Exodus 39 – 40

The Vestments

Exodus 39

¹ From the blue, purple, and scarlet material, they made finely woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, and they made the holy garments for Aaron, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Special Vest

² He ^[1] made the special vest ^[2] from gold and from blue, purple, and scarlet material and fine woven linen. ³ They beat the gold into thin sheets and cut it into threads so that they could work it into the blue, purple, and scarlet material and into the fine linen, the work of a skilled craftsman. ^{[3] 4} They made two shoulder straps for the top, one on each side, so that the vest could be fastened together. ⁵ The decorated sash, which is attached to the vest, was made just like it: of gold, of blue, purple, and scarlet material, and of fine woven linen, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁶ They took two onyx stones and mounted them in gold settings and engraved on them the names of the sons of Israel, like the engraving on signet seals. ⁷ They mounted them on the shoulder straps of the vest as memorial stones for the sons of Israel, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Chest Pouch

⁸ Bezalel made a folded pouch, the work of a skillful craftsman. He made it with the same workmanship as the vest. He made it of gold, and of blue, purple, and scarlet material and of fine woven linen. ⁹ It was square, nine inches by nine inches when it was folded double.

¹⁰ They mounted on it four rows of precious stones. The first row was carnelian, diamond, and jacinth; ¹¹ the second row agate, sapphire, and emerald; ¹² the third row beryl, jasper, and ruby; ¹³ and the fourth row topaz, onyx, and turquoise. ^[4] The stones were mounted in gold settings. ¹⁴ There were twelve stones, corresponding to the names of the sons of Israel. Each one was like an engraved seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes.

¹⁵ They made braided chains of pure gold for the pouch. ¹⁶ They made two gold rings for the pouch and attached the two rings to the top corners of the pouch. ¹⁷ They put the two braided gold chains into the two rings at the top corners of the pouch. ¹⁸ The other ends of the two braided chains they attached to the two settings, and then attached them to the shoulder straps on the front of the vest. ¹⁹ They made two gold rings and put them on the two lower corners of the pouch, on its inside edge, which is toward the vest. ²⁰ They made two more gold rings and attached them to the two shoulder straps of the vest in the front, close to the bottom where it is joined to the sash of the vest. ²¹ They tied the rings of the pouch to the rings of the vest with a blue cord, so that the pouch was kept right next to the woven sash of the vest and would not swing out from the vest—just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Robe Worn With the Vest

²² The robe that was to be worn under the vest was the work of a weaver. It was all blue. ²³ It had an opening in the middle of its top for the head. It had a woven binding around the opening, like the opening of a collar, ^[5] to prevent it from tearing. ²⁴ For its hem they made pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet material. ²⁵ They put the pomegranates around its hem with gold bells alternating with them ²⁶ (a gold bell, then a pomegranate, a gold bell, then a pomegranate), all around the hem of the robe that was worn when ministering, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

The Tunics and Pants

²⁷ They wove the tunics of fine linen, the work of a weaver, for Aaron and for his sons. ²⁸ They made the turban and the small pointed turbans of fine linen, ^[6] and the underwear was made from a special kind of finely woven linen. ^{[7] 29} The sash was made of finely woven linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet material, the work of an embroiderer, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

The Gold Medallion

³⁰ They made a medallion of pure gold to serve as a crest and engraved on it (like the engravings on a seal): Holy to the Lord. ³¹ They put it on a blue cord to fasten it to the turban on the front, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Completion of the Dwelling

