Exodus 33

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’

And I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people; otherwise, I might destroy you on the way.”

When the people heard these bad tidings, they went into mourning, and no one put on any of his jewelry.

For the LORD had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I should go with you for a single moment, I would destroy you. Now take off your jewelry, and I will decide what to do with you.’”

So the Israelites stripped themselves of their jewelry from Mount Horeb onward.

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it at a distance outside the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting, and anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the Tent of Meeting outside the camp.

Then, whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would stand at the entrances to their own tents and watch Moses until he entered the tent.

As Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and remain at the entrance, and the LORD would speak with Moses.

When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they would stand up and worship, each one at the entrance to his own tent.

Thus the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun would not leave the tent.

Then Moses said to the LORD, “Look, You have been telling me, ‘Lead this people up,’ but You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have found favor in My sight.’

Now if indeed I have found favor in Your sight, please let me know Your ways, that I may know You and find favor in Your sight. Remember that this nation is Your people.”

And the LORD answered, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

“If Your Presence does not go with us,” Moses replied, “do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that Your people and I have found favor in Your sight, unless You go with us? How else will we be distinguished from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

So the LORD said to Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”

Then Moses said, “Please show me Your glory.”

“I will cause all My goodness to pass before you,” the LORD replied, “and I will proclaim My name—the LORD—in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

But He added, “You cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.”

The LORD continued, “There is a place near Me where you are to stand upon a rock, and when My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.

Then I will take My hand away, and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.”

Exodus 34

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the originals, and I will write on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke.

Be ready in the morning, and come up on Mount Sinai to present yourself before Me on the mountaintop.

No one may go up with you; in fact, no one may be seen anywhere on the mountain—not even the flocks or herds may graze in front of the mountain.”

So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the originals. He rose early in the morning, and taking the two stone tablets in his hands, he went up Mount Sinai as the LORD had commanded him.

And the LORD descended in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed His name, the LORD.

Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness, maintaining loving devotion to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin.

Yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished; He will visit the iniquity of the fathers on their children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”

Moses immediately bowed down to the ground and worshiped. “O Lord,” he said, “if I have indeed found favor in Your sight, my Lord, please go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our iniquity and sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”

And the LORD said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will perform wonders that have never been done in any nation in all the world. All the people among whom you live will see the LORD’s work, for it is an awesome thing that I am doing with you.

Observe what I command you this day. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites.

Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land you are entering, lest they become a snare in your midst.

Rather, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred stones, and chop down their Asherah poles.

For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

Do not make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you, and you will eat their sacrifices.

And when you take some of their daughters as brides for your sons, their daughters will prostitute themselves to their gods and cause your sons to do the same.

You shall make no molten gods for yourselves.

You are to keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, you are to eat unleavened bread as I commanded you. For in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.

The first offspring of every womb belongs to Me, including all the firstborn males among your livestock, whether cattle or sheep.

You must redeem the firstborn of a donkey with a lamb; but if you do not redeem it, you are to break its neck. You must redeem all the firstborn of your sons. No one shall appear before Me empty-handed.

Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in the seasons of plowing and harvesting, you must rest.

And you are to celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year.

Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.

For I will drive out the nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the LORD your God.

Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to Me along with anything leavened, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Feast remain until morning.

Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

The LORD also said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

So Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.

And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD.

Aaron and all the Israelites looked at Moses, and behold, his face was radiant. And they were afraid to approach him.

But Moses called out to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke to them.

And after this all the Israelites came near, and Moses commanded them to do everything that the LORD had told him on Mount Sinai.

When Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

But whenever Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he would remove the veil until he came out.

And when he came out, he would tell the Israelites what he had been commanded, and the Israelites would see that the face of Moses was radiant. So Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.

Exodus 35

Then Moses assembled the whole congregation of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do:

For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on that day must be put to death.

Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

Moses also told the whole congregation of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded:

Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Let everyone whose heart is willing bring an offering to the LORD: gold, silver, and bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet yarn; fine linen and goat hair; ram skins dyed red and fine leather; acacia wood; olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense; and onyx stones and gemstones to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

Let every skilled craftsman among you come and make everything that the LORD has commanded: the tabernacle with its tent and covering, its clasps and frames, its crossbars, posts, and bases; the ark with its poles and mercy seat, and the veil to shield it; the table with its poles, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence; the lampstand for light with its accessories and lamps and oil for the light; the altar of incense with its poles; the anointing oil and fragrant incense; the curtain for the doorway at the entrance to the tabernacle; the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its utensils; the basin with its stand; the curtains of the courtyard with its posts and bases, and the curtain for the gate of the courtyard; the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the courtyard, along with their ropes; and the woven garments for ministering in the holy place—both the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests.”

Then the whole congregation of Israel withdrew from the presence of Moses.

And everyone whose heart stirred him and whose spirit prompted him came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its services, and for the holy garments.

So all who had willing hearts, both men and women, came and brought brooches and earrings, rings and necklaces, and all kinds of gold jewelry. And they all presented their gold as a wave offering to the LORD.

Everyone who had blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red, or articles of fine leather, brought them.

And all who could present an offering of silver or bronze brought it as a contribution to the LORD. Also, everyone who had acacia wood for any part of the service brought it.

Every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun: blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen.

And all the skilled women whose hearts were stirred spun the goat hair.

The leaders brought onyx stones and gemstones to mount on the ephod and breastpiece, as well as spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.

So all the men and women of the Israelites whose hearts prompted them brought a freewill offering to the LORD for all the work that the LORD through Moses had commanded them to do.

Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship, to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut gemstones for settings, and to carve wood, so that he may be a master of every artistic craft.

And the LORD has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others.

He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and as weavers—as artistic designers of every kind of craft.

Exodus 36

“So Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person are to carry out everything commanded by the LORD, who has given them skill and ability to know how to perform all the work of constructing the sanctuary.”

Then Moses summoned Bezalel, Oholiab, and every skilled person whom the LORD had gifted—everyone whose heart stirred him to come and do the work.

They received from Moses all the contributions that the Israelites had brought to carry out the service of constructing the sanctuary.

Meanwhile, the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning, so that all the skilled craftsmen who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left their work and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD has commanded us to do.”

After Moses had given an order, they sent a proclamation throughout the camp: “No man or woman should make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” So the people were restrained from bringing more, since what they already had was more than enough to perform all the work.

All the skilled craftsmen among the workmen made the ten curtains for the tabernacle. They were made of finely spun linen, as well as blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, with cherubim skillfully worked into them.

Each curtain was twenty-eight cubits long and four cubits wide; all the curtains were the same size.

And he joined five of the curtains together, and the other five he joined as well.

He made loops of blue material on the edge of the end curtain in the first set, and also on the end curtain in the second set.

He made fifty loops on one curtain and fifty loops on the end curtain of the second set, so that the loops lined up opposite one another.

He also made fifty gold clasps to join the curtains together, so that the tabernacle was a unit.

He then made curtains of goat hair for the tent over the tabernacle—eleven curtains in all.

Each of the eleven curtains was the same size—thirty cubits long and four cubits wide.

He joined five of the curtains into one set and the other six into another.

He made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in the first set, and fifty loops along the edge of the corresponding curtain in the second set.

He also made fifty bronze clasps to join the tent together as a unit.

Additionally, he made for the tent a covering of ram skins dyed red, and over that a covering of fine leather.

Next, he constructed upright frames of acacia wood for the tabernacle.

Each frame was ten cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

Two tenons were connected to each other for each frame. He made all the frames of the tabernacle in this way.

He constructed twenty frames for the south side of the tabernacle, with forty silver bases to put under the twenty frames—two bases for each frame, one under each tenon.

For the second side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty frames and forty silver bases—two bases under each frame.

He made six frames for the rear of the tabernacle, the west side, and two frames for the two back corners of the tabernacle, coupled together from bottom to top and fitted into a single ring. He made both corners in this way.

So there were eight frames and sixteen silver bases—two under each frame.

He also made five crossbars of acacia wood for the frames on one side of the tabernacle, five for those on the other side, and five for those on the rear side of the tabernacle, to the west.

He made the central crossbar to run through the center of the frames, from one end to the other.

And he overlaid the frames with gold and made gold rings to hold the crossbars. He also overlaid the crossbars with gold.

Next, he made the veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, with cherubim skillfully worked into it.

He also made four posts of acacia wood for it and overlaid them with gold, along with gold hooks; and he cast four silver bases for the posts.

