36 “Let Bezalel, Oholiab, and every other skilled worker whom the Lord has given skill, ability, and knowledge for the work of building the sanctuary do all that the Lord has commanded.”

² Moses then called together Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person whom the Lord had given skill and who was eager to come and do the work. ³ Moses gave them all the gift offerings that the Israelites had contributed to the work on the sanctuary. They kept bringing him spontaneous gifts, morning after morning.

⁴ Finally, all the skilled workers building the sanctuary left their work that they were doing one by one to come ⁵ and say to Moses, “The people are contributing way too much material for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.”

⁶ So Moses issued a command that was proclaimed throughout the camp: “Every man and woman should stop making gift offerings for the sanctuary project.” So the people stopped bringing anything more ⁷ because what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work.

Construction of the dwelling

⁸ All the skilled workers made the dwelling out of ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue, purple, and deep red yarns, with figures of winged heavenly creatures worked into their design. ⁹ Each curtain was forty-two feet long and six feet wide. All the curtains were the same size.

¹⁰ They joined five of the curtains to each other and joined the other five curtains to each other. ¹¹ They made loops of blue thread on the edge of the outer curtain of the first set. They did the same on the edge of the outer curtain of the second set. ¹² They made fifty loops on the one curtain and fifty loops on the outer curtain that was in the second set. The loops were opposite each other. ¹³ They also made fifty gold clasps, and they used the clasps to join the curtains to each other so that the dwelling was one whole structure.

¹⁴ They also made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the dwelling. They made eleven curtains. ¹⁵ Each curtain was forty-five feet long and each curtain six feet wide. All eleven curtains were the same size. ¹⁶ They joined five curtains together and the six other curtains together. ¹⁷ They made fifty loops on the edge of the outer curtain of the one set and fifty loops on the edge of the other set of curtains. ¹⁸ They made fifty copper clasps to join the tent together so that it would be one whole structure. ¹⁹ They also made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red and an outer covering of beaded leather.

²⁰ Then they made acacia-wood boards to stand upright as a frame for the dwelling. ²¹ Each board was fifteen feet long and twenty-seven inches wide. ²² Each board had two pegs for joining them to each other. They did this for all the dwelling’s boards. ²³ They made twenty boards for the dwelling’s southern side. ²⁴ They made forty silver bases under the twenty boards, with two bases under the first board for its two pegs, two bases under the next board for its two pegs, and so on. ²⁵ For the dwelling’s other side on the north, they made twenty boards ²⁶ and forty silver bases, two bases under the first board, two bases under the next board, and so on. ²⁷ For the back of the dwelling on the west, they made six boards. ²⁸ They made two additional boards for the dwelling’s rear corners. ²⁹ They were spread out at the bottom but joined together at the top with one ring. In this way, these two boards formed the two corners. ³⁰ And so there were eight boards with their sixteen silver bases, with two bases under every board.

³¹ They also made acacia-wood bars: five for the boards on one side of the dwelling, ³² five bars for the boards on the other side of the dwelling, and five bars for the boards on the back wall of the dwelling on the west. ³³ They made the middle bar, which was halfway up the boards, run from one end to the other. ³⁴ They covered the boards with gold. They made gold rings to house the bars and covered the bars with gold.

³⁵ They made the veil of blue, purple, and deep red yarns and fine twisted linen, with figures of winged heavenly creatures worked into its design. ³⁶ They made for it four acacia-wood posts covered in gold with gold hooks and cast four silver bases for them. ³⁷ They made a screen for the entrance to the tent of blue, purple, and deep red yarns and fine twisted linen, decorated with needlework. ³⁸ They made its five posts with hooks. They covered their tops and bands with gold, but made their five bases out of copper.

