Exodus 36-38

Easy-to-Read Version

36 “So Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the other skilled men must do the work the Lord has commanded. The Lord has given these men the wisdom and understanding to do all the skilled work needed to build this holy place.”

² Then Moses called Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the other skilled men who the Lord had given special skills to. And they came because they wanted to help with the work. ³ Moses gave them everything the Israelites had brought as gifts, and they used these things to build the holy place. The people continued to bring gifts each morning. ⁴ Finally, all the skilled workers left the work they were doing on the holy place, and they went to speak to Moses. They said, ⁵ “The people have brought too much. We have more than we need to finish the work the Lord told us to do.”

⁶ Then Moses sent this message throughout the camp: “No man or woman should make anything else as a gift for the holy place.” So the people were forced to stop giving more. ⁷ The people had brought more than enough things to finish the work of building God’s holy place.

The Holy Tent

⁸ Then the skilled workers began making the Holy Tent. They made the ten curtains from fine linen and blue, purple, and red yarn. And they sewed pictures of Cherub angels with wings into the curtains. ⁹ Each curtain was the same size—28 cubits^[a] long and 4 cubits^[b] wide. ¹⁰ The workers joined the curtains together into two groups of curtains. They joined five curtains together to make one group and five curtains together to make the other group. ¹¹ Then they used blue cloth to make loops along the edge of the end curtain of one group. And they did the same on the end curtain in the other group. ¹² There were 50 loops on the end curtain in one group and 50 loops on the end curtain in the other group. The loops were opposite each other. ¹³ Then they made 50 gold rings to join the two curtains together. So the Holy Tent was joined together into one piece.

¹⁴ Then the workers made another tent to cover the Holy Tent. They used goat hair to make eleven curtains. ¹⁵ All the curtains were the same size—30 cubits^[c] long and 4 cubits wide. ¹⁶ The workers joined five curtains together into one group and six curtains together into another group. ¹⁷ They put 50 loops along the edge of the end curtain of one group. And they did the same on the end curtain of the other group. ¹⁸ The workers made 50 bronze rings to join the two groups of curtains together to form one tent. ¹⁹ Then they made two more coverings for the Holy Tent. One covering was made from ram skins dyed red. The other covering was made from fine leather.

²⁰ Then the workers made frames from acacia wood to support the Holy Tent. ²¹ Each frame was 10 cubits^[d] long and 1 1/2 cubits^[e] wide. ²² There were two side poles joined together with cross pieces to make each frame. Every frame for the Holy Tent was made the same. ²³ They made 20 frames for the south side of the Holy Tent. ²⁴ Then they made 40 silver bases for the frames. There were two bases for each frame—one base for each side pole. ²⁵ They also made 20 frames for the other side (the north side) of the Holy Tent. ²⁶ They made 40 silver bases for the frames—two bases for each frame. ²⁷ They made six more frames for the back (the west side) of the Holy Tent. ²⁸ They also made two frames for the corners at the back of the Holy Tent. ²⁹ These frames were joined together at the bottom. And at the top a ring held the corner frames together. They did the same for both corners. ³⁰ There were eight frames for the west side of the Holy Tent. And there were 16 silver bases—two bases for each frame.

³¹ Then the workers used acacia wood to make the braces for the frames—five braces for the first side of the Holy Tent, ³² five braces for the other side, and five braces for the back of the Holy Tent (that is, the west side). ³³ They made the middle brace so that it passed through the frames from one end to the other. ³⁴ They covered these frames with gold. Then they used gold to make the rings to hold the braces, and they covered the braces with gold.

³⁵ They used fine linen and blue, purple, and red yarn to make the special curtain for the entrance to the Most Holy Place. And they sewed pictures of Cherub angels into the curtain. ³⁶ They made four posts using acacia wood, and they covered the posts with gold. Then they made gold hooks for the posts and four silver bases for the posts. ³⁷ Then they made the curtain to cover the entrance to the Tent. They used blue, purple, and red yarn and fine linen to make this curtain. And they wove pictures into it. ³⁸ Then they made the five posts and the hooks for this curtain over the entrance. They covered the tops of the posts and the curtain rods^[f] with gold. And they made the five bronze bases for the posts.

