Exodus

And he made the altar of burnt offering of shittim wood: five cubits was the length thereof, and five cubits the breadth thereof; it was foursquare; and three cubits the height thereof.

1He made the altar where gifts to God were burned. He used acacia wood. It was square, five cubits on each side. It stood three cubits high.

NoteA cubit is about 18 inches, roughly the length of a grown-up's forearm. So the altar was about seven and a half feet across.

2And he made the horns thereof on the four corners of it; the horns thereof were of the same: and he overlaid it with brass.

2He made a horn shape at each of the four corners. The horns and the altar were one solid piece. He covered the altar with bronze.

NoteThe King James Bible says "brass" here, but the metal is bronze, a mix of copper and tin.

3And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all the vessels thereof made he of brass.

3He made all the altar's tools out of bronze. There were pots, shovels, bowls, meat forks, and pans for hot coals.

4And he made for the altar a brasen grate of network under the compass thereof beneath unto the midst of it.

4He made a bronze screen with crisscrossed strips for the altar. It fit under the altar's ledge, halfway down inside.

5And he cast four rings for the four ends of the grate of brass, to be places for the staves.

5He made four bronze rings for the four corners of the screen. The rings held the carrying poles.

6And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with brass.

6He made the poles out of acacia wood. He covered them with bronze.

7And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the altar, to bear it withal; he made the altar hollow with boards.

7He slid the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar. That way people could carry it. He built the altar out of boards, so it was hollow inside.

8And he made the laver of brass, and the foot of it of brass, of the lookingglasses of the women assembling, which assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

8He made a big bronze bowl for washing, and a bronze stand for it. He used the mirrors of the women who served at the door of the meeting tent.

NoteMirrors back then were not glass. They were flat pieces of metal, polished until you could see yourself in them.

9And he made the court: on the south side southward the hangings of the court were of fine twined linen, an hundred cubits:

9Then he made the courtyard, the open yard around the tent. The south side had curtains of fine linen, one hundred cubits long.

10Their pillars were twenty, and their brasen sockets twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver.

10That side had twenty posts standing in twenty bronze bases. The hooks and bands on the posts were silver.

11And for the north side the hangings were an hundred cubits, their pillars were twenty, and their sockets of brass twenty; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

11The north side had curtains one hundred cubits long too. It had twenty posts and twenty bronze bases. Its hooks and bands were silver.

12And for the west side were hangings of fifty cubits, their pillars ten, and their sockets ten; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver.

12The west side had curtains fifty cubits long. It had ten posts and ten bases. Its hooks and bands were silver.

13And for the east side eastward fifty cubits.

13The east side, where the sun comes up, was fifty cubits across.

14The hangings of the one side of the gate were fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

14On one side of the gate, the curtains were fifteen cubits long. That part had three posts and three bases.

15And for the other side of the court gate, on this hand and that hand, were hangings of fifteen cubits; their pillars three, and their sockets three.

15On the other side of the gate, the curtains were also fifteen cubits long. That part had three posts and three bases too.

16All the hangings of the court round about were of fine twined linen.

16All the curtains around the courtyard were made of fine linen.

17And the sockets for the pillars were of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of silver; and the overlaying of their chapiters of silver; and all the pillars of the court were filleted with silver.

17The bases under the posts were bronze. The hooks and bands were silver. The tops of the posts were covered with silver. Every post in the yard had silver bands.

18And the hanging for the gate of the court was needlework, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: and twenty cubits was the length, and the height in the breadth was five cubits, answerable to the hangings of the court.

18The curtain for the courtyard gate had pretty designs sewn into it. It used blue, purple, and red yarn with fine linen. It was twenty cubits long and five cubits high, matching the other curtains.

19And their pillars were four, and their sockets of brass four; their hooks of silver, and the overlaying of their chapiters and their fillets of silver.

19That gate curtain hung on four posts set in four bronze bases. Their hooks were silver. Their bands and post tops were silver too.

20And all the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about, were of brass.

20All the tent pegs for the worship tent and the courtyard were bronze.

21This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest.

21This is the list of what went into the tent, the tent that held God's rules on stone. Moses said to count it all. The Levites, the family that cared for the tent, did the counting. Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest, led them.

22And Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the LORD commanded Moses.

22Bezaleel made everything the LORD told Moses to make. He was the son of Uri and the grandson of Hur, from the family group of Judah.

23And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.

23Working with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, from the family group of Dan. He could carve, design, and sew with blue, purple, and red yarn and fine linen.

24All the gold that was occupied for the work in all the work of the holy place, even the gold of the offering, was twenty and nine talents, and seven hundred and thirty shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.

24People gave gold as a gift, and all of it was used for the holy tent. It came to twenty-nine talents and seven hundred thirty shekels, using the official weights.

NoteA talent and a shekel are weights, not coins. A shekel is about half an ounce. A talent is about 75 pounds.

25And the silver of them that were numbered of the congregation was an hundred talents, and a thousand seven hundred and threescore and fifteen shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:

25The silver came from the men who were counted. It came to one hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, using the official weights.

26A bekah for every man, that is, half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty men.

26Each man gave a bekah, which is half a shekel. Every man twenty years old or older was counted and gave this. Altogether there were 603,550 men.

27And of the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and the sockets of the vail; an hundred sockets of the hundred talents, a talent for a socket.

27The hundred talents of silver were melted to make bases. They made bases for the holy tent and for the curtain inside it. There were one hundred bases, one talent of silver for each.

28And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars, and overlaid their chapiters, and filleted them.

28With the 1,775 shekels he made hooks for the posts. He also covered the tops of the posts and made bands for them.

29And the brass of the offering was seventy talents, and two thousand and four hundred shekels.

29The bronze that people gave weighed seventy talents and 2,400 shekels.

30And therewith he made the sockets to the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and the brasen altar, and the brasen grate for it, and all the vessels of the altar,

30With that bronze he made the bases for the door of the meeting tent. He also made the bronze altar, its bronze screen, and all the altar tools.

31And the sockets of the court round about, and the sockets of the court gate, and all the pins of the tabernacle, and all the pins of the court round about.

31He made the bases all around the courtyard and at its gate. He also made all the tent pegs for the tent and the courtyard.