Constructing the Ark

¹Bezalel went on to construct the ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

²He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it.

³And he cast four gold rings for its four feet, two rings on one side and two on the other.

⁴Then he made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

⁵He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry it.

The Mercy Seat

⁶He constructed a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.

⁷He made two cherubim of hammered gold at the ends of the mercy seat,

⁸one cherub on one end and one on the other, all made from one piece of gold.

⁹And the cherubim had wings that spread upward, overshadowing the mercy seat. The cherubim faced each other, looking toward the mercy seat.

The Table of Showbread

¹⁰He also made the table of acacia wood two cubits long, a cubit wide, and a cubit and a half high.

¹¹He overlaid it with pure gold and made a gold molding around it.

¹²And he made a rim around it a handbreadth wideand put a gold molding on the rim.

¹³He cast four gold rings for the table and fastened them to the four corners at its four legs.

¹⁴The rings were placed close to the rim, to serve as holders for the poles used to carry the table.

¹⁵He made the poles of acacia wood for carrying the table and overlaid them with gold.

¹⁶He also made the utensils for the table out of pure gold: its plates and dishes, as well as its bowls and pitchers for pouring drink offerings.

The Lampstand

¹⁷Then he made the lampstand out of pure hammered gold, all of one piece: its base and shaft, its cups, and its buds and petals.

¹⁸Six branches extended from the sides, three on one side and three on the other.

¹⁹There were three cups shaped like almond blossoms on the first branch, each with buds and petals, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches that extended from the lampstand.

²⁰And on the lampstand were four cups shaped like almond blossoms with buds and petals.

²¹A bud was under the first pair of branches that extended from the lampstand, a bud under the second pair, and a bud under the third pair.

²²The buds and branches were all of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.

²³He also made its seven lamps, its wick trimmers, and trays of pure gold.

²⁴He made the lampstand and all its utensils from a talent of pure gold.

The Altar of Incense

²⁵He made the altar of incense out of acacia wood. It was square, a cubit long, a cubit wide, and two cubits high.Its horns were of one piece.

²⁶And he overlaid with pure gold the top and all the sides and horns. Then he made a molding of gold around it.

²⁷He made two gold rings below the molding on opposite sides to hold the poles used to carry it.

²⁸And he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold.

²⁹He also made the sacred anointing oil and the pure, fragrant incense, the work of a perfumer.

The Sabbath

¹Then Moses assembled the whole congregation of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do:

²For six days work may be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of complete rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on that day must be put to death.

³Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day.”

Offerings for the Tabernacle

⁴Moses also told the whole congregation of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded:

⁵Take from among you an offering to the LORD. Let everyone whose heart is willing bring an offering to the LORD:gold, silver, and bronze;

⁶blue, purple, and scarlet yarn;fine linen and goat hair;

⁷ram skins dyed red and fine leather;acacia wood;

⁸olive oil for the light;spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense;

⁹and onyx stones and gemstones to be mounted on the ephod and breastpiece.

The Skilled Craftsmen

¹⁰Let every skilled craftsman among you come and make everything that the LORD has commanded:

¹¹the tabernacle with its tent and covering, its clasps and frames, its crossbars, posts, and bases;

¹²the ark with its poles and mercy seat, and the veil to shield it;

¹³the table with its poles, all its utensils, and the Bread of the Presence;

¹⁴the lampstand for light with its accessories and lamps and oil for the light;

¹⁵the altar of incense with its poles;the anointing oil and fragrant incense;the curtain for the doorway at the entrance to the tabernacle;

¹⁶the altar of burnt offering with its bronze grate, its poles, and all its utensils;the basin with its stand;

¹⁷the curtains of the courtyard with its posts and bases, and the curtain for the gate of the courtyard;

¹⁸the tent pegs for the tabernacle and for the courtyard, along with their ropes;

¹⁹and the woven garments for ministering in the holy place—both the holy garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons to serve as priests.”

The People Offer Gifts

²⁰Then the whole congregation of Israel withdrew from the presence of Moses.

²¹And everyone whose heart stirred him and whose spirit prompted him came and brought an offering to the LORD for the work on the Tent of Meeting, for all its services, and for the holy garments.

²²So all who had willing hearts, both men and women, came and brought brooches and earrings, rings and necklaces, and all kinds of gold jewelry. And they all presented their gold as a wave offering to the LORD.

²³Everyone who had blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red, or articles of fine leather, brought them.

²⁴And all who could present an offering of silver or bronze brought it as a contribution to the LORD. Also, everyone who had acacia wood for any part of the service brought it.