Building the chest containing the covenant document

37 Bezalel made the chest of acacia wood. It was forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ² He covered the chest with pure gold inside and out, and made a gold molding all around it. ³ He cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other. ⁴ He made acacia-wood poles and covered them with gold. ⁵ He put the poles into the rings on the chest’s sides to use to carry the chest. ⁶ He made a cover for the chest out of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide. ⁷ He made two winged heavenly creatures of hammered gold for the two ends of the cover, ⁸ one winged heavenly creature at one end and one winged heavenly creature at the other. He placed the winged heavenly creatures at the cover’s two ends. ⁹ The winged heavenly creatures spread out their wings above, shielding the cover with their wings. The winged heavenly creatures faced each other toward the cover’s center.

Constructing the table and lampstand

¹⁰ He also made the table of acacia wood, three feet long, eighteen inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. ¹¹ He covered it with pure gold and made a gold molding all around it. ¹² He made a frame around it that was four inches wide and gold molding around the frame. ¹³ He made four gold rings for the table. He fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs. ¹⁴ The rings that housed the poles used for carrying the table were close to the frame. ¹⁵ He made the poles used to carry the table out of acacia wood, and he covered them with gold. ¹⁶ He made the containers of pure gold that were to be on the table: its plates, dishes, bowls, and jars for pouring drink offerings.

¹⁷ He also made the lampstand of pure, hammered gold. The lampstand’s base, branches, cups, flowers, and petals were all attached to it. ¹⁸ It had six branches growing out from its sides, three branches on one side of the lampstand and three branches on the other side of the lampstand. ¹⁹ One branch had three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a flower and petals, and the next branch also had three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a flower and petals. A total of six branches grew out of the lampstand. ²⁰ In addition, on the lampstand itself there were four cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with its flower and petals. ²¹ There was a flower attached under the first pair of branches, a flower attached under the next pair of branches, and a flower attached under the last pair of branches. ²² Their flowers and their branches were attached to it. The whole lampstand was one piece of pure hammered gold. ²³ He made its seven lamps and its tongs and its fire pans out of pure gold. ²⁴ He made the lampstand and all its equipment from pure gold weighing one kikkar.

Making the incense altar, incense, and oil

²⁵ He made the incense altar out of acacia wood. The altar was square, eighteen inches long by eighteen inches wide. It was three feet high, and its horns were permanently attached. ²⁶ He covered it with pure gold, including its top, all its sides, and its horns. He also made a gold molding all around it. ²⁷ He made two gold rings, and he attached them under the molding on two opposite sides of the altar. They housed the poles used to carry it. ²⁸ He made the poles of acacia wood, and he covered them with gold.

²⁹ He also made the holy anointing oil and the pure sweet-smelling incense like a skilled perfume maker.

Making the altar for entirely burned offerings

38 He made the altar for entirely burned offerings out of acacia wood. The altar was square, seven and a half feet long and seven and a half feet wide. It was four and a half feet high. ² He made horns for it, one horn on each of its four corners. Its horns were attached to the altar, and he covered it with copper. ³ He made all the altar’s equipment: the pails, the shovels, the bowls, the meat forks, and the trays. He made all its equipment out of copper. ⁴ He made a grate for the altar of copper mesh underneath its bottom edge and extending halfway up to the middle of the altar. ⁵ He made four rings for each of the four corners of the copper grate to house the poles. ⁶ He made the poles out of acacia wood, and he covered them with copper. ⁷ He put the poles through the rings so that the poles were on the two sides of the altar when it was carried. He made the altar with planks but hollow inside.

⁸ He made the copper washbasin with its copper stand from the copper mirrors among the ranks of women assigned to the meeting tent’s entrance.