³² In this way all the work on the Dwelling, that is, the Tent of Meeting, was finished. The people of Israel did everything exactly as the Lord had commanded Moses. ³³ They brought the Dwelling to Moses: the tent with all its furniture, its clasps, its boards, its crossbars, its posts, its socket bases, ³⁴ the covering of rams’ skins dyed red, the covering made from hides of sea cows, the special veil, ³⁵ the Ark of the Testimony with its poles, the atonement seat, ³⁶ the table, all its utensils, the Bread of the Presence, ³⁷ the pure gold lampstand, its lamps (that is, the lamps to be set out in order), all its vessels and utensils, the oil for the Light, ³⁸ the golden altar, the anointing oil, the fragrant incense, the screen for the door of the Tent, ³⁹ the bronze altar, its bronze grate, its poles, all of its utensils, the basin and its pedestal, ⁴⁰ the hangings of the courtyard, its posts, its sockets, the screen for the gate of the courtyard, its ropes, its stakes, all the equipment for the service of the Dwelling (that is, the Tent of Meeting), ⁴¹ the finely woven garments for ministering in the Holy Place, the holy garments for Aaron the priest, and the garments for his sons to minister in the priest’s office. ⁴² So the people of Israel did all the work according to everything that the Lord had commanded Moses. ⁴³ Moses inspected all the work, and he saw that they had done it exactly as the Lord had commanded, so Moses blessed them.

Dedication of the Dwelling

Exodus 40

¹ The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ² “On the first day of the first month you are to raise up the Dwelling, the Tent of Meeting. ³ Put the Ark of the Testimony in it, and screen the ark with the veil. ⁴ Bring in the table, and set in order the things that are to be on it. Bring in the lampstand, and light its lamps. ⁵ Set the golden ^[8] altar for incense in front of the Ark of the Testimony, and put the screen in the doorway to the tent. ⁶ Set the altar for burnt offerings in front of the entrance of the Dwelling, 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 around it, and hang up the screen of the gate of the courtyard. ⁹ Take the anointing oil, and anoint the tent and everything that is in it. You shall make it and all its furniture holy, and it will be holy. ¹⁰ Anoint the altar for burnt offerings with all its utensils. Consecrate the altar, and the altar will be most holy. ¹¹ Anoint the large basin and its pedestal, and consecrate it.

¹² Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and wash them with water. ¹³ Put the holy garments on Aaron, and anoint him and consecrate him, so that he may minister to me in the priest’s office. ¹⁴ Bring his sons and put tunics on them. ¹⁵ Anoint them, as you anointed their father, so that they may minister to me in the priest’s office. Their anointing will give them a permanent priesthood throughout their generations.” ¹⁶ Moses did so. He did everything exactly as the Lord had commanded him.

¹⁷ And so in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, the Dwelling was raised. ¹⁸ Moses raised the Dwelling. He laid out its socket bases, set up its boards, inserted its crossbars, and raised its posts. ¹⁹ He spread the tent over the Dwelling and put the cover for the tent above it, ^[9] just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²⁰ He took the Testimony and put it into the ark. He set the poles in place on the ark and placed the atonement seat on top of the ark. ²¹ He brought the ark into the tent. He set up the special veil to screen the Ark of the Testimony, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²² He put the table in the Tent of Meeting, on the north side of the tent, outside of the veil. ²³ He set the bread in order on the table in the presence of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²⁴ He put the lampstand in the Tent of Meeting, opposite the table, on the south side of the tent. ²⁵ He lit the lamps before the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

²⁶ He put the golden altar in the Tent of Meeting in front of the veil. ²⁷ He burned incense of fragrant spices on it, just as the Lord commanded Moses. ²⁸ He put up the screen for the entryway to the tent. ²⁹ He set the altar of burnt offering at the door of the Dwelling, the Tent of Meeting, and offered the burnt offering and the grain offering on it, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³⁰ He set the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar and put water in it, with which to wash. ³¹ Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons washed their hands and their feet there. ³² When they went into the Tent of Meeting and when they came near the altar, they washed, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

³³ He erected the courtyard around the tent and the altar and set up the screen of the gate of the courtyard. So Moses completed the work.

³⁴ Then the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting, and the Glory of the Lord filled the tent. ³⁵ Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud stayed over it, and the Glory of the Lord filled the tent. ³⁶ Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tent, the people of Israel would move forward. ³⁷ But if the cloud was not taken up, then they would not travel until the day when it was taken up. ³⁸ For in the sight of the whole house of Israel, the cloud of the Lord was above the tent by day, and there was fire in the cloud by night, throughout all their journeys.