The Box of the Agreement

37 Bezalel made the Holy Box from acacia wood. The Box was 2 1/2 cubits^[g] long, 1 1/2 cubits^[h] wide, and 1 1/2 cubits high. ² He covered the inside and outside of the Box with pure gold. Then he put gold trim around the Box. ³ He made four rings of gold and put them on the four corners. These rings were used for carrying the Box. There were two rings on each side. ⁴ Then he made the poles for carrying the Box. He used acacia wood and covered the poles with pure gold. ⁵ He put the poles through the rings on each side of the Box. ⁶ Then he made the mercy-cover from pure gold. It was 2 1/2 cubits long and 1 1/2 cubits wide. ⁷ Then Bezalel hammered gold to make two Cherub angels. He put the Cherub angels on each end of the mercy-cover. ⁸ He put one angel on one end and the other angel on the other end. The angels were joined together with the mercy-cover to make one piece. ⁹ The wings of the angels were spread up toward the sky. The angels covered the Box with their wings and faced each other, looking toward the mercy-cover.

The Special Table

¹⁰ Then he made the table from acacia wood. The table was 2 cubits^[i] long, 1 cubit^[j] wide, and 1 1/2 cubits high. ¹¹ He covered it with pure gold and put gold trim around it. ¹² Then he made a frame 1 handbreadth^[k] wide around the table. He put gold trim on the frame. ¹³ Then he made four gold rings and put them at the four corners of the table, where the four legs were. ¹⁴ He put the rings close to the frame. The rings were to hold the poles used to carry the table. ¹⁵ Then he used acacia wood to make the poles for carrying the table. He covered the poles with pure gold. ¹⁶ Then he made everything that was used on the table. He made the plates, the spoons, the bowls, and the pitchers from pure gold. The bowls and pitchers are used for pouring the drink offerings.

The Lampstand

¹⁷ Then he made the lampstand. He used pure gold and hammered it to make the base and the shaft.^[l] Then he made flowers, buds, and petals and joined everything together into one piece. ¹⁸ The lampstand had six branches—three branches on one side and three branches on the other side. ¹⁹ Each branch had three flowers on it. These flowers were made like almond flowers with buds and petals. ²⁰ The shaft of the lampstand had four more flowers. They were also made like almond flowers with buds and petals. ²¹ There were six branches—three branches coming out from each side of the shaft. And there was a flower with buds and petals below each of the three places where the branches joined the shaft. ²² The whole lampstand, with the flowers and branches, was made from pure gold. All this gold was hammered and joined together into one piece. ²³ He made seven lamps for this lampstand. Then he made lamp snuffers and trays from pure gold. ²⁴ He used 75 pounds^[m] of pure gold to make the lampstand and the things used with it.

The Altar for Burning Incense

²⁵ He made the altar for burning incense from acacia wood. The altar was square. It was 1 cubit long, 1 cubit wide, and 2 cubits high. There were four horns on the altar. There was one horn on each corner. These horns were joined together with the altar to make one piece. ²⁶ He covered the top, all the sides, and the horns with pure gold. Then he put gold trim around the altar. ²⁷ He made two gold rings for the altar. He put the gold rings below the trim on each side of the altar. These gold rings held the poles for carrying the altar. ²⁸ He made the poles from acacia wood and covered them with gold.

²⁹ Then he made the holy anointing oil. He also made the pure, sweet-smelling incense. These things were made the same way that a perfume maker would make them.

