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36 Bezalel and Oholiab and all the skilled craftsmen to whom the Lord gave wisdom and understanding to know how to do all the work in constructing[a] the sanctuary are to do everything that the Lord has commanded.”

Contributions for Building the Tent

Then Moses summoned Bezalel, Oholiab, and all the skilled[b] people to whom the Lord had given ability,[c] including everyone whose hearts stirred them to come forward to do the work. They received from Moses all the offerings that the Israelis had brought for doing the work of constructing[d] the sanctuary, and the people[e] continued to bring freewill offerings every morning. All the craftsmen who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left the work they were doing and told Moses, “The people are bringing much more than enough for the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” Then Moses issued an order, and the message was taken throughout the camp, “Men and women, don’t bring any more offerings for the sanctuary.” The people were restrained from bringing any more,[f] since the material was more than sufficient for doing all the work.

All the skilled craftsmen among the workers made the tent with ten curtains of fine woven[g] linen, blue, purple, and scarlet material.[h] He[i] made them with cherubim skillfully worked into them. The length of each curtain was 28 cubits,[j] and the width of each curtain two cubits.[k] All the curtains had the same measurements.[l] 10 He joined five of the curtains together, and the other five curtains he joined together. 11 He made loops of blue material[m] along the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and likewise, he made loops along the edge of the outermost curtain in the second set. 12 He made 50 loops in the one curtain, and he made 50 loops along the edge of the curtain that is in the second set, with the loops opposite each other. 13 Then he made 50 gold clasps, and joined the curtains to each other with the clasps so the tent was one piece.

14 He made curtains of goat hair for a tent over the tent; he made 11 curtains. 15 The length of each curtain was 30 cubits,[n] and the width of each curtain was two cubits;[o] the measurements of each of the eleven curtains was the same.[p] 16 He joined five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves. 17 He made 50 loops along the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and 50 loops along the edge of the curtain of the other set. 18 He made 50 bronze clasps to join the tent together so it would be one piece. 19 Then he made a cover for the tent of ram skins dyed red[q] and a covering of dolphin[r] skins above that.

20 Then he made upright boards of acacia wood for the tent. 21 Each[s] board was ten cubits[t] long, and one and a half cubits[u] wide. 22 Each board had two pegs, joined to one another, and he did this for all the boards of the tent. 23 He made the boards for the tent: 20 boards for the south side.[v] 24 He made 40 silver sockets under the 20 boards: two sockets under one board for its two pegs and two sockets[w] under the next[x] board for its two pegs. 25 For the second side of the tent to the north he made 20 boards,[y] 26 and 40 silver sockets for them, two sockets under one board and two sockets under the next[z] board. 27 For the rear of the tent on the west he made six boards, 28 and he made two boards for the rear corners of the tent. 29 They were joined together[aa] at the bottom and they were connected[ab] on top, by one ring. He did this for the two of them, and they were the two corners. 30 There were eight boards with their sixteen silver sockets, two sockets under each board.

31 Then he made bars of acacia wood, five for the boards on one side of the tent, 32 five bars for the boards on the second side of the tent, and five bars for the boards on the back side of the tent to the west. 33 He made the middle bar in the center of the boards pass through from end to end. 34 He overlaid the boards with gold, and made gold rings for them as holders for the bars, and he overlaid the bars with gold.

