The Holy Clothes^(A)

39 From the violet, purple, and bright red yarn they made special clothes worn for official duties in the holy place. They also made the holy clothes for Aaron. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses.

The Ephod^(B)

² They made the ephod out of fine linen yarn and gold, violet, purple, and bright red yarn. ³ They hammered the gold into thin sheets and cut them up. They twisted the gold into threads, which they creatively worked into each strand of the violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and throughout the fine linen. ⁴ They made two shoulder straps attached at the ⌞top⌟ corners so that the ephod could be fastened. ⁵ They made the belt that is attached to the ephod out of the same fabric. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses. ⁶ They mounted the onyx stones in gold settings, and engraved on them the names of the sons of Israel. ⁷ Then they fastened them on the shoulder straps of the ephod as a reminder of who the Israelites are. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses.

The Breastplate^(C)

⁸ They made the breastplate as creatively as they made the ephod. It was made out of gold, violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and of fine linen yarn. ⁹ It was folded in half and was 9 inches square. ¹⁰ They fastened four rows of precious stones on it. In the first row they put red quartz, topaz, and emerald. ¹¹ In the second row they put turquoise, sapphire, and crystal. ¹² In the third row they put jacinth, agate, and amethyst. ¹³ In the fourth row they put beryl, onyx, and gray quartz. The stones were mounted in gold settings. ¹⁴ They corresponded to the 12 sons of Israel, by name, each stone engraved (like a signet ring) with the name of one of the 12 tribes.

¹⁵ For the breastplate they made chains out of pure gold, twisted like ropes. ¹⁶ They made two gold settings and two gold rings and attached the two rings to the ⌞top⌟ two corners of the breastplate. ¹⁷ They fastened the two gold ropes to the rings at the ⌞top⌟ corners of the breastplate. ¹⁸ They fastened the other ends of the ropes to the two settings on the shoulder straps of the ephod ⌞so that the breastplate hung⌟ in front of it. ¹⁹ They made two gold rings and fastened them to the other two corners of the breastplate on the inside edge next to the ephod. ²⁰ They made two ⌞more⌟ gold rings and fastened them to the bottom of the shoulder straps on the front of the ephod. This was close to the seam just above the belt of the ephod. ²¹ Then they fastened the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the ephod with a violet cord. So the breastplate was attached just above the belt of the ephod and was held in place. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses.

Other Clothes for Aaron and His Sons^(D)

²² They made the robe that is worn with the ephod, woven entirely of violet yarn. ²³ The opening in the center of the robe had a finished edge (like a leather collar) all around it to keep it from tearing. ²⁴ On the hem of the robe they made pomegranates of violet, purple, and bright red yarn, and fine yarn. ²⁵ They made bells out of pure gold and fastened them in between the pomegranates all around the hem of the robe. ²⁶ A gold bell alternated with a pomegranate all around the hem of the robe that is worn by Aaron when he serves as priest. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses.

²⁷ They wove inner robes out of fine linen for Aaron and his sons. ²⁸ They also made the chief priest’s turban and the other beautiful turbans out of fine linen. They made the undergarments and belt out of fine linen yarn. ²⁹ The belt was embroidered with violet, purple, and bright red yarn. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses.

³⁰ They made the flower-shaped medallion (the holy crown) out of pure gold and engraved on it (as on a signet ring): Holy to the Lord. ³¹ They fastened a violet cord to it and tied it on top of the turban. They followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses.