²⁵Every skilled woman spun with her hands and brought what she had spun: blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen.

²⁶And all the skilled women whose hearts were stirred spun the goat hair.

²⁷The leaders brought onyx stones and gemstones to mount on the ephod and breastpiece,

²⁸as well as spices and olive oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the fragrant incense.

²⁹So all the men and women of the Israelites whose hearts prompted them brought a freewill offering to the LORD for all the work that the LORD through Moses had commanded them to do.

Bezalel and Oholiab

³⁰Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.

³¹And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship,

³²to design artistic works in gold, silver, and bronze,

³³to cut gemstones for settings, and to carve wood, so that he may be a master of every artistic craft.

³⁴And the LORD has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others.

³⁵He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and as weavers—as artistic designers of every kind of craft.

Manna and Quail from Heaven

¹On the fifteenth day of the second month after they had left the land of Egypt, the whole congregation of Israel set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin,which is between Elim and Sinai.

²And there in the desert the whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

³“If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt!” they said. “There we sat by pots of meat and ate our fill of bread, but you have brought us into this desert to starve this whole assembly to death!”

⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test whether or not they will follow My instructions.

⁵Then on the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”

⁶So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “This evening you will know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

⁷and in the morning you will see the LORD’s glory, because He has heard your grumbling against Him. For who are we, that you should grumble against us?”

⁸And Moses added, “The LORD will give you meat to eat this evening and bread to fill you in the morning, for He has heard your grumbling against Him. Who are we? Your grumblings are not against us but against the LORD.”

⁹Then Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of Israel, ‘Come before the LORD, for He has heard your grumbling.’”

¹⁰And as Aaron was speaking to the whole congregation of Israel, they looked toward the desert, and there in a cloud the glory of the LORD appeared.

¹¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹²“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilightyou will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’”

¹³That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

¹⁴When the layer of dew had evaporated, there were thin flakes on the desert floor, as fine as frost on the ground.

¹⁵When the Israelites saw it, they asked one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.So Moses told them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.

¹⁶This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Each one is to gather as much as he needs. You may take an omerfor each person in your tent.’”

¹⁷So the Israelites did this. Some gathered more, and some less.

¹⁸When they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall.Each one gathered as much as he needed to eat.

¹⁹Then Moses said to them, “No one may keep any of it until morning.”

²⁰But they did not listen to Moses; some people left part of it until morning, and it became infested with maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.

²¹Every morning each one gathered as much as was needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away.

The Sabbath Observed

²²On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much food—two omers per person—and all the leaders of the congregation came and reported this to Moses.

²³He told them, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of complete rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD. So bake what you want to bake, and boil what you want to boil. Then set aside whatever remains and keep it until morning.’”

²⁴So they set it aside until morning as Moses had commanded, and it did not smell or contain any maggots.

²⁵“Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a Sabbath to the LORD. Today you will not find anything in the field.

²⁶For six days you may gather, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, it will not be there.”

²⁷Yet on the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they did not find anything.

²⁸Then the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and instructions?

²⁹Understand that the LORD has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day He will give you bread for two days. On the seventh day, everyone must stay where he is; no one may leave his place.”

³⁰So the people rested on the seventh day.

The Jar of Manna

³¹Now the house of Israel called the bread manna.It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.

³²Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Keep an omer of manna for the generations to come, so that they may see the bread I fed you in the wilderness when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’”

³³So Moses told Aaron, “Take a jar and fill it with an omer of manna. Then place it before the LORD to be preserved for the generations to come.”

³⁴And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony,to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.

³⁵The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land where they could settle; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.

³⁶(Now an omer is a tenth of an ephah.)

I Will Open My Mouth in Parables

¹Give ear, O my people, to my instruction;listen to the words of my mouth.

²I will open my mouth in parables;I will utter things hidden from the beginning,

³that we have heard and knownand our fathers have relayed to us.

⁴We will not hide them from their childrenbut will declare to the next generationthe praises of the LORD and His mightand the wonders He has performed.

⁵For He established a testimony in Jacoband appointed a law in Israel,which He commanded our fathersto teach to their children,

⁶that the coming generation would know them—even children yet to be born—to arise and tell their own children

⁷that they should put their confidence in God,not forgetting His works,but keeping His commandments.

⁸Then they will not be like their fathers,a stubborn and rebellious generation,whose heart was not loyal,whose spirit was not faithful to God.

⁹The archers of Ephraimturned back on the day of battle.

¹⁰They failed to keep God’s covenantand refused to live by His law.

¹¹They forgot what He had done,the wonders He had shown them.

¹²He worked wonders before their fathersin the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.

