Knox Bible

1

And so the work was begun, by Beseleel, and Oöliab, and all the craftsmen to whom the Lord had given skill in their craft, so that they should know how to make workmanlike provision for the sanctuary’s needs, according to the prescriptions the Lord had given.

2

Moses summoned them, all these trained workmen who had been endowed by the Lord with skill, and had offered their services freely;

3

and he handed over to them the contributions which the sons of Israel made. Eagerly they set about their work, and every morning the people brought their gifts,

4

till at last the workmen must needs come to Moses,

5

and tell him, The people are offering more than is needed.

6

So Moses bade the crier give out that no man or woman should offer any more for the needs of the sanctuary; thus he put an end to the bringing of gifts,

7

because the contribution had already given them enough and to spare.

8

So, to carry out the fashioning of the tabernacle, all these skilful workmen made ten curtains, of twisted linen thread, embroidered with threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed,

9

all of the same size, twenty-eight cubits in length and four in width.

10

Then Beseleel joined five of these to each other, and the remaining five in the same way.

11

And on the sides of one set of curtains, at its extreme edge, he made loops of blue cord, and so with the other,

12

so that loop could meet loop and be fastened to it.

13

Afterwards he made fifty gold clasps, to catch the loops on the curtains, so as to make a single tent of them.

14

Next, he made eleven coverings of goats’ hair, to protect the tapestry over the tabernacle.

15

The measurements of all these coverings were the same; each was thirty cubits long and four cubits wide.

16

He joined together first five of these coverings, then the other six in their turn.

17

And he made fifty loops at the edge of the first set of coverings, then fifty at the edge of the other, to join them together,

18

and fifty brazen clasps, so that the coverings would be tied together, and the whole would form a single protecting roof.

19

He made a canopy, too, over the tabernacle, of rams’ fleeces dyed red, and another canopy over that of skins dyed violet.

20

He made upright frames, too, of acacia wood to support the tabernacle.

21

Each board was ten cubits high, and had a width of a cubit and a half;

22

and at the sides of it, two tenon-pieces jutted out, so that each might be mortised to the next; all the framework of the tabernacle he made in this way.

23

Twenty frames were on the south, facing the midday sun,

24

with forty silver sockets, two to each frame, fitting on each side at the corners, where the mortising finished.

25

There were twenty frames, too, on the side of the tabernacle which looked north,

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with forty silver sockets, two to each frame.

27

For the western side of the tabernacle, looking towards the sea, he made six frames,

28

and two in addition, for the corners at the extreme end of the tabernacle.

29

These were joined together, from bottom to top, with a single kind of fastening; it was the same with the corners at each side,

30

so that altogether there were eight frames, with sixteen silver sockets, two at the foot of each.

31

Then he made five poles of acacia wood, to hold the frames together on one side of the tabernacle,

32

and five more to connect the frames on the opposite side, and on the western side of the tabernacle, looking seawards, five more still.

33

And one pole he made that should reach right along the frames from end to end.

34

The sockets he made of cast silver; the frames themselves he gilded over, and made rings of gold through which the poles, those too plated with gold, could pass.

35

He made a veil, too, out of twisted linen thread, worked in threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed, with all the embroiderer’s art,

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and four posts of acacia wood, gilded and with gilt capitals, but set in silver sockets.

37

And he made a screen out of twisted linen thread, embroidered with threads of blue and purple and scarlet twice-dyed, for the entrance of the tabernacle,

38

and five posts of acacia wood which he gilded over, capitals and all, fitting into sockets of moulded bronze.