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36 Moses continued, “So Bezalel and Oholiab will do the work as Yahweh has commanded. They will do this with the help of every other craftsman to whom Yahweh has given the necessary skills and talents. They will know how to do all the work for constructing the holy place.”

Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every other craftsman to whom Yahweh had given these skills and who was willing to come and do the work.

Excess Contributions

Moses turned over to them all the contributions the Israelites had brought for the work of constructing the holy place. But the people still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning. Finally, all the skilled craftsmen who were working on the holy place stopped what they were doing. They all came to Moses. They said, “The people are bringing much more than we need for doing the work Yahweh commanded us to do.”

So Moses gave instructions to have the following message announced all over camp: “No man or woman needs to make anything more to give as their special contribution to the holy place.” Then the people stopped bringing gifts. The material they had was more than enough to do the job.

The Tent(A)

All the skilled craftsmen among the workers made the inner tent with ten sheets made from fine linen yarn and violet, purple, and bright red yarn. An angel[a] design was creatively worked into the fabric. Each sheet was 42 feet long and 6 feet wide—all the same size. 10 Five of the sheets were sewn together, and the other five were also sewn together. 11 Then they made 50 violet loops along the edge of the end sheet in each set, 12 placing the loops opposite each other. 13 They also made 50 gold fasteners. They used them to link the two sets of sheets together so that the inner tent was a single unit.

14 They made 11 sheets of goats’ hair to form an outer tent over the inner tent. 15 Each of the 11 sheets was 45 feet long and 6 feet wide. 16 Five of the sheets were sewn together into one set, and the remaining six into another set. 17 Then they made 50 loops along the edge of the end sheet in each set. 18 They also made 50 bronze fasteners to link the inner tent together as a single unit. 19 They made a cover out of rams’ skins that had been dyed red for the outer tent, and over that they put a cover made of fine leather.[b]

20 They made a framework out of acacia wood for the inner tent. 21 Each frame was 15 feet long and 27 inches wide, 22 with two identical pegs. They made all the frames for the inner tent this same way. 23 They made 20 frames for the south side of the inner tent. 24 Then they made 40 silver sockets at the bottom of the 20 frames, two sockets at the bottom of each frame for the two pegs. 25 For the north side of the inner tent they made 20 frames 26 and 40 silver sockets, two at the bottom of each frame. 27 They made six frames for the far end, the west side. 28 They made two frames for each of the corners at the far end of the inner tent. 29 They were held together at the bottom and held tightly at the top by a single ring.[c] Both corner frames were made this way. 30 There were eight frames with 16 silver sockets, two at the bottom of each frame.

31 They also made crossbars out of acacia wood. Five were for the frames on one side of the inner tent, 32 five were for those on the other side, and five were for the frames on the far side of the inner tent, the west side. 33 They made the middle crossbar so that it ran from one end to the other, halfway up the frames. 34 They covered the frames with gold and made gold rings to hold the crossbars. They also covered the crossbars with gold.

35 They made the canopy out of violet, purple, and bright red yarn and fine linen yarn. An angel design was creatively worked into the fabric. 36 They made four posts of acacia wood for it and covered them with gold. They made gold hooks for the posts, and they cast four silver bases for them.

37 They made a screen out of fine linen yarn for the entrance to the outer tent. It was embroidered with violet, purple, and bright red yarn. 38 They also made five posts with hooks for hanging the screen. They covered the tops of the posts and the bands with gold, but the five bases for the posts were made of bronze.

Footnotes

  1. Exodus 36:8 Or “A cherubim.”
  2. Exodus 36:19 Hebrew meaning uncertain.
  3. Exodus 36:29 Or “These were separated at the bottom but held together at the top by a single ring.”

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