Exodus 36

Then wrought Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whom the LORD put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the LORD had commanded.

1So Bezaleel and Aholiab began the work. Every skilled worker helped them. God had given these workers wisdom and skill. They knew how to build the holy tent and everything for it. They did just what God told them to do.

2And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it:

2Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab to come. He called every skilled worker God had made wise. Each one wanted to come and do the work.

3And they received of Moses all the offering, which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of the sanctuary, to make it withal. And they brought yet unto him free offerings every morning.

3The workers took from Moses all the gifts the people had brought. Those gifts were for building the holy tent. And the people kept bringing more gifts every morning.

4And all the wise men, that wrought all the work of the sanctuary, came every man from his work which they made;

4All the skilled workers were busy building the holy tent. Then each one stopped his work and came to Moses.

5And they spake unto Moses, saying, The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work, which the LORD commanded to make.

5They said to Moses, "The people keep bringing gifts. We already have more than enough for the work God asked for."

6And Moses gave commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, Let neither man nor woman make any more work for the offering of the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing.

6So Moses gave an order. It was called out all through the camp. "No man or woman should bring any more gifts for the holy tent." So the people stopped bringing gifts.

7For the stuff they had was sufficient for all the work to make it, and too much.

7They already had enough supplies to finish all the work. In fact, they had more than enough.

8And every wise hearted man among them that wrought the work of the tabernacle made ten curtains of fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet: with cherubims of cunning work made he them.

8The skilled workers made ten curtains for the tent. They used fine linen thread with blue, purple, and red yarn. They wove winged heavenly creatures, called cherubim, into the cloth. The work was done with great skill.

Note"Cunning work" in the King James Bible means skillful work. It does not mean sneaky or tricky.

9The length of one curtain was twenty and eight cubits, and the breadth of one curtain four cubits: the curtains were all of one size.

9Every curtain was the same size. Each one was 28 cubits long and 4 cubits wide.

NoteA cubit is about 18 inches. That is about the length of a grown-up's arm from the elbow to the fingertips.

10And he coupled the five curtains one unto another: and the other five curtains he coupled one unto another.

10He joined five of the curtains together in one set. He joined the other five together in another set.

11And he made loops of blue on the edge of one curtain from the selvedge in the coupling: likewise he made in the uttermost side of another curtain, in the coupling of the second.

11He made blue loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set. He made loops the same way on the edge of the other set.

12Fifty loops made he in one curtain, and fifty loops made he in the edge of the curtain which was in the coupling of the second: the loops held one curtain to another.

12He made fifty loops on one curtain. He made fifty loops on the other end curtain too. The loops lined up right across from each other.

13And he made fifty taches of gold, and coupled the curtains one unto another with the taches: so it became one tabernacle.

13He made fifty gold clasps. The clasps hooked the two sets of curtains together. Now the whole thing was one tent.

14And he made curtains of goats’ hair for the tent over the tabernacle: eleven curtains he made them.

14Then he made curtains out of goat hair. These would go over the first curtains, like a cover. He made eleven of them.

15The length of one curtain was thirty cubits, and four cubits was the breadth of one curtain: the eleven curtains were of one size.

15Every one of the eleven curtains was the same size. Each was 30 cubits long and 4 cubits wide.

16And he coupled five curtains by themselves, and six curtains by themselves.

16He joined five of these curtains into one set. He joined the other six into another set.

17And he made fifty loops upon the uttermost edge of the curtain in the coupling, and fifty loops made he upon the edge of the curtain which coupleth the second.

17He made fifty loops along the edge of the end curtain in one set. He made fifty loops along the edge of the other set.

18And he made fifty taches of brass to couple the tent together, that it might be one.

18He made fifty bronze clasps. They joined the two sets together into one cover.

19And he made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers’ skins above that.

19He made another cover for the tent from ram skins dyed red. On top of that he put a cover of fine leather.

NoteThe King James Bible says "badgers' skins." No one today is sure which animal it means. Most modern Bibles say fine leather.

20And he made boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood, standing up.

20Then he made tall, upright boards for the tent. He used strong acacia wood.

Note"Shittim wood" is wood from the acacia tree. It is a strong tree that grows in the desert.

21The length of a board was ten cubits, and the breadth of a board one cubit and a half.

21Each board was ten cubits long. Each was one and a half cubits wide.

22One board had two tenons, equally distant one from another: thus did he make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

22Each board had two pegs at the bottom. The two pegs matched each other. He made all the boards this same way.

23And he made boards for the tabernacle; twenty boards for the south side southward:

23He made twenty boards for the south side of the tent.

24And forty sockets of silver he made under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.

24He made forty silver bases to go under those twenty boards. Each board sat on two bases, one under each peg.

25And for the other side of the tabernacle, which is toward the north corner, he made twenty boards,

25He made twenty boards for the other side too, the north side.

26And their forty sockets of silver; two sockets under one board, and two sockets under another board.

26He made forty silver bases for them. Two bases went under each board.

27And for the sides of the tabernacle westward he made six boards.

27He made six boards for the back of the tent, the west side.

28And two boards made he for the corners of the tabernacle in the two sides.

28He made two more boards for the two back corners of the tent.

29And they were coupled beneath, and coupled together at the head thereof, to one ring: thus he did to both of them in both the corners.

29These corner boards were joined at the bottom and at the top. One ring held each pair together. He made both corners this same way.

30And there were eight boards; and their sockets were sixteen sockets of silver, under every board two sockets.

30So the back had eight boards in all. They had sixteen silver bases. Two bases went under each board.

31And he made bars of shittim wood; five for the boards of the one side of the tabernacle,

31He also made crossbars out of acacia wood. Five bars were for the boards on one side of the tent.

32And five bars for the boards of the other side of the tabernacle, and five bars for the boards of the tabernacle for the sides westward.

32Five bars were for the boards on the other side. Five more were for the back of the tent, the west side.

33And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from the one end to the other.

33He made the middle bar to slide right through the boards. It went from one end to the other end.

34And he overlaid the boards with gold, and made their rings of gold to be places for the bars, and overlaid the bars with gold.

34He covered the boards with gold. He made gold rings to hold the bars. He covered the bars with gold too.

35And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.

35He made a curtain to hang inside the tent. It was blue, purple, and red yarn with fine linen. Winged cherubim were woven into it with great skill.

36And he made thereunto four pillars of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold: their hooks were of gold; and he cast for them four sockets of silver.

36He made four posts of acacia wood to hold that curtain. He covered the posts with gold, and their hooks were gold. He made four silver bases for them.

37And he made an hanging for the tabernacle door of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, of needlework;

37He made a curtain for the doorway of the tent. It was blue, purple, and red yarn with fine linen. It was sewn with careful stitching.

38And the five pillars of it with their hooks: and he overlaid their chapiters and their fillets with gold: but their five sockets were of brass.

38He made five posts with hooks for that door curtain. He covered the tops of the posts with gold. He covered their bands with gold too. Their five bases were made of bronze.