Exodus 38:21-40:38

Complete Jewish Bible

Parashah 23: P’kudei (Accounts) 38:21–40:38

[In regular years read with Parashah 22, in leap years read separately]

²¹ These are the accounts of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, recorded, as Moshe ordered, by the L’vi’im under the direction of Itamar the son of Aharon, the cohen.

²² B’tzal’el the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Y’hudah, made everything that Adonai ordered Moshe to make. ²³ Assisting him was Oholi’av the son of Achisamakh, of the tribe of Dan, who was an engraver, a designer and a weaver in colors — in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and in fine linen.

²⁴ All the gold used for the work in everything needed for the sanctuary, the gold of the offering, weighed 29 talents 730 shekels [1,930 pounds], using the sanctuary shekel.

²⁵ The silver given by the community weighed 100 talents 1,775 shekels [6,650 pounds], using the sanctuary shekel. ²⁶ This was a beka per person, that is, half a shekel [one-fifth of an ounce], using the sanctuary shekel, for everyone twenty years old or older counted in the census, 603,550 men. ²⁷ The hundred talents of silver were used to cast the sockets for the sanctuary and the sockets for the curtain — one hundred sockets made from the hundred talents, one talent [sixty-six pounds] per socket. ²⁸ The 1,775 shekels [fifty pounds] he used to make hooks for the posts, to overlay their capitals and to make fasteners for them.

²⁹ The bronze in the offering came to 4,680 pounds. ³⁰ He used it to make the sockets for the entrance to the tent of meeting, the bronze altar, its bronze grate, all the utensils for the altar, ³¹ the sockets for the courtyard around it, the sockets for the gateway to the courtyard, all the tent pegs for the tabernacle and all the tent pegs for the courtyard around it.

39 From the blue, purple and scarlet yarn they made the garments for officiating, for serving in the Holy Place; and they made the holy garments for Aharon, as Adonai had ordered Moshe. (RY: v, LY: ii) ² He made the ritual vest of gold, of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely woven linen. ³ They hammered the gold into thin plates and cut them into threads in order to work it into the blue, purple and scarlet yarn and the fine linen crafted by the skilled artisan. ⁴ They made shoulder-pieces for it, joined together; they were joined together at the two ends. ⁵ The decorated belt on the vest, used to fasten it, was of the same workmanship and materials — gold; blue, purple and scarlet yarn; and finely twined linen — as Adonai had ordered Moshe. ⁶ They worked the onyx stones, mounted in gold settings, engraving them with the names of the sons of Isra’el as they would be engraved on a seal. ⁷ Then he put them on the shoulder-pieces of the vest to be stones calling to mind the sons of Isra’el, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

⁸ He made the breastplate; it was crafted by a skilled artisan and made like the work of the ritual vest — of gold; blue, purple and scarlet yarn; and finely woven linen. ⁹ When folded double, the breastplate was square — doubled, it was a hand-span by a hand-span. ¹⁰ They set in it four rows of stones: the first row was a carnelian, a topaz and an emerald; ¹¹ the second row a green feldspar, a sapphire and a diamond; ¹² the third row an orange zircon, an agate and an amethyst; ¹³ and the fourth row a beryl, an onyx and a jasper. They were mounted in settings of gold. ¹⁴ The stones corresponded to the names of the twelve sons of Isra’el; they were engraved with their names as a seal would be engraved, each name representing one of the twelve tribes.

¹⁵ On the breastplate they made two pure gold chains, twisted like cords. ¹⁶ Also for the breastplate they made two settings of gold and two gold rings, and they put the two rings at the two ends of the breastplate. ¹⁷ They put the two twisted gold chains in the two rings at the ends of the breastplate ¹⁸ and attached the other two ends of the twisted chains to the front of the shoulder-pieces of the ritual vest. ¹⁹ They also made two gold rings and put them on the two ends of the breastplate, at its edge, on the side facing in toward the vest. ²⁰ Also they made two gold rings and attached them low on the front part of the vest’s shoulder-pieces, near the join, above the vest’s decorated belt. ²¹ Then they bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the vest with a blue cord, so that it could be on the vest’s decorated belt, and so that the breastplate would not swing loose from the vest — as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

(RY: vi, LY: iii) ²² He made the robe for the ritual vest; it was woven entirely of blue, ²³ with its opening in the middle, like that of a coat of mail, and with a border around the opening, so that it wouldn’t tear. ²⁴ On the bottom hem they made pomegranates of blue, purple and scarlet, and woven linen; ²⁵ and they made bells of pure gold, and put the bells between the pomegranates all the way around the hem of the robe — between the pomegranates, ²⁶ that is, bell, pomegranate, bell, pomegranate, all the way around the hem of the robe for service — as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

²⁷ They made the tunics of finely woven linen for Aharon and his sons, ²⁸ the turban of fine linen, the splendid headgear of fine linen, the linen shorts, ²⁹ and the sash of finely woven linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, the work of a weaver in colors — as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

