Exodus 36-38

New Life Version

36 “Bezalel and Oholiab will do the work, together with every workman whom the Lord has made able and understands how to do all the work in the building of the holy place. They will do all that the Lord has said.”

The People Bring More Than Enough

² Then Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every workman whom the Lord had made able, every one whose heart moved him to come to do the work. ³ They received from Moses all the gifts the people of Israel had brought for the work of building the holy place. And they kept bringing gifts because they wanted to every morning. ⁴ All the able workmen came who were doing all the work on the holy place. Each man came from the work he had been doing. ⁵ They said to Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the work the Lord told us to do.” ⁶ So Moses made it be known to all the people, saying, “No man or woman is to give any more gifts for the holy place.” So the people were kept from bringing any more. ⁷ For the things they had were enough for doing all the work. There was more than enough.

Building of the Tent

⁸ All the able men among those who were doing the work made the meeting tent with ten curtains. They made them of fine linen and blue, purple and red cloth, with cherubim sewed into them by an able workman. Bezalel made them. ⁹ Each curtain was as long as fourteen long steps and as wide as two long steps, all of them the same. ¹⁰ He joined five curtains to each other. And the other five curtains he joined to each other. ¹¹ He took small pieces of blue cloth, longer than they were wide. He sewed both ends to the side of the last curtain in the first row. Then he did the same on the side of the last curtain in the second row. ¹² He put fifty of these pieces on the one curtain. And he put fifty on the side of the other curtain, so that the pieces met each other. ¹³ He made fifty hooks of gold. Then he joined the curtains together with the hooks so the meeting tent was as one.

¹⁴ He made curtains of goat hair for a covering over the meeting tent. He made eleven curtains in all. ¹⁵ Each curtain was as long as fifteen long steps, and as wide as two long steps, all of them the same. ¹⁶ He joined five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. ¹⁷ He took fifty small pieces of cloth, longer than they were wide. He sewed both ends of each to the side of the last curtain in the first row. Then he sewed fifty pieces onto the side of the last curtain in the second row. ¹⁸ He made fifty hooks of brass. And he put the hooks through the sewed pieces of cloth and joined the tent together as one. ¹⁹ He made a covering for the tent out of rams’ skins made red, and a covering of badgers’ skins over this. ²⁰ Then he made the pillars of acacia wood for the meeting tent. ²¹ Each piece of wood was as long as five long steps, and as wide as one step. ²² He made two joining pieces in each piece of wood for joining them together. He did this for all the pieces of wood of the meeting tent. ²³ He made twenty pieces of wood for the south side of the meeting tent. ²⁴ He made forty silver bases under the twenty pieces of wood, two bases under each piece of wood. ²⁵ Then he made twenty pieces of wood for the north side of the meeting tent. ²⁶ And he made forty silver bases, with two bases under each piece of wood. ²⁷ He made six pieces of wood for the back or west side of the meeting tent. ²⁸ He made two pieces of wood for the back corners. ²⁹ They were together at the bottom, and joined at the top with one ring. They were made the same for the two corners. ³⁰ There were eight pieces of wood, with sixteen silver bases, two under each piece of wood.

³¹ He made long, straight pieces of acacia wood, five for the pieces of wood on one side of the meeting tent, ³² and five for the pieces of wood on the other side of the meeting tent. Then he made five for the pieces of wood at the back of the meeting tent, the west side. ³³ He made the long, straight cross-piece for the center to pass through from end to end. ³⁴ He covered the pieces of wood with gold. He made rings of gold to hold the long, straight pieces of wood. And he covered these pieces of wood with gold.

³⁵ He made the curtain of blue and purple and red cloth and fine linen. He made it with cherubim sewed into it by an able workman. ³⁶ He hung it on four pillars of acacia wood covered with gold. Their hooks were made of gold and he made four silver bases for it. ³⁷ He made a curtain for the door of the meeting tent out of blue, purple and red cloth and fine linen, the work of an able workman. ³⁸ He made five pillars with their hooks and covered their tops with gold. But he made their five bases of brass.

Making the Special Box of the Agreement

37 Bezalel made the special box of the agreement of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits tall. ² He covered it inside and out with pure gold. And he made a piece of gold to put on it all around. ³ He made four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet. He put two rings on one side of it and two rings on the other side. ⁴ He made long pieces of acacia wood and covered them with gold. ⁵ Then he put the long pieces of wood through the rings on the sides of the special box to carry it. ⁶ He made a mercy-seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide. ⁷ He made two cherubim out of beaten gold at the two ends of the mercy-seat. ⁸ He made one cherub on one end and one cherub on the other end. He made the cherubim and the mercy-seat of one piece. ⁹ The cherubim had their wings spread up over the mercy-seat. Their faces were toward each other, and toward the mercy-seat. ¹⁰ Then he made a table of acacia wood, two cubits long, one cubit wide, and one and a half cubits tall. ¹¹ He covered it with pure gold and made a gold piece around it. ¹² He made a piece around it as wide as a hand. And he put gold on the side of this piece all around. ¹³ He made four rings of gold for it. He put them on the four corners that were on the table’s four legs. ¹⁴ The rings were close to the sides, to hold the long pieces of wood used to carry the table. ¹⁵ He made the long pieces of acacia wood and covered them with gold. The table was carried with these. ¹⁶ He made of pure gold its plates, its pots and its jars, for pouring gifts of drink.