The Tent Is Brought to Moses

³² So all the work on the inner tent (the tent of meeting) was now done. The Israelites followed all the Lord’s instructions to Moses. ³³ Then they brought everything to Moses—the inner tent, the outer tent and all its furnishings, the fasteners, frames, crossbars, posts, sockets, ³⁴ the cover made of rams’ skins dyed red, the cover made of fine leather, the canopy over ⌞the ark⌟, ³⁵ the ark containing the words of God’s promise with its poles and the throne of mercy, ³⁶ the table with all the dishes, the bread of the presence, ³⁷ the pure ⌞gold⌟ lamp stand with its lamps in a row and all its utensils, the olive oil for the lamps, ³⁸ the gold altar, the anointing oil, the sweet-smelling incense, the screen for the entrance to the tent, ³⁹ the bronze altar with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its accessories, the basin with its stand, ⁴⁰ the curtains for the courtyard, the posts, bases, and screen for the entrance to the courtyard, the ropes and pegs—all the equipment needed for the service of the inner tent (the tent of meeting)— ⁴¹ the special clothes worn when serving as priests in the holy place—both the holy clothes for the priest Aaron and the clothes for his sons when serving as priests. ⁴² The Israelites had done all the work following the Lord’s instructions to Moses.

⁴³ Moses inspected all the work and saw that they had followed the Lord’s instructions. So Moses blessed them.

Instructions for Setting Up the Tent

40 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “Set up the tent (the tent of meeting) on the first day of the first month of the year. ³ Place the ark containing the words of my promise inside it, and hang the canopy over the ark. ⁴ Bring in the table, and arrange everything on it. Bring in the lamp stand, and set up the lamps. ⁵ Put the gold altar for incense in front of the ark. Put up the screen at the entrance to the tent.

⁶ “Put the altar for burnt offerings in front of the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁷ Put the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. ⁸ Set up the surrounding courtyard, and put up the screen at the entrance to the courtyard. ⁹ Take the anointing oil, and anoint the tent and everything in it. In this way you will dedicate it and all its furnishings. Then it will be holy. ¹⁰ Anoint the altar for burnt offerings and all the utensils. In this way you will dedicate the altar, and it will be most holy. ¹¹ Anoint the basin and stand, and they will be dedicated.

¹² “Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting, and wash them. ¹³ Then dress Aaron in the holy clothes, and anoint him. In this way you will dedicate him to serve me as priest. ¹⁴ Have his sons come forward, and dress them in their linen robes. ¹⁵ Anoint them to serve me as priests, as you anointed their father. Their anointing will begin a permanent priesthood for them for generations to come.”

Moses Sets Up the Tent

¹⁶ Moses did everything as the Lord commanded him. ¹⁷ So the tent was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year ⌞after the Israelites had left Egypt⌟. ¹⁸ When Moses set up the tent, he put the sockets in place, put up the frames, inserted the crossbars, and set up the posts. ¹⁹ He spread the outer tent over the inner tent and put the cover on top. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions.

²⁰ He took the words of God’s promise and put them in the ark. He put the poles on the ark and placed the throne of mercy on top of the ark. ²¹ Then he brought the ark into the tent and hung the canopy over it to mark off where the ark was. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions.

²² Moses put the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tent outside the canopy. ²³ He arranged the bread on the table in the Lord’s presence, following the Lord’s instructions. ²⁴ He placed the lamp stand in the tent of meeting opposite the table, on the south side of the tent. ²⁵ He set up the lamps in the Lord’s presence, following the Lord’s instructions.

²⁶ Moses put the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the canopy. ²⁷ He burned sweet-smelling incense on it, following the Lord’s instructions. ²⁸ Then he put up the screen at the entrance to the tent.

²⁹ He put the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance to the tent (the tent of meeting). He sacrificed burnt offerings and grain offerings on it. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions.

³⁰ He put the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing. ³¹ Moses, Aaron, and his sons used this water to wash their hands and feet. ³² They would wash whenever they went into the tent of meeting or whenever they approached the altar. Moses followed the Lord’s instructions.

³³ He set up the courtyard around the tent and the altar and put up the screen at the entrance to the courtyard. Finally, Moses finished the work.

The Lord Comes to the Tent

³⁴ Then the ⌞column of⌟ smoke covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tent. ³⁵ Moses couldn’t go into the tent of meeting, because the smoke settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tent.

³⁶ In all their travels, whenever the ⌞column of⌟ smoke moved from the tent, the Israelites would break camp. ³⁷ But if the column didn’t move, they wouldn’t break camp. ³⁸ So the Lord’s column stayed over the tent during the day, and there was fire in the smoke at night. In this way all the Israelites could see the column throughout their travels.