Constructing the dwelling’s plaza

⁹ He also set up the courtyard. The courtyard’s south side had drapes of fine twisted linen stretching one hundred fifty feet ¹⁰ with twenty posts, twenty copper bases, and silver hooks and bands for the posts. ¹¹ Likewise the north side stretched one hundred fifty feet, with twenty posts, twenty copper bases, and silver hooks and bands for the posts. ¹² On the west side the drapes stretched seventy-five feet, with their ten posts, their ten bases, and silver hooks and bands for the posts. ¹³ The front side facing east was seventy-five feet. ¹⁴ There were twenty-two and a half feet of drapes on one side with three posts and three bases for them. ¹⁵ Likewise, there were twenty-two and a half feet of drapes on the other side of the plaza’s gate with three posts and three bases for them. ¹⁶ All the drapes around the courtyard were made of fine twisted linen. ¹⁷ The bases for the posts were made of copper, but the hooks for the posts and their bands were made of silver. The tops of the posts were covered with silver, and all the posts surrounding the courtyard had silver bands. ¹⁸ The screen for the gate into the courtyard was made with blue, purple, and deep red yarns and fine twisted linen, decorated with needlework. It was thirty feet long and, along the width of it, seven and a half feet high, corresponding to the courtyard’s drapes. ¹⁹ It had four posts, their four copper bases, their silver hooks, and their tops and bands covered with silver. ²⁰ All the tent pegs for the dwelling and for the courtyard all around were made of copper.

A listing of materials used

²¹ These are the accounts of the dwelling, the covenant dwelling, that were recorded at Moses’ instructions. They are the work of the Levites, under the direction of Ithamar, Aaron the priest’s son. ²² Bezalel, Uri’s son and Hur’s grandson from the tribe of Judah, made everything that the Lord had commanded Moses to make. ²³ Working with Bezalel was Oholiab, Ahisamach’s son from the tribe of Dan, who was a gem cutter, a designer, and a needleworker in blue, purple, and deep red yarns and in fine linen.

²⁴ The total amount of the gold that was used for construction of the whole sanctuary, gold from the uplifted offerings, was twenty-nine kikkars and seven hundred thirty shekels in weight, measured by the sanctuary shekel. ²⁵ The silver from the community census totaled one hundred kikkars and one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels in weight, measured by the sanctuary shekel. ²⁶ They gave a beqa per person (that is, half a shekel, measured by the sanctuary shekel) for everyone who was counted in the census, 20 years old and above, 603,550 men. ²⁷ One hundred kikkars of silver were used to cast the bases for the sanctuary and the bases for the veil, one hundred bases from one hundred kikkars of silver, one kikkar for every base. ²⁸ He used one thousand seven hundred seventy-five shekels of silver^[a] to make the hooks for the posts, cover their tops, and make bands for them. ²⁹ The amount of copper from the uplifted offering was seventy kikkars and two thousand four hundred shekels in weight. ³⁰ He used it to make the bases for the meeting tent’s entrance, the copper altar, its copper grate, and all the altar’s equipment, ³¹ the bases all around the courtyard, and the bases for the courtyard’s gate, all the dwelling’s tent pegs, and all the tent pegs used around the courtyard.

Conflict with people and God

4 What is the source of conflict among you? What is the source of your disputes? Don’t they come from your cravings that are at war in your own lives? ² You long for something you don’t have, so you commit murder. You are jealous for something you can’t get, so you struggle and fight. You don’t have because you don’t ask. ³ You ask and don’t have because you ask with evil intentions, to waste it on your own cravings.

⁴ You unfaithful people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world means hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world's friend becomes God's enemy. ⁵ Or do you suppose that scripture is meaningless? Doesn’t God long for our faithfulness in^[a] the life he has given to us?^{[b] 6} But he gives us more grace. This is why it says, God stands against the proud, but favors the humble.^{[c] 7} Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. ⁸ Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Cry out in sorrow, mourn, and weep! Let your laughter become mourning and your joy become sadness. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

¹¹ Brothers and sisters, don’t say evil things about each other. Whoever insults or criticizes a brother or sister insults and criticizes the Law. If you find fault with the Law, you are not a doer of the Law but a judge over it. ¹² There is only one lawgiver and judge, and he is able to save and to destroy. But you who judge your neighbor, who are you?

Warning the proud and wealthy

¹³ Pay attention, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such-and-such a town. We will stay there a year, buying and selling, and making a profit.” ¹⁴ You don’t really know about tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for only a short while before it vanishes. ¹⁵ Here’s what you ought to say: “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you boast and brag, and all such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ It is a sin when someone knows the right thing to do and doesn’t do it.