Making the Lamp-Stand

¹⁷ Then he made the lamp-stand of pure gold and the base of the lamp-stand of beaten gold. Its cups, its buds and its flowers were all made of one piece with it. ¹⁸ Six branches went out of its sides, three branches of the lamp-stand out of one side, and three branches out of its other side. ¹⁹ Three cups were made to look like almond flowers, each with bud and flower, on one branch, and three on the next branch. This was done for all six branches going out of the lamp-stand. ²⁰ In the lamp-stand there were four cups made to look like almond flowers, with their buds and flowers. ²¹ A bud was under each of the six branches going out of the lamp-stand. ²² Their buds and their branches were of one piece with it. All of it was one piece of pure, beaten gold. ²³ He made its seven lamps, the tools for putting out the light, and its dishes of pure gold. ²⁴ He made it and all its objects out of a piece of gold about half the weight of a man.

Making the Altar

²⁵ Then he made the altar for burning special perfume of acacia wood. It was one cubit long, one cubit wide, and as high as a man’s waist. Its horns were of one piece with it. ²⁶ He covered its top, all its sides and its horns with pure gold. And he made a piece of gold to go around it. ²⁷ Then he made two gold rings to put under this piece. He put one on the altar’s left side and one on its right side to hold the long pieces of wood used for carrying it. ²⁸ He made the long pieces of acacia wood and covered them with gold.

Making the Holy Oil and Special Perfume

²⁹ And he made the holy oil for pouring, and the pure, sweet-smelling perfume of spices, the work of an able workman.

Making the Altar for Burnt Gifts

38 Then he made the altar for burnt gifts of acacia wood. It was as long and as wide as three steps, and as tall as a man’s chest. ² He made horns on its four corners of one piece with it and covered it with brass. ³ He made all the objects of the altar, its pails, its tools for picking up the ashes, its pots, meat-hooks and fire-holders of brass. ⁴ He made a net for it of brass. It was put under the altar and it came up half-way. ⁵ He put four rings of brass at the four corners of the net to hold the long pieces of wood. ⁶ He made the long pieces of wood out of acacia wood and covered them with brass. ⁷ He put the long pieces of wood through the rings on each side of the altar for carrying it. He made the altar with pieces of wood so it was empty inside.

Making the Pot of Brass for Washing

⁸ He made the pot for washing and its base of brass. They were made from the mirrors of the women servants who worked at the door of the meeting tent. ⁹ Then he made the open space for the holy tent. On the south side were curtains for the open space. They were made of fine linen, as long as fifty long steps. ¹⁰ They hung from twenty pillars with twenty brass bases. The hooks of the pillar and their rings were made of silver. ¹¹ And on the north side there were curtains as long as fifty long steps, and twenty pillars with twenty brass bases. The hooks of the pillars and their rings were made of silver. ¹² On the west side there were curtains as long as twenty-five long steps. They had ten pillars with ten bases. The hooks of the pillars and their rings were made of silver. ¹³ The east side was as wide as twenty-five long steps. ¹⁴ The curtains for one side of the gate were as long as seven steps. They had three pillars with three bases. ¹⁵ And on the other side there were curtains as long as seven steps, with three pillars and three bases. ¹⁶ All the curtains around the open space were made of fine linen. ¹⁷ The bases for the pillars were made of brass. The hooks of the pillars and their rings were made of silver. Their tops were covered with silver. And the pillars were joined with silver. ¹⁸ The curtain for the gate of the open space was the work of an able workman. It was made of blue, purple and red cloth and fine linen. It was as long as ten long steps, and as high as a man raises his hand, to go with the curtains around the open space. ¹⁹ Its four pillars and their bases were made of brass. Their hooks and rings were made of silver. And their tops were covered with silver. ²⁰ All the nails of the meeting tent and the open space were made of brass.

The Parts Are Weighed

²¹ This is the number of the things for the meeting tent, the meeting tent of the Law, as they were given by the mouth of Moses, for the work of the Levites, under the leading of Ithamar, the son of Aaron the religious leader. ²² Bezalel, the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the family of Judah, made all that the Lord had told Moses. ²³ With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the family of Dan. He was an able workman who cut words in stone, gold or silver, and in sewing blue, purple and red cloth and fine linen.

²⁴ All the gold used for the work of the holy tent, the gold given as a gift in worship, weighed as much as twelve men. ²⁵ The silver given by the people weighed as much as forty men. ²⁶ Each one of the men who were twenty years old and older, added up to 603,550 men, gave only a small weight of silver. ²⁷ One hundred heavy weights of silver were used for making the bases for the holy tent and for the curtain in front of the most holy place. One hundred bases were made from the heavy weights of silver. ²⁸ And from the heavy weights of silver he made hooks and joining parts for the pillars, and also covered their tops. ²⁹ The brass that was given weighed as much as thirty men. ³⁰ With it he made the base for the door of the meeting tent, the brass altar and its brass net, and all the objects of the altar. ³¹ He also made bases all around the open space and the base for the gate of the open space, and all the nails of the meeting tent and all around the open space.