Exodus 35-36

Sabbath Regulations

35 Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. ² Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. ³ You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”

Contributions for the Tabernacle

⁴ Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “This is the thing that the Lord has commanded. ⁵ Take from among you a contribution to the Lord. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze; ⁶ blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen; goats’ hair, ⁷ tanned rams’ skins, and goatskins;^[a] acacia wood, ⁸ oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, ⁹ and onyx stones and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece.

¹⁰ “Let every skillful craftsman among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded: ¹¹ the tabernacle, its tent and its covering, its hooks and its frames, its bars, its pillars, and its bases; ¹² the ark with its poles, the mercy seat, and the veil of the screen; ¹³ the table with its poles and all its utensils, and the bread of the Presence; ¹⁴ the lampstand also for the light, with its utensils and its lamps, and the oil for the light; ¹⁵ and the altar of incense, with its poles, and the anointing oil and the fragrant incense, and the screen for the door, at the door of the tabernacle; ¹⁶ the altar of burnt offering, with its grating of bronze, its poles, and all its utensils, the basin and its stand; ¹⁷ the hangings of the court, its pillars and its bases, and the screen for the gate of the court; ¹⁸ the pegs of the tabernacle and the pegs of the court, and their cords; ¹⁹ the finely worked garments for ministering^[b] in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments of his sons, for their service as priests.”

²⁰ Then all the congregation of the people of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. ²¹ And they came, everyone whose heart stirred him, and everyone whose spirit moved him, and brought the Lord’s contribution to be used for the tent of meeting, and for all its service, and for the holy garments. ²² So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the Lord. ²³ And every one who possessed blue or purple or scarlet yarns or fine linen or goats’ hair or tanned rams’ skins or goatskins brought them. ²⁴ Everyone who could make a contribution of silver or bronze brought it as the Lord’s contribution. And every one who possessed acacia wood of any use in the work brought it. ²⁵ And every skillful woman spun with her hands, and they all brought what they had spun in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. ²⁶ All the women whose hearts stirred them to use their skill spun the goats’ hair. ²⁷ And the leaders brought onyx stones and stones to be set, for the ephod and for the breastpiece, ²⁸ and spices and oil for the light, and for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense. ²⁹ All the men and women, the people of Israel, whose heart moved them to bring anything for the work that the Lord had commanded by Moses to be done brought it as a freewill offering to the Lord.

Construction of the Tabernacle

³⁰ Then Moses said to the people of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; ³¹ and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship, ³² to devise artistic designs, to work in gold and silver and bronze, ³³ in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, for work in every skilled craft. ³⁴ And he has inspired him to teach, both him and Oholiab the son of Ahisamach of the tribe of Dan. ³⁵ He has filled them with skill to do every sort of work done by an engraver or by a designer or by an embroiderer in blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, or by a weaver—by any sort of workman or skilled designer.

36 “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.”

² And 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. ³ And 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, ⁴ so that all the craftsmen who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, ⁵ and said to Moses, “The people bring much more than enough for doing the work that the Lord has commanded us to do.” ⁶ So 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, ⁷ for the material they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more.

⁸ And 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. ⁹ The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits,^[c] and the breadth of each curtain four cubits. All the curtains were the same size.

¹⁰ He^[d] coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. ¹¹ He 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. ¹² He 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. ¹³ And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains one to the other with clasps. So the tabernacle was a single whole.

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

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

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

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

Footnotes

1. Exodus 35:7 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain; also verse 23; compare 25:5
2. Exodus 35:19 Or garments for worship; see 31:10
3. Exodus 36:9 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
4. Exodus 36:10 Probably Bezalel (compare 35:30; 37:1)

Sabbath Regulations

35 Then Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said to them, “These are the words which the Lord has commanded you to do: ² Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh day shall be a holy day for you, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. ³ You shall kindle no fire throughout your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

Offerings for the Tabernacle

⁴ And Moses spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “This is the thing which the Lord commanded, saying: ⁵ ‘Take from among you an offering to the Lord. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the Lord: gold, silver, and bronze; ⁶ blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair; ⁷ ram skins dyed red, badger skins, and acacia wood; ⁸ oil for the light, and spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense; ⁹ onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate.

Articles of the Tabernacle

¹⁰ ‘All who are gifted artisans among you shall come and make all that the Lord has commanded: ¹¹ the tabernacle, its tent, its covering, its clasps, its boards, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets; ¹² the ark and its poles, with the mercy seat, and the veil of the covering; ¹³ the table and its poles, all its utensils, and the showbread; ¹⁴ also the lampstand for the light, its utensils, its lamps, and the oil for the light; ¹⁵ the incense altar, its poles, the anointing oil, the sweet incense, and the screen for the door at the entrance of the tabernacle; ¹⁶ the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grating, its poles, all its utensils, and the laver and its base; ¹⁷ the hangings of the court, its pillars, their sockets, and the screen for the gate of the court; ¹⁸ the pegs of the tabernacle, the pegs of the court, and their cords; ¹⁹ the ^[a]garments of ministry, for ministering in the holy place—the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments of his sons, to minister as priests.’ ”