35 He made a curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet material, and fine woven linen. He made it with cherubim skillfully worked into it. 36 He made four pillars of acacia for it and overlaid them with gold, along with their gold hooks, and he cast four silver sockets for them. 37 For the doorway of the tent, he made a screen of blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine woven linen, the work of an embroiderer, 38 and five pillars of acacia along with their hooks. He overlaid their tops and their bands[ac] with gold. Their five sockets were made of bronze.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 36:1 Lit. for the service of
  2. Exodus 36:2 Lit. wise of heart
  3. Exodus 36:2 Lit. wisdom in his heart
  4. Exodus 36:3 Lit. for the service of
  5. Exodus 36:3 Lit. they
  6. Exodus 36:6 The Heb. lacks any more
  7. Exodus 36:8 Or twisted
  8. Exodus 36:8 The Heb. lacks material
  9. Exodus 36:8 Perhaps Bezalel as the head of the skilled workers; and so through the rest of the book
  10. Exodus 36:9 I.e. about 42 feet
  11. Exodus 36:9 I.e. about six feet
  12. Exodus 36:9 Lit. the measure of one for every curtain
  13. Exodus 36:11 The Heb. lacks material
  14. Exodus 36:15 I.e. about 45 feet
  15. Exodus 36:15 I.e. about six feet
  16. Exodus 36:15 Lit. the measure of one for the eleven curtains
  17. Exodus 36:19 Or tanned
  18. Exodus 36:19 Or dugong, a marine animal resembling a walrus or manatee
  19. Exodus 36:21 Lit. the one
  20. Exodus 36:21 I.e. about 15 feet
  21. Exodus 36:21 I.e. about 27 inches
  22. Exodus 36:23 Lit. toward the Negev (south), toward Teman (a city to the south)
  23. Exodus 36:24 Or bases
  24. Exodus 36:24 Lit. the one
  25. Exodus 36:25 The Heb. lacks he made
  26. Exodus 36:26 Lit. the one
  27. Exodus 36:29 Lit. twins; i.e. perhaps designed with interlocking pieces
  28. Exodus 36:29 Lit. complete; i.e.. perhaps the tops were joined together by a metal ring
  29. Exodus 36:38 Perhaps a kind of connecting rod joining the pillars together

36 So Bezalel, Oholiab and every skilled person(A) to whom the Lord has given skill and ability to know how to carry out all the work of constructing the sanctuary(B) are to do the work just as the Lord has commanded.”

Then Moses summoned Bezalel(C) and Oholiab(D) and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing(E) to come and do the work. They received from Moses all the offerings(F) the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough(G) for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.”

Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more(H) than enough to do all the work.

The Tabernacle(I)

All those who were skilled among the workers made the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by expert hands. All the curtains were the same size—twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide.[a] 10 They joined five of the curtains together and did the same with the other five. 11 Then they made loops of blue material along the edge of the end curtain in one set, and the same was done with the end curtain in the other set. 12 They also made fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the other set, with the loops opposite each other. 13 Then they made fifty gold clasps and used them to fasten the two sets of curtains together so that the tabernacle was a unit.(J)

14 They made curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven altogether. 15 All eleven curtains were the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide.[b] 16 They joined five of the curtains into one set and the other six into another set. 17 Then they made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set and also along the edge of the end curtain in the other set. 18 They made fifty bronze clasps to fasten the tent together as a unit.(K) 19 Then they made for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of the other durable leather.[c]

20 They made upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle. 21 Each frame was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide,[d] 22 with two projections set parallel to each other. They made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way. 23 They made twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle 24 and made forty silver bases to go under them—two bases for each frame, one under each projection. 25 For the other side, the north side of the tabernacle, they made twenty frames 26 and forty silver bases—two under each frame. 27 They made six frames for the far end, that is, the west end of the tabernacle, 28 and two frames were made for the corners of the tabernacle at the far end. 29 At these two corners the frames were double from the bottom all the way to the top and fitted into a single ring; both were made alike. 30 So there were eight frames and sixteen silver bases—two under each frame.

31 They also made crossbars of acacia wood: five for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, 32 five for those on the other side, and five for the frames on the west, at the far end of the tabernacle. 33 They made the center crossbar so that it extended from end to end at the middle of the frames. 34 They overlaid the frames with gold and made gold rings to hold the crossbars. They also overlaid the crossbars with gold.

35 They made the curtain(L) of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen, with cherubim woven into it by a skilled worker. 36 They made four posts of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold. They made gold hooks for them and cast their four silver bases. 37 For the entrance to the tent they made a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn and finely twisted linen—the work of an embroiderer;(M) 38 and they made five posts with hooks for them. They overlaid the tops of the posts and their bands with gold and made their five bases of bronze.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 36:9 That is, about 42 feet long and 6 feet wide or about 13 meters long and 1.8 meters wide
  2. Exodus 36:15 That is, about 45 feet long and 6 feet wide or about 14 meters long and 1.8 meters wide
  3. Exodus 36:19 Possibly the hides of large aquatic mammals (see 35:7)
  4. Exodus 36:21 That is, about 15 feet long and 2 1/4 feet wide or about 4.5 meters long and 68 centimeters wide