People Affirm Their Covenant with God

1Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance. 2Moses alone, however, shall come near to the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people come up with him.”

3Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words which the Lord has spoken we will do!” 4Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Then he arose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel. 5He sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. 6Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” 8So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

9Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. 11Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank.

12Now the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have written for their instruction.” 13So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, and Moses went up to the mountain of God. 14But to the elders he said, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you; whoever has a legal matter, let him approach them.” 15Then Moses went up to the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16The glory of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days; and on the seventh day He called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. 17And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top. 18Moses entered the midst of the cloud as he went up to the mountain; and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Offerings for the Sanctuary

1Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution. 3This is the contribution which you are to raise from them: gold, silver and bronze, 4blue, purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, 5rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, 6oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. 9According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.

Ark of the Covenant

10“They shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. 11You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it. 12You shall cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. 13You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. 15The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it. 16You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.

17“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. 18You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. 19Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. 20The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat. 21You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. 22There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.

The Table of Showbread

23“You shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long and one cubit wide and one and a half cubits high. 24You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a gold border around it. 25You shall make for it a rim of a handbreadth around it; and you shall make a gold border for the rim around it. 26You shall make four gold rings for it and put rings on the four corners which are on its four feet. 27The rings shall be close to the rim as holders for the poles to carry the table. 28You shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so that with them the table may be carried. 29You shall make its dishes and its pans and its jars and its bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. 30You shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before Me at all times.

The Golden Lampstand

31“Then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered work; its cups, its bulbs and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. 32Six branches shall go out from its sides; three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its other side. 33Three cups shall be shaped like almond blossoms in the one branch, a bulb and a flower, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bulb and a flower—so for six branches going out from the lampstand; 34and in the lampstand four cups shaped like almond blossoms, its bulbs and its flowers. 35A bulb shall be under the first pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the second pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the third pair of branches coming out of it, for the six branches coming out of the lampstand. 36Their bulbs and their branches shall be of one piece with it; all of it shall be one piece of hammered work of pure gold. 37Then you shall make its lamps seven in number; and they shall mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it. 38Its snuffers and their trays shall be of pure gold. 39It shall be made from a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. 40See that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.

Curtains of Linen

1“Moreover you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet material; you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. 2The length of each curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; all the curtains shall have the same measurements. 3Five curtains shall be joined to one another, and the other five curtains shall be joined to one another. 4You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the outermost curtain in the first set, and likewise you shall make them on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set. 5You shall make fifty loops in the one curtain, and you shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is in the second set; the loops shall be opposite each other. 6You shall make fifty clasps of gold, and join the curtains to one another with the clasps so that the tabernacle will be a unit.

Curtains of Goats’ Hair

7“Then you shall make curtains of goats’ hair for a tent over the tabernacle; you shall make eleven curtains in all. 8The length of each curtain shall be thirty cubits, and the width of each curtain four cubits; the eleven curtains shall have the same measurements. 9You shall join five curtains by themselves and the other six curtains by themselves, and you shall double over the sixth curtain at the front of the tent. 10You shall make fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the first set, and fifty loops on the edge of the curtain that is outermost in the second set.

11“You shall make fifty clasps of bronze, and you shall put the clasps into the loops and join the tent together so that it will be a unit. 12The overlapping part that is left over in the curtains of the tent, the half curtain that is left over, shall lap over the back of the tabernacle. 13The cubit on one side and the cubit on the other, of what is left over in the length of the curtains of the tent, shall lap over the sides of the tabernacle on one side and on the other, to cover it. 14You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red and a covering of porpoise skins above.

Boards and Sockets

15“Then you shall make the boards for the tabernacle of acacia wood, standing upright. 16Ten cubits shall be the length of each board and one and a half cubits the width of each board. 17There shall be two tenons for each board, fitted to one another; thus you shall do for all the boards of the tabernacle. 18You shall make the boards for the tabernacle: twenty boards for the south side. 19You shall make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards, two sockets under one board for its two tenons and two sockets under another board for its two tenons; 20and for the second side of the tabernacle, on the north side, twenty boards, 21and their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board. 22For the rear of the tabernacle, to the west, you shall make six boards. 23You shall make two boards for the corners of the tabernacle at the rear. 24They shall be double beneath, and together they shall be complete to its top to the first ring; thus it shall be with both of them: they shall form the two corners. 25There shall be eight boards with their sockets of silver, sixteen sockets; two sockets under one board and two sockets under another board.

26“Then you shall make bars of acacia wood, five for the boards of one side of the tabernacle, 27and five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the side of the tabernacle for the rear side to the west. 28The middle bar in the center of the boards shall pass through from end to end. 29You shall overlay the boards with gold and make their rings of gold as holders for the bars; and you shall overlay the bars with gold. 30Then you shall erect the tabernacle according to its plan which you have been shown in the mountain.

The Veil and Screen

31“You shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen; it shall be made with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman. 32You shall hang it on four pillars of acacia overlaid with gold, their hooks also being of gold, on four sockets of silver. 33You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies. 34You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the testimony in the holy of holies. 35You shall set the table outside the veil, and the lampstand opposite the table on the side of the tabernacle toward the south; and you shall put the table on the north side.

36“You shall make a screen for the doorway of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, the work of a weaver. 37You shall make five pillars of acacia for the screen and overlay them with gold, their hooks also being of gold; and you shall cast five sockets of bronze for them.