Exodus 38:21-40:38

English Standard Version

Materials for the Tabernacle

²¹ These are the records of the tabernacle, ^(A)the tabernacle of the testimony, as they were recorded at the commandment of Moses, the responsibility of the Levites ^(B)under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. ^22 (C)Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses; ²³ and with him was ^(D)Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver and designer and embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen.

²⁴ All the gold that was used for the work, in all the construction of the sanctuary, the gold from the offering, was twenty-nine talents and 730 shekels,^[a] by ^(E)the shekel of the sanctuary. ²⁵ The silver from those of the congregation who were recorded was a hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, by the shekel of the sanctuary: ²⁶ a ^(F)beka^[b] a head (that is, half a shekel, by the shekel of the sanctuary), for everyone who was listed in the records, from twenty years old and upward, for ^(G)603,550 men. ²⁷ The hundred talents of silver were for casting the ^(H)bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil; a hundred bases for the hundred talents, a talent a base. ²⁸ And of the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars and overlaid their capitals and made fillets for them. ²⁹ The bronze that was offered was seventy talents and 2,400 shekels; ³⁰ with it he made the ^(I)bases for the entrance of the tent of meeting, ^(J)the bronze altar and the bronze grating for it and all the utensils of the altar, ³¹ the ^(K)bases around the court, and the ^(L)bases of the gate of the court, all the ^(M)pegs of the tabernacle, and all the pegs around the court.

Making the Priestly Garments

39 From the ^(N)blue and purple and scarlet yarns they made ^(O)finely woven garments,^[c] for ministering in the Holy Place. They made the holy garments for Aaron, ^(P)as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^2 (Q)He made the ephod of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. ³ And they hammered out gold leaf, and he cut it into threads to work into the blue and purple and the scarlet yarns, and into the fine twined linen, in skilled design. ⁴ They made for the ephod attaching shoulder pieces, joined to it at its two edges. ⁵ And the skillfully woven band on it was of one piece with it and made like it, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁶ They made the onyx stones, enclosed in settings of gold filigree, and engraved like the engravings of a signet, according to the names of the sons of Israel. ⁷ And he set them on the shoulder pieces of the ephod to be stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^8 (R)He made the breastpiece, in skilled work, in the style of the ephod, of gold, blue and purple and scarlet yarns, and fine twined linen. ⁹ It was square. They made the breastpiece doubled, a span^[d] its length and a span its breadth when doubled. ¹⁰ And they set in it four rows of stones. A row of sardius, topaz, and carbuncle was the first row; ¹¹ and the second row, an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond; ¹² and the third row, a jacinth, an agate, and an amethyst; ¹³ and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They were enclosed in settings of gold filigree. ¹⁴ There were twelve stones with their names according to the names of the sons of Israel. They were like signets, each engraved with its name, for the twelve tribes. ¹⁵ And they made on the breastpiece twisted chains like cords, of pure gold. ¹⁶ And they made two settings of gold filigree and two gold rings, and put the two rings on the two edges of the breastpiece. ¹⁷ And they put the two cords of gold in the two rings at the edges of the breastpiece. ¹⁸ They attached the two ends of the two cords to the two settings of filigree. Thus they attached it in front to the shoulder pieces of the ephod. ¹⁹ Then they made two rings of gold, and put them at the two ends of the breastpiece, on its inside edge next to the ephod. ²⁰ And they made two rings of gold, and attached them in front to the lower part of the two shoulder pieces of the ephod, at its seam above the skillfully woven band of the ephod. ²¹ And they bound the breastpiece by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a lace of blue, so that it should lie on the skillfully woven band of the ephod, and that the breastpiece should not come loose from the ephod, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^22 (S)He also made the robe of the ephod woven all of blue, ²³ and the opening of the robe in it was like the opening in a garment, with a binding around the opening, so that it might not tear. ²⁴ On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. ²⁵ They also made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe, between the pomegranates— ²⁶ a bell and a pomegranate, a bell and a pomegranate around the hem of the robe for ministering, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^27 (T)They also made the coats, woven of fine ^(U)linen, for Aaron and his sons, ²⁸ and the ^(V)turban of fine linen, and the caps of fine linen, and the linen undergarments of fine twined linen, ²⁹ and the sash of fine twined linen and of blue and purple and scarlet yarns, embroidered with needlework, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

