Knox Bible

1

And now the Lord gave Moses this message,

2

Bid the Israelites bring me gifts in kind, each man offering what his heart prompts him to offer, for your acceptance.

3

And these are the gifts you will declare to be acceptable, gold, silver and bronze;

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threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed, and lawn, and goats’ hair,

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and rams’ fleeces dyed red, and skins dyed violet;✻ acacia wood,

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and oil to feed lamps, spices for the anointing-oil, and sweet-smelling incense;

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onyx-stones, too, and jewels, to be set in the priestly mantle and burse.

8

I mean them to build me a sanctuary, so that I can dwell among them;

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this tabernacle-dwelling itself and the appurtenances to be used in it must be of the pattern which I will now shew thee. Listen, then, to the fashion of it.

10

Make me an ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, with a breadth and height of one and a half cubits.

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Give it a covering and a lining of pure gold, and put a coping of gold all round the top of it;

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a ring of gold, too, at each of the four corners, two on either of the flanks.

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Then make poles of acacia wood, gilded over,

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and pass them through the rings on the sides of the ark, so as to carry it;

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these poles are to remain in the rings, never taken out.

16

In this ark thou wilt enshrine the written law I mean to give thee.

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Make a throne,✻ too, of pure gold, two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits broad,

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and two cherubs of pure beaten gold for the two ends of this throne,

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one to stand on either side of it;

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with their wings outspread to cover the throne, guardians of the shrine. They are to face one another across the throne. And this throne is to be the covering of the ark,

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and the ark’s contents, the written law I mean to give thee.

22

Thence will I issue my commands; from that throne of mercy, between the two cherubs that stand over the ark and its records,✻ my voice shall come to thee, whenever I send word through thee to the sons of Israel.

23

Make a table, too, of acacia wood, two cubits long, a cubit broad, and a cubit and a half in height;

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gild it with pure gold, and make a rim of gold about its edge,

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with an embossed coping four inches high, and a second coping of gold over that.

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Make four rings of gold, and fix them to the four corners of the table, one by each leg of it.

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The rings must be below the coping, to let poles pass through, that will carry the table;

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these poles too thou shalt make of acacia wood, and gild them over; so the table shall be carried.

29

So with the cups, too, and the bowls, and the dishes,✻ and the goblets for pouring out libations; all of them must be of pure gold.

30

The table is to hold the loaves of bread which are to be set out continually in my presence.

31

Make a lamp-stand, too, of pure beaten gold, stem and branches, cups and bosses, and fleurs-de-lis that spring from them.✻

32

Six branches are to come out of the stem, three on each side;

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and on each branch there are to be three cups shaped like almond-flowers, then a boss, then a fleur-de-lis, balanced by three cups and a boss and a fleur-de-lis on the opposite branch; such is to be the fashion of all the six branches that come out of the stem.

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But the stem itself is to have four cups, shaped like almond-flowers, each with its boss and its fleur-de-lis;

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there will be six branches altogether coming out of a single stem, and under each pair of them there will be an additional boss.

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The bosses and the branches must be of a piece with the main stem, and all alike must be of pure beaten gold.

37

Make seven lamps, too, and mount them on the lamp-stand, so as to throw their light on the opposite wall.✻

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Even the snuffers, and the trays for the burnt wick, must be made of pure gold.

39

The whole weight of the lamp-stand, together with its appurtenances, must be a talent of pure gold.

40

Look well, and make everything in due accord with the pattern which has been shewn to thee on the mountain.