Exodus 37-38

Contemporary English Version

The Sacred Chest

(Exodus 25.10-22)

37 Bezalel built a chest of acacia wood 110 centimeters long, 66 centimeters wide, and 66 centimeters high. ² He covered it inside and out with pure gold and put a gold edging around the top. ³ He made four gold rings and attached one of them to each of the four legs of the chest. ⁴ Then he made two poles of acacia wood, covered them with gold, ⁵ and put them through the rings, so the chest could be carried by the poles.

⁶ The entire lid of the chest, which was made of pure gold, was the place of mercy.^{[a] 7-9} On each of the two ends of the chest he made a winged creature of hammered gold. They faced each other, and their wings covered the place of mercy.

The Table for the Sacred Bread

(Exodus 25.23-30)

¹⁰ Bezalel built a table of acacia wood 88 centimeters long, 44 centimeters wide, and 66 centimeters high. ^11-12 He covered it with pure gold and put a gold edging around it with a border 75 millimeters thick.^{[b] 13} He made four gold rings and attached one to each of the legs ¹⁴ near the edging. The poles for carrying the table were placed through these rings ¹⁵ and were made of acacia wood covered with gold. ¹⁶ Everything that was to be set on the table was made of pure gold—the bowls, plates, jars, and cups for wine offerings.

The Lampstand

(Exodus 25.31-40)

¹⁷ Bezalel made a lampstand of pure gold. The whole lampstand, including its decorative flowers, was made from a single piece of hammered gold, ¹⁸ with three branches on each of its two sides. ¹⁹ There were three decorative almond blossoms on each branch ²⁰ and four on the stem. ²¹ There was also a blossom where each pair of branches came out from the stem. ²² The lampstand, including its branches and decorative flowers, was made from a single piece of hammered pure gold. ^23-24 The lamp and its equipment, including the tongs and trays, were made of about 35 kilograms of pure gold.

The Altar for Burning Incense

(Exodus 30.1-5)

²⁵ For burning incense, Bezalel made an altar of acacia wood. It was 45 centimeters square and 90 centimeters high with each of its four corners sticking up like the horn of a bull. ²⁶ He covered it with pure gold and put a gold edging around it. ²⁷ Then below the edging on opposite sides he attached two gold rings through which he put the poles for carrying the altar. ²⁸ These poles were also made of acacia wood and covered with gold.

The Oil for Dedication and the Incense

(Exodus 30.22-38)

^29 (A) Bezalel mixed the sacred oil for dedication and the pure spices for the sweet-smelling incense.

The Altar for Offering Sacrifices

(Exodus 27.1-8)

38 Bezalel built an altar of acacia wood for offering sacrifices. It was 2.25 meters square and 1.34 meters high ² with each of its four corners sticking up like the horn of a bull, and it was completely covered with bronze. ³ The equipment for the altar was also made of bronze—the pans for the hot ashes, the shovels, the bowls, the meat forks, and the fire pans. ⁴ About halfway up the altar he built a ledge around it and covered the bottom half of the altar with a decorative bronze grating. ⁵ Then he attached a bronze ring beneath the ledge at the four corners to put the poles through. ⁶ He covered two acacia wood poles with bronze and ⁷ put them through the rings for carrying the altar, which was shaped like an open box.

The Large Bronze Bowl

(Exodus 30.18-21)

^8 (B) Bezalel made a large bowl and a stand out of bronze from the mirrors of the women who helped at the entrance to the sacred tent.

The Courtyard around the Sacred Tent

(Exodus 27.9-19)

^9-17 Around the sacred tent Bezalel built a courtyard 44 meters long on the south and north and 22 meters wide on the east and west. He used 20 bronze posts on bronze stands for the south and north and 10 for the west. Then he hung a curtain of fine linen on the posts along each of these three sides by using silver hooks and rods. He placed three bronze posts on each side of the entrance at the east and hung a curtain 6.67 meters wide on each set of posts.

^18-19 For the entrance to the courtyard, Bezalel made a curtain nine meters long, which he hung on four bronze posts that were set on bronze stands. This curtain was 2.25 meters high, the same height as the one for the rest of the courtyard, and was made of fine linen embroidered and woven with blue, purple, and red wool. He hung the curtain on the four posts, using silver hooks and rods. ²⁰ The pegs for the tent and for the curtain around the tent were made of bronze.

The Sacred Tent

^21-23 Bezalel had worked closely with Oholiab,^[c] who was an expert at designing and engraving, and at embroidering blue, purple, and red wool. The two of them completed the work that the Lord had commanded to be done.

Moses put Aaron's son Ithamar in charge of the Levites who kept record of the metals used for the sacred tent. ²⁴ According to the official weights, the amount of gold given was a ton, ^25 (C) and the silver that was collected when the people were counted^[d] came to 3.4 tons. ^26 (D) Everyone who was counted paid the required amount, and there was a total of 603,550 men who were 20 years old or older.

²⁷ Thirty-four kilograms of the silver were used to make each of the 100 stands for the sacred tent and the curtain. ²⁸ The remaining 30 kilograms of silver were used for the hooks and rods and for covering the tops of the posts.

²⁹ Two thousand four hundred and twenty-five kilograms of bronze were given. ³⁰ And it was used to make the stands for the entrance to the tent, the altar and its grating, the equipment for the altar, ³¹ the stands for the posts that surrounded the courtyard, including those at the entrance to the courtyard, and the pegs for the tent and the courtyard.