36 36:1 “Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the Lord has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.”

²And Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whose mind the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him up to come to do the work. ³And they received from Moses all the contribution that the people of Israel had brought for doing the work on the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, ⁴so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, ⁵and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” ⁶So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, “Let no man or woman do anything more for the contribution for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing, ⁷for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.

⁸And all the craftsmen among the workmen made the tabernacle with ten curtains. They were made of fine twined linen and blue and purple and scarlet yarns, with cherubim skillfully worked. ⁹The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits,[1] and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains were the same size.

¹⁰He coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. ¹¹He made loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain of the first set. Likewise he made them on the edge of the outermost curtain of the second set. ¹²He made fifty loops on the one curtain, and he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that was in the second set. The loops were opposite one another. ¹³And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to the other with clasps. So the tabernacle was a single whole.

¹⁴He also made curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle. He made eleven curtains. ¹⁵The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. The eleven curtains were the same size. ¹⁶He coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. ¹⁷And he made fifty loops on the edge of the outermost curtain of the one set, and fifty loops on the edge of the other connecting curtain. ¹⁸And he made fifty clasps of bronze to couple the tent together that it might be a single whole. ¹⁹And he made for the tent a covering of tanned rams’ skins and goatskins.

²⁰Then he made the upright frames for the tabernacle of acacia wood. ²¹Ten cubits was the length of a frame, and a cubit and a half the breadth of each frame. ²²Each frame had two tenons for fitting together. He did this for all the frames of the tabernacle. ²³The frames for the tabernacle he made thus: twenty frames for the south side. ²⁴And he made forty bases of silver under the twenty frames, two bases under one frame for its two tenons, and two bases under the next frame for its two tenons. ²⁵For the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, he made twenty frames ²⁶and their forty bases of silver, two bases under one frame and two bases under the next frame. ²⁷For the rear of the tabernacle westward he made six frames. ²⁸He made two frames for corners of the tabernacle in the rear. ²⁹And they were separate beneath but joined at the top, at the first ring. He made two of them this way for the two corners. ³⁰There were eight frames with their bases of silver: sixteen bases, under every frame two bases.

³¹He made bars of acacia wood, five for the frames of the one side of the tabernacle, ³²and five bars for the frames of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the frames of the tabernacle at the rear westward. ³³And he made the middle bar to run from end to end halfway up the frames. ³⁴And he overlaid the frames with gold, and made their rings of gold for holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

³⁵He made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; with cherubim skillfully worked into it he made it. ³⁶And for it he made four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were of gold, and he cast for them four bases of silver. ³⁷He also made a screen for the entrance of the tent, of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, embroidered with needlework, ³⁸and its five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals, and their fillets were of gold, but their five bases were of bronze.

[1] A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

37 Making the Ark

37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Two cubits[2] and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. ²And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it. ³And he cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side. ⁴And he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold ⁵and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. ⁶And he made a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. ⁷And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat, ⁸one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat he made the cherubim on its two ends. ⁹The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.

Making the Table

¹⁰He also made the table of acacia wood. Two cubits was its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. ¹¹And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made a molding of gold around it. ¹²And he made a rim around it a handbreadth[3] wide, and made a molding of gold around the rim. ¹³He cast for it four rings of gold and fastened the rings to the four corners at its four legs. ¹⁴Close to the frame were the rings, as holders for the poles to carry the table. ¹⁵He made the poles of acacia wood to carry the table, and overlaid them with gold. ¹⁶And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings.

Making the Lampstand

¹⁷He also made the lampstand of pure gold. He made the lampstand of hammered work. Its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers were of one piece with it. ¹⁸And there were six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; ¹⁹three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. ²⁰And on the lampstand itself were four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, ²¹and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out of it. ²²Their calyxes and their branches were of one piece with it. The whole of it was a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. ²³And he made its seven lamps and its tongs and its trays of pure gold. ²⁴He made it and all its utensils out of a talent[4] of pure gold.

Making the Altar of Incense

²⁵He made the altar of incense of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit, and its breadth was a cubit. It was square, and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it. ²⁶He overlaid it with pure gold, its top and around its sides and its horns. And he made a molding of gold around it, ²⁷and made two rings of gold on it under its molding, on two opposite sides of it, as holders for the poles with which to carry it. ²⁸And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

²⁹He made the holy anointing oil also, and the pure fragrant incense, blended as by the perfumer.

[2] A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters [3] A handbreadth was about 3 inches or 7.5 centimeters [4] A talent was about 75 pounds or 34 kilograms