Exodus 25:23-39
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
The Table. 23 You shall also make a table of acacia(A) wood, two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high. 24 Plate it with pure gold and make a molding of gold around it. 25 Make a frame[a] for it, a handbreadth high, and make a molding of gold around the frame. 26 You shall also make four rings of gold for it and fasten them at the four corners, one at each leg. 27 The rings shall be alongside the frame as holders for the poles to carry the table. 28 These poles for carrying the table you shall make of acacia wood and plate with gold. 29 You shall make its plates[b] and cups, as well as its pitchers and bowls for pouring libations; make them of pure gold. 30 On the table you shall always keep showbread set before me.(B)
The Menorah. 31 You shall make a menorah[c] of pure beaten gold(C)—its shaft and branches—with its cups and knobs and petals springing directly from it. 32 Six branches are to extend from its sides, three branches on one side, and three on the other. 33 [d]On one branch there are to be three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, each with its knob and petals; on the opposite branch there are to be three cups, shaped like almond blossoms, each with its knob and petals; and so for the six branches that extend from the menorah. 34 On the menorah there are to be four cups,[e] shaped like almond blossoms, with their knobs and petals. 35 The six branches that go out from the menorah are to have a knob under each pair. 36 Their knobs and branches shall so spring from it that the whole will form a single piece of pure beaten gold. 37 [f]You shall then make seven lamps(D) for it and so set up the lamps that they give their light on the space in front of the menorah. 38 These, as well as the trimming shears and trays,[g] must be of pure gold. 39 Use a talent[h] of pure gold for the menorah and all these utensils.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 25:25 A frame: probably placed near the bottom of the legs to keep them steady. The golden table of Herod’s Temple is pictured thus on the Arch of Titus.
- 25:29–30 The plates held the showbread, that is, the holy bread which was placed upon the table every sabbath as an offering to God, and was later eaten by the priests. The cups held the incense which was strewn upon the bread. Cf. Lv 24:5–9. The libation wine was poured from the pitchers into the bowls. All these vessels were kept on the golden table.
- 25:31 Menorah: this traditional lampstand is still used today in Jewish liturgy.
- 25:33 In keeping with the arrangement of the ornaments on the shaft, the three sets of ornaments on each branch were probably so placed that one was at the top and the other two equally spaced along the length of the branch. Knob: the cup-shaped seed capsule at the base of a flower.
- 25:34–35 Of the four ornaments on the shaft, one was at the top and one was below each of the three sets of side branches.
- 25:37 The lamps were probably shaped like small boats, with the wick at one end; the end with the wick was turned toward the front of the menorah.
- 25:38 Trays: small receptacles for the burnt-out wicks.
- 25:39 Talent: Heb. kikkar. The largest unit of weight used in the Bible, equivalent to 3,000 shekels (see 38:24). It is difficult to be precise about biblical weights; the Israelite talent may have weighed between 75–80 pounds.
Exodus 30:1-6
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 30
Altar of Incense. 1 For burning incense you shall make an altar of acacia wood,(A) 2 with a square surface, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high, with horns that are of one piece with it. 3 Its grate on top, its walls on all four sides, and its horns you shall plate with pure gold. Put a gold molding around it. 4 Underneath the molding you shall put gold rings, two on one side and two on the opposite side, as holders for the poles used in carrying it. 5 Make the poles, too, of acacia wood and plate them with gold. 6 This altar you are to place in front of the veil that hangs before the ark of the covenant where I will meet you.(B)
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