¹³He split the sea and brought them through;He set the waters upright like a wall.

¹⁴He led them with a cloud by dayand with a light of fire all night.

¹⁵He split the rocks in the wildernessand gave them drink as abundant as the seas.

¹⁶He brought streams from the stoneand made water flow down like rivers.

¹⁷But they continued to sin against Him,rebelling in the desert against the Most High.

¹⁸They willfully tested Godby demanding the food they craved.

¹⁹They spoke against God, saying,“Can God really prepare a table in the wilderness?

²⁰When He struck the rock, water gushed outand torrents raged.But can He also give breador supply His people with meat?”

²¹Therefore the LORD heardand was filled with wrath;so a fire was kindled against Jacob,and His anger flared against Israel,

²²because they did not believe Godor rely on His salvation.

²³Yet He commanded the clouds aboveand opened the doors of the heavens.

²⁴He rained down manna for them to eat;He gave them grain from heaven.

²⁵Man ate the bread of angels;He sent them food in abundance.

²⁶He stirred the east wind from the heavensand drove the south wind by His might.

²⁷He rained meat on them like dust,and winged birds like the sand of the sea.

²⁸He felled them in the midst of their camp,all around their dwellings.

²⁹So they ate and were well filled,for He gave them what they craved.

³⁰Yet before they had filled their desire,with the food still in their mouths,

³¹God’s anger flared against them,and He put to death their strongestand subdued the young men of Israel.

³²In spite of all this, they kept on sinning;despite His wonderful works, they did not believe.

³³So He ended their days in futility,and their years in sudden terror.

³⁴When He slew them, they would seek Him;they repented and searched for God.

³⁵And they remembered that God was their Rock,that God Most Highwas their Redeemer.

³⁶But they deceived Him with their mouths,and lied to Him with their tongues.

³⁷Their hearts were disloyal to Him,and they were unfaithful to His covenant.

³⁸And yet He was compassionate;He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them.He often restrained His angerand did not unleash His full wrath.

³⁹He remembered that they were but flesh,a passing breeze that does not return.

⁴⁰How often they disobeyed Him in the wildernessand grieved Him in the desert!

⁴¹Again and again they tested Godand provoked the Holy One of Israel.

⁴²They did not remember His power—the day He redeemed them from the adversary,

⁴³when He performed His signs in Egyptand His wonders in the fields of Zoan.

⁴⁴He turned their rivers to blood,and from their streams they could not drink.

⁴⁵He sent swarms of flies that devoured them,and frogs that devastated them.

⁴⁶He gave their crops to the grasshopper,the fruit of their labor to the locust.

⁴⁷He killed their vines with hailstonesand their sycamore-figs with sleet.

⁴⁸He abandoned their cattle to the hailand their livestock to bolts of lightning.

⁴⁹He unleashed His fury against them,wrath, indignation, and calamity—a band of destroying angels.

⁵⁰He cleared a path for His anger;He did not spare them from deathbut delivered their lives to the plague.

⁵¹He struck all the firstborn of Egypt,the virility in the tents of Ham.

⁵²He led out His people like sheepand guided them like a flock in the wilderness.

⁵³He led them safely, so they did not fear,but the sea engulfed their enemies.

⁵⁴He brought them to His holy land,to the mountain His right hand had acquired.

⁵⁵He drove out nations before themand apportioned their inheritance;He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.

⁵⁶But they tested and disobeyed God Most High,for they did not keep His decrees.

⁵⁷They turned back and were faithless like their fathers,twisted like a faulty bow.

⁵⁸They enraged Him with their high placesand provoked His jealousy with their idols.

⁵⁹On hearing it, God was furiousand rejected Israel completely.

⁶⁰He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,the tent He had pitched among men.

⁶¹He delivered His strength to captivity,and His splendor to the hand of the adversary.

⁶²He surrendered His people to the swordbecause He was enraged by His heritage.

⁶³Fire consumed His young men,and their maidens were left without wedding songs.

⁶⁴His priests fell by the sword,but their widows could not lament.

⁶⁵Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,like a mighty warrior overcome by wine.

⁶⁶He beat back His foes;He put them to everlasting shame.

⁶⁷He rejected the tent of Josephand refused the tribe of Ephraim.

⁶⁸But He chose the tribe of Judah,Mount Zion, which He loved.

⁶⁹He built His sanctuary like the heights,like the earth He has established forever.

⁷⁰He chose David His servantand took him from the sheepfolds;

⁷¹from tending the ewes He brought himto be shepherd of His people Jacob,of Israel His inheritance.

⁷²So David shepherded them with integrity of heartand guided them with skillful hands.