The Tabernacle Offerings Presented

²⁰ And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses. ²¹ Then everyone came whose heart ^[b]was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. ²² They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the Lord. ²³ And every man, with whom was found blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, and goats’ hair, red skins of rams, and ^[c]badger skins, brought them. ²⁴ Everyone who offered an offering of silver or bronze brought the Lord’s offering. And everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. ²⁵ All the women who were gifted artisans spun yarn with their hands, and brought what they had spun, of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. ²⁶ And all the women whose hearts ^[d]stirred with wisdom spun yarn of goats’ hair. ²⁷ The rulers brought onyx stones, and the stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate, ²⁸ and spices and oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. ²⁹ The children of Israel brought a freewill offering to the Lord, all the men and women whose hearts were willing to bring material for all kinds of work which the Lord, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.

The Artisans Called by God

³⁰ And Moses said to the children of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; ³¹ and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all manner of workmanship, ³² to design artistic works, to work in gold and silver and bronze, ³³ in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of artistic workmanship.

³⁴ “And He has put in his heart the ability to teach, in him and Aholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan. ³⁵ He has filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver—those who do every work and those who design artistic works.

Building the Tabernacle

36 “And Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whom the Lord has put wisdom and understanding, to know how to do all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary,^[e] shall do according to all that the Lord has commanded.”

The People Give More than Enough

² Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the Lord had put wisdom, everyone whose heart ^[f]was stirred, to come and do the work. ³ And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings every morning. ⁴ Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, ⁵ and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the Lord commanded us to do.”

⁶ So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing, ⁷ for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too much.

Building the Tabernacle

⁸ Then all the gifted artisans among them who worked on the tabernacle made ten curtains woven of fine linen, and of blue, purple, and scarlet thread; with artistic designs of cherubim they made them. ⁹ The length of each curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the curtains were all the same size. ¹⁰ And he coupled five curtains to one another, and the other five curtains he coupled to one another. ¹¹ He made loops of blue yarn on the edge of the curtain on the selvedge of one set; likewise he did on the outer edge of the other curtain of the second set. ¹² Fifty loops he made on one curtain, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain on the end of the second set; the loops held one curtain to another. ¹³ And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, that it might be one tabernacle.

¹⁴ He made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle; he made eleven curtains. ¹⁵ The length of each curtain was thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains were the same size. ¹⁶ He coupled five curtains by themselves and six curtains by themselves. ¹⁷ And he made fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in one set, and fifty loops he made on the edge of the curtain of the second set. ¹⁸ He also made fifty bronze clasps to couple the tent together, that it might be one. ¹⁹ Then he made a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red, and a covering of ^[g]badger skins above that.

²⁰ For the tabernacle he made boards of acacia wood, standing upright. ²¹ The length of each board was ten cubits, and the width of each board a cubit and a half. ²² Each board had two ^[h]tenons for binding one to another. Thus he made for all the boards of the tabernacle. ²³ And he made boards for the tabernacle, twenty boards for the south side. ²⁴ Forty sockets of silver he made to go under the twenty boards: two sockets under each of the boards for its two tenons. ²⁵ And for the other side of the tabernacle, the north side, he made twenty boards ²⁶ and their forty sockets of silver: two sockets under each of the boards. ²⁷ For the west side of the tabernacle he made six boards. ²⁸ He also made two boards for the two back corners of the tabernacle. ²⁹ And they were coupled at the bottom and ^[i]coupled together at the top by one ring. Thus he made both of them for the two corners. ³⁰ So there were eight boards and their sockets—sixteen sockets of silver—two sockets under each of the boards.

³¹ And he made bars of acacia wood: five for the boards on one side of the tabernacle, ³² five bars for the boards on the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle on the far side westward. ³³ And he made the middle bar to pass through the boards from one end to the other. ³⁴ He overlaid the boards with gold, made their rings of gold to be holders for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

³⁵ And he made a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen; it was worked with an artistic design of cherubim. ³⁶ He made for it four pillars of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold, with their hooks of gold; and he cast four sockets of silver for them.

³⁷ He also made a screen for the tabernacle door, of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen, made by a ^[j]weaver, ³⁸ and its five pillars with their hooks. And he overlaid their capitals and their rings with gold, but their five sockets were bronze.

Footnotes

1. Exodus 35:19 Or woven garments
2. Exodus 35:21 Lit. lifted him up
3. Exodus 35:23 Or dolphin
4. Exodus 35:26 Lit. lifted them up
5. Exodus 36:1 holy place
6. Exodus 36:2 lifted him up
7. Exodus 36:19 Or dolphin
8. Exodus 36:22 Projections for joining, lit. hands
9. Exodus 36:29 Lit. doubled
10. Exodus 36:37 Lit. variegator, a weaver in colors