³⁰ They made the ornament for the holy turban of pure gold; wrote on it the words, “Set apart for Adonai,” like the engraving on a seal; ³¹ and tied a blue cord on it to fasten it to the front of the turban — as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

³² Thus all the work for the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, was finished, with the people of Isra’el doing everything exactly as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

(LY: iv) ³³ Then they brought the tabernacle to Moshe — the tent and all its furnishings, clasps, planks, crossbars, posts and sockets; ³⁴ the covering of tanned ram skins, the covering of fine leather and the curtain for the screen; ³⁵ the ark for the testimony, its poles and the ark-cover; ³⁶ the table, all its utensils and the showbread; ³⁷ the pure menorah, its lamps and their arrangement for display, its accessories and the oil for the light; ³⁸ the gold altar; the anointing oil; the fragrant incense; the screen for the entrance to the tent; ³⁹ the bronze altar with its bronze grate, poles and all its utensils; the basin with its base; ⁴⁰ the tapestries for the courtyard, with their posts and sockets; the screen for the entrance to the courtyard, with its ropes and tent pegs; all the utensils for the service in the tabernacle, the tent of meeting; ⁴¹ the garments for officiating, for serving in the Holy Place; the holy garments for Aharon the cohen; and the garments for his sons to serve in the office of cohen.

⁴² The people of Isra’el did all the work just as Adonai had ordered Moshe. ⁴³ Moshe saw all the work, and — there it was! — they had done it! Exactly as Adonai had ordered, they had done it. And Moshe blessed them.

40 (RY: vii, LY: v) Adonai said to Moshe, ² “On the first day of the first month, you are to set up the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. ³ Put in it the ark for the testimony, and conceal the ark with the curtain. ⁴ Bring in the table, and arrange its display. Bring in the menorah, and light its lamps. ⁵ Set the gold altar for incense in front of the ark for the testimony, and set up the screen at the entrance to the tabernacle. ⁶ Place the altar for burnt offerings in front of the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. ⁷ Set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it. ⁸ Set up the courtyard all the way around, and hang up the screen for the entrance to the courtyard.

⁹ “Take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and everything in it — consecrate it with all its furnishings; then it will be holy. ¹⁰ Anoint the altar for burnt offerings with all its utensils — consecrate the altar; then the altar will be especially holy. ¹¹ Anoint the basin and its base, and consecrate it.

¹² “Then bring Aharon and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. ¹³ Put the holy garments on Aharon, anoint him, and consecrate him, so that he can serve me in the office of cohen. ¹⁴ Bring his sons, put tunics on them, ¹⁵ and anoint them as you anointed their father, so that they can serve me in the office of cohen. Their anointing will signify that the office of cohen is theirs through all their generations.”

¹⁶ Moshe did this — he acted in accordance with everything Adonai had ordered him to do.

(LY: vi) ¹⁷ On the first day of the first month of the second year, the tabernacle was set up. ¹⁸ Moshe erected the tabernacle, put its sockets in place, put up its planks, put in its crossbars and set up its posts. ¹⁹ He spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent above it, as Adonai had ordered Moshe. ²⁰ He took and put the testimony inside the ark, put the poles on the ark, and set the ark-cover above, on the ark. ²¹ Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle, set up the curtain as a screen and concealed the ark for the testimony, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

²² He put the table in the tent of meeting on the side of the tabernacle facing north, outside the curtain. ²³ He arranged a row of bread on it before Adonai, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

²⁴ He put the menorah in the tent of meeting across from the table, on the side of the tabernacle facing south. ²⁵ Then he lit the lamps before Adonai, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

²⁶ He set the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain ²⁷ and burned on it incense made from aromatic spices, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

(LY: vii) ²⁸ He set up the screen at the entrance to the tabernacle. ²⁹ The altar for burnt offerings he placed at the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

³⁰ He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, ³¹ so that Moshe and Aharon and his sons could wash their hands and feet there — ³² so that they could wash when entering the tent of meeting and when approaching the altar, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.

³³ Finally, he erected the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar and set up the screen for the entrance to the courtyard.

(Maftir) ³⁴ Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Adonai filled the tabernacle. ³⁵ Moshe was unable to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud remained on it, and the glory of Adonai filled the tabernacle.

³⁶ Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Isra’el continued with all their travels. ³⁷ But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not travel onward until the day when it was taken up. ³⁸ For the cloud of Adonai was above the tabernacle during the day, and fire was in [the cloud] at night, so that all the house of Isra’el could see it throughout all their travels.

Haftarah P’kudei: M’lakhim Alef (1 Kings) 7:51–8:21 (A); 7:40–50 (S)

B’rit Hadashah suggested reading for Parashah P’kudei: Revelation 15:5–8

Hazak, hazak, v’nit’chazek!

Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!