^30 (W)They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote on it an inscription, like the engraving of a signet, “Holy to the Lord.” ³¹ And they tied to it a cord of blue to fasten it on the turban above, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³² Thus all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting was finished, and the people of Israel did ^(X)according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses; so they did. ³³ Then they brought the tabernacle to Moses, the tent and all its utensils, its hooks, its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; ³⁴ the covering of tanned rams' skins and goatskins, and the ^(Y)veil of the screen; ³⁵ the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat; ³⁶ the table with all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; ^37 (Z)the lampstand of pure gold and its lamps with the lamps set and all its utensils, and the oil for the light; ^38 (AA)the golden altar, the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and ^(AB)the screen for the entrance of the tent; ³⁹ the bronze altar, and its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin and its stand; ^40 (AC)the hangings of the court, its pillars, and its bases, and the ^(AD)screen for the gate of the court, its ^(AE)cords, and its pegs; and all the utensils for the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of meeting; ⁴¹ the finely worked garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons for their service as priests. ^42 (AF)According to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so the people of Israel had done all the work. ⁴³ And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, so had they done it. Then Moses ^(AG)blessed them.

The Tabernacle Erected

40 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “On the ^(AH)first day of the first month you shall ^(AI)erect the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. ³ And you shall put in it the ark of the testimony, and you shall ^(AJ)screen the ark with the veil. ⁴ And ^(AK)you shall bring in the table and arrange it, and ^(AL)you shall bring in the lampstand and set up its lamps. ^5 (AM)And you shall put the golden altar for incense before the ark of the testimony, and set up the screen for the door of the tabernacle. ^6 (AN)You shall set the altar of burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, ^7 (AO)and place the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. ⁸ And you shall set up the court all around, and hang up the screen for the gate of the court.

⁹ “Then you shall take the ^(AP)anointing oil and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture, so that it may become holy. ¹⁰ You shall also anoint ^(AQ)the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar, ^(AR)so that the altar may become most holy. ¹¹ You shall also anoint the basin and its stand, and consecrate it. ^12 (AS)Then you shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and shall wash them with water ¹³ and put on Aaron the holy garments. And you shall anoint him and consecrate him, that he may serve me as priest. ¹⁴ You shall bring his sons also and put coats on them, ^15 (AT)and anoint them, as you anointed their father, that they may serve me as priests. And their anointing shall admit them to a ^(AU)perpetual priesthood throughout their generations.”

¹⁶ This Moses did; according to all that the Lord commanded him, so he did. ¹⁷ In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, ^(AV)the tabernacle was erected. ¹⁸ Moses erected the tabernacle. He laid its bases, and set up its frames, and put in its poles, and raised up its pillars. ¹⁹ And he spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent over it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ²⁰ He ^(AW)took the testimony and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark and set the mercy seat above on the ark. ²¹ And he brought the ark into the tabernacle and ^(AX)set up the veil of the screen, and screened ^(AY)the ark of the testimony, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^22 (AZ)He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the veil, ²³ and arranged the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^24 (BA)He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle, ^25 (BB)and set up the lamps before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^26 (BC)He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil, ²⁷ and burned fragrant incense on it, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^28 (BD)He put in place the screen for the door of the tabernacle. ^29 (BE)And he set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the ^(BF)grain offering, as the Lord had commanded Moses. ^30 (BG)He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, ³¹ with which Moses and ^(BH)Aaron and his sons ^(BI)washed their hands and their feet. ³² When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses. ^33 (BJ)And he erected the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So ^(BK)Moses finished the work.

The Glory of the Lord

³⁴ Then ^(BL)the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and ^(BM)the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. ³⁶ Throughout all their journeys, ^(BN)whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. ³⁷ But ^(BO)if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. ³⁸ For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.