branch—so for the six branches coming out of the center shaft of the lampstand. ²⁰ On the center shaft of the lampstand there were four cups shaped like almond blossoms, with calyxes and flowers [one at the top]; ²¹ and a calyx was under the first pair of branches coming out of it, and a calyx under the second pair of branches, coming out of it, and a calyx under the third pair of branches coming out of it, for the six branches coming out of the lampstand. ²² Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it; all of it was a single hammered work of pure gold. ²³ He made its seven lamps with its snuffers and its trays of pure gold. ²⁴ He made the lampstand and all its utensils from a talent of pure gold.^(C)

²⁵ Then Bezalel made the incense altar of acacia wood; its top was a cubit square and it was two cubits high; the horns were of one piece with it. ²⁶ He overlaid it with pure gold, its top, its sides all around and its horns; he also made a rim of gold around it. ²⁷ He made two rings of gold for it under its rim, on its two opposite sides, as holders for the poles [to pass through] to carry it. ²⁸ He made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. ²⁹ He also made the holy anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense of spices, the work of a perfumer.