The Altar for Burning Offerings

38 Then Bezalel used acacia wood to build the altar. This was the altar used for burning offerings. The altar was square. It was 5 cubits^[n] long, 5 cubits wide, and 3 cubits^[o] high. ² He made a horn for each of the four corners of the altar. He joined each horn to its corner so that everything was one piece. He covered the altar with bronze. ³ Then he used bronze to make all the tools to be used on the altar. He made the pots, shovels, bowls, forks, and pans. ⁴ Then he made a bronze grating for the altar. This grating was shaped like a net. The grating was put under the ledge at the bottom of the altar. It went halfway up into the altar from below. ⁵ Then he made bronze rings to hold the poles for carrying the altar. He put the rings at the four corners of the grating. ⁶ Then he used acacia wood to make the poles and covered them with bronze. ⁷ He put the poles through the rings on the sides of the altar to carry it. He used boards to make the sides of the altar. It was hollow, like an empty box.

⁸ He made the bowl and its base with bronze. He used the bronze mirrors that the women gave. These were the women who served at the entrance to the Meeting Tent.

The Courtyard Around the Holy Tent

⁹ Then he made a wall of curtains around the courtyard. On the south side, he made a wall of curtains 100 cubits^[p] long. The curtains were made from fine linen. ¹⁰ The curtains on the south side were supported by 20 posts. The posts were on 20 bronze bases. The hooks for the posts and the curtain rods^[q] were made from silver. ¹¹ The north side of the courtyard also had a wall of curtains 100 cubits long. There were 20 posts with 20 bronze bases. The hooks for the posts and the curtain rods were made from silver.

¹² On the west side of the courtyard the wall of curtains was 50 cubits^[r] long. There were 10 posts and 10 bases. The hooks for the posts and the curtain rods were made from silver.

¹³ The east side of the courtyard was 50 cubits wide. The entrance to the courtyard was on this side. ¹⁴ On one side of the entrance the wall of curtains was 15 cubits^[s] long. There were three posts and three bases on this side. ¹⁵ The wall of curtains on the other side of the entrance was also 15 cubits long. There were three posts and three bases on that side. ¹⁶ All the curtains around the courtyard were made from fine linen. ¹⁷ The bases for the posts were made from bronze. The hooks and the curtain rods were made from silver. The tops of the posts were covered with silver also. All the posts in the courtyard had silver curtain rods.

¹⁸ The curtain for the entrance of the courtyard was made from fine linen and blue, purple, and red yarn. Designs were woven into that curtain. The curtain was 20 cubits^[t] long and 5 cubits high. It was the same height as the curtains around the courtyard. ¹⁹ The curtain was supported by four posts and four bronze bases. The hooks on the posts were made from silver. The tops on the posts were covered with silver, and the curtain rods were also made from silver. ²⁰ All the tent pegs for the Holy Tent and for the curtains around the courtyard were made from bronze.

²¹ Moses commanded the Levites to write down everything that was used to make the Holy Tent, that is, the Tent of the Agreement. Ithamar son of Aaron was in charge of keeping the list.

²² Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah, made everything the Lord commanded Moses. ²³ Also Oholiab son of Ahisamach, from the tribe of Dan, helped him. Oholiab was a skilled worker and designer. He was skilled at weaving fine linen and blue, purple, and red yarn.

²⁴ The people gave over a ton^[u] of gold as an offering to the Lord for his holy place. (This was weighed using the official measure.)

^25-26 All the men 20 years old or older were counted. Each man had to pay a tax of 1 beka^[v] of silver. (Using the official measure, 1 beka is 1/2 shekel.^[w]) There were 603,550 men. So they collected about 7550 pounds of silver. ²⁷ They used most of the silver to make 100 bases for the Holy Tent and its curtains, 75 pounds^[x] for each base. ²⁸ They used the remaining 44 pounds^[y] of silver to make the hooks, the curtain rods, and the silver covers for the posts.

²⁹ They gave more than 2 1/2 tons^[z] of bronze. ³⁰ That bronze was used to make the bases at the entrance of the Meeting Tent. They also used the bronze to make the altar and the bronze grating. And the bronze was used to make all the tools and dishes for the altar. ³¹ It was also used to make the bases for the curtains around the courtyard and the bases for the curtains at the entrance. And the bronze was used to make the tent pegs for the Holy Tent and for the curtains around the courtyard.