For the entrance to the tent, he made a curtain embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen, together with five posts and their hooks. He overlaid the tops of the posts and their bands with gold, and their five bases were bronze.

Exodus 37

Bezalel went on to construct the ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it.

And he cast four gold rings for its four feet, two rings on one side and two on the other.

Then he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry it.

He constructed a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

He made two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat, one cherub on one end and one on the other, all made from one piece of gold.

And the cherubim had wings that spread upward, overshadowing the mercy seat. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the mercy seat.

He also made the table of acacia wood two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high.

He overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding around it. And he made a rim around it a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim.

He cast four gold rings for the table and fastened them to the four corners at its four legs.

The rings were placed close to the rim, to serve as holders for the poles used to carry the table.

He made the poles of acacia wood for carrying the table and overlaid them with gold.

He also made the utensils for the table out of pure gold: its plates and dishes, as well as its bowls and pitchers for pouring drink offerings.

Then he made the lampstand out of pure hammered gold, all of one piece: its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals.

Six branches extended from the sides, three on one side and three on the other.

There were three cups shaped like almond blossoms on the first branch, each with buds and petals, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches that extended from the lampstand.

And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.

A bud was under the first pair of branches that extended from the lampstand, a bud under the second pair, and a bud under the third pair.

The buds and branches were all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.

He also made its seven lamps, its wick trimmers, and trays of pure gold.

He made the lampstand and all its utensils from a talent of pure gold.

He made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high. Its horns were of one piece.

And he overlaid with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns. Then he made a molding of gold around it.

He made two gold rings below the molding on opposite sides to hold the poles used to carry it.

And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

He also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.

Exodus 38

Bezalel constructed the altar of burnt offering from acacia wood. It was square, five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high.

He made a horn at each of its four corners, so that the horns and altar were of one piece, and he overlaid the altar with bronze.

He made all the altar’s utensils of bronze—its pots, shovels, sprinkling bowls, meat forks, and firepans.

He made a grate of bronze mesh for the altar under its ledge, halfway up from the bottom.

At the four corners of the bronze grate he cast four rings as holders for the poles.

And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze.

Then he inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar for carrying it. He made the altar with boards so that it was hollow.

Next he made the bronze basin and its stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Then he constructed the courtyard. The south side of the courtyard was a hundred cubits long and had curtains of finely spun linen,

with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases, and with silver hooks and bands on the posts.

The north side was also a hundred cubits long, with twenty posts and twenty bronze bases. The hooks and bands of the posts were silver.

The west side was fifty cubits long and had curtains, with ten posts and ten bases. The hooks and bands of the posts were silver.

And the east side, toward the sunrise, was also fifty cubits long.

The curtains on one side of the entrance were fifteen cubits long, with three posts and three bases.

And the curtains on the other side were also fifteen cubits long, with three posts and three bases as well.

All the curtains around the courtyard were made of finely spun linen.

The bases for the posts were bronze, the hooks and bands were silver, and the plating for the tops of the posts was silver. So all the posts of the courtyard were banded with silver.

The curtain for the entrance to the courtyard was embroidered with blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen. It was twenty cubits long and, like the curtains of the courtyard, five cubits high,

with four posts and four bronze bases. Their hooks were silver, as well as the bands and the plating of their tops.

All the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the surrounding courtyard were bronze.

This is the inventory for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, as recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made everything that the LORD had commanded Moses.

With him was Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, designer, and embroiderer in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen.

All the gold from the wave offering used for the work on the sanctuary totaled 29 talents and 730 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.

The silver from those numbered among the congregation totaled 100 talents and 1,775 shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel—

a beka per person, that is, half a shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, from everyone twenty years of age or older who had crossed over to be numbered, a total of 603,550 men.

The hundred talents of silver were used to cast the bases of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil—100 bases from the 100 talents, one talent per base.

With the 1,775 shekels of silver he made the hooks for the posts, overlaid their tops, and supplied bands for them.

The bronze from the wave offering totaled 70 talents and 2,400 shekels.

He used it to make the bases for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, the bronze altar and its bronze grating, all the utensils for the altar,

the bases for the surrounding courtyard and its gate, and all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and its surrounding courtyard.

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